Put any articles here that make you go “eh” or “erm”, and might make you cough a bit, and feel free to comment.
Here’s one:
Jesus was a reformed racist, says Anglican Church of Canada
Posted By: Damian Thompson at Feb 27, 2009 at 00:41:46 [General]
Posted in: Religion
Tags: Anglican Church of Canada, Lenten reflections, typical Canadian political correctness
The Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) has published a Lenten reflection that portrays Jesus as a racist who saw the error of his ways after being challenged by the Canaanite woman in Matthew’s Gospel. The ACoC was long ago taken over by politically correct bores but, as Anglican Samizdat notes, this “reflection” turns Jesus into a sinner - in Christian terms, a pretty basic heresy. Here’s the reflection. Sick-bags at the ready:
—-
“… a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the houseof Israel.’ But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.’ ” - Matthew 14:22-27
This not a story for people who need to think that Jesus always had it together, because it looks like we’ve caught him being mean to a lady because of her ethnicity. At first, he ignores her cries. Then he refuses to help her and compares her people to dogs.
But she challenges his prejudice. And he listens to her challenge and grows in response to it. He ends up healing her daughter. What we may have here is an important moment of self-discovery in Jesus’ life, an enlargement of what it will mean to be who he was. Maybe we are seeing Jesus understand his universality for the first time.
—-
Or maybe not. Maybe someone has been on a “racism awareness course” and decided to redefine the divinity of Jesus in a way that flatters ethnic sensibilities. How very Anglican. How very Canadian.
Or maybe not. Maybe someone has been on a “racism awareness course” and decided to redefine the divinity of Jesus in a way that flatters ethnic sensibilities. How very Anglican. How very Canadian.
But not necessarily Biblical or Christian. All this PC ‘BS’ is way ‘over the top’ here. All these ‘liberals’ want to do is create God in their own image - and strip him of his unique divinity.
BTW - I expect to read something ‘similar’ from our friend at Perth Cathedral soon at Easter time challenging some long held Christian view about Jesus - and enlightening us all from the depths of his fluff-filled belly-button of knowledge. Stay tuned for the next scintillating heresy that appalls Christians - but appeals to the nouveau enlighted liberal church literati. [ Now clasp hands together and hum ommmmmm….... ;) ]
Maybe not on quite the same lines, but I thought the fact that the ‘Australians who live on slumdog millionaires’ row - and love it’ are apparently Christian was pretty interesting! It’s a shame it is only mentioned in passing, but apparently the couple - one a lawyer, the other with a masters’ degree in pure mathematics:
...are not complaining. For them, living in a slum has been deeply enriching.
“It baffles us that more people in Australia who say they are sick of their lives don’t do something like we have,” says Cathy Delaney, who holds a masters’ degree in pure mathematics.
“The longer we have stayed here the more we can see the positive effect it has had on us as people. I feel much freer of money and possessions - these things don’t define my life.”
[...]
Mark works part-time for a Delhi-based medical organisation but the family’s main focus is on their slum. They are strongly motivated by their Christian faith, believing that life is more about caring for others than comfort and success.
“Our main purpose is simply to experience what life is like here, to live with and learn from the poor and contribute something positive to people’s lives,” says Mark.
Choosing to spend 13 years in a slum (with children for at least 12) is pretty fascinating! :)
But appeals to the nouveau enlighted liberal church literati
Dunno about that, I reckon it would only confuse them more about who they think Jesus really is.
I thought the “how very Canadian” sentence at the end was a bit of a cheap shot; I know of plenty of moderate evangelical Christians in Canada. Not everyone has gone of the rails towards extreme liberalism.
I’ll comment on Luke’s article later, my brain cells are completely fried after the weekend!
Agreed - living one week or something in a slum is one experience, but doing it for years would be a huge effort! In the end, they will gain a much greater understanding of other peoples’ needs and be more willing to respond to them!
BRAZIL’s influential Catholic Church today raged against an abortion carried out on a nine-year-old girl who had been pregnant with twins after allegedly being raped by her stepfather.
An archbishop for the northern region where the termination was conducted, Father Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, said the church was excommunicating all those responsible for the abortion: the medical team and the girl’s mother.
