Dawkins - Peerless Stinker

Dawkins

From time time to time this blog degenerates into a samey mix of horses, guns, space creatures and cheap jibes against the fast disappearing ACoC (Anglican Church of Canada) and its larger sister TEC (The Episcopal Church). To say nothing of the all too easy game of awarding "alien heads" to offending ecclesiastics.

So here's some philosophy to even things out; it's a reflection on Dawkins' take on Aquinas' 4th Way and you'll have to forgive the length but I like the argument.

First, the 4th Way itself, from the Summa:

Among beings there are some more and some less good, true, noble and the like. But 'more' and 'less' are predicated of different things, according as they resemble in their different ways something which is the maximum, as a thing is said to be hotter according as it more nearly resembles that which is hottest; so that there is something which is truest, something best, something noblest and, consequently, something which is uttermost being [i.e. maximally ontologically secure]; for those things that are greatest in truth are greatest in being, as it is written in [Aristotle's] Metaph. ii. Now the maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus; as fire, which is the maximum heat, is the cause of all hot things. Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God.

Dawkins doesn't like this at all and decides to sneer:

"That's an argument? You might as well say, people vary in smelliness but we can make the comparison only by reference to a perfect maximum of conceivable smelliness. Therefore there must exist a pre-eminently peerless stinker, and we call him God."

But Aquinas is dealing with properties that have an intrinsic and logical, as opposed to de facto, maximum. Eric Mascall explains:

"Goodness, so the argument claims, demands as its cause a God who is good; while heat, though it necessarily demands a God whose knowledge of possible being includes an idea of heat, does not demand a God who is hot as its cause, but only a God who can create."

Peter Williams sums up:

"In modern philosophical terminology, Aquinas is arguing along the following lines:

1. Things exist in the world around us that exhibit finite degrees of great-making properties (e.g. being, goodness, truth, beauty)

2. The existence of something exhibiting a great-making property to a finite degree implies the existence of something that possesses the property in question to a maximal degree

3. Therefore, all great making properties possessed in finite degree by beings in the world around us, including being, are possessed to a maximal degree by something

4. An effect cannot exceed the greatness of its cause

5. Therefore, there exists a maximally ontologically secure being that possess every great-making property possessed by its effects to a maximal degree; and this we call God.

It should at least be clear that Aquinas' argument is logically valid and consequently that this line of thought cannot be dismissed with a jeering reference to smelly people, which is all Dawkins does."

Well said, Peter Williams.

This site supports Aquinas -- not that he needs it.

Cheers,

LSP

Iron Horse, Real Horse

Iron Horse, Real Horse

Found myself scouting about the used car shops the other day, checking out 4x4 pick-ups, when I saw a chopper nonchalantly parked up in a place of its own. It reminded me of Nam, Chelt'Nam, that is, the town's bikers and, of course, "Iron Horse" by Motorhead. But all that was a very long time ago.

Now I get to go on a real horse and find myself returning to basics - spent the morning walking JB around obstacles and over ground poles, with special emphasis on circling to the right. She's forward now, so it seems time to concentrate on control, which'll make a good base for going very fast and jumping over things. That's my plan, anyway.

She managed three successive flying changes the other day; people tell me that's very impressive and it indicates high athletic potential on JB's part. I wish that I'd asked for them deliberately...

Stay on the horse,

LSP

Bishops!

Bishop Sean Manchester

"They should all be locked up and put in a cage..."

Fr. Bowling on certain bishops

Thanks to the untiring efforts of researchers at Team LSP, I can open this series on "Bishops" with Sean Manchester, leader of Britain's Old Catholic Church, founder of the Sacerdotal Society of the Precious Blood, Superior General of the Order of the Holy Graal, Bishop of Glastonbury(!), and Primate of the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ. You can read about it here, if you have the energy.

Readers may recall that he 'staked out' the Highgate Cemetary Vamp, back in the day, and wrote a book about it.

That's because Sean is a Vampire Hunter. Here he is with a stake.

Sean with tool of the trade - from some Spanish blog

Vampire Hunter? Yes, and for that reason awarded a sturdy six out of ten alien heads.

