[42.1] CHRISTIANITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
The Centre for Christianity and Inter-Religious Dialogue at Heythrop College and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (through the Middle East Forum of the Churches' Commission on Mission) are jointly organizing a major symposium exploring the dilemmas facing Christian communities in the Middle East today.
‘Christianity in the Middle East: contemporary explorations in politics and theology’ takes place on Thursday 11 December from 10:30 to 18:30pm at Heythrop, which is part of the University of London. Places are limited and admission is by ticket only, price £20, available from the college in Kensington Square, London W8 5HQ; phone [+44 1] [0]20 7795 6600.
Speakers will include Anthony O’Mahony (Heythrop College, University of London), Sebastian Brock (Oriental Institute, University of Oxford), Peter Riddell, (London Bible College, Brunel University), John H.Watson, William Taylor (St John’s, Notting Hill), Harry Hagopian (Jerusalem Inter-Church Committee), Leon Menzies Racionzer, Revd Leonard Marsh.
The gathering will explore the political and theological dimensions of Christian presence in the Middle East today, surveying the challenges that face Christian communities in the region, including Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria. Speakers will focus on issues of ecumenism, Christian-Muslim relations, Christian-Jewish relations, and Jerusalem.
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Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
[41.2] ENTERING THE MELEE
An Advent reflection from Liz Walz, who founded Martha House, a Catholic Worker house in the Germantown section of Philadelphia in 1998. Shortly before that, she worked at Philadelphia's Four Seasons luxury hotel. She was imprisoned in Towson, Maryland, for direct action against the US military use of depleted uranium. This excerpt (c) TheOtherSide magazine. Liz is now the coordinator of Word and World: A People's School.
"Most of us try to protect our loved ones from pain. Is this loving? Or are we robbing them of their education, of access to wisdom? How can we acquire the tools for bearing pain, for enduring suffering, if we run and hide? How can we know God's love if we don't allow ourselves to need it?
"We have become numb. It takes the deaths of not one, not a score, not a hundred, but hundreds of thousands, even millions, to awaken us from our stupor--because we haven't learned to grieve the death of the one, to feel the pain. Who will confront the oppressors and say, "No, for God's sake!" What meaning does the birth of Christ have if not hope for those most oppressed?
"Pain is not the end of the story, nor is suffering. But to witness the end of the story, we must have courage to look with clarity at our situation. As the powers develop and deploy ever more sophisticated weapons, as the empire continues to starve children, our silence reveals us as complicit in the crucifixion of our brothers and sisters. Despair overwhelms us, and we'll try almost anything to stop the pain. But nothing works until we have the courage to walk into the melee. We must step into the line of fire, and love the squalling child lying in the muck of the feed trough, announcing to those who would kill her, "No! This is a holy child of God."
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An Advent reflection from Liz Walz, who founded Martha House, a Catholic Worker house in the Germantown section of Philadelphia in 1998. Shortly before that, she worked at Philadelphia's Four Seasons luxury hotel. She was imprisoned in Towson, Maryland, for direct action against the US military use of depleted uranium. This excerpt (c) TheOtherSide magazine. Liz is now the coordinator of Word and World: A People's School.
"Most of us try to protect our loved ones from pain. Is this loving? Or are we robbing them of their education, of access to wisdom? How can we acquire the tools for bearing pain, for enduring suffering, if we run and hide? How can we know God's love if we don't allow ourselves to need it?
"We have become numb. It takes the deaths of not one, not a score, not a hundred, but hundreds of thousands, even millions, to awaken us from our stupor--because we haven't learned to grieve the death of the one, to feel the pain. Who will confront the oppressors and say, "No, for God's sake!" What meaning does the birth of Christ have if not hope for those most oppressed?
"Pain is not the end of the story, nor is suffering. But to witness the end of the story, we must have courage to look with clarity at our situation. As the powers develop and deploy ever more sophisticated weapons, as the empire continues to starve children, our silence reveals us as complicit in the crucifixion of our brothers and sisters. Despair overwhelms us, and we'll try almost anything to stop the pain. But nothing works until we have the courage to walk into the melee. We must step into the line of fire, and love the squalling child lying in the muck of the feed trough, announcing to those who would kill her, "No! This is a holy child of God."
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[41.1] BEYOND DEADLY ILLUSIONS
This from weblogger Alvarny Windrider:
My friend asked, "Do you want to be Jesus Christ?"
And I shook my head and thought to myself, "He had the easy way out, all He was required to do was to die. I am required to stay alive and live the consequences."
It is, of course, the superficiality of much Christian thinking -- not to mention twisted, forsensic doctrines of the meaning of this paradigmatic death (see, by contrast, J Denny Weaver's The Nonviolent Atonement) -- which have led to the popular caricature of "the man born to die." What crucified Jesus was not his avoidance of life or divine sadism, but deep-seated fear of unrestricted life (and the uncontrollable God of Life) on on the part of those bound to religious and political authorities. Similarly, risen life is not the magical resolution or reversal of death, but the capacity to live fully in the face of it -- which is the gift of God. But Alvarny is absolutely right: life is tough, and death-as-a-virtue is no answer. Nor is it what the Gospel proposes.
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This from weblogger Alvarny Windrider:
My friend asked, "Do you want to be Jesus Christ?"
And I shook my head and thought to myself, "He had the easy way out, all He was required to do was to die. I am required to stay alive and live the consequences."
