Put Not Your Trust in Princes

A friend, writing in an e-mail string lamenting the liberalization of the Anglo-Catholic movement of the Episcopal Church, wondered why some very wealthy parishes are so liberal when they could afford to be more conservative, mentioning one very very wealthy parish in particular. In the Episcopal Church, wealth buys latitude.

That may be the reason they’re liberal, I wrote. Remember what clientele the parish you mention serves. See for example the just deceased Richard Mellon Scaife, who, though as far as I can tell was not a church-goer, represents the people who attend parishes like the one my friend mentioned. (I speak from the experience of several to me disturbing conversations with such people.)

PITTSBURGH— Richard Mellon Scaife, the billionaire heir to the Mellon banking and oil fortune and a newspaper publisher who funded libertarian and conservative causes and various projects to discredit President Bill Clinton, has died. He was 82 years old.

. . . Despite funding many causes dear to conservatives, Mr. Scaife was libertarian on many social issues. He supported Planned Parenthood and abortion rights, supported legalizing same-sex marriage . . .