A kind reader sent me this email:
I received the following from
the Diocese of Motherwell in the UK after writing a short note expressing my
support and gratitude for Bishop Devine's strong words to David Cameron
regarding his administration's disregard for Christianity, especially in
relation to Cameron's recent actions to change the national definition of
marriage.
The attached letters are what the Bishop's office sent me, stating "Better that you see his original copy without the intervention of certain journalists subjective slants on his correspondence."
God bless Bishop Devine. A Scottish heart, full of fire!
(Find out more about Bishop Joseph Devine, Ph.D., and the Diocese of Motherwell.)
Here’s the email from the Bishop’s office:
Date: Tuesday, December 18,
2012, 9:37 AM
Dear [reader’s name],
Bishop Devine has asked me to
express his sincere thanks to you for your kind message of support.
At his request, I attach for
your information copies of the three letters exchanged between himself and the
Prime Minister. Better that you see his original copy without the intervention
of certain journalists subjective slants on his correspondence.
Best wishes,
Gerard O’Brien
Gerard O'Brien
Diocesan Centre
Motherwell
ML1 1PP
T/P 01698-269114
MOB 07801526262
pressoffice@rcdom.org.uk
Below are the letters that were exchanged, but first take a
look at this excerpt from the Wikipedia article on the good bishop:
In
March 2008, as part of a public lecture on Sectarianism and Secularism, Devine
drew controversy when he spoke about a perceived "gay lobby"
attending Holocaust memorials "to create for themselves the image of a
group of people under persecution." He idenitified this as part of a
"giant conspiracy". Devine explained, "Like Mel Gibson, who
said, 'I'm going to pick a fight', so am I...The homosexual lobby has been
extremely effective in aligning itself with minority groups. It is ever present
at the service each year for the Holocaust memorial, as if to create for
themselves the image of a group of people under persecution.”
Devine
went on to criticise the decision to honour Sir Ian McKellen for his work for
equality and, by way of illustrating the advances made in equality for gays,
pointed out that Oscar Wilde had been jailed for homosexual offences. He also
took the opportunity to give advice to parents of gay children. "This
must be a nightmare moment for any parent. I would try to handle it with a
degree of compassion. But I would not tolerate that kind of behaviour. I would
not condemn but I would not tolerate it."
Letter #1 from Bishop to Prime Minister:
Letter from Prime Minister to Bishop:
Letter #2 from Bishop to Prime Minister:
(page 2)
Thanks for posting that, Jay. And for adding some interesting background information on Bishop Devine. All of his 2nd letter is great. It's so heartening to hear a Bishop speaking like that. He definitely doesn't mince words. He's a real MAN and a real man of God! I'm particularly fond of the part where he says:
ReplyDelete"So where to next for David Cameron's spiritual mission? The Catholic Faith? The Jewish religion? The Muslims? While I can not speak for those other creeds let me be quite frank with you. So far as the Roman Catholic Church, whose Catholic adherents - the largest minority (approx 6 million) in the UK - the one faith not provided for in law - is concerned, you are out of your depth. We will take no finger-prodding lectures from anyone or any group devoid of moral competence. I suspect it is only a matter of time before you go one step further and outlaw the teaching of Christian doctrine on sexual morality on the grounds of discrimination."
Whew! I love it! You can almost HEAR him, getting his Scotch (!) up, telling the Prime Minister that he's basically morally incompetent. Man oh man, that's how Bishop's should be addressing the outrages in our culture.
We're not far behind, I'm afraid, but poor England.
I know - there are some real gems in his comments on the situation! I wanted to highlight some of those, but couldn't spare the time today.
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