It is, of course, the superficiality of much Christian thinking -- not to mention twisted, forsensic doctrines of the meaning of this paradigmatic death (see, by contrast, J Denny Weaver's The Nonviolent Atonement) -- which have led to the popular caricature of "the man born to die." What crucified Jesus was not his avoidance of life or divine sadism, but deep-seated fear of unrestricted life (and the uncontrollable God of Life) on on the part of those bound to religious and political authorities. Similarly, risen life is not the magical resolution or reversal of death, but the capacity to live fully in the face of it -- which is the gift of God. But Alvarny is absolutely right: life is tough, and death-as-a-virtue is no answer. Nor is it what the Gospel proposes.
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Monday, December 01, 2003
[40.1] CALCULATED ACTS OF KINDNESS
Mike Yaconelli's death diminishes us all. I didn't know him, so I can't say anything personal. But this is from the Greenbelt festival blog:
"I can't remember everybody's name; I often can't remember where I am! You don't have to have my gifts or skills - and I don't have to have yours. The most seemingly unimportant thing can make all the difference in the world. A teeny weeny act of kindness can make all the difference... That's what spirituality is -- simple kindness, the significance of the insignificant. When's the last time you wrote a little note to [someone] telling them you think they're great? Really. That says more than all the religious and Bible talk, and will mean a great deal to them. It's an act of kindness any of us can do."
(From 'Jerk-Free Christianity' in Yak Yak Yak, Marshall Pickering, 1991)
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Mike Yaconelli's death diminishes us all. I didn't know him, so I can't say anything personal. But this is from the Greenbelt festival blog:
"I can't remember everybody's name; I often can't remember where I am! You don't have to have my gifts or skills - and I don't have to have yours. The most seemingly unimportant thing can make all the difference in the world. A teeny weeny act of kindness can make all the difference... That's what spirituality is -- simple kindness, the significance of the insignificant. When's the last time you wrote a little note to [someone] telling them you think they're great? Really. That says more than all the religious and Bible talk, and will mean a great deal to them. It's an act of kindness any of us can do."
(From 'Jerk-Free Christianity' in Yak Yak Yak, Marshall Pickering, 1991)
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Sunday, November 30, 2003
[39.1] BLOGGING WITH RELIGION
Perhaps the doyen of all godblogs has to be Kathy Shaidle's Relapsed Catholic ("Where the religious rubber meets the pop culture road... a daily blog about religion: in the news, in the media, on the web, in the world.") It was established in 2000 (anyone remember weblogging back that far?) and it still sets the standards the rest of us follow. Kathy's lastest book is called God Rides a Yamaha, incidentally.
In terms of theological learning, the best loggy thing I've come across is Disseminary, which deserves a write-up in its own right, and will get one. See also the online culture magazine Transition, which includes religion in its wide-angled take on life -- and the wonderful Utne, which sometimes does.
Then there are more personalised sites, like PostModern Pilgrim, or the thoughts of (allegedly) confused Lutheran Chris Halverson --or, indeed, Salt, "notes from a 30-something, salsa dancing, irish fiddling, Keynesian, suburban Anglican Epicurean vicar." Way to go...
Last but not least (for now), I appreciate Gutless Pacifist, "A Place for Dialogue about Faith, Politics and Peace." And the title is not quite what you think. It's author declares: "I agree with John Howard Yoder - 'The church is called to be now what the world is called to be ultimately.' "
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Perhaps the doyen of all godblogs has to be Kathy Shaidle's Relapsed Catholic ("Where the religious rubber meets the pop culture road... a daily blog about religion: in the news, in the media, on the web, in the world.") It was established in 2000 (anyone remember weblogging back that far?) and it still sets the standards the rest of us follow. Kathy's lastest book is called God Rides a Yamaha, incidentally.
In terms of theological learning, the best loggy thing I've come across is Disseminary, which deserves a write-up in its own right, and will get one. See also the online culture magazine Transition, which includes religion in its wide-angled take on life -- and the wonderful Utne, which sometimes does.
Then there are more personalised sites, like PostModern Pilgrim, or the thoughts of (allegedly) confused Lutheran Chris Halverson --or, indeed, Salt, "notes from a 30-something, salsa dancing, irish fiddling, Keynesian, suburban Anglican Epicurean vicar." Way to go...
Last but not least (for now), I appreciate Gutless Pacifist, "A Place for Dialogue about Faith, Politics and Peace." And the title is not quite what you think. It's author declares: "I agree with John Howard Yoder - 'The church is called to be now what the world is called to be ultimately.' "
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Saturday, November 29, 2003
38.1 CHURCHES' BLUEPRINT AGAINST RACISM
Doreen Lawrence, chair of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, wants Church leaders to use Churches Together in Britain and Ireland’s report on racism, Redeeming the Time, ‘like their Bible, they must keep it by them and refer to it.' The book was published in memory of her son, Stephen (who was killed on the streets of south-east London) and all whose lives have been cut short by racism. ‘The book will provide a blueprint for good practice and is a step in the right direction,’ she said.
‘I believe there is only one God and the difference is he or she answers to many different names… We need a lifestyle to combat racism. The Gospel affirms we are all one in Christ and that the Church is the Body of Christ. Black or white, we are one and there can be no tolerance of racism,’ Ms Lawrence added.
Redeeming the Time, drawn up by CTBI’s Commission for Racial Justice (CCRJ), includes readings which explain key ideas and concepts behind recent legislation in Great Britain, Ireland, Northern Ireland and the European Union. It seeks to acknowledge the lessons the churches were challenged to learn from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report.
