[19.30 GMT] United Church of Canada calls for an end to detention and occupation in Iraq Ekklesia, 21/12/05; Statement by the trustees of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (of which Norman Kember is one); Ba'ath leader calls for peace talks (Uruknet.info); good coverage and updates on Free the Captives Now; Hope has been expressed by Tom Fox's former professor, Lisa Schirch, of the Peacebuilding Program at Eastern Mennonite Unversity. She was speaking to a local TV reporter from the Harrisonburg, Virginia campus.

[281.1] THAT LOVE MAY TRIUMPH OVER FEAR

Tonight's vigil for Dr Norman Kember - abducted in Iraq 25 days ago, along with fellow Christian Peacemaker Team colleagues Tom Fox, Jim Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooder - began at 6pm in Trafalgar Square, London. It continues for one hour, but friends and supporters in the UK and all over the world are invited to remember the abducted (all of them, international and Iraqi) over the Christmas period. Pax Christi is inviting people to pray daily at midday wherever they are, and collective vigils are being organised every ten days. See also the updates on the excellent site Free the Captives Now.org. This pithy reflection, highly appropriate to this painful moment, is from Australian poet and artist Michael Leunig (c):

There are only two feelings.
Love and fear.
There are only two languages.
Love and fear.
There are only two activities.
Love and fear.
There are only two motives,
two procedures, two frameworks,
two results.
Love and fear.
Love and fear.

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[15.30 GMT] Christians and Muslims show continued support for Norman Kember (Ekklesia, 21/12/05); Still hope for Kember (Harrow Times - NK's local paper); Pax Christi - Middle East Focus. (Last week's Kember vigil on Sky News.)

[03.15 GMT] Iraq peacemaker describes the agony of waiting (Ekklesia, 21/12/05 - letter from Iraq CPTer Greg Rollins); Behind the steel curtain. By Sabah Ali (The Free Press); Trade in torture. By Stephen Gray (Le Monde Diplomatique).

[01.00 GMT] READER INFORMATION. For the past five days FinS has provided links and supplementary information for those following the CPT Iraq captive situation on Ekklesia and elswhere. This will continue until 23 December 2005.
International non-violence conference (supported by a range of NGO and faith groups, 27-30 December 2005 in Bethlehem). Related to the story yesterday about refusal of visas. What's at stake in the torture debate? By Anne-Marie Slaughter (TPMCafe); The courage of peacemaking (A Quaker dialogue on Embracing Complexity); MERIP (Middle East Research and Information Project) Iraq files; Victory, defeat... or negotiation? (TomPaine.Com); and From freedom fries to Marine funerals, a Southern Republican’s road to Damascus (Mother Jones). Both by Robert Dreyfuss. Germany deny Hammadi release tied to Osthoff (Independent Online, South Africa) and Germany grants reprieve to Lebanese plane hijacker (Daily Star, Lebanon).

[280.2] BEYOND OUR EXPECTATIONS

A letter to pastors and others from Gene Stoltzfus, a founder of Christian Peacemaker Teams. See also his Who did it? (about the Iraq kidnappings) on Ekklesia.

"As I write this you are preparing your Christmas and New Year sermons. During my years as the Director of Christian Peacemaker Teams I grew in my understanding of violence, terrorism and the "fight" for freedom. When we began I believed that a tiny organization would only make a slight inroad into our common task of ending organized killing. But I believed that the spiritual and practical power of the world wide church would eventually be the pivotal force in changing the outcome.

"Two years ago I was in Baghdad where I spoke with many Muslim leaders in the mosques. For some it may have been their first contact with Christians. We listened to each other explain our work and our needs. Some understood that Christians thought of all of them as terrorists. Many were outraged by the disappearances of people in their community and the residual effect of the occupation which to them was terrorism. We were also concerned about these matters and found common ground. When we described our work in nonviolence and refusal to accept armed protection they listened and said, "That is what Islam is about. We can do that." Others said, "It wouldn’t work here."... Continued here.

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[18.30 GMT] US captives in Iraq show peaceful courage (Kennebec Journal Online); Sunnis say Iraq vote was fraudulent. By Jason Straziouso, (Associated Press); Peace workers denied access to Bethlehem (International Solidarity Movement, Palestine); Christian Peacemaker Teams Respond to Presidential Address (Political Affairs Magazine, NY) Hostages' families both heartened, horrified (Vancouver Sun - subscription - Canada); Jesus' birth proves the power of vulnerability (National Catholic Reporter, ref. to Jim Loney); Fate of hostages in Iraq still unknown (Dallas Baptist Standard, TX).

[13.00 GMT] On a slightly lighter note, Peacenik Doctor Who to ruin Blair's Christmas Ekklesia, 20/12/05.

[08.50 GMT] Letter to President Bush from CPTer Maxine Nash (SooToday.com - whose coverage has been excellent. Its 37 articles related to captor Jim Loney, who is from Sault Ste. Marie, are indexed at the bottom of this page); Hope flickers for relatives of hostages in Iraq (Stuff.co.nz); Jordanian embassy employee abducted in Baghdad (Al-Bawaba, Jordan); Iraq: Abducted peace activists appeal Blair to pull out (Sify, India); Abducted German woman drawn to warmth of Iraqi people (Monsters and Critics.com, UK); Fears grow for Briton as US hostage shot dead (Glasgow Daily Record, UK); Video 'shows cold-blooded killing of kidnapped US contractor' (Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom).

[01.20 GMT] 'Hope' for British hostage in Iraq (Scotsman, United Kingdom) - comment from Anas Altikriti, the Muslim envoy; Four women are shot dead in Iraq (Gulf Daily News, Bahrain); Friends of Christian hostages oppose military rescue operation (BosNewsLife, Hungary) - a subscription-only service, unfortunately, though the CPT site has for some time carried a statement to that effect; On Iraq and the Anishinaabe, by Jim Loney (David Helwig, SooToday.com, from 11/12/05); Christians, Muslims Continue to Pray for Captured Peacemakers (ChristianToday, UK/Korea); Two years of American occupation of Iraq: a dismal scorecard (Milli Gazette, India); Concern expressed for Assyrian Christians in Iraq (Ekklesia). Cynthia Tucker: "For all his rhetoric about planting the seeds of democracy in the Middle East, Bush has no great appreciation for it here at home. Why should theocrats abroad heed his message when theocrats here appear to be running the place?"

