Easter

The weather was bitterly cold and the worshipers who couldn’t get into the building were praying in the streets. Elderly men, barefooted, kneeling down to pray on the cold hard tarmac.

A Christian took pity on these men and, after discussing it with his church elders, opened up his building so that these pious men could worship God in his house.
 
A story of long ago?
 
No, this happened and is still happening in Aberdeen where Muslims who cannot fit into the local mosque are allowed to worship in the nearby church.
 
This shouldn’t come as too much of a shock; after all, they all worship the same God.
 
It’s just so rare to see what some regard as Christian values being paraded about these days.
 
It is so easy to be divisive instead of inclusive.
 
“I bet they wouldn’t be so welcoming if it was the other way around”.
 
That’s not the point.
 
As an old saying goes, in an argument, never get dragged down to the level of the stupid as they will always beat you with their experience.
 
I have a problem with Christianity and it’s mostly Christians.
 
It’s also the fact that it seems to be a religion in denial.
 
Their prophet Jesus mixed with all of the wrong people and preached a religion of forgiveness and love. Then, later, Christianity got hijacked by Saul and somehow ended up lumbered with all sorts of other stuff.
 
I also have a problem with any religion which asks me to reject some of my friends because of their sexuality.
 
But then along comes someone like this vicar up in Aberdeen and wrecks all of my preconceptions.

To those who act in the true spirit of God, Happy Easter.

Religeous Taxation

I’ve not bothered to count the exact number of places of worship on this Island but there are about fifty to my reckoning. Some ancient, some modern, some large, and some small.
 
So how come I only have to pay for one of them?
 
Or to put it another way, why do I have to pay for any of them ?
Why should my money go to support one specific parish church building and a sect to which I choose not to belong?
 
I’m all for people having a religion and for regularly worshiping their God. I just don’t see why I have to be an involuntary financial sponsor.
 
But the parish churches are integral to the life of Guernsey, they are part of the traditional fabric. They are our community.
 
Agreed.
 
But it still doesn’t mean that I want to pay for it.
 
I don’t pay to help the Society of Friends meet regularly.
 
I don’t financially subsidise Friday prayers for our Muslim residents.
 
I don’t even pay for that most communal of groups, the Catholics.
 
So, why must I pay for an Anglican building?
 
We have a population of about 65,000 give or take the odd thousand. With 50 churches, of differing denominations, I calculate that each church should have about 1,300 worshipers.
 
Alternatively, if everyone just used their parish church then we’d be looking at 6,500 people at each main service.
 
Enough people to overflow into the streets for every service and enough to warrant the use of loudspeakers on the tower of every church.
 
Why hasn’t this happened?
 
Because the regular churchgoing public of Guernsey doesn’t approach anywhere near 65,000. 
 
I’m willing to be convinced differently but, as I see it, we have a small but influential group of people who want to keep their privileges that have come about through historic happenstance. 

They’re just not happy paying for the privilege of worshiping in a nice old church.
 
Now, if we’re all paying for these ancient buildings, then I guess we all own them.
 
We usually employ people to look after the stuff we own in common, they’re called civil servants.
 
So why can’t the States look after this small property portfolio as well as all of the other heritage sites on the Island which they already manage?
 
The Anglicans can still use the buildings, they’d just have to pay a cost like everyone else does who use property they don’t own.
 
Perhaps they could look to their parent organisation to help out. After all, the Church of England is known to have a few millions stashed away. They could take out long term leases and assume responsibility for the maintenance of the buildings.
 
The world has moved on from when the majority was of the one true faith and worshiped in the same church.
 
It’s time Guernsey caught up.