John Howard "doesn't understand multi-faith" complains Anglican priest and Monash Uni "sociology of religion" professor Gary Bouma.
Professor/Rev. Bouma, speaking in a Melbourne mosque, was upset that Mr Howard had urged Australian Muslims to learn English and adopt Australian values.
Meanwhile the Anglican understanding of "multi-faith" is developing momentum. One Anglican multi-faith expert, the Rev. David Hart, has put his principles into practice and has converted to Hinduism. He has changed his name to Ananda and now spends his time offering up prayers to Hindu snake and elephant gods - whilst still retaining his licence to officiate as an Anglican minister.
"I have neither explicitly nor implicitly renounced my Christian faith or priesthood," he told an interviewer. The Rev. Hart/Ananda also expected his conversion would be treated without suspicion by the Anglican hierarchy and would be "read in the spirit of open exploration and dialogue, which is an essential feature of our shared modern spirituality."
In terms which might interest the "sociology of religion" Anglican priest, Professor Bouma, the Rev. Hart/Ananda also declared that "My philosophical position is that all religions are cultural constructs."
"The Anglican Church firmly believes in engaging itself fully in inter-faith dialogues" added the Rev. Hart, who now, it seems, will be able to enter into such a dialogue with himself.
Academic Anglicans like Bouma might like multi-faith, but many Anglicans would disagree with him. Don't write off the entire CofE just because of one nutter with a job at a Uni.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from the conservative Anglican side of things. I do think, though, that the multi-faith problem runs deeper than just one or even a few individuals - it seems to extend to a number of Christian denominations.
ReplyDeleteI've written about the oddly multi-faith Christmas celebrations in my suburb which involved the local Catholic, Anglican and Uniting churches.
The whole point of "multi-faith" is to create a one-world religion, paving the way for global government.
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