Anti-spam humour

If you are regular and active internet user, you'll know that a lot of blogs and similar sites have a system to avoid being inundated by automatic advertising or spam messages. You usually have to type in letters or digits that you can see in a graphic. Sometimes the combination of words can be quite amusing, and I wonder how they are derived. Posting my friend, Steve Tilley's, latest blog entry on facebook meant I had to type ordained as one of the words. Have they noticed he's a clerge, then? Also, is it possible to get an obscene word by mistake? How random is this?

Steve's post raises some interesting questions about why we have certain rules, and how they get changed. An example he refers to is the fact that the C of E General Synod recently threw out introducing some flexibility into whether the clergy should robe or not at ever service they take. The current position is that they should at all public worship. Many don't, especially those who are officiating at more informal gatherings, or with congregations who meet in less formal circumstances, such as church plants in schools or other community buildings. I have no idea why common sense didn't prevail and bring in some degree of flexibility. I guess for some people it would represent the thin end of a very long wedge, inevitably leading to vicars turning up in Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts.