Some delectations from the official organ of the Diocese of Niagara, a diocese of diversity, inclusion and lawsuits.

First a differing view as to the meaning of Fred Hiltz’s lugubrious meanderings when he popped in to say hello in January.

Time and time again, we have prayed for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and we understand ourselves to be acting in response to that guidance. Niagara has not weighed the pros and cons of making the decision to bless same gender unions. We have not positioned ourselves as conservatives and liberals contesting our own righteousness. The Diocese of Niagara is responding to what we believe is the call of the Holy Spirit – to create a rite to acknowledge a blessing that God has already conferred on same gender unions. This is not to suggest that other dioceses are wrong in their discernment of what God is calling them to right now. I have no trouble believing that God could be calling Niagara to one course of action while the call to other dioceses is different. Consistency is not a hallmark of God’s call.

One cannot expect consistency from the anthropomorphic god of the Diocese of Niagara.

It’s easy enough to allow that God is just fine with St. Down in the Slums shouting amens in between singing choruses and All Sable and Minks indulging in a weekly inhalation of incense while accompanied by a slightly off-key choir singing anthems which are somewhat beyond it.

Sex between two men or two women, though, is something the bible forbids, although liberals would argue that point. Either way, it is either forbidden for everyone or allowed for everyone; only a feeble-minded sub-Christian relativism would claim that God is inconsistent in this.

And while we are on the subject of feeble-minded relativism, there is this:

What would need to happen on a Sunday morning to make it meaningful and worthwhile for you to participate in worship?

What could we do or what should we avoid to create an experience of community that is life-giving, life-affirming, and life-changing for you?

The answer to this is obvious: every Sunday when I drive to church, I pass a local “Y”. It has a full parking lot and inside there are rooms filled with hot, sweaty worshippers. It is about as meaningful and worthwhile as the average Diocese of Niagara service, it builds community and it probably is life-giving in that its adherents may live a bit longer than slobs like me who drive past.

The god that is worshipped here is the body; not too different from the various and sundry gods – green, political, utopian, shamanistic, unitarian – comfortably ensconced in the diocese.

And here we have the only activity that is still recognised as sinful by the Diocese of Niagara: earning a lot of money:

The spread between the rich and the poor in this country is sinful.
For the top 100 Canadian CEO’s the average annual earnings are $10,408,054. The head of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion based in Waterloo, Ontario, pocketed more than $51,000,000. How much is enough?

Hang on a minute, don’t CEO’s count in God’s house with its many mansions? What about inclusion?

Is the writer of the article, John Ripley, exhibiting envy? It probably doesn’t matter, since that was struck off the diocesan list of sins in the synod of 1973.