Boards and bishops behaving badly

I do hate it when I have to be ashamed of the institutional apparatus of my church. And, unhappily, the Episcopal Church has not covered itself in glory in the matter of a priest, the Rev. Bruce Shipman, who got in hot water for pointing out that Israel's atrocious treatment of Palestinians is not free of consequences. The (now former) Yale chaplain dared to state what is obvious to reasonable people. Here's the letter he wrote to the New York Times about an essay on European anti-semitism. It seems to have cost him his job.

Deborah E. Lipstadt makes far too little of the relationship between Israel’s policies in the West Bank and Gaza and growing anti-Semitism in Europe and beyond.

The trend to which she alludes parallels the carnage in Gaza over the last five years, not to mention the perpetually stalled peace talks and the continuing occupation of the West Bank.

As hope for a two-state solution fades and Palestinian casualties continue to mount, the best antidote to anti-Semitism would be for Israel’s patrons abroad to press the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for final-status resolution to the Palestinian question.

The Bishop of Connecticut says Shipman was pushed out by a conflict with a Yale Church board. The story remains a little murky, but that it seems undeniable that Shipman is held to have talked out of turn.

The church should be defending its truth-speakers, not punishing them. Don't I wish ...