In which the pond retreats to the good old days of a Sunday meditation ...

The pond misses the good old days of its Sunday meditations, when the Pellists strode the stage in their frocks (and George delivered homilies in his Sunday Terror column about the importance of loving children and letting them come unto the Church), and the Jensenists were alive and well, and ready to deliver a complimentary woman to any man's door …

These days even Scott Pruitt's ashamed to do a meeting with the Pellists and must hide the evidence, while the fundamentalists at Moore College scurry about heads down, looking pious and concerned. Every time the pond walks past, it has to resist the urge to call out, "Are there any complimentary women available, just asking for a friend …"

Never mind, all things must pass, but the pond was pleased that the Tehan burbling and the reptile crusade managed to get everyone excited at the pond … so many comments, and a couple of tidy links … that the pond thought it might try its luck again.

And what do you know, recently the lizard Oz ran a piece by an eccentric from the deep north, and luckily the pond tucked it away for a Sunday meditation …

Now there's nothing like an Xian attempting some form of wit or humour … was it the good Dr Johnson who compared the phenomenon to a dog walking on hind legs? It's rarely done well but it is a constant surprise to find it done at all …

But if then pond might just stop the good pastor, invite him to heel and explain why the prayer is insulting and jarring from the get-go.

You see, it should read "Our Mother who art in heaven", or perhaps "Our amorphous nebulous gender fluid imaginary friend who art in heaven."

The pond doesn't mind the pastor believing in an imaginary friend, but has no idea how he's determined that the redeemer is masculine and that heaven is some sort of male domain ruled over by the patriarchy.

It's true that it's a tad disturbing to hunk of the highest office bearers in the land praying for guidance to an imaginary friend, but it might be better if they thought of the friend as their mum, rather than their distant, overbearing, emotionally useless dad …

And from there on, the pond found the silliness tended to compound like the national debt ...

Actually, if the pond might be so bold, "hallowed" means treating the overbearing patriarchal figure beloved of fundamentalist Xians as some sort of hallowed chap worthy of supine veneration and reverence … and the notion of the kingdom coming, sexual jibes aside, seems to be an invocation of an extremely authoritarian figure with delusions of grandeur and a remarkable lust for power …

Now the pond couldn't help noting an attempt by the pastor to use a bit of verbal trickery in a bid to get out of the patriarchal jail ...

No, no, no, billy goat. You can't start off with "Our Father" and then slip in a "he (or she)" … that's simply not going to fly …

As for free bread of an equal and fair kind, go tell that to the supermarkets.

Around this time, the pond lost patience. This was a long way from the glory days of the Pellists and the Jensenists… this was a form of deep north childishness and silliness, and so the pond decided it might be better just to finish it off with a chunky gobbet of verbal soup ...

Yep, they breed cane toads and weird pastors up in the deep north, and so to a liturgical matter.

For years, the pond was taught that only heretics destined for an eternity of hellfire would say the line "for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory."

It was a sure sign of recalcitrant Protestantism, which only confused the pond further when occasionally the mother, in an outburst of heresy, would drag the pond off to a C of E service … so that we might all be doomed to an eternity of hellfire …

The pond doesn't want to revive old wounds, but as Greg Hunters know …

The doxology of the prayer is not contained in Luke's version, nor is it present in the earliest manuscripts of Matthew, representative of the Alexandrian text, although it is present in the manuscripts representative of the later Byzantine text. Most scholars do not consider it part of the original text of Matthew. New translations generally omit it...

...Latin Church Roman Catholics do not use the doxology when reciting the Lord's Prayer, because it is not part of their received liturgical tradition and is not found in the Latin Vulgate of St. Jerome. Since 1970 it is included in the Roman Rite Mass as an independent item, not as part of the Lord's Prayer. The Anglican Book of Common Prayer sometimes gives the Lord's Prayer with the doxology, sometimes without. Most Protestants append it to the Lord's Prayer. (here with footnotes).

Is it wise to put politicians into a position where they must embark on earnest theological disputation about hierarchical patriarchal protestant appendages? Must there be talk of schismatics and heresies?

Why the hapless pollies could be banging on for ever and ever and ever about theological differences …

Interestingly, the English wording of the Our Father that we use today reflects the version mandated for use by Henry VIII (while still in communion with the Catholic Church), which was based on the English version of the Bible produced by Tyndale (1525). Later in 1541 (after his official separation from the Holy Father), Henry VIII issued an edict saying, " His Grace perceiving now the great diversity of the translations (of the Pater noster etc.) hath caused an uniform translation of the said Pater Noster, Ave, Creed, etc., to be set forth, willing all his loving subjects to learn and use the same and straitly (sic) commanding all parsons, vicars and curates to read and teach the same to their parishioners." This English version without the doxology of the Our Father became accepted throughout the English speaking world, even though the later English translations of the Bible, including the Catholic Douay-Rheims (1610) and Protestant King James versions (1611), had different renderings of prayers as found in the Gospel of St. Matthew. 
Later, the Catholic Church made slight modifications in the English: "who art replaced "which art," and "on earth" replaced "in earth." During the reign of Edward VI, the Book of Common Prayer (1549 and 1552 editions) of the Church of England did not change the wording of the Our Father nor add the doxology. However, during the reign of Elizabeth I and a resurgence to rid the Church of England from any Catholic vestiges, the Lord's Prayer was changed to include the doxology. 
The irony of this answer is that some Protestants sometimes accuse Catholics of not being "literally" faithful to Sacred Scripture and depending too much on tradition. In this case, we see that the Catholic Church has been faithful to the Gospel text of the Our Father, while Protestant Churches have added something of tradition to the word of Jesus. (here)

Yep, it's got three fifths of fuck all to do with the thoughts of the Lord, and a lot to do with the first Queen Liz's push to show a difference …

Never mind, the pond is pleased that the good pastor is one of those heretics destined to spend time in an eternity of hellfire - perhaps he and the pond will meet up at a future time - but as for the rest, the pond can think of plenty of good reasons for church and state to stay separate …

Our imaginary mother who dwelleth in an imaginary place, please make it so …