Friday, February 23, 2007

I'm going to Hell

The subject of Lego cropped up chez Patroclus. (Again. If Sitemeter counted the number of times a subject gets raised, the counter wouldn't be big enough.) One commenter mentioned the Brick Testament, so I high-tailed it over there, and found myself chuckling like a good'un.

I thought it might amuse some church-type friends, so emailed the link around. (I do this regularly - the Church of Aeth and Augustine are recent enjoyments.) One friend who is routinely on the distribution list is our rector's wife, an intelligent, beautiful woman, who bears a couple of crosses with humanity, and always has something interesting to say. However, our senses of humour don't often intersect. And this offering went hideously awry.

Initially, to judge by her email reply, she found the site very amusing, but in a subsequent phone conversation she had come to the view that it seemed to her blasphemous.

I spent half an hour googling 'Blasphemy for Dummies', looking for something with which either to fight my corner, or to understand her point of view, and came up with Irreverence. Ohh yesssiree Bob, that site sure is Irreverent. But do we still go to Hell for that? I know we used to, and if that's still the case, the rector's wife is going to have a lonely time of it in Heaven.

So there you have it. In my corner, half an hour's research on the Interweb, in hers, an adult lifetime's studying the Bible and a strong faith sorely tested. Is it possible to have a moral compass so compromised I don't even recognise that it is damaged?

10 comments:

Dave said...

I am a very irreverent reverend, if it's any consolation.

I, Like The View said...

it is very possible to have a damaged moral compass

but how does one come to realise that it is the compass that is damaged?

I, Like The View said...

(I have spent much of this week examining Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, which might have temporarily tainted my reverance somewhat)

Dave said...

An RE teacher on Pat's blog commented how good they are for instructing young people. I've been using them for years. Jesus used humour, so why shouldn't we?

FirstNations said...

i've found the lego bible linked in as many humor sites as religious ones.

Tim F said...

Irreverence (along with its close relatives irony, sarcasm and self-deprecation) is practically a defining trait, a sine qua non of British culture. I actually find any attempt to stifle irreverence more offensive than the original deed.

I bet you more people will be irreverent today than will step through the doors of a church.

(My word verification is "ewnurmu", a huge flightless bird invented by Vic Reeves.)

I, Like The View said...

I wonder how many people stepping thru a church doorway are actually fairly irreverent

word ver: oxymoron (not as in the punk band, but as in the contradiction:

"And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true" - Tennyson's Idylls of the King) (courtesy of Wikipedia)

realdoc said...

If your faith can be shaken by Lego that's not very impressive is it?

mad muthas said...

but aren't you the person who once answered the phone with the lord's prayer? so you must be ever so holy. i think the brick testament is very very funny - and i bet god does too. (otherwise s/he wouldn't have created lego)

Mangonel said...

ILTV, clearly I need to revisit the Blake NOW. Just have to polish off Sam Pepys, then I'm there.

MM - yes that was me! Wow, I never thought of that incident as a Freudian slip.