Dear Editor:

I write in response to the communication from Rev. Barbara G. Hager, Clerk of the Southern New England Presbytery Permanent Judicial Commission.

1. She says, "Simply stating 'defiance' is not an action subject to discipline." I believe that she is mistaken. Even the Stated Clerk of the PC(USA), a man who makes no secret of his sympathy for those who affirm the goodness of homosexuality, has clearly stated that there is no right to defiance of the Book of Order.

2. She says that our denomination has no rule against ordaining homosexuals. I believe that she is mistaken. If there is no such rule, why have the More Light people and the Witherspooners put up such a fierce resistance to the affirmation of G-6.0106b? During the past year when this clause was being debated and voted upon for the third time, the debate centered exclusively upon the sinfulness or sinlessness of homosexuality. Everyone understood what that debate and that vote was all about. Where was Ms. Hager?

3. She says, "I am ashamed that someone like Mr. Jensen is in MY church." I was unaware that she is the proprietor of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Our Book of Order clearly states that "all power in heaven and earth is given to Jesus Christ by Almighty God . . . God has put all things under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and has made Christ Head of the Church, which is his body" (G-1.0100a). I understand that she is speaking somewhat figuratively, but, as a lawyer, she surely must know the potential effect of statements that are open to misinterpretation!

4. She says that Mr. Jensen "obviously has some neurotic or psychotic problems with his sexuality." While she identifies herself as a clergyman and as an attorney, she never refers to her credentials as a psychiatrist or psychoanalyst. What evidence does she have to support her diagnosis? This appears to me to be a clear case of practicing medicine without a license. Perhaps Mr. Jensen can sue her for medical malpractice.

5. Finally, no one who reads her message can remain oblivious to the tone of that communication. From start to finish the message is characterized by the worst sort of mean-spiritedness. Shrillness, sarcasm, and invective are only a few of its qualities. It is cut from the same cloth as the imprecation from a former denominational official who, speaking of orthodox Presbyterians a few years ago, said, "Damn them! I wish they would go away!" If she represents the people in our church who uphold inclusiveness, justice, and love, I would hate to see what a hostile faction might look like!

I sincerely believe that anyone on Ms. Hager's side of the divide within the denomination who feels that she "scored some points" for her faction, or who is impressed with her presentation in any positive way, is so far out of the realm of true Christianity and true Presbyterianism as to be a zero or a cipher within the denomination. I have long been struck by the frequency in this forum with which orthodox Presbyterians have had to say to their liberal/progressive brothers and sisters, "You are wrong," or "That is a misstatement," or "You seem to be deliberately distorting the truth," or some such response. I do not understand why these people endorse the use of lies and mean-spiritedness as valid tools in their desperate attempt to remain in power within the denomination, even when they clearly have no foundation in either Scripture or the Book of Order.

Yours in Christ,