Religious upheaval

Religious upheaval is not always a bad thing. Yeah, there was the Spanish Inquisition and we can blame our Puritan roots for "voluntary overtime" but right now, as you read this, there is a schism happening, and I think it's a good thing. The first link may not work because it's the New York Times, but the link from Slate will eventually take you there. Having been raised Episcopalian, liberal, and American, I must say I'm damn proud.

Quick recap in case you don't want to put the effort into reading the article or don't know the back story: the US Episcopalian Church (part of the world-wide Anglican Communion - sort of a religious federation) voted to put a woman in as Archbishop and also instated an openly gay bishop. The conservatives freaked out and whole churches turned from their diocees to Anglican diocees abroad for help. The British, who started the whole Anglican thing way back under Henry the VIII, try to use their influence to keep the other branches in line, but obviously that's not going to fly right now.

The big question is: will the Episcopalian church break off from the Anglican church? Hm.