Thursday, 28 June 2012
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
WHERE DOES HE FIND THEM?
I'm not going to tell you exactly how bad this one is as I don't want to put you off clicking on play and missing out on what I promise you will be a unique experience. But I will say that you can take as many days off purgatory that you want if you somehow manage to get all the way through it.
ONE RULE OF FREEDOM FOR YOU,
ONE RULE OF FREEDOM FOR US
From CHRISTIAN TODAY:
A new Global Charter has been issued by academics and activists to uphold the right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The drafting of the Global Charter of Conscience was overseen by English author and critic, Dr Os Guinness, and German sociologist, Dr Thomas Schirrmacher. They hope that the document will bring religious tolerance back to the centre of public debate and safeguard the freedom of future generations to engage in public life.
The document calls for a public square that maximises freedom for all and asks people to have respect for those with differing views.
Both evangelical and Roman Catholic leaders are on their high horses about this religious freedom thing at the moment. Having lost the intellectual argument on such issues as same gender marriage they are now concentrating on getting exemptions for their churches from secular law when they don't agree with it.
They may have a case in some instances. As religion is voluntary in most non-Muslim countries and in many Muslim countries, why shouldn't religious groups have the right to demand a different behaviour code from their membership than that followed outside of their group? As long as they don't break the core moral law by, for example, offering human sacrifices to their god, I am sure their moral deviance from the norm could be accommodated. If any of their members don't like their bosses' attitude then they can fight for change within the organisation or simply leave. Proper freedom.
But, the churches have disqualified themselves from being the recipients of such a live and live policy within the nations they reside. They have scuppered their own boat by being, as is so often the case, massively hypocritical. Basically, how can religious groups demand the freedom to follow their own moral code within their own faith community if they are actively engaging in trying to stop everybody else from following a different moral code in their own communities?
A perfect example of this hypocrisy is the same gender marriage saga in California. As far as I am aware, at no time did the state legislature indicate that they would be making it compulsory for any religious group to conduct same gender marriage ceremonies on their own property or insist that ministers of religion had to marry same gender couples even when doing so would be against their conscience or the conscience of the denomination they belong to. When same gender marriage was rendered legal by the Californian legislature the result was a first class example of a live and let live policy. The churches could do as they liked on the matter within their own jurisdiction whilst those outside their jurisdiction could take advantage of the new law as they wanted.
But this wasn't good enough for various faith groups such as the Mormons and the Roman Catholics. They couldn't stand the thought that they were not getting their own way outside of their cultic groupings; that they couldn't tell people who had absolutely nothing to do with them, what they could or could not do. So they actively campaigned, not for exemptions (they didn't in this case need them) but for the overturning of the law within secular society. And they won, and they did not offer any exemptions for those within the state of California who wanted to continue to conduct same gender marriage services.
So, lets face it, the US legislature's insistence that Roman Catholics et al should be subject to new healthcare legislation, without exemption, is only fair. There might once have been a reason to follow the recommendations of this "Global Charter" but not anymore. The Roman Catholics and evangelicals of the world have shown themselves completely incapable of following their own suggestions about freedom. They don't want freedom for different ideologies. They don't want freedom at all, not for their own people or for anybody else. They want to be in complete control of everybody. They have proved by their past and continuing political actions that they are not prepared to extend the freedoms they are demanding for themselves to anybody else, particularly not those who disagree with them.
Getting into bed with religionists on this Global Charter would be like willingly jumping into a pit of poisonous snakes. Or as Walt Disney would put it...
Never smile at a crocodile;
no, you can't get friendly with a crocodile.
Don't be taken in by his welcome grin;
he's imagining how well you'd fit within his skin.
A new Global Charter has been issued by academics and activists to uphold the right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The drafting of the Global Charter of Conscience was overseen by English author and critic, Dr Os Guinness, and German sociologist, Dr Thomas Schirrmacher. They hope that the document will bring religious tolerance back to the centre of public debate and safeguard the freedom of future generations to engage in public life.
