Kathleen LundquistCOW COW BLUES
Katharine Jefferts Schori's Easter message starts out okay but quickly goes right into the tank:
Your Easter celebration undoubtedly has included lots of physical signs of new life -- eggs, flowers, new green growth. As the Easter season continues, consider how your daily living can be an act of greater life for other creatures. How can you enact the new life we know in Jesus the Christ? In other words, how can you be the sacrament, the outward and visible sign, of the grace that you know in the resurrected Christ? How can your living let others live more abundantly?
Although those are noble sentiments, that last question gives the game away.
The Judaeo-Christian tradition has been famously blamed for much of the current environmental crisis, particularly for our misreading of Genesis 1:28 as a charge to "fill the earth and subdue it." Our forebears were so eager to distinguish their faith from the surrounding Canaanite religion and its concern for fertility that some of them worked overtime to separate us from an awareness of "the hand of God in the world about us," especially in a reverence for creation. How can we love God if we do not love what God has made?
Uh...WHAT?!! The Israelites "were so eager to distinguish their faith from the surrounding Canaanite religion?" The Israelites were so eager to distinguish their faith? Does...oh, who's the deity I'm looking for...YHWH figure in here at all? Might the Israelites have done all these things because THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE told them to?
Seems like that might have figured in. And is Kate implying here that maybe the Canaanite religion wasn't all that bad? Looks that way; after all, we don't want to put God in a small box, do we? But to continue the death spiral...
We base much of our approach to loving God and our neighbors in this world on our baptismal covenant. Yet our latest prayer book was written just a bit too early to include caring for creation among those explicit baptismal promises. I would invite you to explore those promises a bit more deeply -- where and how do they imply caring for the rest of creation?
Mrs. Schori has a few handy suggestions.
We are beginning to be aware of the ways in which our lack of concern for the rest of creation results in death and destruction for our neighbors. We cannot love our neighbors unless we care for the creation that supports all our earthly lives. We are not respecting the dignity of our fellow creatures if our sewage or garbage fouls their living space.
Flying the Executive Council off to Ecuador doesn't count since the Episcopal Organization has a fleet of magic fairy airplanes that actually consume greenhouse gases.
When atmospheric warming, due in part to the methane output of the millions of cows we raise each year to produce hamburger, begins to slowly drown the island homes of our neighbors in the South Pacific, are we truly sharing good news?
We're done here. I was going to ask how my cutting back on trips to McDonald's or White Castle would help "our neighbors in the South Pacific" any since it would mean that fewer cows would die when it hit me like a baseball bat in the face.
This is Mrs. Schori's EASTER message. Easter, arguably the most important season in the Christian year. And what has Mrs. Schori managed to work in? The Good News of the Resurrection? God's victory over sin and death? The promise of eternal life with our heavenly Father? Nope.
Cow flatulence.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I have begun referring to it as the Episcopal Organization.
Submitted by david loving
at 3/12/2008 12:45:34 PM| I knew it would boil down to something like cow farts! Frankly, though I have gotten to where I do not understand any of the church combatants, Bishopess KJS, Kendall, etc etc. I looked in on the T1:9 video of her herness' visit to the dio of SC and the verbal pissing match was pretty lame on both sides of the argument. No wonder we aren't getting anywhere, nobody makes any sense; and when they start telling us that the earth is doomed because of hamburgers and cow farts on Easter, the stuff I CAN understand is so ridiculous that I tune out. Apparently you can argue with a fool after all. |
Submitted by Russell
at 3/12/2008 1:00:55 PM| She prefers the pagans, but let's not mention that infant sacrifice tidbit... There has probably never, ever been a worse Easter message by a presiding bxxxx in the history of TEC. I would think that even the moderates are shaking thier heads at this time. |
Submitted by BillS
