No doubt many of you have already seen this.
A gay couple were turned away from a Berkshire guest house by the owner who said it was “against her convictions” for two men to share a bed.
Michael Black and John Morgan, from Brampton, Cambridgeshire, had booked a double room at the Swiss B&B, Terry’s Lane, in Cookham, for Friday night.
When they arrived Susanne Wilkinson refused to let them stay.
She admitted she did turn the couple away because it was against her policy to accommodate same sex couples. The couple have now reported the matter to Thames Valley Police.
Under the Equality Act 2006 it is illegal to discriminate against people on the grounds of sexual orientation.
I’ll happily support all those who want to stamp out homophobia, but can I suggest that since the law outlaws discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, and since Mrs Wilkinson discriminated on the grounds of sexual behaviour (she was against having two men share a bed, not against have two gay men in her B&B), she should get herself a good lawyer and sit tight. It would be a very interesting test case if this ever came to court.
Of course, it’s fair to say that unless she doesn’t let out rooms to any unmarried couples she certainly can’t claim that she did what she did because of her Christian faith.
Tags: Berkshire, Brampton, Cambridgeshire, Christian Faith, Cookham, Equality Act, Friday Night, Gay Couple, Gay Men, Guest House, John Morgan, Men Share, No Doubt, Outlaws, Same Sex Couples, Sexual Behaviour, Sexual Orientation, Test Case, Thames Valley Police, Two Men, Unmarried Couples, Wilkinson
Two months ago I plugged the upcoming album from the fabulous Vicky Beeching. Now as the release date is just a fortnight away, Integrity Music have released an Electronic Press Kit (EPK) to accompany the new CD.
As a bonus, see if you can spot the radiantly beautiful Mrs Dr Ould in the video…
Tags: Bonus, Electronic Kit, Electronic Press, Fortnight, Integrity Music, New Cd, Release Date, Vicky Beeching, Youtube
In response to a question from one of “my flock”, here’s an email I’ve just composed trying to get to grips with the different Gospel accounts. Your comments are welcome!
Right….
This one of those cases where the same story is told in different ways, and in some places two narratives have been combined into one. This kind of stuff happens because we think that Matthew and Luke were written by combining Mark’s gospel and a collection of “sayings of Jesus” which we normally call “Q” (from the German “Quelle”,meaning “source”). John’s Gospel is written at least a decade after Matt, Mark and Luke (if not up to 30 years after) and draws from all three of them plus a generation of theological reflection on who Jesus is. This means that sometimes John puts things together in a different order in order to make a specific point. We shouldn’t be worried about that! It’s a perfectly normal way of writing in those days and the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture is not so much in that it is a perfect literal record of events, but rather that what we have now in the Bible is exactly what God wants us to have. Does that make sense?
Begin with Mark 14:3-9. The anointing takes place in Bethany, at Simon’s house. The woman who anoints Jesus is not named, and although tradition identifies her with Mary Magdalene there is nothing in the text to suggest it was her.
Now read Matt 26:6-13. You’ll see that the text is almost identical. Matthew has lifted Mark’s dialogue, changed one or two things (when you read the Greek there’s nothing of significance) and reported the same story, at the same point in time (during Holy Week, so the woman is anointing Jesus for burial. even before he is arrested, because that’s why you put perfume on a body – remember, the women on Resurrection morning were coming to the tomb with spices like nard).
Now read Luke 7:36-50. You see that it’s like the story as in Mark, but Luke has tagged onto the end of a parable which is a bit like the one from Matt 18:23ff but different. Why does he do this? Well either “Q” had it in the handed down reports of what happened at Simon’s house and Matthew chose not to use it OR Luke has decided to take this story from “Q” and to include it at this point in order to make the point that grace is the greater the more one has sinned. Note also that Luke places the anointing not during Holy Week (where it is a sign of his forthcoming death), but at the start of Jesus’ ministry (where it is a sign of his divinity – see Luke 7:47-48). There’s nothing wrong with this. Note that the account in Luke has a different dialogue to that in Mark / Matt – in Mark/Matt it’s about the waste of money, in Luke it’s about the sinfulness of the one anointing. Once again, that’s because of the theological point being made by the author.
Tags: Bethany, Bible, Decade, Dialogue, Different Ways, Email, Flock, Holy Week, Inspiration, Mary Magdalene, Narratives, Parable, Point In Time, Quelle, Resurrection Morning, Sayings Of Jesus, Scripture, Spices, Theological Reflection, Woman Perfume
There’s not really a lot to say about the confirmation of the consent process for the appointment of a woman living in a sexual relationship outside of marriage as Suffragan Bishop of Los Angeles (because, boys and girls, let’s remember that this has nothing to do with her being a lesbian and everything to do with her sexual arrangements). Canterbury has come out with the usual kind of statement, which I guess is worth repeating for the sake of filling up the page.
