Magic Statistics

An interesting juxtaposition of stories about the United Church of Canada (UCC) appears today in two CanWest newspapers.  According to an item in the National Post, the UCC is too “preoccupied” with recruiting members, but the Montreal Gazette reports that the UCC is partway through a $10 million campaign to gain new members.  So, does the United Church want more members or not?

The National Post quotes UCC moderator The Rev David Giuliano saying, “Fie on members: who needs ‘em?”  (Or words to that effect.)

The leader of the United Church of Canada says his church is too "preoccupied" with protecting its buildings, counting its money and recruiting members, and should devote its energies instead to helping the poor, the hungry and the sick beyond its walls.
. . .
"Our hope is not for our survival or even growth," Mr. Giuliano writes. "I am praying that our preoccupation with getting people into church is transformed by a passion for getting the church out into the world.

As the Montreal Gazette has it, on the other hand, the United Church is “putting faith in technology”.

After overall membership declined by 20 per cent - it went down to 573,424 from 744,392 - between 1994 and 2004, the church decided it was time to stem the tide. Other churches are also losing members, but only the United Church is spending the big bucks and using the power of advertising and the Internet to reach out to a demographic that has long been the backbone of organized churches - the 30-to-45-year-olds.

The national Emerging Spirit campaign, a $10.5-million, three-year effort, was launched officially last November with a series of provocative print ads and the introduction of an interactive website, Wondercafé, featuring an online "discussion lounge."

The campaign was launched a year ago, but five new print ads are about to make their debut as Emerging Spirit enters its second year.

I see that the UCC has a rather precise estimate for its 2004 membership.  The Anglican Church of Canada hasn’t had an updated membership count since 2001.

Previous related posts:

• Episcopal Church 2006 membership statistics available
• Fie on statistics: Canadian Anglicans don’t need ‘em
• The United Church of Canada has another brainstorm
• United Church of Canada embraces abject dhimmitude

The Nobel Peace Prize lost all credibility thirteen years ago, in my view, when it was awarded to the cowardly lying terrorist Yasser Arafat.  Today’s award to the Great Gasbag Prophet is only further confirmation that the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has no idea what it’s supposed to be about.  Granted, the prize is sometimes bestowed on worthy recipients, but I would regard that as coincidental.

The unfortunate thing is that it will boost Mr Gore’s standing among those modern-day holy rollers: climate change alarmists.

This from the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s press release accompanying the announcement:

By awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 to the IPCC and Al Gore, the Norwegian Nobel Committee is seeking to contribute to a sharper focus on the processes and decisions that appear to be necessary to protect the world’s future climate, and thereby to reduce the threat to the security of mankind. Action is necessary now, before climate change moves beyond man’s control.

How does the Nobel Committee know when climate change will "move beyond man’s control"?  What is the scientific test for that particular tipping point?  For that matter, how do they know climate change hasn’t been beyond man’s control since the day our species first walked the earth?

The headline of my post comes from Frank Furedi’s column at Spiked.

It is hard to tell if the reinvention of Gore is a testimony to the persuasive powers of PowerPoint, or to the collapse of the cultural and political imagination in the West. Probably, Gore’s emergence as a modern-day icon is a result of his ability to personify our culture of fear. He is the ideal spokesman for an era in which virtually every human experience comes with a health warning attached.

It is most ironic, and fitting, that the award was announced only days after a British High Court judge ruled that Gore’s film contains nine significant claims that are either scientifically unfounded or outright erroneous.

Finally, this award reflects the increasingly evident divide between those who affirm life and those who do not.  Gore’s brand of environmentalism demands further population reductions at a time when fertility rates in the developed world are far below replacement level, and those elsewhere are decreasing steadily. His unwavering support for abortion on demand brings this into sharp focus.

Al Gore is no friend of genuine human flourishing, or of peace.

Recommended commentary:

• Nobel 'Peace' Prize Awarded to De-Population, Abortion Advocate Al Gore — LifeSite
• Nobel Prize for Al Gore’s war — Asia News
• What has Al Gore done for world peace? — Damian Thompson, Daily Telegraph
• Changing the climate, one winner at a time — Power Line Blog

Source of graphic image: The Prophet Gore first appeared on the front page of National Post on 10 February.  I downloaded it from Proud To Be Canadian.ca blog shortly thereafter.

Previous related posts:

• Anthropogenic global warming bites the dust
• The Gospel according to Saint Al
• Your carbon footprint can make you crazy
• Heed the Goracle
• The Gore Effect

"Businesses must be careful: RCMP" — headline, Whitehorse Star, 11 October