at 3/12/2008 1:06:41 PM| These same magic fairy airplanes will also be taking all of the Episcopalian Organization Bishops, wives and assorted others to Lambeth, despite the impact on Global Warming. Those neighbors in the South Pacific negatively affected will just have to learn to wear flippers and snorkels. Bp Robinson will do his part by staying home, since he does not have an invitation anyway. Right. What a bunch of hypocrites. |
Submitted by Ken
at 3/12/2008 1:10:22 PM| IF global warming is due to human behavior, and that's not nearly a done deal, then it's cars, not cows, we should be worrying about. One has to believe even the most liberal of Episcopalians has to be (secretly) embarrassed by this ridiculous fal-da-rol. |
Submitted by nolongeranglican
at 3/12/2008 1:39:42 PM| Don't blame her too much. This wasn't her preferred choice for her Easter pastoral address. Although along the same theological theme of the Israelites' actions in following God's commands, her preferred choice was a combined apology and call for reparations to the descendants of the very few inhabitants of Jericho who escaped death after Joshua's vicious attack. Her advisers suggested such a message of reconciliation was better suited for the Christmas season. |
Submitted by Ken
at 3/12/2008 1:53:51 PM| I meant to comment on the purported concern for the poor. Ecuador was bad enough, but I think it was pontificating over poverty in New Orleans while sunning themselves in San Juan, Puerto Rico that (finally) convinced me of the true dysfunction of the the Episcopal House of Bishops. And Herself has now added her nonsense to the stew. For a brief look at what carbon reduction will mean for the poor, check out the First Things blog. Here's the money quote: In fact the drastic cuts in energy called for by the alarmists would impoverish civilization across the globe and doom the poor to perpetual poverty. Only a vibrant economy will permit us all to adapt to climate changes that nature brings and about which we can do very little, since solar variations, ocean currents, and volcanic eruptions are quite beyond our control. The poverty of our ancestors left them at the mercy of climate changes, and the results were awful. We can do better, but not if we decimate our economies by chasing the illusion that we can affect the climate. As usual, it's the poor who will suffer so the rich can feel good about themselves. |
Submitted by J. Scott
at 3/12/2008 1:54:42 PM| Not only should we refer to TEC as the Episcopal Organization, we should always put the word "bishop" in sarcasm quotes when referring to their |
Submitted by Khawk
at 3/12/2008 1:56:45 PM| A perfect opportunity setting up for some type of hybrid interpretation for the forgiveness for those who do not meet the TEC love standard ----global mass cow sacrific. Synchronous propitiation for the guilt associated with the lower love standard AND the reduction of cow poots. |
Submitted by KC
at 3/12/2008 2:01:27 PM| "How can your living let others live more abundantly?' Perhaps , as a "Church" by not supporting killing the unborn.....just a thought |
Submitted by Tim Ferguson
at 3/12/2008 2:15:16 PM| Jesus Christ is Ris’n today, But don’t let cows eat too much hay. Lest the methane they expel Cause a global warming hell.
Though we really don’t mean “Hell”:
Easter eggs might work for you,
‘Cuz we’ll sue ‘til you agree: |
Submitted by Tom (St. Louis)
at 3/12/2008 2:25:01 PM| Well gppp, that's apparently one way to get that past the spam filter. Good for you! |
Submitted by Smurf Breath
at 3/12/2008 2:42:00 PM| I think flatulence is caused by vegetable matter. If we eliminate the hamburgers and eat more vegetables, we humans will just make up the difference ourselves. Perhaps the problem is overpopulation? KJS has a solution for that too... |
Submitted by Gregg the obscure_
at 3/12/2008 2:50:32 PM| Given the excellent term "Episcopal Organization", I propose that Schori be hencenforth referred to as "Captain EO". I've a few terms in mind for Vicki Gene, but chances are that our host would not find them suitable. |
Submitted by Truth Unites... and Divides
at 3/12/2008 3:15:22 PM| Cow Flatulence? Here's some Theological Flatulence: Episcopal Organization = EO 815 based in the Eastern United States. TEC and TEC canons and polity = (liberal) Orthodoxy Therefore, Episcopal Organization = Eastern Orthodoxy. EO = EO. Law of Theological Identity. ;-) (-; |
Submitted by Tom (St. Louis)
at 3/12/2008 3:21:40 PM| "We base much of our approach to loving God and our neighbors in this world on our baptismal covenant. Yet our latest prayer book was written just a bit too early to include caring for creation among those explicit baptismal promises."
