George, George. You're really working hard to lose my vote, aren't you? Alas, you've already got it (darned absentee ballots!) I'm just kidding. Sort of. I still hope he wins. Four More Years!!!!
"Episcopal neopaganism"
The Freaks Are at It Again! Here's an excerpt:
There are those who doubt that paganism has penetrated the Episcopal Church. If you're among them, check out this "Women's Eucharist," the text for which comes from the Worship Resources section of the ECUSA Women's Ministries Web site:
A Women’s Eucharist: A Celebration of the Divine Feminine.
We gather around a low table, covered with a woven cloth or shawl. A candle, a bowl or vase of flowers, a large shallow bowl filled with salted water, a chalice of sweet red wine, a cup of milk mixed with honey, and a plate of raisin cakes are placed on the table ...
The chalice of sweet red wine is raised and a woman says,
"Blessed are you, Mother God, for you have given us the fruit of the earth. Red as blood, warm as life itself, sweet and intoxicating as love. We thank you for wine. We bless you for the power of this drink to remind us of our own power. We praise you for the strength and beauty of our bodies, and for the menstrual blood of womanhood. We embrace the mystery of life which you have entrusted to us, and we pray for the day when human blood is no longer shed and when woman’s blood is honored as holy and in your image."
The cup is passed hand to hand and all drink from it.
The cup of milk and honey is raised and a woman says,
"Thank you Mother God for the abundance of life. Thank you for the rich, full, pleasing, and life giving milk of our bodies. Thank you for the children who drink from our breasts for they bring sweetness to our lives. We drink this cup as your daughters, fed from your own bosom. May we be proud of our nurturing and sustaining selves. May we honor our breasts as symbols of your abundance. Thank you for the milk and honey of your presence with us."
The cup is passed and shared by all
Now, in the Catholic Church, the wine becomes literally, really and truly, the Precious Blood of Christ. So when the Episcopagans talk about menstrual blood ... ew, sorry, shouldn't have said that. Uncalled for. But these people piss me off/make me laugh/make me cry.
This is too bad because there are a lot of Episcopalians who are good Christians and don't deserve to be tainted by their association with this silliness/blasphemy. Ahk.
UPDATE: Liturgy? What Liturgy?
Here's the originial page. Ha ha, they tried to get rid of it! Yay for Google Cache!
Argh. I know there are a lot of good Republicans in that situation, a lot of them "rising stars" in the party - Giuliani, Schwarzenegger, etc. I saw a little while ago that there are also polls that show that the majority of the party is actually pro-choice.
ReplyDeleteIt just goes to show you that there is no political party in America today that the would-be faithful Catholic can feel completely comfortable in. And I am definitely a Catholic before I am a Republican ...
What I mean is, the Republican Party is a lousy party on many Christian issues. But they manage to answer a lot of the major questions of our era (dignity of man, inestimable value of human life) correctly, or at least A LOT better than the Democrats, who excel on economic/social justice issues but have this problem with being in thrall to organizations like Planned Parenthood, which makes millions of dollars every year performing abortions.
In terms of economics I like the Dems much better than the GOP. The reason I vote for the GOP is because I care more about their social conservatism on things that REALLY matter, like marriage, abortion, civil unions, human cloning and euthanasia, than about jobs or money. If they nominate a socially liberal Republican like Giuliani (another Kerry-esque "Catholic") in '08, I won't vote for him - I won't vote for the Dem, either, who no doubt will be equally bad on issues like making medicine out of babies. But I'll probably do 3rd party.
Sorry for the novel length rant :). It's just that this entire campaign seems to be about me falling out of the rabid love-clinch I had with Bush and the Republican party. And it huuuuuurwwwwts. I hope I don't come off like a rude, inconsiderate, "starts with b and rhymes with witch" who thinks everyone else is going to Hell. Cuz I don't, and I really don't mean for it to seem that way!!!!