Mark Steyn :: "Episcopal Church is irrelevant to the stewardship of the earth"

Quote:

Bishop Kate gave an interview to the New York Times revealing what passes for orthodoxy in this most flexible of faiths. She was asked a simple enough question: "How many members of the Episcopal Church are there?"

"About 2.2 million," replied the presiding bishop. "It used to be larger percentage-wise, but Episcopalians tend to be better educated and tend to reproduce at lower rates than other denominations."

This was a bit of a jaw-dropper even for a New York Times hackette, so, with vague memories of God saying something about going forth and multiplying floating around the back of her head, a bewildered Deborah Solomon said: "Episcopalians aren't interested in replenishing their ranks by having children?"

"No," agreed Bishop Kate. "It's probably the opposite. We encourage people to pay attention to the stewardship of the earth and not use more than their portion."

Now, that may or may not be a great idea, but it's nothing to do with Christianity, only for eco-cultists like Al Gore. If Bishop Kate were an Episcogorian, a member of the Alglican Communion, an elder of the Church of Latter-Day Chads, this would be an unremarkable statement. But, even in their vigorous embrace of gay bishoprics and all the rest, I don't recall the Episcopalians formally embracing the strategy that worked out so swell for the Shakers and enshrining a disapproval of reproduction at the heart of their doctrine.

Lifesite News:

“Bishopess (sic) Katherine Jefferts Schori seems to suffer from the same foot-in-mouth problem as Sen. John Kerry, but if her self-satisfied moral and intellectual superiority gives her comfort as she contemplates the barrenness and decline of the Episcopal Church, she's welcome to it,” said Domenico Bettinelli, jr, former editor of Catholic World Report, who posted on his website an image of a large Catholic family at a wedding with the words “Halp us Bish-up Kate wee R Catlick”.

UPDATE: TigerHawk has also picked up this story, and is generating comments.
UPDATE: Comments on the Steyn op-ed are hot and heavy over at titusonenine.