I can hardly wait for the sequal! "When atmospheric warming, due in part to the methane output of the millions of cows we raise each year to produce hamburger, begins to slowly drown the island homes of our neighbors in the South Pacific, are we truly sharing good news?" She's barmy! Where does she get this cow manure? |
Submitted by Jim McNeely+
at 3/12/2008 3:26:10 PM| Today is another time when I am so glad I have no visible link to the Episcopal Church. I want to specifically thank the Episcopal Church rector and his lackey who denied my request for holy orders several years ago. I cannot imagine how I would be managing my horror, shame, and embarrasment at having to explain this bovine flatulence (the term has multiple applications) coming from Dr. Jefferts-Schori. -Jim+ |
Submitted by TWilson
at 3/12/2008 3:59:34 PM| Voltaire wrote in a letter the he had only ever prayed one prayer, "O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous." |
Submitted by the pilgrim
at 3/12/2008 4:04:01 PM| You cannot make up stuff like this. I have seen Marx Brothers movies with more credible dialogue. |
Submitted by st. anonymous
at 3/12/2008 4:24:14 PM| Thusly spaketh Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop in the Church of Al Gore. |
Submitted by Mark Windsor
at 3/12/2008 4:26:58 PM| How on earth can anyone take this stuff seriously? |
Submitted by Christopher Johnson
at 3/12/2008 4:29:41 PM| The thing I'm wondering is, who in the EO thinks this stuff is edifying. |
Submitted by Paula Loughlin
at 3/12/2008 4:40:33 PM| I am eagerly awaiting the MSM headlines
“Episcopal Church Declares Cow Farts A Sin” It is also reassuring to know that Jesus died so I could reduce my carbon footprint. |
Submitted by Paula Loughlin
at 3/12/2008 4:44:09 PM| How can one bemoan cow flatulence and at the same time welcome the outpourings of Bp Robinson? Are they not the same thing? |
Submitted by LP
at 3/12/2008 5:09:03 PM| In celebration of the Presiding Individual of the Episcopal Church's so-called "Easter Message 2008" -- and in the spirit of the "Propers for St. Viagra (the Upright)" -- I bring you the Life and Propers for St. Eromatic, the Flatulant.... patron saint of Greenhouse Gasses and Episcopal Preaching. Let my prayer be counted as incense before thee. ------ _Vita Eromatici_ St. Eromaticus is believed to have been born in the small village of Kopros along the Nile river. As a young man he came under the influence of the elderly St. Anthony, and he converted to the life of monasticism. He stayed among the great man's disciples for only a very brief time -- it appears that it was in this period that he was first given the sobriquet "the Flatulant Postulant" -- before he adopted the life of a travelling ascetic. He wandered throughout Asia Minor, living on a strict diet of beans, onions and garlic, and studied (briefly) with many of the major Christian ascetics and teachers of the time in Ennema, Rhoeia, and Pettus. Eventually he settled in Syria, where he founded a loose community of hermits - notable both for its adoption of his unique diet and the unusual practice of meeting for corporate worship only on the Church's greatest feast days. Toward the end of his life he came to be reveared as a great saint by the local villagers, who would gather (upwind) to hear his preaching... from which sermons, scolars believe, he earned the nickname of "the Breath of God". His brand of "stoolite" asceticism did not survive his death. ------ PROPERS for the feastday of St. Eromaticus the Flatulant ENTRANCE HYMN (PECUSA 1982 hymnal) 710 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord INTROIT (Eccl 1:14,17 - RSV) I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind... And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. PSALM (78:39) He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again. COLLECT Almighty God, who didst give man breath, And who hast wiped away the pollution of our sin, Help us remember that our life is but a wind that passeth, And that all worldly glory but a straining after wind. Help us to follow the example of Thy servant, Saint Eromatic, who, even when shunned by his brothers, raised his voice to Thee day and night, So that we, like him, might ever lift our, um, _h_earts up unto Thee, and make a joyful noise to Thy glory, AMEN. GRADUAL (Isiah 26:17-8) Like a woman with child, who writhes and cries out in her pangs, when she is near her time, so were we because of thee, O LORD; we were with child, we writhed, we have as it were brought forth wind. ALLELUIA (Mark 4:39) Alleluia V. And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Alleluia TRACT (Lentan alternate. Job 6:26, 15:2) Do you think that you can reprove words, when the speech of a despairing man is wind? Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill himself with the east wind? SERMON HYMN 545 Lo, what a cloud OFFERTORY (Num 22:28; 2 Pet 2:16) Then the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she spake.... He was rebuked for his own transgression; a dumb ass spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. OFFERTORY HYMN 572 Weary of all trumpeting COMMUNION (Job 21:18, 27:21, 30:22) They are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away... The east wind lifts him up and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.... Thou liftest me up on the wind, thou makest me ride on it, and thou tossest me about in the roar of the storm. COMMUNION HYMN 314 Humbly I adore thee, verity unseen 424 For the fruits of his creation RECESSIONAL HYMN 590 O Jesus Christ, may grateful hymns be rising 677 God moves in a mysterious way ------ The following reading may be substituted for the Old Testament lesson, should the Feast of St. Eromatic not fall upon a Sunday or other feast day: Ezekiel 4:9,13,15,17 Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt, and put them into a single vessel, and make bread of them. During the number of days that you lie upon your side, three hundred and ninety days, you shall eat it... And the LORD said, "Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations whither I will drive them... See, I will let you have cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread... I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and waste away under their punishment." |
