Daily digest - Wednesday, 16 January 2012

So much for my busy morning, I can't remember what it was I was supposed to be doing (Oh yeah. I was meant to be strimming my garden. Too wet right now, but two days of dry weather forecast, so maybe later or tomorrow).

It would appear yesterday's link to the Stephen Law podcast didn't work, so it is - perhaps - fortunate that +Kylie Sturgess posted her January interview with him today. Click here to hear it. 

As an addendum to yesterday's European Court judgement on Christian persecution (or whatever), here is a pdf of the full judgement.

Daily digest - Tuesday, 15 January 2012

Cor! Busy news day today. I have only managed to get one post out, and that was mainly copypasta. It is a good read, though.

The big news today, of course, is the European Court ruling on the four Christians that were claiming some sort of religious discrimination or wrongful dismissal, or something. Only one of them had their case upheld, and I disagree with that. Especially in light of Stephen Law's article.

One item that - for some unknown reason - didn't seem to make the news, was that the Cornwall Council General meeting voted against introducing a plan that would see the county's poorest people footing the entire bill for central Government cuts. I don't hold these people in very high regard, but the right decision was returned today. The Conservatives had better watch their backs at the local elections in May. UPDATE: BBC has a report here.

Short intro tonight. It is getting late and I plan a busy morning ahead.

Is religious freedom threatened by gay rights? Stephen Law steals my thunder

I was in the middle of preparing a long post about today's European Court decisions on the four Christians that had appealed their Supreme Court dismissals for violations of discrimination laws, when up popped an article by philosopher, Stephen Law who encapsulated everything I wanted to say (and very likely a fair bit more).

It is a weighty piece, but worth the effort. His thoughts on the subject is framed in a wider context than I would have used, but it is all the more powerful because of it. Below is a selection of what I feel are the most salient points, but you should really sit down with a cuppa and read the article in its entirety.

The results, by the way were that three of the four cases were dismissed, the fourth being upheld for BA employee, Nadia Eweida.

Daily digest - Monday, 14 January 2012

Well, I have had a busy day debating and writing about same sex marriage. Two articles have been posted (first, a letter to Andrew George MP, and the second a response to one of the commenters on the original thisiscornwall page). I am appalled that such bigots exist in my region, but perhaps, should not be surprised. Where Christianity exists, bigotry will follow. Go vote up my comments here.

There was also one of those 'lighter moments' pieces that the BBC runs occasionally. It would appear that the Queen's Bentley limousine wouldn't start when she came to leave church. It was a good job Bishop Cottrell was at hand to administer some divine vehicular maintenance.

After posting yesterday's Daily Digest, I considered the fact that - considering I don't post this until quite late in the day - perhaps the following day's tide times might be more useful to people. Done and done.

God starts Queen's Bentley

Well, so this report on the BBC News website alludes.

Bishop Cottrell said he was standing with the Queen waiting for the Bentley to pick her up.

He said: "He [the chauffeur] got into the car, put the key into the ignition and it made that kind of throaty rasping noise that cars make when they are not going to start.

"So he tried again and again it makes the noise... three or four times.

"At this point, really for a bit of fun, I just took a little step forward and made a blessing over the car, which got a laugh from the crowd. 

"The chauffeur tried the key again and it started. So then there was a great round of applause."

Surprisingly, the bishop didn't make a song and dance about vehicular intercessory blessings.

"It is one of those nice little incidents," he said. "We all saw the funny side of it."

Response to Bartribe on same sex marriage

I have already posted on this subject today (if you want to read this first, I'll wait here), and have copied my initial response to my Daily Digest (*taps toes, waiting for you to read this too)

After having gone back to check for updates (which there were. Sarah Newton MP distanced herself quite vociferously against the dishonest practices of Coalition for Marriage), I read a comment by a person who named themselves barrtribe. Have left the spelling and grammatical mistakes as they were presented.

UPDATED Same sex marriage - Coalition for Marriage activists inspire people to contact their MPs

Regarding the story in thisiscornwall on the opponents of gay marriage taking to streets of Cornwall, I was moved to agree with the Coalition for Marriage (C4M - I'll not be linking to them) national campaign director, Colin Hart, regarding letting voters have their say. 

There is a clear consensus amongst the voters of this country that same sex marriage is not only okay, but something we as a nation should aspire to. He asks us to contact our MPs and let them know how we feel on the matter.

Brilliant idea!

Contact your MP and let him/her know both how you feel about same sex marriage, and if they are prepared to take a definitive stance in favour of it.

I did...

