Backing the Bishop

"intelligent, moderate man making his point in an intelligent, moderate way"

But this is a man that made a Declaration of Assent that acknowledged the 39 Articles of relegion (Canon C 15)

Article 37 is quite clear.

"The King's Majesty hath the chief power in this Realm of England, and other his Dominions, unto whom the chief Government of all Estates of this Realm, whether they be Ecclesiastical or Civil, in all causes doth appertain, and is not, nor ought to be, subject to any foreign Jurisdiction".

http://saxontimes.blogspot.com/2008/02/off-with-their-heads.html

Juramentum est indivisibile, et non est admittendum in parte verum et in parte falsam.

Take a look at some of the other 39 Articles that our furry, intellectual Primate has given his considered assent to:

Article III

Of the going down of Christ into Hell

As Christ died for us, and was buried, so also is it to be believed that He went down into Hell.

Article IV

Of the Resurrection of Christ

Christ did truly rise again from death, and took again His body, with flesh, bones, and all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, wherefore He ascended into heaven, and there sitteth until He return to judge all men at the last day.

And my personal favourite:

Article IX

Of Original or Birth Sin

Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly talk), but it is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation.

What a pile of ridiculous crap. Still, it's lucid well written nonsense, which is more we can say for the Primates obsuranist screeds...

"Backing the Bishop".

I take it this means the critics are "bashing the bishop"?

"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."
Thomas Jefferson

'"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."
Thomas Jefferson'

Boy, Jefferson really blew that one!

1. It is entirely possible to be as free as human beings can, while living in a monarchy and subscribing to a religion that maintains a priesthood.

2. Possibly the closest humanity has recently come to the absolute opposite of freedom was in the USSR, Soviet China, and other charming socialist paradises (let's not forget Cambodia). Countries that had killed or otherwise disposed of their royal families and priests. Actually, Jefferson's own USA isn't precisely the "home of the free" either, these days. But then it still has bucketloads of priests - and arguably several new forms of "royalty".

'"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."
Thomas Jefferson'

 How many slaves did Thomas Jefferson own?

Let's hope for the best then eh?

Tom, what's so great about 'intelligent, moderate' post-modern culturally inclusive bigotry? I think I preferred the old sort.  Now when they come after you it's in the interests of 'community cohesion' and crimes against appropriate social discourse. It sounds so much more reasonable, which makes it all the more dangerous, especially when what's being presented by Williams is just the same old reactionary attack on secularism, with a new 'multicultural' flavour.

So what if tabloid editors have yet to catch up with modern apologetics for the church/state link? When two repressive institutions clash on tactics it's a cause for gladness. If they understood what he was really saying they would be out in full support of his divine crusade against permissiveness and human rights.

The War Prayer

O Lord our Father,

Our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle-be Thou near them! With them, in spirit, we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe.

O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells;

Help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead;

Help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain;

Help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire;

Help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief;

Help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it.

For our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!

We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts.

Amen.

-- Mark Twain

anyone feeling unconfortable at this point should really go here.

The quote about 'strangling the last King with the entrails of the last Priest' isn't from Jefferson, it's a quote from Denis Diderot.  The man who pretty much bequeathed the world the encylopaedia, rational art criticism, reinvented satire, inspired Goethe and Rosseau and made Paris the intellectual capital of Europe.

A rennaissance made possible by a revolution against monarchy and feudalism that spread across much of the planet within two generations, bequeathing us virtually all the 'freedoms' we enjoy today. If it had never occured we would still be worshipping icons, studying the bible as a guide to physics, and being ruled by Divine right.

The quote about 'strangling the last King with the entrails of the last Priest' isn't from Jefferson, it's a quote from Denis Diderot.  The man who pretty much bequeathed the world the encylopaedia, rational art criticism, reinvented satire, inspired Goethe and Rosseau and made Paris the intellectual capital of Europe.

A rennaissance made possible by a revolution against monarchy and feudalism that spread across much of the planet within two generations, bequeathing us virtually all the 'freedoms' we enjoy today. If it had never occured we would still be worshipping icons, studying the bible as a guide to physics, and being ruled by Divine right.

The quote about 'strangling the last King with the entrails of the last Priest' isn't from Jefferson, it's a quote from Denis Diderot.  The man who pretty much bequeathed the world the encylopaedia, rational art criticism, reinvented satire, inspired Goethe and Rosseau and made Paris the intellectual capital of Europe.

A rennaissance made possible by a revolution against monarchy and feudalism that spread across much of the planet within two generations, bequeathing us virtually all the 'freedoms' we enjoy today. If it had never occured we would still be worshipping icons, studying the bible as a guide to physics, and being ruled by Divine right.

I apologise,

I apologise,

I apologise :)

Thanks for exculpating Jefferson of that hideous quotation. I have always approved of him, especially in view of his remark about unhesitatingly preferring newspapers without government to government without newspapers. (Mind you, unlike most people he had enough resources to defend his life and property in a state of anarchy).

I beg to differ about Diderot's statement. As a British subject (nowadays we're technically citizens I believe) I am as free as anyone in the world - or I was before Nu Labour began their program of creeping dictatorship.

As for your particulars:

1. Icons were never worshipped; that would be a heretical act, as they are mere artefacts. However they could be used as a focus for the worship of God.

2. Although I have studied the history of science, I don't recall anyone using the Bible as a source for physics. In medieval times Aristotle was the main authority, which would have been well and good if people had felt free to question his results and expriment as he did in his time.

3. In England at least, the Divine Right of Kings was widely doubted by 1600, and utterly discredited when King Charles I was beheaded for treason in 1649.

4. Monarchy and the feudal system are logically independent; each can exist without the other, as indeed we still have monarchy in Britain today although the feudal system died out centuries ago. (However the capitalist corporations that thrive in the Western world have re-introduced something that is suspiciously similar to feudalism; although arguably Stalinism would be a better description).

5. Not only did the French Revolution not bequeath us all our freedoms, it didn't even last for 20 years in France itself. After overthrowing King Louis XVI in 1789 (and subsequently murdering him and his family), the French remained "free" for precisely 15 years (or maybe ten). Napoleon became First Consul (essentially dictator) in 1799 and was actually crowned Emperor in 1805. After 1815, of course, the French got the Bourbons back again - having shed the blood of millions and achieved virtually nothing.

spam removed

spam removed