Bazzer's world

Ed Thornton for the Church Times has produced a summary of what our Archbishops and a few bishops had to say in their Christmas messages about social division but it was this reference that had me digging deeper: The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, preaching in Llandaff Cathedral, said that the Occupy protesters had “reminded us that in Jesus, the view of God as a holy, set-apart God has been shattered for ever”.


Dr Morgan started his Christmas day sermon with a reference to the Occupy protesters. Clearly disappointed that they didn't give him another publicity opportunity by choosing his cathedral for their protest he had some harsh words for St Paul's cathedral clergy when he seemed to be likening them to the Pharisees. Not cleanliness next to Godliness but, rather, filth is more holy appears to be the new message. I can see what he is trying to say but he misses the point that in removing the 'otherness' of God everything is removed with it as witnessed by people voting with their feet and emptying churches. 


The Archbishop's true agenda appears in a follow-up interview for the Western Mail when he said that he was 'holding on to the hope that the church will accept women bishops before he steps down'. This is to be his legacy regardless of the divisions caused and the example of his US counterpart. He said: “The thing about Wales is we haven’t got extreme views and it’s quite a small church and you know one another individually and therefore you are able to talk to one another. Certainly, I haven’t felt any rancour from those who hold a different position.” [Apparently he ignores them - Ed.]


It might be 'quite a small church' to him but for others it is part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in which the overwhelming majority of Christians hold true to the faith, dwarfing the three-vote margin that so disappoints the Archbishop. If he is so interested in the wishes of the majority, why does he not look to the whole church rather than just his own little world becoming a symbol of dis-unity in the process? His Christmas day sermon is full of references to Jesus breaking down barriers and the prominence He gave to women but sadly for Bazzer, not as apostles. Christ set us a different example, an example the wider church is content to follow without putting a personal spin on it. The leader of the Church in Wales would be better served doing the same instead of looking to Christ only if it suits his argument.

The Highs and Lows of Christmas 2011

Three cheers for Her Majesty! While many of her subjects, both sacred and secular, feel the need to apologise for celebrating the Christian festival for what it is, the Queen had no qualms about delivering her Christmas message full on ending with: "It is my prayer that on this Christmas day we might all find room in our lives for the message of the angels and for the love of God through Christ our Lord".


We are a Christian country. It is 'through Christ our Lord' that we really do have something to celebrate, not crass ideas like Winterval. If our leaders followed the Queen's example, stopped making excuses and stood up for what we believe as Christians, we would be the better for it. As the appalling Christmas time tragedy in Nigeria escalates with yet more examples of Muslims persecuting Christians, it is not good enough to dismiss these acts as the work of extremists and ignore the ideology that is responsible for the atrocities. Cries of Islamophobia are used too readily to suppress legitimate criticism, frightening people into submission while the rights of minorities to do just as they please are upheld to the detriment of the majority. The British way of life has become a continual round of apology for being British and doing things our way.


In Israel the majority is being urged by President Shimon Peres "to save the majority from the hands of a small minority" and to "save the soul of the nation". Why can't we be more like that? Too many Christians are already a persecuted minority in their own country. Our leaders, both sacred and secular, should follow the Queen's example and deliver the Christian message without any qualms.


Postscripts
1. The price of converting to Christianity: Bishop Umar Mulinde is blinded with acid to cries of ‘Allahu akbar [God is greater]’ after his family drove him away with clubs and machetes for converting from Islam to Christianity. There are many other reports of persecution of Christians around the world in this link.
2. More concerns expressed here. FO response here. All talk. No change, no hope, no use.
3. An excellent analysis of the problems face by non-Muslims here.

The Light of the World

Wishing you a Happy and Blessed Christmas

Spare a thought for our persecuted fellow Christians this Christmas

Many of us are now looking forward to a cosy celebration of Midnight Mass followed by a hearty Christmas dinner so spare a thought for other Christians who are being persecuted throughout the world. Some will be thankful that their lives have been spared after their place of worship has been destroyed while others have paid the ultimate price for their faith. But Christianity is still the dominant world religion. Pray that our leaders will strive harder to keep it that Way this Christmas, in the new year and in years to come.

A step too far

"Margaret Thatcher deserves every honour – apart from a state funeral" runs the headline in Peter Oborne's piece for the Telegraph. As David Cameron says, 'let me be absolutely clear', I have no problem with the second part of that headline. Where are the unifying acts that warrant the distinction of a state funeral? Despite some lingering resentment of his use of troops against miners in 1910/11, that Churchill deserved the honour is beyond dispute in reward for a nation's gratitude for leading us to victory in what was our greatest time of need .

Oborne perpetuates the myth implied in Thatcher's triumphant pose with the union flag with his assertion: "our former prime minister remains magnificent: brave, impervious, indomitable, the giantess of our time". 

The reality for others in the myth-making process is different. Her dead heroes lie far from home in the cold, distant Falkland Islands while others feel the shiver here. We may no longer be held to ransom by devastated industrial muscle but that has been replaced by the tyranny of bankers. Our manufacturing base has been replaced by an over praised service sector with its financial muscle. The result? Pauper's funerals increasing at an alarming rate, millions unemployed including over a million young people with little if any hope of a job, home ownership beyond the reach of increasing numbers of young people while out of control bankers ruin the lives of our people, something Herr Hitler failed to do, thanks to Churchill.

The unity that a state funeral would imply is absent. Many whose lives were ruined by Mrs Thatcher would happily picket a state funeral. Common sense should prevail but that is something else in short supply these days. A state funeral is not something to be devalued. Value for money was one of Mrs Thatcher's main tests even if often flawed, but a legacy admirably expressed in this e-petition. 

"We are all in this together." (20)

 Source: realsociology

By his own admission Danny Alexander has confirmed that Government attacks on tax-paying public servants (average pension £5,600 compared with his £26,403 if he leaves at the next election before picking up lucrative directorships in the financial sector) has been all about saving billions of pounds for the exchequer rather than affordable pensions. That should help pay for the tax dodging activities of companies who get fat on the rest of us.

New Anglicanism

My wife never tires of telling me that men simply do not understand women and have no idea what the church is letting itself in for as feminism invades the church. A startling example of this and what has happened to the Anglican Church in the US  appears in VirtueOnline with: 

Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori's Aggression Against Anglican Leaders 

Jefferts Schori attacks Archbishop Rowan Williams with the Charge of Double-Mindedness  

 We have been warned.