In the face of such insubordination, Williams had a clear-cut decision to make. He could side with liberals and crush the cabal of right wing turncoats. Or, he could stand on the wrong side of history and defrock Robinson and those who approved his consecration. Instead, he has taken a series of wishy-washy positions that have pleased no one and revealed weakness - which has encouraged further conservative mutinies.

After the unassuming Robinson assumed his new position, some conservative parishes warned they would opt out of the Episcopal Church and place themselves under the authority of theologically like-minded African Bishops.

It was at this point where Williams should have flexed his muscle. A commanding leader would have threatened to fire any pastor who defied the Episcopal leadership. He would have told troublemakers, such as Nigerian Archbishop Peter J Akinola, to can his rhetoric or get canned.

As a result of Williams' habitual indecision, on December 8, delegates to the Episcopal Church's Diocese of San Joaquin voted to leave the denomination and align themselves with a South American province in the Anglican Communion. This was followed a day later by the Church of Nigeria placing four new North American bishops under its banner.

The spineless Williams responded with a wordy letter that incoherently chastised both sides. He blamed the liberals for departing from the Orthodox interpretation of Scripture and told Bishop Robinson he wasn't invited to the splashy Lambeth Conference next summer.

He also reprimanded the foreign conservatives for appropriating American parishes and told them the conservative Americans from breakaway parishes were also not invited. In other words, the Anglican Church is on the verge of a schism and the best Williams could do is tell the dueling sides they could not come to a big church party. Now, that's leadership!

In a laughable act of desperate futility, Williams suggested the warring factions join "professionally facilitated conversations." The clueless Archbishop of Canterbury is so out of touch, he might as well be the Archbishop of Xanadu.

What exactly are these two sides going to resolve? The liberals believe that homosexuals are equal in God's eyes and therefore should be treated as human beings. The conservatives believe that gay people are sinful and should be treated as subhuman. Williams believes in nothing - other than keeping the Communion together, even if that entails engaging in the immoral act of harming gay people within the church.

The thing is, once people have the epiphany that gays and lesbians deserve equality there is no turning back. The Archbishop can't expect parishioners in the Episcopal Church who believe in fairness to abandon their principles and ditch their gay friends and family members - in the name of the false idol of "unity."

Chicago Consultation, a coalition of church liberals, blasted Williams for his lame letter, saying he pandered to conservatives and slighted gay members of the church.

"The archbishop's lengthy letter contains not a word of comfort to gay and lesbian Christians," the group said, responding to Williams. "We are especially troubled by the absence of openly gay members on the bodies that may ultimately resolve the issue at hand. The archbishop's unwillingness to include gay and lesbian Christians in this process perpetuates the bigotry he purports to deplore."

The bottom line is that Williams will have to finally choose sides and squash dissenters. There is no getting around a schism and there is no way to bridge the gap and offer more than band-aide solutions.

It is a shame that it has come to this, but Williams' lack of moral clarity is responsible for the likely break-up of the Anglican Communion. He has stood for nothing - and nothing is what he will end up with if he doesn't get his act together. Forget a facilitator for the opposing sides - he needs to get one for himself so he can find out who he is and what he ultimately stands for.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I am well aware that church rules and regulations say that Williams can't "officially" fire or defrock Akinola and other troublemakers. However, we all know that is pure and utter nonsense. When the trouble started, Williams could have used his bully pulpit, moral authority and his unique position within the church to run these moralizing thugs out of town when they were still nobodies. Would anyone have cared if he would have privately called his buddies and put the word out that certain troublemakers - like Akinola - were career dead enders? If Akinola knew the full weight of the church would land on his head - would he and others have gone down this treacherous path?

Of course, Williams dawdled and Akinola made international news and became a rival. Furthermore, the Anglican Communion should have hired security services to escort all defecting church staff off of the premises of their churches. The courts could have ruled later - but in the meantime, the conservatives would not have had access to churches or funds.

Serving as apologists for Williams' inexcusable lack of leadership by hiding behind the "rules" is why church liberals often end up as losers. While our side is endlessly debating and deliberating about what Williams can't officially do, the conservatives are brazenly and creatively rewriting the rules (or twisting them) and seizing church property - in some cases, the court may find illegally. I, for one, am tired of namby-pamby liberal church defenders who won't stand up to such conservative bullying and provocations. If you cower behind technicalities and church minutiae - while the other side is in the throes of a hostile takeover - you deserve to lose your church. They simply want it more than you do - so maybe they deserve it.

It is time to stand up and fight already. For those of you who are doing so - and there are many - thank you for your brave and heroic efforts. We need more people like you in all liberal and moderate denominations, who will not sit by idly and get rolled by conservatives. The bottom line is that Williams could have nipped this cancer in the bud - and he miserably failed. He should resign for incompetence.

Please avoid parroting church law and "educating" me on what Williams supposedly "cannot" do. That shows a lack of imagination on our side and a capitulation to conservatives who have a sense of church entitlement. A real leader would have ended this crisis before it was a blip on the radar screen. Unfortunately, the Anglican Communion does not have one.

---Wayne Besen is an author, activist and public speaker