[280.1] TRANSFORMATION BEYOND EMPIRE

"The truth is that Christianity has been hijacked by an ideology of empire which is backed by huge financial resources. Language about being born again is actually entirely appropriate to the transformational theology of mainstream Christianity; but it has been co-opted and distorted by a pernicious crusading ideology which paints itself as being the guys in the white hats at war against an 'axis of evil'.

"There are radical alternatives to this triumphalist religious ideology, but they get precious little air time. Norman Kember and his friends, in doing peace and reconciliation work in Iraq, knew that they would always be in danger, but they did it in the name of a Christ who said that whatever was done to the least of men and women was done to him.

"The word 'martyr' means 'witness to truth'. Mr Kember and his friends may well have experienced a more deadly martyrdom – or may yet do. A pre-Christmas season which has Wallace and Gromit on the Advent calendars doesn't get anywhere near the heart of the matter."

(Ron Ferguson, writing in The Herald, Scotland)

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[23.10 GMT] Kember supporters urged to keep hope alive, (Ekklesia) Video reportedly Shows Killing of Hostage [American contractor Ronald Allen Schulz], Guardian Unlimited; Summary of hostages in Iraq (AP); People pray for CPT workers held in Iraq (CTV.com, Canada); US Presbyterian leader is CPT supporter (PC USA News - 08/12).

[18.20 GMT] Hope flickers for relatives of hostages in Iraq (Reuters, Canada). Also, A lecture from the University of Hell, by Dr Norman Kember, one of the CPT captives in Iraq. This was originally given as a dramatised talk at Greenbelt Christian arts festival in 2002 - a passionate reflection on the church's peacemaking vocation, and what detracts from it. Greenbelt's Kember page on vigils and action is here.

[16.10 GMT] Cathedral service for hostages. By Sarah Green (Tornoto Sun, Canada).

[279.2] KEMBER VIGIL, LONDON, 21 DEC 2005

Keeping Hope Alive: Vigil for abducted peace-workers in Iraq.

This marks 25 days since their abduction.

Venue: Trafalgar Square (North side near National Gallery, opposite St Martin -in-the-Fields Church), Central London.

Time: 6:00pm - 7:00pm. Please bring candles.

Pax Christi say: Christians and Muslims, peace organisations, and friends and supporters of Norman Kember, the British peace activist abducted in Iraq, are invited to join a silent candle-lit prayer vigil on Wednesday 21 December. The others who were abducted are Tom Fox, Harmeet Singh Sooden and James Loney. They were in Baghdad as part of a Christian Peacemakers Team delegation. On December 21 they will have been held for 25 days. There has been no news of our friends since 8 December.

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[11.20 GMT] Super-powered Jesus. Will Braun looks at how George W. Bush's Jesus is invading Canada (Ekklesia); Pray for captives, not the captors. By Rosie Dimanno (Toronto Star) - a strong critique of the CPT service yesterday. She raises some valid points, but then confuses them badly - as the headline indicates. More on this later, though note my own comments on criticisms of CPT in Learning to put ourselves in the wrong (FinS); Bush bites bullet on torture ban proposal (Macon Telegraph, GA) Hostages' friends still 'waiting and praying' (London Free Press, Canada).

[09.15 GMT] Christian peacemakers challenge Bush claim that Iraq war is being won, 19/12/05.

[279.1] GENTLENESS AND HOPE

This from Justin Alexander in Iraq: "Christian Peacemaker Teams' guiding principle in conflict situations, a corollary of Jesus' Golden Rule, is never to dehumanise people.... One might think it strange that an avowedly pacifist Christian organisation receives such heartfelt support [over the hostages] from jihadist Muslims such as Hamas and the Al-Asqa Martyr's Brigade. Perhaps it is because they can see that CPTers like Tom Fox are among the few in the West who, while disagreeing with their actions, still treat them as precious human beings. My Iraqi friends tell me that people in Baghdad are beginning to refer to the CPT-four as the "mujahadeen" -- of course that is a term that they would all reject because of its connotations of violence; but it is nonetheless a deep affirmation that Iraqis recognise them as being radically aligned with the struggle for freedom and justice.

"Two articles out of the thousands published over the last week jump out. One is one of Jim Loney's final releases, describing one of our dear mutual Iraqi friends, a friend who has suffered unimaginably as a war-resister and yet retains a soft heart. The other focuses on Tom Fox, whose steady radical faith has been a firm support to me much of this year in Baghdad and I'm sure will be sustaining the whole group through this trial. Inshallah when I will see Tom free in a few days I'm sure he will give me his shy half-smile and ask in those gentle, measured tones what all the fuss has been about during his little hiatus, given than dozens of Iraqis go through a similar experience each day."

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[21.40 GMT]: Message from Maxine Nash, one of Jim Loney's co-workers in Iraq. Courtesy of David Helwig (SooToday); Toronto prayer service to be held for hostages (CTV.ca); Profile in Courage: Peace activist blazes a Christmas story. By John Railey about Tom Fox (Winston-Salem Journal, NC); Violence Shatters Iraq Post-Election Calm. By Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP, Kansan).

[21.15 GMT] More on Susanne Osthoff, who has happily been freed in Iraq. Married to a Jordanian, in her professional work she was engaged in documenting archaeological sites looted in Iraq after the US-led invasion. She was widely cited in the media during this period.
This from a 2003 NY Times article:
"In two weeks, they have ruined all the work that was done over 15 years," said Susanne Osthoff, an archaeologist who worked with a German team that excavated at Isin from the mid-1970's until 1989....
Ms Osthoff, who returned to Iraq shortly before American forces overthrew the government of [Saddam] Hussein, was alerted by local villagers who were horrified by the destruction at Isin.
Protected by old friends, Ms Osthoff waded into the mob of heavily-armed diggers four days ago and then escorted two journalists to the site again on Wednesday.
"They [the looters] are poor people, and they are desperate to make some money," she said today. "But they do not understand what they are doing."

[19.15 GMT] Freeing of German hostage brings hope to Iraq peace workers, Ekkesia, 18/12/05 - includes background (Susanne Ofsthoff picture here); Bush to cite Iraq progress in major speech (Reuters); Nur al-Cubicle: A weblog on the current crises in the Middle East and news accounts of events in Iraq as collected from stories and dispatches in the French and Italian media: Le Monde (Paris), Il Corriere della Sera (Milan), La Repubblica (Rome), L'Orient-Le Jour (Beirut) and occasionally from El Mundo (Madrid).

