“The difficulty here is that Polari isn’t a translation: it’s a transgression,” Canon Chivers said. “It’s not like saying ‘Let’s do liturgy in French.’ The point of Polari is it deliberately subverts. It’s code language. I understand how it originated, but in the context of liturgy, that can never work, because that’s not what worship is. It’s not about transgression, but about finding language within which all can find themselves, because it’s directed to God.”Now you might say that God taking on human form is transgressive. You may think that writing the Good News in common not classical Greek is transgressive. Certainly Thomas Hardy didn't approve. Either way this isn't filling me with hope for Hnaef's "Posh Evensong" or Burton's "Cockney Vespers", I'll be honest. But the Canon continues...
The concept of the service was “far too horizontal. The question here is: where is the verticality in this?"Did somebody mention speaking in code?
The trouble with a Polari service is that Polari is dated. It belongs to an outdated subculture. Nobody really speaks it anymore. Frankly you might as well use the ASB.
And if you want to discuss horizontality with Julian and Sandy, you probably better zoosh your riah and put sme slap on your eek.
That's the trouble with speaking in tongues. No use unless there are people with the gift of interpreting. Polari is a tongue, right?
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