The operation - carried out because of doctors’ fears the slender girl might die if she carried the fetuses to term - was a crime in the eyes of the chuch, he said.
“God’s law is above any human law. So when a human law ... is contrary to God’s law, this human law has no value,’’ Archbishop Cardoso told the news television network Globo.
“The adults who approved, who carried out this abortion, will be excommunicated,’’ said the archbishop for the Recife region.
The case has sparked off fierce debate in Brazil, where abortion is illegal except in cases of rape or if the woman’s health is in danger.
The girl, who was not identified because she is a minor, was last week found to be four months’ pregnant after being taken to hospital suffering stomach pains.
Officials said she told them she had suffered sexual abuse by her stepfather since the age of six.
Police said the 23-year-old stepfather also allegedly sexually abused the girl’s physically handicapped 14-year-old sister.
He was arrested a week ago and is being kept in protective custody. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
The website of Globo reported that another girl, aged 11, was being looked after in a hospital in southern Brazil after being found to be seven months’ pregnant following alleged sexual abuse at the hands of her adoptive father.
That suspect, 51, turned himself into police in February.
He told officers he had had sexual relations once with his adopted daughter, at her initiative, according to the police chief for the town of Irai, Antonio Maieron.
My first instinct is to condemn the Catholic Church, the combination of rape / incest / young kid who would have no ability to raise a child on her own seems a clear exception to abortion being sin to me, but I’m also sure that some protestants would side with the Catholic Church on this. Hmm…
Malaysia Christians battle with Muslims over AllahBy: Reuters | 10 Mar 2009 | 08:32 PM ET Text Size KENINGAU, Malaysia - By Niluksi Koswanage
Reciting the Catholic Creed, the 1,800-strong congregation attending mass at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral on Borneo island intones in Malay: “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of Allah.”
These Malaysian Catholics, like their brethren in Indonesia, have used the word “Allah” in place of “God” since converting to Christianity in the 19th century.
But now the government in this mostly Muslim Southeast Asian nation of 27 million people wants to prevent “Allah” being used by Christians, saying it is subversive and aims to convert Muslims.
Christians fear this is just the thin edge of the wedge.
“The government of West Malaysia has an infection of religious hatred. We have to fight back so it does not spread,” said Bishop Cornelius Piong after Sunday Mass at the cathedral in the heart of a rice-growing district in eastern Sabah state.
Christianity is practiced by 9.1 percent of the Malaysian population, according to the 2000 census, the most recently available figures. Many of them, like Bishop Piong, come from ethnic groups such as the Kadazandusun, Dayaks, Ibans and Bidayuh who live in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak.
“Our worship of Allah is so natural, it is part and parcel of the Kadazandusun people here,” Piong said.
The row over the use of Allah to describe the Christian God feeds into a long-running feud over conversions between the government of a country where all Malays must be Muslims and other faiths, such as Hinduism and Buddhism that are practiced by ethnic Indians and Chinese.
MALAYS FRET OVER CONVERSION
It is illegal in Malaysia to convert from Islam to any other religion although conversions to Islam are allowed.
One of the biggest cases involved Lina Joy, a woman who wanted to convert to Christianity to marry her partner, who was baptized and applied to have her conversion legally recognized by the Malaysian state.
She lost a court battle two years ago to have the word “Islam” removed from her identity card. All Malaysian identity cards carry a person’s race and religion.
It is cases such as these that worry Malaysian Muslim activists and officials and they see using the word Allah in Christian publications including bibles as attempts to proselytize.
Those concerns led to the ban on the Catholic Herald newspaper’s use of “Allah” to denote God. The Herald is now suing the government to overturn the ruling, made after it appeared the paper would be allowed to use “Allah” provided it stamped “For Christians” on the front page of the paper.
“Allowing Christians to use the word is dangerous because it’s attacking the sole religion of the Malays,” said Yusri Mohamad, president of the influential Muslim Youth Movement.
“We have to question Christians’ motive for wanting to use this obviously Muslim word. It appears to be for conversions. All Muslim Malays in Malaysia are against this.”
Some leading Muslim scholars here say the issue is being blown out of proportion and that the risk of conversions among the 60 percent Muslim population is tiny.