[16.15 GMT] Christian aid [sic] group vows to continue work in Iraq, (CTV.ca, Canada). And a darkly amusing exchange reported in The Montreal Gazette:
[T]he CBC reported a foreign hostages unit has been put together in Iraq to investigate the case of the western hostages.
A spokesman for the Iraqi police major crimes unit said people are giving them information and they're checking it.
The spokesman, who would only identify himself as a police captain, said this is case No. 1 right now in the major crimes unit.
"The people are giving, producing information to us," the spokesman said. "We are checking this information. We are doing our best."
"We cannot share this with the press because of the security of the hostages right now. All the information we have we are going to share directly with the Canadian Embassy," he added.
[And as he might well have added: "So could you please stop making stuff up when you hear a rumour". Ed.]

[12.00 GMT] Hostages' group urges US pullout (Ottowa Sun); Call to action issued to Jim Loney's supporters. By David Helwig (SooToday.com); New unit investigating Iraq kidnappings (CBC News) - the story claims that "details are emerging", but gives none. It has the appearance of yet more saloon bar gossip. Also wrongly calls the CPTers "aid workers", as does Premier Radio, which has been asked to change this. Friends pray for Indo-Canadian abducted in Iraq (Hindustan Times). [Pic: Missing CPTer Harmeet Singh Sooden on a farm outside Jenin, Palestine, where he was helping to plant olive trees. Click for more pictures]

[02.27 GMT] Sooden family know nothing of Iraq negotiator abduction claim, Ekklesia, 18/12/05; Christian Peacemakers say they will carry on their work, Ekklesia, 18/12/05; Petition reaches 50,000 - Freethecaptivesnow.org. This weekend CPT launched an ‘urgent action’ to encourage their supporters to contact US politicians and congressional representatives in advance of a speech which President Bush will make on Iraq policy today at 21.00 EST (-5 hours GMT) from the White House Oval Office.

[278.1] IN THE WAY AT GUANTANAMO

Sister Anne Montgomery, an associate of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, reads outside the "Witness Against Torture" camp at the military zone boundary near the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on 13 December 2005. The 79-year-old Sacred Heart sister has been among some 25 American activists who are praying and fasting to protest against the treatment of alleged terror suspects held at Guantanamo. Since 12 December they have been camped at a Cuban military checkpoint five miles from the US base. (Catholic News Service photo from Reuters) Full story here. See backstory on: Christian peacemakers demand entry to Guantanamo Bay 14/12/05

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[20.40 GMT] Saturday statement from Christian Peacemaker Teams. By David Helwig, (SooToday.com); Sooden's family speaks of 'burden'. By Tim Hume (Stuff.co.nz, due 18/12/05); CPT IRAQ URGENT ACTION: Provide Support for Democratic Rebuttal on Opposition to the War; U.S. nun among protesters against treatment of Guantanamo prisoners. By Regina Linskey, Catholic News Service (Catholic Explorer); Material by other networks covering the situation: Ekklesia, Electronic Iraq, Harmeet Sooden Support Page, Resource Site on Tom Fox, Free the Captives, International Solidarity Movement, Beirut IndyMedia.

[14.30 GMT] People are asking about the hostage-negotiator-kidnapped story. At this stage, I can add nothing more than what's in the reports below. Except to observe that in the dangerous and rumour-filled world of abductions in Iraq, it seems best not to feed allegations unless they have at least two or three strong backers from known, reliable sources. Nothing of that kind has yet emerged on this one. But that doesn't stop news agencies spreading it. Meanwhile, back to the business of working and praying for a positive resolution of the CPT kidnappings, and others too. SB.

[13.35 GMT] Toronto Star silent about disputed Iraq hostage claim. By David Helwig, SooToday.com, 17/12/05.

[UPDATE 02.45 GMT] Lack of evidence for Iraq negotiator abduction claim, Ekklesia, 17/12/05. David Helwig, a reporter for SooToday online in Sault Ste. Marie, where captive Iraq CPTer Jim Loney is from, has also questioned the Toronto Star story, first in Think-tank refutes report about another abduction in Iraq (originally Conflicting reports about another abduction in Iraq). The Google newsfeed trail on this story is here. About 15 sources have syndicated it so far.]

[277.1] LOOKING BEYOND THE ABYSS

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided people." (Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 1963)

"What would happen if Christians devoted the same discipline and self-sacrifice to nonviolent peacemaking that armies devote to war?" Ronald J. Sider

Latest material from the Oxford Research Group: The Politics of War (International Security Monthly Briefing). ORG has published a vital new report on Iraqi Liberation? Towards an Integrated Strategy. This discussion document draws on the expertise of an international high-level consultative panel, including British, Iraqi, Middle Eastern and American experts from the military, foreign service, intelligence community and civil society. It brings together seven key elements of a positive alternative strategy for Iraqi stabilisation and development.

I.B. Tauris has published the ORG International Security Report 2005, Iraq and the War on Terror: Twelve Months of Insurgency, 2004/2005 by Professor Paul Rogers.

See also the provocative collected writings of Independent journalist Robert Fisk, including War is the total failure of the human spirit, by Justin Podur.

[Picture, the late Sue Rhodes, Christian Peacemaker Teams]

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[00.15 GMT] Last night's and this morning's news has mostly been taken up by a story from Canada that an anoymous local Iraqi negotiator has made contact with Swords of Truth Brigades, but has now ben missing since 8 December and is believed kidnapped. Ekklesia has it on good advice that there is no substance to this on either counts, but it has morphed across the web with predictable speed and little interest in fact-checking. Only one of the four core sources we queried about corroboration has even bothered to reply. True or not, it seems to fulfil the criteria for "news" when there is none. Meanwhile: Seattle couple recall man seized in Iraq. "He's a kind, gentle person," Christie Schmid says of Jim Loney (Seattle Post-Intelligencer).