Well done Sean!

LSP

Ride the Horse Shoot the Gun

Please don't misunderstand me; I like to canter and gallop and enjoy the speed of the thing, but it's a foolhardy business if the horse isn't controlled. After all, who wants to come off at some ungodly speed?

With that in mind, we took a step back with JB and rode in a small pasture around an improvised arena (buckets), concentrating on turning to the right, circles, serpentines and going over ground poles. It was mostly at a posting trot - then more of the same the next day, but in a larger pasture which is home to a small herd of mares. Used natural obstacles, thorn trees, and JB did alright, despite a tendency to duck out and attempt a bolt to the other horses.

By the end of the ride she was listening and responding well, so I rewarded her with a couple of uphill canters to the herd. She didn't seem entirely sure as to why she had been so keen to get there when she arrived, beyond taking the opportunity to try and kick one of her colleagues - but that was an afterthought.

Ride over, it was time for some target practice; reasonable shooting with iron sights at around 75 yards, though the wind was high. Seem to have developed an ironic tendency to pull to the left. Must correct that.

Cheers,

LSP

Hippies

Hippies

Some people think that Hippies are just fine.

Riot Police

Others disagree.

Episcopaliens

Then there's the clerical variant.

Doubleplusbad.

Horse & Gun tomorrow.

LSP

I Want it. I Want it All.

Archdeacon Barry "I want it all" Foster

It seems that the diminutive ACoC (Anglican Chrurch of Canada) is set to become smaller still, with a Calgary parish, St. John the Evangelist, joining the Roman Catholic Church under Pope Benedict's offer of an 'Ordinariate' for ex-Anglicans.

This would allow Anglican converts, including married clergy, to retain elements of their liturgy and have a guaranteed place within the Roman Church.

It's an attractive proposition for the parishioners of St. John's, who voted by 90% to leave the incredibly shrinking ACoC and they hope to keep their Edwardian building. According to the Rector's Warden, Richard Harding, this might be possible because title deeds to the building are held in the name of the Wardens instead of the Diocese of Calgary.

"The title was placed in the name of the elected lay wardens of the parish... It is parish property. The diocese may not be aware of that," stated Harding to the Calgary Herald.

But Barry 'I want it all' Foster, Archdeacon of Calgary, who styles himself 'Executive Officer' of the diocese when not selling menswear at a downtown mall, has a different opinion.

"It's not the case that … they take the property with them. It's not theirs," stated Foster to CBC News.

Assuming, for the moment, that Calgary's clerical haberdasher has a point, what will the Diocese of Calgary do with yet another empty building?

You know the saying, "Sell! Sell! Sell!"

Watch this space - in the meanwhile ACoC continues its trajectory into just that.

Say a prayer for St. John's.

LSP

Horsing About

small herd of mares

Had an interesting ride the other day, not least because JB's horse mind was a little distracted by the loud attention of several stallions. She hears them calling her, you see, and answers back with a mind to galloping off to wherever they are - which isn't where we are. This can be disconcerting, but you know what they say, stay on the horse. Not always easy, I can tell you.

Finished off with a .22 plink about before the sun began to set; neat to see the mares silhouetted, like some kind of Western, which, in a way, it was.

where's that stallion?

On a different note, a Calgary parish has opted to become Roman Catholic, thus making the Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) even smaller than it already is. More on that later.

Cheers,

LSP

Muslim Genocide

Help Catholics in Iraq

Unsurprisingly, given an aggressively resurgent Islam, Christians are being persecuted throughout the Middle East. Some would call it genocide.

Hudson New York has this to say:

It is obvious by now that the Christians in the Middle East are an "endangered species."

Christians in Arab countries are no longer being persecuted; they are now being slaughtered and driven out of their homes and lands.

Those who for many years turned a blind eye to complaints about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East now owe the victims an apology. Now it is clear to all that these complaints were not "Jewish propaganda."

The war of genocide against Christians in the Middle East can no longer be treated as an "internal affair" of Iraq or Egypt or the Palestinians. What the West needs to understand is that radical Islam has declared jihad not only against Jews, but also against Christians.

