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St. Willibrord
d. Nov 7, 739

St Willibrord was born in Northumbria in 658 of pious, newly converted parents. His father Wilgils entrusted the boy as an oblate to the monastery of Ripon, and became a recluse at the mouth of the Humber. Willibrord grew up under the influence of St Wilfrid, Bishop of York, who preferred the Roman practice to the Celtic tradition. Aged 20, Willibrord was drawn to the "Isle of Saints" (Ireland), where he submitted to strict asceticism at Rathmelsigi monastery. Ordained priest in 558. Willibrord was filled with the spirit of “peregrinatio”, the mystic desire to renounce an earthly home, in order to preach the gospel to heathen peoples. In the year 690 he crossed over to the European mainland with 11 companions, to bring the Christian faith to the people of the Frisians, who had so far resisted evangelisation.

On Nov 7, 1637, Anne Hutchinson (whose father thought C of E clergy were poor material) was convicted of spreading heresy and later banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Her idea that believers are so united with the Holy Spirit that human categories, like moral law, are irrelevant, and her claim of direct revelation from the Holy Spirit rather than Scripture, caused many of her supporters to back off. But her real sin was being able to think for herself in an age when women were considered to be nothing more than servants for their husbands. Hutchinson was later killed in New York in an American Indian raid.

On this date in 1918, Evangelist Billy Graham, was born in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A tantalising slew in this week’s Book Reviews – eight about Advent, three about spirituality generally and one for Celts. One would dearly like to riffle through them all and come away with several. Perhaps some are published on this side of the pond. If not, it should be possible to pick up soime ideas for the coming season.

At the Cathedral this Sunday – Bulletin & Insert

Saturday, November 7

At one with the glorious dead – Church Times (Leader)

THE TENDENCY of festivals and liturgical seasons to creep forward in the calendar has been observed before. Christmas displays in October, Easter eggs in January — these are lamented routinely. One development of this sort is perhaps to be welcomed, however: what we might call the growth of Remembrance-tide. The restoration of interest in Armistice Day itself, as an alternative to Remembrance Sunday, means that, unless the date coincides, acts of remembrance take place on two days, and sometimes on the days in between. The season is further extended by British Legion poppies, formerly reserved for Remembrance Day, which are now worn from the day in late October when they go on sale. In this way, Remembrance and All Souls-tide blend into one season of reflection, as people recall the lives that have come naturally to an end and those that have been shortened by conflict.

Episcopalians pick five strategic goals for future – ECNS

A recently completed survey shows Episcopalians think the church ought to focus on youth and young adults, evangelism and elements of congregational life in the coming years.

The survey was conducted by a strategic planning committee that the Episcopal Church's Executive Council established in January to draft a 10-year strategic vision.

That vision is expected to identify and track the missional, financial, societal, cultural and other challenges and opportunities facing the church, and then recommend a course of action along with a timeline, evaluation tools and a proposal about how to gather the resources needed to achieve the vision. The plan will also contribute to the development of an overall communication strategy for the Episcopal Church, according to a news release from the Office of Public Affairs.

Suicide attacks are un-Islamic – New Statesman

There is nothing Islamic about so-called Islamic terrorism. But why are so many Muslims reluctant to condemn it?

An Iraqi weeps as his walks away from the ruined ministries of justice and labour.

I met Ahmad Iskandar in the summer of 2004. He was living in the squalor of the Burj el-Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut. Aged in his early twenties, this Palestinian youth was filled with violent rage. "I am ready to explode myself in Israel," he told me, as we filmed a documentary inside the camp. Did he plan to become a suicide bomber? "It is not suicide, sorry. It is a martyr operation." Ahmad seemed indifferent towards the death and destruction he hoped to wreak, and the innocents who might be killed in his "martyr operation".

“Our heart is now dead," he said, with a shrug. "They make us forget everything. Just to go and kill them." How many Ahmads are there across the Muslim world, preparing for, or dreaming of carrying out, such abhorrent acts of murder? How many of them are under the illusion that such crimes against humanity are sanctioned by Islam?

Islam must separate religion from power – The Times

. . . says Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks

The Chief Rabbi has called on Muslims to get used to living as a minority in Britain and to learn to separate religion from power.

