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Vatican installs New Gate...LORD it's a slow news day...

2006-02-08T10:34:00.000-05:00

It may not be pearly, but the Vatican is opening a new gate in its centuries-old walls. The Vatican, the world's smallest sovereign state, said Tuesday it would open a new gate Friday -- to be used only by cars and pedestrians leaving the Catholic enclave. The seat of the papacy is a small place, so the event is big local news -- worthy of a one-and-a-half page statement from the "office of the governor."

So, even if you didn't like or necessarily agree with him, JPII took on Communism and the liberation of Poland and things like that. BXVI.......installs gates.

And there was much rejoicing.

God, Jesus, and Coffee, not necessarily in that order

2005-06-14T16:45:00.000-04:00

Really not sure what to make of this one, but I was trying out Blogpulse.com, which lets you search blogs. They have this nifty "trend search" which will place the frequency of posts about any given subject on a graph for you.

Being a theology blog, I tried out "God" and "Jesus" because, hey, you can't get any more basic than that, right? Also I tried something a bit more neutral (at least to most people), "coffee". And thus we find the following:

Frankly, I was surprised at the 6-month popularity of blogging about God. It consistently beat out such things as "coffee" "George Bush" and even "sex". However, Jesus scored fairly low except, of course, for Christmas and Easter.

Now, of course this little study of mine is unscientific in the extreme, and perhaps the only thing people were blogging about were swear phrases involving the use of the word "God", but at the very least it's nice to know people think more about Jesus than they do about coffee at least twice a year...

Basil Pennington Dies

2005-06-10T19:09:00.000-04:00

June 3, 2005. With heavy heart and confidence in the Resurrection, I announce that Father Basil Pennington, one of the principal original teachers of centering prayer, died June 3, 2005 at 5.40 PM Eastern time. He was being weaned from his respirator and was recovering fairly well from the many surgeries he experienced after his very serious car accident on March 29. He took, however, a sudden and unexpected turn for the worse yesterday morning. He died with his abbot, Father Damian, and Father Matthew, his close friend, with him. He clearly communicated his wish that as he took a turn for the worse, he be allowed to die with no further surgical intervention, peacefully surrounded with his brother monks praying for him. And he did.

This is from thecentering.org website. It's very sad, especially considering I could barely find any news articles about it at all. But then I suppose since it didn't have anything to do with a suicide bomber, Bush, or homosexuality no one cares. I'm kind of assuming that if you read a blog like this you probably already know this, but Pennington was a Trappist monk (i.e. a member of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance) and a prolific writer. His best known work was Centering Prayer which helped to popularize this form of prayer again in the west. Some felt that his thought at times strayed too far afield from traditional Christianity, but regardless he helped to bring the concept of Christian contemplation back to the Western masses.

Br. Basil pray for us.

Rowan Williams to Authorise Controversial Civil Unions for Gay Clergy, as long as they don't have sex...

2005-05-30T10:23:00.000-04:00

Coming at a very interesting time considering where things stand in the Anglican Communion,

It has been announced that homosexual priests in the Church of England may officially be allowed to take part in civil unions under new proposals drawn up by senior bishops, which was led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

Now, I have to admit that this sounds very like an attempt to appease both sides. None of us are naive enough to think that two people who join in a civil union and presumably live together are not going to have sex. But this way they can tell the liberal side that they're allowing "gay marriage" (even if they're calling it something different), while at the same time telling the conservative side that they're not allowing gay sex.

Methinks neither side will be satisfied with this, but it's an imaginative try. So is this ever going to be thrown open for laity as well, or just gay priests?

Oh, and apropos of nothing, did I mention that The Windsor Report is available online here?

Pope Benedict vows to heal very very very very old wounds

2005-05-30T10:16:00.000-04:00

Not that he's ambitious or anything, but:

POPE Benedict XVI made his first papal trip yesterday, visiting the Italian city of Bari, where he pledged to work to end Roman Catholicism's 1,000-year-old rift with the Orthodox Church.

1,000 year-old rifts are fairly tall orders on the whole, but nice to see the guy grabbing the bull by the horns, as it were.

Also, can I just point out how cool it is that the new Pope's first papal trip is to visit the relics of Santa Claus?

North Carolina officials won't stop religious slaughter of lambs, but will videotape to show at parties

2005-01-21T22:42:00.000-05:00

A plan by Muslims to slaughter 100 lambs on a farm this weekend as part of a religious rite has come under scrutiny from state agricultural officials, who expect to videotape what they consider an unlicensed slaughterhouse.

The state is concerned because the Rowes are not licensed to run a slaughterhouse. They have raised the lambs on their farm 35 miles southeast of Raleigh and will lease it for the weekend to Muslims who want to slaughter a lamb under the rules of halal.

What concerns me about this whole thing is not one or the other side's positions but that no one seems to be able to agree if it's illegal in North Carolina or not. The farmer's lawyer has simply said he doesn't "think" it's violating any laws; and the worst the state has threatened is to show up and video tape the shenanigans. Is this typical judiciary practice is NC?

Anyhow for those looking for actual information and not just ridicule (yes we do occasionally actually provide real information here!):

The three-day holiday [of Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice] honors Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son because of his obedience and devotion to God. It also marks the end of the hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to the Saudi city of Mecca.

Now word yet on if state agriculture officials videotaping to proceedings are a traditional part of the holiday or merely one of the quaint North Carolina adaptations.

Anti-Gay Religious Group Targets SpongeBob

2005-01-21T22:27:00.000-05:00

I was going to target this one in the just plain weird category, but then actually we've been here before:

James Dobson of the conservative group Focus on the Family said this week that the makers of the [SpongeBob] video planned to mail it to schools to promote a "tolerance pledge" that includes sexual identity.

When you remember the brief furore created when, I believe it was, Jerry Falwell said Teletubbies encouraged homosexuality because Tinky Winky was obviously openly gay, what with being purple and carrying a purse; I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone hit SpongeBob. And I must admit I've always been just a little suspicious of Patrick what with him being pink! And a starfish!! Um, not that starfish have anything necessarily to do with homosexuality, but I mean, come on, if gay people were going to be fish don't you think they'd be starfish?!

So I'm glad someone has finally taken the time to put the seething cesspool of moral decay which is SpongeBob Squarepants into the trash bin where it belongs. Oh, unless, of course, it all turns out to be a case of mistaken identity, as the article suggests. Then that angry mob of family values people might feel just a touch embarrassed as they stand beside the lynched bodies. Faux pas!!

Humanists, atheists look to higher global profile since no one really likes them much

2005-01-03T20:45:00.000-05:00

So this has the makings of a nice theological argument: should a blog about religion and theology include stories about atheism? Bring that tidbit up at seminary! So anyhow all those who believe in nothing have suddenly become aware that nobody actually cares so:

HUMANIST and atheist groups around the world are looking to boost their profile in 2005 to counter religious fundamentalism and efforts by some Western leaders to relaunch faith as a keystone of national life.

Under pressure from the rise of militant Islam, Vatican activism in the European Union and the re-election of a born-again Christian to the White House, they feel they must resist to ensure the ideas of secularism survive and spread.

Fair enough if you're into that. But what gets me is this quote:

In the face of the religious onslaught on Humanist values, we have to speak out and get our message over, says Roy Brown, Swiss-based president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union.

Does this guy not sound like Orville Roberts bitter younger brother? Humanist values, family values, orthodontic values.your pick, really.

The good, the bad in religious books....what about the ugly?

2005-01-01T20:03:00.000-05:00

Richard Ostling of the Associated Press gives us his top four "best" religious books of 2004. What's even more interesting is his list of "worst" books, which evidently included a homoerotic book about Jesus and something by a Presbyterian (natch)who wants to have a threesome and abolish marriage (presumably not necessarily in that order).

Zen Judaism

2004-12-31T21:51:00.000-05:00

And for a Happy new year fling, I had to blatantly steal the following from Gatochy, whose blog is always a good read:

Zen Judaism

Let go of pride, ego, and opinions. Admit your errors and forgive those of others. Relinquishment will lead to calm and healing in your relationships. If that doesn't work, try small claims court.

Though only your skin, sinews, and bones remain, though your blood and flesh dry up and wither away, yet shall you meditate and not stir until you have attained full Enlightenment. But, first, a little nosh.

Accept misfortune as a blessing. Do not wish for perfect health or a life without problems. What would you talk about?

Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?

There is no escaping karma. In a previous life, you never called, you never wrote, you never visited. And whose fault was that?

The Torah says, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." The Buddha says there is no "self." So, maybe you are off the hook.

If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?

Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story.

Do not let children play contact sports like football. These only lead to injuries and instill a violent, warlike nature. Encourage your child to play peaceful games, like "sports doctor."

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single "oy."

Baby Jesus statue stolen in Rockland, Assemblyman is outraged

2004-12-31T21:19:00.000-05:00

Hmm, evidently these guys have quite a lot of problems with this sort of thing:

The 13th reported racial or religious bias crime in Rockland County in 16 months has Assemblyman Ryan Karben of Rockland County fuming. Yesterday he condemned the vandalism of a crèche in Nyack Monday morning, lamenting the third time in two weeks and the second year in a row in which Rockland religious symbols have been desecrated during the holiday season. A statue of baby Jesus was stolen from the holiday display.

Obviously this guy is fed up and so he lights into them pretty hard:

“When you target religious symbols, when you steal a statue of Jesus Christ, when you pull the bulbs out of a menorah, it reflects to me an incredible depravity,” he said. “They are crimes not just of property, they are crimes against all people of faith in our community, all people of good will, and particularly this time of year; it’s just beyond defensive.”

Now, not to defend the vandals by any stretch, but at least they waited until after Christmas to steal the baby. And stealing doesn't necessarily equal descecration. Perhaps they stole it in order to erect it in the corner of their own personal newly built chapel.....well, okay fine, it's probably in the trunk of their car as they do doughnuts in an abandoned Walmart parking lot. You people are so pessimistic!