They see it as an attempt by the government that has ruled Malaysia uninterrupted for 51 years since independence from Britain to hold on to power by identifying ethnicity with religion.
The main ruling party in Malaysia is called the United Malay National Organization, and like its allies from Chinese and Indian parties, it is ethnically based.
“It is an irrational fear (of conversions) but a very powerful one,” said Osman Bakar, the deputy head of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies Malaysia. “Now the government has moved to setting up demarcations around the national language.”
THE Vatican backtracked today on the Pope’s rejection of condoms as a means of preventing AIDS ¿ a climbdown interpreted by some as a rare admission of papal fallibility.
Yesterday he told reporters accompanying him on his trip to Africa that AIDS “is a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, and that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems”.
Taken aback by outrage worldwide, the Holy See altered the Pope’s remark today to read that condoms merely “risked” aggravating the problem.
The Vatican website published an edited text of the Pope’s question-and- answer session on the flight to Cameroon, the day after a French reporter had questioned the Pope as he flew to Africa on how to tackle the AIDS epidemic. It was that question that prompted the unqualified response that condoms aggravate the problem.
By changing that to “risks aggravating”, the message was softened. The website at first also altered the Italian word the Pope used for condoms, from “preservativi” to “profilattici”.
It is not clear whether “preservatives” — the usual Italian term for condoms — was deemed too colloquial, or whether “prophylactics” was considered not simply more polite but more general, since it could be taken to encompass other forms of “safeguard against disease”. Subsequently the Italian word was rendered back to preservativi.
All Vatican press conferences are conducted in Italian, which the German-born Pope speaks fluently and of which Vatican-accredited reporters are also expected to have a good command.
Reporters who recorded the interview on the papal plane said the recordings showed the Pope had used the word “preservativi” and not “profilattici”. In addition he had not said that reliance on condoms “risked” aggravating the problem, as the amended version had it, but rather that it “even aggravated it” or, as some media translated it, “increased” it.
In Cameroon Father Federico Lombardi, the papal spokesman, continued to defend the Pope’s remarks — in whatever form — saying the pontiff was merely continuing the line taken by his predecessors. He said the Pope maintained that the distribution of condoms was “not in reality the best way” to tackle AIDS.
L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, said in a front-page editorial that the media had reduced the Pope’s African trip to just “one aspect”, the controversy over how to combat AIDS.
The Pope’s speeches and homilies as released by the Vatican are normally regarded as sacrosanct. He is deemed to have delivered the officially released written version even if he does not do so for any reason, or if he omits parts of the written text.
Jon O’Brien, president of the US-based Catholics for Choice, welcomed the change as an admission that the Pope is not infallible on the issue and is willing to acknowledge his mistakes.
Mr O’Brien said: “The Pope has now admitted that he is unsure as to whether condoms will help alleviate the spread of HIV. Where there is doubt there is freedom and Catholics can now make up their own minds as to whether they can use them or not. Indeed, the vast majority of Catholics have already made this call and use condoms to protect themselves and their partners against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
“We call on the Pope to revisit the teachings on condoms with a view to lifting the ban.”
Mr O’Brien added: “It took the church hierarchy 359 years to stop continuing the line taken by their predecessors on Galileo. We hope that this error does not take so long to change.”
The second backdown by the Vatican, after they expressed that they were wrong in excommunicating those involved in the abortion of the raped child (original story in post #4).
Sheik Al-Hilali has to rate a mention in this thread too, the title speaks for itself lol:
AUSTRALIA’S most controversial sheik, Taj Din al-Hilali, has been caught on videotape kicking in a door at his own mosque before calling police to report an act of vandalism.
The head imam at the Lakemba mosque, who caused outrage in 2006 by comparing scantily clad women to uncovered meat, was shown on a CCTV security tape kicking open the door just minutes before reporting the incident.
The Nine Network’s A Current Affair last night broadcast the videotape from March 9, showing the incident, which Sheik Hilali initially denied.
“There is a trick in this camera. There is a trick in this film,” he told ACA.
But in a letter sent by Sheik Hilali’s lawyers to ACA yesterday, he admitted kicking the door, saying the damage had already been done to the door before he kicked it.
