A most peculiar Thought for the Day on the Today programme this morning from Rev Dr Giles Fraser which seems to suggest the seeking economic growth is akin to original sin! Then again maybe this is not that surprising given that Rev Giles is a regular contributor to The Guardian and the Socialist Worker. (oh and a tireless crusader for gay and lesbian rights – just the sort of chap the BBC want on TFTD)
I suppose this all fits with the BBC vultures gathering around the release of UK economic growth figures later this morning. The BBC anticipates that these figures will show a slow down or retraction in economic growth with the Royal Wedding being prominently used to help explain away such a slow down. It appears all our economic woes began the day the Coalition was elected and I couldn’t help but wonder who was in power from 1997 to 2010 during which period the UK economy melted down.
Fraser Nelson foresaw this and got the some info (a defence of sorts) in yesterday:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/7122543/what-you-need-to-know-ahead-of-tomorrows-growth-figures.thtml
Look lively – it’s 9.35, and the BBC front page has ‘UK economy likely to have slowed’ as main news, and ‘Uk economy grows by 0.5%’ as the red flash headline!
Priceless.
They figured a way to counter that growth news (most expected slightly negative growth)…invent a clash!
Make that ‘0.2%’
Pope PiusXI once said wrote one cannot be at the same time a true socialist and a true Catholic. This, depending on how one defines socialism, is correct about all traditional Christianity. However PiusXI and LeoXIII and Catholic social teaching, as well as the historical social and economic teaching of all traditional Christianity(Orthodox, evangelical Lutheranism and catholic Anglican.), is very critical of capitalism and corporate-capitalism as well and rightly. A traditional Christian should avoid economic liberalism(in the broad, classical sense.) as he should avoid all forms of liberalism(in the broad, classical sense.). Instead something like the doctrines of Catholic social teachings and the economic of widely spread, real property, known as distributist, of the likes of Chesterton and Belloc, is the sort of economic doctrine that traditional Christians should pursue.
Rightful hostility to the doctrines of Marx and the Fabians should not cause traditional Christians to fall into the mirror errors of the likes of Milton Friedman or Hayek.
‘..which seems to suggest the seeking economic growth is akin to original sin!’
So…
From: dailyemail@ebs.bbc.co.uk
Subject: UK economic growth ‘slows’
The UK economy has grown by 0.2% in the quarter from April to June, the ONS estimates
Bolly all round then?
New front page headline: ‘UK Economy slows to 0.2% growth.’
Devious indeed. The rate of growth can ‘slow’ to a lower rate, which is what has happened, but to suggest that the economy has slowed is a barefaced lie.
Fraser was skewered by Jeff Randall a few weeks back, where he didn`t even know his own bible-let alone caree for what Jeff quoted to him(Prov 13.22 since you ask!).
Fraser was sent out from St Pauls Social Services to be Rowans heatshield after that NS stuff he reamed off.
Just the sort of spineless glove puppet that the BBC like…no Biblical knowledge, no sense of real life-but a chance to include Baader-Meinhoff in the “outreach team” sometime soon!
Jeff Randall should be doing his Thought for the Day slots-he knows far more about the Bible than Giles Fraser does!
Speaking of Rowan’s heatshield – the one that melted in the fire:
[From the Grauniad]
The archbishop of Canterbury’s spin doctor is to leave after just nine months in the role and following Tory protests over a controversial magazine article condemning the coalition.
George Pitcher, an Anglican priest and former journalist, was hired last October as public affairs secretary at Lambeth Palace and engineered Rowan Williams’s stint as guest editor for the New Statesman last month, which saw the archbishop launch a sustained attack on the coalition.
His criticism, seen by Whitehall as the most outspoken by an archbishop in a decade, pitted him against the government and left Lambeth Palace scrambling to minimise the damage as Conservative politicians and peers berated the archbishop either through the media or through channels at the Church of England.
Sunday, Lambeth Palace confirmed that Pitcher was leaving, but refused to say whether the New Statesmen stint had anything to do with his exit. “George was contracted to advise the archbishop on public affairs issues and that contract expires on 30 September when he will have completed projects he was asked to undertake. “When approached by the Guardian about his departure Pitcher said: “I am returning to journalism, a culture to which I am better suited…”
Our economic system deserves a lot of censure from a traditional Christian. It has had from Popes in recent centuries. The problem is that socialism and social democracy are also anti-Christian and many fall from one error into the other(in both direction.).
Rowan is the summation of the whole idea that someone can be spiritually honourable, but of no earthly use.
He`d have made a fine meditative monk, but is of no use whatsoever when we live in the times that we do.
Benedict knocks him into a cocked hat-and Jonathan Sacks is the finest leader of a faith that I have yet come across.
Hope that the Jews can get him to stay on-his Thoughfor the Day is the only one worth a light!