Why, yes, I am on a Tolkien kick, Thank You!

First, I don't particularly like "black metal" music, nor the musicians who make such music, but this is cool.

It's by an Austrian group called Summoning, and is called Mirdautas Vras and is in the Black Speech of Mordor.

*note: if you don't know what "black metal" is, be prepared for something like the aural equivalent of a freeway pileup. It works well for the Black Speech, though.

Why They Don't Want to Come to the Party

Certain oh-so-brave primates have refused to come to Lambeth because protesters will be there (their first reason being the presence of Gene Robinson and his partner in some form). Now, we're constantly told that these "leaders of the church" are so incredibly brave and holy because they live in the jaws of persecution every day and just keep on plugging along.

So, which is the lie - the reason they won't come, or the risks these primates actually take?

I mean, if they're that brave, then instead of this:

They must imagine that a protest by godless queers looks like this:




Fair enough, but we think a typical consultation (usually in secret) between Greg Venables - just can't think of him as being any sort of priest or bishop, sorry - and Rowan looks like this (Venables on left, of course):

And we still have guts and faith enough to go.

The Windsor Continuation Group

Several have asked about this typically Rowanish move. MadPriest, in fact, was offering a prize for the best explanation. I think the best explanation is to be found below, and is in no way mine:

Happy Valentine's Day

And keep away from empty garages.

An Unsettling Thought . . .

The current events in the church have everyone tense and worried, and the blogs - even usually polite ones - are a bit of a powderkeg, and a gamut of sniping and turning, even on "our own." To that end, I'm trying to keep from posting anything on anyone else's blog - unless a harmless joke or encouragement. I've done well, so far, but the detachment has led me to a rather uncomfortable question, whether dealing with liberals or conservatives:

What is our faith in, God or the religion?

That may seem a nonsensical question, and, if it seems so, I suppose I have my answer. But the two, I maintain, are not the same: a mundane example; I believe in Freedom, the Democratic principle, I'm proud of the ingenuity and drive of the people of the United States, but I do not subscribe to the jingoistic nationalist motto "My country, right or wrong." If the government betrays these people and principals, it is the wrong government. Period.

In Terry Pratchett's Small Gods, there is a god who has faded, reduced to a laughable form - yet his religion is powerful, all-powerful in it's own land, in fact. The priesthood is strong and wealthy, the grip of dogma absolute. How? Because the people have absolute faith in the religion, and the god has become tangential.

So, think about it, seriously:

What is our faith in, our religion or our God, and which could we more easily sacrifice for the other?