Linda Morris on the attack again..

From the artilce “it’s PJs at PJ’s"…

“fresh from promoting the creation of a new power bloc in the Anglican communion opposed to liberal thinking on such matters as homosexual clergy.”

My response was ignored, as usual…

It’s a pity that Linda Morris is unable to report without editorialising; to be factual without commentary.

Peter Jensen did not go to GAFCON to create a new power bloc. Such a comment is slanderous. First of all, Peter is not interested in power, particularly for himself; nor is he interested in splitting the Anglican communion, nor in forcing his opinions on others.

GAFCON was not about opposing things; it was about keeping to both what is true and what is constitutionally the basic teachings of the church. By standing up for something one as evangelicals have will always mean one faces opposition, but this does mean that Peter and other evangelicals are simply negative.

I also notice the neat way Morris uses the word “liberal”, as if Peter and others were closed-minded conservatives. “Liberal” is really a euphemism for unbiblical, or for those who think that human reason is greater and better than the bible.

That’s what GAFCON was about, not simply about homosexual clergy. It is a debate about truth and about what is christian.

It’s about time that those SMH journalists who report on religious or church matters obtained some objectivity. It’s one place that the SMH fails in it’s usual quality.

Concerning hymns, I think we need new lyrics, set to new tunes, expressing the truths of the grand old hymns.

However, I do sometimes use new versions of the old texts in preference to those with lots of THEES and THOUS when I’m choosing the songs we sing.

By the way, have you noticed how some modern Philistine has changed our beloved

Hark how all the welkin rings

to a new-fangled

Hark, the herald angel sings

How wicked to change the plural to singular. We all know what “welkin” means, but what on earth is a herald?

A letter in the local newspaper, Southern Courier, Tuesday 5 August 2008:

A Christian debate

George C. Jones (Courier, July 29) asserts the evidence that debunks the Christian Bible is in the story of Genesis. It appears Mr Jones is unable or unwilling to countenance the veracity of the Bible because the plausibility of divine creation finds no place in his schema. That is simply an a priori predisposition, not disproving evidence.

If there’s anything that would shake the foundation of the Christian faith, it is when the resurrection of Jesus were proved a furphy.

In the absence of compelling evidence to the contrary, one should keep an open mind. Some people, however, have already made up their minds regardless of the body of evidence. Made up minds are like closed tombs.

When prised open, some will be found empty.

Hendry Wan
Matraville

Sophie Kunze, patron saint of letter writers, makes a mysterious appearance:

Team spirit

Forget the $4990 jacket signed by Grant Hackett, Lauren Jackson and James Tomkins; I want the one signed by Matt Celotti and Nick D’Arcy.

Sophie Kunze, Penrith

smh…

In what way is Paola Totaro “imposing her beliefs” on Andrew Dalton? Is it not legitimate for people with contrary views to comment? He asserts that Totaro must have a phobia. It seems that anyone who does not agree with his views cannot be rational.

Yes indeed sex can be a positive force, but it can also be very easily abused. Why not ask women and men who have been sexually abused?

Every time I go to buy a newspaper, buy petrol or go to the supermarket, I am confronted by images of naked or semi-naked people on the front of magazines. To me that is an expression of a perversion of human nature - that we abuse something so vital and precious because we don’t know how to respect it.

David Ashton, Orange.

Andrew Dalton complains that images of sexual arousal are considered confronting, suggesting that this is because people think the act itself may be pornographic. But there are many perfectly natural things that we still think should be kept private: things such as public defecation and urination, nose-picking, groin-scratching and vomiting. People may well have no problem with such behaviour, but they recognise it doesn’t belong everywhere. Sex is given by God to strengthen relationships. Ubiquitous displays of overt sexuality in advertising, the internet and in reading material encourage people to look somewhere other than their spouse for sexual satisfaction. People are right to protest against it.

Reverend Gordon Cheng, Kingsford

Don’t know if they’re SAs, but 2 good letters in SMH:

Belief in God comes from beyond science

Vic Stenger claims that science can prove beyond reasonable doubt that God does not exist, and yet also states that science cannot be used to answer purely metaphysical questions ("Science demands that seeing is believing”, August 19). He argues that if God exists, evidence of his intervention in creation should be seen in our study of the natural world.
However, a scientist and philosopher such as Stenger should be aware of the principle of underdetermination. For any evidence we collect about nature, we can develop multiple theories to explain it. As John Lennox pointed out, scientific evidence alone cannot adjudicate between naturalism and theism ("Why not every scientist worships at Darwin’s feet”, August 18).

