African bishops coming to Canada to “to engage in building better relationships”

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From here:

This June, close to 20 bishops from Africa, the United States and Canada will converge on Toronto to engage in building better relationships between national churches.

They are part of a gathering called the Consultation of Anglican Bishops in Dialogue, a rather fluid group that had its origins in the 2008 Lambeth Conference.

At the time, there were tensions between the churches over same-sex relationships, and Archbishop Colin Johnson hosted a fringe event for some African and Canadian bishops that focused on mission in a post-colonial world.

In addition to Archbishop Johnson, the Canadian contingent will comprise Bishop Michael Bird of Niagara, Bishop Michael Ingham of New Westminster, Bishop Terry Dance, suffragan bishop of Huron, and Bishop Janet Alexander of Edmonton.

Meanwhile, Bishops Bird and Ingham are striving to build their very own better relationships with former parishioners who fled to ANiC, by taking over their buildings through litigation. I don’t suppose that will be something they will hold up to the African bishops as a sterling example of  “how to mend relations”, though.

Jimmy Carter supports gay marriage

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He does this because ‘Jesus never said a word about homosexuality’. Jesus didn’t say a word about incest, bestiality or necrophilia either; by Carter’s measure, that would make them ‘very fine’.

From here:

Former President Jimmy Carter has said gay people should be allowed to marry in civil ceremonies, as ‘Jesus never said a word about homosexuality’.

The latest book by Mr Carter, now 87, entitled NIV Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter, encompasses his views on the Bible and on gay equality, among other issues. Discussing the book, he told the Huffington Post gay civil marriages were “very fine” in his view.

Mr Carter said: “Homosexuality was well known in the ancient world, well before Christ was born and Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all of his teachings about multiple things -– he never said that gay people should be condemned. I personally think it is very fine for gay people to be married in civil ceremonies.

 

Rowan Williams admits he is “not always very good with words”

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Who knew?

To reinforce the point, he went on to note that when he met Richard Dawkins in the recent debate at the Sheldonian, it was “the same sort of experience [as] last October when I went to meet President Mugabe.”

I’m sure Robert Mugabe will be cut to the quick by this comparison.

From here:

Dr Rowan Williams said that he struggled with nerves before squaring up to the man nicknamed the “high priest of atheism” over the existence of God and asked friends and supporters to pray for him during the encounter.

He added that, despite having a grasp of 11 languages, been an Oxford professor and the leader of 77 million Anglicans worldwide, he was “not always very good with words”.

Speaking during a visit to Springfield Church in Wallington Surrey on Sunday he was asked about his recent debate at Oxford University with Prof Dawkins about the origins of life which captured attention around the world.

“I was quite nervous about hat really because I never feel I’m at my best in debates, you have to be quick on your feet and clever and slick and I always feel anxious about that.

“I want to think about what I say and I’m not always very good with words.”

He added: “I had the same sort of experience last October when I went to meet President Mugabe.

 

 

Atheists believe in unholy water

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Unable to think of any positive activities with which to occupy their brief sojourn in this pitiless, indifferent universe, atheists in Polk county have decided to busy themselves with scrubbing a road with “unholy water” – water cursed by Richard Dawkins, one presumes. Their intent is to wash away any remnants of a blessing bestowed on the road by Christians.

The Christians prayed that “God would protect us from evildoers, mainly the drug crowd, that they would be dissuaded to come in to the county”. The atheists are bent on “welcoming everybody into Polk county”. Obviously, atheists enjoy the company of drug dealers.

From here:

Atheists in Polk County symbolically scrubbed away at a major highway leading into the county Saturday.

The were removing a blessing placed there a year ago by a group of religious leaders.

Brooms, mops and water hoses in hand, the atheists gathered at the roadside.

“We come in peace .. now that’s normally what aliens say when they visit a new planet, but we’re not aliens, we’re atheists!” Humanists of Florida director Mark Palmer shouted to the group along Highway 98.

Representatives from various atheist groups in the area scrubbed the road at the Pasco-Polk county line. They were figuratively removing holy oil that had been put on the road last year by a group of area religious leaders. That group was Polk Under Prayer, or PUP.

PUP director Richard Geringswald said his group had been blessing the county line.

