Atheists force cancellation of Operation Christmas Child

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A “perturbed parent” – one parent, by the sound of it – has convinced fellow atheists in the American Humanist Association that giving Christmas presents to poor children in the Third World is tantamount to proselytising: the AMA has threatened to sue a school for taking part in Operation Christmas Child.

By preventing the giving of these Christmas gifts, atheists are engaged in their own twisted brand of evangelism: they are ramming home Richard Dawkins’ cheery view that in our universe there is “no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.” Surely there must be some parents “perturbed” by that?

From here:

A South Carolina charter school has canceled its annual Christmas toy drive after a group of self-described humanists complained that the project violated the U.S. Constitution and accused them of bribing children to convert to Christianity.

Renee Mathews, the principal of East Point Academy in West Columbia, S.C., said the annual Operation Christmas Child project was halted because the American Humanist Association threatened to sue the school.

“We received a letter saying we had to cease and desist immediately or they would take legal action against us,” Mathews told me.

[…..]

[T]he American Humanist Association decided to intervene on behalf of a perturbed parent.

“The boxes of toys are essentially a bribe, expressly used to pressure desperately poor children living in developing countries to convert to Christianity, and are delivered with prayers, sermons, evangelical tracts and pressure to convert,” read a letter the AHA sent to Mathews.

The AHA said a public school cannot affiliate itself with a group like Operation Christmas Child without violating the Establishment Clause.

 

The sale of St. Hilda’s

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The Diocese of Niagara is reporting selling St. Hilda’s for $1,900,000:

The Anglican Diocese of Niagara sold the former St. Hilda’s Church property to the Region of Halton on August 14, 2013 for $1,900,000.

A response from the Town of Oakville to my email inquiry on their buying price yielded:

Hi David;
The amount was $2,250,000.00 to purchase the 1258 Rebecca Street property.

It appears that the Town has the purchase price wrong:

St. Hilda's SaleAs you can see, the property has been sold twice, once in 1957 for $2 when it was effectively donated by a parishioner; the parishioner was still attending St. Hilda’s when the vote was taken to leave the Diocese of Niagara in 2008. The second sale was by the Diocese of Niagara in 2013 for a slightly larger sum.

St. Aidan’s Windsor to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada

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In the ANiC Newsletter, received via email:

St Aidan’s (Windsor, ON) has decided, after much prayer and thought, to appeal the loss of their church building and funds to the Supreme Court of Canada. Please remember the congregation, leadership, legal counsel, and judges in your prayers.

St. Aidan’s appealing the loss of its building to the Ontario Court of Appeal was not only unsuccessful but resulted in the reversal of an earlier ruling that each side should pay its own legal fees: St. Aidan’s was ordered to pay $100,000 of the Diocese of Huron’s legal costs, in addition to their own costs.

The Supreme Court of Canada may choose, like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear, not to hear the appeal; that was the case in the New Westminster appeal. Even if it does, in human terms, a reversal seems unlikely. Still, God has more influence than even the Supreme Court of Canada, so we should pray.

Atheist mega-churches

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From here:

It lookAtheistMegachurchesed like a typical Sunday morning at any mega-church. Hundreds packed in for more than an hour of rousing music, an inspirational sermon, a reading and some quiet reflection. The only thing missing was God.

Dozens of gatherings dubbed “atheist mega-churches” by supporters and detractors are springing up around the U.S. after finding success in Great Britain earlier this year. The movement fueled by social media and spearheaded by two prominent British comedians is no joke.

On Sunday, the inaugural Sunday Assembly in Los Angeles attracted more than 400 attendees, all bound by their belief in non-belief. Similar gatherings in San Diego, Nashville, New York and other U.S. cities have drawn hundreds of atheists seeking the camaraderie of a congregation without religion or ritual.

[…..]

Jones got the first inkling for the idea while leaving a Christmas carol concert six years ago.

