NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, duchess of Cornwall, arrived in New York Nov. 1 for a weeklong tour of the United States that will take them to Washington, New Orleans and San Francisco.
Though the visit is being categorized as a social rather than political one, the Prince of Wales reportedly has plans to lecture Americans regarding their lack of appreciation for one of the major world religions — and it’s not Christianity, which as the future King of England he will be expected to defend.
In his Nov. 2 commentary on albertmohler.com, R. Albert Mohler Jr., who admitted he is an “unapologetic Anglophile,” expressed disappointment that Charles is “a walking refutation of a hereditary monarchy” who has brought on more than his share of tribulations.
“Throughout his lifetime, Charles has dabbled with various mysticisms and New Age philosophies,” Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote. “In one sense, lacking any normal vocation, he has become an expert at eccentricities.
“Now, Prince Charles intends to chide President George W. Bush concerning what he sees as America’s lack of tolerance for Islam,” Mohler wrote. “According to The Telegraph, the Prince ‘has voiced private concerns over Washington’s ‘confrontational’ approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate what he regards as Islam’s strengths.’”
Charles apparently has expressed unusual interest in Islam in recent years, has given large sums of money to its causes, and was even rumored to have converted to the religion nearly a decade ago. He has insisted that Islam is a religion of peace and that Western media have given citizens a false understanding of Islam’s purposes, Mohler noted.
The future king also has made known his reluctance to assume the title “Defender of the Faith” when he takes the throne. Instead, he prefers “Defender of Faith” because he does not want to limit his role to the defense of only one religion, that of the Anglican Church of England.
“The Prince of Wales has become a perfect parable of postmodernism — embracing New Age eccentricities and revitalizing the central issue of truth,” Mohler said. “His intention to be known as a defender of faith rather than of the faith indicates the tragic vacuum at the very center of his understanding of Christianity.
“In just over 50 years, Prince Charles has managed to make himself a mockery of marriage and morality and to pose, as one leading British newspaper observed, as ‘a well-intentioned eccentric seeking divine inspiration,’” Mohler added. “There is indeed much to learn by observing the example of Prince Charles. He has become a living portrait of what happens when Christianity is separated from its central truth claims, and when faith becomes a matter of emotional aspiration rather than firm belief in the truth.”
NATIONAL CATHEDRAL HOSTS ‘HOMOSEXUAL CHURCH’ — An open lesbian, Nancy Wilson, was installed as the presiding bishop of Metropolitan Community Churches, which calls itself the world’s largest predominantly homosexual, bisexual and transgender denomination, in a ceremony at the prestigious Washington National Cathedral Oct. 29.
The denomination itself, in a news release, noted that the cathedral “is a unique institution. It is not a parish nor does it have a congregation. It is also where the nation has come to mourn tragedies, the loss of national leaders and also to celebrate great national moments.”
Yet it was opened to a denomination that many believe is an affront to the basic values of the faith to which it claims to belong.
“This news story is illustrative of the profound change taking place in how the faith communities treat gay and lesbian people of faith,” MCC said in the release. “Thirty years ago, the Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. withdrew an invitation for the Presiding Bishop of Metropolitan Community Churches to speak and literally locked the doors of the Episcopal church to keep gay Christians out.
“Today, the Episcopal Church is welcoming gay Christians to the Washington National Cathedral, and is hosting the Installation Service for MCC’s new Presiding Bishop.”
MCC, founded in 1968, claims that more than 225,000 people annually attend its programs and services at 250-plus local congregations in 23 countries.
Wilson’s installation was originally to be accompanied by the unveiling of a new MCC program called “Focus on the Human Family,” which was intended to “combat spiritual violence against gays and lesbians by such groups as James Dobson’s Focus on the Family,” according to the release.
But Dobson’s attorneys intervened to protect the Christian ministry’s trademarked name, according to a report by WorldNetDaily, and the denomination removed the “Focus on the Human Family” name from its website and did not refer to it in the installation service program.
Wilson said she did not know what the problem was with using the name.
“It’s a bit puzzling,” she said. “The ministry of Metropolitan Community Churches is so different from that of James Dobson. His group tends to focus on one kind of family, what they mistakenly call the ‘traditional family.’ In Metropolitan Community Churches, we believe that God’s people find many ways to create family, and that includes gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender families.”
‘SISTER FREAKS’ HIGHLIGHTS WOMEN OF FAITH — Grammy Award-winning singer Rebecca St. James’ latest project is a book called “Sister Freaks,” which features 65 women of faith who, over the years, have given their all for the cause of Christ and whose stories prove inspirational to women today.
Playing on the title of the popular book “Jesus Freaks,” which shares the stories of Christian martyrs, Sister Freaks portrays the courage of conviction and the power of God’s transforming touch of the extraordinary in the lives of ordinary women, according to a Nov. 1 news release.
“One of the big messages that I have always strived to promote through my music, my books and my message in concert is the whole idea of being radical for God — not just being a status quo Christian — but being bold about the faith,” St. James said. “This is a book about women from all over the world who have done just that — and it has cost them to do so.”
Several years ago, St. James wrote a song called “Yes, I Believe in God,” which included the lyrics, “Yes, I believe in God, mean it death or mean it life,” and she drew upon thoughts along those lines for the book.
“We might not have a gun pointed at our heads, as the young people at Columbine High School who inspired the song did, or we might not pay the cost of our lives as some of the women in this book were called to do,” she said. “But we choose every day whether we will live radically for our Christian values or live a compromised life. I hope that readers will take away a sense of thankfulness for the freedoms we have in America — freedoms that aren’t shared by Christians in other parts of the world. To be able to openly worship God and speak out about our faith is an incredible blessing.”
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