This little piggy went to market

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Well, he used to in the nursery rhyme my parents taught me and I, in turn, my children and grandchildren. No more: the Oxford University Press has banned the use of “pig”, “pork”, “sausage” or any other word that could cause offence to Muslims and Jews. It’s as plain as a pig on a sofa that the latter category was thrown in as a decoy.

From here:

The Oxford University Press has warned its writers not to mention pigs, sausages or pork-related words in children’s books, in an apparent bid to avoid offending Jews and Muslims.

The existence of the publisher’s guidelines emerged after a radio discussion on free speech in the wake of the Paris attacks.

Ottawa Imam defends freedom of speech as long as he doesn’t disagree with it

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An Ottawa imam, Imtiaz Ahmed, has declared his support for freedom of expression but that freedom has to be “balanced”. He will supply the balance: you can’t make fun of “religious leaders” like, oh, I don’t know, let me take a wild stab – Mohammed.

He does denounce the Paris murderers for taking the “law into [their] own hand[s]” but if drawing cartoons of the founder of his religion should be illegal, what penalty would he impose? A liberal Saudi version of sharia, 1000 lashes and ten years in jail or a by the book – sorry, Book – capital punishment? He doesn’t say.

From here:

An Ottawa imam has denounced the terrorist attack on a Paris weekly newspaper that killed 12 people, but he says satirical cartoons of religious leaders should be illegal.

Imtiaz Ahmed, an imam with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, said it should be against the law to publish cartoons that depict religious figures in a derogatory way.

“Of course we defend freedom of speech, but it has to be balanced. There has to be a limit. There has to be a code of conduct,” Ahmed said.

A Muslim who hates freedom of expression freely expresses himself

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Anjem Choudary is an imam who lives in Britain; he collects £25,000 in welfare per year while despising the system and taxpayers who pay for his continuing vilification of all the West stands for.

He points out here, that the Charlie Hebdo murders were not only to be expected, they were a requirement of Islamic law. Living in a free democracy, Choudary is at liberty to say whatever he chooses, a right he would cheerfully deny those with whom he disagrees. If I were a Muslim – a common or garden moderate Muslim we keep hearing so much about – I would really, really want to shut him up. Moderate imams: convince me of your moderation by issuing a Choudary fatwa.

Contrary to popular misconception, Islam does not mean peace but rather means submission to the commands of Allah alone. Therefore, Muslims do not believe in the concept of freedom of expression, as their speech and actions are determined by divine revelation and not based on people’s desires.

Although Muslims may not agree about the idea of freedom of expression, even non-Muslims who espouse it say it comes with responsibilities. In an increasingly unstable and insecure world, the potential consequences of insulting the Messenger Muhammad are known to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Muslims consider the honor of the Prophet Muhammad to be dearer to them than that of their parents or even themselves. To defend it is considered to be an obligation upon them. The strict punishment if found guilty of this crime under sharia (Islamic law) is capital punishment implementable by an Islamic State. This is because the Messenger Muhammad said, “Whoever insults a Prophet kill him.”

Diocese of New Westminster moves its office to St. John’s Shaughnessy

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St. John’s Shaughnessy has been costing the diocese of New Westminster $20,000 per month to stay afloat. It’s so empty that it resembles a mausoleum. As a parish, it is a failure; what more fitting setting for a stifling Kafkaesque bureaucracy than the tomb of the interloper that deliberately displaced a once thriving congregation.

The only thing that concerns me is: will there still be room for all the same-sex couples?

From here:

The new Diocesan Office will accommodate existing Synod staff requirements with room for growth and change. There will be meeting rooms available to welcome the various committees and structures of the diocese large and small and these venues will also be appropriate for study

and research. A large classroom/training facility will also serve as a meeting room occupying the former gymnasium. The existing Trendell Lounge will be shared with the Parish for its fellowship time and receptions. Community user groups will be sought for the unused lower floor and the third floor with this income contributing to offsetting costs to the diocese.

The Business Administrator for the Diocese of New Westminster, Rob Dickson had this to say regarding the key components of the renovation project:

“This project is a good use of Diocesan resources now and for the future as the special synod imagined. it will benefit the diocese as a whole, the archives and the Parish by employing an asset of the Parish and the diocese.”

A flood of same-sex couples inundates St. John’s Shaughnessy

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St. John’s Shaughnessy, having ejected over 800 people from its former congregation, is finally seeing the fruit of its labours: one same-sex couple. It only took three years.

From here:

When I visited St. John’s, Shaughnessy for the first time I was immediately taken by how committed the congregation was to welcoming new worshippers and how committed everyone was to the mission of the church. Everyone shook my hand and asked me to come back. I eventually came back more often and now have chosen to become a parishioner at St John’s.