Religious statue swiped from nativity, um, scene that is

2004-12-31T21:13:00.000-05:00

A week after vandals ripped lights out of a Hanukkah menorah at Veteran's Park, a statue of a baby Jesus has been taken from a Nativity scene there. Orangetown Police Detective Lt. John McAndrew said the figure was taken between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. Monday.
"Right now we're looking at this as a larceny with a bias attitude toward it," McAndrew said. "They didn't destroy or break anything in the creche. Given the time frame, we're hoping someone was walking down the street and saw something."

Geez, who hates Christians and Jews? The Buddhist temple will be next if we don't stop these pagan hooligans, you mark my word....

PETA sues Southeast Christian Church for blocking protest

2004-12-31T20:45:00.000-05:00

The lawsuit includes Southeast Christian, PETA members allege that Louisville police and the church conspired to move demonstrators to the side of Blankenbaker Parkway, which borders the 24,000-member church’s campus.

Now, if your mass protest is mass protested isn't getting mad and filing a lawsuit kinda just a touch hypocritical?

But then I sort of have a bias against PETA and non-denominational churches, so frankly we'll just sit back and enjoy this one.

World bodies rush to send aid to millions of tsunami victims

2004-12-30T20:30:00.000-05:00

Even in the Bible God complains that humans do good when makes bad things happen to them and are bad when he makes good things happen to them. Sad, but true. Disasters bring out the best in us.

Y'all have heard about this and I have nothing new to add, except that you need to go donate to one of the many places taking donations for aid. Amazon.com is taking donations fo Red Cross

Go donate some. And make sure it's just a little more than you think you should.

2004-10-18T19:18:00.000-04:00

Well, due to a moritorium (i.e. clamp-down) on internet use at work, my posting in this blog is suffering, along with my hopes of being discovered by some big time...um...religion producer. They exist okay?!?!

Anyhow, the big news today is that the Anglicans released their 100 page essay on the ~~the big ol' mess called the Anglican Communion~~ the crisis in the wider church.

Because it is 100 pages, and because I can't surf the web at work anymore, it will take some time to get through this and ~~make fun of it~~ offer an objective critique. During the meanwhilst, here is the actual Windsor Report (They were going to call it the Hanover Report but they decided this sounded more English).

And here in the Diocese of Southern Ohio, the firebacks have been fast and furious:

Here is the Bishop of Southern Ohio's statement

Presiding Bishop Griswald's statement.

And for those who really want to follow the shenanngians into the new year, here's an action timeline.

Stay tuned for more antics. Same bishop-time, same bishop-channel.

Church bells cleared to chime

2004-10-05T13:48:00.000-04:00

And good news for all of those concerned over the
Welsh bells:

Environmental officers told the Reverend Geoff Waggett that an investigation was being carried out after complaints about the bells. But the bells have been given the all clear to chime at Christchurch, Ebbw Vale following the inquiry.

So once again the chimes will sounds in Blaenau Gwent. Now we just need to learn to pronounce Welsh so we can say the name of the town.

High court declines religious dispute over contraceptives

2004-10-05T11:53:00.000-04:00

Catholics stirring stuff up in California again:

A California law requiring employers who provide prescription drug coverage to include birth control for women remained intact Monday when the U. S. Supreme Court denied review of Catholic Charities' claim that it shouldn't have to pay for practices it considers sinful.

These drug laws were enacted, of course, after Viagra was promptly approved placed on the approved list by all those aging male insurance execs. Women rightfully pointed out that that wasn't fair since birth control pills were not covered by insurance.

This whole mess, of course, goes back to the official Catholic teaching on sex, namely that it is for conceiving and bearing children, period. I've always had a difficult time explaining to Catholics why using the "rhythm method" to kind of get around the whole "no condom" thing is still cheating. And now, of course, the whole thing's become so embroiled in the abortion debate that to when you say "contraception", in the next breath a Catholic would say "abortion" (although it's getting to point in some places where is you say "wheat bread" they'll say "abortion".

Now, don't assume I'm particular pro-abortion or anything. My main concern is that abortion for Catholics has become kind of like homosexuality is for the rest of Christianity. Being opposed to it is anyone's right. But how did it become the sole issue for Catholicism? In the wake (or whatever the equivalent of a wake is except before an event) of the 2004 election, some bishops have written letters to their flocks saying that abortion should be the main (and in some cases only) motivating factor. What?! So if the pro-torture kill-all-Catholics candidate is pro-life....ya gotta go with that.....sorry!

The sacrifice of the Mass, the holiness of the Church, the unique-ness of the Christian faith.....all secondary to abortion. Well, I seem to have wandered a bit and I'll get enough hate mail as it is so I'll stop. but someone please feel free to defend the "no contraception" thing. I'd like to hear a good argument....

Shaolin monks in hand-to-hand copyright battle

2004-10-01T13:24:00.000-04:00

The monks of China's Shaolin temple are not just good at kung fu but also increasingly agile at using copyright rules to protect their name from rip-offs, state media reported.

Evidently the old guys are finally getting fed up with everyone ripping off their name. Says, Shaolin abbot Shi Yongxin, "Everyone just wants to make some profits from the name, totally regardless of the integral image of Shaolin Temple.

Fair enough frankly. Personally i think it's be a shame to see Shaolin Showdown disappear from Saturday mornings, but there is one thing I know: when a bunch of Shaolin monks present you with a "cease and desist" letter, you'd best cease. You do not want these guys to come find you!

Kenyan prisoners sing to freedom

2004-10-01T13:14:00.000-04:00

Proving that gospel praise has many many uses:

Ten prisoners broke free from their cells in central Kenya by singing hymns at the top of their voices to drown out the sound of their escape.

These guys evidently used a hacksaw to get through their bars and then leaped to the ground and sped away. An inmate in the same prison said of the ruckus, "These people really disturbed us as they tried to preach the gospel". Yes, perhaps so, but the actual escaping was fairly quiet, so that's alright.

This article does go on to show how appalling the prison conditions are in Kenya. Give it a read.

Archbishop prefers Marge Simpson to Queen

2004-10-01T09:47:00.000-04:00

Why do I pick on Anglicans so much? Because they keep giving me opportunities to do so, that's why!

Marge Simpson will go head-to-head with the Queen by delivering this year's alternative Christmas message, Channel 4 has confirmed.....Dysfunctional they may be but The Simpsons have been praised for promoting family values. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is a fan and has said the show represents "sense, humility and virtue".

I mean you just can't get this kind of stuff from the Pope!
Apparently this "alternative Christmas message" is an annual thing set to coincide with the Queen's annual Christmas speech.

I wonder what the Archbishop's views on South Park are? And does he prefer classic Justice League or the new Justice League Unlimited? We'll keep you posted.

Catholic Leaders Hail 'Fruitful' Talks with Archbishop

2004-10-01T09:41:00.000-04:00

And showing that Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams does more than, you know, get in trouble with his own denomination, we have this:

Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church from across Europe said a meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury today about bringing Christians closer together was "very fruitful". Archbishop Dr Rowan Williams was guest at a meeting in Leeds of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE).

Now, I know what you're thinking. CCEE doesn't add up to "Council of European Bishops' Conferences". So I'm assuming it's in French, because Europeans still have this thing that titles sound more important in French. Kind of like the International Olympic Committee's official name is in French. It's a European thing.

Anyhow, you do have to give Williams credit for his ecumenism and indeed interfaith work. Or you do unless you think those are bad things in which case, um, you don't. Now if he could just get Anglicans to like him....

Defiant church allowed Sunday Mass, for now

2004-10-01T09:33:00.000-04:00

And do we need any more evidence that the Roman Catholic Church reads GodBlogging?

In a stunning move, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley has offered an olive branch to parishioners battling the closing of St. Albert the Great - a proposal a source said will allow Sunday Mass to be celebrated in the Weymouth church until all appeals are final.

As we said yesterday, this is a wise move, all things considered. In a way thi sis akin to how the backlash following the switch to the venacular mass was handled following Vatican II. In that case they allowed the Latin mass to continue to be said at certain churches, thus undercutting a lot of the criticism had they just "banned" it all over.

Of course if the legal and ecclesiastical appeals all fail they'll still be up the proverbial estuary without a mode of propulsion, but you know.

Saudi Religious Edict Bans Mobile Phone Cameras

2004-09-30T08:24:00.000-04:00

Proving once again that they're not a backwards-looking, religiously paranoid country, Saudi Arabia has stepped into the 21st century by banning camera phone on religious grounds:

Saudi Arabia's highest religious authority has issued an edict barring the use of cell phones with built-in cameras, blaming them for "spreading obscenity" â a final resort after a ban on their sale and import to the kingdom failed to dent their popularity.

Apparently one confiscated cellphone contained such shockingly pornographic images as a woman's wrist, and the end of another woman's nose. Authorities also pointed out the popularity of such Arabian porno sites as up-veils.com.

Fight the power, Saudi's.

Will Rowan tighten his grip on the galaxy?

2004-09-29T09:39:00.000-04:00

This
is a fairly reasoned and balanced look at the Anglican crisis,
especially considering it was written for a Catholic newspaper. The
author seems to indicate that next month's Report will actually
suggest using a more juridical structure for the Communion, which,
while not a Catholic model, would strengthen the structure of the
Communion into more than simply a system of loose branches joined
together by common opinion.

Makes sense, in a way, since common opinion is rapidly falling apart.
The article is worth a read.

Ethiopia Church Says Condoms Unchristian

2004-09-28T11:46:00.000-04:00

In other breaking news, the Orthodox Church in Ethiopia has declared
condoms evil:

Condoms should not be used to fight HIV/AIDS as they are unchristian and unreliable, according to an influential church in Ethiopia, where 1,000 people are infected daily.

Which, I mean, I've got to back up the Orthodox on this one, since it was not two days ago that I heard a condom on a television interview denying the divinity of Christ; which pretty much did it for me.

So Godspeed in the fight against the global condom crisis. Maybe when they're done with that they can fight tacos, or "fat free" sour cream. or, oh yeah, AIDS!