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[276.2] THE STATURE OF WAITING

"Without the painful waiting, the joyful waiting could not be so. The biblical depiction of Advent is not a one-sided, easy anticipation; it is an anxious, hopeful, slightly fearful waiting, a knowledge of the danger ahead, of the challenges currently faced… but also of the tremendous opportunity coming - of the hope that waits on the doorstep." (Awake To Dream)

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[13.00 GMT] Related to CPT, the captives and Iraq - Iraq hostage negotiator story denied (Ekklesia, 16/12/05) Love your enemies: Peace activist Tom Fox has lived in Baghdad by the words of Jesus. Now he faces murder by terrorists. Was his mission in vain? By Michelle Goldberg (Salon.com); Heroism With a Difference. By Geov Parrish (Seattle Weekly); A Mission of Peace and Peril (With four colleagues kidnapped, a Minnesota activist is poised to return to Iraq. She goes to bear witness to those struggling with violence. By Stephanie Simon, LA Times); Peace on earth: Christmas, the captives and dialogue with Mulsims and Jews (Shanta Premawardhana, Associate General Secretary for Interfaith Relations, National Council of Churches USA); Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem slams West Bank separation fence (Haaretz/AP); An open letter written by the secret trial detainees held in Toronto, and sent to Arab media outlets around the world; Fighting for peace (Japan Baptist); On Earth Peace programme (Church of the Brethren). Also see regular OpenDemocracy columns by Paul Rogers, Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University and a consultant to the Oxford Research Group. The second edition of his book Losing Control has just been published by Pluto Press.

[10.57 GMT] Latest on CPT captive situation and related - Fears 'unfounded' for Iraq hostage negotiator (Ekklesia, 16/12/05) and Iraq hostage negotiator is missing, source says. By Michelle Shephard (Toronto Star); Christian Peacemaker Team's Kidnapping: Who Did It? By Gene Stoltzfus (Common Dreams, via his weblog); The day Iraqis have waited for. By Zaid Salah, and Victory in Iraq? By Paul Rogers, inaugural professor of peace studies at the University of Bradford (both OpenDemocracy); The Bogus Blurring of Terrorism and Insurgency in Iraq. By Norman Solomon (Truthout) Honour prevails: McCain, Bush and torture (Idaho Mountain Express opinion); Talk about something serious (Elkhart Truth); Peace group prays for hostage’s safe return (London CPT, inc. Tim Nafziger quote, Hampstead and Highgate Express).

[276.1] LIVING WITH CONTRADICTIONS

God bless our contradictions, those parts of us which seem out of character.
Let us be boldly and gladly out of character.
Let us be creatures of paradox and variety; creatures of contrast,
of light and shade, creatures of faith.
God be our constant.
Let us step out of character into the unknown,
to struggle and love and do what we will.

© Michael Leunig, Common Prayer Collection

[Thanks for the link from St-Matthew-in-the-City, whose vicar - Glynn Cardy - has also contributed this valuable comment on the first Narnia film, Why the Lion isn’t safe]

Picture: Members of Christian Peacemaker Teams, from left, Jill Pritchard-Scott, Father Bob Holmes, Arunthathy Ratnasingham and Lyn Adamson hold candles during a vigil in Toronto, Canada, on Saturday, 10 December 2005. (AP Photo/CP, © Aaron Harris)

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[00.30 GMT] Search goes on for missing Christian peace workers 16/12/05; UK envoy remains hopeful on Iraq captives 16/12/05 (both Ekklesia); 'High turnout' in Iraqi election ; New 'torture jail' found in Iraq (BBC).

[00.01 GMT] They pray at the gates of Guantanamo, by Ron Ferguson of the Iona Community (Herald, Glasgow) ( Christian Peacemaker Teams began with a sermon in France, by Harold Jantz (Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches); Harmeet Singh Sooden: peace-maker, Christian, battler against injustice (stuff.co.nz). Mennonite World Conference appeal from 07/12. Don't Bomb Us - A weblog by Al Jazeera Staffers (including this earlier appeal for the captives). Message of support from the Peasant Association of Cimitarra River Valley - ACVC Colmbia. David Cook: The Story Of Tom Fox (The Chattanoogan).

[Iraq captives update, 20.49 GMT] Gene Stoltzfus, a pivotal figure in Christian Peacemaker Teams, has his own weblog - Peace Talk - here. Worth comparing the poorly researched criticism circulating in articles like this. Against which, see: Living non-violence not for the weak,
by Nicole Langlois (London Free Press). Peace activist 'was betrayed by spy', Colin Freeman in Baghdad (Daily Telegraph) - pursuing the theory promulgated elsewhere on the web. Waiting for News: Days after deadline expires, friends of Tom Fox still hope for a peaceful resolution, by Amber Healy (Great Falls Connection). Muslims pray for hostages (CNews). The endless looting of Iraq, by Ghali Hassan (Online Journal).

[275.2] DE-COLONISING THE PEWS

The BBC had a special news feature on ‘filling the pews’ (or emptying them!) in London yesterday. The first section focussed on the sexuality argument, with the Anglican Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, on film, and the Rev Joel Edwards (head of the Evangelical Alliance) and my esteemed colleague Jonathan Bartley from Ekklesia (pictured) in the studio. You can watch it via dial-up or broadband here until the end of the week – the first segment is straight after the weather forecast, appropriately enough. Hmmnnn... What was that Gospel saying about “the Spirit blows where it wills, and we know not where it comes from or where it goes”?

Anyway, it is a good encounter between Jon and Joel. Of course the stock premise of the interview, the interviewer and the film that precedes it is that those who oppose affirming lesbian and gay people in the church must have the Bible on their side, and that those who are inclusive must want to throw it out. Similarly, the media ‘script’ says that all evangelicals are on one side, and the ‘other side’ is made up of people called ‘liberals’.

Rooted in the radical discipleship tradition, one of the things we try to do on Ekklesia is to upset these false and settled assumptions. As on slavery, women, peace and war and much else, the issue is not about knock-down arguments buttressing unassailed rightness. It is about how Christians interpret their texts and traditions (and each other), how they are persuaded – and how they often discover that what they thought was ‘plain’ is actually more demanding than the first or surface reading suggests. That is, it concerns not only our theories about "received wisdom", but how we live and with what kind of responsiveness to the transcendent down-to-earthness of God.

Faithful reading and re-reading in context, through evolving communal understanding, critical reflection, and seeking the way of Jesus in the light of the Spirit isn’t, therefore, some “modern fad” or “easy option”. It’s actually the procedure of traditional Christianity, before that term was hijacked by what David Jenkins calls “certainty wallahs”, and by a fundamentalist refusal of the openness of the text – a stance which actually owes more to dogmatic nineteenth century rationalism than to the God of the Bible who is revealed in the vulnerability of flesh, narrative and sacrifical love.