Lord Sacks said that neither Muslims nor Christians had yet learnt the lessons inflicted on the Jewish people by the Babylonian exile.

“One of the great advantages of being Jewish is you know how to sing in the minor key,” he said. “We have had 26 centuries of experience ever since the Babylonian exile of living as a minority in the midst of a culture that does not share our views. Christianity and Islam have not had that experience.”

He said that Christianity had learnt toleration but only after 100 years of “knocking the hell out of each other all over Europe”.

Friday, November 6

Zimbabwe's MDC calls off boycott – BBC

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has called off his party's boycott of the unity government with President Robert Mugabe.

Mr Tsvangirai said he was giving Mr Mugabe 30 days to implement the power-sharing agreement on "the pertinent issues we are concerned about". The prime minister was speaking after regional crisis talks in Mozambique.

The MDC accuses Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF of continuing to harass its activists and acting in "bad faith".

PM Tsvangirai withdrew from government three weeks ago

Rick Warren Won't Denounce Proposed Ugandan Anti-Gay Law – religion dispatches

Political Research Associates, which researches right-wing movements, has called on Purpose-Driven Life author and megachurch pastor Rick Warren to denounce the proposed law.

In a statement to RD through a spokesperson, though, Warren said he had no position or comment on the proposed law.

Anti-gay Bill is not helpful – Uganda Observer (Editorial)

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill, now commonly known as ‘Bahati Bill’, would be oppressive and brutal if passed into law by Parliament, and assented to by the President.The Bill, vigorously promoted by Ndorwa West MP, David Bahati, seems to be putting homosexuality at the same level as murder and treason, which is preposterous.

True, the state has a role to play in promoting public morality and the laws on prostitution, bestiality and incest, among others, are in place largely because of this.

But Bahati’s approach to homosexuality is largely radical and seems to be informed by personal aversion towards gay sex. It’s particularly disturbing when the Bill seeks to make every citizen spy on the other and thereby intrude into other people’s privacy.

World’s Anglicans urged to condemn Ugandan Bill – Church Times

Standing firm: Archbishop Henry Orombi (left) with Archbishop Peter Akinola at the Global Anglican Futures Conference in Jerusalem last year

UGANDA’s proposed “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” will expose lesbian and gay Ugandans to draconian legislation and more intense vilification, the Revd Colin Coward, director of Changing Attitude, says. He has criticised Anglicans for their “devastating silence”.

The Bill has been denounced by Amnesty International and other human-rights organisations as “illegal, immoral, ominous, and unnecessary”. Someone convicted of “the offence of homosexuality” would be liable to life imprisonment; the death penalty would apply to “aggravated homosexuality” against a minor; and related offences include “aiding and abetting” and “promoting” homosexuality, all of which carry sentences of up to seven years. Parents could be imprisoned for not denouncing their children.

[Ugandan] Anti-gay bill tests core Christian witness – Ekklhsia

Every day millions of Christians pray, in the words of The Lord's Prayer, to be spared from being put to the test. For some in Uganda, where an anti-homosexuality bill is being put to parliament, this prayer may be especially deeply felt.

This extremely unpleasant proposed law targets not only lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people but also human rights and AIDS prevention activists and people in positions of trust. While some in the church are backing the bill, other Christians face a challenge to the principles at the heart of their faith.

IBAHRI Condemns Introduction of Death Penalty for 'Aggravated Homosexuality' – allAfrica.com

Some Ugandans categorically oppose Anti-Homosexuality Bill – Changing Attitude

More letters to the Church Times about the invitation to Rome
and its Press Correspondent comments

Secularism 'means fall in births' – BBC

Europe is facing a population crisis because of attacks on religion by secular writers, Britain's chief rabbi has said.

Lord Sacks blamed Europe's falling birth rate on a culture of "consumerism and instant gratification".

He said the continent was "dying" and accused its citizens of not being prepared for parenthood's "sacrifices".

He made his comments in a lecture for Christian think tank Theos in central London on Wednesday.

Chief Farri Lord Sacks was knighted in 2005 for services to interfaith relations

Birth control and human ecology – Washington Post

Unorthodoxy

In a recent edition of Georgetown's student newspaper, the Hoya, a graduate student in my department voiced her shock and consternation that the university health plan does not cover birth control prescriptions. The online version of the article has generated heated commentary, with people on the respective sides - for or against Georgetown's policy, one that reflects respect toward the Catholic position on artificial birth control - largely (and typically) speaking past each other.