In Iraq, Egypt and the Palestinian territories, Christians are being targeted almost on a daily basis by Muslim fundamentalists and secular dictators.

You can read the whole thing here.

Say no to dhimmitude and submission to the religion of peace.

LSP

Happy Thanksgiving!

JB

Braved ferocious traffic on I 35 last night to get to LSP HQ Dallas in time for Thanksgiving. My contribution to the thing is Beer Can Chicken - turkey was voted out for some reason, but BCC is fine and I enjoy the grilling.

Regardless, I thank God for the opportunity to be with family and friends, for horses, guns and the privilege of being in Jack Iker's diocese, as opposed to serving somewhere on the lunatic fringe that seems to constitute most of Western Anglicanism.

So, have a blessed day!

LSP

PS. if you're looking for something to read you might enjoy this, from pajamas media.

Bad Altar

Jackson Pollock's Bath Mat?

Some people wonder if the trads are wrong, or somehow exaggerating, when they say that The Episcopal Church (TEC), is pushing a different religion.

I'll let the above 'altar' speak for itself - they don't even bother to dress up like Christians anymore.

Here's a real Altar, at Pusey House, Oxford.


Comper had this to say about Altars.

"[A church] is a building which enshrines the altar of Him who dwelleth not in temples made with hands and who yet has made there His Covenanted Presence on earth. It is the centre of Worship in every community of men who recognize Christ as the Pantokrator, the Almighty, the Ruler and Creator of all things: at its altar is pleaded the daily Sacrifice in complete union with the Church Triumphant in Heaven, of which He is the one and only Head, the High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech."

I think he's right.

LSP

Archbishop Abducted!

Alien

According to the controversial gay bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson, the Archbishop of Canterbury has been abducted by aliens.

"Aliens have come and taken Rowan away from us. They have left something that looks like him but we don't recognise him anymore," stated Robinson to the U.K.'s Daily Mail.

Druid

Experts are divided on the date of Rowan Williams' abduction but some believe that the bearded bishop was replaced by a space creature when he became a druid, at the Gorsedd of Bards ceremony in 2002.

Others disagree. Anglican Samizdat thinks it unlikely that that the Archbishop of Canterbury has been replaced by an alien pod.

"This can’t be true: if aliens had abducted Rowan, they would have replaced him with someone whose looks would allow him to pass for a normal human specimen."

Gene Robinson sparked outrage when he became the world's first openly gay bishop in a worship ceremony at an ice rink in 2003. He lives with his "dearly beloved husband," Mark.

Five bishops have left the Church of England to become Roman Catholics.

Cheers,

LSP

LSP in the City

Thought I'd take a well needed break and head North. So I braved the massive unpleasantness of modern air travel - not dissimilar to taking a bus from Cheltenham to Canterbury in the '80s - and checked into Midtown, New York. It was neat looking down on Broadway, in a Bladerunner kind of way.

Always liked the top of the Crown Building

Visited St. Mary The Virgin, on 46th St., between 7th & 8th, where I gave my first sermon, back in the mists of antiquity. It was a terrible homily and I was terrified to give it, but the people were kind and said it was good. A great church in its day, but now given to the strange new religion of TEC, which is a bad shame.

Scary pulpit at St. Mary's

Managed to get to the Met & the Frick too; both are remarkable museums, to my mind, and well worth the visit. Oddly enough, I enjoyed the arms & armour section of the Met...


Imagine the force of armoured cavalry; the sheer kinetic energy alone would be hard to withstand.

Wandered about Central Park too, which didn't seem remotely as dodgy as it was in the olden days, but perhaps my point of view has changed.

So, after a few days of charging about the city I made my way back to Texas and Lonestarism, which I like. Still, I think there's a greatness to New York, if you can get past the armies of Brits shouting "Yah" on their cell phones as they stride down 5th Ave, and the dangerous number of skateboard and scooter riders. A right menace. All that to say nothing of the Pelosianites who seem to have taken over control of the North East, but more of that anon.

Have a blessed feast of Christ the King tomorrow.

Cheers,

LSP