Eventually Douglas and I requested to have our marriage blessed at St. John’s, Shaughnessy. The Parish Council granted this permission and every parishioner that spoke to me about our Blessing Ceremony was encouraging, supportive and joyful for our happiness. As much as my rebirth as a Christian began before I attended St. John’s, this experience has given me deep conviction to the church and specifically to the ministry of St. John’s, Shaughnessy.

At our reception, after the Blessing Ceremony, a friend summed up my feeling more than I could say. He said that in our lifetime, as same-sex partners, we could never have imagined that we could ever legally marry. “And to have a Blessing Ceremony in a church is almost un-believable and to have this occur in a church that was so welcoming is just beyond my wildest dreams.” I felt like he had read my heart.

I am so grateful to everyone at St John’s for making me feel so welcome and allowing me to fully participate in Christian life without reservation because it allows me to feel God’s love and to love all of you.

Ethical investment advice from the Church of England

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Edward Mason is Chair of the Church of England’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group. He recently visited the national offices of the Anglican Church of Canada.

EdwardMasonHenriette620From here:

Whether it is the Rockefeller family joining a campaign to withdraw $50 billion from fossil fuel investments over the next five years or the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement pushing for changes in Israeli policies toward Palestine, many people are thinking and talking about where they don’t want to put their money.

[….]

“We don’t expect perfection,” Mason said, “but we expect a positive direction of travel and a willingness and desire to make that positive journey. So with BP, it was reforming their safety procedures, which they put a huge amount of effort into.”

Henriette Thompson, director of public witness for social and ecological justice for the Anglican Church of Canada, noted that there is a renewed focus on investment issues for the Canadian church because the joint declaration on responsible resource extraction made with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) at the 2013 Joint Assembly commits the churches to “advocate for responsible and ethical investment and actions by individuals, faith communities, corporations, and governments both in Canada and around the world.”

Mason is working hard to “disincentivise” the use of fossil fuels:

From here:

While engagement with companies is an important component of an ethical investment response to climate change, it is not sufficient. We believe that engagement with policy makers is even more important: only policy makers can put the price on carbon that is needed to disincentivise the use of fossil fuels.

Doubtless he would have visited Canada earlier had it not been for the fact that he paddled himself across the Atlantic in a sustainable canoe constructed from renewable bark harvested from an organically grown Amazonian Hymenaea tree lovingly cultivated from a seed in his own back garden.

One would think that Western Anglicanism, having largely replaced the hope of heaven later with the illusion of utopia now, would be enthusiastically supporting the use of fossil fuel. No other technology has benefited billions of people as fossil fuel has. Even the lenses in Edward Mason’s glasses are probably made of polycarbonate, derived from the demon petroleum; let’s see how well the disincentivising goes without your glasses, Edward.

What the Diocese of Niagara wishes for the people of Hamilton

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Better sewers – and a few other things. Notably absent is a desire for the people of the city which is home to the diocesan cathedral to come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour; that must be less important than waste disposal.

From here:

  1. That our elected mayor and councillors provide wisdom, insight, and prophetic vision in governing our city.

  2. That Hamilton become, and is known as, the Canadian city which cares and reaches out most effectively to the poor and to those who live on the margins.

  3. That we provide resources to continue to improve our infrastructure – roads, transit, antiquated systems (water, sewers, etc.).  If this means slightly more in property taxes, it is worth it!!!

What it takes to be a heroic vicar in the Church of England

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According to Giles Fraser, a fellow – albeit rather strange – vicar, all it takes is to be “married” to another man and admit to meeting interesting people while dogging. For the sheltered few who are unacquainted with the unappetising term dogging, it’s something most self-respecting dogs would have little interest in:

the practice of carrying out or watching sexual activities in semi-secluded locations such as parks or car parks, often arranged by e-mail or text messages.

From here:

Heroes of 2014: Richard Coles

A happily partnered gay vicar, former pop star and cool radio presenter, Richard Coles is the patron saint of psychological integration.

Most trendy pop stars don’t ask for a new washer-dryer when being signed by their record label. Most Anglican vicars don’t admit to having met the most delightful people out dogging. How does Richard Coles get away with it, with being so many things at he same time?

Pop star and vicar. Lanky, awkward country bumpkin crossed with politically engaged boy-about-town. Confidently high and low brow. Both Radio 4 and Magic FM. A happily partnered gay man in a still deeply homophobic institution. Beneath the effortless exterior of radio-presenter cool must lie a plate spinner of Olympic talent.

Or maybe that should be past tense, because his national treasure status is partly built on the ability to integrate a set of comedy polarities into one quirky and glorious whole. Which means there is always hope for the rest of us. And not just fellow vicars – but everyone who thinks and feels several different and often seemingly contradictory things at the same time: ie everyone. He has become the patron saint of psychological integration.

What excites Giles Fraser’s imagination – well, other than dogging of course – is our hero’s capacity for living with inner conflict, the only virtue left for liberal Anglicans whose chief delight lies in embracing the anarchy of professing one set of beliefs while living by the light of their opposites: anti-existential Anglicanism.