eChurch Blog

Hat-Tip Jim West

The historical and unprecedented Vatican Synod of Bishops for the Middle East – I’ve blogged about it here and here – which is being held from October 10th to 24th, has reached the halfway stage and produced an interim report.

The America Magazine have helpfully produced a 12 point highlight of the document and it makes for a fascinating read – well I thought so!

1. The duty of mission. The Church in the Middle East is the result of the historic mission to preach the Gospel. “Proclamation done in peace and respect,” says the document, “is not proselytism”.

2. Claiming citizenship. The Christians of the Middle East are “indigeneous citizens” who must be allowed freedom in their homelands. The kind of freedom the Synod envisages has been summed up as “positive secularity”, although because of the anti-religious connotations of the terms “secularism” and laicite” some prefer the term “civic state”, based on a respect for the intrinsic dignity of all and a healthy distinction between the religious and civil spheres. “This system recognizes and guarantees religious freedom, freedom of worship and freedom of conscience”, Patriarch Haguib notes, adding that “Religion must not be politicised nor the State take precedence over religion”. Christians need to be educated who can articulate this vision of society. Key to this formation are the Church’s schools, where people learn to value the faiths of others as well as their own.

3. Solidarity, notably “with the Palestinian people, whose current situation encourages fundamentalism”, and with Christians in Iraq, “the main victims of the war and its effects”.

4. Freedom of conscience and religion. Religious freedom includes the right to confess one’s faith, which is different from proselytism, which the Church condemns as the use of fraudulent or dishonest means, or the use of power and wealth, to attract followers. Confession of faith, in contrast, “is the serene and peaceful proclamation and presentation of faith in Jesus Christ”.

5. Rise of political Islam. The attempt “to impose an Islamic way of life on all citizens, sometimes by violence” must be resisted.

6. Emigration. The reasons why so many Christians are leaving the Middle East is “a good subject for  a sincere and frank dialogue with Muslims”. Although emigration is a natural right, the Church should encourage people to remain “as witnesses, apostles and builders of peace”. It is important for the Church to “avoid defeatist talk” and instead to “foster the conditions that encourage the decision to stay”.

7. Middle East Christians abroad. The host churches abroad should know and respect Eastern traditions. The synod fathers are “eager” to extend the authority of the Patriarchs of the Eastern Churches to their diaspora flocks, “to move from the territorial concept” of patriarchal authority “to the personal concept”.

8. Needs of immigrants in Gulf states. African and Asian migrant workers resident in the Gulf states face abuse, mistreatment, injustice and discrimination, and require more dedicated pastoral care.

9. Deepen communion between the Catholic churches of the region. There should be an “inter-ritual” (ie including the different Eastern rites) seminary in each country, and common pastoral work undertaken by the different sui iuris churches, through inter-ritual pastoral councils The bishops of the different rites should meet periodically as a group. Communion between the Eastern rite and Latin churches should be encouraged, in two ways: (a) the Latin clergy of the West “need to be given a basic knowledge of the sacramental and ecclesiological theology of the Eastern Churches”; (b) the Eastern Patriarchs should be able to elect the next pope in conclave. Priests, religious and lay people of one Church should be made available to the others.

10. Ecumenism. Deepening the relationship with other Christian churches should be a greater priority, starting with the Council of Eastern Catholic Patriarchs creating an ecumenical commission. We should work towards unifying the dates of Christmas and Easter between Catholics and Orthodox, and the creation of a single Arabic text of the ‘Our Father’ and other primary prayers. Ecumenical dialogue must involve frank discussion of what causes hurt, not least the baptism of Catholics by the Orthodox. The Pope could also create a commission to look at new ways of exercising papal authority which “draw on the ecclesial forms of the first millennium”.

11. Relations with Jews. The Church rejects antisemitism and anti-Judaism; “the Israeli-Palestinian conflict affects relations between Christians and Jews”. The Church will continue to work for a lasting peace based on security and justice. The presence of Hebrew-speaking Catholics in Israel offers an opportunity for deepening understanding.

