Liberal Dean Randolph Hollerith invited evangelical preacher and author Max Lucado to preach a sermon. This action brought down the wrath of homosexual bishop Gene Robinson, lesbian activist priest Susan Russell and a bevy of pansexualists, angry and aggrieved over the decision to invite Lucado.

"I would like to apologize for the hurt caused in inviting Max Lucado to preach at Washington National Cathedral," whined Washington Bishop Mariann Budde.

Blasting the dean's decision to invite Lucado, Robinson roared, "To those of us who are LGBTQ, while a lot of us are still in pain, a lot of us have experienced some awful things in our lives."

Robinson wouldn't say what "awful things" he has experienced, bearing in mind that the Episcopal Church has rolled over to all his demands; such as being consecrated a bishop, divorcing his wife (a woman), taking up with a man, marrying then divorcing him and taking up with another man. (Throw a little drinking problem on the side as well.) Whatever pain he has experienced, it is definitely self-inflicted, it has not been at the hands of orthodox folk who have been slowly drummed out of the Church.

The most recent example of that is Albany Bishop William Love, who resigned rather than allowing homosexual marriages to be conducted in his diocese. (For the record, this was done so Presiding Bishop Michael Curry wouldn't have to depose Bishop Love or accuse him of "abandoning the communion.")

Following the Lucado debacle, Lucado himself displayed a spinelessness by apologizing for a sermon he preached in 2004 -- 17 years ago - on the topic of same-sex marriage. "I now see that, in that sermon, I was disrespectful. I was hurtful. I wounded people in ways that were devastating." Oh, the pain.

An ecstatic Robinson screamed, "we won"; So, where's the pain and oppression that Robinson bleeds about, pray tell?

The truth is that it has been the exact reverse. The Episcopal Church has oppressed orthodox Episcopalians to such a degree that hundreds of clerics have departed, thousands of laity have left and a string of bishops as well; their voices are no longer welcome. The Communion Partner bishops who were supposed to be the contrarian voice were just quislings in the Episcopal House of Bishops. They are irrelevant. The "big tent", we learned, was full of holes big enough to drive a Mack truck through.

All the while the church's small minority of pansexualists wailed that they were being oppressed, victims of heteronormative priests, most of whom had never said a word about homosexuality. Most priests are too frightened even to touch the subject in the pulpit, except for sermons on "the family" with an occasional glance at the joys of marital sex. They skirted the subject completely for fear of offending a homosexual who might be lurking in the back row ready to pounce if he was even vaguely referred too.

Most orthodox Episcopal priests dared not raise their voices against a behavior they knew was wrong and a danger to souls. They were afraid of offending the revisionist powers that be who were rolling over in the name of "love is love," a tautological nonsense.

Their feelings were hurt because someone they didn't approve of was invited into a "House of Prayer for All People," (the cathedral) which, in truth, was really open ONLY to those who passed the litmus test of pansexual inclusion.

In getting rid of Bishop Love, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry added an emotional twist citing a slave song, "there's plenty good room, plenty good room. Plenty good room for all of God's children. If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples. And you will know the truth and that truth will set you free."

Well, ain't that the truth. The truth set free 100,000 Episcopalians from TEC, and most recently four TEC bishops; freed from the bondage of having to accept the unacceptable. It is these bishops who are in fact "continuing" in God's word and it is precisely why they left. Curry twisted Scripture so as not to offend Gene Robinson.

Then, of course, there is the old canard about "listening". Oh my goodness, we have listened ourselves to spiritual death...for decades. Hollerith had the nerve to talk about "repairing the breach" which starts with listening. That boat sailed years ago.

Today the revisionists want to regulate speech and thought, even to the point of teaching LGBT ideology to small children. Think about that.

In his book "The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self", Carl Trueman shows how the new power of wokeness derives from a combination of 'expressive individualism', Marxist social theory and Freudian psychology.

How people feel, or "lived experience", is now more important than empirically verifiable facts. It does not need data, measurable reality, to back it up, because it defines identity, which cannot be questioned. It takes on more value the more it is expressed publicly, said one observer.

Well, what about the "lived experience" of those who have rejected homosexual marriage, or reversed course, gotten themselves out of the homosexual jungle, married and gone on to have families. Are they being "listened" to? Is their "lived experience" of hope and healing not valid?

Are orthodox Christians going to be made to continue to genuflect before the LGBTQ community because they demand it? Hell no. Are we going to allow ourselves to be called the "oppressor class" because we disagree with their behavior, and choose not to go down their road because we believe souls are at stake? Hell no, we won't go.

Are we going to accept woke consciousness on this issue and allow ourselves to be cancelled because we choose not to agree with them however politely we do so?

Well, how has that worked? It hasn't. The "nicer" orthodox folk were to homosexuals with whom they disagreed with, the more slaps in the face and kicks in the groin they got from the other side. Their jobs were jeopardized, their churches ripped apart and friendships were torn asunder. Nothing worked and that is why separation was the only choice.

If we can no longer say, "The bible says...", and appeals to reason, tradition and natural law no longer carry weight, and I can only tell my own story, then it becomes a solipsist reality. All that matters is what I think and feel, there is no objective truth. Sadly, that is where the Episcopal Church and most of the mainline denominations find themselves today.

The Church of England's "Living in Love and Faith" which has support from some evangelicals are fooling themselves. They think that participation in it provides an opportunity for conservatives as well as liberals to share their story. That is NOT how it will end. First of all, Scripture is questioned as God's Word written and therefore not totally binding. It can, in fact, be questioned. The report says different views can have equal place at the table. Well, that's how it starts, but it's not how it will end. Sooner or later the evangelicals will be forced to either go along or forced out. Jayne Ozanne will see to that. It will be right out of the TEC playbook. They will capitulate like Dan Martins (Springfield), Greg Brewer (Central Florida) and George Sumner (Dallas) did. Compromise has never worked. Never. Resistance is useless.

If the Equality Act is passed in the U.S. the situation will only get worse. Orthodox Christians will be jailed for failing to bow before the phallic god of sodomy. And then cometh the end.

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