All Comments (2)

Rev. Mr. Anderson,

Your experience, while regrettable, is very common for those who have to deal with any sort of organization, be it business, governmental, or religious.

I was head of two state government agencies and occasionally resorted to the same strategy employed by your Presiding Bishop: IGNORE IT AND IT MAY GO AWAY.

I often received a letter on a subject I simply didn't want to deal with. I'd place a bet with myself on whether, if I ignored the letter and didn't reply to it, the writer wouldn't pursue the subject, the issue would vanish, and I'd be home free.

I was amazed and sometimes saddened at how often and how well my ploy worked.

I was also frequently on the other side of the fence: my letter went unanswered. To deal with that I developed a strategy which I would have recommended to you:

*** Call the Bishop.

*** If no answer, show up at his office and
confront him. If necessary, push past the receptionist.

*** If that didn't work, do one of the following, the order being determined by the facts on the ground:

(A) Give the story to the press, in hope that the reporting will embarrass or force the Bishop to respond;
(B) Organize a protest at/in the Bishop's office, and call the press (including TV) - tell them to bring their photographers.

*** If nothing has worked, make up good print and TV ads to embarrass and coerce the Bishop, and run them every day til your money runs out.

*** Still no results:

Give up your Christian beliefs, become a Cathar, and accept that the Lord of This World is the "Ignorant Demiurge".
This deluded being thought he was the Godhead, while actually he was only a lesser, narcissistic diety, who had created matter and the universe, the central and universal characteristic of each being an evil nature.

I appreciate that you were simply being a good Christian ("turn the other cheek") when you didn't challenge the Bishop on his uncivil non-response to your letter.

But sometimes a little Muscular Christianity is necessary to advance The Good.

Of course, it's always possible the the Bishop never got your letter. Another reason you might have called his office - to find out.

Best wishes.

Mr. Anderson,

It is sad your well-thought letter did not receive the attention and action it deserved. Perhaps those in the main office didn't want to wade through a long missive. (Did you put a synopsis at the beginning?)

Don't give up. Try again.

I have often thought that we need a permanent panel of experts, perhaps a rotating volunteer panel, constantly evaluating all our activities and their long-term consequences. Such a panel would have to have teeth.