All Saints Anglican Church
Edifying Blog
Purpose: to challenge and edify minds and hearts in our parish and beyond with testimony, words of encouragement, observations from God's Word, and commentary about Anglicanism.
Public Virtue and the Minds of Children by Samuel Adams (letter to J. Warren, 1775)
"Since private and publick Vices, are in Reality, though not always apparently, so nearly connected, of how much Importance, how necessary is it, that the utmost Pains be taken by the Publick, to have the Principles of Virtue early inculcated on the Minds even of children, and the moral Sense kept alive, and that the wise institutions of our Ancestors for these great Purposes be encouraged by the Government. For no people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffusd and Virtue is preservd. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauchd in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders."
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.
My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.. In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leaves us alone?'
In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing yet?
Hudson Barton: 2008-12-05 14:03:31
Jefferts Schori claims there are 2.4-million members in The Episcopal Church. The new Anglican Church in North America presently claims an estimated 100,000 members. It leaves the impression that conservatives are insignificant.
By my calculation, TEC has about 1.5 million members and the new Anglican Church in North America has about 400,000... a very different impression.
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ “ (Psalm 95 and Hebrews 3)
Lincoln's Proclamation Establishing Thanksgiving Day
October 3, 1863
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.
A. Lincoln
Hudson Barton: 2008-11-20 13:37:51
Hindu Militants bribing supporters to kill Christians.
Hindu militants in India are offering rewards of money, food and liquor to mobs to kill Christians and destroy their homes, according to partners of human rights organisation, Release International.
“People are being offered rewards to kill, and to destroy churches and Christian properties,” a spokesman for the All India Christian Council (AICC) told Release International.
“Different tasks have different rewards,” he added. “They are being offered foreign liquor, chicken, mutton, and weapons. They are being given petrol and kerosene.” The head of a string of orphanages in Orissa, who has just returned from there, believes Christian leaders are the militants’ key targets: “The going price to kill a pastor is US$250,” said Dr Faiz Rahman, the chairman of Good News India (GNI).
Dr Rahman says he was able to help 25 pastors leave one camp, but some 250 church leaders remain. “All of the pastors are high value targets,” he told Release International, “we’ve got to get them out of the refugee camps.” The AICC says the violence orchestrated by Hindu militants has now spread to 14 states. On November 11, militants destroyed churches in Tiangia, a village in the Kandhamal district, and extremists tried to kill two Christians who were attempting to return to their village. They managed to escape into the mountains.
According to the AICC, the Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad organisation, is now training women fighters to attack Christians. ‘They are meeting in secret and training them to use swords and sticks to fight and destroy,’ says an AICC spokesman.
On their official website, the Bajrang Dal describe themselves as ‘Warriors of the Hindutva Revolution’. Hindutva has been described as ‘Hindu-ness’, which has been used to justify the extreme belief that India should be for Hindus only.
Catholic Bishops from Orissa warn of a ‘master-plan’ to drive out Christians from the area. In a letter to the state’s chief minister they write: ‘This conflict is a calculated and pre-planned master-plan to wipe out Christianity from Kandhamal district, Orissa, in order to realize the hidden agenda… of establishing a Hindu Nation.’ The AICC puts the death toll at 200 and believes disease may have claimed more lives.
Arriving at an accurate figure is impossible as many Christians have fled and are in hiding in the jungle. There have also been reports that bodies have been burnt and destroyed.
Thousands of Christian homes in the Kandhamal district have been looted and burned. The AICC says every Christian and Christian home in Kandhamal is a target. Dr Faiz Rahman of GNI adds: “At least 90 per cent of the churches have been destroyed – many were Baptist churches built by British missionaries.” Children and staff at Dr Rahman’s orphanages had a narrow escape when the police snatched them away to safety minutes before a mob arrived in August. The situation is now so insecure that the charity has had to close one orphanage permanently, though it is cautiously continuing to operate others.
Dr Rahman says there was panic when the mob attacked in August: “The people ran for their lives when the mob came - they panicked and ran with just the clothes on their backs.” The AICC say Christians are now beginning to move from the displaced camps to neighbouring districts and states where the situation is calmer. These people who have lost everything face further hardship as winter approaches.