“And praying for that entryway in to the city, that God would protect us from evildoers, mainly the drug crowd, that they would be dissuaded to come in to the county,” Geringswald said.

But Humanists of Florida members don’t see it that way. They say it makes them feel unwelcome.

“It sends a very bad signal to everyone in Polk County, and (anyone) who travels through Polk county who doesn’t happen to be Christian,” Palmer said, “This event is not about atheist rights; this is about welcoming everybody into Polk county.”

So they took their “unholy water” and washed the road.

A couple of hymn suggestions for Earth Day

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These come courtesy of links from the Diocese of Niagara:

The Earth is my mother
The earth is my mother
The earth is my mother
She’s good to me
She’s good to me
She gives me everything that I ever need
She gives me everything that I ever need

Food on the table
Food on the table
The clothes I wear
The clothes I wear
The sun and the water…..

The earth is my mother and my best friend, too
The great provider for me and you
The earth is my mother and my best friend, too
The great provider for me and you

Her ways are gentle, her life is strong…..

The earth is my mother and my best friend, too
The great provider for me and you

O Beautiful Gaia
O Beautiful Gaia, O Gaia calling us home,
O beautiful Gaia, calling us on.

Fraîche rosée du matin, O Gaia tu nous appelles
Fraîche rosée du matin, rentrons chez nous.

Soil yielding its harvest, O Gaia calling us home
Soil yielding its harvest, calling us on.

Waves crashing on granite, O Gaia calling us home
Pine bending in windstorm, calling us on.

Loon nesting in marshland, O Gaia calling us home,
Loon nesting in marshland, calling us on.

To consummate the celebration, please place a golden calf on the altar and cavort around the church in abandoned pagan revelry, preferably with no clothes on.

A little like this convulsive capering from Christ Anglican Church, London, Ontario. They still had their clothes on in this bit; God is merciful.

Pope perfume

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From here:

Pope Benedict XVI has commissioned a signature scent just for him. His Holiness’ custom-made eau de cologne will convey his love to nature, peace and tranquillity.

Famed Italian perfume maker Silvana Casoli preferred to keep the complete list of ingredients secret to prevent unauthorized copying of the Pope’s scent.

His Holiness, the Head of the Roman Catholic Church will be the only person to wear this fragrance. “I would not ever repeat the same perfume for another customer,” Casoli told the Guardian newspaper.

However she still named a few ingredients. Notes of lime tree, verbena and grass will help embody the Pope’s idea of a perfect eau de cologne.

Casoli has created perfumes for star clients like Madonna, Sting and King Juan Carlos of Spain, The Guardian reports.

Having a unique smell made for oneself is an egocentricity that one expects from Madonna and Sting but not from the Pope.

It’s just as well that the ingredients will remain secret or we’d have eau de Pope in Walmart for all manner of riffraff with pontifical pretensions to ponce themselves up with.

Rowan Williams discusses his retirement

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It seems that he stands by what he said about sharia law; the real problem is not that sharia law is inherently barbaric, but that the word “sharia” is very “emotive”. And it doesn’t mean what a judge in Saudi Arabia thinks it means, apparently: obviously, in the UK, “sharia law” means what the Archbishop of Canterbury thinks it means.

Rowan Williams to resign in 2012

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From here:

The archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is to resign and return to academia as master of Magdalene college, Cambridge.

Williams, 61, will leave at the end of December in time to start his new role next January.

His time in office has been marked by a slowly growing schism in the worldwide Anglican church, which he has failed to heal. Williams has been attacked by conservatives for his liberal views on homosexuality and by liberals for failing to live up to these principles.

It’s hard to see Rowan Williams’ tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury as anything other than an unmitigated disaster: from unproductive indaba groups to foolish remarks about sharia law and now to the failed Anglican Covenant it has all been confusion and chaos. The archbishop’s attempts to find middle ground on the issues tearing the communion apart – similar to the middle ground that he has had to find between his personal beliefs and those his office requires of him – were doomed to failure from the start because there is no middle ground.

We can only hope that his successor has what it takes to stand up for what is right and good in Anglicanism; even if he does, I fear it may be too late to undo the damage that has been wrought over the last nine years.