It is this traditioned view (as I would put it, to distinguish from the rejectionist variety) which leads many of us to believe that the exclusion of gay people from full participation as baptised members of the Body of Christ is not just wrong on grounds of some abstract contemporary notion of rights, but wrong as a statement about the identity of Jesus' companions and the way this identity is apprehended in the prophetic biblical tradition -- which speaks of a changing future, not a fixed past. Not that it’s easy to put that into a sound-bite on TV. But Jonathan always does a pretty good job of it, I reckon.

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[04.00 GMT] This from Salt Lake Tribune - an interview with Will Van Wagenen, “a Salt Lake City native who recently returned from four months in Iraq working with [Tom] Fox and other members of the nonprofit Christian Peacemaker Teams.” Street Corner Society also quotes two other CPTers. One is founder Gene Stoltzfus. See Retired CPT director worried about detainees in Baghdad, by Heather Ogilvie, in the Fort Frances Times.

[275.1] SAYING NO TO CAESAR'S "PEACE"

"John Dominic Crossan, I believe, reminded us that Caesar was called the Prince of Peace, and that the [meaning] in naming Jesus the Prince of Peace was to send a message to the Romans that peace is not the outcome of beating others into submission, but is the result of making peace first, not as the quiet between the wars." [more]

Lorcan Otway, writing on Hopeful Imagination - an Advent weblog

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[19.00 GMT]. Very little news. Former kidnap victims share anguish (Globe and Mail). Three British Muslims killed in Iraq identified (Muslim News). For those who have not heard it, this is the radio interview with Dr Norman Kember first broadcast on Premier (press release with excerpts here), a London-based Christian radio station on 11 November 2005. (The reference to him being an 'aid' worker is incorrect). It was repeated, in English and in a specially commissioned Arabic translation, on Al-jazeera last week. Christian Peacemaker Teams archive and resources on the kidnap situation. FoR latest. Pax Christi prayer and action leaflet (*.PDF).

[14.12 GMT]: All quiet ahead of Iraq vote (CBS); Report on UK anti-war conference; Canadian Muslim envoy returns empty-handed; Al-jazeera - inundated with appeals for the hostages; British Satellite News vigil report; Christian peacemakers demand entry to Guantanamo Bay 14/12/05

[02.03 GMT] Canadian churches pray for missing peace activists, 14/12/05. Islamic Army in Iraq link to peace activist hostages confirmed (The Jawa Report - mix of information and speculation, from a source with a particular sceptical POV.) Hostage believed peace mission was worth the risk.

[274.1] LEARNING TO PUT OURSELVES IN THE WRONG

For those who only occasionally drop into FinS (and perhaps more so for those who do so regularly), I feel slightly apologetic that the overwhelming number of posts recently have concerned the Iraq hostage situation -- where we are now into an agonising and predictable waiting game. I hope you will understand why, but things will return to 'normal' in due course. Not that our perception of normality should remain undisturbed by such events.

One or two people have also asked me about the various criticisms of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) creeping their way across the blogosphere. Well, of course, moral courage should not silence critical judgement, and there are serious issues to confront about the stance, location and tactics of "violence reduction by getting in the way". The fact that I share CPT's commitment to Christian non-violence certainly does not mean that I wish to ignore these challenges. But there are times and places. The present moment is, for me, one of solidarity and petition. Johan Maurer sums it up well in his reference to 'borrowed time', though I have found myself that the infusion of prayerful indwelling with journalistic advocacy has been liberating, even when it has meant living on the edge of despair.

Those of you who know me (or have read earlier comments of mine on this subject) will also realise that I am not uncritical of the general anti-war movement, even as I find myself keeping company with it. There is a politically lazy and morally easy self-righteousness involved in much of the rhetoric against the overthrow of Saddam's nightmarish rule which does little justice to those who suffered under his yolk, to the 65-71 per cent of Iraqis who now say that -- in spite of the conflict and chaos -- they feel better off, or to what I would call the involved depth of "the difficult peace of Christ". Christian non-violence cannot legitimately refuse facts or deny responsibility. But for those of us who see it as central to the Gospel, it remains a vital testimony to that vulnerable possibility revealed in the words, deeds, death and risen life of Jesus which is otherwise silenced and destroyed by the soteriology of taking arms. Of course this does not abolish either the ambiguity and compromise of the world, or the moral integrity of those who feel compelled to stand against injustice in other ways. But it does ask, "in what or whom do we really trust?"

More of that later, perhaps. I can certainly reference other material I have been writing in this area (search under 'peace' and 'disturbing'). In the meantime, by way of a photoshop experiment which hopefully shows that we can smile and be serious simultaneously [above], I am extremely grateful to Methodist minister Dave Warnock for providing links to these ten extraordinary podcasts by Anita David, a CPTer in Iraq.

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[273.2] REDEMPTION BY LETHAL INJECTION?

[Update 11.28 GMT] Williams was executed this morning. His family and supporters say they will continue to work to clear his name. They say the decision was political, not evidence-based.

There are many lamentable things about the notion of a country deeming itself "Christian", or in the case of the United States (which I love, and from where my beloved wife and her family hail) being co-opted by self-appointed "moral majorities". The main problem is that their colonisation of faith usually renders it nonsense, and self-deceptive nonsense at that. This is well illustrated by the sad case of governor 'Terminator' Arnold Schwarzenegger and reformed Crips gang leader 'Tookie' Williams, who is about to die by lethal injection in the next few hours. The full report is here, but the following comments, juxtaposed, say it all for me.

The Los Angeles district attorney's office has said of Williams: “There can be no redemption... and there should be no mercy.”

Alex Kirby, a religious analyst for the BBC, says: “Oddly, for a country as obsessed with religious observance as the US, the Christian argument seems almost an afterthought. If it were central, the district attorney's statement would have to be withdrawn, because in traditional Christian theology everybody is eligible for redemption.”

(Kirby gets the rest of his theology of redemption, forgiveness and conversion slightly tangled after this, but I won't get into that right now. See, among others, Walter Wink, Jesus and Non-violence: A Third Way; When the Powers Fall: Reconciliation in the Healing of Nations.)

