Even more sons of Zeus

UPDATE 1: Sounds like the Commies didn't like heavy metal either:

"Heavy metal acts such as Black Sabbath, Nazareth, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were blacklisted for supposed offences including religious obscurantism, violence, racism and anti-communism... 'Anyone who was religious in any way was guilty of "religious obscurantism". It didn't matter whether you believed in God or the devil or black magic or whatever. The only thing you were supposed to believe in was the party. They didn't like violent lyrics because they might disturb Soviet order.'

- Mark Howarth, "They were banned in the USSR", The Scotsman (25 June 2006) - link via Colby Cosh

UPDATE 2: The Orthodox are on the warpath:

Finland's ambassador to Greece... has had to defend [Finnish heavy-metal band Lordi, winner of the Eurovision song contest] from charges of Satanism leveled by the Greek Orthodox Archbishop Christodoulos. In his Sunday sermon, the day after Lordi's victory, the archbishop ... suggested that Finland's entry was attempting to convert souls to Satan.

- Andrew Ian Dodge, "Political Spinal Tap", Tech Central Station (25 May 2006)

"Should the abuse continue, Butler said the council 'will defer the matter to Satan'."

'Protestant theologian Adolf von Härnack once described the Orthodox church as "in her entire structure alien to the Gospel and a perversion of the Christian religion, its reduction to the level of pagan antiquity"...'

- Quoted in "Why I'm Not Orthodox: An evangelical explores the ancient and alien world of the Eastern church," by Daniel B Clendenin, 4(1) Christianity Today (6 January 1997), pp 32-38.

'Eastern Orthodoxy loudly repudiates Plato only to embrace Plotinus, whose Neo-Platonic system has been openly cultivated into every aspect of Eastern Orthodox theology, from God’s degrees of being to human deification. Such paganism flies in the face of the first commandment.'

-- "Eastern Heterodoxy", by Douglas Jones, 6(5) Credenda/Agenda

Pagan?! Us Eastern Orthodox?! We'll show you who's pagan!

'It has taken almost 2,000 years, but those who worship the 12 gods of ancient Greece have finally triumphed. An Athens court has ordered that the adulation of Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Athena and co is to be unbanned, paving the way for a comeback of pagans on Mount Olympus. The followers, who say they "defend the genuine traditions, religion and ethos" of the ancients by adhering to a pre-Christian polytheistic culture, are poised to take their battle to the temples of Greece. [...] About 98% of Greeks are Orthodox Christian, and all other religions except Judaism and Islam had been banned.'

-- "Greek gods prepare for comeback", by Helena Smith, The Guardian (Friday 5 May 2006)

Sounds reasonable, hey? Live and let live? No so, apparently:

'Father Eustathios Kollas, who presides over the community of Greek priests, said: "They are a handful of miserable resuscitators of a degenerate dead religion who wish to return to the monstrous dark delusions of the past".'

One can't really blame the Greek Orthodox for resenting the pagans, seeing how the latter persecuted Christian evangelists who tried to preach the Gospel, as recently as 2,000 years ago.

Fetus saves

"Delegates of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are to tackle whether to
adopt gender-inclusive language for worship of the divine Trinity along with the
traditional 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit,' " the Associated Press reports from
Birmingham, Ala.:

The divine Trinity--"Father, Son and Holy
Spirit''--could also be known as "Mother, Child and Womb'' or "Rock, Redeemer,
Friend'' at some Presbyterian . . . services under an action Monday by the
church's national assembly.

"Mother, Child and Womb"? That's even more
sexist than the old patriarchal Trinity. We suspect God will be quite angry at
the suggestion that she is no more than an Incubator. It ought to be "Woman,
Fetus and Body."

"Rock, Redeemer, Friend" is much better, and it's easy
to remember. Rock crushes Redeemer, Redeemer cuts Friend, Friend covers
Rock.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110008546

"Yousa no be so reckless-sa!"

Former Australian Crawl lead guitarist Simon Binks, who suffered brain damage after a drunken car accident, has been awarded more than $330,000 after successfully suing North Sydney Council.

Mr Binks, 49, would have received close to a million dollars if the NSW Supreme Court had not ruled that he was 65 per cent responsible for the crash at Milsons Point shortly before 1am on July 20, 1995.

Mr Binks had a blood alcohol concentration of .133 when his Mercedes-Benz collided with a telegraph pole at the intersection of Alfred and Fitzroy streets where roadworks were being carried out...

-- Natasha Wallace, "Rocker gets $330,000 for drunken crash", Sydney Morning Herald (25 May 2006)