The document calls for a public square that maximises freedom for all and asks people to have respect for those with differing views.
Both evangelical and Roman Catholic leaders are on their high horses about this religious freedom thing at the moment. Having lost the intellectual argument on such issues as same gender marriage they are now concentrating on getting exemptions for their churches from secular law when they don't agree with it.
They may have a case in some instances. As religion is voluntary in most non-Muslim countries and in many Muslim countries, why shouldn't religious groups have the right to demand a different behaviour code from their membership than that followed outside of their group? As long as they don't break the core moral law by, for example, offering human sacrifices to their god, I am sure their moral deviance from the norm could be accommodated. If any of their members don't like their bosses' attitude then they can fight for change within the organisation or simply leave. Proper freedom.
But, the churches have disqualified themselves from being the recipients of such a live and live policy within the nations they reside. They have scuppered their own boat by being, as is so often the case, massively hypocritical. Basically, how can religious groups demand the freedom to follow their own moral code within their own faith community if they are actively engaging in trying to stop everybody else from following a different moral code in their own communities?
A perfect example of this hypocrisy is the same gender marriage saga in California. As far as I am aware, at no time did the state legislature indicate that they would be making it compulsory for any religious group to conduct same gender marriage ceremonies on their own property or insist that ministers of religion had to marry same gender couples even when doing so would be against their conscience or the conscience of the denomination they belong to. When same gender marriage was rendered legal by the Californian legislature the result was a first class example of a live and let live policy. The churches could do as they liked on the matter within their own jurisdiction whilst those outside their jurisdiction could take advantage of the new law as they wanted.
But this wasn't good enough for various faith groups such as the Mormons and the Roman Catholics. They couldn't stand the thought that they were not getting their own way outside of their cultic groupings; that they couldn't tell people who had absolutely nothing to do with them, what they could or could not do. So they actively campaigned, not for exemptions (they didn't in this case need them) but for the overturning of the law within secular society. And they won, and they did not offer any exemptions for those within the state of California who wanted to continue to conduct same gender marriage services.
So, lets face it, the US legislature's insistence that Roman Catholics et al should be subject to new healthcare legislation, without exemption, is only fair. There might once have been a reason to follow the recommendations of this "Global Charter" but not anymore. The Roman Catholics and evangelicals of the world have shown themselves completely incapable of following their own suggestions about freedom. They don't want freedom for different ideologies. They don't want freedom at all, not for their own people or for anybody else. They want to be in complete control of everybody. They have proved by their past and continuing political actions that they are not prepared to extend the freedoms they are demanding for themselves to anybody else, particularly not those who disagree with them.
Getting into bed with religionists on this Global Charter would be like willingly jumping into a pit of poisonous snakes. Or as Walt Disney would put it...
Never smile at a crocodile;
no, you can't get friendly with a crocodile.
Don't be taken in by his welcome grin;
he's imagining how well you'd fit within his skin.
LOCAL LAD MAKES GOOD
The flagship Anglican church, St. Martins in the Fields in London, gets a new vicar on Monday. For some reason they have sent me all the gumpf on the appointment. I doubt that this was to show me what a dismal failure my career in the Church of England has been but, even so, it does.
Sam was curate at a church only a mile away from where I was a curate back in the 1990s. I never met him but I did know his vicar because he was one of the early Affirming Catholics. Since then, Sam has gone on to be a really big fish, internationally known and respected by the big wig fish in the Anglican Communion. Me, although I'm internationally known, with a bigger weekly congregation than even Sam can boast, I don't even have a licence to officiate in the Church of England anymore because of the complete lack of respect the big wig fish have for me and my abilities as a priest.
I realise I am being bitter and jealous, so there's no need to tell me.
Sam was curate at a church only a mile away from where I was a curate back in the 1990s. I never met him but I did know his vicar because he was one of the early Affirming Catholics. Since then, Sam has gone on to be a really big fish, internationally known and respected by the big wig fish in the Anglican Communion. Me, although I'm internationally known, with a bigger weekly congregation than even Sam can boast, I don't even have a licence to officiate in the Church of England anymore because of the complete lack of respect the big wig fish have for me and my abilities as a priest.