“What he did do was to kick open a door to the mosque that had already been damaged by others in order to gain entry to it,” the letter said.
Lebanese Muslim Association president Shawky Kassir said they had called the police “for a little problem, but we have fixed (it) and everything is under control”.
The footage shows four young men locking the door behind them at 10.28pm.
Nine minutes later, Sheik Hilali checks the lock and pushes on the top of the door, bending it on its hinges. After checking the corridor, he disappears from view before rushing towards it and kicking it open at 10.46pm.
It is understood the name of the suspected culprit was put forward to NSW police, but it is not known if he was interviewed by the authorities.
A NSW Police media spokesperson said they started to investigate the matter but three days later were told by a mosque official that he did not wish to take the matter any further.
“The matter remains under investigation. Further senior members of the local community will be consulted to discuss the incident.”
By Robyn Ironside The Courier-Mail March 20, 2009 are
Don’t do it ... Tiffany Hack with an orange, now banned from the netball court / Picture: Courier-Mail
No oranges at half-time in netball games
Acidity is harmful to tooth enamel
Growers ask - so now fresh fruit is no good?
A JUICY stoush is brewing between a state sporting body and citrus growers over the banning of oranges at games because of potential damage to teeth.
Netball Queensland, the umbrella body for 82 netball associations, has sanctioned the ban based on the high acid levels of oranges and the potential harm to children’s teeth, according to Brisbane’s Courier-Mail.
“Most of our associations have banned oranges at half-time or are discouraging coaches from offering oranges,” said a Netball Queensland spokeswoman.
But Queensland Citrus Growers, which is about to roll out a major campaign promoting fruit at sports games, said it was outrageous to be discouraging children from eating fresh fruit.
State manager Chris Simpson said “citrus and kids’ sport had been synonymous for generations”.
“I’d like to see medical research and evidence to prove fruit is unhealthy, particularly fresh citrus,” Mr Simpson said.
Netball Queensland’s consultant dietitian Kerry Leech said acidity was the problem.
“When players come off the court at half-time they’re generally a bit dehydrated and the worst thing for teeth in that environment is acid, because it erodes the enamel,” Ms Leech said.
“So we’re encouraging fluids to re-hydrate at half-time rather than eating half an orange.”
Dr Derek Lewis from the Australian Dental Association’s oral health committee agreed oranges and athletes were not a good mix.
Mr Simpson said his organisation was launching a campaign in which hundreds of mandarins would begiven away at sporting functions.
“If they’re concerned about oranges, why not try an Imperial mandarin?”
The really disturbing thing is that these same people will be voting at today’s Qld election ;)
[ Please note that I said “same people” - not “SANE people” ]
I have tried to follow the legal arguments in some of the articles over the last - is it 6-8 months? - and get quite lost. I haven’t seen any bigger interpretive articles for a while. The issue seems to be relegated to piecemeal reporting now.
My impression is the breakaway churches are in fact being stripped of their material assets.
By Robyn Ironside The Courier-Mail March 20, 2009 are
Don’t do it ... Tiffany Hack with an orange, now banned from the netball court / Picture: Courier-Mail
No oranges at half-time in netball games
Acidity is harmful to tooth enamel
Growers ask - so now fresh fruit is no good?
A JUICY stoush is brewing between a state sporting body and citrus growers over the banning of oranges at games because of potential damage to teeth.
Netball Queensland, the umbrella body for 82 netball associations, has sanctioned the ban based on the high acid levels of oranges and the potential harm to children’s teeth, according to Brisbane’s Courier-Mail.
“Most of our associations have banned oranges at half-time or are discouraging coaches from offering oranges,” said a Netball Queensland spokeswoman.
But Queensland Citrus Growers, which is about to roll out a major campaign promoting fruit at sports games, said it was outrageous to be discouraging children from eating fresh fruit.
State manager Chris Simpson said “citrus and kids’ sport had been synonymous for generations”.
“I’d like to see medical research and evidence to prove fruit is unhealthy, particularly fresh citrus,” Mr Simpson said.
Netball Queensland’s consultant dietitian Kerry Leech said acidity was the problem.