I want to express some sympathy with the article's author, although not for the expected reasons. She is right to be surprised, and perhaps even upset. But this is not because Georgetown is too Catholic, but because it is insufficiently Catholic, particularly inasmuch as it offers no public and ongoing justification of this policy. The policy is allowed to stand on its own, without explanation or justification in the daily life and activities of the university. Her complaint is not cause for revision of the policy, but for more effort on behalf of the university to advance the reasons for the policy as a part of its educational mission.

Christianity and Islam: An Egyptian View – NY Times

“Benedict’s Gambit,” by Ross Douthat (column, Oct. 26), suggested that the recent invitation by the pope to Anglicans to convert to Rome may also include as part of the agenda “Christianity’s global encounter with a resurgent Islam.” We disagree with this view because there is no daylight in the relationship between these two churches and Islam.

Both churches, as well as American evangelical leaders, have had a continuing dialogue with leading Muslim scholars and intellectuals, including Al Azhar University and the Grand Mufti of Egypt, for more than two years.

A Muslim cannot exist without a belief in Christianity and Judaism. The Bible and the Koran have several common convictions, including the irrefutable belief in a monotheistic God, Judgment Day and the existence of heaven and hell. Therefore, Muslims believe that Islam, Christianity and Judaism do not need to confront one another.

Onward faithful eco-warriors – Church Times (Giles Fraser)

It is now just a few weeks before the fateful UN climate-change summit in Copenhagen. There is a mounting sense of urgency. We are in a race against time to save the planet. The consequences of failure would be disastrous. What is at stake here is nothing less than the survival of the human race as we know it.

It is hard to dispute the facts. Industrialisation has increased the world’s temperature by something like 0.75 per cent, and is set to increase it by roughly the same amount again, as the consequences of past carbon-dioxide emissions make themselves felt. We have known about the rising temperature for a couple of decades, but have done little to stop the production of more and more carbon dioxide.

Most scientists now think it impossible to hold the temperature rise at two per cent. Then the ice will melt and the sea will rise and swallow millions of square miles of land. The central part of the world will turn into a desert, pushing people further north and south. Untold numbers of bird and animal species will be made extinct. Wars will be fought over dwindling resources. Our grandchildren will live in a world unrecognisable to us today.

Babies' cries imitate their mother tongue as early as three days old

Babies 'cry in mother's tongue' – BBC

German researchers say babies begin to pick up the nuances of their parents' accents while still in the womb.

The researchers studied the cries of 60 healthy babies born to families speaking French and German.

The French newborns cried with a rising "accent" while the German babies' cries had a falling inflection.

Writing in the journal Current Biology, they say the babies are probably trying to form a bond with their mothers by imitating them.

Thinking aloud about clergy professional standards – Episcopal Cafe

The job of ordained ministry in congregations is big, complex and hard to nail down.

The Rev. Elizabeth Keaton began to think about this and she talked about it with local colleagues and others. She writes:

The conversation arose out of doing some case studies of problem situations in our congregations. It became clear to us that most folk in the pew - indeed, on our Vestries or those serving as Wardens - do not understand the role of the clergy as Servant Leaders in their communities of faith.

Those who enter ordained ministry often come with grand and frequently impossible expectations for themselves, and the people whom they serve bring their own which vary from person to person and from community to community.

Dave Walker's Guide to the Anglican Church

Horse genome unlocked by science – BBC

The genome of a domestic horse has been successfully sequenced by an international team of researchers.

The work, published in the journal Science, may shed light on how horses were domesticated.

It also reveals similarities between the horse and other placental mammals, such as bovids - the hoofed group including goats, bison and cattle.

The authors also found horses share much of their DNA with humans, which could have implications for medicine.

The horse genome could yield clues to human disease

Thursday, November 5

What Maine means for gay marriage in California – Salon

The Maine fight was supposed to be the dress rehearsal for repealing California's Prop. 8 -- but gay marriage lost

Supporters turn out for a gay-rights rally the day before election day in Portland, Maine, on Monday, Nov. 2, 2009.

