Lord what fools these mortals be. It is difficult for an outsider to look upon the febrile maunderings of the General Synod of the Church of England without a sense of bewilderment and mild irritation. The body which is the parliament of the nation’s established church is, all things considered, a pretty poor advertisement for the message of good news which its founder set out to bring humanity.
Indeed it seems more focused upon bad news ”“ as if it were determined to project its faith in entirely negative terms. Listening to its preoccupations the casual listener could be forgiven for dismissing it as a reactionary institution which is anti-women, anti-gay, anti-Muslim. That is a caricature but it is drawn with the Church’s own ink.
[blockquote]But where it ignores the lessons which secular society has to teach it about its own gospel message, and does so with such shrill intolerance, it has only itself to blame if the rest of us dismiss it as a foolish pageant.[/blockquote] The church can learn from secular society but I don’t believe secular society defines what the Gospel message is to the church. Certainly not Richard Dawkins.
What huberistic nonsense! It is precisely becuase the synod did embrace secular models in it’d synod and decisions that it is in the mess it is in. And Pope Benedict should delight in the hatred with which the secular media hold him in, it is a sign he is doing the right thing!
This editorial is representative of the typically uncritical lambasting of the Christian faith that is now normative in Britain. While it has to be admitted that the General Synods of the Church of England is replete with shortcomings, at least it is a setting in which the issues confronting the church are openly debated. However, while the Independent wants the church to listen to the great wisdom of secular society, perhaps it should also be suggested that a secular society as sick as this one might have some pointers that it can learn from the Christian faith. But then, that would mean having to listen and analyze what believers say…
Founded with a core of ex-Telegraph journalists, the Independent used to make a point of not reporting on religion or the monarchy. Recently, even they seem to have developed an interest in both. I wonder who they have brought in to write on religion, and the church in particular?