Shortly after strutting her stuff in a bikini in front of a TV audience of millions tuned in for the Miss USA beauty pageant earlier this month, Miss California, 21 year old Carrie Prejean, was asked for her opinion on same sex marriage by a pageant judge, Perez Hilton. Smiling while speaking, as all beauty queens should, Miss California gave her answer.

“I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what? I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised.” She said.

Her response created a tempest in a teacup which the U.S media has treated as a welcome distraction from the economic doom and gloom. Gay rights groups decried Prejean’s opinion as Christian groups hailed her as heroine for the cause of keeping marriage between a man and a woman.

Nearly two weeks later with the subject still in the news, it seems that while she didn’t win the crown of Miss USA, Miss California certainly stole the show. Her comments have put her right in the middle of the debate over same sex marriage that rages across the United States.

A religious and political group called the National Organization for Marriage plan to use her comments in a new TV ad. The group recently ran a controversial TV ad entitled ‘A Gathering Storm‘ which they claimed brought viewers “face to face with the growing religious liberty threat posed by same-sex marriage.”

WHATS THE BIG DEAL?

I’m not trying to be controversial here, but maybe someone could explain what the big deal is with this subject? Surely couples who make a lifetime commitment to one another should be afforded the same rights under the law regardless of their race, religion, or sexual orientation. In the UK we have civil unions which, as I understand it, are essentially the same as a marriage in all but name. Would this not work in the U.S, and if not then why?

Is it because the Bible says something about marriage being between a man and a woman? If so then why is it that groups like the National Organization for Marriage don’t object to non-Christians getting married?

Is it because of some moral objection? In which case why aren’t Christian and moral groups equally as impassioned and vocal about moral issues such as world poverty, social justice, and women being portrayed as sex objects as they parade around in bikinis at meaningless beauty pageants?

Taking the heat and the hate out of this question, can anyone explain to me why same sex marriage is such a problem?

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Miss California gets heroine’s welcome at San Diego church
Miss California to star in TV ad from conservative group
Miss Teen USA 2007 : South Carolina answers a question
Miss Rehab USA
Some people are gay, get over it
[Video] National Organization for Marriage : Gathering Storm
[Video] Miss California speaks about marriage at pageant
[Video] Miss USA bikini contest

Sometimes I feel sorry for preachers. They are the easiest people in the world to shoot down because their position as moral leader, guardian, and teacher, elevates them to a level where they almost cannot afford to fail, yet because they are human they screw up and make a mess of things the same as anyone else.

Last Friday an ordained pastor of a church I once attended made somewhat of a fool of herself when, due to my arrival, she ran out of the birthday party of a mutual friend in an unnecessarily dramatic fashion. Our paths briefly crossed 14 years ago and for reasons that I won’t bore you with here, she managed to develop an intense disliking for me.

I don’t blame her for not liking me, after all, everyone is entitled to their opinions and our views about her church (The Wirral Christian Centre), which I once attended, are quite different. However, I had hoped that time might have mellowed the newly ordained Pastor and that despite our very different opinions we could politely avoid any kind of friction at our friend’s birthday, but alas it was not to be. Within a week of preaching about forgiveness the pastor had already failed to live up to her own sermon. She had, in effect, fallen at the first furlong.

While I could be angry at her for being so apparently hypocritical, I am in truth just sad that she couldn’t find it in herself or her faith to act in a more ‘Christian’ way; if not for me, for our mutual friend, his other guests, and for those of her church who had to witness the way she fumbled the situation. Christians often like to ask “What would Jesus do?” and given the chance I would put that question to her right now too.

Make no mistake though, I do understand that it must be hard to be a preacher. Failure to live up to the words that you preach is not just a possibility, it’s surely something of a certainty. To execute the role of preacher successfully one must be able to draw on gigantic reserves of humility, something that is surely difficult to do for someone who is used to commanding a crowd and leading a congregation.

Sadly the pastor involved has chosen not to apologize for her behavior, and has instead allowed our mutual friend, the host, to come under fire for inviting me in the first place. That’s a shame though because I had hoped that despite her initial gaff, the pastor would fix the situation with a quick apology to the host allowing everyone to move on and forget about it. But maybe the hardest thing of all for someone in the role of preacher and moral leader, is to remain truthful about their own failings. Allowing yourself to be judged by those whom you are charged with guiding might very well take the biggest leap of faith yet.

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Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury
In Gods House
Wirral Christian Centre

I have a lot of respect for religious people. I find their ability to believe and follow in faith admirable, and perhaps even enviable. But if you were a con man looking for a new gig then picking on the legions of happy clappy hands-in-the-air Christians might just be as easy as taking candy from a baby. – Enter youvebeenleftbehind.com, a website that enables subscribers to send emails to their loved ones after the Rapture! Hallelujah!

