MILITARISM INTO HUMANITARIANISM DOESN'T GO

The prospect of a Turkish attack on northern Iraq reveals a hollow global consensus on 'humanitarian intervention' and a European identity crisis, argues Slavoj Zizek - now in residence teaching international relations at Birbeck College. I greatly enjoy Zizek's provocations on radical religion (like The Puppet and the Dwarf: The Perverse Core of Christianity (Cambridge / MIT, 2003). Whatever he writes about he is never less than argumentatively interesting and restlessly engaging. Even (perhaps especially) when bits of it annoy you. This piece needed some editing ('pacifying' becomes pacifism, for instance) and the last paragraph definitely needs unpacking. What is the new Europe that must break from the old, and who defines it? Nevertheless, the piece poses some useful questions and issues, not least here:

The problem with militaristic humanism resides not in "militaristic" but in "humanism". Under this doctrine, military intervention is dressed up as humanitarian salvation, justified according to depoliticised, universal human rights, so that anyone who opposes it is not only taking the enemy's side in an armed conflict but betraying the international community of civilised nations. This is why, in the new global order, we no longer have wars in the old sense of regulated conflict between sovereign states in which certain rules apply (the treatment of prisoners, the prohibition of certain weapons, etc). We instead confront violations of the rules of universal human rights; they do not count as wars proper, and call for the "humanitarian [pacifying]" intervention of the western powers - especially in the case of direct attacks on the US or other representatives of the new global order. One can hardly imagine a neutral humanitarian organisation such as the Red Cross mediating between the warring parties, organising the exchange of prisoners, and so on. For one side in the conflict already assumes the role of the Red Cross - it does not perceive itself as one of the warring sides but as a mediating agent of peace and global order. The key question is, thus: who is this "we" on behalf of whom Kouchner, Blair et al are speaking? Who is included in it and who is excluded?

TRULY CREASED LIVING

"Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved tunnels of leaf miners on the face of a leaf. We must somehow take a wider view, look at the whole landscape, really see it, and describe what's going on here."
- Annie Dillard

FOR THE LOVE OF BLOG

There's been a huge amount of publicity recently about how the web, blogs and social networking sites can play a significant role in galvanizing action for sustainability, justice and peace. Are they a vehicle for political change? Mobilisation of action to back democracy protests in Burma is a recently cited example. But in a way the pioneers in using the net as part of the effort to challenge corporate power were the McLibel activists who took on the might of McDonald's on a range of issues, from poor labour practices, public health (diet) and animal mistreatment, right through to environmental disregard. On a number of key points they won, and those they lost were largely due to the massive imbalance of power tilted against them. Groups like Speak (the student Christian initiative) are also harnessing the web to positive global campaigning ends. Christian Aid has the excellent Pressureworks. And of course Ekklesia exists substantially on the web, both as a think-tank on religion and public life and as a place where reporting and comment on events goes on. One of the factors here is the blurring of lines between blogging and other kinds of traditional and/or web-based action. A relatively new initiative in this field, fairly broad and inclusive in its remit, is Blog Action Day, which took place on 15 October 2007 - and which I'm afraid I missed. But they are now registering people for 2008. Blogger, the system I used, have recently highlighted some of the sites powered by them that focused on the environment, climate change, and sustainability during the day. Here (below) are some examples. Obviously I'm not endorsing them all, just giving a flavour. Others can be found on Blog Search.

• Cleantech Blog - Commentary on technologies, news, and issues relating to next generation energy and the environment.
• The Conscious Earth - Earth-centered news for the health of air, water, habitat and the fight against global warming.
• Earth Meanders - Earth essays placing environmental sustainability within the context of other contemporary issues.
• Environmental Action Blog - Current environmental issues and green energy news.
• The Future is Green - Thoughts on the coming of a society that is in balance with nature.
• The Green Skeptic - Devoted to challenging assumptions about how we live on the earth and protect our environment.
• Haute*Nature - Ecologically based creative ideas, art & green products for your children, home and lifestyle, blending style with sustainability.
• The Lazy Environmentalist - Sustainable living made easy.
• Lights Out America - A grassroots community group organizing nationwide energy savings events.
• The Nature Writers of Texas - The best nature writing from the newspaper, magazine, blog and book authors of the Lone Star State.
• Rachel Carson Centennial Book Club - Considering the legacy of Rachel Carson's literary and scientific contributions with a different book each month.
• Sustainablog - News, information and personal meanderings related to environmental and economic sustainability, green and sustainable business, and environmental politics.
• These Come From Trees - An experiment in environmentalism, viral marketing, and user interface design with the goal of reducing consumer waste paper.

