Comments on: Evangelicals threaten to withhold cash if the C of E ordinates women bishops

By: Broga

Broga — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:20:28 +0000

@Our Sally: At he same time the C. of E. bishops are having a great time complaining at their synod that “Religion on the BBC is being marginalised.” Talk about biting the hand that feeds them. They have a Director General (Â£800,000 plus a year in return for seriously upsetting me and no doubt others of like mind) who issues a dictat that Thought for the Day will continue – no discussion, he has decided. This banal twaddle costs money as does the massive infection of religion on every radio programme, and much of TV, that is funded by the licence payers.

By: barriejohn

barriejohn — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:54:40 +0000

You’re right, OurSally. Bishops and Archbishops as we know them are not found in the New Testament, and non-conformist churches do not have them. The terms bishop, elder and overseer are interchangeable in the Epistles, and there were quite obviously several in each local church, but when did the teachings of the Bible ever matter to the established church?

By: OurSally

OurSally — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:22:37 +0000

Why do they need bishops at all? Jesus didn’t say “ye shall create a hierarchy of men in funny clothes who produce nothing, ye shall pay them lots of money and give them fine mansions”.

The Methodists manage nicely without bishops.

By: Alec s thompson

Alec s thompson — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:33:30 +0000

Way off topic here but, on thursday between the hrs of 4 and 8pm, or 16.00 hun to 20.00 hun hrs there is a pro democracy protest outside the iranian embassy organised by iranians, maryam namzie et al. Address is 16 princes gate, london, sw7. Time to put Your money where Your collective mouths are. See you there?

By: barriejohn

barriejohn — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:30:18 +0000

@Broga: Fundamentalists don’t read ANYTHING, or even keep themselves informed. I know this from my own experience with them. Many of them, even today, will not have televisions or radios in their homes as a matter of principle, and there are even some who refuse to read, or are not allowed to read, newspapers. Their mind is already made up about any contentious moral issues that they might otherwise be forced to face, and all their ideas are formed by their leaders. On issues like Evolution, Biblical Archaeology, or The Dead Sea Scrolls, for instance, they don’t ever look at any original scholarship, just in case their minds should be corrupted by the unbelievers’ attempts to “twist the truth”, but fill their libraries with the writings of fundamentalist “experts”, whose conclusions have been made in advance of their research! It’s no wonder that their minds are so closed, but of course THEY feel that being so out of step with modern society is in no way shameful, but an attribute to be worn like a badge of honour!!

By: Broga

Broga — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:59:50 +0000

@stonyground: Indeed, who cares? The concern is manufactured and utterly dishonest. It is manufactured by a BBC with a Director General on Â£800,000 plus a year who is a Roman Catholic and who has already had a chat with Ratzinger. So much for blessed are the poor. The same Director General stated as a dictat that those who lacked faith (unspecificied) would be banned from Thought for the Day.

It is manufactured by an army of religious nutters who will rush to their laptops to protest, unthinkingly, when told to protest to the MPs, the papers, the BBC when they are instructed. An excellent example is the euthanasia debate; the insistence that we must have unelected bishops in the House of Lord to preserve the “equality” espoused by the repellent Ratzinger; who protest about the “failure” of the BBC to represent enough religion.

I know one of these fundamentalists. He is a pleasant enough man but utterly shallow and vacuous. He doesn’t actually read anything that he protests about. He just does as he is told. The secularist army really does need to start hitting back hard, very hard, and stop being so academically temperate – with some honourable exceptions.

By: Broadsword Calling Danny Boy

Broadsword Calling Danny Boy — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:48:32 +0000

The C of E is an irrelevance. Who really care whay they say or do. It’s entertaining just to sit by and watch it implode like bystanders chucking pint glasses into the centre of a Saturday night melee.

Is there really a Baby-Eating Bishop of Bath and Wells?
Bend over Blackadder!

By: barriejohn

barriejohn — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:57:09 +0000

Stonyground: Are you trying to stop these people from acting according to their sincerely held beliefs, and following the dictates of their conscience, by suggesting that they should start acting in a rational manner? Shame on you!

By: Marcus

Marcus — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:48:17 +0000

@ barriejohn: I see there’s a Bishop of Dorking too. But that maybe has more to do with catholic priests and their choirboys.

By: Stonyground

Stonyground — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:47:44 +0000

The best bit about these discussions is their total irrelevance to anyone except the Church. The secular world resolved this issue decades ago and it is now illegal to bar someone from a promotion solely on the grounds that they are female in every area except within religious organisations. What is the point of these people really? Do they serve any useful purpose at all?