10 responses to “Blessings abounding”

1. 

   Dianne Pallett

   01/10/2012

   There really isn’t any argument left – discriminatory practice is not acceptable anywhere, least of all in our churches. There should not be any such thing as “gay marriage” as if it is something different, just “marriage” is fine – marriage for any who want to make that commitment regardless of their orientation.
   Can we turn our attentions to the awful things happening in the world now instead of making an issue out of something that shouldn’t be?

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   1. 

      kelvin

      01/10/2012

      The trouble is, I don’t think we can move on until those pesky laws (church and state alike) have actually been changed.

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2. 

   Rosemary Hannah

   01/10/2012

   I think the reason we can’t move on until it is sorted is that real people actually get hurt. The message that ‘gay is second best’ is a deeply damaging one – and we should not put up with it, not while we are still having to produce videos which say ‘It gets better’. It should not have to get better, except in the usual way that being a teenager is a difficult thing anyhow. The clear message needs to be ‘There is nothing second-best about being gay for anybody.’

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3. 

   Augur Pearce

   01/10/2012

   The ‘Nigerian or Ugandan’ label is surely no worse than the ‘Catholic’ label. It gets laborious saying every time ‘the view of the Roman Catholic hierarchy’ rather than ‘the Catholic view’, even though we all know that plenty of good Christians in that tradition do not share all the beliefs of an elderly Bavarian sitting in a palace on the Italian peninsula. To my mind Andrew Brown’s punchline was trenchant and a jolt of encouragement.

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   1. 

      G Wright

      22/10/2012

      we all know that plenty of good Christians in that tradition do not share all the beliefs of an elderly Bavarian sitting in a palace on the Italian peninsula
      —-

      The Catholic opinion of homosexuality is that it is a disordered, (“confused / mixed up”), sexuality. Nothing more, nothing less. It is a 100% accurate statement. I appreciate that it is not an especially flattering term, but then the truth is not always an easy and cuddly thing.

      Homosexuality is not disordered simply because our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, says so.

      Rather, it is disordered – both physically and biologically – because biological science says so. That is not a bigoted statement, (references to bigotry are among the more desperate responses to the truth), but simply an acceptance of basic scientific knowledge, regarding human bodies, as taught in High School (usually 1st year) up and down the country.

      People can – of course – pretend to themselves that homosexuality isnt disordered, and that our understanding human biology is somehow wrong.

      But then, that is obviously an intellectually bankrupt position to take, isnt it?

      It is the truth that homosexuality is disordered. The role of the Pope is to have the courage to proclaim the truth, not to invent it. In contrast, both secular society and protestants dislike the truth; they prefer mental gymnastics and puerile pretence. For them, truth is a malleable concept, to be remade into whatever form suits them on this particular day.

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      1. 

         kelvin

         22/10/2012

         Can I suggest to regular commentators that we simply welcome Graham Wright to this blog but refrain from answering him point by point.

         He will learn much by reading along. We learn little here by getting involved in polemic debates and I think we’ve found previously that it is better to encourage people to have such debates on other sites.

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4. 

   Mary Teresa Johnson-Symington

   01/10/2012

   Hello Kelvin, just wanted to share with you the title of a novel I recently finished reading “Committed” by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s an account of her journey to accepting marriage after going through a divorce some years before. It’s full of questions, historical info, research and different cultural approaches to marriage. It really helped me with my struggles in accepting being married (may sound a strange statement to make but for me it’s not and the book illustrates my thoughts very nicely – I just happened to do it the other way round – get married and then freak out!).
   Anyway she’s an American writer and it is very much a ladies book but I would recommend anyone read it and it be put on the reading list for schools. Yet to leave it by Neil’s side of the bed!! http://www.amazon.com/Committed-Skeptic-Makes-Peace-Marriage/dp/0670021652

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5. 

   G Wright

   22/10/2012

   so as not to do things which make us, the gospel and Christ himself appear foolish
   —-

   What makes Christianity look more foolish?

   Option (1): Defending the natural, traditional and universal understanding of marriage, the fundamental building block upon which all societies depend.

   OR

   Option (2): Pretending that homosexual and heterosexual relationships are somehow comparable, and accomodating them despite Christ’s own view of marriage, which He personally described as a permanent bond between a man and a woman*.

   (*Is Jesus a bigot too?)

   Surely it takes a special kind of arrogance for ‘Christians’ to suggest that Christ got it wrong, gave erroneous teachings, or that the Episcopal Church somehow knows better than He?

   How does an Episcopalian reconcile their faith with the fact that they are essentially ignoring Jesus’ own words and simply making things up to suit themselves?

   Might this approach be somehow connected with the terminal decline facing the Episcopal/Anglican Churches globally?

   The demographics of Anglicanism in the US are particularly stark and prophetic. They are outnumbered by even Jews and, incredibly, Mormons these days.

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   1. 

      kelvin

      22/10/2012

      Ah yes, proof of theological concepts by numbers attending church. That isn’t foolish at all, is it?

      Just as well my own congregation is booming these days.

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      1. 

         Rosemary Hannah

         23/10/2012

         Yes, it is a bit of a double-edged sword the numbers thing … I have always argued numbers tell one nothing important, but the fact is that both of the last two churches I was really able to call ‘home’ grew significantly in numbers. It is so sad that ones ideology prevents a little gentle boasting …

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