Redeeming the Time acknowledges both the way Christians have colluded with the stereotyping of groups of people and the steps that have been taken to eradicate racism.
Other speakers at the launch included Dr Richard Stone (The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Panel), Gillian Kingston (Moderator of CTBI’s Church Representatives’ Meeting) and Naboth Muchopa (Secretary of the Racial Justice Committee of the Methodist Church).
Richard Stone, whio is also chair of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality, said he would be commending Redeeming the Time to Jewish communities.
The book (price £5.00 plus £1.50 p&p) is available from CTBI Publications at 4 John Wesley Road, Peterborough PE4 6ZP. Phone 01733 325002, fax 01733 384 180, or orders@ctbi.org.uk
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Doreen Lawrence, chair of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, wants Church leaders to use Churches Together in Britain and Ireland’s report on racism, Redeeming the Time, ‘like their Bible, they must keep it by them and refer to it.' The book was published in memory of her son, Stephen (who was killed on the streets of south-east London) and all whose lives have been cut short by racism. ‘The book will provide a blueprint for good practice and is a step in the right direction,’ she said.
‘I believe there is only one God and the difference is he or she answers to many different names… We need a lifestyle to combat racism. The Gospel affirms we are all one in Christ and that the Church is the Body of Christ. Black or white, we are one and there can be no tolerance of racism,’ Ms Lawrence added.
Redeeming the Time, drawn up by CTBI’s Commission for Racial Justice (CCRJ), includes readings which explain key ideas and concepts behind recent legislation in Great Britain, Ireland, Northern Ireland and the European Union. It seeks to acknowledge the lessons the churches were challenged to learn from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report.
Redeeming the Time acknowledges both the way Christians have colluded with the stereotyping of groups of people and the steps that have been taken to eradicate racism.
Other speakers at the launch included Dr Richard Stone (The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Panel), Gillian Kingston (Moderator of CTBI’s Church Representatives’ Meeting) and Naboth Muchopa (Secretary of the Racial Justice Committee of the Methodist Church).
Richard Stone, whio is also chair of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality, said he would be commending Redeeming the Time to Jewish communities.
The book (price £5.00 plus £1.50 p&p) is available from CTBI Publications at 4 John Wesley Road, Peterborough PE4 6ZP. Phone 01733 325002, fax 01733 384 180, or orders@ctbi.org.uk
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37.1 KEEPING THE FAITH WELL TEMPERED
It was some unsolicited kind words (not a mutual back-scratching pact, honest!) that first drew my attention to Karen Johann's very fine weblog Heretic's Corner. It's a healthy combination of observation, links, thoughtful reflections, personal stuff and -- yes! -- humour. I see Karen, who is a seminarian at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, also likes Ship of Fools ('the magazine of Christian unrest') -- whose creator I briefly overlapped with at college (school, as the Americans would say). I wonder if she, or you, also know of the fabulously scurrillous Landover Baptist site, originated by a couple of guys who were kicked out of Jerry Falwell's un-aptly named Liberty University. Without doubt the best parody of the religious right I've ever chanced upon.
Anyway, back to Karen's blog. Two posts that I enjoyed recently were What is marriage? (for those who deleriously think that 'being biblical' is a straightforward thing) and, more seriously, Reflections on Christ the King (the Feast, that is). Hang on. More serious? Well the abuse of the Bible to support mislabelled and miscreant 'pro family' policies is pretty gravitationally loaded... but the Festival is where the resistance is at, understood rightly.
Oh, and while we're about it, like Karen I also recommend the stimulating essayists on Killing the Buddha. And no, it's not an anti-Buddhist site. Read the manifesto.
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It was some unsolicited kind words (not a mutual back-scratching pact, honest!) that first drew my attention to Karen Johann's very fine weblog Heretic's Corner. It's a healthy combination of observation, links, thoughtful reflections, personal stuff and -- yes! -- humour. I see Karen, who is a seminarian at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, also likes Ship of Fools ('the magazine of Christian unrest') -- whose creator I briefly overlapped with at college (school, as the Americans would say). I wonder if she, or you, also know of the fabulously scurrillous Landover Baptist site, originated by a couple of guys who were kicked out of Jerry Falwell's un-aptly named Liberty University. Without doubt the best parody of the religious right I've ever chanced upon.
Anyway, back to Karen's blog. Two posts that I enjoyed recently were What is marriage? (for those who deleriously think that 'being biblical' is a straightforward thing) and, more seriously, Reflections on Christ the King (the Feast, that is). Hang on. More serious? Well the abuse of the Bible to support mislabelled and miscreant 'pro family' policies is pretty gravitationally loaded... but the Festival is where the resistance is at, understood rightly.
Oh, and while we're about it, like Karen I also recommend the stimulating essayists on Killing the Buddha. And no, it's not an anti-Buddhist site. Read the manifesto.
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Friday, November 28, 2003
36.2 DILEMMAS OF MAJORITY RULE
The key question of course, is: who discerns, how, and on what basis?
"Much madness is divinest sense
To a discerning eye;
Much sense the starkest madness.
‘Tis the majority
In this, as all, prevails.
Assent, and you are sane;
Demur, you’re straightaway dangerous,
And handled with a chain."
From Emily Dickinson, Complete Poems.
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The key question of course, is: who discerns, how, and on what basis?