“When players come off the court at half-time they’re generally a bit dehydrated and the worst thing for teeth in that environment is acid, because it erodes the enamel,” Ms Leech said.
“So we’re encouraging fluids to re-hydrate at half-time rather than eating half an orange.”
Dr Derek Lewis from the Australian Dental Association’s oral health committee agreed oranges and athletes were not a good mix.
Mr Simpson said his organisation was launching a campaign in which hundreds of mandarins would begiven away at sporting functions.
“If they’re concerned about oranges, why not try an Imperial mandarin?”
The really disturbing thing is that these same people will be voting at today’s Qld election ;)
[ Please note that I said “same people” - not “SANE people” ]
Maybe they have bad teeth because there is no floride in the water in Queensland?
More non-Christian liberal tripe. And here’s why ( this is from one of the comments posted to that article above ) :
Background info on Katherine Hancock Ragsdale:
She is also the President and Executive Director of Political Research Associates, “a progressive think tank devoted to supporting movements that are building a more just and inclusive democratic society. We expose movements, institutions, and ideologies that undermine human rights.” Their website is http://www.publiceye.org/about.p...). She is a lesbian who was ordained by John Shelby Spong, the retired, and highly controversial, Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey.
Craig Schwarze has a link to an article that says people who surf the net at work are more productive than those who don’t.
I think it depends how much you are committed to getting your job done! A friend has a colleague who for the past three years has basically surfed the net and sent emails all day every day. They work in a security place where they receive alerts to security breaches and have to act on these.
My friend has spoken to the management about his highly active colleague [highly active on the net, that is] and they refuse to do anything. Dunno if he is related to the boss, but he is able to keep doing things, or rather not doing them and keep his job.
I’m glad I don’t work there.
My friend is a quiet conscientious person and he is as honest as the day is long. I’m confident he is not exaggerating.
There are some jobs e.g. government, one+ people doing the exact same thing where there is a lot of downtime. Even your example about the security place would imply one+ people doing the same thing. Do they simply sit there and do nothing even if there are no tasks for them?
Of course, taking it to the extreme and surfing/emailing the whole day is another matter!
The percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen 10 points in the past two decades. How that statistic explains who we are now—and what, as a nation, we are about to become.
Starts off with a bit of ‘the sky is falling!’ drama but levels out pretty quickly and gives a fascinating look at the role of Christianity in American life past and present, and the role Christianity can and should play in a modern democratic society much like ours too.
This is more a case of articles that make you go ‘OW!’ but John Safran was allegedly crucified as part of the annual ritual in the Philippines where people really do get nails driven through their hands (the obviously don’t go the whole way though!).
He has a show on the ABC this year called Race Relations so the speculation is that it’s a part of, or a stunt for, the upcoming show.
On some TV news and newspaper reports of these annual rituals, they reported that the penitents go through the agony ” as part of religious vows in return for favours granted or in penance for sins.” But doesn’t this mean that - for them - Christ’s atoning death was insufficient ? In other words, their actions demonstrate that they don’t believe that Christ died ONCE FOR ALL. Obviously their church has let them down through inadequate Biblical teaching - and the peoples’ superstitious beliefs continue to reign !
Like this pic from the media Kevin? .....don’t think they are making it up.
I believe they are penitents from the La Paz brotherhood marking the start of Easters Holy Week. Pic taken April 2009
Makes me go ‘Ahh??’
Michael I believe the white hooded guys are actually in La Paz , Seville, Spain—not La Paz Iloilo Philippines.The Pinoys usually have blackhood and bare hairy chest. Well not hairy really. That’s another mistake.
[null]Catholics File Suits on Contraceptive CoverageNew York Times[{}]At least 11 other Catholic and evangelical organizations had already filed lawsuits challenging the birth control mandate, but those cases are still pending. The White House declined to comment on Monday, instead providing President Obama's comments ...
[null]Catholic Groups File Suits on Contraceptive CoverageNew York Times[{}]At least 11 other Catholic and evangelical organizations had already filed lawsuits challenging the birth control mandate, but those cases are still pending. The White House declined to comment on Monday, instead providing President Obama's comments ...
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