How do you get people to do things, vote for things, that they don’t want? Hmm. Many answers come to mind. In terms of the Anglican Covenant, it seems that the powers that be have been playing “Ecclesiastical Dominos” in order to get the Anglican Covenant passed:
Ecclesiastical Dominos
From The Satirical Christian blog
How do you get people to vote for something they don’t want?
In the Church of England, it’s easy. You employ the domino effect.
But a clever ploy was used. People who were inclined to vote against it were told that it would be wrong to do that because, after all they were only voting to pass it on to Dioceses for consideration. If they voted against it, therefore, they would actually be voting against the democratic process of the Church of England, by denying Diocesan Synods the opportunity to have their say. What was the result? The vote was overwhelmingly in favour, despite the misgivings of the many. The first domino was set.
The second domino is being set up now, because as the Covenant is taken round the Dioceses, they are being told a different story. They are being told that the Covenant must be a good thing because, after all, General Synod voted for it by such a large majority! Hence, obedient Diocesan Synods do not need to question the Covenant too closely before voting in favour.
If this strategy succeeds, then the third and final domino will take the Covenant all the way to ratification.
Tip of the hat to Simon Sarmiento!