I realise I am being bitter and jealous, so there's no need to tell me.
The Revd Canon Dr Samuel
Wells joins the community of St Martin-in the-Fields as Vicar in a service of
Collation and Induction on Monday 2 July at 6.30pm. This service, conducted by the Bishop of London and the Archdeacon
of Charing Cross, marks the end of twelve-month interregnum and the beginning
of a new chapter in the remarkable story of this vibrant and world-renowned
church.
Inspirational
priest, author and community advocate
Dr Wells follows in the footsteps of an inspiring and pioneering line of vicars.
Dick Sheppard was responsible for
St Martin’s ground-breaking work with homeless people and for the first ever religious
broadcast, starting a relationship with the BBC that continues today. Dick’s support for vulnerable people was
upheld by the Revd Austen Williams who founded the Social Care Unit, which now
flourishes as the Connection at St Martin’s. Canon Geoffrey Brown started St Martin-in-the Fields Ltd,
building strong foundations for the award-winning Café in the Crypt and St
Martin’s highly-respected concert programme. St Martin’s most recent vicar Nicholas Holtam, now Bishop of
Salisbury, spearheaded the £36m Renewal Project. As Sam Wells takes up the reins of this open and inclusive
church, he will serve a thriving community that comes here to worship, to
learn, to be inspired and to be warmly welcomed.
Until recently Sam was
Dean of the Chapel and Research Professor of Christian Ethics at Duke
University in North Carolina, USA, where he led a staff of 25 in upholding the
Chapel’s reputation for preaching, music and liturgy, oversaw the 35 campus
ministers and was the regular preacher at the year-round Sunday services, which
attract a congregation of around 900.
Sam began his career as
curate at St Luke’s, Wallsend in 1991, where he completed research for his
Ph.D. in Christian Ethics at Durham University. He became Priest-in-Charge at
St Elizabeth’s North Earlham in Norwich in 1997, where he helped to form the
first community-led development trust in the East of England. In his most
recent post at Duke, Sam continued
to work with those in need, including through a particular ministry with those
affected by gun violence; experiences outlined in his co-authored book Living
Without Enemies. Sam’s experience in helping the vulnerable will be
invaluable at St Martin-in-the-Fields.
St Martin’s is committed to caring, particularly for homeless and
vulnerable people through supporting the work of the Connection at St Martin’s,
through the Vicar’s Relief Fund which sends out small grants throughout the
UK to help people in crisis and urgent need, and raising money for this
work through the annual BBC Radio 4 St Martin-in-the-Fields Christmas Appeal.
Sam is a well-known
theologian and spiritual writer. He is the author and editor of 17 books,
including God’s Companions (shortlisted for the Michael Ramsey Award), Power
and Passion (the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book for 2007), and, most
recently, What Anglicans Believe, an introduction to the faith of the
Church of England, and a second book of sermons, Be Not Afraid. Sam is
married to the Revd Dr Jo Bailey Wells and they have two children.
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
SAYS IT ALL HEADLINE OF THE DAY
Fox News, Opus Dei and the nation state run by a former Hitler Youth member? It sounds like a polygamous marriage made in whatever hell Rupert Murdoch crawled out of if you ask me.
Monday, 25 June 2012
TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK
I am sure I don't need to tell you who sent this in to me. I think that the Archbishop of Canterbury ought to send a commission over to the States to do a Benny on the Episcopalian nuns. They are a shocking lot (certain individuals more so than others).
MADPRIEST'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Non-trans female actors playing trans women on film and TV is just The Black And White Minstrel Show redux, but for a different bigotry.
ANOTHER BIG DAY
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO
THE REVEREND AND MRS MADPRIEST
Twenty four years of kicking against the pricks together.
It doesn't matter if you don't like the same stuff.
What is important is that you agree on who the enemy is.
What is important is that you agree on who the enemy is.
