Catholic church continues to embrace the internet generation

It may have misgivings about the seedy side of cyberspace, but faced with falling attendances, the Catholic Church is seeking to harness the wonders of the digital age.

reports the Independent this morning.

After the launch of its You Tube channel earlier in the year comes the news that a priest is allowing worshippers to light a candle with a click of a mouse

To make the dedication, the faithful of the church of Santa Maria Regina Pacis di Ostia, just 20 miles from the Vatican, need only find the correct section on the church's homepage (www.reginapacisostia.it), and click to "light" a candle and leave a message for a loved one.
Among hundreds of messages left so far are those to a missing person and another dedicated to victims of the year's Abruzzo earthquake.

The 10 blogging commandments

Yes it is not a joke but according to the Telegraph

The guidelines have been drawn up at a conference in London by the Evangelical Alliance in response to concern at how religious blogs can quickly descend into vitriol

1. You shall not put your blog before your integrity

2 You shall not make an idol of your blog

3 You shall not misuse your screen name by using your anonymity to sin

4 Remember the Sabbath day by taking one day off a week from your blog

5 Honour your fellow-bloggers above yourselves and do not give undue significance to their mistakes

6 You shall not murder someone else's honour, reputation or feelings

7 You shall not use the web to commit or permit adultery in your mind

8 You shall not steal another person's content

9 You shall not give false testimony against your fellow-blogger

10 You shall not covet your neighbour's blog ranking. Be content with your own content

Papers round on the "troublesome priest

No prizes for the winner of the msot column inches this morning.It goes to the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams whose comments about sharia law have been roundly critised in most of the press.

For the Sun it's What a Burka its leader telling us

he’s a dangerous threat to our nation. He says the adoption in Britain of parts of Islamic Sharia law is “unavoidable”. If he believes that, he is unfit for his job.
Williams says the idea of “one law for all” is “a bit of a danger”.
With that one sentence he destroys his authority and credibility as leader of the Church of England.
He also gives heart to Muslim terrorists plotting our destruction.

The Mail says that "Archbishop should tend to his own flock"

This is a deeply troubling line for our most senior prelate to take. By arguing against a single law for everyone, he strikes at the heart of our constitution. By suggesting an accommodation with sharia law, he is shattering the strict division that is centuries old between the church and the courts.

For the Mirror

The Archbishop of Canterbury has stirred up a hornets' nest with his assertion that Britain must accept the introduction of some form of Islamic sharia law.
Britain is a liberal democracy, where people are relatively free to live their lives as they wish within commonly accepted constraints.
If members of any community voluntarily wish to live by personal rules that do not conflict with our fundamental values, they're welcome to do so.
But Dr Williams has created the impression that some groups should be able to opt out of British society.

But it is not just the tabloids that are taking the negative stance

The Telegraph calls it an inept intervention but adding that

The problem lies, rather, in the status of the messenger and the timing of his intervention. If there is a case for the creation of sharia courts, it would be better made by a joint group representing the three Abrahamic faiths - Judaism, Christianity and Islam

.

The Guardian says

Rowan Williams has a knack for creating problems where none yet exist. Prodding, however thoughtfully, the humming nest of multiculturalism and the law, the archbishop has provoked a predictable media storm that in the short term will only obscure his intention of promoting cultural cohesion - as well as confirming his critics' frustration with his apparent lack of common sense. His arguments, mildly and carefully expressed, will simultaneously stoke tabloid fears and infuriate those who believe that the state should be as far from religion as possible.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has made a grave mistake says the Times

Dr Williams did something yesterday that was far from sensible. He said that the adoption of parts of Sharia in Britain looked “unavoidable”, and called for “constructive accommodation with some aspects of Muslim law”, over issues such as resolving marriage disputes. Muslims should not have to choose, he said, between “the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty”.

Boxing Day ramblings

Boxing day is always a little of a anti climax.We wait so long for Xmas,then at a blink of an eye.....it's over.In this gap between supplies of food some ramblings

First of all something on last night's Xmas telly.Really was quite bad,the Doctor Who was turgid,70 mins of drivel.Catherine Tate was appalling,you could play guess the punchlines and what about the use of the F-word.Even though it was well past the watershed,how many kids would have been watching at 10.30 on Christmas day?

The only decent thing I have watched,apart from the Dad's army repeats, was the ITV,Xmas at the Riveria(Sky plussed from Xmas eve).A good old fashioned comedy farce,the ashes being put in the turkey and being pecked at by geese was something else).

The papers this morning are predictable,reports on the various speeches of our religious leaders and royal leaders and various tales of shopping sales,online trading etc.Why bother publishing?Give journalists another day off.

Read Allison Martin's piece on Press Gazette on how to survive the graveyard shift

The seemingly never-ending evening will be punctuated by pointless phone calls from drunk people with “World Exclusive” stories about spacecraft in Filey or with a bee in their bonnet about the number of repeats on TV, all of which would fail to make page 83 of a weekly local freesheet. However, these people are to be endured in the spirit of peace on Earth and goodwill to all men.

For a religious perspective at this time of year.check out Steve Borris writing on Xmas day who tells us

Modern Journalism has been typically skeptical, when not outright disdainful, of Christianity. In the movement’s founding work, Liberty and the News, Walter Lippmann declared journalism a new science for a new age when Man had finally come to his senses, no longer believing “that an omniscient and benevolent Providence taught [Man] what end to seek” and that it would now be “blazing arrogance to sacrifice hard-won standards of credibility” to such irrational beliefs

But we should be grateful because freedom of the press was first mooted in Genesis.That's the old testament,not the rock dinosaurs

which established that Man was created in God’s image, bestowing upon individuals a dignity that is not inevitably derived through use of reason alone.

The other purpose of the media in this time between xmas and New Year is to review the last 12 months.Jemima Kiss looks at what created the most traffic on Guardian Media and surprise,surprise it was reality Tv,no fewer than 10/20 entries,fuelled by the Shilpa Shetty episode back in January.

Anyway enough and back to eating and drinking

Paper suspended for Christ smoking cartoon

The Malaysian government has shut down a newspaper for a month after it printed a cartoon of Jesus Christ clutching a beer can and smoking a cigarette.

The paper,Makkai Osai,claimed that publication was a mistake and that it did not notice that the figure was smoking.

The suspension has brought outcry from people who claim free speech is under attack,opposition politician Lim Kit Siang saying:

"The suspension will only create a very chilling effect on free expression and is not conducive to creating a vibrant media space"

And is being seen in some quarters as a knee jerk reaction by the government