Oh, How Exceedingly INtolerant are the 'tolerant'; or, let's give each and every - conceivable - religion (and religious understanding) its corner in the religious arena, except of course Christianity!

C.S.Lewis, the distinguished Oxford University scholar/professor/Christian author and apologist - and all the rest - would be wincing/squirming/turning in his grave, this very day, could he have foreseen what his beloved 'alma mater' *has just done...i.e. apparently, according to the British correspondent upon this morning's 'Mike Hosking' Newstalk ZB radio segment (around 6.50 a.m.), deeming the Christian religion alone effective persona no grata and thereby **'disbarred' from being able to operate upon said campus. And why, you understandably ask? Well, for obvious reasons: for being (at least in its evangelical incarnation, anyhow) politically incorrect to a fault. Or, in the allegation of those **'disbarring' it, for [promoting/instilling/circulating - my words and paraphraseology] homophobia and neocolonialism.

Without even deigning at this stage to dignify such slanderous, no doubt even ****libellous accusations against Christianity (as a religion) and Christians themselves (as the 'practitioners' thereof), let me simply point out the supreme irony of the particular time juncture upon which said esteemed learning institution has chosen to issue such an edict: apparently, from a wholly unrelated news item this morning upon BBC World Radio - which, interestingly and oddly enough (though perhaps I missed something earlier or later), carried no mention of this - cited the formal induction (if I'm not mistaken) this selfsame day of the famed Pakistani teenager *****Mahalai ******Yousseff into selfsame university. For her outspokenness in upholding religious freedom within a (national, i.e. Pakistani) context/atmosphere of religious intolerance.

Oh, the supreme irony of the juxtaposition of these two easily overlooked pieces of news...which together speak volumes, even tomes, about the point to which we have now - long since - well and truly arrived in the (one time) 'free world'. But then didn't that old sage, former British P.M. Tony Blair's distantly related relative, Eric Blair - better known to one and all as George Orwell - 'prophesy' just such idiomatic and vocabulary shenanigans in his own 1984 version of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Or, as the animals upon the farm in GO's equally brilliantly Animal Farm might have expressed it - if we can rephrase the sentiment in modern lingo (to adequately characterize the situation we see today in/at Oxford University): non-Christian religions and adherents (all invariably) good; Christianity and Christians bad. Or alternatively: all religions and their adherents are equal, but some are more equal than others.

'Nuff said!

*Or rather, the 'student union' thereof (far as I can gather at this stage anyway).

**Admittedly a term strictly relating to the law, and signifying ***'expel[ing] from the bar'.

***Once again, according to my ever trusty Chambers Concise Dictionary (1988), although I used to ever studiously consult my Grandma's equally tried and trustworthy Concise Oxford Dictionary (of a similar vintage, but even earlier, I believe 1980).

****Because surely the university 'edict' involved was issued in actual writing, whether physical or 'virtual'.

*****About whom I've previously written - and in highly eulogistic terms - upon this or, more likely, my other blogsite.

******Trusting my spelling is a-ok, but desiring to get this 'out there' ipso pronto...