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[273.1] ONE IS STANDING AMONG YOU WHOM YOU DO NOT KNOW

Thanks to Maggi Dawn for this, and for her succinct reflection on the history, liturgy and calling of Advent: "This Gaudete Sunday, I – like many others – [had] the image of Norman Kember and other hostages in my mind: the waiting, the already-not-yet taking on a particularly poignant intensity because of the plight of these Christian peacemakers who are in danger. Let’s pray today for all who wait and hope for release from oppression and fear.

Into the darkness of this world,
Into the shadows of the night,
Into this loveless place you came,
lightened our burden, eased our pain,
and made these hearts your home.
Into the darkness once again,
Oh Come, Lord Jesus, Come. (c) 1993 Thankyou Music

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[23.25 GMT] Cardinal joins pleas for Iraq peace workers, 12/12/05

[16.26 GMT] Praying for a miracle amid Iraq hostage silence, 12/12/05

[272.2] WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE WAITING FOR?

An advent reflection....

The season of Advent is one of waiting in nervous anticipation for genuine hope to be made available. For Christians the shape of that hope is known to be Jesus, the man-for-others, who gives up a throne for a crib and a crown for a cross.

It is in his most vulnerable humanity (and ours) that the truth of God is known – a truth that invites us towards, but does not force upon us, transformation and community in the midst of fragmentation and contingency.

Real Advent hope is therefore realism not fantasy, a beginning not an end. The world is broken, bruised and tortured, it tells us. And so are we. Yet what lies in and beyond the terrifying freedom of the universe and its ‘thinking reeds’ is a love which embraces and sustains more than we could ever describe, a love which is available to us without fear or favour, often in the most unlikely form. [Full article here]

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[06.05 GMT] SILENCE IN IRAQ: (BBC) Friends and family of Norman Kember have endured an agonising wait for news. Chris Cole, director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, of which the pensioner is a trustee, said: "We are looking for a miracle at this stage." Bruce Kent, a friend of Mr Kember for 15 years, said: "I haven't given up hope at all. They may be working on some way of getting off the hook without losing face.It's quite possible they may be preparing a video to say why they are releasing them."

Today: All faiths candlelit vigil in London for Norman Kember, 6-7pm

[272.1] A BEATITUDE FOR MISSING FRIENDS

Officials and families seek news on Iraq Christian peace workers 12/12/05, 01.30 GMT
News on the continuing search, comment from a Canadian security expert, differing views on the implications of the captors' silence, and an update from Jim Loney's home parish in Ontario. [01.35GMT, Gulf Daily News: An Iraqi insurgent group claimed the kidnapping of four Iranians on a religious mission to the war-torn country, according to a video shown on the Al Arabiya channel. "Initial investigation confirmed they were dispatched on an official mission by the hawza (religious authority) in Qom," said the channel's anchorman, reading a statement from a group called the Saad bin Abi Waqas Brigades.]

Here is another support from Friends United Meeting, USA.

This litany of the Beatitudes was composed by Jim before the first Gulf War (thanks to CPT and Mennonite Church USA):

Let us pray – You have learned how it is said

Love your neighbour and hate your enemy

But I say this to you who are listening...

Love your enemies

Do good to those who hate you

Bless those who curse you

Be compassionate

Judge not

Do not condemn

Grant pardon

Because the amount you measure out

Is the amount you will be given back

Let everything you do

Be done in love

Blessed are the poor

For theirs is the kingdom of God

Blessed are they who mourn now

For they will be comforted

Blessed are the meek

For they will inherit the earth

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice

For they will be satisfied

Blessed are the merciful

For they will be shown mercy

Blessed are the pure in heart

For they will see God

Blessed are the peacemakers

For they will be called the daughters and sons of God

Blessed are they who are persecuted because of righteousness

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Pic on this and the last three posts c/o CPT

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[271.2] KEMBER VIGIL IN LONDON ON MONDAY

At St Martin's-in-the-Field, Trafalagar Square, London, from 18:00-19:00, tomorrow evening. Details on Independent Catholic News, and later today on Ekklesia. People are also asked to maintain a period of quiet and prayer at midday, daily.

13.05 GMT. A representative of the Iraqi government has told the BBC that, in the absence of further news, attempts to secure the release of the four CPTers and the two other abductees continues, but that the kidnap gang are "an unknown group" with whom there has been no direct contact. The Iraqi prime minister has said that the insurgents who have continued kidnapping and killing across the country are composed of three factions - Saddamists, militants from outside the country, and "those who think that all except themselves are interlopers."

A full briefing on CPT can be found here.

Further prayer vigil information; Mennonite Church USA Peace and Justice Support Network. Mennonite Church Canada. UK vigils - Fellowship of Reconciliation. Pax Christi (*.PDF).

See also Observer Focus: the race against time in Iraq - How the Muslim world battled for the life of Norman Kember. A good background piece by Jamie Doward, who quotes my colleague Jonathan Bartley. And this piece by Michelle Naar Obed, who knows two of the captives personally.

Petition for the release of the four.

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[271.1] PRAYING THAT NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS

Jesus said: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5. 44)

[Sunday 02.10 GMT, Ekklesia] As the deadline set by the unidentified captors of four Christian peacemakers passed with no further news last night, the anxious vigil of families, friends and supporters across the world went on – and the lobbying to have them set free continued. [Picture via CPT. Others here]

The Rev Alan Betteridge, a friend of the abducted Dr Norman Kember, also a member of the Baptist Peace Fellowship, said yesterday: "My worry is, how do the captors extricate themselves from this, without losing face?"

He continued: "Either they lose face if they free them, or they are really out on a limb if they execute them. Somebody has to find a way to let them out of this."

However, Mr Betteridge, a retired minister from Coventry, said he was still hopeful "because of the concerted voice from the Muslim world". [full story and links here]

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[270.3] Iraq lastest, 18.15 GMT: Hope continues as Iraq captive deadline looms 10/12/05.

[270.2] ANOTHER ADVENT TODAY?

See this fine article (Advent hope for Iraq, captives and Limbaugh) from Sojourners' web editor Ryan Beiler.

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[270.1] WHY ALL HEARTS ARE SACRED

Last year Jim Loney, who is currently a hostage in Iraq, wrote a piece in Catholic New Times on the Sacred Heart [full text here, thanks to my father-in-law, Willard Roth], something he once saw as "saccharine-soaked images of Jesus staring into the blue with puppy-dog eyes." Then he re-visioned the icon of Mary and Jesus through the lens of those torn apart by the lesions of the world, and especially a scratched version of the image at Auschwitz. On seeing that, he writes:

"I fell in love with the Sacred Heart that day. I see it now as a profound meditation on human freedom, on the disarming power of the disarmed life. When we know who we are, a no-matter-what loved child of God, then we cannot but love in that same no-matter-what way, without condition or limit or fear. When we lay down our weapons (whatever they be - the desire to punish, or an inter-continental nuclear missile) and open wide our hearts, we become truly free, a Sacred Heart ready to embrace anyone, do anything, go anywhere.

