All greenhouse gas and gaiters

Whatever happened to the Church of England being “The Tory Party at Prayer”?

This is a prayer diary from my beautiful native city’s diocesan website.

Feb 9, 2010

We pray that we will see how we can make a positive impact on the environment

Feb 10, 2010

We Pray for those thirsting for cleaner water

Feb 11, 2010

We pray that we keep justice in mind as we shop

Feb 12, 2010

We pray for all those working to make a difference towards environmental sustainability

Feb 13, 2010

We pray that church members will sign up for a carbon fast

Feb 14, 2010

We pray for those still affected by major disasters

Feb 15, 2010

Kings Stanley Church of England Primary School, Barbara Deacon, Headteacher, Leonard Stanley Church of England Primary, Ian Smith, Headteacher

Okay, get that? For the next 7 days at a prayer per day we have:

# 3 warmist/Green/sustainability requests that we be good to Gaia;

# 1 okay one about getting typhus and typhoid out of 3^rd World’s baths and wells (damn, I’m good!) – which is going to be tricky if we sustain our environment by reducing the productivity or even abolishing or socializing the pharmaceutical industry, which I feel is hinted at here;

# 1 indicating that we can be unjust while we shop, so I suppose that that means Israeli fruits are off the menu, as I don’t think for a moment that the local bishop wants us to boycott the diverse and exciting advanced industrial products of Wahabbi Saudi Arabia, Marxism on the up Venezuela, Marxist-on-the-Down Russia, and downright uninclusive Iran by not buying their petrol to fuel their ethical shopping trips by walking there across the Cotswold commons, either. Blessed are the poor seems to imply: Let’s keep them poor by upholding all the socio-economic systems that keep their victims underpaid and starving, whilst undermining and sabotaging the only socio-economic system in the whole world that transforms the starving poor into merely the poorest in consumer societies and who possess televisions, cars, clean water, many cheap books if they want, modern medicine (usually) and so on.

# 1 praying to God not to send deadly acts of God.

I can get alongside that one, but we also have the free will not to settle on Florida’s hurricane coast if we choose and whine when the wind blows and the economics to allow Bangladesh protect its flood plains – and hell, they have stilted accommodation in the Everglades and Holland’s been dry for centuries, but what have the USA and The Netherlands got that Bangladesh and Haiti haven’t, I wonder? I betcha the Bishop of Gloucester would never admit it…

# And 1 back to the old–fashioned idea of praying for specific people in known and familiar institutions as well as our beloved and impoverished brothers and sisters abroad.

So, some parts of the Church of England are so state of the art in their search for contemporary relevance and worldly immediacy and to forget all those tedious eternal truth thingies. It’s adopted the very latest in just-discredited Green humbuggery, (whatever next: phlogiston theory and horseless carriages?) and is sticking with the idea that there’s something better that you can use to solve poverty other than buying stuff that poor people make or grow and to Hell with their governments, and that dirty water is cleanable (but I’m guessing DDT won’t be on the Diocese’s shopping list for Africa this year.)

Bless them, it’s a broad church and all the better for it, but like the Catholics we discussed below, it’s still always Woodstock and never Christmas at the top.

Oh, and if you want a positive voice in the culture wars and a couple of hours of morally realistic post-apocalyptic high adventure, git-hard fight scenes, top totty and that won the scorn or silence of the liberals, why not try The Book of Eli? It’s Mad Max with morals, fun, and acting.

It’s so good, it’ll never win an Oscar. Enjoy.

Picture from here.