Beliefnet wants to hook you up!

2004-09-28T11:40:00.000-04:00

Proving once again that they're all about the lovin', Beliefnet has announced a new singles service catering to all those hot-blooded spiritual people out there:

Beliefnet, Inc., the leading multifaith spirituality media company and online community, announced today the launch of Soulmatch, a values-based, spiritually-centered online dating service. Soulmatch allows users to decide whether to search by broad values and spiritual criteria or do faith-by-faith matching.

Now really this would be no different than all the Christian or Jewish singles groups out there. We at GodBlogging.com will certainly be signing up, not because we're on the make, so much as we want to answer questions like these:

Some of Soulmatch's unique user profile questions include:
-- When was the last time you lied but were sure it was the right thing to do?
-- Do pets go to heaven?
-- How important is faith or spirituality to you?
-- The best thing I ever did for a stranger was

I wonder if you could give opposite answers, so so as to have a good theological argument over dinner about the souls of pets. Yes, yes it's a lie, but I'm sure it's the right thing to do!

Archbishop faces fresh crisis over Holy Communion

2004-09-28T11:30:00.000-04:00

And although GodBlogging.com talked about this some time ago, the wider church has finally become aware that there are some strange doings down-under:

A prominent Anglican diocese is poised to create a fresh crisis for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, by paving the way for lay people to celebrate Holy Communion. Sydney diocese in Australia is expected next month to approve a proposal that will, for the first time in Anglican history, permit non-ordained people to consecrate the bread and wine during church services - a practice known as lay presidency.

The paper notes that this will "outrage" people across the Communion, although it sure took 'em a while to notice it in the first place. Anglicans are typically not all that prone to "outrage" preferring to simply be "slightly uncomfortable", which is what makes all the ruckus surrounding the homosexual thing so interesting.

So the lesson here is, "homosexuality.........bad", "denying the traditional priesthood and apostolic succession which is the foundation of Anglicanism.....we'll get back to you". Priorities are good things to have, I suppose.

Bishop to Hold Off on Charges

2004-09-28T11:25:00.000-04:00

"Bonecrusher" seems to be holding his breath with the rest of the Anglican Communion as he awaits October 18:(warning, subscription site)

Los Angeles Episcopal Bishop J. Jon Bruno said Monday he would not immediately file ecclesiastical charges against a retired Texas bishop who is helping three Southern California parishes in their efforts to leave the Episcopal Church in a dispute over homosexuality and biblical interpretation.

Things are getting mighty quiet on the Western front as we countdown to Commission Report Day. You could cut the tension with a crosier....

Pro-hunting campaigners put their faith in religion

2004-09-27T16:44:00.000-04:00

This is silly, yes, but it does underlie some previous discussions we've had about the problem in defining a religion:

PRO-HUNT supporters in Cumbria are signing up to a new religion to protect country sports in an attempt to stem the Government's plans to ban fox hunting. The Free Church of Country Sports claims up to 700 people a day are signing up after the hunting bill passed through the House of Commons.

I do like, however, the comment that the interviewed woman might not join the group because she's not a "church person". Well, I'm not really sure it's a "church", sweetie.

Newborn found outside a New Orleans church

2004-09-27T15:43:00.000-04:00

Wow, people still actually do this?

A newborn baby was found alive this morning at a church in downtown New Orleans. Police say a nun at Saint Joseph's Church found the infant -- a black boy -- in one of the front-door alcoves.

I mean I know, unfortunately, children are often abandoned, but it just sounds like something out of a book: leaving a baby on the church steps.

Actually I'm somewhat surprised that it's legal to do so at "hospitals, police stations or fire stations". And in one of our (albeit rare) shows of compassion, we at GodBlogging.com are concerned for the mother. Since the umbilical cord was pinched off with a paper clip we think we're safe in assuming she was alone. And the after effects of birth can kill you if you don't know what to do (i.e. was the placenta expelled, etc.)

I yelled "fire" when I fell into the chocolate!

2004-09-27T15:38:00.000-04:00

About 160 churches in northern England's Manchester area gave out free chocolate bars and other freebies to service-goers today in a bid to combat dwindling congregations.

For the first time it all makes sense! The pending report on the homosexual controversy in the Anglican Communion will offer a simple solution and one that is universal in appeal to both liberals and conservatives: chocolate.

Radical, indeed, but brilliant! Oh and incidentally, sorry for the Smothers Brothers reference....

Men Of God, Fists Of Fury!

2004-09-27T15:33:00.000-04:00

CBS adds a little to the story, saying that

Dozens of people, including several Israeli police officers, were slightly hurt in the brawl at the shrine.....Custody of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is shared by several denominations that jealously guard territory and responsibilities under a fragile deal hammered out over the last centuries. Any perceived encroachment on one group's turf can lead to vicious feuds, sometimes lasting hundreds of years.

A sort of clerical West Side Story, if you will.

Things are nuts in Jerusalem. By the way the title to this story isn't mine, it's CBS's. They're getting downright frilly in their old age.

Ready to rummmmmmble!!

2004-09-27T15:28:00.000-04:00

Who would win in a fight between Orthodox and Franciscan priests?
That's what we're here today to find out!

The tussle between Franciscans and Greek and Russian Orthodox clerics erupted during a procession through the church on Holy Cross Day marking the fourth century discovery of the cross which some faithful believe was used in the Crucifixion. A Greek Orthodox cleric said Franciscans had left open the door to their chapel in what was taken as a show of disrespect.

Yeah for the friars to diss the Orthodox with their open doors, man! Yeah, that's right, I left your door open. You wanna fight? I'll fight ya right now! What ya got? Ya got nothin'!!!!

Once the violent people knocked one another out and were carted away, calmer voices stated what should have been obvious,

"We are all Christians, and there is nothing to fight about," said David Khoury, a maintenance worker for the Franciscans, as he mopped the floor of a nearby chapel."

Proving once again that laborers very often are holier than clergypeople. This isn't the first violence to shake the holy site, however.

Two years ago, 11 monks were hospitalised after stone-throwing erupted between Ethiopian and Egyptian Coptic monks over rights to the roof of the church.

And I'll lay any odds you like that poor David yet again had to clean up after other people's violence.

Jesus of the week

2004-09-23T21:05:00.000-04:00

Gatochy points out that the picture of Jesus crucified on a cellphone tower was a "Jesus of the week" picture here

(Thanks, Gatochy!)

Falling Crucifix Kills Woman

2004-09-23T20:41:00.000-04:00

A 67-year-old woman was killed when a three-meter tall metal crucifix fell on her head in a small southern Italian town on Wednesday, police said.

There are all kinds of smart mouth things you could say about this, but we are talking about a woman's death here, so we'll let them pass in silence, except to note that Italy evidently needs to secure its crucifixes just a touch more.

High-tech devices silence the masses

2004-09-23T20:33:00.000-04:00

Fed up with cellphones ringing during Mass, four Catholic churches in Monterrey, Mexico, are taking extreme measures to silence them......The four churches are illegally jamming cellphone signals with Israeli-made transmitters, the same kind used to protect embassies and presidential motorcades from bugs and bombs detonated by phone.

I actually really love stories about when churches just lose all patience, because in a way that's when they become really creative.

Tha authorities, by the way, have turned a blind eye to these shannanigans, and I for one say God Speed to the Mexican churches!

Even I turn my cellphone off during church and I never turn my phone off. Or well, okay, I turn the ringer off anyway...

By the way, the awful pun in the title was from the original news story, so you can't blame me for this one.

Spong harshes the Archbishop's mellow

2004-09-23T20:24:00.000-04:00

So what I like best about John Shelby Spong is that the man speaks truth with love and compassion, like when he gently takes the Archbishop of Canterbury to task for removing celibate gay priest Jeffrey John as suffragan bishop of Reading.

His actions have revealed a fatal character flaw. He has no courage, no backbone and no ability to lead. Seldom have I watched a quicker collapse of potential. It was an abdication of leadership so dramatic as to be breathtaking.

But even after this brotherly chastisement, he offers hope for the future:

"He is now destined to be a long-serving but ineffective and empty man who has been revealed to be incapable of carrying the responsibility placed upon him. Leaders have only one opportunity to make a first impression. Rowan Williams has failed that test miserably."

Spong....seriously babe, join the Unitarians. No one will stop you.

Popemobile gets a sidekick!

2004-09-23T20:15:00.000-04:00

It's getting tougher to find a parking spot in the pope's garage. The Vatican released a video this week of Pope John Paul II being driven around the papal estate in Castel Gandolfo in the latest vehicle -- a white electric car resembling a golf cart.

We'd kill for a picture of this, but I can't seem to find one. I bet within a month he gets racing flames put on it. The man used to be a rugby player after all...

CHARITY: Haiti Relief

2004-09-23T20:11:00.000-04:00

Catastrophic flooding in Haiti is still impeding relief efforts in the island country, said the humanitarian organization CARE. The effects of Hurricane Jeanne swamped cities in northern and northwestern Haiti over the weekend, literally sweeping people away and resulting in scores of deaths, including a CARE staffer who died reportedly while trying to rescue others.

The death toll is reported at something like 600, many of them children. Many angencies are probably accepting donations, but CARE sounds like a good place to start.

So take your poker winnings and that come-from-behind-miracle Bengals football pool you won on Sunday and throw it in the hat. Then throw in another Andrew or two, just because your mother loves you.

UPDATE: The death toll is now reported at nearly 1,200 and is expected to keep rising. Donate as much as you can.

Not all religions get along, says PM

2004-09-21T11:29:00.000-04:00

In shocking news, the PM of Canada has come to the stunning conclusion that not all religions always get along with one another:

Religious conflicts are one of the biggest challenges facing the international community, Prime Minister Paul Martin said on Sunday as he prepared to head to New York City to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

Set against the backdrop of a multi-religious conference at McGill University, Martin went on to say:

"You can sit down to discuss economics, you can discuss politics and in fact, there is normally a rational background that one can approach logically"

Fair enough, I suppose. Glad to know someone has realized that politics is rational and logical and not simply meaningless, repetitive sound bites aimed at downplaying actual thought and elevating emotion at the expense of reason. Lord knows what the world would be like if that happened!