“There was so much about it that I loved, but it’s a shame because at the heart of it, it’s something I don’t believe in,” Jones said. “If you think about church, there’s very little that’s bad. It’s singing awesome songs, hearing interesting talks, thinking about improving yourself and helping other people — and doing that in a community with wonderful relationships. What part of that is not to like?”

In the spirit of Richard Dawkins, who regards himself as a “cultural Anglican”, these atheist churches have adopted the aesthetic of Christianity while discarding the truths that produced the aesthetic. For the most part, Western Anglicanism has done much the same thing.

Such a fraudulent, self-indulgent wallowing in feelings whose significance have been robbed of all meaning and to which one is not entitled, is an interesting testimony to the foolishness of a movement which claims to be entirely rooted in rationality.

Fred Hiltz soft pedals changes to the marriage canon that will allow same-sex marriage

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It’s nothing to worry about because: there can be no final decision before 2019 and who knows what could happen by then – Hiltz could retire, Jesus could return (a real shock to the ACoC, since it believes in the parousia as fervently as I believe in unicorns); other parts of the communion will be “consulted” (and ignored if they disagree); it will be discussed in dioceses (over and over and over again until the opposition weaken from exhaustion).

Anyway, no priest who is indifferent to his career prospects will be compelled to perform same sex marriages.

From here:

That question might be particularly relevant when it comes to controversial matters such as the resolution passed by General Synod in Ottawa, which asks the Council of General Synod to draft a motion to be considered by the next General Synod, when it meets in 2016, to amend the marriage canon to allow same-sex couples to marry, with a conscience clause that gives any clergy, bishop, congregation or diocese that objects the option of not participating. The primate said he had heard from bishops across the theological spectrum that they had experienced “a sense of peace” about the issue after General Synod 2010 published its pastoral statement, following its meeting in Halifax, which they did not experience after the resolution was passed this summer in Ottawa.

The issue is not for the House of Bishops to resolve; it is a matter for the Council of General Synod and the order of bishops in General Synod, Hiltz acknowledged, but he said he opened the discussion with the bishops, understanding that there are tensions and concerns around the issue.

“There’s been a huge effort in the life of the church to talk about this as a pastoral response, not a change of doctrine, and now it feels like the ground has shifted,” Hiltz said. The change to a question of doctrine creates difficulties in dioceses where bishops “have worked really hard to hold all voices and all people together,” and where some people are asking how this shift happened. The motion, he noted, came from individual members of General Synod, not the Council of General Synod or a diocese.

While the issue has been divisive, the primate said he did not have a sense of lines hardening within the House of Bishops. “We reminded one another that, because it is a doctrinal matter, it will take two successive general synods to do anything in terms of a final decision anyway, and between the first and second reading it would be discussed in provinces and dioceses.” The bishops considered the international reaction and said, “we ought not have this conversation in isolation, that we should be consulting with other parts of the Communion,” said Hiltz, who will relay the bishops’ input to CoGS.

The decline of The Episcopal Church

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From here:

Episcopal Church down 24% in ten years

Baptized membership in the Episcopal Church of the USA declined by 29,679 in 2012 to 2,066,710, the Episcopal Church reported on 31 October 2013.

Statistics released by national church showed Average Sunday Attendance declined steadily across [t]he church as well 2.6 per cent in 2012, with 679,923 Episcopalians in church on Sundays.

At least TEC publishes up to date statistics, which is more than can be said for the Anglican Church of Canada whose last published number was in 2007. Then there  were 545,957 people on parish rolls.

If the ratio of church attendees to “membership” is the same in Canada as it is in the US, there would have been 179,613 people attending ACoC churches in 2007; fewer today, of course.

What Dan Savage thinks in his darker moments

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For those who have no idea who Dan Savage is, stop here if you do not wish to experience a rude awakening from your blissful ignorance. Otherwise, read on:

Daniel Keenan “Dan” Savage (born October 7, 1964) is an American author, media pundit, journalist and newspaper editor. Savage writes the internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column Savage Love. In 2010, Savage and his husband Terry Miller began the It Gets Better Project to help prevent suicide among LGBT youth. He has also worked as a theater director, sometimes credited as Keenan Hollahan….

