promptings potpourri

Church vs. State: a "War" with Christianity

"The Canadian regime...is trying to reshape Canadian souls." That’s what Joe Woodard, a columnist for the Calgary Herald thinks. Some story trends he predicts we’ll see in secular Canadian media during the next ten years:

1. The official Canadian ideology of multiculturalism is just that: Ideology, or "propaganda masquerading as fact." This will result in ‘Conflict between Church and State’ stories

2. The Christian revival in Canada - the new (and for many inexplicable) popularity of resurgent Christianity among Generation-X and Gen-Y...

3. Exploring non-Christian beliefs in support of multiculturalism

4. Celebrating "spirituality" as distinct from "organized religion."

This presentation to a conference of the Centre for Faith and the Media (October 21-22/05 - Ottawa) is a must-read for Canadian Christians. It’s here.

Hat-tip: Ernie

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My Dear Despicable Wormwood,

You magnificent wretch. I am delighted to hear of your progress....

[...] Good news! The latest commendations have arrived from the Council of Pit. You impress the lower-down, my zealous Wormwood. They have heard of your schemes on the Noise Proliferation Committee (NPC). Indeed, places of solitude and moments of silence grow ever more scarce in the Enemy’s vast and vulgar dominion. Oh what euphoria to see his insufferable creatures rush to fill the dead air with a cacophony of cell phones and muzac, leaf blowers and manipulated car exhaust pipes, 24-hour news and I-Pods. Those nauseating humans cannot escape their self-made dungeon of din!

- from "A Kingdom of Noise: A Screwtape Letter for the Media Age" by Erik Lokkesmoe.

Hat-tip: Marilyn in Thunder Bay

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Do you know your neighbors? Catez at Allthings2all does. She writes:

Last week my computer monitor on my home pc blew up. It was a dramatic event with sparking and cracking noises. I mentioned this to my neighbour shortly before flying off in my car to buy another monitor... A couple of days later I went to the supermarket at the end of the day. As I was walking back to my car some-one called out to me. It was my neighbour's husband, who had stopped in at the same carpark after work. He asked about my computer monitor and of course I gave him a description of the drama and the news I had another one. He was very pleased for me. Just a short chat in a carpark. As I went to my car afterward it occurred to me that if I didn't know my neighbours I would have walked past him without noticing, he wouldn't have called out to me - the six degrees of separation would be firmly positioned between us.

Now that we’re on the doorstep of the Christmas season – a time when neighborly overtures are almost guaranteed to be met with an open heart, Catez’s post "Meet the Neighbors" is timely, as well as inspiring and practical.