Paul Hogarth remembers how angry he was when Proposition 8 passed in California. “I witnessed the train wreck,” he says. “I was angry with how we blew it.” When same sex marriage came under attack in Maine, Hogarth, a blogger for the Web site Beyond Chron, decided he had to do something to help.

Hogarth’s friend Jay Cash had started a program called Travel for Change during the Obama campaign where people could donate airline miles so volunteers could go to swing states. Hogarth also started Volunteer Vacation so out-of-towners could get free housing if they went to volunteer for a week in Maine. For people on the Northeast’s I-95 corridor who might want to come up for a weekend of walking the precincts, Hogarth put together Drive for Equality, a carpool program.

Age of spirit: an interview with Harvey [The Secular City] Cox – The Immanent Frame

In September, Harvey Cox retired after 44 years of teaching at Harvard Divinity School. Retirement, however, has not slowed him down. Last month saw the release of his latest book The Future of Faith, which, in the spirit of his 1965 classic The Secular City, dares to declare that a drastically different role for religion in society is close at hand.

NS: There was quite a stir about your recent retirement party, which involved parading a cow across Harvard Yard. Was that your cow?

HC: There’s a tradition that the Hollis Professor has the privilege of grazing his cow on Harvard Yard. I began thinking, hey, that would be a good idea.

Dawkins et al bring us into disrepute – Guardian

There's a schism alright, and I seem to find myself on the unfashionable side of it, complains Michael Ruse

As a professional philosopher my first question naturally is: "What or who is an atheist?" If you mean someone who absolutely and utterly does not believe there is any God or meaning then I doubt there are many in this group. Richard Dawkins denies being such a person. If you mean someone who agrees that logically there could be a god, but who doesn't think that the logical possibility is terribly likely, or at least not something that should keep us awake at night, then I guess a lot of us are atheists. But there is certainly a split, a schism, in our ranks. I am not whining (in fact I am rather proud) when I point out that a rather loud group of my fellow atheists, generally today known as the "new atheists", loathe and detest my thinking. Richard Dawkins has likened me to the pusillanimous appeaser at Munich, Neville Chamberlain. Jerry Coyne, author of Why Evolution is True, says (echoing Orwell) that only someone with pretensions to the intelligentsia could believe the silly things I believe. And energetic blogger PZ Myers refers to me as a "clueless gobshite" because I confessed to seeing why true believers might find the Kentucky Creationist Museum convincing. I will spare you what my fellow philosopher Dan Dennett has to say about me.

Atheism itself isn't a movement – Guardian

The internet has done for Scientology. Could it rumble the Christians, too? – Guardian

Italy convicts CIA rendition agents – Al Jazeera

An Italian judge has convicted 23 US secret agents over the 2003 abduction of an Egyptian imam from a Milan street in an extraordinary rendition by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The trial was the first in the world to centre on the agency's controversial programme, in which "terror" suspects are thought to have been transferred to countries known to practise torture.

Italians reject crucifix ruling – Guardian

The Italian public has united against the European court in its ruling against crucifixes in classrooms

The crucifix must disappear from Italian classrooms, the European court of human rights (ECHR) has ruled. It's a religious symbol that violates the right of parents to educate children according to their principles. "The court," reads the sentence "cannot see how the exposition in schools of a symbol that is reasonable to associate with Catholicism could serve pluralism in education, which is essential to preserve a democratic society."

This is not an unreasonable conclusion, and in fact in a pluralist society children should not be forced to attend schools where symbols not belonging to their religion are displayed. But there is one key argument against the ruling: hanging the crucifix in Italian classrooms is the result of a legal and political agreement between the state and the Catholic church.

Wednesday, November 4

US slams Uganda's new anti-gay bill

If Uganda's recently tabled Anti-Homosexuality Bill becomes law it would mark a major setback in the promotion of human rights, the US embassy in Kampala told AFP Thursday.

"If adopted, a bill further criminalising homosexuality would constitute a significant step backwards for the protection of human rights in Uganda," the embassy's public affairs officer Joann Lockard said in an email.

"We urge states to take all necessary measures to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests, or detention."

Addressing journalists on Thursday, Ugandan Ethics Minister James Nsaba Buturo said the country had no intention of heeding the advice of foreigners on the issue of homosexuality.