[Picture: (c) Pressureworks]

REMEMBERING A SILENCED WITNESS

... and celebrating a living one. Here is a fine and moving article by Paul Oestreicher. It is about Franz Jägerstätter, born in 1907 in the village of St Radegund to an unmarried farmhand, not far from Hitler's birthplace, who refused to fight in an unjust war. He knew that the penalty was death and remains a beacon of hope. Paul, who has had the distinction of being a Quaker chaplain at the University of Sussex, in Anglican orders, and a counsellor for the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship (among many other roles), knows very directly the horrors he describes, given his family history. He has been a shining example to me and many others within the ecumenical and peace movements. He is vice-president of CND and a former chair of Amnesty International UK, and was the pioneering director of the Centre for International Reconciliation at Coventry Cathedral. He holds New Zealand, German and British nationality. Sadly, we moved to Exeter from Brighton precisely around the time he moved there and married Barbara Einhorn, a specialist in gender studies. (They are pictured together here.)

SEEKING A PLURAL VIEW

The Religion and Secularism Network is coordinating a programme of lectures and workshops taking place at the University of Cambridge and elsewhere - aiming to clarify the relationship between the state and religion conceptually and empirically. It is funded under the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Workshop. It is coordinated by David Lehmann, John Barber, Humeira Iqtidar and Emile Perreau-Saussine.

This is a project Ekklesia is participating in rather than running. We are endorsing, supporting and collaborating in it as part of our own research/discussion programme on inclusive models of secularity and the challenge of post-Christendom - under the overall banner Reconsidering the Secular.

R&SN contact: David Lehmann - http://www.davidlehmann.org

At Ekklesia: Simon Barrow.

See also from Ekklesia: Reconsidering the Secular (research prospectus), Facing up to fundamentalism (research paper, SB), A new discourse on race and faith politics (statement of NGN), Redeeming Religion in the Public Square (research paper, SB), Faith and Politics After Christendom (book, Jonathan Bartley), Rethinking hate speech, blasphemy and free expression (policy paper, SB), Toward the abolition of the nation state? (Richard Franklin, with Sarum College), God and the politicians (response paper, SB). Ekklesia and the 'secularism versus religion' argument.

THOUGHT WITHOUT THE NEED FOR TANKS

Here is an extended version of an interview with me that appears in the October 2007 edition of 'Movement', the magazine of the Student Christian Movement (SCM). After an introduction to Ekklesia's approach, it goes on to look at how 'post-Christendom' completely changes what is popularly taken to be "the problem" about religion and politics - creating radical new possibilities unimagined by institutional religion and anti-religion. With thanks to Howard Ingham.

THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING...

"One can never really give a proof of the reality of anything; reality is not something open to proof, it is something established. It is established just because proof is not enough. It is this characteristic of language, at once indispensable and inadequate, which shows the reality of the external world. Most people hardly ever realize this, because it is rare that the very same [person] thinks and puts [his or her] thought into action." — Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace, pp. 72-3

Weil's point, I hope it is clear, is not to question the need for rationality (it is a rationally argued position), but to remind us that neither absolute certainty nor endless scepticism are adequate to what is given to us in the fabric of life: an "isness" which provides the condition of our exploring, and an "excess" which defies our attempts to specify the "is", except through the demands of action and language. And through theological "naming" in the midst of these, it might be added. There are comparisons here with John Macmurray's post-Cartesian, personalist, 'philosophy of action'.

[Picture: (c) g8 'Escaping Reality']

TURNING THE TABLES

At a time when much 'religion' in the US is seen to have a domineering agenda in political life, and to be in the pocket of powerful (and wealthy) vested interests, three representatives of a more progressive, subversive and cooperative tradition get together to explore how to generate a new, liberating dynamic in the exchange between spirituality and social action. (Click on the image for more details)

WHERE ARE OUR REAL CRACKS?

Colombian artist Doris Salcedo's Shibboleth, the new installation in the turbine hall at the Tate Modern gallery in London, has been attracting a good deal of attention. Not least because a couple of people have managed to fall into it. The reason - apart from carelessness and perhaps a bit of contriving - is that it is a crack in the floor, beginning at one end of the installation as a hairline fracture, and opening out into a deep fissure in the middle of the hall. When it is removed it will leave a permanent scar.

