Crass behaviour....

It seems that of its very nature the blogosphere produces at times some crass comment masquerading as information. On occasion this can be so bad as to be almost fraternising with the enemy - or as my wife puts it: "becoming the Devil's plaything."

It is not unusual to see and hear individuals expressing their opinions quite openly person to peson. It is often claimed that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but as my parents always taught me "sometimes it is best to keep your opinion to yourself." Some people think that they have a right to say what they think, whenever they want to say it and in any form whatever, no matter how crass that makes them look or sound.

For such people the blogosphere can be immensely helpful as it lends itself to anonymity. There are examples of those who use a blog to quite openly reveal, however unwittingly, their own intellectual shortcomings. There are those who, misguidedly at best, make comparisons between Anglo-Catholics and Racists or Nazi's. There are others who openly misrepresent the views of those who believe that God created the world, linking them to the more extreme fundamentalist groups. But in the main these are quite open and the indentity of the blogger is known and one can either choose to ignore or challenge the opinion expressed. In this way the blogosphere functions in much the same way as commentators writing in a newspaper where the letters page allows for comment, agreement and criticism. Of course, editorial control weeds out the verbose, the lunatic fringe and the incorrect.

However, much more worrying, and indeed crass, is the trend amongst those one might think were on the side of the angels, to parody their brothers and sisters anonymously - and all because they cannot accept that the theological and liturgical world that they have inhabited since early adulthood is being reformed. Theology is becoming more conservative and liturgical language and practice is, at last, becoming less pedestrian and more focused upon the Almighty rather than the gathered community - after all worship is worth-ship, literally giving God his worth. Some of the experiments of the 1960's and 1970's have not stood the test of time, they have been found wanting just as the use of concrete and cement in parish churches has been found counter-productive as compared with the traditional material of lime mortar.

"Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." Matthew 13:51

Crass parodying of those who seek to uphold and practice this principle given us by the Lord is detrimental to the cause and should cease forthwith.