France slams Uganda's anti-gay draft law – theage.com

France has joined the United States in publicly condemning Uganda's proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which would vastly strengthen the country's anti-gay laws.

"France expresses deep concern regarding the bill currently before the Ugandan parliament," the French foreign ministry said in a statement sent to AFP in Kampala on Monday.

"France reiterates its commitment to the decriminalisation of homosexuality and the fight against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity."

We won't sell our souls – iafrica.com

If Uganda's recently tabled Anti-Homosexuality Bill becomes law it would mark a major setback in the promotion of human rights, the US embassy in Kampala told AFP on Thursday.

Uganda Parliament, Religious Leaders Weigh Death Penalty for LGBT People – Box Turtle Bulletin

We’ve learned more details of those committee discussions held on October 28. Participants included members of Parliament David Bahati and Benson Obua Ogwal who are co-sponsors of the bill, and Minister of Ethics and Integrity James Nsaba-Buturo. Invited speakers included:

The Rev. Canon Aaron Mwesigye, provincial secretary of the Anglican Church of Uganda;
John Kakembo, of the Seventh Day Adventist Church;
Dr. Joseph Sserwadda, representing the nation’s Pentecostal churches;
Sheikh Mohammad Ali, representing the Muslim Mufti of Uganda;
Prof. Peter Matoyu, a university professor representing the Metropolitan Orthodox Church of Kampala.

MP David Bahati, one of the bill’s co-spoonsors, insisted that homosexuality was not a human right but “a bad habit.” He also repeated much of the false “science” promulgated by American anti-gay extremists, including the false charge that the life expectancy of gays are twenty-years shorter than that of non-gays. MP Bahati’s repeated most of his points in support of his bill in a column that appeared in yesterday’s Observer, in which he called the bill “a nice piece of legislation“:

End-of-life care – Washington Post

Proposed health-care reform legislation includes a provision that allows Medicare to pay for "end-of-life" counseling for seniors and their families who request it. The provision -- which Sarah Palin erroneously described as "death panels" for seniors -- nearly derailed President Obama's health-care initiative.

Some Republicans still argue that the provision would ration health care for the elderly. Does end-of-life care prolong life or does it prolong suffering? Should it be a part of health-care reform?

Health care bill's end-of-life counseling has moral value

Making decisions about the end of life makes more sense when the living can discern their choices in consultation with their family doctor. That's a better course than making decisions in the midst of an emotional crisis at the end of life. – posted by Robert Parham

Can dying be a peak experience?

In the Judeo-Christian tradition death has become a kind of risky lottery where the soul discovers, to its delight or horror, that it's headed for heaven or hell. But many wisdom traditions around the world make a different argument, that the afterlife is an extension, in non-physical terms, of present life. – posted by Deepak Chopra

Avoiding end-of-life chaos

Death will come. We ought to be ready for it, in as many ways as we can. – posted by Susan K. Smith

Quality of life panels

Today's 'end-of-life care' controversy didn't exist 1000 years ago, when most believed that the terminally ill were in "God's hands." With scientific breakthroughs, the terminally ill are often in technology's hands, and it's up to humans to decide the extent to which that technology should be used. – posted by Herb Silverman

The right to quality of life

More than 20 years ago, my mother and my mother-in-law both requested that we not to prolong their lives, if they ever had to go into hospital. Both had strokes, both could have "lived" a vegetative life on life support, but I honored their wishes and refused to put them on life support. This is my wish too. – posted by Arun Gandhi

Death with dignity: end-of-life counseling helps

End-of-life counseling is a way for seniors to keep some of their dignity, because it can help them and their families make some purposeful choices about this important time of life--a time of life that comes to all of us. – posted by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite

On the avoidance of death in life

The reason why this issue has become another attack point for the religious right is not, as conservatives contend, fear of government control. It is, rather, the belief that only God has the power of life and death. That's one reason why the right regards assisted suicide with horror. – posted by Susan Jacoby

Quebec doctors cautiously endorse euthanasia – Globe & Mail

College of Physicians seeks to protect doctors who withhold treatment or boost medication

Quebec's College of Physicians has endorsed euthanasia in extreme circumstances, provoking fear among opponents that the rest of Canada is getting dragged into an unwanted drive toward mercy killing.

