Wining and dining = reconciling
by Marcus Walker, Sounding Board:
A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum. Well, not the Forum strictly speaking. I mean the General Synod of the Church of England — but as forum and synod share much of a meaning (as places of meeting for coming together and deliberation) I stand with the funny thing happening on the way to the Forum. And, indeed, at it.
The Church of England, for all its reputation as being a bit wet, is not known for being especially peaceable. That brings with it a great burden: we are always seen scrapping in public, and those whose churches like to pretend to a uniformity of thought enjoy sneering at the church which allows true contestation of thought and theology.
This is nothing new. Look, for example, at T.S. Eliot’s opening to his (incredibly long) essay on the Lambeth Conference in 1930:
The Church of England washes its dirty linen in public. It is convenient and brief to begin with this metaphorical statement. In contrast to some other institutions both civil and ecclesiastical, the linen does get washed. To have linen to wash is something; and to assert that one’s linen never needed washing would be a suspicious boast.
Now with the washing of dirty linen often comes quite a bit of acrimony; people focus anger (righteous or otherwise) on their opponents, and say things which makes reconciliation less likely.
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