What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Predictions for 2021

      1. Boris Johnston will achieve his longstanding ambition to become a former Prime Minister.
      2. Stock market higher at end of 2021 than at the beginning (FTSE – 6,460)  but higher inflation too (most recent CHPI – 0.6%).
      3. No progress for those hoping for marriage equality in the Church of England.
      4. State based hackers turn their disruptive attention to open source software. (Watch out WordPress).
      5. Donald Trump will remain the centre of attention.
      6. There will be midnight mass in St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow next Christmas Eve. People will be wearing masks.
      7. A rocky year for Nicola Sturgeon but the SNP will be returned triumphant to Holyrood, despite their record.
      8. No vote on Scottish Independence this year but like it or not, constitutional change is a-coming.
      9. Attempt to repeal the Human Rights Act, removing the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights from UK law. (It is a stepping stone to restoring capital punishment – the Brexiteers are not done with us yet).
      10. Legislation emerges in Scotland to restrict fireworks.
    , ,

4 responses to “D.I.V.O.R.C.E.”

  1. David Kenvyn Avatar
    David Kenvyn

    I am a little worried about this concept of “African Marriage”. It seems to assume that Africa as a continent is culturally homogenous. This is not something that we would ever say about Europe or Asia, and it is simply not true. Morocco has very little cultural similarity to Mozambique. In South Africa, Xhosa-speaking men are circumcised at about 16 years old. Zulu-speaking men are not circumcised. They live in neighbouring provinces and inter-mingle in the cities. I think we have to be very careful when we describe practices that are common in Nigeria or Tanzania or Namibia as African, as they may not apply across the whole continent. It would be like calling bullfighting or reindeer racing European cultural norms, when we know that they are specific to particular countries.

    Reply
  2. Seph Avatar
    Seph

    I think what Christians and others need to bear in mind is that it is possible to be accepting of divorce as a fact of life while still valuing commitment and regarding marriage as ideally being a lifelong covenant. In truth, if a couple is considering divorce then there is already brokenness (or sin—although in this context the word has some uncomfortable connotations) in their relationship, and trying to maintain it purely because the Church (or, heaven forfend, God) Says No doesn’t seem to me to be in any way a holy or virtuous thing to do.

    ‘D.I.V.O.R.C.E.’ is a lot less effective an obfuscation in writing than when Dolly sang it.

    Reply
  3. David Kenvyn Avatar
    David Kenvyn

    Jacob Zuma has five wives, Desmond Tutu has one wife, Nelson Mandela had three wives and divorced two of them. What does this tell us about the concept of “African Marriage”?

    Reply
    1. Kelvin Holdsworth Avatar
      Kelvin Holdsworth

      I was quoting an African priest. And I agree with you.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Jesus – the Angry Religious Man

    Here’s what I said in the pulpit yesterday for Lent 3 Sermon preached by Kelvin Holdsworth on 8 March 2015 from St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow on Vimeo. The door opened. That door at the back, with its annoying squeak. And I looked up and immediately I was afraid. I saw someone come in and knew…

  • The Opera Project – Purcell and Poulenc

    The Opera Project was a double bill of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. This review appeared originally at Opera Britannia. Rating: At first sight, the pairing of Dido and Aeneas with Poulenc’s surrealist piece Les Mamelles de Tirésias seems to make little sense at…

  • News from around the Scottish Episcopal Church – March 2015

    United Lent Appeal The College of Bishops has launched a Lent Appeal to raise funds for the Scottish Episcopal Institute, the new body that is the successor to the troubled Theological Institute of the Scottish Episcopal Church. The Lent Appeal is to raise funds to enable full-time training for younger ordinands. The following prayer has…

  • Silence is Golden

    Forum on Silence from St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow on Vimeo. Somehow I managed to forget to publish this video on the blog but it is worth taking a look. It came from a forum conversation that I had with the Vice Provost, Cedric Blakey the other week. The point of this was to have a…