But is anybody surprised that people who believe in the historic Christian understanding of human sexuality are, well, consistent about it?

Don’t you mean historic Christian mis-understanding of human sexuality? How much more perverse can one get than the Catholic proscription of marriage for priests? And what about the Original Sin? The rest of the Christian denominations did not exactly put a lot of distance on this issue between themselves and Catholics until recently.

Another point is that you did entirely miss the purpose of Moore’s book. It is not meant to be a scandalous revelation of secret salacious details of her father’s life. Her point should be clear—one can only condemn the publication if (s)he is ashamed of the legacy. But if you simply look at it as a complete account of the man, warts and all, you might be able to understand him better. It is ironic that those without an open mind want others to keep their mouths shut as to not upset the delicate balance they have constructed in their mythical reality.

If this was a Catholic priest, he’d be sued for sexual harassment and end up laicized with the press all over him.

If this was a physician, he’d lose his license to practice medicine.

But if you are an Episcopalian priest who ordains lesbians (and presumably supports abortion) then you get a pass on exploiting women? How many did he give VD to? And this sort of lifestyle is associated with booze and drugs…gets a pass on this too I guess.

The article mentions nine kids? were these all by the same women? Or did he have a menagerie of wives like Bishop Pike?

His daughter calls this a “love story”…abused and neglected kids often “love” the abuser, which is why they end up psychologically messed up by their sociopathic parents…

Full disclosure: I think the bishop violated the hell out of his marriage and ordination vows. I deplore his theology and his behavior. But more so, I deplore the fact that I know about his behavior, which bears on nothing he did or said in public.

His theology, and publics acts are another matter. Everyone knew Ellen Barrett was a partnered lesbian. At the ordination, she introduced her lover to the congregation as “an integral part of my ministry” (or words to that effect). That, and the bishop’s public public support for gay/lesbian rights are fair game for discussion. Behavior he kept private was a family matter and should not be bandied about publically.

THAT IS NOT OK.

It is a real shame that the leaders of the Episcopal Church do things before it is even OKed by the church

For those of us who were Episcopalians but now are Anglicans, or Anglo-Catholics, or CANA folk, or Network folk, or …. you get the point [or don’t]… it’s not nor will it ever be a matter of something “oked by the church.”

It’s what is “oked” by God that matters, and the road map is in Holy Scripture.

The young woman who wrote this story is grieving in her own way. She for a man, the rest of us for a denomination.

Time to move on.

Is there no privacy to be had even in death?

How about instead of a vague reference to unnamed people debating whether Moore broke his vows, Yabroff actually talk to some of these people to find out what they’re talking about?

It might also uncover whether Honor Moore was being accurate when she said the critics of her father’s personal life were the same people who criticized his lesbian ordination. Promiscuity and homosexuality are different things, and some of those critics might have rejected the one and embraced the other, had Yabroff asked them.