An Anglican bishop says the Lord’s Prayer is “problematic,” fake reviews online are being outlawed, and Flame’s book on his spiritual journey to Lutheranism has been released.
Bishop Says the Lord’s Prayer Is “Problematic”
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, told the General Synod of the Church of England that the phrase “Our Father” in the Lord’s Prayer is “problematic.”
This is true, he said, “for those whose experience of earthly fathers has been destructive and abusive, and for all of us who have laboured rather too much from an oppressively patriarchal grip on life.”
I like this response:
After Cottrell’s speech, Canon Dr Chris Sugden, chair of the conservative Anglican Mainstream group, pointed out that in the Bible Jesus urged people to pray to “our father”.
He said: “Is the archbishop of York saying Jesus was wrong, or that Jesus was not pastorally aware? It seems to be emblematic of the approach of some church leaders to take their cues from culture rather than scripture.”
Clergy, prelates, and laypeople who feel morally superior to Jesus Christ should just leave the church. Why stay if you object to the tenets of Christianity?
No wonder Christianity is fading in Europe. The state churches are, by and large, not even teaching it anymore. It would be as if the only churches in the U.S. were liberal mainline Protestant. For all of their efforts to conform to the secular culture, hardly anyone in the secular culture bothers to go to them. This is because they offer nothing that the secularists don’t already have. As I have argued at length, a major reason for the secularism of societies is the prior secularism of their churches.
Outlawing Fake Reviews
One of the benefits of shopping online is that we can read reviews of the product we are considering. (Remember when the only reviews were of books, movies, plays, and restaurants?)
But those reviews have become so important to businesses that a mini-industry has grown up around the posting of fake reviews. And it’s only getting worse with Artificial Intelligence technology.
It is estimated that some 31% of online reviews are fakes.
So the Federal Trade Commission is making fake reviews illegal. Here are the eight categories being outlawed:
- Using Fake Reviews. Reviews by people who are non-existent, did not actually use the product or service, or who misrepresent their experience with it.
- Review Hijacking. Repurposing a review from one product to fit a different product.
- Review Compensation. Offering money or other incentives in exchange for a positive review of a product or service, or a negative review of a competitor’s product or service.
- Insider Influence. Owners/officers/managers of a company writing a review of their own product or service; or soliciting reviews from employees/relatives without disclosing their relationship.
- Controlling Review Sites. Companies controlling websites that claim to provide independent reviews but actually promote the companies’ own products.
- Suppressing Negative Reviews. Eliminating or limiting negative reviews, thereby creating a false assumption of more positive reviews.
- Suppressing Reviews by Threat. Creating fear of physical or legal action for posting negative reviews.
- Social Media Influence. Buying followers or acquiring fake followers.
Any of these violations can be punished with a fine of up to $50,000.
Flame’s Book Is Out!
I’ve blogged about the rapper Flame (a.k.a. Marcus Grey) who became a Lutheran and is telling the world about his new theology in creative ways.
A few months ago, I blogged about a book he has written for Concordia Publishing House entitled Extra Nos: Discovering Grace Outside Myself. The book hadn’t been released yet, but I read an advance copy so that I could write a blurb, which reads in part, ““For evidence that Lutheranism is the kind of Christianity that has the most relevance today, read FLAME’s Extra Nos.”
The book has just been released, and I think virtually all Cranach subscribers would find it enjoyable and inspiring. You can buy it here.
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