Submitted by Truth Unites... and Divides
at 3/12/2008 5:14:14 PM| "How can one bemoan cow flatulence and at the same time welcome the outpourings of Bp Robinson? Are they not the same thing?" Paula, Paula, Paula. (shakes head disapprovingly with intense effort to suppress growing smile.) That was rather unloving of you Paula. Trying to score funny points at the expense of another who's in genuine pain at being excluded is mean-spirited, and unworthy of someone who says that they are a Christian. (just kidding!) |
Submitted by Ray
at 3/12/2008 5:48:13 PM| You missed the set up of where this baptismal covenant issue is going. If we must honor the creation, then we must honor the sinful. If we must honor the sinful, we must honor Gene Robinson. |
Submitted by Fuinseoig
at 3/12/2008 6:39:32 PM| The one line out of that that I can agree with is "We are not respecting the dignity of our fellow creatures if our sewage or garbage fouls their living space." That's true. The rest of it? "The Judaeo-Christian tradition has been famously blamed for much of the current environmental crisis" - um, what? Global warming is the fault of Moses and St. Paul? "(T)he surrounding Canaanite religion and its concern for fertility" - yes, but see, if the Canaanites were "concerned for fertility" in their religion (which I take to mean that they celebrated rituals in honour of fertility deities and fruitfulness of both people and animals), then that means that, as a result, they would have lots of kids. Which, as we all know, is A Bad Thing (especially if you're a Roman Catholic or Mormon). So that means that the Canannites were also doing their best to "fill the earth and subdue it." So it's actually the Canannite tradition and not the Judaeo-Christian one which is wrong here. Oh, sorry. I was using that logic thing again, wasn't I? |
Submitted by Fuinseoig
at 3/12/2008 6:45:37 PM| Oh, and I forgot the bit where the writers of the Book of Common Prayer were at fault for not inventing time machines so they could leap forward to the 21st Century and find out what faddish concerns were the cause du jour and then write liturgies to address these. Yeah. Bad, bad fundamentalist opponents of time-travel! Bad! I was going to look up what the Pope said for his Easter Address and quote chunks of it here, just for badness, but I think I'd just make our host cry and that would be wicked of me as a guest. I'm sure we have some prime examples of equivalent loopiness in Easter Messages from clergy on this side of the Tiber, but still, you'd expect something a bit more theologically inclined from the head of the church. Sorry. |
Submitted by Anna
at 3/12/2008 7:02:18 PM| So, in light of the fact that birth control pill hormones are feminizing fish, is the Bishop going to recommend ceasing artifical birth control?
In the loopiness category, may I suggest a sermon that I heard twice one Easter Sunday. It was on the sign of Jonah. (At the time, I thought it would have made a good Lenten sermon, but I was part of Christianity that didn't celebrate Lent.) |
Submitted by Fuinseoig
at 3/12/2008 7:08:49 PM| Of course, now that I want the reference I can't find it, but I did read fairly recently some references to a Catholic liturgy along the lines of the MDG Stations of the Cross, name-checking "Mother Gaia" who suffers along with Christ (!). I believe this emanated from some Franciscans somewhere. So cheer up, my Episcopalian friends: you are not alone in being inundated with religious nuttiness! |
Submitted by Ken
at 3/12/2008 7:56:52 PM| Goggle didn't turn up the pope's Easter Message for 2008, which doesn't surprise me, since Easter is TWO WEEKS away. Ok, a week and a half. So what is Herself putting out her garbage for early? Doesn't want to be upstaged by that old German troglodyte? Who might say something more profound than cow farts are bad? |
Submitted by Bill (not IB)
at 3/12/2008 8:54:24 PM| First things first. Tim Ferguson, Bravo, in excelsis!!! Now - I can't help but think I'm in some kind of drug-induced trance*. Because - for *(Actually, I am - I'm flyin' high on Vicodin for an unfortunate problem at the moment. But even whacked out of my gourd, I'll still lay claim to being 42 times saner than the minions of EO.) |
Submitted by dwstroudmd
at 3/12/2008 9:52:13 PM| LP and Tim Ferguson, I am not worthy, I am not worthy, I am not worthy. I bow before your prolixity and facility with both hymnody and liturgy! I am not worthy, I am not worthy, I am not worthy. I bend the knee to both of thee For your facility and prolixity in liturgy and hymnody! I am not worthy, I am not worthy, I am not worthy! but I am sure as hell laughing tearfully, gleefully, immoderately! For who would have thought that the PB Ruminant ruminations Could have inspir-ed Such hilarity. |
Submitted by Christopher Johnson
at 3/12/2008 10:29:28 PM| 票據不是IB,
Vicodin, huh? That takes me back about a year to the prostate surgery. The big V got me through the hellish first week. 'Course I'm still working my way through the free Viagra they keep shoving at me every time I see the doctor about this thing. Prostate cancer does have an upside. ;-) |
Submitted by JM
at 3/12/2008 11:07:49 PM| The Bishop of Cowfarts -- sounds like a character in one of those clever BBC shows. |
Submitted by clifford
at 3/12/2008 11:27:28 PM| You know what her Easter message needs? More cowbell! |
Submitted by Peter C.