It is regrettable that the appeals from Anglican Communion bodies for continuing gracious restraint have not been heeded. Following the Los Angeles election in December the Archbishop made clear that the outcome of the consent process would have important implications for the Communion. The Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion re-iterated these concerns in its December resolution which called for the existing moratoria to be upheld. Further consultation will now take place about the implications and consequences of this decision.”
Since the Standing Committee reiterated the concern about the moratoria, and since Schori has now presided over her Church essentially ignoring that concern (and the moratoria), is it not time for her to be booted off the JSC? Mouneer Anis has already seen the obvious contradiction of having her on board and has jumped ship. Perhaps by not inviting Schori to the next JSC or Primates Meeting Rowan might actually demonstrate some backbone behind his regret.
Meanwhile, the march to litigate continues and reports from South Carolina demonstrate that 815 is getting ready to sue the pants, the buildings, the candle-sticks, the altar linens and just about anything they can get their grubby little hands on if Bishop Lawrence and the SC Standing Committee attempt to even distance themselves one iota from the central leviathan. Bloggers would do very well to read Kendall’s latest piece and then pray very hard.
Here in England the new General Synod elections approach, and with them a concerted effort from Inclusive Church to change the balance of Synod and pass revisionist legislation. Remember folks, the decline in the US happened because liberals presented fait accomplis on the ground and then challenged the orthodox to do something about it. When they didn’t, the war was lost. The time is coming very soon in this Province when choices will have to be made…
If anybody thinks we are at a time of calm, they need to look very carefully at the still pool they think has no ripples in. It is in fact made of glass, and one well directed rock and it will become a deadly place to play.
Tags: Altar Linens, Anglican Communion, Anis, Backbone, Boys And Girls, Canterbury, Contradiction, Electi, General Synod, Iota, Kendall, Leviathan, Little Hands, Moratoria, Pools, Primates Meeting, Rowan, Sake, Sexual Relationship, Standing Committee
Just down the road from where I grew up (and where my parents still live) a mighty storm is brewing!
A Tai Chi class in Totley has been evicted from its current location of All Saints church hall. The church wants to focus its attention on a Christian perspective but through doing this has had to tell the exercise group to find a new home for their class.
Tai chi is popular throughout the city of Sheffield. But what is Tai Chi? It can be taught as a martial art but mainly it is used to practise slow motion routines, strengthening the mind and body.
Betty and Pat regularly attend the weekly Tai Chi class and are distressed at the decision, “We went to a class and we were told that the vicar had said it wasn’t just a ladies exercise group and was therefore going to refuse permission for use of the hall. I can’t understand. We are living in the twenty first century.
“This really does put us going off going to the church, it really does alienate people. This isn’t a Christian attitude. It really is a shame. We are not causing anyone any harm.”
Shock horror! The local leader of one religion doesn’t want another religion using his premises. Hold the front page!
Of course, this is just another case of the “find something weird, poke it with a stick and see what happens” school of reporting. There are though some amusing parts to the story. The first is the wonderful line “This really does put us going off going to the church” from the dear ladies involved. Having just got off the phone to the Rev David Rhodes, I can exclusively report that the use of the church hall for Tai Chi since September (notice was given in February after what was billed as an “Exercise Class” was found by Totley All Saints to be not all it originally claimed) did not result in Betty or Pat stepping an inch inside Totley All Saints Parish Church proper, even over Christmas. So when they say “It puts us off going to church”, the corollary is “but we weren’t bothered about going in the first place”.
But the killer is this great quote from the TV report.
It just seemed petty. It seemed to be equating Tai Chi with some sort of religion or some sort of spiritual thing.
Obviously Tai Chi is not a religious or spiritual thing, because if it was, the BBC wouldn’t have a whopping great link to BBC Religion: Taoism on the web page would they?
Oh no, wait a moment…
Tags: All Saints Church, Chi Class, Christian Attitude, Christian Perspective, City Of Sheffield, Corollary, David Rhodes, Exercise Class, Exercise Group, Martial Art, Mighty Storm, Mind And Body, Premises, Saints Church Hall, Saints Parish Church, Shock Horror, Slow Motion, Tai Chi, Twenty First Century, Vicar
