This is me, Eccles

This is me, Eccles
This is me, Eccles
Showing posts with label viper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label viper. Show all posts

Friday, 12 September 2014

Jesus asks "What would Dolan do?"

Jerusalem, AD 30

Jesus of Nazareth, the young preacher and miracle-worker who has taken Israel by storm, was today criticised for his "bigoted" views on sin. Said one commentator "He should ask himself, 'WWDD - What Would Dolan Do?' before sticking his neck out in this way."

Caped Dolan

The Caped Crusader: Dolan leads the way.

Specifically, Jesus was criticised for saying to a woman taken in adultery, "Go and sin no more." The general consensus is that He should have taken the WWDD approach, and joined her in an "Adulterers' Pride" march, to celebrate some religious festival, rather than criticising her perfectly natural lifestyle choice.

Dolan and Obama

WWDD? Feast in the company of notorious evil-doers! So the Messiah got that one right.

Another occasion on which Christ is said to have fallen short of the high moral standards of Cardinal Dolan is when He scourged the temple, overthrowing the tables of the money changers, and the chairs of them that sold doves. Apparently He was objecting that a house of prayer had become a den of thieves.

Said one critic, "Apparently, He refused to join in the 'Thieves Pride' service that was being conducted in the temple. I can't see the blessed Dolan acting like that. Moreover, if the Temple of the Holy Innocents were to be converted into a pet shop, then Dolan would never have tried to prevent that."

Dead parrot sketch

Trouble at the Pet Shop of the Holy Innocents.

We therefore urge all our readers, before contemplating any difficult course of action, to ask "What would Dolan do?" One can avoid so much trouble by giving into the world, rather than trying to take a high moral stance. So no referring to a "generation of vipers", please!

Dolan cracking up

Now, being serious for a minute...

Friday, 6 July 2012

Bad Hymns 6

Today's entry for the Eccles Bad Hymn Award is Follow me, by Michael Cockett, another totally inappropriate hymn that has found itself into the Kevin Mayhew book of Vogon poetry Hymns for Hippies.


E: Michael Cockett, good to see you. Did you have a good journey here?

MC: Not entirely, Eccles, I had this uncanny feeling that someone was following me.

Follow me

Monsieur, I was told to follow you

E: Never mind, I'm sure there's a rational explanation. Now in your hymn you seem to have copied and pasted huge swathes of Jesus's words, without worrying too much about the context.

MC: We've had a few complaints about that, Eccles. Lots of people have been going out to buy fishing-nets and boats just so that they could leave them upon the shore.

E: Yes, and then your friends removed them and sold them at car boot sales, eh?

MC: That's a vicious lie, Eccles!

Fishing-nets

For sale, to a good home

E: Now one thing you make people sing is The foxes have their holes and the swallows have their nests. Very true, I'm sure, but is it really the sort of thing that should be put into a hymn?

MC: But Jesus said it, so it must be worth singing! And it's organic!

E: So would you also sing Ye brood of vipers, who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come?

MC: Great idea, Eccles. How about: You are vipers, you are vipers, You did not dance unto the pipers? Matthew 11 and 12, you see.

Charming snakes

A priest having trouble with his congregation

E: You are vipers, you are vipers, Your car's lost its windscreen wipers? No, perhaps not.

MC: So, am I in contention for the Eccles Bad Hymn Award?

E: Well, maybe. But for real star quality you really want silly words, not just words that aren't suitable for singing. We'll let you know.

MC: Thanks. I'll be off now. By the way, don't forget to "follow me" on Twitter.