Being nice makes clergy cranky

The Church of England ­ parent church of my own denomination, the Episcopal Church -- reports that its parishes are a "toxic cocktail" of bad behavior, full of parishioners with "neurotic personality disorders bordering on the psychotic."

This not-so-good news comes from a recent study of the state of the church in England. The study has received a good deal of press because it introduces a new disorder -- irritable clergy syndrome. This syndrome occurs as a result of clergy attempting to be nice to everybody all the time, according to the experts who conducted the study.

Naturally, I am attracted to the notion of irritable clergy syndrome. At last, an excuse for my bad behavior! When I'm short-tempered or just not very nice, it's because I can't help myself -- I have a verifiable, clinical-sounding Syndrome! Read more