"Much madness is divinest sense
To a discerning eye;
Much sense the starkest madness.
‘Tis the majority
In this, as all, prevails.
Assent, and you are sane;
Demur, you’re straightaway dangerous,
And handled with a chain."
From Emily Dickinson, Complete Poems.
Comment on this post: FaithInSociety
36.1 RESPONDING TO RELIGIOUS TERRORISM
This from Oliver McTernan. Personally, I'd leave out the 'alone'. But wise words.
"The sooner we come to recognize that the war on a religiously motivated terrorism cannot be won on the battle field alone and that in our search for solutions we need to engage the religious and secular leadership in those communities that act as breeding grounds for discontent the greater will be our chance of finding solutions. Sadly, Turkey appears to be paying the price for its attempts to act as a bridge between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds. Hopefully these recent atrocities will not deter it from continuing in this role, as dialogue is essential if we want to make our world more secure." (c) BBC
More on 'How to win the religious wars' from The Guardian here, and on Christian-Muslim perspectives on the international situation.
Much of the material in this Churches' Commission for Inter-faith Relations briefing (prepared at the time of the Iraq war) is still relevant, too.
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This from Oliver McTernan. Personally, I'd leave out the 'alone'. But wise words.
"The sooner we come to recognize that the war on a religiously motivated terrorism cannot be won on the battle field alone and that in our search for solutions we need to engage the religious and secular leadership in those communities that act as breeding grounds for discontent the greater will be our chance of finding solutions. Sadly, Turkey appears to be paying the price for its attempts to act as a bridge between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds. Hopefully these recent atrocities will not deter it from continuing in this role, as dialogue is essential if we want to make our world more secure." (c) BBC
More on 'How to win the religious wars' from The Guardian here, and on Christian-Muslim perspectives on the international situation.
Much of the material in this Churches' Commission for Inter-faith Relations briefing (prepared at the time of the Iraq war) is still relevant, too.
Comment on this post: FaithInSociety
Thursday, November 27, 2003
35.1 AN ALTERNATIVE POLICY PRESCRIPTION FROM ST HILDA
"Trade with the gifts God has given you.
Bend your minds to holy learning that you
may escape the fretting moth of littleness of
mind that would wear out your souls.
Brace your wills to action, that they may
not be the spoils of weak desires.
"Train your hearts and lips to song
which gives courage to the soul.
Being buffeted by trials, learn to laugh.
Being reproved, give thanks.
Having failed, determine to succeed."
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"Trade with the gifts God has given you.
Bend your minds to holy learning that you
may escape the fretting moth of littleness of
mind that would wear out your souls.
Brace your wills to action, that they may
not be the spoils of weak desires.
"Train your hearts and lips to song
which gives courage to the soul.
Being buffeted by trials, learn to laugh.
Being reproved, give thanks.
Having failed, determine to succeed."
Comment on this post: FaithInSociety
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
34.2 HEBREW SCRIPTURES AND JUSTICE FOR THE 'STRANGER'
The (hardly-radical but deeply humanitarian) scholar B Davie Napier (President of the Pacific School of Religion) on the values and principles of the ancinet Hebrew legal codes:
"The principle of sympathy and consideration for the weak is expressed with astonishing variety. There are numerous duplicate and some triplicate laws which buttress the rights of all dependent classes -- servants, slaves, captives, the defenseless, the maimed and the handicapped, and of course the poor. Widows, orphans and sojourners... are regarded in the law with full appreciation... This is best illustrated in one of the most remarkable single features of the law -- its prescribed treatment of the alien. The term in Hebrew, ger, certainly does not apply exclusively to the resident alien, the foreigner in permanent residence, although to be sure this is the sense of Exodus 23:9. Possibly, as Herbert G. May has recently reminded us, the term applies in postexilic times primarily to the resident alien or the proselyte. But that even then this was by no means exclusively the sense is attested by the parallelism of Job 3 1:32: "The ger has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the wayfarer." The ger may be a foreigner in permanent or semi-permanent residence; but he (sic) is also any stranger who happens into the community on a peaceful, friendly and legitimate errand."
And of course the trajectory of the specifically prophetic narratives is towards the abolition of 'dependent classes' altogether, and in favour of communal justice. Worth reminding your local parliamentary representative about that.
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The (hardly-radical but deeply humanitarian) scholar B Davie Napier (President of the Pacific School of Religion) on the values and principles of the ancinet Hebrew legal codes:
"The principle of sympathy and consideration for the weak is expressed with astonishing variety. There are numerous duplicate and some triplicate laws which buttress the rights of all dependent classes -- servants, slaves, captives, the defenseless, the maimed and the handicapped, and of course the poor. Widows, orphans and sojourners... are regarded in the law with full appreciation... This is best illustrated in one of the most remarkable single features of the law -- its prescribed treatment of the alien. The term in Hebrew, ger, certainly does not apply exclusively to the resident alien, the foreigner in permanent residence, although to be sure this is the sense of Exodus 23:9. Possibly, as Herbert G. May has recently reminded us, the term applies in postexilic times primarily to the resident alien or the proselyte. But that even then this was by no means exclusively the sense is attested by the parallelism of Job 3 1:32: "The ger has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the wayfarer." The ger may be a foreigner in permanent or semi-permanent residence; but he (sic) is also any stranger who happens into the community on a peaceful, friendly and legitimate errand."
And of course the trajectory of the specifically prophetic narratives is towards the abolition of 'dependent classes' altogether, and in favour of communal justice. Worth reminding your local parliamentary representative about that.
