Good to have an Archbishop with teeth

anyone remember the TV episode with Marty Feldman? he had all the gear and made a brilliant bishop.

And me! Disestablish the C Of E, say I.

(Happy with Christianity, just cannot bear what men, and I mean men have done to it with their structures and hierarchies, rules to suit them etc.)

#lets'earthemthen he he he!

jings Oh jings I'm lost for expletives [not aimed at you mind...]

Give it some welly next time.

I have never noticed that you are anti- religion soop.

You must do it extra nicely!

jings what about moi? #tutsunderbreath

They are mostly Bags, Greatnan and Absent. And a fine job they do of it too.

Flickety - Why shouldnt bishops express a view on the governance of the country? The main groups representing atheists feel no compunction about doing so.

Who are they then? I only know of the National Secular Society and the British Humanists, neither of which 'represent atheists'. As atheist people have nothing in common other than a lack of deities it would be difficult to represent them - hte phrase 'herding cats' comes to mind.

A Bishop expressing his views as an individual - quite right and proper. But the same Bishop expecting his views to carry more weight because he is a Bishop - no. We ain't a theocracy!

soop I hope John Knox's breeches had been washed.

I would hate to see all ties with history cut. But it is a difficult one.

Of course the clergy in general, not just bishops, have every right to express their views. However, extra weight is given to what bishops say by politicians – even Maggie Thatcher was quite scared of the then archbish of Canterbury – and I see no reason why 26 bishops of the Church of England should get an automatic right to sit in the House of Lords. If members of the House of Lords were elected I would, of course, have no objection to an elected bishop sitting.

(We've got two threads on this now! )

Agree with FlicketyB. Freedom of speech for all!

Absolutely Flickety. Every single person, every group has a perfect right to express their views. And wise people will listen carefully, evaluate what they hear and then make their minds up.

mea culpa!

Quite, Elegran - I didn't notice the misquote in Galen's post.

Why shouldnt bishops express a view on the governance of the country? The main groups representing atheists feel no compunction about doing so.

Knox is usually misquoted as saying "regiment" but what he was agin was the "monstrous regimen" or rule, of the queen. He would not have approved allowing a firstborn woman to rule in precedence over her younger brothers, dear me, no.

The new archbishop was helping at the food bank in Sunderland before he left for the soft underbelly. Glad he helped.

Soop

anno Yes!

I think that was just misogynism Galen, aimed at Mary Q of S and her mum and, I think, Elizabeth.
soop did they 'cap' the women graduates with the same thing?

Galen When my son graduated from Edinburgh Uni' he [and other graduates] were tapped on the head with a cap made from the breeches of John Knox.