It's all about the $BlingBling$ say US bishops

2004-09-20T09:31:00.000-04:00

And since it's a day ending in "y", the Anglicans have had enough of theology, so let's get back to the homosexual warfront:

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is being warned that North American bishops will cut off funds from the Anglican church in Africa if they are disciplined for supporting the election of a gay bishop, in a row which threatens to split the worldwide church.

Hee hee! Now the battle lines are drawn! To clarify, this is a liberal bishop saying they'll stop the funding to Africa if they (the liberals) are disciplined. So now both side are basically implying schism, as we begin the month countdown to the issuance of this "revolutionary" report.

The intrigue in this article is wonderful, as the one who issued this warning was listed simply as a "senior North American bishop". Kind of a shadowy, clerical "Deep Throat" if you will.

The Commission who will issue the report reiterated that they were, "concentrating on the church's future structure, not expressing a view on the position of homosexuals in the church." Which, in our opinion, seems to support our theory about what the results would be.

Sacrament no longer solely a priestly duty

2004-09-20T08:56:00.000-04:00

I cannot tell you how refreshing I find this:

Sydney Anglican Diocese is set to turn a blind eye to churches which allow congregation of elders and junior-ranked clergy to administer Holy Communion.
At last a good old fashioned theological debate about the nature of Communion, and one which doesn't infringe on sick little girls, either!

Actually this is quietly a big deal. If I read this right, they're saying they will let deacons and even lay leaders preside at Communion. Now laity has always been able (after receiving training) to distribute already consecrated elements (bread and wine), But this seems to indicate they'll be allowed to actually consecrate them, which truly does go against hundreds of years of tradition.

To put it in perspective, even most other more Protestant denominations (Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.) laity cannot consecrate the elements at Communion, although technical exceptions are made such as student pastors and "licensed" (other terms are often used for this) pastors, who are not actually ordained, but are allowed to preside at the sacraments for a given church and usually only for a given church. But normally that's still a no-no.

So a big departure on the part of the Anglicans down in Oz there. I wonder if the rest of the Anglican Communion will get angry about this? Then again I guess they're still busy getting their undies untwisted over homosexuality.

Archbishop no longer calls bishops? Maaaaybe....

2004-09-17T15:23:00.000-04:00

The Church of England newspaper may be letting a bit of the cat out of the bag (as it were):

It is increasingly said by sources close to the Commission that [the Archibishop of Canterbury's] powers as President of the Communion to invite Bishops to the Lambeth Conference....are the focus of attempts to discipline the Episcopal Church of the USA and the Diocese of New Westminster in Canada.

Which kind of suggests that all this "revoluationary" report is going to do is say that from now on no one needs the Archbishop's permission to come to Lambeth; a solution that will satisfy no one and offend everyone. Way to dodge that bullet, Your Grace.

GodBlogging.com will keep you posted as we wait eagerly for the report due out towards the end of October. Oh, and if anyone can now go to Lambeth, I think it's past time the blogger's made an appearance....

I find your Church bells....disturbing.....

2004-09-17T15:18:00.000-04:00

Drunken screaming matches, okay, loud bells not so much. Ah, Wales.....

Grouchy parishioners complained they were being kept awake by the hourly chime from Christ Church in South Wales after the tenor bell sounded its first sonorous note for six years following a painstaking restoration programme.

Evidently the church's neighbors are still upset over the faux pas last December when 30 houses had to be evacuated for fears the church would collapse onto them after a fire.

And my neighbor steals cable, but do I complain? No I do not!

Actresses strip outside church

2004-09-17T15:12:00.000-04:00

Eight soft-porn actresses paraded near-naked outside a Roman Catholic church in central Manila today in a protest against film censorship. The women jumped onto the ledge of a fountain outside Malate Church clad only in skimpy underwear and transparent raincoats, causing a massive traffic jam as people gathered under the rain to gawk and cheer them.

Sigh. We never have protests like that here. We get nuns painting missile silos with their blood, which, okay, but it's not the same, man.

It might be the next trend, though, so don't be surprised if you see people stripping to their skivvies at the next PETA protest. I dare say it would get them more support than throwing paint on people would.

Oh, and for those of you who were worried, it all ended peacefully:

When police arrived, the women stripped off their raincoats and brassieres, crossed the street and peacefully surrendered their undergarments to the flustered officers.

Up the Parish: realty shows now become truly all-invasive

2004-09-17T15:09:00.000-04:00

And just to show that nothing, but nothing> is safe from reality shows:

Channel 4 will screen a new series which aims to boost a congregation in a parish with poor church attendance. With the working title Priest Idol, the show will give a vicar 12 months to boost the church's turnout.

Unfortunately we probably won't see hide nor hair of this in the States, but maybe we can catch EWTN's upcoming reality TV show, Pope for a Week.

My pitch to the network: a reality show centering around the Archbishop of Canterbury's wacky attempts to prevent schism.

Jackson accuser 'God's Chosen'

2004-09-17T14:39:00.000-04:00

Exciting new developments in the Michael Jackson ~~debacle~~ trial:

The mother of Michael Jackson's child sex accuser has claimed that she was chosen by God to bring the entertainer to justice, according to a police tape leaked to US television.

Now, what better way to show the court that you're not just some nut who's on a conspiracy against a pop star than by invoking your messianic role as divine punisher on earth?

Still, court cases always get more interesting once the design of the Almighty
is revealed....

TV plumbers flush out ghosts

2004-09-17T10:03:00.000-04:00

Okay, again, technically the paranormal isn't religion, and arguably neither is plumbing, but you just can't make this stuff up:

Ghost Hunters, a 10-episode series that debuts on the Sci-Fi Channel on Oct. 6, follows the careers of Hawes, 32, and Grant Wilson, 30. The men are Roto-Rooter employees in Providence, R.I., by day - and paranormal investigators by night and on weekends.

Oh, what did we do before reality shows? Oh yeah, interacted with other human beings. But then I have no right to talk. I'm a blogger.

I had a dream the other night that we found this like big spider the size of a softball. My first impulse was to go to my laptop and blog it. In my dream!! I have crossed some boundary somewhere....

US Concerned About Religious Freedom in Saudi Arabia

2004-09-16T08:14:00.000-04:00

And in breaking news, the Administration suddenly discovered that Saudi Arabia has poor religious freedom (now that we don't need them anymore):

The State Department has added Saudi Arabia to its list of Countries of Particular Concern with regard to violations of religious freedom. Vietnam and Eritrea were also added to the list while Iraq, following the ouster of Saddam Hussein, was removed.

To be fair (and just why would we want to do that?!) it had been on the list before, albeit in a lower position. Now they're listing it on equal par with North Korea. But Iraq has been removed from the list since now Christians, Muslims, and Jews are equally in danger of being killed.

Running toward enlightenment

2004-09-15T10:01:00.000-04:00

All I can say it "ouch":

For the past seven years, Genshin Fujinami has been participating in the 'kaihogyo', a sacred pilgrimage that is also one of the most demanding challenges ever devised. It is so gruelling only 46 men have completed it in the past four centuries. On each of 100 consecutive days, Genshin Fujinami runs more than 80 kilometres along dangerous mountain paths. It is the equivalent of competing in two Olympic marathons each day. He sleeps for just two hours a night, and hardly eats.

Although actually the idea of achieving spiritual awareness by pushing your body past its normal physical endurance is as old as humanity. Pain, physical effort, smoke, drugs, and other things have all been used to this end.

This sort of thing is not very popular in the comfy west where we're obsessed by bodily "health", but they still go on in places in the world. And some have suggested that the current popularity in tattooing and piercing stem from this same "rite of passage" instinct.

Update: Of course I can't vouch for the accuracy (not being a marathon monk myself), but this article give many more specific details about this practice.

Williams weak, but Life of Brian funny

2004-09-14T18:33:00.000-04:00

Dr Rowan Williams has been voted one of the least effective Archbishops of Canterbury of modern times in a poll of more than 200 of his own clergy. Dr Williams came fifth out of seven when his colleagues were asked who they thought was the most effective archbishop of the past 60 years, gaining just 21
votes.

Nice to know the Anglican clergy isn't above kicking a man when he's down.

In all fairness, however, he's relatively knew to the job and the homosexual controversy has been the main focus of the media almost from the time he became archbishop. Still, he does come across as kind of an intellectualist. Gotta gall him, though, that Carey placed so well, what with Carey down in Virginia doing confirmations because they don't want their own pro-gay bishop to do them.

Oh, and I do like that Life of Brian placed fourth in "religious films". Those wacky Anglicans!

Goooooooooaaaaaalllll!!!

2004-09-14T08:54:00.000-04:00

Evidently New Zealand has taken the Pope's "too much sports" message to heart:

The New Zealand Marist Rugby Federation says it will take heed of warnings from Pope John Paul II. The Pope, who played international rugby for Poland, told New Zealand bishops we spend too much time playing sports and not enough time going to church.

Hold. The. Phone. The Pope played international rugby for Poland?! International rugby for Poland?!

That changes everything!

Too much sport, not enough God, on Sundays - Pope

2004-09-13T13:39:00.000-04:00

Heh, and just so we show both sides of the matter, we have this:

Pope John Paul on Monday bemoaned that too many Catholics were not keeping the Lord's day holy and were paying too much attention to the "often meaningless" pursuits of sport and entertainment on weekends.

Of course we now know that people are attracted to sports largely because they're meaningless, which puts an interesting spin on things.

ESPN: A new religion

2004-09-13T12:27:00.000-04:00

It is strangely disconcerting to see something you use as a whimsical, flippant example of something later stated more soberly:

Michael Mandelbaum, author of eight books on international relations, argues in his ninth book, "The Meaning of Sports," that sports are "a variety of religious experience." Like religion, sports stand apart from the mundane and are a realm of special coherence and heroic example.