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34.1 VICTIMIZING THE SOJOURNER
You couldn't make it up. The most right-wing Home Secretary in British parliamentary history, Michael Howard, has (rightly) criticised the Labour government for its "shameful" new proposals on asylum -- which deliberately seek to remove children from parents seeking asylum from persecution, in order to 'encourage' them to return without appeal.
This disgraceful policy, pandering to the most reactionary and racist elements in the tabloid media, goes alongside further moves to cut legal aid, block entry and remove social support from asylum seekers -- who, it seems, are assumed to be 'guilty' (that is, cheats) until proved innocent. And the bar of 'innocence' is, of course, moved ever higher.
Mind you, Howard, now leader of the Conservative Party (and apparently a somewhat reformed character), doesn't have much to crow about himself. His Tory government started the current wave of judicial and legislative victimization rolling. And his party's current 'enlightened' policy consists of isolating asylum seekers on container ships!
Serious political debate and alternative policy options have now more or less been ruled out of the public arena by this current rush in Westminster to adopt ever-more draconian policies. Even the Liberal Democrats can come up with little more than adherence to the status quo.
Moreover, Home Secretary David Blunkett will tomorrow trumpet his government's 'achievement' in halving the number of applicants to 4000 over the past year. The idea that the arbitration and appeal systems are actually there to give people a fair hearing and a fair process is being abandoned. They are there simply to 'keep 'em out'! This flagrantly violates international human rights instruments in regard to the treatment of refugees.
Behind the present dispicable trade in dehumanising policy lies a myth and a problem. The myth is that Britain is being 'swamped' by refugees and 'illegals'. The problem is that the asylum system is being used (unfairly) to handle a whole set of complex migration issues which policy makers want to avoid: namely the fact that, historically, most migration has been 'economic' anyway, and that in a world where boundaries to capital movement are dissolving it is unfeasible to seek to reduce people movements to a controlled trickle.
Meanwhile the churches in Britain and Ireland are among those speaking out most vociferously in favour of justice (rather than expediency) towards asylum seekers and refugees. And brave networks such as the Refugee Council and Bail For Immigration Detainees are seeking to stem the tide of bile in the media and among vote-hungry politicians.
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You couldn't make it up. The most right-wing Home Secretary in British parliamentary history, Michael Howard, has (rightly) criticised the Labour government for its "shameful" new proposals on asylum -- which deliberately seek to remove children from parents seeking asylum from persecution, in order to 'encourage' them to return without appeal.
This disgraceful policy, pandering to the most reactionary and racist elements in the tabloid media, goes alongside further moves to cut legal aid, block entry and remove social support from asylum seekers -- who, it seems, are assumed to be 'guilty' (that is, cheats) until proved innocent. And the bar of 'innocence' is, of course, moved ever higher.
Mind you, Howard, now leader of the Conservative Party (and apparently a somewhat reformed character), doesn't have much to crow about himself. His Tory government started the current wave of judicial and legislative victimization rolling. And his party's current 'enlightened' policy consists of isolating asylum seekers on container ships!
Serious political debate and alternative policy options have now more or less been ruled out of the public arena by this current rush in Westminster to adopt ever-more draconian policies. Even the Liberal Democrats can come up with little more than adherence to the status quo.
Moreover, Home Secretary David Blunkett will tomorrow trumpet his government's 'achievement' in halving the number of applicants to 4000 over the past year. The idea that the arbitration and appeal systems are actually there to give people a fair hearing and a fair process is being abandoned. They are there simply to 'keep 'em out'! This flagrantly violates international human rights instruments in regard to the treatment of refugees.
Behind the present dispicable trade in dehumanising policy lies a myth and a problem. The myth is that Britain is being 'swamped' by refugees and 'illegals'. The problem is that the asylum system is being used (unfairly) to handle a whole set of complex migration issues which policy makers want to avoid: namely the fact that, historically, most migration has been 'economic' anyway, and that in a world where boundaries to capital movement are dissolving it is unfeasible to seek to reduce people movements to a controlled trickle.
Meanwhile the churches in Britain and Ireland are among those speaking out most vociferously in favour of justice (rather than expediency) towards asylum seekers and refugees. And brave networks such as the Refugee Council and Bail For Immigration Detainees are seeking to stem the tide of bile in the media and among vote-hungry politicians.
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Sunday, November 23, 2003
[33.2] A WELCOME FROM JOONDALUP
Today I chanced across the website of Grace Anglican Church Joondalup, Western Australia. Their banner: ""All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ." Amen to that. You will find some good sermons and other resources there. The parish priest is a valued friend, Dr David Wood, who I got to know in the process of publishing his acclaimed theological biography of Bishop John V. Taylor. Poet, Priest and Prophet (CTBI, 2002). It has a Foreword by the Archbishop of Canterbury. David gives some background to how it came about here.
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Today I chanced across the website of Grace Anglican Church Joondalup, Western Australia. Their banner: ""All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ." Amen to that. You will find some good sermons and other resources there. The parish priest is a valued friend, Dr David Wood, who I got to know in the process of publishing his acclaimed theological biography of Bishop John V. Taylor. Poet, Priest and Prophet (CTBI, 2002). It has a Foreword by the Archbishop of Canterbury. David gives some background to how it came about here.