Savage and his husband, Terry Miller, have one adopted son, D.J., and were married in Vancouver, Canada in 2005. Following the 2012 legalization of gay marriage in Washington, he and Miller were part of the ceremonial first group of 11 couples to receive a Washington marriage license. Savage and Miller married at Seattle City Hall on December 9, 2012.

In a recent Australian panel discussion, Savage, on being asked what dangerous idea has the “greatest potential to change the world for the better”, answered instead, the question: “what stupidest idea has the greatest potential to change the world for the worse”:

“I think abortion should be mandatory for about 30 years”

One can only assume that Savage and Miller are not interested in adopting any more children – for 30 years, at least.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ndMloq4m_M

The whole episode is at the bottom of this post and is worth perusing if only to enjoy the masterful way Peter Hitchens effortlessly irritates the opposition by merely stating simple truths.

 

Nominees for the next Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster

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Here is the list; each candidate has provided some self-promotional material – euphemistically known as a Curriculum Vitae – which can be inspected by clicking on the candidate’s name. The good news is that there may be relief for those of you suffering from incurable insomnia: each of the aspiring bishops has made a video.

Notable by his absence is Dean Peter Elliott.

Listed in alphabetical order, the eight (8) candidates which the Committee recommends to you for consideration are:

  1. Ven. Ellen Clark-King, Vicar, Christ Church Cathedral, Diocese of New Westminster (Ph.D., M.A., C.T., B.A.)

  2. Rev. Canon Dawn L. Davis, Incumbent Priest, Trinity Church Aurora, Diocese of Toronto (CHRP, M.Div., B.A.)

  3. Rev. John Hebenton, Vicar, Anglican Parish of Gate Pa, Tauranga, Diocese of Waiapu, Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia (BSc, LTh [Hons], M.Min, B.A.)

  4. Rev. Richard G. Leggett, Incumbent Priest, St. Faith’s Anglican Church, Diocese of New Westminster (Ph.D., M.A., M.Div., B.A.)

  5. Ven. Lynne E. McNaughton, Incumbent Priest, St. Clement Anglican Church, Diocese of New Westminster (D. Min., M.Div., B.A.)

  6. Rev. John Oakes, Hon. Assoc. Priest, All Saints Episcopal Church, Belmont, Diocese of Massachusetts, TEC and on leave with permission to officiate, Diocese of New Westminster (Ph.D., M.Div., M.A., M.C.S., Dipl. C.S., B.A.)

  7. Rev. Canon Melissa M. Skelton, Canon for Congregational Development and Leadership & Rector, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Diocese of Olympia, TEC (M.Div., M.B.A., M.A., B.A.)

  8. Ven. John R. Stephens, Incumbent Priest, St. Philip’s Anglican Church, Diocese of New Westminster (M.Div., B.Sc.)

The new website for Continuing Indaba

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According to the website:

Continuing Indaba uses journeys to establish relationships and build community so that genuine conversation on matters of significance can energise mission.

I would like to congratulate the writer on cramming an unprecedented concentration of clichés into one sentence: journeys, relationships, community, conversation, significance, energise and mission are all there – although it’s a shame he missed trajectory and go deeper.

In the spirit of robust obfuscation, the sentence could be describing anything from a seniors’ knitting club on a long cruise to a morale boosting – it’s actually called “team building“ now – IBM sales meeting at an expensive golf resort.

What it actually is, is a liberal diversion aimed at lulling unwary conservatives into a conversational stupor while, behind the scenes, the real work is done: Continuing Machinations to bring to pass everything the conservatives disagree with.

For those convinced that with a new Archbishop of Canterbury things would change, the first photograph that appears on the site might be something of a disappointment:

abc

The second holds more promise: a Canada goose. We are trying to get rid of them because they poop on everything:

wild-goose