PRIDE IN SEATTLE
Ace photographer, KJ, took his enormous zoom to his hometown's Gay Pride Parade last weekend and took a few snaps. Here are some of them for your entertainment. The appropriate response is, "Wow! What brilliant photographs. KJ is a Henri Cartier-Bresson for the twenty first century." You will not, of course, be exaggerating.
KJ writes:
Attached are some pictures from Seattle Pride parade. We had Communion before setting out, and some of the photos are from that. The picture of me is proof that Colin, the one we "met" in last week's discussion, does in fact exist. The sculpted walls are from the exterior of the EMP (Experience Music Project) Museum.
I'm not sure if KJ is referring to the third or the fourth photograph when he mentions Colin and himself.
KJ writes:
Attached are some pictures from Seattle Pride parade. We had Communion before setting out, and some of the photos are from that. The picture of me is proof that Colin, the one we "met" in last week's discussion, does in fact exist. The sculpted walls are from the exterior of the EMP (Experience Music Project) Museum.
I'm not sure if KJ is referring to the third or the fourth photograph when he mentions Colin and himself.
DON'T BLAME MADPRIEST, BLAME MADDAD
An 86-year-old very wealthy man went to his doctor for his quarterly check-up. The doctor asked him how he was feeling, and the 86-year-old said ,'Things are great and I've never felt better. I now have a 20 yr-old bride who is pregnant with my child. So what do you think about that Doc ?'
The doctor considered his question for a minute and then began to tell a story. 'I have an older friend, much like you, who is an avid hunter and never misses a season. One day he was setting off to go hunting. In a bit of a hurry, he accidentally picked up his walking cane instead of his gun. As he neared a lake, he came across a very large male beaver sitting at the water's edge. He realized he'd left his gun at home and so he couldn't shoot the magnificent creature. Out of habit he raised his cane, aimed it at the animal as if it were his favorite hunting rifle, and went 'bang, bang'. Miraculously, two shots rang out and the beaver fell over dead.. Now, what do you think of that ?' asked the doctor.
The 86-year-old said, 'Logic would strongly suggest that somebody else pumped a couple of rounds into that beaver.'
The doctor replied, 'My point exactly.'
The doctor considered his question for a minute and then began to tell a story. 'I have an older friend, much like you, who is an avid hunter and never misses a season. One day he was setting off to go hunting. In a bit of a hurry, he accidentally picked up his walking cane instead of his gun. As he neared a lake, he came across a very large male beaver sitting at the water's edge. He realized he'd left his gun at home and so he couldn't shoot the magnificent creature. Out of habit he raised his cane, aimed it at the animal as if it were his favorite hunting rifle, and went 'bang, bang'. Miraculously, two shots rang out and the beaver fell over dead.. Now, what do you think of that ?' asked the doctor.
The 86-year-old said, 'Logic would strongly suggest that somebody else pumped a couple of rounds into that beaver.'
The doctor replied, 'My point exactly.'
Sunday, 24 June 2012
DON'T CALL ME YOUR GRACE; CALL ME MASTER!
From Daryl:
Hello Rev MadPriest,
Are you old enough to remember Roger Delgado as The Master? (I should say: “Mr Magister”, from Doctor Who and the Daemons)
Murder, sedition, hypnotism, black magic… he’s a natural for any kind of senior clerical post ;-)
WORSHIP AT SAINT LAIKA'S
A SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
All are welcome to join me in taking communion.
The order of service is posted beneath the audio file so that you can join in with the service. The words in bold type are the ones we say together.
If you want to physically partake of communion you will require a small piece of bread and a small amount of drink (preferably made from grapes and containing alcohol). How you view the nature of this part of the service is completely up to you.
The order of service is posted beneath the audio file so that you can join in with the service. The words in bold type are the ones we say together.
Click on the arrow on the player to stream.
Download via the MP3 icon below the player.
Download podcast via iTUNES.
MP3 File
CLICK HERE for order of service and credits
(opens in new window)
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