Comment on this post: FaithInSociety
Saturday, November 22, 2003
[33.1] DARING TO DREAM
From Charles Moore on Bruderhof.com - and (c) them; quoted with kind acknowledgements:
"I believe now, more than ever, that being a part of a contrast-community, building a life that nurtures peace, is our only hope of ending war. True, there are many ways to effect peace in the world besides living in a community. But imagine what kind of resistance could be formed if we would cease to run our lives on the basis of career or income or certain standards of living that involve treating the rest of the world as one giant fuel pump? What if instead we spent our energies and resources building up a common life that needed less and gave more? What would happen if in sharing life together we did away with the usual distinctions that keep people apart and at odds with one another? What if we actually disengaged ourselves from the driving values of material security, professional achievement and social recognition—along with the lifestyle that reinforces them—to create a genuinely alternative existence?" (From Dog Eat Dog?)
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From Charles Moore on Bruderhof.com - and (c) them; quoted with kind acknowledgements:
"I believe now, more than ever, that being a part of a contrast-community, building a life that nurtures peace, is our only hope of ending war. True, there are many ways to effect peace in the world besides living in a community. But imagine what kind of resistance could be formed if we would cease to run our lives on the basis of career or income or certain standards of living that involve treating the rest of the world as one giant fuel pump? What if instead we spent our energies and resources building up a common life that needed less and gave more? What would happen if in sharing life together we did away with the usual distinctions that keep people apart and at odds with one another? What if we actually disengaged ourselves from the driving values of material security, professional achievement and social recognition—along with the lifestyle that reinforces them—to create a genuinely alternative existence?" (From Dog Eat Dog?)
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Friday, November 21, 2003
[32.3] THE POWER OF SILENCE
Denys Turner once remarked arrestingly on Jesus' silence before Pilate: it was, at a certain moment when God's person stood naked before power, the only possible response to a ruler who was actually a 'frivolous moraliser', he said. I'm still trying to summon the depths of that one. But it has echoes for me in this recent observation by Rowan Williams:
"Politics needs the challenge of silence as much as does the Church, especially when the language of public life is increasingly corrupted by an obsession with 'advantage' -- with all that means for the silencing of the other, the refusal to seek oneself in the other, the inattention and willful ignorance that more and more stifles political conversation. A political discourse corrupted in such ways is already on the road to the anti-language of totalitarianism...
"And what if theology in particular has become the victim of this political corruptness, and operates more and more in terms of advantage? It has to be taught in a different register, a different dialect, by writers who are more used to dealing in risk, perhaps."
From 'Bonhoeffer and the poets', in (ed. Elizabeth Templeton) Travelling With Resilience: Essays For Alastair Haggart (Scottish Episcopal Church, 2002), p216.
Comment on this post: FaithInSociety
Denys Turner once remarked arrestingly on Jesus' silence before Pilate: it was, at a certain moment when God's person stood naked before power, the only possible response to a ruler who was actually a 'frivolous moraliser', he said. I'm still trying to summon the depths of that one. But it has echoes for me in this recent observation by Rowan Williams:
"Politics needs the challenge of silence as much as does the Church, especially when the language of public life is increasingly corrupted by an obsession with 'advantage' -- with all that means for the silencing of the other, the refusal to seek oneself in the other, the inattention and willful ignorance that more and more stifles political conversation. A political discourse corrupted in such ways is already on the road to the anti-language of totalitarianism...
"And what if theology in particular has become the victim of this political corruptness, and operates more and more in terms of advantage? It has to be taught in a different register, a different dialect, by writers who are more used to dealing in risk, perhaps."
From 'Bonhoeffer and the poets', in (ed. Elizabeth Templeton) Travelling With Resilience: Essays For Alastair Haggart (Scottish Episcopal Church, 2002), p216.
Comment on this post: FaithInSociety
[32.2] STRAW IN THE WIND
What an extraordinary performance from British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on BBC Radio 4's 'Today' programme this morning. He dismissed as 'nonsense' any attempt whatsoever to link the invasion and occupation of Iraq with the current upsurge in activity by Al Qaeda and similar networks. Whereas one of the pillars of the government's support for US military policy on Iraq was precisely the link between Saddam Hussein's regime and 'terror networks', now Mr Straw is not demurring from interviewer John Humphries' assertion that there is 'not a shred of evidence' for such connectivity. It is a breathtaking reversal which indicates just how non-plussed the Western powers are right now.
The line coming out of Downing Street today is that 'extremists need no excuse for their cowardly and inhuman actions' -- the old ploy of simply reducing one's adversary to sub-humanity and irretrievable irrationality. This is not politics, it is superstition. By contrast, writer and former Catholic priest Oliver McTernan gave another considered Thought For The Day, drawing upon his fine book Violence in God's Name: Religion In An Age Of Conflict, which maps out the cultural, societal, geo-poltical -- and, yes, religious -- disturbances which have to be faced if governments are to respond with understanding rather than simply self-justification to the new world disorder.
See also McTernan's response to US Secretary of State Colin Powell's assertion that Iran has ‘dragged the sacred garment of Islam into the political gutter.’
Comment on this post: FaithInSociety
What an extraordinary performance from British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on BBC Radio 4's 'Today' programme this morning. He dismissed as 'nonsense' any attempt whatsoever to link the invasion and occupation of Iraq with the current upsurge in activity by Al Qaeda and similar networks. Whereas one of the pillars of the government's support for US military policy on Iraq was precisely the link between Saddam Hussein's regime and 'terror networks', now Mr Straw is not demurring from interviewer John Humphries' assertion that there is 'not a shred of evidence' for such connectivity. It is a breathtaking reversal which indicates just how non-plussed the Western powers are right now.
