Praise de Lord

Our Father, the funky version.

There are so many foolish people who think that they have the right to tell others how to act when they themselves haven't overcome their own envy. Envy is when you wish anything but happiness upon another person, even if they deserve it. Yeah, sometimes we gotta uphold the law, but that's a different topic of discussion. Here we are discussing a Jamaican catholic parish worshiping God with plenty of rhythm thrown into the hymn.

So while we art on the subject of Jamaica (see previous post, if inclined), it cometh as no surprise to me that many people criticised this YouTube video of a parish worshipping the Lord as they, the Jamaicans see fit, because ignorance is often passed off as religiosity. I am not trying to be critical here myself, I just wish we could negotiate like friends unless there is the threat of a clear and present lethal danger.

I think it's fabulous that the Jamaicans combine their rhythm with their worship and I encourage everyone to worship God in whatever way they can.




The brunt of the criticism appears to be from three parish musicians in another parish in another country (possibly on another planet by the sound of things) who didn't like the Jamaicans' music. It seems like only people who have some marketable musical talent are permitted to go to Heaven these days. And who's to say that the Jamaicans can only make purgatory at very best?

Though shalt learn to sing and stay in time or else.

Do Chopin and Beethoven get special treatment by the Lord? How about Alice Cooper or Marylin Manson? Not sure those guys can actually sing but people buy their work. I actually saw Alice Cooper's Welcome to my Nightmare tour whilst he was performing in Sydney in the 70s and I enjoyed his concert immensely. I wonder if God did, I hope for Alice's sake that He did, we wouldn't want another nightmare.

In the aftermath of all this nonsense there was even a comment on the Daily Telegraph website wherein the Jamaican worship was reported, regarding the blame being with the catholic church for having made a mistake of policy regarding the frequency that baptisms could be held during the Reformation in England in 1549 due to concern over high rates of infant mortality. Aparently protestants murdered somewhere between 4000 and 5500 Catholics because they disagreed with the church policy. Whatever happened to negotiation? Amazing.

All this criticism because of a funky song that did nobody any harm at all. Chee!

Murder in the Cathedral?

But think about this: if I murder you because the catholic church made a decision with which I disagree, is the catholic church to blame for the murder or am I to blame?

I would be to blame. The catholic church didn't murder anyone. One individual murders another individual. The catholic church may have been in error but people murder people ... institutions don't murder people.

Ignorance makes people thicker than a truck driver's sandwich.

So unfortunately, despite his cynical tongue, I am once again forced to agree with Mark Twain in that if these critical people are representative of the people who are going to Heaven, then Hell seems to be a more attractive place.

I think this statement speaks volumes, ie: God's not stupid enough to make Hell more attractive than Heaven so these critic guys have gotta be the ones who've got it wrong. C'mon guys, God is about love and acceptance, not criticism.

Twain's actual quote (I believe) was "Heaven for climate, Hell for society" ... but you get my drift all the same as it means much the same thing.

Bless all souls
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terrence