FOR THE ATTENTION OF:

Andrew George MP
St Ives

Monday 14 January 2013

Tris Stock
*************
Penzance
Cornwall
TR** ***

tris.stock@*****.***
07718******

Dear Andrew George,

I have just been reading the following item on same sex marriage on thisiscornwall  and was moved by the words of C4M's national campaign director, Colin Hart, who said:

"Our local activists are fired up to make sure voters have their say. We have identified these three marginal Cornish seats as key, together with 62 others nationwide. MPs can expect local voters to be pressing them on where they stand on the redefinition of marriage."

I couldn't agree more.

Equality comes before division in a fair and just society, so allowing all people - regardless of their sexuality or gender - to enjoy the rights currently afforded to only one demographic, is the only reasonable course of action. And the majority of the British public agrees:

Three in five voters back gay marriage - The Guardian
Gay marriage: public say Church is wrong - The Independent 
Britons vote in favour of same-sex marriage - The Daily Mail

Will you join Mr Hart and myself in publicly supporting people's representation on same-sex marriage? Perhaps you could also take a clear stand in favour of same sex marriage?

Yours sincerely,

Mr Tris Stock

***UPDATE***

I have a reply from Andrew George MP:

EQUAL MARRIAGE

Thank you for your recent email in support of equal marriage. I agree with you.

I am aware that this is an issue which provokes strong opinions and passionate debate.  I also acknowledge that there is an established view held by some people of what are perceived to be 'conventional' (and acceptable) and 'unconventional' (and unacceptable) relationships.  Personally, irrespective of my own nature, I am always pleased to celebrate both the public declaration of love and the commitment to an enduring fidelity between two adults, irrespective of who they are or what their nature is.  I do not take the view that there are first order relationships and second; nor that there are superior and inferior marriages.

I will look carefully at the outcome of the Government's consultation into their proposals and monitor the debate carefully.

On balance, I believe that the Government is right, providing it can reassure those that there will be no compulsion for any church to be mandated to permit or to undertake on their premises a marriage ceremony to which they would wish not to give their consent/blessing.  I note that the Church of England claim that any such exemption "could be challenged" by some litigious and theologically campaigning homosexual under the European Convention on Human Rights.  However, I am not convinced that this is likely; especially given the Convention's commitment to respect/defend religious freedom.  The Church has often refused to marry divorcees and a local church can deny marriage to those with no parochial connection.  I am not aware of any church being taken to a European Court to have those practices challenged.  Therefore I would not expect this to be either.

I hope you will find this response helpful and that it clarifies for you my own approach to this matter.

For your information, I have received many letters/emails from constituents who vehemently disagree with my/the Government’s view on this matter.

Once again, thank you very much for taking the time and trouble to contact me on this matter.  If you have any further questions or concerns then please do not hesitate to contact me.

With good wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew George MP  

File Ref: 12/13.1/ag/jr

Andrew George MP
Trewella
18 Mennaye Road
Penzance
Cornwall    TR18 4NG
Tel: 01736 360020

Daily digest - Sunday, 13 January 2012

Some of you may have noticed that I have let loose a guest poster here. I have no idea what I have let myself in for. His name is +Mark Tonner and he will be interjecting on matters that he may claim concern him, but in reality they do not. I view this experiment as an exercise in how to deal with trolls, hostile comments and account hackers. One never knows, he might actually post something of note, but in the meantime, please feel free to engage with him at your peril. He has already apologised.

Also new today is 'Verse of the day' from BibleGateway.com, which I shall be applying to a strictly scientific process (faith) to rate on the 'Inspirationometre™'. Each days verse will be judged on its value to my understanding of the meaning of life, morality and the level of engagement it has instilled. Each grade awarded is measured against the centi-inspirationometre. The higher the measurement, the higher its value to myself (and maybe to all of God's creation).

In addition to this, I shall be enticing my local readership more, by offering a weather and tide report each day. Again, a lot of what I am putting out - especially for local matters - have a lot of relevancy to my own day-to-day life; dog walking on Long Rock beach being one of them.

Long Rock beach with St Michael's Mount in the background

Posts today include a hilarious video from The Young Turks, about how passengers dealt with a drunk man who had threatened to choke them on a flight from Reykjavik to New York, and another video by William Tapley - a Christian numerologist - who argues that God allowed the 20 children at the Sandy Hook shootings to die. Not much worth reporting on today, unfortunately.

William Tapley explains why God let the 20 children at Sandy Hook die - VIDEO

For those of you that have not encountered this guy before, he is a Christian numerologist that believes he is a prophet of the apocalypse. In this video, he explains why God allowed the 20 children at the Sandy Hook shootings to die.

I have considered the possibility that he is a Poe, but there is just too much about him, his consistency and his delivery. He has to be for real!

It seems to me that Mr Tapley is a 'Divine Command Theorist' which according to my statement in today's Daily Digest means I shouldn't be giving him an audience. What do you think?

Drunk air passenger bound and gagged - VIDEO

All people concerned here are heroes. The descendants of the Wright brothers have every right to be proud of their ancestor's legacy.