Rob Bell lends his support to gay marriage

Rob Bell, clearly dissatisfied with the degree, depth and feeling of the furore he created amongst his fellow evangelicals with his book Love Wins, has decided to have another go by voicing his support for gay marriage:

In response to a question regarding same-sex marriage, Bell said, “I am for marriage. I am for fidelity. I am for love, whether it’s a man and woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man. I think the ship has sailed and I think the church needs — I think this is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are.”

By Rob Bell’s measure, if Christians are to flow gracefully in the currents provided by the “world we are living in”, the early church would have avoided fanatically following Jesus to the exclusion of observing the required pieties towards Roman gods. They would have lived happy, long, affirming lives with no hint of the unpleasantness that usually accompanies martyrdom, persecution and torture.

Then, there would be no Christianity, no Western Civilisation and – no Rob Bell eager to affirm people wherever they are.

A new candidate for the Antichrist

Well, new to me, although I admit I haven’t been keeping up on my Antichrists of late.

They seem to come and go: we’ve had Nero, Napoleon, Hitler and, more lately, the Pope (any Pope) and Obama. The most original theory has been the subject of a book: The Antichrist and a Cup of Tea – a seminal work on the subject according to some reviewers. No, I haven’t read it and have no plans to.  The author, Tim Cohen makes the case for Prince Charles being the Antichrist.

In some ways, I find this a great comfort: if I were voting for an Antichrist I would want an inept one and I can’t think of anyone with better qualifications in that department.

He does have to become king first, though; I can think of so many reasons why he shouldn’t become king that one more – even this one – is just a drop in the bucket.

Still, to be on the safe side, all together now: “long live the Queen”.