Magic Statistics

Now that is a headline to unsettle the most sanguine Anglican.  Or not.

Another Canadian newspaper belatedly notices the comments of Archbishop Andrew Hutchison reported in Tuesday’s Daily Telegraph.  On Thursday, the Globe and Mail caught up, today it was the Toronto Star's turn.

Anglican heat on eve of prelate's visit
. . .
On the eve of a visit to this country by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Canada's Anglican leader is trying to defuse fallout from a story in the British press in which he accuses the head of the church of being "indecisive" and failing to lead through a crisis over gay rights that threatens to split the church worldwide.
. . .
In a statement on Tuesday, Hutchison said he's delighted Williams is coming to Canada but was disappointed with the tone of the Telegraph article. He also expressed sympathy with the challenges Williams has faced.

There’s that mysterious “statement” again.  At the time of writing, it has still not been posted at the ACC website.  Are mere pew-warmers ever going to see it?

Check out the unflattering photo of our primate accompanying the Star article.

Previous related post: Globe and Mail catches up with Archbishop Andrew

Saskatchewan Diocese has posted statements from two groups of Anglican Church of Canada leaders who are troubled by Council of General Synod's proposed motions that would allow same-sex blessings throughout the ACC.  The motions will be brought forward at General Synod in June for discussion and decision.

First, the House of Bishops of Rupert's Land.

In the course of our prayers for General Synod in Winnipeg in June 2007, the Bishops of the Province of Rupert's Land wish to draw the wider Church's attention to two concerns regarding the resolutions which the Council of General Synod (CoGS) is forwarding to General Synod about the blessing of same-sex unions.

Our first concern is with Resolution #3-"that the blessing of same-sex unions is consistent with the core doctrine of the Anglican Church of Canada", and thus consistent with Christian core doctrine. In the two months remaining before June, we do not believe that it is possible for members of General Synod-or the broader Church-to undertake the required education and discussion to be in a position to determine whether the blessing of same-sex unions is scripturally sound and theologically consistent with core doctrine.
. . .
Our second concern is that the set of resolutions which CoGS has drafted does not squarely address the effect of passing those resolutions on our membership in the Anglican Communion.
. . .

Read the whole thing here. (Rupert's Land comprises Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik, and the far-western slice of Ontario.  See map here.)

Second, twenty-five academic theologians and scholars serving the ACC in various capacities.

We are disturbed by the proposed motions coming out of the Council of General Synod's March meeting. We believe that these motions do not reflect the implications of the St Michael Report, and that even to treat them as legitimate options is to neglect the kind of discussion the Report encourages and our Church deserves. In particular, we affirm the following:

1. Sexual ethics is a doctrinally serious matter.
. . .
2. That the way this matter is treated is ecclesiologically significant.
. . .
3. That there has been no sustained debate on this matter in the Church.
. . .
4. 'Core doctrine' is problematic.
. . .

Read the whole thing here.

I am pleased to mention that the list of signatories includes three faculty members of my alma mater Regent College: Bruce Hindmarsh, Don Lewis, and James Packer.

Previous related post: Council of General Synod tries to pull a fast one

Two Sudanese women have been convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning.  Neither woman had a lawyer; neither could even defend herself because the trials were conducted in Arabic and no interpreters were provided.  The two women speak the languages of their respective ethnic groups in Darfur.

Amnesty International is following the cases.

22-year-old Sadia Idriss Fadul from the Fur ethnic group was sentenced to death by stoning on 13 February, and Amouna Abdallah Daldoum who is 23 years old and a member of the Tama ethnic group, was sentenced on 6 March.
. . .
Amnesty International UK's Campaigns Director, Tim Hancock said:

'Sadia and Amouna were subjected to most unfair trial proceedings where they were given no appropriate defence and as a result could face a tragic and cruel death.

'Such a penalty totally contravenes Sudan's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and is unacceptable.'

The charge against the man in Ms Fadul’s case was dropped because of insufficient evidence.

The harsh penalty is mandated by shari’a law, which is supposedly in force in northern Sudan.    A Sudanese blogger scoffs at this, however, saying that only one requirement of Islamic law is enforced—and that inconsistently.

[D]espite claiming to follow Islamic Shari'a laws, there's no visible application of Islamic laws in this country with the exception of the ban on alcohol in Northern Sudan, which isn't even a strict ban because you can still get a hold of it if you want to.

h/t: Global Voices Online

Previous related posts:

• UN Human Rights Council blocked from considering Darfur
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New studies show that people who believe they have lived previous lives and people who claim they have been abducted by aliens are given to memory errors.

People who are likely to make these kinds of errors might end up convincing themselves of things that aren't true, said lead researcher Maarten Peters of Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

When people who are prone to making these mistakes undergo hypnosis and are repeatedly asked to talk about a potential idea — such as a past life — they might, as they grow more familiar with it, eventually convert the idea into a full-blown false memory.

This is because they can't distinguish between things that have really happened and things that have been suggested to them, Peters told LiveScience.

Harvard clinical psychologist Richard McNally speculates as to why some people are more likely to have faulty memories.

As for what might make people more prone to committing such errors to begin with, McNally says that it could be the byproduct of especially vivid imagery skills.

Sounds to me like psychologist jargon for “They have excessively active imaginations”.

h/t: Religion News Blog

Previous related post: Psychology study verifies the obvious

Found in Dave Walker’s 2007 WeBlogCartoons calendar.

Dave is a very creative and witty cartoonist.  He runs the Cartoon Blog, Cartoon Church.com, and We Blog Cartoons.  Check ‘em out!

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An Indian Muslim man who converted to Hinduism before marrying his sweetheart got into the bad books of her Hindu family, who filed a kidnapping charge with the police.  Hindu organisations got into the act, blocking roads in the family’s home town of Bhopal.  The newlyweds finally got a court to tell those excitable zealots to back off.  (See this post for more background.)

Now Muslim authorities are taking a shot at the young man.

The Majlis-e-shoora of the All India Muslim Tyohar Committee (AIMTC) has announced that [Mohammed] Omer would be expelled from the Muslim community.

'The decision to expel Omer from the Muslim community has been taken for his marrying a Hindu girl as per Hindu traditions after accepting the Hindu religion,' AIMTC Chairman Ausaf Shahmiri Khurram told IANS.

A fatwa will follow in due course, no doubt.

Previous related post: Hindu militants block roads to protest Hindu-Muslim marriage

h/t: Greenie Watch 

Previous related posts:

• "Forgive me, Al Gore, for I have sinned"
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