The line coming out of Downing Street today is that 'extremists need no excuse for their cowardly and inhuman actions' -- the old ploy of simply reducing one's adversary to sub-humanity and irretrievable irrationality. This is not politics, it is superstition. By contrast, writer and former Catholic priest Oliver McTernan gave another considered Thought For The Day, drawing upon his fine book Violence in God's Name: Religion In An Age Of Conflict, which maps out the cultural, societal, geo-poltical -- and, yes, religious -- disturbances which have to be faced if governments are to respond with understanding rather than simply self-justification to the new world disorder.
See also McTernan's response to US Secretary of State Colin Powell's assertion that Iran has ‘dragged the sacred garment of Islam into the political gutter.’
Comment on this post: FaithInSociety
[32.1] FORCE IS NOT SUFFICIENT
For the most part the protests in London yesterday went off in good humour. Other areas of the capital were like a ghost town, and the appalling news of the bombing of the British Consulate in Turkey cast another shadow over the ill-fated US Presidential visit to Britain. The targeting by extremists of a secular state with a moderate Muslim majority, increasing ties to the West and a history of relative harmony between different religious communities (notably Jews and Muslims) is a calculated act. The vile assaults on synagogues are another part of this scenario.
The temptation for the world's hyperpower and its satellites will be to retaliate further. But counter-terror does not deter those who are locked into the logic of confrontation, it mostly reinforces the cycle upon which they, too, are dependent. The politics of refusing aggression, strengthening international security through the UN, creating the conditions for democracy from the grassroots (rather than enforcing it by coercion) and giving priority to the 'war' on injustice, poverty and exclusion: such strategies will not reverse the spiral of hatred and revenge quickly or easily. But they are the only sustainable path away from the vortex of retribution which threatens to engulf our world.
To repay evil for evil is the road to destruction. Force can subjugate (for a time), but it has no power to transform. This is not 'a Beatitudinous platitude' (as I have heard it dismissed recently), it is the hardest form of realism. And it is a realism which also requires rigorous self-examination -- from those with an overabundance of power, for sure, but also for those seeking to restrain them.
For example: it felt right to join the demonstrations yesterday. But it wasn't comfortable. The atmosphere was one of mirrored anger and self-righteousness at times. And the plight of Iraqis can be as much a toy of anti-war activists as of those who use war as policy, if we are not too careful. We may be clear about what not to do. But no-one should pretend that there are simple alternative policy options readily to hand. And returning the simplistic 'evil empire' rhetoric of Bush on his own house does nothing to open up fresh perspectives on a messy reality.
Comment on this post: FaithInSociety
For the most part the protests in London yesterday went off in good humour. Other areas of the capital were like a ghost town, and the appalling news of the bombing of the British Consulate in Turkey cast another shadow over the ill-fated US Presidential visit to Britain. The targeting by extremists of a secular state with a moderate Muslim majority, increasing ties to the West and a history of relative harmony between different religious communities (notably Jews and Muslims) is a calculated act. The vile assaults on synagogues are another part of this scenario.
The temptation for the world's hyperpower and its satellites will be to retaliate further. But counter-terror does not deter those who are locked into the logic of confrontation, it mostly reinforces the cycle upon which they, too, are dependent. The politics of refusing aggression, strengthening international security through the UN, creating the conditions for democracy from the grassroots (rather than enforcing it by coercion) and giving priority to the 'war' on injustice, poverty and exclusion: such strategies will not reverse the spiral of hatred and revenge quickly or easily. But they are the only sustainable path away from the vortex of retribution which threatens to engulf our world.
To repay evil for evil is the road to destruction. Force can subjugate (for a time), but it has no power to transform. This is not 'a Beatitudinous platitude' (as I have heard it dismissed recently), it is the hardest form of realism. And it is a realism which also requires rigorous self-examination -- from those with an overabundance of power, for sure, but also for those seeking to restrain them.
For example: it felt right to join the demonstrations yesterday. But it wasn't comfortable. The atmosphere was one of mirrored anger and self-righteousness at times. And the plight of Iraqis can be as much a toy of anti-war activists as of those who use war as policy, if we are not too careful. We may be clear about what not to do. But no-one should pretend that there are simple alternative policy options readily to hand. And returning the simplistic 'evil empire' rhetoric of Bush on his own house does nothing to open up fresh perspectives on a messy reality.
Comment on this post: FaithInSociety
Thursday, November 20, 2003
[31.3] PRE-EMPTING THE PRE-EMPTORS
To coincide with the current state visit of US President George Bush to the UK, Our World Our Say have organised the largest ever Virtual March on the US Embassy in London. Its purpose is to mobilise against the doctrine of pre-emptive force in global affairs. They write: "We have reached our target of 15,000 people. We are now aiming to double this and get 30,000 people to take part and bombard the Embassy with emails, faxes and phone calls. If you haven't already registered, please do so now at this site."
On the question of pre-emptivity from a 'just war' perspective, see some comments in SocialEdge.Com from Notre Dame theologian and Catholic priest, Michael Baxter. Evidently, those of us who believe that vocation of the Christian community is to resist evil without using its weapons would have a problem with the Bush doctrine on even more basic grounds. See, inter alia, the Fellowship of Reconciliation home page. A recent note from Chris Cole reminded me to link with them.
