The Gray Monk

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February 11, 2004

Descent into madness?

There are definitely times when I think the General Synod needs to be scrapped, or at least reduced to a mere forum for discussion, rather than its current role as the governing council of the Church of England. This is one of them.

Not only are we treated to the spectacle of a debate on homo sexual relations and of recognition of unmarried partnerships, single parent families and how these should affect a persons suitability to be a minister, member, bishop or whatever in the church, but now we must also have revision of the Gospel as well. It seems that the story (in St Matthews Gospel - Chapter 2 for the curious!) is regarded by some idiot on the synod as being possibly "sexist" and the General Synod must, in all solemnity now debate whether or not we should continue to refer to the Magi as the "Three wise men".

Apparently whoever has raised this absolutely essential piece of stunning stupidity is suggesting that we should now consider them to have been "three possibly not very wise persons".

I have no doubt at all that some at least of the bleeding heart fraternity on the synod will agree and spend the next twenty or so years (depending on how long it takes them to decide that the Gospel and the Bible no longer have any validity at all) trying to convince the rest of us that this is the only "fair" and "reasonable" course to take - lest we cause offence to some person passing by the empty church on the other side of the road.

I find myself at a loss to understand why these people actually attend any church at all. They come in with a load of baggage which has absolutely nothing whatever to do with the Gospel message, the churches mission and the entire ethos of religion. They join congregations and then spend most of their time arguing minutia in meetings or demanding changes to services, the introduction of different styles of worship, music or preaching and generally alienate large bodies of their fellow churchgoers. I have met them in every denomination and in every walk of life. There is always some issue.

My response is always the same. If you are that unhappy with the church you are a member of, have you considered going and joining one that suits you better? The reply is always the same. "Couldn't possibly do that, I like it here, I love this place but, ..... if only you would ....."

Well, I personally have no axe to grind about gay people in the church in any role. Their sexuality is between them and God, just as are my sins of ommission and commission. I do have an axe to grind about all forms of militant campaigning for exclusive "rights" or "special recognition" for any group.

In Christ there is "no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and in all." (Colossians 3:11)

The Church faces so many challenges in this modern age from sectarianism to apathy, from ignorance to active anti-Christian propaganda spread by ignorant teachers in secular schools teaching "Religious Education" as if it were a penance and sometimes doing so in a manner that suggests it is nothing but empty superstition.

As an adult I am in a position to sort that sort of misinformation out for myself, but a young person still not having learned the value of exploring everything of that nature for themselves, will, in the absence of any sensible and understandable information to the contrary from the church, is not. The Churches have already lost this war, the anti-religious propagandists have won - as Ignatius Loyola once remarked, "Give me a child until he is seven, and he is Christ's for life!"

It would seem that while the General Synod has fiddled and argued uselessly about complete garbage, the opportunity has been seized by the anti-religious faction. Religious Education is now the finest anti-church propaganda opportunity available to those who, like Lenin and Stalin proclaim religion to be "the opium of the people."

Well, it remains to be seen what emerges from this debate, I doubt if it will be either edifying or enriching. I know it will open many wounds and cause even more divisions than we have already. Those who are interested might find it enlightening to visit Rev Mike's posts on the issue of women in ministry and other divisions in the church to see just how certain elements of the CoE can misread and misrepresent just about anything they see as not serving their particular view. This is the mindset of the majority of those on the General Synod who table the sort of daft motion I discussed at the beginning of this rant.

I also know that none of this will serve the message of the Gospel one jot!

Posted by The Gray Monk at February 11, 2004 03:00 PM

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» Three Wise Women from GDay Mate
There is a bit of a rant over at The Gray Monk about some total dill in the Anglican synod who wants to change the "three wise men" into "three possibly not very wise persons". Daft. Absolutely and completely daft. A few snags short of a barbie (aussie... [Read More]

Tracked on February 11, 2004 11:16 PM

Comments

Posted by: MommaBear at February 11, 2004 07:29 PM

Posted by: VC at February 14, 2004 12:08 AM