Quebec doctors issued a cautiously worded policy Tuesday suggesting Criminal Code changes to protect doctors who follow an “appropriate care logic” to end the life of suffering patients facing “imminent and inevitable death.”

The change would protect doctors who withhold treatment or boost painkillers to end suffering and hasten the end, according to Yves Lamontagne, president of the college.

Transsexual Jesus sparks protests – BBC

About 300 protesters held a candlelit protest outside a Glasgow theatre over the staging of a play which portrays Jesus as a transsexual.

The protest was held outside the Tron Theatre, where Jesus Queen of Heaven, in which Christ is a transsexual woman, is being staged.

It is part of the Glasgay! arts festival, a celebration of Scotland's gay, bi-sexual and transsexual culture.

The demonstrators sang hymns and waved placards.

One read: "Jesus, King of Kings, Not Queen of Heaven." Another said: "God: My Son Is Not A Pervert."

Jesus Queen of Heaven portrays Christ as a transsexual

Get real! Kill George Herbert! – Bishop Alan's Blog

At home I have a groaning shelf of books published since 1900 about ministry in the Church of England. Justin Lewis-Anthony’s If you meet George Herbert on the Road, Kill Him [see Review] is the latest and, no mean feat, by far the best. The trouble with “how-to” books about ministry is that they can easily become part of an oppressive structure that keys into a significant vulnerability in sincere ministers.

You woke up this morning with 25 things you hadn't done, and felt vaguely guilty about. You read the how-to book, and now you’ve got 35. Could be time to stick your head in a gas oven. Indulging in the wrong kind of how-to stuff, spiced with paperback Evangelical fisherman’s tales by the Successful, does not make you the best priest in the street (shades of the Father Ted “Golden Cleric”) but a nervous wreck. Its nursery slopes are the way to slow death — what some do call burn-out.

Changing Cairo's call to prayer – BBC

The Muslim call to prayer is one of the most distinctive sounds of an Islamic city. The greatest mosques of Cairo, "the city of 1000 minarets", broadcast to the faithful five times a day. But their increasing use of powerful amplifiers has left some residents of the Egyptian capital yearning for a more gentle, harmonious approach. After years threatening to change the system the Egyptian government says it is now ready to do so. But not everyone is happy about the changes they have planned. Correspondent Christian Fraser reports from Cairo.

Maine voters overturn state’s new same-sex marriage law – Boston Globe

Maine voters overturned the state’s same-sex marriage law yesterday, delivering a potentially crushing blow to gay-rights advocates after a year when their cause seemed to be gaining momentum with legislative and legal victories in four states.

As the ballot counting continued well past midnight, the margin continued to grow - with 52.7 percent of voters in favor of the repeal - and the Associated Press called the contest in favor of gay-marriage foes shortly before 1 a.m.

“This is an amazing moment. It’s beyond words,’’ said Mary Conroy, spokeswoman for Yes on 1/Stand for Marriage Maine, the organization leading the fight against same-sex marriage in Maine. “I feel energized, overcome, overjoyed for the family and the people of Maine.

“We’re not short timers. We’re in for the long haul,’’ said campaign manager Jesse Connolly early this morning. “We will regroup. This is about love and commitment and family, and so we’ll stay the course. And I ask you to stay the course with us.’’

It's official: faith in science is a belief – New Statesman

New legal ruling places it in the same category as religion

A judge has just ruled that green beliefs should be safeguarded under employment law designed to protect religious and philosophical beliefs in the workplace. Tim Nicholson, a former executive with the property firm Grainger, claimed that he was made redundant last year because of his strong environmental concerns. Mr Justice Burton has now given him the go ahead to take Grainger to an industrial tribunal on these grounds, ruling that "a belief in man-made climate change ... is capable, if genuinely held, of being a philosophical belief for the purpose of the 2003 Religion and Belief Regulations".

Tuesday, November 3

ORIGINS Darwin's finches on the Islamic symbol in art work used at a conference in Massachusetts about the acceptance of evolution among Muslims.

Creationism, Minus a Young Earth, Emerges in the Islamic World – NY Times

Creationism is growing in the Muslim world, from Turkey to Pakistan to Indonesia, international academics said last month as they gathered here to discuss the topic.