"Perhaps old Leo XIII was on to something after all when he "solemnly consecrated" all humankind to the Sacred Heart on June 11, 1899. He called it "the great act" of his pontificate. Perhaps history would be a little different if we all took the Sacred Heart to heart. "

More articles by Jim Loney are registered here.

**Latest on Iraq: Embattled Hezbollah backs Iraq 'doves of peace' 09/12/05. See also: Bishop challenges religious zealots over Jerusalem 10/12/05 **

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[269.3] HOW DO WE REALLY WANT TO 'EMERGE'?

Amidst the agony of waiting and hoping, one of the interesting issues that has arisen from the CPT hostage situation in Iraq is the contrast between how different sections of media (and the communities behind them) have responded to the story. Even though Christian Peacemaker Teams were on to prisoner abuse and Abu Ghraib before anyone else, the mainstream continues to ignore such groups, except when a crisis erupts.

Here in the UK, Christianity is most often only good for a story when it is being silly, when it is declining, when it is fretting about sex, or when its hierarchs are being obnoxious or clueless. The routinely extraordinary things done by groups like CPT are simply "not news" -- even when they clearly are. They just don't fit "the script".

The church media isn't much better. Indeed it is often confused and baffled by people who think that Christian faith is about life transformation rather than churchianity or my-personal-Saviour. A deep commitment to the way of Christ that involves a refusal of violence, the embracing (rather than the haughty rejection) of 'the other', and so on, is for an eccentric minority.

As far as the abductions in Iraq are concerned, the main response of some Christian media outlets has been, in fact, to focus on accusations -- not well researched -- of "irresponsibility" against CPT. There is much church talk of 'mission' and (less often) 'discipleship', but those words are often little more than a cipher for maintaining control and doing nice, respectable things for Jesus.

The biblical tradition has a huge amount to say about peacemaking and social justice, but the Christendom church mindset sees these, at best, as add-ons. Whereas its own insecurities about identity (confusions over sexuality), authority (how to make the Bible our personal or communal weapon) and security (how we can come up with an 'emergent' or 'historic' brand to keep us in business) are what it's actually about, when the chips are down.

As we pray that the captives might emerge, we might ask ... Emergent church? Yes, but what and who really is "the Body of Christ", where has it come from, where is it going, what is it for, and what is it doing? Those remain the central questions. And the answers to them are to be found in places of endeavour, argument and suffering -- not "in church". More like, "in Baghdad".

By humbling contrast, the unexpected outpouring of Muslim respect, concern and recognition for the vocations of Tom, Harmeet, Norman and Jim in Baghdad, and the tragic plight they share with haundreds of abductees in a vortex of oppression and violence, has been noticeable. Of course, Islam has its own major issues with religiously sanctioned revenge. But what the Iraq hostage saga has shown is that there is another way of seeing and acting that people of good faith (whether they are 'believers', humanists, secularists or whatever) recognise as authentic -- if a little crazy -- when they see it.

The excerpt below is from Mark DeVine, writing on Ekklesia and in the marvellous Mother Jones. Among other things, he suggests that the secular left has something to learn from CPT, just as CPT (with all its faults) has been willing to work with, and learn from, others.

My last images of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Baghdad was of their holding a vigil in Tahrir Square to protest against the detention and mistreatment of Iraqis by the US military in Abu Ghraib. This was in late March 2004, months before anyone in the United States had even heard of Abu Ghraib, or bothered to consider how our armed forces were treating detainees in the war on terror. But CPT knew full well what was going on in Abu Ghraib--that's why they were in Iraq, to "witness" the realities of the occupation--and they were determined to make sure that the Iraqis saw that there were Americans, and westerners more broadly, who were willing to put their bodies on the line to protest against such abuses. It's too bad that it's taken this tragedy to get the rest of us to listen. [Full article here]

Mark LeVine is Associate Professor of modern Middle Eastern history, culture and Islamic studies and author of Why They Don't Hate Us: Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil (Oneworld Publications, 2005). Visit Mark LeVine's website here. His article also appears in the latest Mother Jones.

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[269.2] ROWAN WILLIAMS INTERVIEWED

For those who want to know "where he's at" at the moment, BBC Radio Five Live presenter Simon Mayo interviewed Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, for 35 minutes a couple of days ago. You can hear the whole thing here (in Real Audio format). Includes discussion of pretty much every current hot topic. Thanks to Thinking Anglicans for the tip. See also Williams' 'What is Christianity?' talk for a Muslim audience in Pakistan.

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[269.1] HOSTAGE LATEST

UN secretary general calls for release of all Iraqi captives 09/12/05 (with updated complete list of Ekklesia news and features on this developing story, including Tom Fox's last article and weblog entry before he was captured.
Former Guantanamo Bay detainees call for release of Christian peacemakers 08/12/05
Jack Straw says he will talk on Iraq hostages 08/12/05

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[268.2] A SMALL GLIMPSE OF LIGHT

[Update: Jack Straw says he will talk on Iraq hostages 08/12/05]

Yesterday I was writing, in connection with Advent hope and the CPT hostages in Iraq: "[Though it does not happen as much as we might want, hearts can be melted. Simply dehumanizing those whose actions revile us does nothing to break the cycle of hatred, even if it makes us feel better." Later in the day the news became public that Abu Qatada, allegedly Osama Bin Laden's agent in Europe, had asked his solicitor to arrange for a TV recording in his UK prison cell (where he is being held under British terror laws) to ask the Sword of Truth Brigades to have mercy on the four abductees. Extraordinary, whatever we think of his other views and actions. Note the deadline of their threatened killing (if US and UK Iraqi detainees are not released) has been extended for 48 hours to Saturday. There is a glimpse of light in a very dark situation, though no-one should doubt the continuing gravity of it. Petition for the release of the four. Incidentally, a friend in the US said recently that the issue is much more difficult to discuss in many Christian churches, where the work done by CPT is often seen as "too controversial" or "unpatriotic". How very sad. In Britain too, some of the church media have been rather recalcitrant, to put it politely.

