The Week

■ It took warships off the coast of Liberia to get Charles Taylor to leave. In California, it may only take bad poll numbers to get Gray Davis to quit.

■ The Episcopal Church, U.S.A., at its triennial General Convention, elected the Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson to be the next Bishop of New Hampshire. Bishop-elect Robinson is openly— and, he has told the world, actively— homosexual. He divorced his wife and abandoned his two young daughters 18 years ago to follow his sexual inclinations. Two days after this vote, the Convention endorsed the practice of blessing same-sex unions, though it declined to authorize the writing of a liturgy for this purpose. Conservative bishops registered a dignified protest at Canon Robinson’s elevation; over two dozen walked out of the proceedings. The American Anglican Council, an organization of conservative clergy, will meet in Plano, Texas, this October to decide a course of action. Anglican churches in other countries, especially in the Third World, have also protested the Convention decisions, obliging the Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the worldwide church, to summon their prelates to a different conference, also in October. Bishop-elect Robinson is serene amidst all the consternation he has caused. Following the Convention vote, he declared that “I don’t think you can get to Easter except through Good Friday,” thus apparently comparing the event to the Resurrection. He further told the assembled bishops that his “relationship” with his “partner” was “sacramental for me.” Leaving aside Robinson’s cavalier attitude toward his family obligations, his divorce (“A bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife”—1 Timothy 3:2), and his ongoing extramarital sexual activities (“Go, and sin no more”—John 8:11)—for which he displays no repentance (“Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”—Luke 13:3)—is narcissism not a sin, one manifestation of the sin of pride? Is anything a sin any more?

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■ It took warships off the coast of Liberia to get Charles Taylor to leave. In California, it may only take bad poll numbers to get Gray Davis to quit.

■ The Episcopal Church, U.S.A., at its triennial General Convention, elected the Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson to be the next Bishop of New Hampshire. Bishop-elect Robinson is openly— and, he has told the world, actively— homosexual. He divorced his wife and abandoned his two young daughters 18 years ago to follow his sexual inclinations. Two days after this vote, the Convention endorsed the practice of blessing same-sex unions, though it declined to authorize the writing of a liturgy for this purpose. Conservative bishops registered a dignified protest at Canon Robinson’s elevation; over two dozen walked out of the proceedings. The American Anglican Council, an organization of conservative clergy, will meet in Plano, Texas, this October to decide a course of action. Anglican churches in other countries, especially in the Third World, have also protested the Convention decisions, obliging the Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the worldwide church, to summon their prelates to a different conference, also in October. Bishop-elect Robinson is serene amidst all the consternation he has caused. Following the Convention vote, he declared that “I don’t think you can get to Easter except through Good Friday,” thus apparently comparing the event to the Resurrection. He further told the assembled bishops that his “relationship” with his “partner” was “sacramental for me.” Leaving aside Robinson’s cavalier attitude toward his family obligations, his divorce (“A bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife”—1 Timothy 3:2), and his ongoing extramarital sexual activities (“Go, and sin no more”—John 8:11)—for which he displays no repentance (“Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”—Luke 13:3)—is narcissism not a sin, one manifestation of the sin of pride? Is anything a sin any more?