But, they said, young-Earth creationists, who believe God created the universe, Earth and life just a few thousand years ago, are rare, if not nonexistent. One reason is that although the Koran, the holy text of Islam, says the universe was created in six days, the next line adds that a day, in this instance, is metaphorical: “a thousand years of your reckoning.”

Benedict the Radical – Washington Post

Recent commentary on Pope Benedict XVI's invitation to Anglicans to enter the Catholic fold has predictably fallen into the well-worn rut of seeing his action through liberal/conservative lens. Our domestic battle lines have been so firmly drawn, with daily sorties probing for the opposition's weaknesses while heavy arms stand at ready for attack, that we are largely incapable of putting our heads above the ramparts to discern whether something else entirely might be going on.

One need only consult David Gibson's weekend article from the pages of the very host of this site, which asked the question: "Is Pope Benedict A Closet Liberal?" (to which "On Faith's" own Thomas Reese has here responded, "not enough"). Gibson finds evidence of the Pope's "liberalism" in his extraordinary activism. "Thus far, Benedict's papacy has been one of constant movement and change, the sort of dynamic that liberal Catholics -- or Protestants -- are usually criticized for pursuing." Gibson regards any form of "constant movement and change" to be a form of liberalism.

Italy school crucifixes 'barred' – BBC

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against the use of crucifixes in classrooms in Italy.

It said the practice violated the right of parents to educate their children as they saw fit, and ran counter to the child's right to freedom of religion. The case was brought by an Italian mother, Soile Lautsi, who wants to give her children a secular education.

But the ruling has sparked anger in the largely Catholic country, with one politician calling the move "shameful".

Catholicism stopped being the state religion in Italy in 1984

Monday, November 2

Put down the stones – The Independent

At Uganda Talks we welcome guest blogs from our readers. Today, associate professor of psychology at Grove City (a Christian college in the U.S.), Warren Throckmorton, writes about Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill.

Christians believe that when Jesus was confronted by the religious leaders of His day, He had just the right response. However, I fear that many of my Ugandan brothers and sisters now doubt that Jesus was correct in His example. Let me explain.

In the 8th chapter of the Gospel of John, the Pharisees and teachers of the law brought a woman to Jesus for Him to judge. They said, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" The woman expressed no repentance, no remorse; she was coerced to this degrading situation by the religious leaders who used her as a scapegoat and example.

Jesus did not speak but instead wrote in the dirt on the ground before He spoke. We don't know what He wrote, but we do know what He said:

"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

No one tossed so much as a pebble. They all walked away, leaving the woman untouched by the wrath of men.

Indira Gandhi's death remembered – BBC

Survivors have had little justice. Only 20 people have been convicted for the killings

Nearly 3,000 members of India's Sikh community were massacred after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards on 31 October 1984. Rahul Bedi, one of the first journalists to reach the affected areas in the capital, Delhi, recalls events.

The 25th anniversary of Indira Gandhi's assassination revives stark memories of some 3,000 Sikhs killed brutally in the orderly pogrom that followed her killing.

The wave of ethnic cleansing which raged unhindered across the country, especially in Delhi, after Mrs Gandhi was shot dead ended only with her cremation on 2 November.

Sunday, November 1

Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill challenges all in the Communion – Changing Attitude

The Anglican Communion and its leaders have reached a critical moment of judgement in its attitude to homosexuality. It is now 19 days since the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 was tabled by David Bahati, the MP for Ndorwa West in Uganda but the leaders of the Communion have remained silent. The only Anglican groups to have responded are those working for the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Simplicity and sustainability: Inside Stanbrook Abbey, the new eco-friendly nunnery – Guardian (video)

Relocated nuns settle into £4.7m building that features solar panels, a woodchip boiler, rainwater harvesting and a green roof

The colours most commonly associated with nuns are black and white. The women of Stanbrook Abbey can now add a dash of green to their palette following their move to the world's first environmentally friendly nunnery.

Located in the North York Moors national park, the £4.7m building features solar panels to provide hot water, a woodchip boiler, rainwater harvesting for laundry and toilet flushing and a roof covered in sedum grass to insulate the building and attract local wildlife.

During an exclusive preview for invited guests, members of the Conventus of Our Lady of Consolation proudly showed off the locally sourced stone and sustainable timber in their 21st-century home. "It's quite stunning," said Sister Julian, "the whole place and the views, which we didn't have in our old monastery. There's not a Gothic arch to be seen. It's high-tech, which takes getting used to, but I do like the architecture."