at 3/12/2008 11:36:09 PMKen, you won't see any of the Orthodox bishops' Easter messages for a while, either; today was Ash Wednesday for those of us in the Western Rite while Clean Monday was two days ago for the vast majority of Orthodox. |
Submitted by Ken
at 3/13/2008 2:51:52 AM| Best wishes for a holy and fruitful Lent, Peter. |
Submitted by BillS
at 3/13/2008 3:06:55 AM| Brilliant Clifford! For those of you who may not get the reference, go here. http://morecowbelltshirts.dramaticprairiedog.com/more-cowbell-tshirts/more-cowbell-video |
Submitted by Christopher Hathaway
at 3/13/2008 9:38:19 AM| My praises to the brilliant offerings seen here. They are rude, disrespectful and utterly lacking in the kind of Christian Charity that one expects on other sites...and I loved them. I can see now why Kendall hasn't posted this ?sermon? (homiletical flatulence) yet. It would just disturb his chi and he's been so busy lately deleting comments. All this talk of bovine emisions brings to mind the nature of smell in worship. St Paul says in 1 Corinthians: For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. I imagine our Lord might point to another passage to TEO: Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. I cannot bear your evil assemblies. |
Submitted by Fuinseoig
at 3/13/2008 11:47:35 AM| You're right, Ken; the Easter Message is not out yet but the Message for the start of Lent is up here. It is on the theme of almsgiving; one point is that giving to the poor is not a one-way transaction, but for the one who gives, it is an avenue to reconciliation with our neighbours and with God, in that it can (and should) make us open to seeking and receiving the graces we need in our turn, as those in bodily need seek the aid they need: "In inviting us to consider almsgiving with a more profound gaze that transcends the purely material dimension, Scripture teaches us that there is more joy in giving than in receiving (cf. Acts 20,35). When we do things out of love, we express the truth of our being; indeed, we have been created not for ourselves but for God and our brothers and sisters (cf. 2 Cor 5,15). Every time when, for love of God, we share our goods with our neighbor in need, we discover that the fullness of life comes from love and all is returned to us as a blessing in the form of peace, inner satisfaction and joy. Our Father in heaven rewards our almsgiving with His joy. What is more: Saint Peter includes among the spiritual fruits of almsgiving the forgiveness of sins: “Charity,” he writes, “covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pt 4,8). As the Lenten liturgy frequently repeats, God offers to us sinners the possibility of being forgiven. The fact of sharing with the poor what we possess disposes us to receive such a gift. In this moment, my thought turns to those who realize the weight of the evil they have committed and, precisely for this reason, feel far from God, fearful and almost incapable of turning to Him. By drawing close to others through almsgiving, we draw close to God; it can become an instrument for authentic conversion and reconciliation with Him and our brothers." |
Submitted by Minuteman
at 3/13/2008 11:53:15 AM| LP and Tim Ferguson --- I join the chorus of bravos and cry "encore" !! |
Submitted by LP
at 3/13/2008 12:06:58 PM| Actually, it _is_ part of Christian Charity actively to expose heresy and apostasy. And humor is a perfectly good tool for that... ever read Ireneaus on the Gnostics? And bringing you the Vita & Propers of the patron saint of Greenhouse Gasses and Episcopal Preaching is a far gentler way of pointing out the theological and spiritual vacuuity of Dr. Shori and her ilk than is, say, a more pointed (though still humorous) commentary on her so-called "sermon" or letting you know what I _really_ think about today's Episcopal Church. :-) pax, LP |
Submitted by LP
at 3/13/2008 12:08:04 PM| PS: I have no idea why this blog is stripping all my line-breaks and formatting. Sorry about that! :( |
Submitted by Christopher Johnson
at 3/13/2008 12:16:37 PM| LP,
Commenting here is a little weird. Hopefully, this should explain it. |
Submitted by LP
at 3/13/2008 1:08:00 PMI join the chorus of bravos and cry "encore" !! Okay, you asked... and I want to try out the formatting commands CJ just pointed me to. :) Besides, Dr. Schori just makes it too easy.