Andy Dipper, the head of Release International, said: “Thousands of Christians now face the hardship of winter in camps for the displaced. Relief aid is needed now, and India must take urgent action to contain the violence, which has spread to other states. The authorities must safeguard the lives and homes of Christians under threat from ultra-nationalist Hindus.”
Prayer for the Country.... from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favour and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honourable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogancy, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hudson Barton: 2008-10-26 10:37:58
A Christian Perspective on Halloween
Hudson Barton: 2008-10-26 01:23:13
One Vote - ValueVotersUSA
Hudson Barton: 2008-10-20 11:02:59
Something for America's Anglicans to ponder: the Theological Statement of Common Cause Partnership http://www.united-anglicans.org/…/theology.html . This statement describes things about which we need to agree.
By contrast, there are less-than-important Anglican issues about which we do not need to agree. Here is a partial list in no particular order:
1. Clerical robes 2. Holy Water, Holy Oil and Incense 3. Musical styles 4. Referring to the minister as "priest" or as "father" 5. Genuflection and bowing 6. The frequency of Holy Communion
Hudson Barton: 2008-10-19 16:54:13
War on God
Hudson Barton: 2008-10-19 11:24:08
Opinion:
Eventually, our New Anglican Province and our GAFCON leaders need to respond to our Culture of Death. The mission of the Church can be delayed for only so long. The sooner we can get organizational matters behind us the better.
Now might be a good time to warn them that TEC leaders (notably Katharine Jefferts Schori and her attorney David Booth Beers) are hoping to introduce legislation at GC2009 that will deal with "the exposure issue", forcing all parishes to reconstitute their legal titles to reflect irrevocable trusts with their respective bishops as beneficiaries, and by extension, The Episcopal Church. http://www.virtueonline.org/…/article.php?storyid=9158
After TEC has eliminated the "exposure issue", how much longer can tolerance of conservatives last? Will Christians who chose to remain in TEC be permitted to hold "the Faith once delivered to the Saints"? How many good Anglicans will be lost to other denominations in this train wreck, or lost to Christ altogether? Has God called All Saints Anglican Church to a mission of rescue?
"Do unto thy neighbor as ye would have him do unto thee."
Hudson Barton: 2008-10-14 22:48:55
A Verse for the Election Season..... Psalm 1:1 "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers."
I too like this guy's point about life beginning "at conception because it is only at conception that something new, which never existed before, comes into existence". Eloquent and simple.
About a month ago, there were a bunch of news reports suggesting that St. Augustine, the Catholic theologian was (or would have been) pro-choice. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It was pure propaganda put out by a bunch of liberal Catholics, Episcopalians and similar scoundrels.
In Augustine's "Confessions", he makes the point endlessly that he is who he is because he was "known" to God even before he was "conceived" in his mother's womb. In his book "City of God" he argues against suicide for similar reasons; Life is God's only to give and God's only to take. His Will cannot be overthrown by human Will. Augustine would have also said that while the evil of abortion and suicide can be comprehended easily by Christians, it is a mystery for the followers of other religions because they see themselves as autonomous, subject only to their own Will.
Book suggestion for all Christians: "Confessions" by St. Augustine. For the more adventurous; "City of God" by St. Augustine
The drumbeat. It's always there. Day and night. Rain or shine. Winter or Summer. Sunday or Monday. It comes at you from every direction. It comes over the TV, the radio, at work, at school, in music, in the newspapers, from the politicians, in conversation with others, even in church. It wears you down. It robs you of the will to resist its message. Even short-lived victories, which stop it briefly, leave you with the knowledge that it will return; each minor victory bound to be lost to the redoubled efforts of this patient and persistent force. You can't escape it. It never stops. It never gives up. It never ends. It rains upon you from every possible angle, from every possible source.
It's the drumbeat of the left. It is political, philosophical, theological, and social. It pervades every activity. It is post-structural, post-modern, post-everything in the parlance of the day. It is tolerant, diverse, non-judgmental, non-discriminatory, egalitarian, politically correct, multicultural, globalist, and collectivist. It insists that there are no rights and wrongs, no moral absolutes. It turns everything upside down in its looking glass world. It denies the correctness of all that produced what our culture revered before the deconstruction of the world in accordance with the tenets of cultural Marxism.
