A SENSE OF PROPORTION OR COMMON SENSE?

I sometimes wonder if some people have lost all sense of proportion or common sense. Take the announcement today that a certain footballer is to be paid £250,000 a week. Is anybody worth that sort of money for kicking an inflated ball no matter how brilliant he might be? Or the cuts which the politicians say we are sharing but which seem to pick on the poorest of our society with swingeing cuts to benefits. Or the fact, that according to some Treasury Ministers, as a country we are nearly bankrupt yet we still can afford Trident albeit in several years time whilst Housing Benefit is to be cut harshly which could mean something in the region of 80,000 people might be made homeless. They will then become a burden on Local Authorities who have little or no housing stock as so much of it has been sold. So Local Authorities could find themselves in the ludicrous situation of having to pay for these people to reside in hotels and guest houses.

Or to change the subject just slightly, consider those priests and laity in the CofE who are banking their hopes that they can make a change in the provision for Traditionalists to provide a secure future rather than a Code of Conduct. They say that this will come about due to the newly elected General Synod which they are estimating shows an increase in the Catholic and Evangelical members. For once, and probably only once, I think WATCH have it right when they say: WATCH considers that reports that those opposed to women bishops have made gains in the recent Synod elections are premature. There is no evidence that this view is based on an accurate analysis of results. WATCH notes that some significant figures against the consecration of women have lost their seats, and that more women clergy have been elected. Many candidates did not declare their views about the draft legislation for women bishops before the elections.

So what about the new Society of St. Wilfrid and St. Hilda launched at the Sacred Synod in September which in the event turned out, in my opinion, to be anything but a Sacred Synod. First, as I have said before, we don’t need another Catholic Society and the aims seem to me to be futile (but I could be wrong). But my main gripe is why form yet another society and then tell potential members that they will have to wait and see what will emerge in the coming months. Not very helpful!

I still think that the only viable option for Anglo-Catholics is the Ordinariate in the long term, but perhaps it’s me that has lost all sense of proportion or common sense but I really don’t think so.