Another list. I hope it doesn't offend anyone or cause a riot within the tribe. These are mainly idiocies I hear regularly on the radio news and TV, and read in the NZ Herald.
Déjà vu all over again
For free
Grind to a halt
Any time soon
Shrouded in secrecy
Tight-lipped
Focussed
I was like...
Plus (meaning also)
Invite as a noun... a commute, a read, a molest, a rebuild...
Liaise as a synthetic verb
Looked like (meaning looked as though)
Passionate about (equals I like)
Fingered (“Methane fingered in mine explosion” - I wonder what the results were.)
It didn’t improve as much as what we expected. (What as a relative pronoun)
Touted
Munted
Vow (eg. “He vowed to get to the bottom of it” - People are making vows all over the place these days)
Fighting for his life (ie. critically ill)
Quiet cul-de-sac (Has anyone yet found a noisy one?)
Quiet beer (There is usually some faint sound of effervescence)
Albeit...
Unbeknownst (Aarrgghh!!!)
Incredibly (meaning very)
Incredible (when it has happened and is perfectly believable)
Obviously (when it is not obvious)
Of course (as though only a simpleton would think otherwise)
In shock
Closure
Want answers
I mean...
To be perfectly honest / frank / candid
Let’s be honest
Don’t get me wrong (why not say it accurately in the first place?)
From here on in / out
...wise (pricewise... currencywise... careerwise...)
Slate, slated
Accident waiting to happen
Bang for your buck
Iconic (ie. quite well known in some quarters)
Basically (this word has become almost meaningless)
Disconnect (it’s a verb, not a noun, stupid)
Sweet as. Fast as. (As what, stupid?)
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Church Liquefaction
In the Shorter Oxford the word means either the action or process of liquefying , the state of being liquefied -- or can mean “a melting of the soul by religious ardour”. I didn’t know that. We didn’t have a lot of liquefaction in my parishes.
One of the NZ Herald’s better writers is Tapu Misa. An articulate, intelligent and generous-minded Samoan woman and mother, Tapu recently became a committed Christian. She does mention this from time to time, but always in a quiet and humble spirit. This differs from another of the Herald’s writers, Garth George, who seems unable to mention his Christian allegiance without one way or another implying lofty moral and spiritual ground. Tapu’s latest article is about religious nutters and her first paragraph reads: I knew I'd struggle with the injunction to love my enemies when I first became a Christian. I just didn't expect so many of them would turn out to be other Christians.
Religious nutters are rising to the surface everywhere, drawn by what seems to them to be the apocalyptic nature of world events, and yesterday I saw someone else refer to this phenomenon as Church Liquefaction, which of course it is. Traumatic events make it ooze through the surface where it lies noxious and entirely unhelpful. These people tend to read books from the American religious right, full of signs and wonders, neurotic and unhinged.
We have our share of ignorant haters here in NZ as well, writes Tapu Misa. In the wake of the Christchurch earthquake an equally deranged group declared that the disaster was God's punishment for hosting "the Lesbian and Poof Week" in Queenstown, among other unpardonable sins. “The Christchurch earthquake was a warning," these people said. "God has decided to clean out NZ of its wickedness, perversion, prostitution, bullying, gangs, drugs, violence, paedophilia and of its witchcraft and black magic."
Well this is when we need to speak up. It is when these sad people start implying, or openly stating, that earthquakes, tsunami, nuclear accidents, with the death and injury, dislocation and terror of many thousands, are the work of a vengeful god enraged at our sin… that it is necessary to say their god doesn’t exist. These people are telling us more about themselves than anything else, their insecurity, their need for order and reassurance and authority. Their need to see others punished. God didn’t do the earthquake. God doesn’t sit on high hurling thunderbolts at us.
But on the broader plane, I still find myself amazed and in despair at the silly naïve assumptions about God held by so many decent people in our churches. Where was God in the earthquake? Everywhere. God neither made nor stopped the tsunami. Life is hazardous, and sometimes it is fearsomely, desperately so. If anyone has the expectation that religious faith somehow confers immunity from pain and suffering, they are out of luck. It doesn’t, never did, and that is not its purpose.
One of the NZ Herald’s better writers is Tapu Misa. An articulate, intelligent and generous-minded Samoan woman and mother, Tapu recently became a committed Christian. She does mention this from time to time, but always in a quiet and humble spirit. This differs from another of the Herald’s writers, Garth George, who seems unable to mention his Christian allegiance without one way or another implying lofty moral and spiritual ground. Tapu’s latest article is about religious nutters and her first paragraph reads: I knew I'd struggle with the injunction to love my enemies when I first became a Christian. I just didn't expect so many of them would turn out to be other Christians.
Religious nutters are rising to the surface everywhere, drawn by what seems to them to be the apocalyptic nature of world events, and yesterday I saw someone else refer to this phenomenon as Church Liquefaction, which of course it is. Traumatic events make it ooze through the surface where it lies noxious and entirely unhelpful. These people tend to read books from the American religious right, full of signs and wonders, neurotic and unhinged.
We have our share of ignorant haters here in NZ as well, writes Tapu Misa. In the wake of the Christchurch earthquake an equally deranged group declared that the disaster was God's punishment for hosting "the Lesbian and Poof Week" in Queenstown, among other unpardonable sins. “The Christchurch earthquake was a warning," these people said. "God has decided to clean out NZ of its wickedness, perversion, prostitution, bullying, gangs, drugs, violence, paedophilia and of its witchcraft and black magic."