All seriousness aside, however, he does make some nice observations about why people are so attracted to this mindless behavior:

At a time when Robert Frost was comparing free verse to playing tennis without a net, sports became cultural counterpoints because they are transparent and coherent. Transparent because
spectators can see for themselves what is happening, and why. Coherent in that they are defined and governed by rationality -- rules -- and reach definitive conclusions.

Kind of like why I enjoy video games; which I suppose makes video game sports the absolute ultimate non-experience.

Bruce beats Pope to peace

2004-09-13T10:23:00.000-04:00

Now, okay, this really isn't about religion proper....well....it's not about religion at all, but I must relate this one and after all it does mention the Pope:

After months of debate in the divided city of Mostar, Muslim and Croat residents have settled upon the person whose statue will adorn a new peace memorial: the martial arts legend, Bruce Lee. Lee was chosen over rival nominees, including the Pope and Mahatma Gandhi, after a poll of residents revealed that his was the only name respected by both sides as a 'symbol of solidarity'.

I KNOW!! Half of me is thinking, "that is the stupidest thing I've heard in a while", and the other half is thinking, "How come Cincinnati never does anything cool like that?"

Now I'm not dissing Bruce, by any means. I just think it funny that the only thing Muslims and Croats can agree on is how cool Bruce Lee was. Although, come to think of it, that may pretty much be the only thing most Americans could agree on.

Christianity's great fault line

2004-09-13T10:11:00.000-04:00

Not sure I'm ready to plow through all 800 pages of this guy's book, but his Q&A session with Boston.com has
some interesting points, especially this:

Q. Why do Americans need to know more about 16th-century Europe?

A. The US is a Protestant Reformation power, and its public rhetoric comes out of the Protestant Reformation. It seemed to me that there wasn't much understanding of where that rhetoric was coming from. . .. What struck me more and more was the [biblical] theme of the ''Last Days" [described in the Book of Revelations]. Twenty years ago it was fairly marginal. . . . It became mainstream. It's something that Europe has really lost. In the States, there's a big [religious] constituency that interacts with the government.

Q. The religious right?

A. Yes. The big issue is the place of Israel. This was one of the big issues in 17th-century England. Oliver Cromwell let the Jews back into England, but not because he was a 20th-century liberal. He believed in the Last Days and . . . needed the Jews to bring on the Last Days.

I've been saying for years that it's interesting that an idea which was quite minimal back in the day has now becoming such a powerful force (look at the popularity of the Left Behind series). President Bush os also known to be influenced by the thinking of Timothy Lahaye (one of the others of those books) and many feel that those "End Times" thinking is part of what is influencing Bush's actions towards Islam and Israel.

Still, an interesting article. I don't agree with the guy's conclusions, but then for all I know agnosticism is common among Anglican organists.

Christianity tainted by church image: study

2004-09-13T09:59:00.000-04:00

And in one of the very few surveys not conducted by the Pew Foundation, it was discovered that some people view the church negatively:

The study....has found that the most apparent barriers to Christian beliefs and practices relate to perceptions of the church. Those included pedophilia in the church, perceived intolerance towards gay and lesbian lifestyles, perceived lack of equality on the role of women, hypocritical behaviour of church leaders and Christians, and Christian leaders being seen as intolerant, hypocritical and judgemental.

Not really earth-shattering findings, but one of the researchers involved said he was surprised not at the findings but at the depth of feelings towards the findings.

Certainly this seems to be in line with the whole "non-denominational" movement's growth where you can be part of a church but not part of a church. It also sounds very "modern", i.e. "I'm spiritual but not religious" type of thing. Even a few hundred years ago it would have been considered absurd to say that one was a Christian, but not part of the church. Today there are probably quite a few people who might describe themselves that way.

Which would actually in itself make an interesting study: how many people would describe themselves as Christian but do not attend church (um, and not just from laziness, but from principle)?

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the study was conducted by not very memorably-named Market Access Consulting and Research for the Bible Society NSW.

Church leader's body found

2004-09-13T09:49:00.000-04:00

The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria died in a helicopter crash
this weekend:

Rescuers recovered the body of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria (Peter VII) from the Aegean Sea on Sunday, a day after his death in a helicopter crash.

The Orthodox Church, of course, is very big in Greece and they take the fact that he died there very seriously, with the Prime Minister firing the Air Force chief of staff after the event. No word yet, however, on what the actual causes of the crash were, although they seem to have ruled out terrorism.

Alexandria has throughout history been seen as the most important center in Africa for Christianity. It was also a key area in the fight between the Arian heresy and orthodoxy.

Is it just me or does it seem like there have been a lot of helicopter crashes lately?

Rest in Peace, Your Grace.

Blessed are the cheesemakers...

2004-09-11T13:35:00.000-04:00

So I went to a party which was mainly attended by architects (of which I, of course, am not one). I was thus singularly unable to draw them into a theological discussion. I was, however, able to find a piece of cheese in the shape of a cross.

Grey1066, ace religion reporter, always gets his story.....

Relief for Victims of Hurricane Ivan

2004-09-10T16:15:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since we plugged a charity, and this one is timely:

American Jewish World Service (AJWS), a non-sectarian international development and relief organization, is seeking donations to help the victims of Hurricane Ivan in Grenada and Jamaica.

As the article points out:

While the death toll caused by Ivan is low, the devastation to the poor country of Grenada is high. Approximately 90 percent of the small island's houses and businesses have been damaged and thousands have been left homeless.

So send as much as you are willing and then throw a couple more ten spots into it, just for good luck.

American Jewish World Service's website is located here: http://www.ajws.org

Poll shows most U-S religious groups oppose gay marriage

2004-09-10T09:03:00.000-04:00

A new poll by the apparently ubiquitous Pew Forum finds that:

The poll conducted by the Pew Forum finds the strongest support for traditional marriage among black Protestants and white Evangelical Christians, with about three-fourths of both groups rejecting both civil unions and gay marriage. Less than half of Roman Catholics surveyed opted for traditional marriage to the exclusion of civil unions and gay marriage. And the poll found 55 percent of American Jews supporting gay marriage.

Now, no great surprise on the black Protestant and white Evangelical (are the black Protestants not Evangelical?), but the Catholics surprise me somewhat.

The Jews have tended to be a bit more open on the subject, but I would've appreciated a breakdown by orthodox, conservative, and reform, as well as population demographics for each (i.e. if the Jews in the U.S. are mainly reform and they're the only ones that support it, that would be one thing).

The article, as per usual, contains no link to the actual report which must be locked in a glass tower on a high hill (I am just in fantasy land mode today).

Just one question: how has this gotten to be the defining issue for world Christianity? Walk into a tense religious crowd and try and spark a fight by talking about whether Christ is truly present in the Eucharist and you'll get blank stares as if to say, "Huh? What? What does that have to do with homosexuality?"

Well, it doesn't I suppose....

Canadians bound towards secularism

2004-09-10T08:49:00.000-04:00

Although Canadians tend to sort of bound anyway, their bounding now seems in a general direction, rather than simply bounding for bounding's sake:

Canada is bounding along the road toward a secular society, with half the adult population now of the opinion that more regular attendance at religious services by people would be of no benefit to Canadian society, says a survey published yesterday by the Centre for Research and Information on Canada.

Which in a modern western country really isn't so much of a shock. So Canada is

....less churchy than Britain, on a par with Italy, and not a great deal more inclined to institutional faith and worship than Germany, France, Russia or Bulgaria.

So is that implying that Britain is more churchy than the lot? Interesting given their religious woes lately. I wonder where the U.S. stands in relation?

Anglicans wrap up filming, issue teasers

2004-09-10T08:41:00.000-04:00

The commission seeking to resolve the Anglican Communion's crisis over a homosexual U.S. bishop and other gay issues wrapped up its work Friday and said it would publish its report on Oct.
18.

I hope they realize that the more suspense they build, the more upset/outraged everyone will be when the inevitably disappointing report is issued.

However, with a spark in their little clerical eyes, the commission issued this teaser:

Eames said the panel would probably "recommend radical changes in the ways Anglicanism relates to its different constituencies," but Friday's statement gave no further clues about the recommendations.

Oh, you impish Anglicans!

Perhaps I'm succumbing to a stereotype about these guys. Maybe the report really will "recommend radical changes" in the Communion which will pioneer the ways that Christians bind together to overcome differences.....but then maybe I'll go live in the mouse kingdom where fairies blow kisses to the moon and the stars....

Anyhow, we have an intense month to wait for all the juicy details of the report.

The New Diarists: Inside the expanding universe of Jewish blogs

2004-09-09T15:54:00.000-04:00

Have to include this very interesting article because it includes my two great loves: blogging and religion. Specifically this examines the phenomenon of Jewish blogs, especially among the Orthodox or Chasidim, both of which can be sort of closed books to many people:

In a community known to be establishment-driven, blogs show a side of Jewish life often outside the mainstream and provide a counterweight to what Jewish leaders (and some of the Jewish press) would have us know about the community.

Not much else to say except be sure and read it. The author mentions several good blogs, and pretty much covers the gamut of subject.

Hare Krishnas kick off their main gig

2004-09-09T13:11:00.000-04:00

Fun times in Chandigarh, India for all those Hare Krishna's as evidently their big festival, Janamashtami, is held this week:

JANAMASHTAMI saw the city in a spiritual mood with devotees thronging lavishly decorated temples to pay their obeisance to Lord Krishna today. Jhankis depicting the life of the Lord were displayed in temples where prayers were being offered and kirtans were organised.

Um, and that's about it, really. A good time was had by all, I'm assuming. Oh, and kirtans I think are sort of like hymns.

No religious-based law for B.C., says AG

2004-09-09T11:40:00.000-04:00

I'm slow reporting on this one, but evidently some Muslims in British Columbia are thinking about trying to introduce some form of shariah law into the area:

Attorney General Geoff Plant says he's not about to change the province's laws to allow civil disputes to be settled under a limited form of Islamic Shariah law. Plant was responding to concerns that elements of the religious law, based on the Qur'an, could be used to settle divorce and child custody disputes involving consenting Muslim couples.