Jesus is coming! That’s been the battle cry of many a God fearing Christian over the years, and according to the Bible when he does all true Christians alive on the earth will ascend into heaven to meet the Lord. This is called the Rapture. Clearly there are some obvious logistical difficulties about ascending though the earth atmosphere, but it’s all part of the Christian faith to believe that God has got you covered, so there’s no need to go out and buy a pressure suit and breathing apparatus moments after singing ‘Shine Jesus Shine’ for the first time.

The problem with the rapture is that loads of people will be left behind because they didn’t choose to become Christian or they gambled their eternal soul on the ‘wrong God.’ That’s where youvebeenleftbehind.com comes in, a $40 per year subscription service for Christians who want to have the opportunity to send a final email to loved ones left behind after the Rapture.

According to the youvebeenleftbehind.com website the company has set up a system to send documents to the email addresses provided by paying subscribers six days after the Rapture. “Our purpose is to get one last message to the lost, at a time, when they might just be willing to hear it for the first and last time.” Reads the website.

The site claims to be programed and run by Christians, for Christians. Rapture monitoring is done by five, presumably qualified, ‘true Christians.’ who each have to log in at regular intervals in order not to start the automated Rapture delivery system.

According to the site, the Rapture delivery system starts “when 3 of our 5 team members scattered around the U.S fail to log in over a 3 day period. Another 3 days are given to fail safe any false triggering of the system.”

Business website KillerStartups.com says. “There are probably enough [Christians] out there who will sign up and make this site a success. The cost of $40 per year is pretty reasonable if that means that you give your friends and family a chance to re-think and go and meet the Lord.” However they site also have some doubts about viability issues, asking; “Will the Lord accept people who needed an email to convince them to become true Christians?”

In an effort to help its subscribers know what to write in a final message there is the youvebeenleftbehind blog from which to garner some inspiration. In one example Heather writes “Dear Freind,” That’s her typo, not mine. “I’m sure you’re terrified and confused by all of the terrible events that have occurred. I’m sure you have heard the Rapture theories by now, and you may wonder why I’m gone and you’re here.” She then links her would be recipients to a website about getting ’saved’ before signing off her email with one alarming addendum; “PS – Look out for the guy who wants to bring peace!”

The site encourages subscribers to make use of their alloted 150Mb of encrypted space in which to store “personal and private” documents. A now removed portion of text on the site (found in Google’s cache) read; “In the encrypted portion of your account you can give them [friends and family] access to your banking, brokerage, hidden valuables, and powers of attorneys’ (you won’t be needing them any more, and the gift will drive home the message of love). There won’t be any bodies, so probate court will take 7 years to clear your assets to your next of Kin. 7 years of course is all the time that will be left. So, basically the Government of the AntiChrist gets your stuff, unless you make it available in another way.”

Bruce Schneier, a security technologist from California is concerned. “What if the creator of this site isn’t as scrupulous as he implies he is?” He asks. “What if he uses all of that account information, passwords, safe combinations, and whatever before any rapture? And even if he is an honest true believer, this seems like a mighty juicy target for any would-be identity thief.” Worse still, despite the sites claims that the data can be encrypted, Schneier says that the encryption key is stored on the server with the data.

Of course, I’d like to believe this is a joke, perhaps by the same people who created all the hoopla that surrounded the God Hates A Fag music video, but I’m not sure. It could be a scam, but there’s something about the hair-brained amateurish nature of all this with its poor execution and flakey forethought that screams ‘Christian’ to me. So you see, it might be worse than a scam, it might be real!

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youvebeenleftbehind.com (For all your Rapture needs)
youvebeenleftbehind.com press release
God Hates A Fag music video
Dodgy website targets US God Squad
Stuff Christians like
postrapturepost.com (Your post rapture letter delivered by hand!)
justincaseitstrue.com (Sell your assets in a rapture futures market)
[Video] Classic ‘Six Feet Under’ start scene

One of the things I find most fascinating about mankind is how different cultures across the world have come to recognize and celebrate spirituality. India is often the place many people go to in order to explore aspects of this, and as much as it might be a cliche, it does seem to be the case that India is somehow more attune or open to the unfathomable.

Visiting temples and shrines here makes me feel like I’m caught up in a conversation among poets. I stand there and nod at random intervals hoping that nobody will realise that I’m faking it, and that I’m no poet, I don’t read poetry, and that it just isn’t really my thing. I do spirituality like I do golf. I know there’s a method and that practice will bring improvement, but on the rare occasions I find myself on a golf course I just slug the crap out of the little white ball in the hope that it will land somewhere relatively near the green.