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To coincide with the current state visit of US President George Bush to the UK, Our World Our Say have organised the largest ever Virtual March on the US Embassy in London. Its purpose is to mobilise against the doctrine of pre-emptive force in global affairs. They write: "We have reached our target of 15,000 people. We are now aiming to double this and get 30,000 people to take part and bombard the Embassy with emails, faxes and phone calls. If you haven't already registered, please do so now at this site."
On the question of pre-emptivity from a 'just war' perspective, see some comments in SocialEdge.Com from Notre Dame theologian and Catholic priest, Michael Baxter. Evidently, those of us who believe that vocation of the Christian community is to resist evil without using its weapons would have a problem with the Bush doctrine on even more basic grounds. See, inter alia, the Fellowship of Reconciliation home page. A recent note from Chris Cole reminded me to link with them.
Comment on this post: FaithInSociety
[31.2] ESTABLISHMENT R.I.P.
The historic Anglican church of St Mary, Putney, is the site of a conference on the disestablishment of the Church of England this coming Saturday (22 November 2003), beginning at 14:30. The principal speaker is Theo Hobson, whose book Against Establishment: An Anglican Polemic is published this week. Also contributing are Colin Buchanan (Bishop of Woolwich), Giles Fraser (Vicar of Putney, lecturer in philosophy at Wadham College Oxford), and Simon Barrow (CTBI). Hobson maintains a website called disestablish.
This event follows on from the Jubilee Group AGM and Christ The King Lecture, given by Kenneth Leech, earlier on in East London -- 11am at St John's, Bethnal Green. Ken has edited a book on disestablishment called Setting The Church Of England Free, published by the Jubilee Group in 2001. Not to be confused with another title of the same name by John Mills-Powell.
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The historic Anglican church of St Mary, Putney, is the site of a conference on the disestablishment of the Church of England this coming Saturday (22 November 2003), beginning at 14:30. The principal speaker is Theo Hobson, whose book Against Establishment: An Anglican Polemic is published this week. Also contributing are Colin Buchanan (Bishop of Woolwich), Giles Fraser (Vicar of Putney, lecturer in philosophy at Wadham College Oxford), and Simon Barrow (CTBI). Hobson maintains a website called disestablish.
This event follows on from the Jubilee Group AGM and Christ The King Lecture, given by Kenneth Leech, earlier on in East London -- 11am at St John's, Bethnal Green. Ken has edited a book on disestablishment called Setting The Church Of England Free, published by the Jubilee Group in 2001. Not to be confused with another title of the same name by John Mills-Powell.
Comment on this post: FaithInSociety
[31.1] FAIR (TRADE) POINT...
T.S. Eliot once observed that the the grand contours of the world are actually shaped by those 'minute particulars' that make up much of the fabric of our daily lives. So forgive what might appear a trivial observation in the midst of global events...
This morning I was picking up a coffee on the way to work; the fuel of a caffeine lifestyle in the metropolis, I fear. The person serving me got the order wrong, and when I pointed the mistake out he instantly rectified it. He then poured the 'wrong' cup of coffee straight down the drain -- before I had any chance to say, "Well, if it's going to waste, the fact that I ordered latte rather than cappuccino really doesn't matter." But the truth is, that waste is legislated. Staff (underpaid as it is) aren't allowed to drink surplus coffee it or give it away. Commercial logic says that it's better to throw something out than use it. Just a fleeting microcosm of the values we live by in advanced consumer societies. And I'm talking about me, not just the corporations.
Of course if I hadn't been patronising a multinational coffee oulet in the first place... and so on. Ah, the contradictions. (For those indulging an occasional high street caffeine fix, the Costa chain use fair -- or at least, marginally fairer -- trade beans; though the lion's share of the profit still goes to them, of course.)
We can take small steps to promote not just Fair Trade but also just practice. See Ethical Junction and, from the radical US Christian magazine / network, SojoBlend. The churches in the UK are involved heavily in the Trade Justice Movement, too. Action is only a click or two away.
Comment on this post: FaithInSociety
T.S. Eliot once observed that the the grand contours of the world are actually shaped by those 'minute particulars' that make up much of the fabric of our daily lives. So forgive what might appear a trivial observation in the midst of global events...
This morning I was picking up a coffee on the way to work; the fuel of a caffeine lifestyle in the metropolis, I fear. The person serving me got the order wrong, and when I pointed the mistake out he instantly rectified it. He then poured the 'wrong' cup of coffee straight down the drain -- before I had any chance to say, "Well, if it's going to waste, the fact that I ordered latte rather than cappuccino really doesn't matter." But the truth is, that waste is legislated. Staff (underpaid as it is) aren't allowed to drink surplus coffee it or give it away. Commercial logic says that it's better to throw something out than use it. Just a fleeting microcosm of the values we live by in advanced consumer societies. And I'm talking about me, not just the corporations.
Of course if I hadn't been patronising a multinational coffee oulet in the first place... and so on. Ah, the contradictions. (For those indulging an occasional high street caffeine fix, the Costa chain use fair -- or at least, marginally fairer -- trade beans; though the lion's share of the profit still goes to them, of course.)
We can take small steps to promote not just Fair Trade but also just practice. See Ethical Junction and, from the radical US Christian magazine / network, SojoBlend. The churches in the UK are involved heavily in the Trade Justice Movement, too. Action is only a click or two away.
Comment on this post: FaithInSociety
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