This move was protest by quite a few women's rights groups as well who pointed out (actually quite rightly) that women are not considered equal under sharia law. Of course they're not equal under U.S. law either, but 1. it's not as bad a sharia law, and 2. this taking place in Canada so, um, nevermind.

It does bring into sharp focus the sometimes tense relationship between religious rules/customs and secular law, not to mention the fact that there are evidently enough Muslims in British Columbia to warrant such a move.

Can I also point out that Canadians seem to have difficulties organizing angry mobs: "In Vancouver, about 50 people gathered to voice their opposition".

Fifty people?! You can organize flash mobs in Cincinnati that would attract more people than that.

EC may not be allowed into the club in 2008

2004-09-09T11:14:00.000-04:00

With customary lightning swiftness, the Anglican communion may ban Episcopal Church bishops from attending worldwide Anglican conferences, um, in 2008:

But if [the Epicopal Church's] liberal leadership has not recanted by the time the next Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops convenes in 2008, the whole church could still face ejection.

So we've got a whooooole four long years to hear about this nonsense before anything, you know, actually happens.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has evidently set up a commission to deal with this problem and reach a decision, but please hold GodBlogging.com excused that we are, um, skeptical. Basically this group still has to decide if the Bishop of New Hampshire can stay in his office or not. If they say no, then a large chunk of the EC will get angry; and if they say yes then the rest of the Anglican Communion will get angry (um, except Canada, but they're still reeling from their talking to by the Pope).

Okay our list of jobs I wouldn't want it up to three now...

Alexy II calls for paying more attention to historic dates

2004-09-09T04:51:00.000-04:00

I was going to make snipey comments about Patriarch Alexy II's comment that in response to the atrocious massacre of innocents in North Ossetia, Russia should concentrate more on history, but then I realized I agreed with him.

If we paid more attention to all of our histories we might actually, you know, learn something. But then I suppose that would take work, so...

Episcopalians to U.K. for damage control

2004-09-09T04:32:00.000-04:00

Things are really beginning to heat up in the old EC as Presiding Bishop Giswald heads to the UK to ~~try and stop the rest of the Anglican Communion from ostracizing him~~ preach at a church there. I guess they don't have pulpit supply over there in Britain.

What's interesting, however, is this comment:

Queen Elizabeth II has told the head of the worldwide Anglican communion, Rowan Williams, she will not tolerate the 2.3 million-member Episcopalian Church splitting the Anglican communion over its gay and lesbian agenda.

Now, it wouldn't be as good as a cage match between Orombi and Bruno, but I would be very interested in seeing the Queen and the Archbishop go toe to toe.

However, take this with a grain of salt because the statement was made by a "conservative analyst of the church" who probably would like to think everyone agrees with him. Still, QE II isn't exactly a hotbed of liberalism, either, so perhaps she has given Rowan a good talking to.

I must say the scent of schism is just ripe in the air at the moment, especially considering that a lot of people felt the fire was dying down and all. I just can't see Rowan Williams abandoning the Episcopal Church, and yet he can't just ignore what is beginning to amount to the majority of the Anglican Communion.

Add Archbishop of Canterbury up there to that list of "jobs I would not want at the moment", right below "President of Iraq".

Ex-IRA bombmaker trains for priesthood

2004-09-07T16:11:00.000-04:00

A Dublin seminary today confirmed that a former IRA bombmaker from Londonderry has begun his training to become a Catholic priest. Shane Paul O'Doherty, who received 30 life sentences in the 1970s for his part in an IRA letter bombing campaign in Northern Ireland and the UK, started a theology course at St Patrick's College in Maynooth two weeks ago.

Certainly this shows much grace, but I don't think it's going to help much on the public relations front. Although I suppose there are places in Ireland that would harbor no resentment to an old IRA man.

Gibson's Passion set's DVD record

2004-09-07T10:42:00.000-04:00

Even though it's Tuesday it's the first day back from a long weekend so it's kind of like Monday. That and evidently nothing is going on in the world of religion today other than the Episcopal Church keeps splitting and the Pope reminded Canada that he says homosexuality is wrong (Canadians need reminding about these things, you know), sooooo a little Movie Monday tidbit:

Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of The Christ' has sold 4.1 million copies on the first day of release in the United States. Sales of the DVD has set off a whole series of records already making it the #1 selling drama of all time, #1 selling independent film of all time, #1 selling R-rated film of all time and #1 selling non-English language film of all time.

Now it's shocking but I haven't seen this yet, and yes, I know, it really needs to be seen in a theater (evidently the actor who played Mary Magdalen has even said that it shouldn't be on DVD....it's needs a theater). So really I can't review it or even give an opinion on all the hype/controversy.

I do, however, agree with reviewers that said it was a wakeup call to the movie industry which seems to have gotten bogged down in churning out movies that are basically repackagings of the same old stories.

Cell phone towers go into scary scary statues

2004-09-07T09:20:00.000-04:00

Okay, so technically this story is a couple months old, but if you've heard about it before, then you're ahead of me:

European companies are finding ingenious ways to disguise ugly, but necessary, mobile phone antenna masts. Customers can pick everything from trees to crucifixes.

It's not so much having the cell tower (mast) in the crucifix, or whatever, but couldn't they at least try to hid it? The company in the article goes on to say that they're not really trying to hide the tower, which, um, maybe they should be....Christ crucified on a cell phone tower really sends a bad message to the moderns.

Props to ourselves...

2004-09-03T18:38:00.000-04:00

And since no one else is going to do it, we'll pat ourselves on the back. GodBlogging.com received it's best and strangest compliment a few days ago, when a college student in Arizona said, "I love the Blog. I'm taking a religion in the modern world class and you've done all my research for me!"

Applying our thorough command of useless knowledge so that college students can do less work. By a staggering coincidence that's exactly what our mission statement says!

I'm going to stop before I get frilly.....

The religion of UFOs, or I Married a Satanic Alien

2004-09-03T11:01:00.000-04:00

Since it's Friday, let's just declare this Religious Freaky Week and have done with it.

Christopher Bader....[is] a sociology professor at the conservative and Baptist Baylor University, a Presbyterian who has a particular interest in people who say they are UFO abductees or victims of religion-linked ritual abuse.

Now I'm teasing. This guy is a serious scholar, not just strange like the previously mentioned freaky religious people.

I do however love his quote:

"My students ask me all the time: 'Do you believe in UFOs? Do you believe in ritual abuse? Do you believe in Bigfoot?'" He said. "My answer is that I just don't care whether they're real or not.....Studying the sociology of religion is nothing like delving into theology.....We're not studying God. We're studying what people who believe in God and live on earth do," he said.

Very interesting article. Oh, and I want this guy's job.

Candles light spiritual paths for believers

2004-09-03T10:43:00.000-04:00

And on ther other hand we have people who haven't done away with ritual:

Each vela has a story. Their stories are depicted with boldly colored artwork on the front of the columnlike glass jars filled with wax. Believers light the velas, or candles, with the hopes such as keeping a loved one safe or making a secret wish come true. Each one represents a saint with different powers. "

You're seeing these more and more. Even here in the Midwest our main grocery store chains are carrying some of them. I don't know if this is because others are starting to use them more or because the hispanic population is growing in the U.S.

Still, for a buck fifty you can't complain. It did make for an interesting conversation with my wife, though, when I brought my Virgin of Guadeloupe candle home:

Wife: lettuce, milk, cheese.....Virgin Mary candle?
Me: Um, it was kind of an impulse buy.......don't sigh like that, it
breaks my heart....

Deep Spiritual Rift Grows in Prague

2004-09-03T10:36:00.000-04:00

Prague's Jewish community, as this article says, is an ancient one, from which many illustrious people have come, including Franz Kafka. Now, however:

As many 10,000 Czech Jews live in the country today, but secularism has taken its toll, and to the members of Prague's leadership, a large segment of the country's Jews remain frustratingly unaffiliated. Some think the community will dwindle even further if a new approach is not taken.

I think this is symptomatic of many religions in the modern world, eastern and western. There's tension between traditional religion and modernism. And yet, as I related yesterday, religious faith is rising among younger people.

In my estimation, what happens when this dynamic occurs is the growth of the "mega-churches". These churches tend to have a conservative message (evangelical Christianity, for example) and yet they deliver that message using cutting-edge technology (big screen televisions, lighting and sound systems, stadium seating, and the like). While this phenomenon has been seen in Christianity it would be interesting to see if the same is happening (or will happen) among Jews.

Certainly one result of this is the loss of ritual (seen as "unspiritual" and "old-fashioned"). Something which this article seems to back up when the older Jews tells us that the younger, more progressive Jews don't even "know how to pray". One result of modernity is to make one's spirituality more and more internalized, and since ritual is an external display of faith, this is done away with.

Shame, too, because every time I cross myself everyone thinks I'm Catholic. Not that there;s anything wrong with that.....

Vandals target Buddhist temples

2004-09-02T15:45:00.000-04:00

>

Since there's been a dearth of Sikhs to attack, fine upstanding ~~thugs~~ young Americans head to Michigan to vandalize the Buddhists for a while.

A room of incense, candles and lotus lights remains under lock and key because of frequent attacks on the Americana Buddhist Temple that houses it. ....Unknown people entered the unlocked meditation hall and knocked over the shrine tables. Flowers were strewn, water spilled and statues toppled.

The clods apparently couldn't even spell "Buddha" correctly. While some at the Buddhist monastery attribute the occurrences to pranks pulled by kids (such as sometimes happen to local churches there), other feel it is part of a wider religious prejudice, perhaps fueled by the Iraq War.

I'd buy it. The U.S. needs more intelligent thugs.

Methodist church can keep church, Episcopals still get more press

2004-09-02T14:44:00.000-04:00

Oooh, this might muddy the waters:

A Fresno congregation that quit the United Methodist Church has been granted ownership of its property under a unanimous state appeals court ruling that overturned a lower court.

