Diocese of Niagara: dog in the manger

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The Diocese of Niagara, having been in serious decline for decades, is unable to pay the upkeep on many of its half-empty buildings. It is hoping that taxpayers will foot the bill to keep them open.

They’re stunning, iconic buildings that speak to a time of religious grace and opulence. They’re also aging, some without the means or devotees to return them to their former glory.

“In the future, what would be an ideal from our point of view would be to have a way of working with the heritage folks and the city so we could both preserve churches and develop the land around them, perhaps,” said Rick Jones, archdeacon with the Diocese of Niagara.

At the same time, it is trying to take three buildings away from ANiC parishes that actually could use them for what they were originally intended: worship. Bishop Michael Bird calls this the Pursuit of Excellence in Ministry.

The “AIDS is a Mass Murderer Ad”

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A German advertisement compares AIDS to Adolf Hitler:

A tasteless advertisement featuring Adolf Hitler having sex has been condemned by HIV charities.

The steamy advert, filmed by a German charity, features the couple having sex – but only at the end is the man revealed to be Hitler.

The ad – produced in German, Spanish and English versions – also features mocked-up posters of Josef Stalin and Saddam Hussein having sex with naked women.

The tagline reads: ‘Aids is a mass murderer’. It is set to be shown on German television next week.

… the Das Comitee advertising agency said the shock value of the advert is designed to scare people into safe sex.

The advertisements depict a man and a woman copulating; the shock value – and certainly the accuracy – would increase if homosexual sex were the subject of the campaign. Homosexual and bisexual men are 50 times more likely to have HIV than heterosexual men; but running that advertisement would have taken guts and be politically incorrect.

Gay and bisexual men account for half of new HIV infections in the U.S. and have AIDS at a rate more than 50 times greater than other groups, according to Centers for Disease Control & Prevention data presented at the National HIV Prevention Conference this week in Atlanta.

Wired to believe

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It seems that we are programmed to believe in God:

Humans are programmed to believe in God because it gives them a better chance of survival, researchers claim.

A study into the way children’s brains develop suggests that during the process of evolution those with religious tendencies began to benefit from their beliefs – possibly by working in groups to ensure the future of their community.

The findings of Bruce Hood, professor of developmental psychology at Bristol University, suggest that magical and supernatural beliefs are hardwired into our brains from birth, and that religions are therefore tapping into a powerful psychological force.

There are two possibilities:

God does actually exist and he designed us; it should come as no surprise that we are inclined to believe in him.

God does not exist and the proclivity to believe he does is a product of evolution: evolution has programmed us to believe a lie. If evolution predisposes us to believe something to be true that isn’t, we cannot trust our ability to deduce from evidence; therefore, no amount of evidence can prove evolution to be true.

Diocese of Niagara and the Potemkin St. Hilda’s

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Since the congregation of St. Hilda’s voted unanimously to join ANiC in February 2008 the diocese of Niagara has installed four “priests in charge” one after the other at its faux-St. Hilda’s:

Brian Ruttan:
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Martha Tatarnic:
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Cheryl Fricker:
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and the latest, Sue-Ann Ward:

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The diocese claims it wants to “build a congregation” and it has taken four priests about a year and a half to produce a congregation of approximately – zero.

Which leads to the obvious question for these “priests in charge”:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s725ORAaWe0]

Mayor of London suggests non-Muslims fast for Ramadan

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But will he encourage Muslims to attend church at Easter? Probably not.Add an Image

Boris Johnson calls for a day of fasting to ‘help understand Muslims’

London Mayor Boris Johnson today encouraged people to undergo a day of fasting to help them gain a better understanding of their ‘Muslim neighbour’.

Speaking during a visit to the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre he said Muslims in the capital were ‘challenging traditional stereotypes’ to show they wanted to be part of the mainstream.

Mr Johnson’s visit coincided with the holy period of Ramadan in which participating Muslims fast from dawn until sunset.

He said: ‘Whether it’s in theatre, comedy, sports, music or politics, Muslims are challenging the traditional stereotypes and showing that they are, and want to be, a part of the mainstream community.

‘That’s why I urge people, particularly during Ramadan, to find out more about Islam, increase your understanding and learning, even fast for a day with your Muslim neighbour and break your fast at the local mosque.

Observing a religious ceremony for appearance’ sake without actually believing what the ceremony represents would normally be called hypocrisy.

Boris Johnson’s suggestion appears more bizarre in light of some of his earlier remarks about Islam:

..It will take a huge effort of courage and skill to win round the many thousands of British Muslims who are in a similar state of alienation, and to make them see that their faith must be compatible with British values and with loyalty to Britain. That means disposing of the first taboo, and accepting that the problem is Islam. Islam is the problem.