12. Relations with Muslims. Local commissions of interreligious dialogue should be created, and shared initiatives should be multiplied. Contact with Muslims can  bring Christians to a deeper understanding of their own faith. “A true relationship with God does not need noisy religiosity but authentic holiness”. Religious freedom is fundamental to developing this relationship. Christian charities and civil society institutions which serve all people regardless of faith “contribute to breaking down walls of suspicion and rejection”. “Although we differ in our understanding of man, of his rights and his freedoms, we can together find a clear, definite foundation for joint action, for the good of our societies and our countries”.

I love this and it really bought a smile to my face and comes courtesy of XenosTheology:

A calvinist arrives at Heaven’s gates and sees that there are two queues going in.   One is marked “predestined,” and the other is marked “free will.”  Being a good calvinist he wanders over to the predestined line.  After a few minutes an angel asks him, “why are you in this line?”  He replies, “I chose it.”  The angel looks surprised, “well then, you should be in the free will line.”  So our calvinist, now slightly miffed, obediently wanders over to the free will line.  Again, after a few minutes another angel asks him, “why are you in this line?”  He sullenly replies, “Someone made me come here.”

Classic!

Whilst on the subject of Calvinism, Brian LePort has popped up a post which is worth a read:

NearEmmaus – I Don’t Want to be a Calvinist or an Arminian!

A few links I found interesting for one reason or another:

FrontPageMag – Turning Churches Against Israel

Sandro Magister – Christians in the Middle East. Crushed between Islam and Israel

Telegraph – A small Polish town has sought to place itself on the global tourist map by building the world’s largest statue of Jesus, eclipsing Rio’s famous Christ the Redeemer.

Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley – Blogging, textual criticism and making it up as you go along

Lesley’s Blog – Only mad dogs and Church of Englandmen….

This is a shocking exodus:

Helsingen Sanomat:

The Finnish Evangelical-Lutheran Church has seen an unprecedented exodus of members. The outflow was sparked by a televised debate programme on Network 2 of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Tuesday evening last week.

The flood was seen as a reaction to comments by some church representatives on the programme, which dealt with issues such as the right of homosexuals to adopt children and the establishment of gender-neutral marriage.

By Friday evening more than 7,400 Finns had cancelled their membership in Finland’s largest denomination through a website set up for the purpose. The trend continued during the weekend, and by Sunday evening the figure had reached 18,000. It is estimated that Lutheran Parishes are set to lose annual church tax revenues worth about EUR 2 million from the exodus.

Reasons given by those cutting their ties with the church included accusations that the church is intolerant, conservative, and has a negative attitude toward gays.

….continue reading

Just caught a few moments of a Horizon programe that showed a guy who had been blind from such a young age that he had no visual memories. This guy was cycling using an echo location technique similar to that employed by bats, through clicking his tongue!

A brain scan confirmed neuroplasticity – cortical re-mapping – and that he was in fact employing the visual cortex area of his brain in the process of echo location.

The researcher said the brain was a marvelous design.

Indeed, and what a designer.

OK I know this is rather silly but I simply can’t help myself, especially given that I’m a huge fan of the Simpsons.

I’ll never forget in one episode when armageddon was finally upon Springfield and Lisa started to float upward towards Heaven and Homer grabs her by the ankles, pulls her down to earth, and says, ‘you’re coming with us’.

One of the funniest was an image of heaven in which Marge went to Protestant Heaven – a harp playing, dull, staid and boring place. She looks across to Catholic Heaven where a kicking party is in full swing and sees none other than Homer and Jesus boogying. Classic!

Just to let you know this is not the first time that L’Osservatore Romano has praised the Simpsons.

Telegraph:

….The newspaper acknowledged that Homer snores through the sermons of the Reverend Lovejoy and inflicts “never-ending humiliation” on his evangelical neighbour, Ned Flanders.

But in an article headlined “Homer and Bart are Catholics”, the newspaper said: “The Simpsons are among the few TV programmes for children in which Christian faith, religion, and questions about God are recurrent themes.”

The family “recites prayers before meals and, in their own peculiar way, believes in the life thereafter”.

It quoted an analysis by a Jesuit priest, Father Francesco Occhetta, of a 2005 episode of The Simpsons, The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star, which revolved around Catholicism and was aired a few weeks after the death of Pope John Paul II.

