{"id":1852,"date":"2009-06-07T14:33:00","date_gmt":"2009-06-07T14:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2009\/06\/the-vicar-on-buddhist-bishops\/"},"modified":"2014-12-24T10:26:59","modified_gmt":"2014-12-24T15:26:59","slug":"the-vicar-on-buddhist-bishops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2009\/06\/the-vicar-on-buddhist-bishops.html","title":{"rendered":"The Vicar on Buddhist Bishops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Guest blogger, The Rev\u2019d Humphrey Blytherington, Vicar of St Hilda\u2019s Little Snoring and All Saints\u2019, Great Snoring weighs in on matters Anglican\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>Down at the Goose and Garter the other evening one of the lads asked a bit of a sticky question about the Anglican Church. They\u2019re just an ordinary group of hearty menfolk, but they do come up with some corkers from time to time.\n
\u201cSay, Vicar, What do you make of this new Anglican bishop who is a Buddhist?<\/a>\u201d one of them called out.<\/div>\n
Naturally I was a bit flustered. I must admit that\u00a0comparative\u00a0religions was not my forte at theological college. It was all I could do to play rugger, learn to sing the odd psalm and cram for a Greek exam. But I do remember one or two things old Canon Farnsworth told us about Buddhism<\/a>.<\/div>\n
So I said, \u201cWhat do you lads think of it all?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cIf he wants to be a Buddhist, why don\u2019t he move to China?\u201d Jimmy calls out. \u201cYeh, we don\u2019t want no yellow devils \u2018ere.\u201d another lad shouted out.<\/div>\n
\u201cNow then lads,\u201d I said, \u201cNo need to be unkind to a fellow just because he happens to be different from you. Besides, I thought you said this chap was a bishop Stateside.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s right. He\u2019s a Yank! They\u2019re a daft lot. Why does he want to follow some slanty eye religion?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHere, here,\u201d I smiled, \u201cLet\u2019s not be un kind to others!\u201d I said, \u201cI don\u2019t have much time for things Oriental myself \u2013although I must admit, Mrs. Vicar and I enjoy the odd Chinese take away of an evening\u2013nothing like a nice portion of sweet and sour pork on a lap tray with the Benny Hill Show)<\/div>\n
Personally, I can see nothing wrong with a parson dabbling in Buddhism if that\u2019s what he fancies. Can\u2019t do any harm can it? What\u2019s all the fuss? I expect this bishop Stateside knows what he\u2019s doing and a little bit of Eastern religion might help to attract immigrants to the Church. You never know\u2013the fellow might have a special mission to folks in Chinatown.<\/div>\n
What I don\u2019t understand is why the fellow would bother. From what I understand Buddhism is a rather charming religion. It\u2019s ancient, peaceful, has fairly pleasant customs and you don\u2019t have to believe anything.<\/div>\n
Why should a fellow bother to convert to Buddhism when he already has all that within the good old C of E?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest blogger, The Rev\u2019d Humphrey Blytherington, Vicar of St Hilda\u2019s Little Snoring and All Saints\u2019, Great Snoring weighs in on matters Anglican\u2026 Down at the Goose and Garter the other evening one of the lads asked a bit of a sticky question about the Anglican Church. They\u2019re just an ordinary group of hearty menfolk, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[4,21,94],"class_list":["post-1852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-vicar","tag-alter-egos","tag-anglicans","tag-humor"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Vicar on Buddhist Bishops<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Guest blogger, The Rev'd Humphrey Blytherington, Vicar of St Hilda's Little Snoring and All Saints', Great Snoring weighs in on matters Anglican... 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