For a theist, science involves understanding the world and the processes by which God created. But the belief in God comes from outside science, and so does an assumption that there is no God.

Larissa Johnson-Aldridge, Oatley

Paul Gittings (Letters, August 19) seems to have misunderstood the main thrust of John Lennox’s arguments.

As Lennox points out, science and metaphysics are mutually exclusive. In other words, even if Gittings’s faith in the ability of science to explain every aspect of the material universe - the “how” of existence - were to prove justified, the “why” questions would remain.

It is nonsensical, therefore, to hold that the fact that God’s existence cannot be proved by science constitutes a good reason to believe that He doesn’t exist.

Gregory Thiele, Lewisham

I forgot to note this one from a Wollongong Anglican in the parish I serve - two Mondays ago (Aug 11), after the opening ceremony...

How wonderful to see the unfettered joy of the children running onto the Beijing Olympic arena, and how disturbing to see them handing over the Chinese flag to the goose-stepping military. The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Pauline Skellon Mount Keira

And by the way, Larissa Johnson-Aldridge is a Sydney Baptist (I think)! But she recently married a Wollongong Anglican, who now lives in Sydney with her!

Sydney Anglican, great guy, father of Anthony (occasional poster here) and my former boss, Ken Bock is in Column 8 AGAIN! (My daughter -who has been in C8 three times reckons one C8 is worth three letters to the editor and Ken has been in C8 numerous times)

Then again, we might appeal to a higher authority and thank Ken Bock, of Carlingford, for reminding us of “the Biblical quote ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help’.” But Ken is is having none of it. “This is grammatically incorrect. Shame on the compilers of the King James Version.” Where are we to turn?

Nice one from Caroline de Jersey, SMH:

For some families, the stay-at-home mother comes at a fair price

Date: September 2 2008

Well done, Mem Fox, for being politically incorrect ("The child-care guilt trip”, September 1).

As a mother of three teens, who has not been in paid employment for the best part of 17 years, I want to encourage young families to consider their options carefully. Many claim they have no choice but to both work, but in this country and economic climate, we have more choices than we are willing to consider.

I chose to remain out of the workforce. My husband is an Anglican minister, so we are not in a high-income bracket. Our choice has been one made in the best interests of our children.

Five people living on one income has meant we have chosen carefully the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the cars we drive, the holidays we take.

We have not done many things others have, because we have chosen not to afford it so that I could avoid a return to the workforce.

Our children have not had all the opportunities their friends have had. I hope in hindsight they will appreciate that money and material goods do not guarantee satisfaction or happiness. It is easy to mistake the provision of material things alone as providing a quality home and care for a child. Parenting is one of the hardest jobs to undertake. The rewards are distant, and we cannot quit when the going gets tough. Often I have thought working full-time would be a more fulfilling option personally. Teenagers are expensive consumers, and it would be easy to go to work and keep them quiet by buying more for them.

In the end, we may have less to show for it, but if my children grow up into adults who value relationships above all else, it will have been worth it.

Caroline de Jersey, Paddington

Today’s Column 8;

The dedication to research shown by some Column 8 readers never fails to astound. Anthony Bock, of Castle Hill, has been having a long hard look at the “from whence” business of recent days, and the phrase’s appearance in the King James version of the Bible. “Not to be outdone by the bourgeois intelligentsia of Carlingford,” he writes, “a quick scan of the rest of the KJV reveals another 26 references to ‘from whence’. Also, there’s one in the Amplified Version, one in the New King James, 55 in the 21st Century King James, 15 in the American Standard, four in the Young’s Literal Translation, nine in the Darby Translation and 10 in the Wycliffe New Testament. ‘Where are we to turn?’ you ask. Back to the NIV, RSV, or ESV would be my suggestion.” Good heavens.

Anthony is a SA, occasional poster here and son of my former boss Ken who posted the original post about “from whence” in the KJV. Fathers’ Day might be interesting at the Bock household this week!

The Nige speaks, SMH…

A material obsession

It may come as a surprise to the Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner, but neither men nor women need a piece of legislation to help minimise the chores and child minding they do ("It’s the law: men do fewer chores”, September 4). The all-or-nothing philosophy of big business rewards 14-hour days and six-week maternity leave breaks with big dollars and promises of big futures. Pooey nappies, screaming children, dirty dishes and sweaty clothes find it hard to compete and until we can reverse our city’s obsession with the material, little is going to change.

Nigel Fortescue, Naremburn