The episode starts with Bart being expelled from Springfield Elementary School and being enrolled in a Catholic school where he meets a sympathetic priest, voiced by the actor Liam Neeson, who draws him into Catholicism with his kindness.

Homer then decides to convert to Catholicism, to the horror of his wife Marge, the Rev Lovejoy and Ned Flanders. The episode touches on issues such as religious conflict, interfaith dialogue, homosexuality and stem cell research.

“Few people know it, and he does everything he can to hide it, but it is true: Homer J Simpson is a Catholic,” insists L’Osservatore Romano.

…..continue reading

Today two Guardian articles happen to mesh together rather well indeed.

The first article cites a new report by the Children’s Society and Alcohol Concern which laments the harmful impact heavy drinking parents have on their children.

The second article reports on a drug addict who has become the first man in Britain to take part in a controversial project that saw him get cash to be sterilised. This initiative is spawned from an American project which is being set up in UK and promotes the notion that it is better if drug users and alcoholics don’t have children.

Don’t these articles mesh together wonderfully?

Anyway, what do ye make of all this?

Some are not at all happy with ‘cash for vasectomy‘, and some are a little more sympathetic.

Although I can’t find the paper online, Cristina Odone – Centre for Policy Studies – has produced a piece entitled: Assisted Suicide – How the chattering classes have got it wrong, which is garnering much coverage.

Although I’m not a fan of the term “slippery slope” I do think it’s apt when applied to the issue of euthanasia.

The premise of Cristina’s piece is that legalising assisted suicide could lead to pressure – or coercion – on the elderly and infirm to end their lives prematurely.

Cristina argues:

……any attempts to change the law should be resisted.

“Legalising assisted suicide and euthanasia will put the socially marginalised at serious risk. Attempts to change the law should be resisted,” she said.

“The elderly, people with severe disabilities, the mentally unstable, and those with terminal illnesses will be presented with self-inflicted death as a natural, normal and expected final solution.”

“For the vulnerable, once it becomes enshrined in the law, this ‘right’ might turn into an obligation.

“They may feel that, once over a certain age, or grown too dependent on others, or too fed up with life, or too ill, they should opt for death rather than life.

“Worse, many may be coerced, actively or subtly, by cost-conscious hospitals, or by intended heirs with an eye to a legacy, or by exhausted carers.

“As assisted suicide becomes embedded in our culture, investing resources in caring for these vulnerable groups will be seen as a waste: they’ll soon be gone.”

I agree with this.

I’ve spent time pondering this issue in relation to my myself, or a loved one, suffering a degenerative, painful, incurable disease and how I might then feel about assisted suicide.

As much as this option may appear desirable, or even compasionate, I simply couldn’t see it enshrined in law for the sake of the vulnerable, weak, and easily manipulable, who may be bullied into an early death.

Because of my concerns over assisted suicide I have been accused of lacking empathy and have faced the assertion that euthanasia would indeed be a Christian act of compassion.  I have countered the accusation many times that I would be prepared to show mercy to a dog but extend cruelness to a human.

I have had the privlidge of dealing with patients in end of life situations and can attest to our marvelous palliative care provisions. I have been part of the TLC team.

Put simply, I believe that if assisted suicide became a legal norm in this country we would indeed witness a “slippery slope” to the point where folk would feel pressure to end their own lives, and the distinct possibility that unscrupulous family members may themselves apply this pressure.

This cross-post from the Elder of Ziyon speaks for itself:

A new rumor sweeping the Arab world says that a second-century Torah was discovered by Israeli archaeologists digging under the Temple Mount, and it contained the name “Mohammed” within it.

The Torah was said to have shaken the Jewish establishment in Israel because it proved that the Torah used today is not accurate – just as Muslims claim!

This is all over the Arabic websites; but it seems to have originated in an Algerian newspaper a week ago, where it specified that the Mohammed verse was in the Song of Solomon.

Indeed, the Song of Solomon (as well as other verses throughout the Hebrew Bible) uses a variant of the word “Mahmad” (5:16) which means “lovely.” Muslims have for years tried to “prove” the authenticity of the Koran by pointing to various Hebrew Bible uses of words with the same roots as his name.

(I shouldn’t have to say that this story is complete fiction.)