It denies God, human exceptionalism, and the soul. We are reduced to Darwinian animals floundering in an amoral sea of meaninglessness. It is a product of the nihilistic, existentialist philosophical movement, which went hand in hand with modern art, atonal music, scientific materialism and modern physics, and the generally discordant nature of the twentieth century.
It is said that a fish is not aware of the water in which it swims since it is totally immersed in it. This is the way cultural Marxism is taking over our world in its inexorable Gramscian march. We swim in it. It enters every pore of our existence. It is everywhere. We can't escape it. Many people accept this world without even realizing it, just as the fish accepts the water in which it swims. They don't realize it as the left creates new conventional wisdom and new intuitions about truth.
The cultural Marxists convince us that the truth is that there is no truth. And even though this unresolvable paradox lies at the very center of all this, the constant drumbeat keeps the masses in line, anesthetized enough to not make an issue of it. Fed a constant diet of sex, drugs, poisonous pop culture, materialistic trinkets, and unkeepable promises of security provided by huge leftist government, ever more globalist in nature, the masses are diverted from realizing, as they are told there is no truth, that this claim itself is subject to the same test. It is logically impossible for the leftist drumbeat to be true by its own axioms.
The principles upon which Western culture rests and upon which America was built are under attack by these slow acting but deadly forces. The drumbeat is grinding down the will of the West to maintain itself. The ideas of individual sovereignty and responsibility, natural rights, and objective truth have been derided by the left to the point that many of our young people reject them, if, indeed, they are even aware of them as the basis for our culture. All that ensures that a culture will pass its ideas down from one generation to the next is its cultural memory. The drumbeat is slowly but surely replacing our cultural memory.
As each school is renamed and the name of a Founder or other great person from our history is removed from it entrance way, we lose a bit of that memory. As our great authors and works of Western culture are replaced with those in line with the message of the drumbeat, we rapidly lose our cultural memory. As each school textbook is rewritten to reflect the new ideas of family and cultural heritage, our children are lost to the forces of the drumbeat as they learn to view America and traditional Western culture as oppressive and imperialistic. And it doesn't take long for there to be only a shell left, the substance of our culture sucked out and destroyed by the cultural Marxists.
If you believe that all this is a paranoid overreaction, you have plenty of company. Those of us who can still see the water and hear the drumbeat are subject to attempts to make us sound evil and foolish. To believe in traditional Western cultural values, American Exceptionalism, God, and moral truth is to be branded as old fashioned and foolish, even by the best assessments of those who have bought into the cultural Marxist's message. And by the worst of them, we are branded as stupid and evil, and in need of being destroyed.
It may be too late to do anything about this as the world plays out its story. The power-hungry arrogance of human beings seems to be the force that underlies the events carrying us forward to the final chapter. And as this arrogance and lust for power feeds the wills of those who would gain control of the world, humankind is gaining just enough knowledge to destroy itself in that arrogance. Never before in human history has there been such a confluence of forces. Technology, globalism, and the leftist drumbeat are joining together in a way that is allowing mankind to believe, on a worldwide scale, that it can control its own destiny.
The main thing that is being ignored in all this is human nature. It is all based upon the arrogant presumptions of the elitist cultural Marxists concerning how people ought to act. It leads to totalitarianism and destruction.
In truth, and in direct opposition to the drumbeat, each human being must be accorded his or her natural rights, individual sovereignty, and self responsibility to be in harmony with human nature. Each of us must have the freedom to succeed or to fail. Western culture, culminating in the great American experiment, has been perverted. Due to these perversions, many failures have already occurred, which have then, ironically, been used to justify further perversions of the same sort as those which caused the problems to begin with.
Generally, these perversions are manifested in bigger government, more laws, more bureaucracy, more regulations, more taxes, and government controlled redistribution of wealth, more collectivism, less individualism, and less freedom. We all hear it constantly from leftist politicians as they add their part to the drumbeat: government must do more to ensure Americans avoid the consequences of their choices. We all know the song, sung to the cheers of the unthinking throngs who would give up their very humanity for the promise of a free lunch. These are the joys of cultural Marxism.
