The anger in particular, although it's typical of what goes on at Virtue Online, is puzzling. The St Mary of the Angels case is an intriguing story -- clearly the lawyers and judges who've worked on it have thought it was worth their time. It's at the center of 20th century Anglican developments like the Congress of St Louis, "continuing Anglicanism", the Anglican Use Pastoral Provision, and later the TAC's Portsmouth Petition and Anglicanorum coetibus. There's a certain amount of evil in the story. but as Hogan's Heroes and Springtime For Hitler make clear, it can be healthy even to laugh at the greatest evil. Tony Morello lies somewhere between Sgt Schultz and Col Klink.
But there's no laughter at Virtue Online, as I assume there's none in Belchertown. The statement from Frederick Rivers that the court's ruling "should not be seen as a major setback" prompted a visitor to write it's "[l]ke someone pointing out 'It ain't over till it's over' when their team is down 10 runs at the bottom of the eighth." My wife and I are pretty sure the statement was drafted for Rivers by Mr Lancaster (another candidate for Sgt Schultz), and my wife suggests that, with the money spent and no tenant in the bank building, Lancaster is now comping his services. Not a major setback indeed.
When I started this blog, I looked to Virtue Online as a reason for not allowing comments. Fr Z from time to time observes that the comment sections of some similar blogs simply allow participants to place their souls in danger. I've never regretted not allowing comments here.
