Comic wisdom

 

 

I was talking to a colleague who recently attended a Billy Connolly Show here in Belfast. She informed me that he addressed the recent controversy over Iris and her gay-cure psychiatrist friend. Apparently Billy  enquired if Iris knew  “any nice  psychiatrists who could cure bigots as well.”

Iris Robinson contributes to the problem!

 

As we wave goodbye to the Paisley dynasty, in steps the Robinson dynasty to take it’s place.  If anyone expects that this one will be any more enlightened or humane,  then the statements of  Iris will dash those hopes. On the very day we received a harrowing report of a young man being horrifically beaten because he was gay,  instead of supporting this young man’s right to be himself, Iris contributes to the horror by exposing her own prejudice.  Referring to Homosexuality as an abomination, she revealed that her top medical adviser, a Christian psychiatrist,  believes he can change gay people’s sexual orientation.  Why is he wasting his time on something that is not a mental health issue in itself,  isn’t he aware  that In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association concluded there was no scientific evidence that homosexuality was a disorder and removed it from its diagnostic glossary of mental disorders. The International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organisation followed suit in 1992.

Maybe he’s going down the road of some kind of Christian cloning……….
 

 I can just hear the perpetrators of the horrific beating saying …….there you see, even politicians agree that these disgusting gays….these abominations, shouldn’t  exist….they should be modified…..changed……into heterosexuals like the rest of the population.

 May the God of Creation, who created such diversity and who rejoices in it all.….may  He help us to embrace difference that we too may rejoice in the complexity  and beauty of all   His creation…..without exception.  AMEN

The Power of Song……Pete Seeger

 

 The Power of Song is a social history through the life of one of America’s significant folk artists of our time: Pete Seeger.   The film takes us through the turbulant formative years of the 60’s – 70’s and includes interviews with Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Tom Paxton to mention but a few. It testifies to the prophetic voice of the peace movement and the courage and commitment to building a better world not just for the few, but for all.  As well as all that, it’s just a celebration of great folk music, which many of us will recognise as the soundtrack to our own growing up. 

 Click below for a real treat!

Church condemnation….

I contributed this short comment on a Christian Psychologists web-debate it’s about the churches recent condemnations re: stem cell research

Christians I believe have both a right and a duty to participate in the great debates of our times. However down through the years many of the churches interventions have been overly authoritarian with the effect of causing many people to react to the policing aspect of the message as opposed to seeing some merit in the content of their contribution. The challenge, particularly for Church leaders, is to inspire rather than shame people as they express their concerns. Instead of the language of condemnation they could emphasise the areas of joint concerns, and praise the scientific communities efforts to alleviate human suffering. Promoting the sacredness of life is a noble cause lets acknowledge that we in the Christian Churches have no exclusive ownership of it. In taking this stance we open ourselves up to the possibility of genuine dialogue and may place ourselves in a better position to facilitate the search for truth.