The Root of All Evil

Standards of news reporting really do seem to be declining at an alarmingly rapid rate. On Sunday I was watching the BBC News Channel and was startled to hear the newsreader declare that "the Occupy London protesters had forced church authorities to close St Paul's Cathedral to the public". An astounding statement, considering that the protesters had done nothing but set up a camp near the cathedral, they certainly hadn't forced anyone to do anything. The church authorities decided to close the cathedral (a complete volte face from their position the previous weekend), using vague health and safety concerns surrounding the camp as a flimsy pretext. Shamefully, their real concern is that the cathedral shop could be losing custom because of the camp's presence. God and Mammon, together at last, eh?

Now, I don't want to get into the game of 'what would Jesus do?', and I'm not a religious person, but, based upon my, admittedly limited, biblical knowledge, I can't help but feel that he'd be outside St Paul's with the protesters. I do seem to recall hum saying something along the lines of the pursuit of money being the root of all evil. Not to mention that business about camels, rich men and eyes of needles. Oh, and he threw the money lenders out of the temple. Now, bearing in mind that these 'Occupy' protests are about holding bankers and their ilk to account for their part in the global financial crisis, (whilst all the time lining their own pockets), I don't think it is much of a stretch to believe that their Saviour would be unlikely to approve of the church authorities' actions and rhetoric on the issue. Bearing in mind that the current Archbishop of Canterbury is fond of telling everyone that he's some kind of hairy hippie leftie, I'd like to know what he proposes doing about the situation? Can we look forward to seeing him sack the Dean of St Paul's and reopen the cathedral? I'm not holding my breath.