To any non-Muslim reader of the Koran, Islamophobia — fear of Islam — seems a natural reaction, and, indeed, exactly what that text is intended to provoke. Judged purely on its scripture — to say nothing of what is preached in the mosques — it is the most viciously sectarian of all religions in its heartlessness towards unbelievers. […]

The trouble with this disgusting arrogance and condescension [of Theo Van Gogh’s killer] is that it is widely supported in Koranic texts, and we look in vain for the enlightened Islamic teachers and preachers who will begin the process of reform. What is going on in these mosques and madrasas? When is someone going to get 18th century on Islam’s mediaeval ass?

Authors and their ladies

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About 25 years ago I was in Miami on a business trip, staying at a reasonably posh hotel. One morning, having crawled out of bed bleary eyed and not particularly looking forward to the day’s activities, I found myself standing next to a large individual dressed in a rigidly impeccable suit wearing too much smelly deodorant; he was holding a walkie-talkie. We were both waiting for the elevator – or lift as I still like to think of it. To my left was what I took to be a hotel tart with a stunning figure and hard face.

The walkie-talkie squawked and seemed to say “Mr. Mailer is on his way”. My elevator arrived and out stepped Norman Mailer; before I had a chance to tell him what was wrong with his writing, the tart grabbed his arm, the bodyguard shoved me out of the way and Mailer, tart and bodyguard disappeared into an obscenely long limousine.

Which brings me to Salman Rushdie. At least Norman Mailer – short though he was – had the sense to choose a female companion who was shorter. For Salman Rushdie, it has taken far too long:

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Fred Hiltz does the Middle East

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And I am sure that no-one is surprised to discover that, according to him, it is infested with Israeli occupiers:

Q: Can you describe what it was like to visit Gaza?

A: It was a bit unnerving going through a checkpoint to show your passport and to answer questions as to why you’re there, how long you’re going to be there and where you’re going while you’re there and what time you’re leaving… What’s unnerving about that is that there’s a kind of tenseness in the checkpoint. We’re not accustomed, for instance, to seeing soldiers standing all over the place with machine guns and their hands on the gun at all times…We went in by car and not a lot of vehicles go through Gaza like that. A lot stand in long lines and wait to be processed before they’re given permission to enter and then they walk through the security or checkpoint.

Take a trip to Paris sometime, Fred; there you will see pimply teenagers guarding the Eiffel tower with machine guns:

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That is because they want to prevent people from blowing it up; get it, Fred?

Thrusting in the Diocese of Niagara

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With Michael Bird’s announcement that the diocese of Niagara is to offer the blessing of same-sex couples this September (triads next September), it is only natural that the diocesan hegemony has its mind set on thrusting. Here’s the proof:

Donate Online
Your donation will help us thrust the Niagara Anglican into the future – communicating the Gospel and the good news of our Anglican tradition to generations to come.

Clearly, without a sufficient degree of thrusting, the Niagara Anglican tabloid is unlikely to find its way unassisted into the future; which would be a shame, since it is of an ideal consistency physically, spiritually and intellectually to make excellent kitty litter when ground up.

It would be remiss of me if I failed to draw attention to the gospel contained in this potential cat commode liner: it is none other that the good news of our Anglican tradition which, by and large, avoids any reference to God, Jesus, sin, atonement or any other of those embarrassingly lunatic notions peddled by rabid fundamentalists.

So, donate today or I will have to start buying commercial remedies to absorb feline feculence.

Inclusiveness

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It’s everywhere; personally, it’s making me yearn to be excluded.

Louis Susman reaches out to Muslims on 9/11

Louis Susman, Barack Obama’s former campaign fund-raiser, whose appointment as Ambassador to the Court of St James’s I revealed in March, has two engagements in his diary next week which will, he hopes, symbolise the “inclusiveness” of the new administration.

On Sept 10, Susman will host a Ramadan Iftar reception at Winfield House, his residence in Regent’s Park, and the next day, on the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, he will attend a concert for the British victims of the terrorist atrocities outside the American embassy in Grosvenor Square. Camilla Hellman, the president of the British Memorial Trust, which is organising the event at the same time as a concert at the British Garden in Hanover Square, New York, says: “There were innocent Muslims, too, who died in the attacks, and it’s appropriate the ambassador should attend the event the night before.”

Iftar refers to the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during Ramadan. Under Islamic tradition, the new day begins at sunset, hence the event at Winfield House will be, for Muslims, 9/11.