Who is orthodox?

In the last few years the religious right has repeatedly claimed to be the arbiters of orthodoxy. Without question people in the middle and on the more progressive end have begun more and more to stand outside this bastion of "rightness". This past week as I listened to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States, and as I read a published article by a militant right wing group who claims to stand on "orthodox principles", I found myself questioning their claims. What is right thinking/orthodoxy? How is it that a group of people have come to claim this right without adhering to basic principles of faith? I am writing this blog in an attempt to sort this out. My basic premise is this:

1. Arch-conservatives are not orthodox as they consistently revise scripture to meet their own social agenda.

2. Fundamentalists do not appear to view scripture as the living word of God; rather they treat it as a stagnant, dead, literary work.

3. The tradition of organized religion as specific to Christianity has been revised and obscured by Fundamentalists and arch-conservatives.

Be it resolved (forgive me...a hold-over from convention), that the following terms will be utilized in accordance with the following definitions:

The terms "fundamentalist" and "revisionist" will be used inter-changeably given their propensity for revising Holy Scripture by relying almost entirely upon English translators and theologians for scripture study and for interpreting these revised texts based upon a ethnocentric, limited understanding.

Progressives are people looking to progress the Christian faith in accordance with the living, moving, life-giving Spirit of God.

Regressives seek to utilize the living Word of God as a tool of destruction and division and deny the power of God's Spirit as a revitalizing force in today's world.

The purpose of this blog is to renew our understanding of scripture, tradition, and reason, and to affirm our faith by delving into the reality that is Jesus Christ and the living Spirit of God.