"In the old days you weren't even supposed to look out of the windows, some of them were frosted over," she added.

Go forth and multiply a lot less – Economist

Lower fertility is changing the world for the better

SOMETIME in the next few years (if it hasn’t happened already) the world will reach a milestone: half of humanity will be having only enough children to replace itself. That is, the fertility rate of half the world will be 2.1 or below. This is the “replacement level of fertility”, the magic number that causes a country’s population to slow down and eventually to stabilise. According to the United Nations population division, 2.9 billion people out of a total of 6.5 billion were living in countries at or below this point in 2000-05. The number will rise to 3.4 billion out of 7 billion in the early 2010s and to over 50% in the middle of the next decade. The countries include not only Russia and Japan but Brazil, Indonesia, China and even south India.

Exposing the flaws of choice – Church Times (Giles Fraser)

A study from the University of London, which was published this week, says that Down-syndrome pregnancies have risen by 70 per cent. This is put down to women having babies later in life, when the chances of a Down-syndrome conception are higher. But the study also says that fewer children are being born with the condition, as its abortion rate is now 92 per cent. Some apparent expert on the Today programme justified all of this under that lazy catch-all alibi: choice.

It is the choice of modern women to try for babies later in life because this fits in better with their desire for a career earlier in life. So the number of abortions rises steadily. Abortion is a by-product of a lifestyle choice. But because it is a largely hidden one — the sadness of abortion taking place privately and discreetly — the full cost of this demographic shift in women’s behaviour and expectations is rarely weighed. It is out of sight and out of mind — and thus so much easier to wave away with a casual flick of the word “choice”.

What is an emerging church? – Episcopal Cafe (video)

The answer emerges if you click here, it seems.

Clerical abuse inquiry demand – BBC

Victims of clerical child abuse in Northern Ireland have called for an inquiry into how they were treated.

The solicitor acting for victims of abuse in both Catholic and state-run institutions has written to the first and deputy first ministers detailing their demands.

They say they have been discriminated against because inquiries in the Irish Republic have not been extended here.

A report published in the Republic this year said abuse there was "endemic".

What dinosaurs are still teaching us – Observer

The recent archeological finds of a pliosaur skull in Dorset and bullets at Bosworth are a refreshing change from academics speculating on the past

On the shores of the Jurassic Coast and in the dank fields of the East Midlands, two major discoveries announced last week shifted the course of history. In Dorset, palaeontologists showed off the skull of a 12-ton pliosaur with jaws that could cut a car in two which roamed the seas of southern England some 1.5 million years ago.

In Bosworth, the Battlefield Trust finally located the scene of the 1485 tussle between King Richard III and Henry Tudor and, in the process, revealed an unexpected find of 22 primitive pistol bullets and cannonballs. The discovery of ordnance deep in the soil of this celebrated battle site is set to transform our understanding of medieval warfare and its legacy.

All of which shows that old-fashioned history – new understandings of past epochs brought to light by present discoveries – is alive and kicking. After decades of postmodern debate about texts and discourses, signs and semiotics, when academics spent far too much time talking to themselves about themselves, how refreshing it is to have some classic archaeological finds to capture our historical imagination and throw open the past. And it is the promise of another pliosaur or a Tudor arms cache which has since brought thousands of visitors to Lulworth Cove and the Bosworth battlefields.

Denise and LaPrie Townsend, center, dance along with other 17 couples after a mass wedding ceremony on Sunday October 25, 2009 at Concord Baptist Church in Dallas.

18 couples share their vows in joint Oak Cliff ceremony – Dallas News

Down the long aisle at Concord Church, set off this Sunday by a soft, white border draped from pew to pew, the bride walked with stately deliberation, the crowd's applause ringing out as she glided toward her groom.

And behind her, at a proper distance, came another bride, then another and another, until there were 18 in all, taking the walk many must have dreamed about as little girls.

But few could have imagined this.

The 18 simultaneous marriages in Oak Cliff sprang from a six-week teaching series for couples called "The Real Flava of Love," led by Concord Senior Pastor Bryan L. Carter.

That was the week that was. It’s over – let it go

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