As the article notes, this might have ramifications for the Episcopal ~~debacle~~ controversy in California, and hamper Bruno's attempts at laying down his righteousness. Bet his Holy Order of Lawyers will be working full time on this one.

It is funny, though, that the poor Methodists can't even score an entire article for themselves without the Episcopals sneaking in.

Lipstick, fashion and religion: Seventeen finds God

2004-09-02T14:37:00.000-04:00

OhmiGod, Becky!

....under editor-in-chief Atoosa Rubenstein, the venerable girls' publication Seventeen has added a faith section that includes inspirational messages, personal stories of spiritual struggle and testimonials on issues ranging from prayer to gay teens who attend church.

Pink and glittery comments aside, this does go to show that even the mainstream media has finally clued into the fact that that kids are getting more religious than their parents these days. And often it's in the direction of the traditional faiths.

"I feel, and had sensed that my readers felt, that there was an entire magazine that wasn't speaking to a part of them," Rubenstein said. "I just noticed more and more our readers were talking about their faith." Experts on religion and youth trends agree. They theorize that teens are rebelling against the broad, undefined spirituality of their baby-boomer parents, and are seeking out environments - like those in church - with clearer rules that help them cope with day-to-day problems.

Which is probably reasonably true. There is no better way to piss off an ex-hippie who now drives an SUV than by going to church. What's even more interesting is how much religious faith is on the rise at the very same time that religious symbols and expressions are being banned from more and more public places (like in France), which of course can only lead to tension.

I drawn the line, however, at "a top-selling Bible for girls that looks like a fashion magazine". The fact that it's "top-selling" scares me....

Rebel Bishop's Floating Church Explodes - and Sinks

2004-09-02T09:34:00.000-04:00

I'm not in the habit of reporting on religious nuts, per se, but since the marathon priest has broken new ground with that, I figured I'd pass on this little tidbit:

A rebel Bishop whose floating church exploded and sank, tonight placed his battle against abortion in the hands of God. Bishop Michael Cox, who consecrated the boat to fight abortion and evil, said he could not afford another vessel.

Evidently this guy is bizarre. He belongs to a breakaway Catholic sect that still uses the Tridentine Latin mass, and his strange antics over the years have included ordaining Sinead O'Connor, exorcising a Dublin radio station, and having a confession/absolution phone hotline. Now while it's nice to see someone who's so technologically progressive (the Roman Catholics still refuse to allow absolution by
text messaging), methinks this guy is a wee bit self-aggrandizing what with his "fighting evil" and all.

You have to wonder when your floating church explodes, catches fire and then sinks if it's really God's will to have a floating, "evil-fighting" commando force.

Marathon priest appears in court

2004-09-02T09:22:00.000-04:00

Ah, I suspected there might have been a darker side to the Irish former priest who interuppted the Olympic Marathon a few weeks ago.

Father Neil Horan, 57, also known as Cornelius, will stand trial on October 25 accused of two charges of indecency with a child between September 1990 and April 1993.

I'm assuming that's why he's now an ex-priest. He denies the charges, of course, and it might very well be that he didn't do anything, though he obviously has issues.

We'll see how this one goes.

Prince advises aspiring musicians to dump music for spirituality

2004-09-02T05:02:00.000-04:00

>

It's a shame the Madonna is hogging all the limelight in the rock-star-turned-fanatic genre, when I find Prince's conversion to Jehovah's's Witness, um, -ism, much more interesting. The man-in-purple offers this advice for all the kiddies wanting to be rock stars:

"Stay out of the music industry, stay out of the system. Be revolutionary.....Some of these young kids say they want to follow me. Well, if you do, then get your spiritual life together if you want your relationships to go right, and it will happen," he added.

Nice to see someone fighting the Man like that, I must say. Is it just me, however, or is this whole rock star as spiritual guru thing getting out of hand? Has it always been this way and I just haven't been paying attention?

Moscow suicide bombers will be cursed by God, people - Chechen mufti

2004-09-01T11:53:00.000-04:00

Mufti Akhmad Shamayev, Chechnya's spiritual leader of the Muslim majority, responded to the current explosion in violence in Russia thusly:

"As a theologian, I can say that anyone who kills innocent people, regardless of the crime motives, serves the devil and has nothing to do with Islam, Christianity and even paganism".

Couldn't agree more.

On this day in history

2004-09-01T10:28:00.000-04:00

On this day in history:

Pope Adrian IV (formerly Nicholas Breakspear) dies on September 1, 1159. The only English person to be elected Pope, Adrian assumed the papal throne in 1154, which goes to show how much longer popes tend to live now than they did then.

Archbishop appeals for grace, understanding, and unprejudiced compassion....who let this guy in?!

2004-08-31T15:03:00.000-04:00

Rowan Williams, the current Archbishop of Canterbury, is frustrating because he simply won't play the game, relying instead on reasoned argument. Now what state would the world be in if we all did that?!

"What I heard from both sides of the controversy was that 'We thought the Church of England was us and people like us, and maybe one or two others who did not matter too much'. There was a sense on both sides of shock and dispossession."

Now, I'm kind of concerned by this whole "caring for the actual people involved" thing that this guy seems to be engaging in. I mean come on, what kind of clergyperson is that?! Where's the outrage? Where's the thundering demands for his enemies to submit? Where're the threats to defrock any and all involved (and a few who aren't involved but he just happens not to like)? What's with this dispassionate appeal to grace and understanding? And most of all, where is the Formal Condemnation of the Event?!

Well, all I can say is thank goodness we've got the Rt. Reverend "Bone-Crusher" Bruno over here in in the US of A handing down punishment in California as it should be!

Sitting on the throne in his darkened catherdral, lit only with the soft glow from a few long candles. His trembling messenger, at awe before his expected wrath, steps into the light and in a quavering voice delivers the dire news, "Our enemies refuse to submit, Your Grace". Bruno's jawline grows hard, and his eyes flash, but he betrays no other sign of his smouldering fury. Finally his deep voice growls threateningly, "I have given them every opportunity for mercy. Now, may God have mercy upon their souls". He lifts one gloved hand, the purple stone from his immense ring flashing once in the candlelight. As if drawn from the very shadows, his dreaded band of lawyers steps into the light. Black-cloaked, with cowls drawn close about their faces, it seems the night itself has been given shape. "Wipe them out," his deep voice croaks into the vast stillness, "All of them." Without so much as an echo, the silent cloaked embodiments of fear disappear into the night to go about their hellish work.

That, my friends, is a bishop!!

Trenton bishop to meet with pope

2004-08-31T09:32:00.000-04:00

In a lighter moment, it looks like the whole wheat wafer debate currently raging in the Roman Catholic Church might go all the way to the big man himself:

The Roman Catholic diocese of Trenton will not say whether a dispute over communion involving a girl with a rare digestive disorder will be on the agenda when its bishop meets next week with Pope John Paul II, a spokeswoman said Monday.

And we all know when your spokespeople have no comment, it usually means "yes". It's only my personal opinion but I think HH should side with the little girl on this one and grant special permission. Of course we all know if you let one get away with a non-wheat wafer, pretty soon everyone will want to get out of it, and pretty soon you have communion with milk and cookies.

Slippery slope, people, slippery slope....

And idiots blow up more people in Israel

2004-08-31T09:22:00.000-04:00

And speak of the Devil:

Two buses exploded in a southern Israeli city on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people and wounding more than 20, in the first major Palestinian attack inside Israel in nearly six months, Israeli media and rescue officials said.

The irony of this is truly truly scary.

France Vows to Enforce Scarf Ban Despite Threat

2004-08-31T09:14:00.000-04:00

So, yeah, I'm late with this one so y'all have probably heard about it already:

The French government announced that it will implement its ban on Muslim head scarves and other conspicuous religious symbols from public schools when they open this Thursday, despite the kidnappers' demand that it is must be abolished.

Now I have very very mixed feelings about this whole thing. First it scares me about the banning of religious symbols in public schools. Of course this opens up a whole can of worms, but here in the U.S. (at least up to this point) the debate has always been on whether the school can display religious symbols, not whether students car display symbols. Now, yes, every once in a while you get some asinine
school board banning Jewish stars because they think they're gang symbols (I'm not making that up), but they were not intentionally banning something as a religious symbol in that case. To say that you can't even wear a religious symbol seems strange to me. What's the rationale, that it will offend people?

Now I don't think it's any secret that this is mainly aimed at Muslims because France has said it's "concerned" with the rise of Islam in Europe. Not sure if singling out one religion like that is particularly fair.

This whole kidnapping thing has other, and scarier implications, though, because it's the first time terrorists have made demands on something outside of Iraq. in other words, the whole strength of their kidnapping campaign is their opinion that these people shouldn't be in Iraq in the first place, so get out or we'll kill 'em. But now they're using their victims to demand changes that have nothing to do
with Iraq.

Which begs the question of when this will end? It would have been more effective to keep demanding that international forces leave Iraq, because sooner or later public pressure would bow to that. but now that they're trying to influence things in other countries, those countries are not going to stand for that sort of thing.

But then terrorists aren't exactly known for their intelligence. Kind of like how every time international opinion starts to sway more towards sympathy for Palestine some idiot will go blow more Israelis up and cause the whole world to hate Palestine again.

Gotta think it through, here, guys.

Bishop unleases lawyers, calls opponents "nancy boys"

2004-08-30T16:43:00.000-04:00

Back in the day if you try and take a church out of the faith, the bishop would excommunicate you, and raise a small army to come over and slay you and your followers and possibly set fire to your homes as well.

Now they sick their lawyers on you:

Attorneys for the Episcopal bishop of Los Angeles have given three breakaway parishes until Monday to either surrender their church properties, including even their prayer books, or to stop using them until the church or civil courts decide who is the rightful owner.

I leave it up to the reader to decide if this is an improvement or not.

I think they just threw in the "can't use the prayerbooks" thing as a personal insult, though....

