And a Bishop came Flying By...

After our badger watching last night we were still down to the allotment early this morning.
A forecast of dry weather boded well, so we got on with all the little jobs that had been delayed by the rain yesterday and the soggy ground resulting from it.
By lunchtime Nosher was firmly ensconced in his old deckchair in the watery sun by his shed.
It was not long before I joined him for a glass of chilled fruit juice from his solar powered fridge.
'Well' he said as I sat down 'I hear the Anglican Synod have voted to allow women bishops, but with a special provision for flying bishops to attend to the spiritual needs of those male clergy who can't abide the thought of departing from what they see as the strict principles of an all-male clergy according to their narrow interpretation of the Bible.'
'I think they've been even more specific' I replied 'any bishop that attends to these clergy must not only be a man but must have been appointed by a man. It amazes me that, with so much suffering in the world that they might work towards alleviating, that there are people who still insist their narrow doctrinal interpretations are pandered for, as if that will make one iota of difference to the state the world is in.'
For a while we watched a Green Woodpecker on the ground nearby eating ants, a favourite delicacy. Then Nosher looked up and me and smiled.
'I wonder' he began 'whether it will make the slightest difference to the long-term decline of the Church of England. Only a tiny proportion of our population regularly attend religious services of any kind, and the Anglican congregation is rapidly dwindling in this country.'
'You are forgetting the evangelical wing' I said ' they are growing in numbers and influence. In another twenty years I anticipate they will have enough voting strength on the Synod to turn the tide and then they will begin to take Anglicanism back to the Middle Ages.'
Nosher pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows.
'If that happens' he said 'it won't be long before the religious bigots on all sides are hurling vitriol at each other yet again. "My god's better than yours" they'll be shouting at each other - what a load of old nonsense!'
'Yep' I agreed 'we're heading towards the next phase of the Wars of Religion in Europe, and this time it is going to be even nastier than the last outbreak of hostilities. This time they'll have modern weaponry.'
'You'd think our politicians would have the sense to consign organised religion to the dustbin of history' said Nosher 'but they're too far up their own backsides to see the danger of leaving things as they are.'
'Situation normal' I said.
More from http://www.overthegardenfence.blogspot.com/ soon.
Find out more at http://www.paulsturdee.co.uk/, and http://www.pgsbooks.co.uk/
Paul Sturdee's book Is God a Terrorist? is available from all good booksellers - please support your local bookshop, if you don't, it may not be there next time you visit!
Best wishes - and if you believe in a god, please preach peace and not war!