Standing at the foot of one of the ornately decorated temple towers, called gopurams, I look up at the structure that dates back some 1,200 years and marvel at the fact that this was built to glorify the Gods. It is, in effect, a spectacular monument to mankind’s relationship with that which we cannot control or fully understand, to a drive that has inspired us to build radically different monuments all over the world and throughout all of time.

I can’t tell you much about the temples and shrines pictured here. Instead I’m sharing these photographs with you more for the opportunity to once again look upon them and wonder how it is that they came to be. How something that inspires such beauty can at the same time unleash such unholy horror.

Somewhere away from the politics and power struggles of the various religions of the world, there is a faith and connection in the hearts of many that is so moving and powerful that it has led the creation of some truly awe inspiring buildings, shrines, and art works. If God is a creative power, then maybe when we’re not blinded by our differences, mankind’s truest reflection of God is in our ability to create.

There will be more than a few people rubbing there hands with glee today as details emerge of an eight year adulterous affair involving a Christian fundamentalist ‘Bishop’ who, it would seem, was fundamentally flawed.

Hardline Christian fundamentalist, Michael Reid, 64, has quit his various roles as church, school and moral leader after it emerged that the outspoken ‘Bishop of England’ has been involved in an adulterous affair with the music director of his church based in Brentwood, England.

Apparently the ‘Bishop’ and married mother-of-two Sheila Graziano, 49, have been ‘making sweet music’ together for some eight years, and news of the affair only came to light when Bishop Reid’s wife of 36 years allegedly caught the couple.

The hypocrisy of Michael Reid and Sheila Graziano is obvious. In his role as Bishop of England, and leader of the Christian Congress for Traditional Values (CCTV), Reid has been happy to stir anger with provocative comments such as describing gay people as “filthy perverts,” and more recently a billboard that read “Gay Aim: Abolish the family.”

Graziano, serving as music director at the Peniel Church, has clearly shared those views. Back in 2006 she commented on a Daily Mail story about Pope Benedict’s urging Anglicans to oppose any moves to legalise “weak and deviant” unions (gay marriage).

“I believe that the only rightful sexual relationship is between a man and woman in a monogamous marriage. We need more Church leaders who are not afraid to stand up and be a voice for God’s principles.” Wrote Graziano.

This story positively oozes the kind of sleaze and hypocrisy that the media love to run with. The cliche of the Bishop ‘bonking’ the organist is irresistibly juicy ‘news’, and with Reid making a swift escape (with his wife) to Arizona my suspicions are that more lurid and unpleasant sensations surrounding the Bishop may yet come to light.

MEN OF GOD

This is, of course, nothing new. So called ‘men of God’ have been falling from grace for as long as it’s been possible to do so. But there’s an underlying issue here that I find more troubling than tabloid gossip that ordinarily surrounds a revelation like this, and that is the apparent lack of control and accountability these men are subject to. Apart from God in heaven, who do these men answer to? Who advises them and brings them to book should the need arise?

By all accounts Bishop Reid did not take kindly to any sort of criticism, a trait that seems uncomfortably common among Pentecostal church leaders. A quick Google will reveal some truly awful stories about Michael Reid and the way he has dealt with people who have questioned his leadership over the years. But if the congregation aren’t allowed to question the leadership then doesn’t that make the church a cult, or at least so close to a cult as to be indistinguishable?

When the CCTV, headed by ‘Bishop’ Reid, put out their infamous “Gay aim” billboard earlier this year, I checked their website to see who else was in a position of influence within the organisation. Kensington Temple’s, Pastor Colin Dye, was named as ‘co-founder’ of the group so I decided to email the Revd Dye and ask him if perhaps it would be wise to reign in the Bishop who was clearly prone to unpleasant and unnecessarily confrontational outbursts. (You can read that email in the comments here.)

His first response seemed somewhat defensive. However, in a telephone conversation with me this afternoon, Revd Colin Dye was keen to put as much distance between himself and the ‘Bishop’ as possible.

“I’d not heard or participated in the CCTV for quite some time, knew nothing about this poster, and the point is that he [Michael Reid] wouldn’t necessarily go and involve people in the committee meeting and say this is what we want to do and have you got any ideas. He would just sort of act independently on that.” Claimed Pastor Dye.

“I haven’t had a conversation with him in ages, and I had no idea he was putting posters out in the name of CCTV.” He continued.

