Smatterings of news

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The Church of England Newspaper has an article on the property settlement in the Diocese of Niagara here.

The Diocese of New Westminster seems to be suffering a degree of financial embarrassment and is selling rectories, including the one belonging to St. John’s Shaughnessy (which is on “a nice lot”).

Peter Elliot, the diocese’s actively homosexual Dean, has been appointed as part-time “Bishop’s Missioner” to assist with the “planting of new congregations” in the empty buildings which once housed thriving ANiC congregations. I’m sure that will work.

And I am off to Dubrovnik.

Gay Pride march in Bratislava

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As it turns out, I missed it. What a shame. However, I did see a counter demonstration by a “Pro Family” group. Here are two of them that I chatted with:

 

When I first spoke to them, I was unaware that the Pride march had just finished, so I didn’t know that theirs was a counter demonstration. They told me that they are not “against homosexuals” they were simple “for the traditional family”. I agreed.

Interestingly, those in  pro-family group were almost all young.

There were a lot of police around, including helicopter patrols; there were no confrontations, though.

The Episcopal Church exerts pressure to abolish the death penalty

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I’ve been ambivalent about the death penalty for a while. On the one hand, if the state has the authority to punish criminals at all – and most would agree it has – why should it not demand the ultimate penalty for the ultimate crime?

Alternately, perhaps murderers should be given more time to repent of their crimes and receive salvation through Christ. Of course, as Dr. Johnson observed, the prospect of being hanged in the morning concentrates the mind wonderfully, so a convict’s imminent demise might turn out to be his best friend.

And then there is the possibility of a judicial mistake.

The Episcopal Church is attempting to aid me in my indecision: its leaders are agitating against the death penalty. A sure sign that there must be some merit in it.

From here:

The Episcopal Church officially has opposed the death penalty for more than half a century, and its advocacy is gaining traction as momentum builds across the country to end capital punishment. Bishops and other church leaders are writing letters, joining coalitions, testifying before legislators and publicly demonstrating their opposition to the death penalty.

But now, having just taken a dip in the crystal waters of the Adriatic, I am going to stroll along its shores to the ancient town of Hvar, stop at a cafe, sample the local wine and ponder no more the vacuity of contemporary Episcopal neologisms.

OHIP and turf toe

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Last Saturday I stubbed the big toe of my left foot on a plastic crate that was full of wine bottles. No. I hadn’t been sampling any of the contents of the crate, but the stub was quite hard. I thought little of it until the next day when my foot was red, ugly (actually, my feet are always ugly, but it was particularly  ugly) and swollen. I had difficulty walking.

On Monday my wife packed me off to a local clinic to see a doctor who didn’t say much other than, “x-ray; I will call you later today”. I had the x-ray and the day ended without a phone call. The next day I called the clinic’s office and asked for a result.

“ We don’t give results over the phone” was the response.

“But I was promised a phone call yesterday. At least tell me if there was a fracture”, I remonstrated.

“We would have called you if there was a fracture” was the response.

“Could you at least confirm that and get back to me.” I replied.

“I’ll leave a note for the nurse, but if you want to discuss this further you will have to come back in.” And sit for hours in our waiting room with dozens of other sick people who are all coughing up blood. She didn’t say that last bit.

I would not have bothered with a doctor’s visit for this if it had not been for the fact that we are off on a trip to Europe this week and it will necessitate a lot of walking – or hobbling.

Today, feeling no better, in desperation, I called a private foot doctor who specialises in sports injuries. Unlike my OHIP employee, he came to the phone immediately and told me that I probably had “turf toe”. “The second joint of your toe is compressed”, he said. “Try pulling on it to relieve the pressure and wiggle it horizontally to break adhesions. Also use a stiff soled shoe and tape it to the next toe.” This was free advice. After a few minutes of pulling and wiggling, my foot felt profoundly better.

Now, to be balanced, a good friend has just had a double lung transplant and is doing well; this was all courtesy of OHIP without which it would have cost millions of dollars.

So, if you need a lung transplant, OHIP is there for you. If you stub your toe, call a private practitioner and bypass the overweeningly arrogant government subsidised quacks who are unable to use a telephone or recognise that the toe they are inspecting is connected to a human being.

What would happen if the Anglican Church of Canada says ‘no’ to the Covenant?

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Astronomers would rejoice because it would provoke an event that last occurred in 1002 when the King of England, Ethelred the Unready, spent his wedding night in bed with his wife and his mother-in-law.

The cosmos would yawn.

If anyone doubts my assertion that it would be the most boring thing to happen in over 1000 years, I have proof: the Episcopal News Service is reporting on it:

The Anglican Church of Canada needs more clarity around what the “relational consequences” would be for not adopting the proposed Anglican Communion Covenant.

This is one of the key messages that Council of General Synod (CoGS) members said the church must convey when the 15th Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) meets in New Zealand Oct. 27-Nov. 7.

Rowan Williams tells the Queen what she needs to be saved from

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Corporate greed, environmental contamination, the fear of strangers, contempt for the unsuccessful and “many more things”, except hell, of course.

And what will do the saving? Nothing supernatural, just “a whole community rejoicing together – being glad of each other’s happiness and safety”.

I can’t understand why Rowan, while he had the attention of such an august audience, didn’t make the most of it and deliver a lecture on the merits of Sharia law; he’s going soft.

From here:

He said: ‘Moralists, including Archbishops, can thunder away as much as they like; but they’ll make no difference unless and until people see that there is something transforming and exhilarating about the prospect of a whole community rejoicing together – being glad of each other’s happiness and safety.

‘This alone is what will save us from the traps of ludicrous financial greed, of environmental recklessness, of collective fear of strangers and collective contempt for the unsuccessful and marginal – and many more things that we see far too much of, around us and within us.’