Rowan Williams is frustrated that some Christians are disgusted by homosexuality

Posted on by
10

From here:

He added: “Same with same sex marriage, where once more we’re used to being alongside people who are gay; many of our friends may be – indeed we may be – wrestling with that issue ourselves, and the Church is scratching its head and trying to work out where it is on all that, and what to think about it.

“What’s frustrating is that we still have Christian people whose feelings about it are so strong, and sometimes so embarrassed and ashamed and disgusted, that that just sends out a message of unwelcome, of lack of understanding, of lack of patience.

“So whatever we think about it, we need, as a Church, to be tackling what we feel about it.”

Rowan Williams, in his frustration, seems to miss a rather important distinction. We are all sinners and we all, from time to time do disgusting things; nevertheless, although somewhat tarnished, we are all still made in God’s image and should treat one another with the respect that God’s image deserves.

Just because an act evokes an emotional response of disgust doesn’t mean it isn’t intrinsically disgusting. Personally, I find the thought of homosexual sex simultaneously comical and disgusting; and not only do I feel not the least bit guilty about it, but I derive some satisfaction in knowing that my disgust has contributed in a small way to Rowan’s frustration.

Attendance at St. John’s Shaughnessy is dropping

Posted on by
1

In spite of an influx of cash , a new rector and a “Bishop’s Missioner”, according to one observer, attendance has dropped:

In a building that will hold 1000, September 2011 attracted between 80 to 70 people to the 10:00 a.m. service; now around 30 people attend – presumably distant relatives of the rector and “Bishop’s Missioner”. At the 8:00 a.m. service there are 2 or 3 people.

The Church and politics

Posted on by
7

I’m firmly convinced that when Jesus said “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” he was, among other things, formulating a recipe for how the church and state should relate to each other: they should stay out each other’s business. That is not to say that those in government cannot be guided by Christian principles or that churchgoers should not hold political opinions; it is to say that as institutions, although ultimately they report to the same boss, they should conduct their affairs separately.

But when the church tosses out the transcendent to replace it with the temporal, it ceases to be a religion and all it has left with which to busy itself is politics: such is the condition of the United Church of Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada.

Unhappily for the church, even an establishment as spiritually obtuse as the Canadian government has noticed that mainline denominations are more interested in utopia now than heaven later; why should they not pay taxes like everyone else? At least, then, they would be completely unencumbered by otherworldly pietistic pretentions and could fulminate on the misdeeds of Israel to their heart’s content, unfettered by any vestigial impulse to being non-partisan.

Some bishops have caught wind of this and are recoiling in horror: remember, bishops delight in redistributing other people’s money, not the church’s money. Bishop Dennis Drainville thinks making the church pay tax is an “attack on the churches” by “Harperites”; you would think he would welcome a conservative government’s foray into wealth equity.

So what is the solution? If the church wants to play politics, let it pay taxes; it could raise plenty of money by selling all its  properties lying idle.

Dalai Lama saw Mao Tse-tung as a father

Posted on by
2

I’ve always found the ubiquitous adulation of the Dalai Lama irritating and this video doesn’t do much to change that.

In it, our itinerant holy man declares that he viewed Mao Tse-tung as a “father” and Mao, reciprocating, regarded Tenzin Gyatso as a “son.” Any normal person would go to considerable lengths to conceal an adopted filial relationship with a mass murderer, but not Tenzin Gyatso: he is, after all, a reincarnation of a long line of “enlightenment-beings” and thus must have impeccable taste. The starry-eyed interviewer below is clearly under the spell of the enlightened one.

The Anglican Church of Canada and pacifism

Posted on by
2

As a callow youth I was an avid reader of Leo Tolstoy and became convinced that he was on to something in his impassioned support of pacifism.

Time passed and it occurred to me that to be a comfortable pacifist in a society whose order is maintained by the application of force is, at the very least, hypocritical. The Anglican Church of Canada is no stranger to hypocrisy, of course, so it is no surprise that some of its reverend gentlemen support pacifism.

The Rev. R. G. Cross has made his case for pacifism here.

Sadly, he does leave out one of the more interesting comments made by a 19-20C pacifist, Lytton Strachey. His remark is uncanny in its prescient applicability to today’s Anglican clergy. Strachey was a homosexual and when asked, “If a German soldier tried to rape your sister, what would you do”” slyly replied; “I would try to interpose my own body.”

Many would argue that non-violence is not a practical subject to be explored in the church’s life. Since the days of Constantine, the church has supported empire, the concept of the just war and the right of citizens to defend themselves against aggressors.
 Violence appears to be an integral part of the universe, and personal violence necessary, in some instances, to affirm self esteem in the face of continuing injustice and oppression.

[……]

What is the non-violent answer? The rejection of the use of force to achieve social and political goals. It involves refusal to harm another being.

Michael Ingham lectures on “finding postmodern balance”

Posted on by
3

The full title of the lecture for Luther College is “Finding the Postmodern Balance: evangelical, catholic, liberal.”

Since the demise of Christopher Hitchens, Ingham is surely now the least qualified candidate to lecture on matters Christian; Luther College must be a strange place.