I find myself frequently have read one book and coming to the realisation that I need to read another. For example, my trudging through St. Thomas Aquinas’s Disputed Questions on Truth and Summa Theologiae convinced me that I needed to read the Bible through from cover to cover, which I forthwith did (and have repeated …
Rowan Williams’ Haunted England, or Why Europeans Aren’t Found In Church
Air travellers know that an "open jaw" itinerary is one where the destination from which you return is different than the one you departed to. My idea of an "open jaw" itinerary is one where you arrive at the airport to suddenly find your flight has been cancelled, so you stand with an open jaw...hopefully …
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The Ignorance of the Laity, in TEC and Elsewhere
A.S. Haley may have missed the unintentional humour of Judge Larry Schwartz in his decision favouring TEC in the case involving Grace Church and St. Stephens in Colorado. Part of his decision reads as follows: For one thing, it appears to be rare that parish members, induding members of the governing Vestry, know anything about the details …
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A New Book Trailer for the Novel, The Ten Weeks
You can find it here, in podcast form. The YouTube version can be seen by clicking here.
The Real Presence Won’t Get People Out of the Episcopal Church
Thad Stevens wonders why it's hard to get people out of the Episcopal Church: Most Common Cause parishes don’t compare favourably with neighbouring Episcopal parishes in worship and the Sacraments. In most cases, the problem isn’t due to size or limited financial resources, but to attitude–‘snake-belly’ low services and sloppy celebrations of the Eucharist don’t …
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Some Thoughts on the Church of God’s Reallocation of Resources
I generally try not to take up too much space in this blog on strictly Church of God issues, but MissionalCOG's recent post on the impending reallocation of resources compels me to say something on this subject. (Before you start, read the Terms and Conditions of this site.) For those of you who are a) …
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Running the Population Down
This time, it's the UK: JONATHON PORRITT, one of Gordon Brown's leading green advisers, is to warn that Britain must drastically reduce its population if it is to build a sustainable society. Porritt's call will come at this week's annual conference of the Optimum Population Trust (OPT), of which he is patron. The trust will …
Keeping People Honest at the Polls
I'll bet ACORN never thought of this (until now): These events (Indonesian elections) are also the venues where the terms and conditions of traditional vote-buying are laid out by campaigners. Election monitors in the past have noted that while accepting money to vote for a particular candidate is commonplace, vote-buying has had little impact on …
If You Don’t Like Unscientific Policies, Choose Scientific People
From the "GeoCurmudgeon" column in the March/April 2009 Issue of GeoStrata: Consider the nine wonders of the modern world; the nine men who comprise the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, led by PRC President Hu Jintao, a hydraulics engineer; Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, a geotechnical engineer; five other engineers; and two economists. …
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The Good News and the Bad News About Obama’s Reduction of the Charitable Deduction
As a follow-up to this, we have this: Here's what it means in real terms for the 5% of Americans whose household income exceeds $250,000 a year. Those families can currently save $350 in taxes for every $1,000 donated to charity; under Obama's plan, that amount would drop to $280 per $1,000 donation. "By doing …
Positive Infinity 