The subtle change in language has been attacked within more radical quarters as an affirmation of a status quo--a status quo in which we pay lip service to a vague idea of humanity while still going about the business of killing black people as a matter of course.
One bishop who spoke on condition of anonymity said, "What was said to us was, 'All this talk of laity aside, if you acted like a real bishop, what would you do?' " On Monday and Tuesday, the bishops will fashion their response to the Dar es Salaam directive, and most expect the response to be an affirmation of the status quo.
The Rattigan anniversary drew an outpouring of critical affirmation of his status, although it was perceived by some as a little overdone, especially as the revivals of two of his lesser plays Cause Célèbre at the Old Vic and In Praise of Love at Royal & Derngate, Northampton were far from perfect.
And the intermediate form of political authority is incomplete in the respect in which the exercise of political power involves the mutual recognition and affirmation of the status of each person.
But this much-anticipated measure for both teams was an affirmation of Connecticut's status in the game.
The survey, which was organized by Carlos Basualdo and Michael Taylor, of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is a long-delayed public affirmation of Nauman's status as the most influential living artist.
The metaphor seems to be simply a pretentious decoration, a swaggering affirmation of Farah's status as number one African writer.
To the extent that a political society is best when it involves the mutual recognition and affirmation of the moral status of each person, the kind of society that involves merely justified coercion of some by others is a pale shadow.
My armchair psychologizing tells me that each affirmation of his No. 1 status creates in Roger a bursting forth of unresolved Oedipal tensions, and he sobs in joy and relief.
As if in affirmation of a drifter's status, Jay had only recently moved on again, to the Nicoya peninsula in central America, where he planned a long retirement, part-literary, part-photographic and "part-beach bum".