Well this is when we need to speak up. It is when these sad people start implying, or openly stating, that earthquakes, tsunami, nuclear accidents, with the death and injury, dislocation and terror of many thousands, are the work of a vengeful god enraged at our sin… that it is necessary to say their god doesn’t exist. These people are telling us more about themselves than anything else, their insecurity, their need for order and reassurance and authority. Their need to see others punished. God didn’t do the earthquake. God doesn’t sit on high hurling thunderbolts at us.
But on the broader plane, I still find myself amazed and in despair at the silly naïve assumptions about God held by so many decent people in our churches. Where was God in the earthquake? Everywhere. God neither made nor stopped the tsunami. Life is hazardous, and sometimes it is fearsomely, desperately so. If anyone has the expectation that religious faith somehow confers immunity from pain and suffering, they are out of luck. It doesn’t, never did, and that is not its purpose.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Seismic matters
The people of the little town of Coromandel decided to have their own prayerful and commemorative service for the Christchurch earthquake, the February 2011 one. Of course they assumed it must be ecumenical, and it happened to be the Presbyterians’ turn to host such a thing. The Presbyterians being currently without a minister, some elderly elder took the reins. This was his great moment. He informed everyone from the pulpit that earthquakes and all their horrors are God’s response to our sinfulness. I suppose this self-righteous simpleton has been going to church all his life, and has learned nothing.
A couple of days ago news arrived of the earthquake off the coast of Japan. Now we have aerial clips of the tsunami flowing ashore in the north of the island, carrying everything before it, cars, boats, buildings, tonnes of debris. Our daughter-in-law Yuko arrived in Auckland that morning with Fiona and Lucas, but they had taken off from Tokyo shortly before the quake and they didn't know any more than we knew. Our son Lex was in his office when the quake happened, and emailed us to say he was OK, and was about to start walking home. We think it would be a walk of a few hours. He didn’t know if their home was damaged, but the main damage in Tokyo seemed to be to services. The trains and electricity were out.
One of the websites has a helpful interactive map of the world showing earthquake sites as they happen. There is the “Pacific rim of fire”, with the huge Japan quake all fresh and pulsating. The Christchurch quakes look tiny by comparison. While we are living right there on the rim of fire, Australia is off to one side, and according to the map nothing ever happens there. Just to the north, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia look like a seething mass of magma.
A couple of Christchurch emails...
We have a Baptist colleague here whose church has fallen down and whole house has been red stickered as well. Someone asked him what he wanted – was there anything they could do for him? He replied: Yes I wouldn’t mind a Fiat…(latest model car!) I have always wanted one of those.
...the parcel that arrived at our door this morning was fantastic!
90+ daffodil bulbs to give out to people at church as symbols of hope – what a creatively positive idea that was, then acted on!
Lex emailed later on Day One to say he had walked home in 3 hours with a stop for dinner. The apartment was shaken up but OK. Now, a couple of days on, the main problem in Tokyo seems to be getting basic food items. But further north it’s all simply horrifying. The threat from the ruptured nuclear reactors doesn’t bear thinking about.
Mary is wondering about assembling an emergency kit for when we get our calamity -- earthquake, tsunami, plague, invasion from Tonga... I have ordered a solar-powered battery charger from Dick Smith Electronics. That seems to me as sensible as anything. We already have a stock of assorted rechargeable batteries.
A couple of days ago news arrived of the earthquake off the coast of Japan. Now we have aerial clips of the tsunami flowing ashore in the north of the island, carrying everything before it, cars, boats, buildings, tonnes of debris. Our daughter-in-law Yuko arrived in Auckland that morning with Fiona and Lucas, but they had taken off from Tokyo shortly before the quake and they didn't know any more than we knew. Our son Lex was in his office when the quake happened, and emailed us to say he was OK, and was about to start walking home. We think it would be a walk of a few hours. He didn’t know if their home was damaged, but the main damage in Tokyo seemed to be to services. The trains and electricity were out.
One of the websites has a helpful interactive map of the world showing earthquake sites as they happen. There is the “Pacific rim of fire”, with the huge Japan quake all fresh and pulsating. The Christchurch quakes look tiny by comparison. While we are living right there on the rim of fire, Australia is off to one side, and according to the map nothing ever happens there. Just to the north, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia look like a seething mass of magma.
A couple of Christchurch emails...
We have a Baptist colleague here whose church has fallen down and whole house has been red stickered as well. Someone asked him what he wanted – was there anything they could do for him? He replied: Yes I wouldn’t mind a Fiat…(latest model car!) I have always wanted one of those.
...the parcel that arrived at our door this morning was fantastic!
90+ daffodil bulbs to give out to people at church as symbols of hope – what a creatively positive idea that was, then acted on!
Lex emailed later on Day One to say he had walked home in 3 hours with a stop for dinner. The apartment was shaken up but OK. Now, a couple of days on, the main problem in Tokyo seems to be getting basic food items. But further north it’s all simply horrifying. The threat from the ruptured nuclear reactors doesn’t bear thinking about.
Mary is wondering about assembling an emergency kit for when we get our calamity -- earthquake, tsunami, plague, invasion from Tonga... I have ordered a solar-powered battery charger from Dick Smith Electronics. That seems to me as sensible as anything. We already have a stock of assorted rechargeable batteries.
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