[Vision2020] Joan and the Celtic Goddess (a correction)

[Joan Opyr]

Damn.  Those Rush Limbaugh painkillers are getting to me.  I must once 
again beg 2020's indulgence and correct a few things in my previous 
post.  Blame it on my gallbladder; the damned thing is killing me.  
(Not literally, Aaron Rench.  Don't get your hopes up.)

Here goes again:

Aaron Rench, who just doesn't know when to quit, writes:

>> I understand that you're a little jumpy about these things,
>>
>> So, Joan, you can have your celtic goddess, and any other Brigid that 
>> you want, but my point is that there was a Christian Saint Brigid who 
>> was very hospitable, started a church, looked forward to beer in 
>> heaven, and as a side note, did live during the lifetime of Saint 
>> Patrick (he died around 464).
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Aaron

To which J. Ford replied:

> Why do these people always think others are "jumpy" or afraid of them? 
>  And they complain that everyone else in the world is against them!
>
> FYI - According to the Catholic Encyclopedia:
>
> St. Patrick was an Apostle of Ireland, BORN at Kilpatrick, near 
> Dumbarton, in Scotland, in the year 387; DIED at Saul, Downpatrick, 
> Ireland, 17 March, 493. (Some sources state he died 17 March, 461.)


Thank you, J. Ford.  No, I am not jumpy about these things.  I am just 
tired of the rank ignorance and smarmy belligerence that masquerades as 
"Christian Classical Learning" among Aaron and his colleagues.  The 
Trinity Fest's would-be St. Brigid and all of her alleged hospitality 
do not correspond with St. Patrick in date.  You need to stop getting 
your history from tourist websites, Aaron.  The Abbess Brigid was a 
12th century figure; by the time she drew her first breath, St. Patrick 
was a six-hundred year-old legend.  There was no Brigid standing by 
Patrick's side; that, too, is a myth.  A lovely myth, but a myth 
nonetheless.  (Just wondering: do you believe that old saw about 
Patrick driving all the snakes from Ireland?  Do you believe in 
Bigfoot?)

There were and are many women named Brigid (or one of its variants, 
like Bridget) in Ireland.  It's an old name in honor of an old goddess. 
  The Catholic St. Brigid predates the Abbess Brigid who post-dates St. 
Patrick.  Are we clear on this?  The worship of the goddess Brigid was 
incorporated into the worship of Irish Catholics as an aid to 
conversion; the early Catholic Church was cleverly syncretic in its 
approach, hence its success in converting the stubborn folk of England, 
Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and Scandinavia.  Ever seen a St. Brigid's 
cross?  Sheaves of reeds in a rectangular shape, a form that dates back 
to the sheaves of reeds placed on doors in honor of (and perhaps to 
appease) the goddess Brigid.  Just as striking is Thor's cross -- the 
ancient, pagan god Thor's hammer with an extra hammer head added to the 
top.  Simple, easy, and easily accepted by the newly-converted Vikings.

Now, wipe your noses, wee boys, because here's the important question 
-- what are good protestant lads like yourselves doing arsing about 
with saints of any kind?  However you slice it, that is bad 
post-Reformation Christian theology.  Even if your St. Brigid really 
were the woman you think she is (and she ain't), you would still find 
that John Calvin and John Knox would hang you from a gibbet for your 
celebration of her "hospitality."

St. Brigid's feast, my fanny.  Trinity Fest, my fanny!  You have 
carefully elided my underlying critique, boys, which is that you 
(meaning Christ Church) have made a fetish of the Trinity, and that is 
why I say that you are guilty of heresy and idolatry.  Go on now -- 
let's hear a genuine Reformed Christian defense of your 
actions/theology re: the trinity.

I double-dog dare you!

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.joanopyr.com

PS: Mind if I start calling Christ Church the Whore of Babylon?  And 
how long before Doug Wilson is declared the Bishop of Moscow?  I hope 
it's soon; then we'll be a real city and not a town.
PPS: A biscuit to the first person who tells me why Doug's being a 
bishop will make this town a city.  It will be waiting for you at The 
One World.