For reference, here (below) is the full archive of material on the kidnappings from Ekklesia. Some of these links, but by no means all, have been notified on FinS.

[Full and chronological related articles on Ekklesia: Christian Peacemaker Teams full briefing (with links to features and stories on CPT's work); Why are we here? (by CPTer Tom Fox); Abu Qatada pleas for Iraq captives as deadline is extended 08/12/05; Christians criticize UK Iraq war budget increase 08/12/05; Christian peacemakers say the work must go on 08/12/05; Last minute appeals made for Christian peacemakers 07/12/05 ; Muslim detainees plead for lives of Christian peacemakers 06/12/05; Faith groups in the US unite to back Iraq captives 06/12/05; French engineer seized in Iraq 05/12/05; Norman Kember's wife pleads for his life 04/12/05; Iraqi, Muslim and Palestinian support for peace hostages grows 04/12/05; Insurgents say they will kill Christian peacemakers 02/12/05; WCC calls for freeing of Christian peace workers 02/12/05; Vigils and messages of support for abducted peace activist 02/12/05; Palestinian bishop seeks mercy for Iraq peace workers 02/12/05; Anti-war campaigner flies to Iraq to plead for Christian peacemakers 01/12/05; Muslims urge release of Christian peacemakers missing in Iraq 01/12/05; Al-Jazeera releases film of Iraq peace hostages 30/11/05; Search goes on for Christian peacemaker kidnapped in Iraq 28/11/05. Key book: Patricia Gates-Brown (ed.), Getting in the Way: Stories from Christian Peacemaker Teams, Herald Press]

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[268.1] THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL

"It is not love in the abstract that counts. Men have loved a cause as they have loved a woman. They have loved the brotherhood, the workers, the poor, the oppressed - but they have not loved [humanity]; they have not loved the least of these. They have not loved "personally." It is hard to love. It is the hardest thing in the world, naturally speaking. Have you ever read Tolstoy's Resurrection? He tells of political prisoners in a long prison train, enduring chains and persecution for the love of their brothers, ignoring those same brothers on the long trek to Siberia. It is never the brothers right next to us, but the brothers in the abstract that are easy to love."

Dorothy Day

Social activist and founder of the Catholic Worker movement. It was 25 years on 29 November since she died. Thanks to Sojourners for reminding me.

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[267.2] SEEKING MERCY, FACING THREAT

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy." (Matthew 5.7)

Advent is a time of waiting. Right now, many of us are waiting rather anxiously to see if the appeals -- of religious leaders, politicians, human rights advocates, ordinary people across the world, and opponents of war and occupation -- are heeded by the little-known militant group that holds in its hands the lives of four associates of Christian Peacemaker Teams. Tomorrow (the captors' deadline) we may know more. In all probability we will not. There is likely to be further painful waiting.

In statistical terms the odds seem less than evenly stacked. But while, tragically, many of the hundreds of ordinary Iraqis who are kidnapped simply disappear or die, the 50 or so Western hostages have, on average, been better off. Rather more have been released than killed. This is, of course, scant consolation for the families and friends of Margaret Hassan, Ken Bigley and others. But it is likely to be at least a straw of hope for the loved ones of Tom Fox, Harmeet Sooden, James Loney and Norman Kember.

Given the situation on the ground, it is easy to be cynical about the pleas for mercy to 'Sword of Truth'. And some of my correspondents have been. One wrote: "You must live in cloud cuckoo land if you think all these pious calls for mercy will influence the psychos who go around kidnapping people in Iraq. And in the process, with all this talk of occupation and detainees, you are simply feeding the propaganda machine of Islamists. These so-called 'Christian peace makers' thought their high moral principles would make them safe. Maybe they and you will have to learn the hard way."

It's hard not to be saddened by the callous tone, and it is tempting to bin such vitriol. But this response cannot be dismissed lightly. It raises important issues. Yes, in human terms, those who kill and terrorise for their cause have hardened their hearts, often to an impenetrable degree. This is a fact that cannot be ignored. Nevertheless (and this is perhaps even more difficult for us to face than the alternative), they are not zombies. They still have a choice. Moreover, though it does not happen as much as we might want, hearts can be melted. Simply dehumanizing those whose actions revile us does nothing to break the cycle of hatred, even if it makes us feel better. We may or may not be able to avert violence and horror in particular situations. And we should be under no illusions about those who choose to live by the sword. But we too have a choice. We can still go on witnessing to a better way - the alternative cycle of peace-building-justice, for which even a small gesture of mercy or bridge-building can prove an unexpected start.

Those who work with CPT don't just believe that (as if they were acting in naive defiance of reason), they are prepared to stake their lives on it. Whatever happens next, they went to Iraq knowing that they might have to share the fate of Jesus, who they name as the source and inspiration of their hope. Maybe this is utter foolishness, but it is as far from ineffective piety as you can get. Nor is it a stance based on a sense of moral superiority. Gandhi once said that he sympathised more with those who take up arms against injustice than those who acquiesce 'peaceably' with injustice. But he went on, respectfully, to suggest that there is a better way - that of disarming love. That way is not based on thinking ourselves better than others, it is based on recognising that others have an equal claim to the life we share but do not own. This is as far from endorsing the agendas of those who use terror as is possible.

To believe, as I do, and as all four abductees do, that life is given by and returns to a God whose own disarming, transforming love is encountered in the face of Christ is to belong to a company of people who share a conviction that -- contrary to much of the way our world runs -- power and might will not have the final say. So while I agree that in our actions we must resolutely face both our capacity for grotesque inhumanity and the often fatal ambiguity of life, I am not reduced to cynicism about the CPTers. Rather I am humbled by the courage of those (of whatever faith or ideology) who are prepared, if needs be, to allow their lives to be spokes in the wheel of revenge. Whatever their fallibilities, and I am sure they have many, Tom, Harmeet, James and Norman have taken a path deserves the utmost respect.

Meanwhile, we remember them. And some of us, if we are able, pray. We do not pray to a fantasy god who we expect to render the world conveniently compliant, who is some kind of cosmic fixer on our behalf. We pray, rather, to the God who Jesus knew in Gethsemane -- the one who strangely embraces us in what looks like, and sometimes simply is, abandonment. Lord, have mercy. For we need it, desperately.

See also: Mercy in a messy world.

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