The Queen's Christmas Message on YouTbe. You couldn't do this in America.

[Stray Pooch]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzLvBxldMNc

The closest thing in America to this is the "controversial" Huckabee Christmas ad. 

She has the nerve to mention the birth and ministry of Christ AND to praise the troops.  She'd get hung over here.

[Michael Tee]

The Queen is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.  The troops she praised are her troops.  They fight for Queen (her) and country (the U.K.)  Their officers are royally commissioned, i.e. commissioned by her.  She wasn't out of line at all.  SHE is the one who determines what's out of line and what's not.  And so far, she's done a pretty good job of it.

[Lanya]

That was a wonderful Christmas message, one that's good the whole year long.
Thanks, Pooch. I really liked that.

[The_Professor]

Yes, thank you, Pooch. Excellent message indeed.

[_JS]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzLvBxldMNc

The closest thing in America to this is the "controversial" Huckabee Christmas ad. 

She has the nerve to mention the birth and ministry of Christ AND to praise the troops.  She'd get hung over here.

Michael is correct.

The Queen is much more than the president (and far more than an ex-governor of Arkansas). She is Elizabeth II, Dei Gratia Britanniarum Regnorumque Suorum Ceterorum Regina, Consortionis Populorum Princeps, Fidei Defensor. In other words she is Queen by the Grace of God as well as Defender of the Faith, which in this case is the Church of England (as Mike indicated). Technically her status is one tier higher in the CoE hierarchy than the Archbishop of Canterbury.

In Canada, Belize, Australia, Grenada, New Zealand (to name a few) she is Queen, by the Grace of God.

You couldn't do this in America for several blatantly obvious reasons.

[The_Professor]

regarding your new moniker:

and yet poverty will never be ended, unfortunately. The poor will always be with us, a greater Man than I said that. Of course, diverting funds being spent for Iraq to mitigate poverty might help a bit.

[_JS]

Christ did not say the poor will always be with us as an excuse to ignore them, or blame them for their own poverty, or call them parasites, all of which some people have done.

Remember that He also said:

The Gospel of Matthew

34 Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'
37 Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
40 And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41 Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
43 a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'
44 Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?'
45 He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'
46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

[The_Professor]

Christ did not say the poor will always be with us as an excuse to ignore them, or blame them for their own poverty, or call them parasites, all of which some people have done.

Remember that He also said:

The Gospel of Matthew

34 Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'
37 Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
40 And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41 Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
43 a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'
44 Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?'
45 He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'
46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Sorry, you must have not seen where I indicated that the monies being spent for Iraq can help a great many needy people.

[_JS]

I did.

I just wanted to make sure that others recognized that what Christ said was most definitely not an excuse for apathy. He was born into a poor family, not by accident I am sure.

[Lanya]

I did.

I just wanted to make sure that others recognized that what Christ said was most definitely not an excuse for apathy. He was born into a poor family, not by accident I am sure.

You will get an argument on that subject from some Protestants, who seem to believe that he had  a rather comfortable life. 

I've noticed that some Christians these days think that poverty is contagious. If you don't make eye contact with a poor person and definitely don't come near them, you won't get it.    It is like they're warding off evil spirits. 
If you tithe, you won't be affected by poverty.
If you say "In Jesus name we pray" then your prayer won't be 'stolen' and used by the Devil. (Someone actually told me that.  Um, believe in magic, much? lol)

[_JS]

I did.

I just wanted to make sure that others recognized that what Christ said was most definitely not an excuse for apathy. He was born into a poor family, not by accident I am sure.

You will get an argument on that subject from some Protestants, who seem to believe that he had  a rather comfortable life. 

I've noticed that some Christians these days think that poverty is contagious. If you don't make eye contact with a poor person and definitely don't come near them, you won't get it.    It is like they're warding off evil spirits. 
If you tithe, you won't be affected by poverty.
If you say "In Jesus name we pray" then your prayer won't be 'stolen' and used by the Devil. (Someone actually told me that.  Um, believe in magic, much? lol)

Make no mistake Lanya, there are Catholics who believe similar things concerning Jesus and poverty as well.

I always laugh a little when people wish their families were like the Holy Family. Imagine that. First, the wife is a teenager who has a child out of wedlock and by another father. The husband is likely much older. You are a poor family (we know this both historically as Nazareth was a poor town at the time, and Biblically by the offering Mary gave at the temple for her infant Son). You already had to flee to Egypt for a long while. Now, if you're Mary, your son is a radical. There are no questions about that. His ministry is one that pulls no rhetorical punches. The conservatives of their day in Jewish society were the Pharisees and to a degree, the Sadducees. Jesus turns their world upside down to a degree that they are content to see him crucified under the Roman death penalty. It is a rather harsh society where Christ prevents an adulteress from being stoned to death, he befriends a harlot, a tax collector, beggars, the dregs of the times.

Those people wish to be like Mary and Joseph? Yeah right. I'm guessing that they wish to have God's favor without the pain and suffering that went with being Mary or Joseph. Wordsworth called Mary, "our tainted nature's solitary boast" but imagine how difficult her life really was.

[The_Professor]

I did.

I just wanted to make sure that others recognized that what Christ said was most definitely not an excuse for apathy. He was born into a poor family, not by accident I am sure.

Being born into a poor family obviously indicated a number of issues, most notably that Jesus Christ was here for EVERYONE, regardless of thier station in life.

[gipper]

You couldn't do this -- in so many words -- because we don't have a monarch who is titular head of the national, Christian church.

[Michael Tee]

<<Technically her status is one tier higher in the CoE hierarchy than the Archbishop of Canterbury. >>

Technically, she appoints the Archbishop of Canterbury (although in reality she has virtually nothing to say about it.)

[Michael Tee]

<<Being born into a poor family obviously indicated a number of issues, most notably that Jesus Christ was here for EVERYONE, regardless of thier station in life.>>

Don't mean a thing if you ain't got that swing. 

Buddha was born a Prince of the realm, and he was for all sentient beings.  Karl Marx was a manufacturer's son, but he was there for the workers and peasants.  Fidel and Che were from upper-middle-class backgrounds but by their actions they were true sons of the people.