| Some stuff about religion |
[Apr. 18th, 2004|10:09 pm] |
We live right behind a church. Very close indeed. The only access to our flats is along a drive owned by the church, which is responsible for its maintenance. It doesn't get maintained very often - the Vicar has other things on his mind, like suing the Church of England in an attempt to prevent the ordination of women priests, or building a two-story community centre on top of half his graveyard.
The vicar doesn't like our flats much, but that's okay - we don't like him much either. However we received his latest newsletter through the door today and I feel inclined to do him a favour by responding to his request to publicise its contents. You will deduce at once that he is not from the moderate wing of the church. You may feel he is from the 'raving nutter' wing but that is, of course, for you to decide. I'll just let his words speak for themselves.ST GEORGE'S DAY INVITATION 6PM SATURDAY 24TH APRIL
" BRING YOUR FLAG"! - TO WAVE IN " LAND OF HOPE & GLORY"
Dear Friends
1293 - 711th BIRTHDAY - 2004
We Rejoice that the Christian Faith and our Heritage has survived these many years, in Hanworth.
Our Patron - St George - of Hanworth, and of England - fought the physical dragon (giant kimodo Lizard/Dragon whose bones have been excavated in NE Turkey), and today we are called to fight the dragon of liberalism, deviation from Holy Scripture and Tradition, and a self-centred / God-absent society.
The weapons for this fight God has given to us - Prayer, Sacraments, Service to others, Scripture, and Holy Mother Church. The gates of hell will not prevail - as Jesus said.
So - JOIN US - for the Celebration with popular hymns, wonderful music, trumpet, the Bishop of Richborough, and we bring our flags to wave at Land of Hope and Glory. Then follows a fabulous Party.
Do - PLEASE - Make the invitation widely known and encourage family and friends to celebrate.
ST GEORGE OF HANWORTH & ENGLAND - PRAY FOR US!
God Bless You
Yours sincerely
Fr Paul
Revd Paul S Williamson I'm not sure what the 'dragon of liberalism' is but, as the Liberal Democrat candidate around here in the last couple of elections, I rather hope it's me. I don't suppose it is, of course. I'm intrigued by the inclusion of the Bishop of Richborough among all the song and music and can't help wondering which end of his mitre you blow through. Or whether maybe he's some form of comedy performing bishop. I do think though, as an ex-journalist, that Father Paul underplays the big story - actual proof that dragons existed - by burying it in the second paragraph in brackets.
Actually, Father Paul makes an easy target for fun (although a dangerous one as he's notoriously litigious and lives round the corner from me). But having him nearby does make me think seriously about religion from time to time. Or, more specifically, it makes me think about Christianity.
Now, I have my religious views and, although they're deeply felt, I don't talk about them much and they aren't part of the Judeo-Christian tradition at all. My take on religion is basically the same as my take on politics - I won't tell you you're wrong to believe what you believe and I expect you to extend me the same courtesy. And for the most part, people do. Which is the way it should be.
As a student I knew a fair number of people who combined being Christians with also being perfectly friendly, perfectly open-minded and very likeable people. Unfortunately after that I wandered into journalism and politics, where you meet the extreme form of all walks of life. People don't tend to phone newspapers or politicians unless they have a streak of evangelism in them on some subject or other - be it the fate of the immortal soul or the state of the local drains. To put it bluntly, you encounter a lot of nutters. For a decade the only Christians I encountered were, almost without exception, people you'd cross the street to avoid.
Now I'm out of that world and back into normal life where people don't talk about religion very much, except in one place - journals and web logs. A very high proportion of the Americans whose journals I follow are Christians and initially I'd find it depressing when a new person suddenly started talking matter-of-factly about their faith. From my point of view, as someone who doesn't believe in God, it was quite distressing to find that someone I'd previously considered entirely level-headed had this mental blind spot.
And then I realised a couple of things. One, these people are not at all like the ones I'd encountered in journalism. They are, without exception, like the people I knew as a student - open-minded and not at all loony and, in some cases, among the finest people I know. And two, I was breaking my own principles by taking the view there's something deeply suspect about anyone who claims to have a day-to-day relationship with Jesus. If people believe that, it should be fine by me. You respect me, I respect you.
So now when I see something like Father Paul's rantings, or the worst of the religious right in the States, I take a certain amount of comfort from knowing that they are not the whole story. And I've modified my views on Christianity accordingly.
I still oppose the power of monolithic patriarchal churches. I still think organised religion has caused more misery and bloodshed than anything else in world history. I still think that religion has no place in politics, the Church of England should be disestablished and the blasphemy laws repealed. I still don't believe in God.
But I do now believe what I should never have stopped believing - that this structure, however flawed, provides a framework for a lot of decent people to live good lives. And amen to that. |
|
|