Dye went on to tell me that he himself resigned from the CCTV this morning on learning the news of Reid’s affair. Even if his words could be viewed with a degree of skepticism given the obvious desire to not be associated with ‘Bishop’ Reid at this time, Dye’s comments do rather suggest that the church, particularly the Pentecostal church, is open to a lot of abuse from rogue leaders.

ACCOUNTABILITY

I’ve personally come across one such abuse. A relatively high profile Pastor of a local church has for years enjoyed an unchallenged place at the top of a church he created. As part of the Elim Pentecostal group, this particular pastor has often times been embroiled in unpleasant dealings with those who have dared question his authority, methods or practices. Like other rogue leaders he surrounds himself with weaker people who are only likely to ‘toe the line’ or face certain replacement just as those who have questioned him in the past have been.

“We discovered by bitter experience that the Elim organisation has protective mechanisms in place for the leaders (shepherds) but nothing for the sheep. It is assumed that the shepherd must always be right.” One former member told me. They took a complaint about the pastor through Elim channels and were “given the brush-off at this the highest level in Elim.”

With the severity of their accusations about the pastor in mind I asked them why they had chosen to not seek justice through the courts, especially given the apparent presence of a compelling dossier of evidence against him.

“One major problem about bringing the whole unsavory situation into the public arena is that God’s Kingdom would suffer disgrace.” I was told.

While I understand that, I can’t help but feel that such an attitude is merely cowardice disguised as deference to God, and that in choosing to “leave it at the cross” Christians are, in some part at least, responsible for the continued damage that abusive, dishonest and hypocritical leaders will do.

In effect, what I’m saying is that the Christian community as a whole brings itself into disrepute by its willingness to ignore or allow the behavior of rogue leaders to go unchecked and unpunished.

I would suggest that in this recent scandal surrounding ‘Bishop’ Michael Reid, there were no shortage of signs that the man had gone off the rails, or at the very least had stepped outside the bounds of creating a constructive challenge to the public at large.

His hateful tirades set him up for this spectacular fall and while the fingers of blame are pointing squarely in his direction at this time, I feel that the Christian community as a whole should perhaps embark on some self examination of the way in which they let this ‘Bishop’ spin so spectacularly out of control.

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JULY 08 UPDATE: After resigning from the Church Bishop Reid apparently withdrew his resignation and simply withdrew from his pastoral duties. It would seem this was a strategic move to ensure he was in a strong legal position against his former church whom he is now in dispute with over salary payments, property rights and other financial dealings. Reid himself is actively looking for a senior pastoral role within another church.

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Family Values campaigner resigns after admitting adultery
Moral and family values ‘Bishop’ resigns over affair
Bad ‘Bishop’ resigns from CCTV
Moral ‘Bishop’ resigns after affair is unearthed
Forum discuss the multitude of sins of the ‘Bishop’
Are you offended?
Michael Reid Miseries
Falwell from grace
[Audio] BBC Radio 4 report the Bishop sex scandal story

Happy Eastre everyone! Of course, these days we call it Easter, the Christian holiday that celebrates the curiously ever changing anniversary of when Christ miraculously rose from the dead.

Make no mistake, I love Easter as much as anyone else. We get a 4 day weekend in the UK (the longest holiday of the year) along with chocolate Easter eggs and bunnies, so who couldn’t love that, right?

I don’t really care about the fact that Easter is actually a pagan festival named after the ancient Anglo Saxon Goddess of Spring, and that it was effectively hijacked by ancient Christians who altered to suit their faith. But it’s with that in mind that I think I now understand why it is that Christians seem to have a propensity for copying and ‘Christianizing’ things from popular culture.

Last year I wrote a fairly critical post about the launch of GodTube, the Christian version of popular video sharing site YouTube, and now I think I might have been a little uncharitable in toward ‘Christian culture.’ After all, they can’t help it, being unoriginal would seem to be engrained into the Christian faith as much as the crucifix, or fish stickers for cars!

But one thing I don’t quite understand is why we don’t all eat chocolate Jesus’s, or chocolate crucifixes? Maybe the thought of children gnawing off Jesus’ head is offensive? Sacrilegious perhaps? But back in the day when people were praising the goddess Eostre, wasn’t replacing her with Jesus offensive to the pagans? Whatever happened to the Pagans anyway?

In truth I don’t care that the Christians stole Eastre. It’s a 4 day holiday that involves feasting and chocolate, so for all I care they can steal more festivals. After all, if by doing so we get to have more long weekends then I’m all for it!

Happy Easter everyone!

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Was Jesus a pagan?
Easter is a Pagan holiday
Unoriginal sin
The Pagan origins of Easter