New treasure trove for Mexico thieves: churches

2004-08-30T15:31:00.000-04:00

File this one under "nothing's sacred":

SAN MIGUEL ATLAUTLA, MEXICO -- From remote rural towns to the capital, colonial-era Catholic churches here are entering lockdown mode as art thieves loot their relics. In recent weeks, the top brass at Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), along with law-enforcement officials, have made public their worry about the rise in organized gangs entering churches and nabbing everything from paintings and statuary to decorative robes and historical documents - the rich legacy of Mexico's colonial period.

The local churches are often too poor to afford any real security measures beyond a watchman or two (or groups of angry elderly women) who wouldn't be much of a match for actual armed gangs of thieves.

The locals don't take kindly to it when someone is nabbed however. One would-be thief who was caught was hung up by his hands from a tree until the police arrived.

One potentially positive result of all this is that photographers are quickly swarming the countryside to take pictures of some of the statues and fixings at these churches, ostensibly so that if they turn up for auction somewhere they can alert INTERPOL and reclaim it. But it might also be documenting colonial religious art that will pass into dust sooner or later. Now at least they have pictures.

Would be very nice to see some books published of some of those photos; the proceeds of which could maybe be donated to those local churches. How about it, INAH?

Al-Quaida to turn Italy into Hell....er..'cept for the Vatican

2004-08-30T12:23:00.000-04:00

Okay, so nothing new here:

A group linked to al-Qaeda renewed threats to attack Italy because of its army's involvement in Iraq, the group said in a statement posted on its website.

But these guys then added new information to the effect of:

"The Vatican will never be the target of our attacks and we will only strike in painful places that will force the base Italian soldiers in Iraq to leave Iraq,'' the group said.

Now I can't help but see this as a sign that the terrorists in Iraq really need to get organized. You can't bomb Christian churches and then go all softy on the Vatican.

This does however seem to vindicate what I said before about the church bombings being aberrant. The bulk of the terrorists in Iraq (and indeed the Middle East) don't seem to view Christianity as the enemy (except for the odd "crusader" reference), so much as the Secular West, which is why they target political and financial centers.

That and I just cannot figure out why the Pope is popular among Muslims. I mean sure he's a nice guy and all....

Laptop Issues, pledge issues

2004-08-30T11:02:00.000-04:00

Growl! My brand new, um, used laptop is having issues again, so I'll
have to blog on the main PC (what are we savages?!). But fear
not, I shall continue to bring you the cutting edge of religious and
theological news, opinions, and trends (um, if that's what I've been
doing all along, that is).

And on that note, I leave it to you to decide if reporting on atheism constitutes "religious news" or not:

The Supreme Court refused Monday to reopen a case challenging the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance and its reference to God in public schools.

We can discuss whether or not Michael Newdow (the atheist in question) has a valid legal issue here, but I can't help but feel that he generally just comes across as a little megalomaniacal ego-trip using his daughter for his own purposes (i.e. an unpleasant gentlemen).

And if you think this ruling means that this issue is finally dead and buried, you're nuts. We have to give the former Democrat Religion Adviser something to do now, after all.

No right-winger religious at RNC, they might frighten people

2004-08-30T10:46:00.000-04:00

I can't find the actual article I was looking for, but several people have mentioned that The Republican National Convention will not feature any of the usual right-wing gurus that usually appear at these sorts of gathering:

The right-wing voices of past GOP conventions, such as Ralph Reed, Pat Buchanan, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, will be replaced this year mostly with moderate Republicans such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and even a moderate Democrat -- Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia.

The article I did find, however, probably correctly points out that Bush doesn't have to court the arch-conservatives, since they're not exactly likely to vote for Kerry. So they're aiming at the moderates this time, which, yeah, speaking as a moderate it's nice to finally be courted by someone after having the political parties more and more bowing to the extremists.

But all you good conservatives don't worry, once the RNC is over it'll be back to hunting homosexuals as usual. Oh, except for Cheney's daughter, of course...she's cool.

Strange Irish ex-priest grabs lead runner

2004-08-30T09:05:00.000-04:00

You've all probably seen or heard about this one already:

A defrocked Irish priest with a history of disrupting sports events was given a one-year suspended sentence and fined $3,600 Monday for grabbing a runner who was leading the Olympic marathon with three miles to go.

Evidently this guy is disturbed and has done this sort of this before. Considering he probably cost the lead runner the gold this penalty was pretty lenient. One of these days he's going to hurt himself, though, which kind of makes you wonder if something more drastic shouldn't be done.

He's been barred from the priesthood for close to a decade, which makes me wonder what actual event occurred to have that happen?

MOVIE MONDAY - Therese

2004-08-30T08:50:00.000-04:00

Six months after Mel Gibson scored a Hollywood upset with the huge popularity of his violent film, "The Passion of the Christ," another Catholic filmmaker is borrowing Gibson's playbook to sell a much sweeter religious movie about a saint whose national shrine is in metro Detroit.

The movie is to be about Saint Therese of Lisieux, certainly one of the more popular saints. they're really playing up the comarison to Gibson's Passion, and hoping to cash in on the popularity of that film.

I'm not sure it'll happen though, even if this film, Therese is good. Passion was popular because it caused controversy and was about Jesus himself. The strange antics of Gibson himself also might have played a part (not to mention Gibson's popularity and fame brought a lot of people in).

A movie about a gentle saint in France, while having lot's of potential as a film, probably isn't going to bring in the general public on droves, quite a few of whom, (beyond, perhaps, the Catholics) have probably never heard of the saint.

That said, I frankly hope I'm wrong. Therese was a great saint and I hope people flock to see the film!

Speaking of Oh God...

2004-08-27T18:44:00.000-04:00

This shows every sign of having been Photoshopped, but if someone had the sheer gumption to really put one out like this, I'd shake his/her hand...

Scans show brain hard-wired for sweet revenge

2004-08-27T12:32:00.000-04:00

The theological nature of this one might not at first be apparent:

Researchers in Switzerland said the brain centres linked to enjoyment "lit up" in young men who punished those who cheated them.

They keep stressing the "revenge" factor in this study, and yet the study was set up thusly:

In the study, 14 players were paired up after being told if they trusted each other and co-operated, both men would earn money. If one double-crossed the other, the cheater could keep an unfair share. The rules of the game forced some cheating. The slighted player could retaliate by fining the cheater, although he sometimes had to spend his own money to enforce the
fine.

Now, aside from the fact that lead it to the Swiss to devise a study that forces people into revenge settings, I'm not sure this qualifies totally as "revenge". Is it personal revenge or more a sense of justice? In other words are people is it "this SOB wronged me to I'm going to take him out", or is it"he got what he deserved because if he'd played fair we both would have benefitted"?

One of the scientists used the example of a driver refusing to let in a "cheater" who's trying to cut into the line. But that's not revenge, that's a sense of justice because that person shouldn't be trying to get ahead at everyone else's expense.

Now, the reason i think this is important is because of it is an innate sense of justice, then this seems like it might lend credence to CS Lewis' argument (among others) that we do possess a natural moral instinct. When we transgress against that instinct we have to justify it. This is what terrorists do, for example. Yes we know we're killing people, but it's ultimately good because it furthers our religion, or frees our homeland, or whatever. Show me a terrorist who just comes out and says, "Yeppers, we just like killing people!"

So perhaps science is on the verge of indicating that are "hard-wired" with an innate pleasure in justice.

Or if it's simply revenge, it's kind of nice to know that when I finally get back at all my enemies that I'll enjoy the act, rather than have it be the chore it so often is....

PS That lil' Revenge-a-Annie model is just creepy.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II Blasts Vatican 'proselytism'

2004-08-27T11:11:00.000-04:00

Upping the ante a notch on the agression front, the Orthodox Patriarch of Russia minced no words when the papal envoy stepped into Russia with their icon:

"We expect the Roman Church will radically change its policy towards Orthodoxy, that it will cease its unfriendly and deliberate action .....Only on this condition is the fullness of Orthodox-Catholic dialogue, on which we are readily disposed, possible," he said.

Ouchy! Not even the "Catholic" (i.e. univseral) church, just the Roman one! Them's bordering on fightin' words. Evidently they've had problems with Catholics aggressively seeking converts among the Orthodox (at least Alexis feels that's what's happening).

Still, kind of sucks a whole bunch of the air out of the sails of this whole expedition, doesn't it?

They take trees very, VERY seriously in India

2004-08-27T10:00:00.000-04:00

A mob of 300 people attacked a Catholic church Thursday in the town of Raikia in India's eastern Orissa state, smashing statues and burning icons. The mob broke into the church and smashed statues of angels and the Virgin Mary, as well as glass panes in doors and windows. A truck parked outside the church was set ablaze.

The cause of all This ruckus?

The incident occurred Thursday afternoon after Christians had protested the removal of a fence surrounding the church premises. Some locals had removed the fence in order to plant trees.

Never, but never come between an Indian and his trees. Um, although I can't say I blame the church for wanting a fence. They obviously have less than cordial relations with their neighbors.

'Electronic Jihad' fails to materialise

2004-08-27T06:18:00.000-04:00

An "electronic jihad" is immanent which would create a devastating attack on the world wide web? Not so much, says The Register:

Rumours that the Internet would witness a sustained and devastating cyber-attack by Islamic "cyber-terrorists" today have turned out to be completely baseless. The non-story kicked off earlier this week when Kaspersky Labs execs referred to reports on unspecified Arab websites that Islamic hackers had declared 26 August as a day of "electronic jihad" against Israel. The comments were picked up in the Russian media, resulting in a number of alarmist articles on the supposed threat. "Terrorists will paralyse the Internet on 26 August," reported MosMews.

Evidently this was just the same sort of "cyber apocalypse" paranoia that's happened before. The article goes on to say that even when "cyber attacks" have been launched in the past, the effect is usually nothing more than bringing down a few websites.

Bottom line: There's probably not a way to launch a "devastating" attack on the entire internet that would leave most of it unusable. We know, we've tried.