Pointless

I had been meaning to post something about the latest draft of the Anglican Covenant. Mark Harris has some excellent analysis, as do several others.

In some ways, the latest draft gives the impression of having been improved. But since then, the comments of crypto-schismatic Ephraim Radner and the antics of several crypto-scismatics in the US have shown that the seemingly improved draft is so larded down with poisoned pill clauses as to make an already hideous concept even worse.

There are two possibilities here:

• The Covenant dies and the Communion survives, or
• The Covenant survives and the Communion dies.

Either way, Rowan Cantuar is unwittingly presiding over the death throes of Anglicanism while doing nothing to prevent it.

Fr. Matthew on the Heresy of Biblical Inerrancy

Gotta love that Father Matthew.

I hope she's wrong - I'm afraid she's right

I'm sure I'm not the first dad this has ever happened to, but there are times when my now grown up children say and do things that take my breath away - most often in a good way.

My daughter blogs. Not as frequently as I do. And never on matters related to the fractious state of the Anglican Communion. Of late, her blogs have, naturally enough, have revolved around her new status as "an incubator" and the various reflections which impending motherhood provoke. I have included her on my blogroll - in a segregated "non-ecclesiastical links" section.

Today, I want you all to go over and read her latest post. She is the first commentator I have seen who rightly identifies why the Susan Boyle story is so inspiring, so poignant - yet so disturbing.

I'd avoided the story at first. I mean, I got the gist of it, but I hadn't bothered to go watch the video. Now that I've seen it, I'm mostly glad I did.

YouTube has disabled the embedding code, but here's the link. Go watch.

And watch all the eye-rolling at the beginning, the sneers, the very clear undertone of "how dare this unbeautiful, middle-aged, unemployed woman who's 'never been kissed' pretend that she has any talent - or indeed any redeeming qualities at all."

It is inspiring. The ugly duckling can sing. (I acknowledge the mangled metaphor of the swan who cannot.)

It took my brilliant daughter to articulate what it was about the story that made me queezy.

It makes me uncomfortable, it makes me feel bad, it gives me this weird uneasy feeling in my stomach as I try to figure out if this woman is aware that on some psychological level she's back in the high school locker room being befriended by the popular girls as a joke. If she knows that the kindness she is being shown will last only until some great final act of humiliation is reached, or until her 15 minutes ends and she find herself alone once again with only her cat to sing to.

I don't know what it is about Susan Boyle and the media storm surrounding her that gives me a heavy feeling of foreboding in my chest, but I'd be willing to bet it has a lot to do with the little person growing inside of me, the kind of world s/he is about to enter, and my powerlessness to completely shield them from it.

I hope my daughter is wrong. For her sake, and for the sake of the little heart growing inside her, I pray she's wrong.

But it rings too true.

Doesn't it?

So, where is the gospel in this?

Perhaps that God does not disregard the small things and the rejected things. God does not ignore the sparrow, nor the lily. God takes the ordinary to do the extraordinary; manger, water, bread, wine.

And perhaps that God knows in himself what it is to be disregarded. "He was despised. He was rejected. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief."

Susan Boyle is a beautiful and talented woman. She is beloved of the world for the moment. She is beloved of God for all eternity.

The Easter Message for the Facebook Age

Jesus is online again.

ALLELUIA!

Jesus on Facebook?

A humorous look at the Passion as it might have been recorded on Jesus's Facebook page. Note that the page narrative starts at the top and runs downward, whereas a real Facebook page would start at the bottom and move upwards.

I don't recall where I first saw the link, but it appears to be the work of the campus and young adult ministries sponsored by St. Michael and All Angels, Dallas, so H/T to them.

As it says:

Jesus is offline.

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But stand by.

A Compendium

Four things - not necessarily related.

1. The Lagos Guardian, no major supporter of gay rights, has published an editorial that questions why the Nigerian Parliament is wasting time considering legislation that would make same sex marriage illegal - marriage actively supported by the odious Primate of Nigeria.

Homosexual acts are already criminal offences in Nigeria. When your very existence is threatened in an authoritarian state, you tend to focus on more immediate issues - like not being beaten to death or not being thrown in jail. I doubt that marriage is even on the radar for LGBTQ Nigerians.

The editorial mostly defends homophobia - but it closes with a paragraph that is worth reading by any sane person:

Since sodomy is already criminalised in Nigeria, we wonder whether the National Assembly is utilising its time optimally by focusing on homosexuality when the majority of our people are suffering from hunger, lack of access to water and disease. Moreover, as pointed out by the gay lobbyists, same sex marriage is not a common social practice in Nigeria therefore legislating against it is redundant and can only further stigmatise the sexual minority. Perhaps the National Assembly should be spending its time on real issues that impact on the lives of long-suffering Nigerians.

Of course, it is obvious why Akinola et al are so determined to pass this bill (having lost in last year's effort to criminalize tolerance towards gays and lesbians). LGBTQ people are a good wedge issue, as Karl Rove knew full well. And wedge issues are a very effective distraction from real issues. Thus they serve corrupt politicians very well - whether secular or ecclesiastical.


2. Portia de Rossi satirizes the silliness of arguments against secular legalization of same sex marriage in this clip from Jimmy Kimmel Live.




3. It happens to be the anniversary of the assassination of Oscar Romero, Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Salvador. He was shot to death while celebrating mass in a hospital chapel. Despite his reputation as a conservative, he was highly critical of the far right regime and their death squads and an uncompromising shepherd of the Salvadoran people. The following clip shows real footage of Romero with clips of the actor Raul Julia who portrayed the archbishop in the movie Romero.




4. As my Facebook friends will know, I expect to be making an announcement in the next few days regarding my future career. I'd appreciate prayers from any and all for the success of this venture. Details to follow.

Darn that ELP

I've previously written about a posting on Elizabeth Kaeton's blog about an older parishioner with dementia. Well, darn her, she's done it again.

The Mad Priest calls her the "Evil Lesbian Princess." I've seen her refer to herself as "That Kaeton Woman."

I think I'll just call her "that priest who likes to make me cry by reminding me about my Nana."