I have grown weary of regular distortions and flat-out errors in some of the “news” writing of the Anglican right. The Rev’d George Conger, who seems like a perfectly pleasant fellow, is a major figure among “news” reporters of the right. He’s also one of the most egregious offenders in this department.
So I’ve decided, here on 7WD, to begin debunking these distortions and errors when I see them. This is not the first time I’ve gone on a debunking campaign, you’ll remember (see here, here, and here). To be fair, I do occasionally make mistakes here, and in the name of so-called humor, I sometimes take liberties of all kinds. But I don’t pass myself off as a bona fide news sources.
Here’s today’s. It shows basic sloppiness. Writing for the Church of England Newspaper (which, despite its name, is not affiliated with the Church of England), Conger describes Virginia as “The Episcopal Church’s largest diocese”. Of course, that’s just not true. That claim belongs to the Diocese of Haiti. Fr. Conger might find it easier to keep this in mind if he also avoided the term “national church” when referring to the Episcopal Church, since it encompasses many more nations than the United States.
Also, and this is probably the fault of copy editors, “Convocation” in the title of CANA is singular, not plural.
Now before your scour 7WD for similar mistakes, remember two things. First, I do not claim to be unbiased or journalistic. Second, I sorely lack an editorial staff, as any regular reader will know. These mitigating circumstances do not obtain with CEN and other publications.
Today’s errors are mostly the result of carelessness. You’ll see in future days that the errors are often meant to distort the reader’s view of situations. Stay tuned.