Povey Prattle

I have such deep affection for my native land of England. I am so grateful for my adopted land of the USA.

Retired pastor ruminates: Ten Theses about Interim Ministry

Retired pastor ruminates: New poll: One out of Four Americans is not paying attention!

Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question – should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion?  That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here. This nation was founded on the principle that the government must never choose between religions, or favor one over another.  "The World Trade Center Site will forever hold a special place in our City, in our hearts. But we would be untrue to the best part of ourselves – and who we are as New Yorkers and Americans – if we said 'no' to a mosque in Lower Manhattan.  "Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11 and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values – and play into our enemies' hands – if we were to treat Muslims

No -  this is not Islam.  These are texts from the Christian Bible.   A.        Remember, O Lord , against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!”   O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!   Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!   B.      And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them ; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them. C.      And thou shalt consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them : neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee. D.     But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:  But thou shalt utterly destroy them ; namely

This is just about the most stupid and pathetic Church sign I have ever seen. Only numskulls would be attracted to a Church like this. I have advised my dog and my cats never to attend this dumb Church.

“Freedom is not free” is a slogan which we Americans use, as we express our deep gratitude to the women and men of our Armed Forces. I say AMEN to that.  We owe a great debt to our soldiers, sailors, marines and aviators. “Freedom is not free” might also be a slogan in favour of paying taxes. I say this because d espite the fulminations and obfuscations of the blatherskites on the right and the cowards on the left, taxes, in and of themselves, are not bad.  In fact they are very good, since they enable us all to share in the burden of providing public services. I cheerfully pay my income tax since (for example): (a) I am glad that we have a strong military;  (b) I am relieved to know that we have national public agencies which support public health (through research);  (c) I am in favour of the governmental agencies which review the safety of new drugs;  (d) I know that we need those federal bodies which monitor the food supply to ensure its safety.  None of these governmental