Let us pray!

I gather that the recent ban on the Lord's Prayer (not John 17) in the cinema has caused a great deal of upset! What a surprise! Never mind anything else then! Is there nothing else we can talk about these days? It should think that the handkerchief industry could be boosted over night if the whole thing could only go viral! For crying out loud?! Who says that religion is bad for the economy?! By way of clarification, I am not referring to my comments, although they may make some people cry!

As I can neither recall my last visit to the pictures let alone reciting the Lord's Prayer, a practise which, so it can be argued, in direct contradiction to what Jesus Himself taught in Matthew 6:5ff., I am probably not qualified to say anything, but as I am not a Trappist monk, I might as well speak on!

It is well-known that the Church of England, an institution rooted in the 16^th century, rather than in New Testament soil, is desperate to swell its ranks by all sorts of means, mainly, though, through hatches, matches and dispatches, or, if you prefer, yells, bells and knells (click here if you don't believe me). And now the Lord's Prayer, featuring the archbishhop, out of all people! Why was I not consulted on this?

It is odd, to put it mildly, that Welby would encourage cinema goers to pray when he himself has just most recently expressed doubts about what God might be up to: 'Paris attacks: Archbishop Justin Welby admits 'doubt' over God's presence after tragedy'! His predecessor – according to Welby 'one of our best ever Archbishops' - notoriously portrayed God as 'pretty useless' on 9/11. Why anyone would wish to urge us to pray to that kind of God in the first place has left be completely bamboozled!

More odd, still, why did the early church never think of that?! Oh, I see, there were no archbishops then! But there was plenty of prayer – in the places of public entertainment – when the early Christians were thrown to the lions! If only I could pray like that myself!

Now as I am not an Anglican, I might as well become a Trappist monk, in my imagination, that is! For the time being! My Anglican friends may perhaps express their thanks to their God in the usual manner!

If any cinema wishes to advertise my comments, then this can be done – for free!
P.S. With my apologies to uncle Richard - "Richard Dawkins says UK cinemas should screen the Lord's Prayer"