Looking East in Winter with Rowan Williams

[@davidgreenwood5602]

A brilliant,if difficult book,but one which I will keep on my shelves,and accessible,I hope,for tge rest of my life.

[@jamesmacgillivray9607]

Good news.

[@splinterbyrd]

I've just listened to the Church of England's plug here on youtube for the general synod. It used to be said that the Church of England was the Tory Party at prayer. These days it sounds more like the Guardian at prayer. No wonder no one goes to church anymore.

[@grahamwilliams8871]

At the last election 40% of CofE priests voted Labour, 26% Lib, 6% Conservative and the rest didn't say. So, you're right.

[@bayreuth79]

The Church of England reminds me of someone on a life-support machine. They're still alive but not really. The Anglicans have made compromise after compromise with the values and imperatives of the secular world. Most of the Anglicans priests I know are borderline agnostics. One Anglican priest friend of mine was quite open about telling me that he doesn't know if he believes in the resurrection of Christ! But he does believe _passionately_ in every left-leaning political opinion!

[@mothratemporalradio517]

@@bayreuth79 so your friend's being honest, reflexive and questioning beliefs causes you to slander him behind his back? Interesting. And yet the word "friend" usually flags amity that includes a degree of loyalty. Whatever perceived flaws the friend has, including politics you don't share, can you trust him not to backstab you? What's more important in friendship, perfection, or mutual trust and respect? Maybe you take your friend's positive attributes for granted and you'll miss him when he's gone, and you'll look back on comments like this and realise you could have done better. And I've been an atheist since age 12, so don't imagine it's religion that compels me to remark. That said, regardless of any supernatural occurrences, our ethics in the West are based on Judeo-Christian principles . While religion has been the driver of many wars, it would arguably be a far more brutal world without it. The West would have an ethical vacuum at its core. Like it or not, believe in it or not, these ethics are part of our culture and i wouldn't want to be part of our culture without them. As an atheist i finally realised what a superior affectation some assume and determined that this was as or more obnoxious as religious beliefs I don't share. You don't have to believe what someone else believes to show them respect.

[@mothratemporalradio517]

@@grahamwilliams8871 given the disgusting state of the Tory party in association with Hancock and Partygate, I'd imagine this is both intuitive and preferable..

[@bayreuth79]

@@mothratemporalradio517 Since I did not mention his name it is not unreadable to discuss his beliefs. You don’t think it’s problematic that a priest doesn’t believe in the resurrection? A priest preaches the resurrection, so I’m afraid if you have lost faith in that you shouldn’t be preaching. The church is in such an awful condition precisely because of such relaxed attitudes towards such fundamentally important issues.