The Presiding Individual's Easter Message
Rendered into hymn version. Sung to the tune of Come Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain
Episcopalians, hide those eggs! Display that branch a-greenin' But remember, as you do, The season's truer meaning! No, I don't mean Jesus Christ, Or even resurrection, But what we preach to take His place: Environmental protection!
Jews and Christians are at fault For all the world's pollution, By their foolish rejection of The Caananite solution! Fertility goddesses, and the Baals, And Love Children of the '60s, Were right instead –- but don’t despair... We've got your new B.C.P.s!
Here come the 'palian missionaries, (Though not as you expected) Sewage, not sin, is to be done in (The H.O.B. excepted.) Rising sea levels aren't caused by sin, We need no Noah's arcs, For what the church should fight today... Is hamburgers and cow farts!
Episcopalians, raise the strain, Of your new religion: Kick the last good bishops out, Invite more unbaptized in! (*) Sue the orthodox laity, Forsake member retention, We need to sell their buildings off... So we can pay our pensions!
(*) For those few who might not get the reference: the bishopess of Utah, a former Mormon, has never received Christian baptism. She is, sacramentally, what much of the H.O.B. is theologically – non-Christian. And, of course, in a similarly total rejection of Christian sacramental theology, more and more dioceses are not requiring baptism for the reception of communion.
|
Submitted by John1
at 3/14/2008 7:56:22 AM| "ThEO", "The Episcopal Organization". I kind of like it --has a nice ring to it. Then, "Captain ThEO". Yes, that'll do. John1 |
Submitted by AnglicanXn
at 3/14/2008 8:33:56 AM| When this little missive first appeared on Episcopal Life Online there was a link on the home page of the Episcopal Church web site. Now you have to dig around quite a bit on ELO to find it -- in fact, I had to do a search to locate it. I guess it is pretty clear that it stinks out loud.... |
Submitted by LP
at 3/14/2008 9:57:15 AMNow you have to dig around quite a bit on ELO to find it -- in fact, I had to do a search to locate it. I guess it is pretty clear that it stinks out loud.... But don't despair... you can still download the official bulletin inserts carrying her message. Some lovely pictures on it too... though not a cross in any of them. You know, what is perhaps most stunning about all this is that the Presiding Individual thought that this message would be a GOOD THING. No one held a gun to her head and said "we want you to compose a message for the Church's high holy days which provides a patently absurd self-mockery of the vacuuity of your beliefs and the ecclesial organization you head." Nope... she actually sat down and, of her own free will, decided that this was the most important thing which she, as CEO of this organization, should say in that capacity to its membership on the meaning of Easter. That's how out of touch with the Christian faith she is... but, I suppose, once your organization has rejected all the fundamental beliefs of the religion (Christ's divinity, the bodily resurrection, the Virgin Birth, the authority of Scripture and Tradition, sexual morality, etc)... well, gassing on about methane for Easter probably seemed the safest way not to offend anyone. (Well, except Christians of course.) Perhaps even more sobering is the realization that this is the kind of individual and beliefs whom Episcopal Seminaries have been churning out for the past several decades, the kind approved by promotion to leadership positions... and the kind of individual and belief which won a majority of votes to lead the organization. Well, at least it provides that little bit more of clarity -- just in case anyone still imagined that the Episcobaal cult could still be reformed. Perhaps the stink and world-wide laughter will pull just a few more heads up out of the sand. Not quite "wake up and smell the coffee" but, hey, whatever works, right?
pax, |
Submitted by midwestnorwegian
at 3/14/2008 10:00:57 AM| Out here in the Midwest...big feed lot down the road....guess I'll just keeping on "living into the farts". |