VIEW POINT: As far as I know I have never met the Most Reverend John McDowell, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland. I have no particular wish to meet him, I like to choose my own company. I am sure he had no particular wish to meet Enoch Burke but the facts are that he did. The Burkes have a particular knack for making sure that you don’t get away. McDowell didn’t. In situations like this if you have truth on your side all you have to do is listen and answer simple questions in a simple way. If somebody asked me how many genders did I think that there were I would simply say two, I wouldn’t make a run for my house. What’s the problem, it’s only a question although I do admit it is from the Burkes. But all that means is that there will be a higher level of scrutiny to your answer so the trick is to keep it simple, two genders, any objection, full stop.
How Many Genders Are There?
In a widely circulated social media posting the Archbishop is recorded as refusing to answer that simple question. Could it be that he doesn’t know the answer? His only wish was to get away and you don’t get away from the Burkes, everybody knows that. That was the Archbishops opportunity to put the record right, to make amends for past wrongs and to give some biblical based teaching. He failed miserably, what to McDowell was an unfortunate ambush could have been transformed into a wonderful opportunity to put the record right. Love him or hate him Mr Burke has spent over 700 days in jail on a point of principle. I am deliberately ignoring legal obfuscation and barring order type language, call it for what it is, a point of principle. That gives him skin in the game, he is more entitled than anybody to ask a straightforward question and to get an answer that aligns with science, with biology, with centuries of wisdom and oh yes, with the Scriptures if that means anything to McDowell.
Scriptural Truth?
The Archbishop acts ‘in patronage capacity’ at Wilson’s Hospital School so the school ethos and how it is interpreted or misinterpreted comes under his watch. He has the power to intervene and the power to walk away. Under no circumstances would I allow my good name to be tainted by any school or organisation that flouts science, the correct use of grammar or Scriptural truth in such a warped or degenerative way. I value my reputation and so should the Archbishop. For the Church of Ireland to allow itself to sink into this bottomless pit only indicate to me an idiocy that allows common sense to be so corrupted that the clear and only way out of the pit remains obscure to their vision.
On a bigger picture theme, I must ask is the Church of Ireland a fake church, enjoying the trappings of religion but lacking belief. Are we witnessing theatre or church? Are their senior clerics actors or representatives of the Gospels? As a member of a smaller sister denomination I fully understand how the business end of religion can obscure the real purpose of religion, I don’t want to be too harsh, I understand that all churches have to exist in the real world with premises and infrastructure that can subtract from the real message of the scriptures. But failure to clearly state that there are only two genders and to make sure that that is the policy of any organisation that you may give patronage to represents moral failure and unfitness for office.
Resign McDowell
To Archbishop McDowell I must say resign. I must say resign now as to do so will send out a powerful message that you acknowledge your error. We all make mistakes and we must all suffer the consequences of our mistakes. By ‘brass necking’ your failure and flaunting your error you are dragging the church of Ireland into further disrepute. The Burke saga won’t go away. You must know that by now. What is needed is a clear statement from the church on gender, a clear break with Wilson’s Hospital School and for the church to seek rapprochement with the Burkes, an acknowledgment that the church was wrong. The very many scripturally aware loyal church members deserve leadership that they can be in agreement with and proud of. Do what’s right now.
Source: Anonymous