A Shibboleth, points out Dean Ayres, is a word or cultural device that acts as a test of membership of a society (from Judges 12:1-6). The exhibition leaflet goes on to comment:

‘The history of racism’, Salcedo writes, ‘runs parallel to the history of modernity, and is its untold dark side’. For hundreds of years, Western ideas of progress and prosperity have been underpinned by colonial exploitation and the withdrawal of basic rights from others. Our own time, Salcedo is keen to remind us, remains defined by the existence of a huge socially excluded underclass, in Western as well as post-colonial societies.

In breaking open the floor of the museum, Salcedo is exposing a fracture in modernity itself. Her work encourages us to confront uncomfortable truths about our history and about ourselves with absolute candidness, and without self-deception.

Dean Ayres comments : "Perhaps Shibboleth will help us think about how racial divisions run through British society, where many people are blinded by the belief that we've grown beyond racism. Or maybe we'll just play around with the crack, and never look to closely at what it signifies."

See also: Crack in Tate Floor Reflects Race, Wealth Divide: Karen Wright (Bloomberg) and Doris Salcedo: A glimpse into the abyss (Telegraph).

THE GOD WHO SECULARISES US

This, below, from an interesting reflection ('How do we talk about the Spirit?') by theologian James Alison (pictured), who also gave a stimulating Greenbelt seminar entitled Stand up and be godless: on receiving the gift of faith. He is lecturing at St Martin-in-the-Field, London, 30 October 2007, on Love your enemy: within a divided self.

"When we’re talking about God we’re talking about the protagonism, the real protagonism, behind everything that is, and of which we are the symptoms – rather than [conceiving God as] an object within our field of vision..... Because God is protagonist and is not part of anything that is, one of the effects of us becoming involved in the life of God is a certain secularising quality, because what God does is let us off 'gods'. The discovery of the Creator – the Jewish discovery of the Creator – was a massive breakthrough into what we would call secularism, by comparison with the uber-religious world populated by gods. If you compare, for instance, Genesis or Isaiah with the contemporary Babylonian accounts of creation, there is no question which is the religious one. It’s not the Jewish one. The doctrine of the incarnation [likewise] secularises history for us – history and social movement – by exploding the [system of] sacrifice and the lie [of scapegoating] and enabling new forms of community to come along so that we can detect what is not of God and we start becoming freer of religious forces driving us down... I wonder to what extent, now, we’re not in a position to talk about how Holy Spirit secularises us, by letting us off various forms of ‘sacred’ into which our understanding of desire has got caught."

See also: Sacrifice, Law and the Catholic Faith: is secularity really the enemy? - The Tablet Lecture, 2006.

IDEALLY SPEAKING...

"Conversation should be pleasant without scurrility, witty without affectation, free without indecency, learned without conceitedness, novel without falsehood." - William Shakespeare

MUSLIM SCHOLARS SAY PEACE IS MAINSTREAM

Over 130 Muslim scholars and leaders from around the world have today released the text of a letter to Christian leaders that outlines proposed areas of understanding between the faiths and urges a search for "common ground."

Addressed to Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and and major leaders of Orthodox, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Evangelical, Pentecostal churches and other Christian bodies, the 29-page letter offers interpretations of both the Qur'an and the Bible on the love of God, love of neighbour and other spiritual precepts that are similar in Christianity and Islam.

"The Unity of God, the necessity of love for [God], and the necessity of love of the neighbour is thus the common ground between Islam and Christianity," say 138 Muslim leaders, representing all branches of the faith, say in the letter entitled A Common Word Between Us and You.

More on Ekklesia (including a response from Dr Aref Ali Nayed, visiting fellow at the Centre for Advanced Religious and Theological Studies in the faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge and Advisor on Muslim-Christian Dialogue issues to the Sheikh Muhammed bin Rashid Center for Cultural Understanding) and the on the BBC website.

NOT SO FAST...

I decided to expand my comments about the practice of fasting (yesterday) a little in my Guardian Comment-is-Free column - and join in myself today.

Hunger for justice Simon Barrow Oct 08 07, 02:30pm: Americans are today fasting for peace in Iraq. But is it possible for such actions to really make a difference?

In a voraciously consumer society, where luxuries rather than necessities are the preoccupation of a majority, fasting also has a certain political poignancy. When the quest to possess and devour more and more takes over, our personal and social priorities are fundamentally altered. Instead, fasting points us in the direction of sharing and the otherwise unimaginable politics of "enough ".

What people are learning through hungering for justice is that trying to come up with policies for a better world is not enough. We need changed people to want them and to make them work. That involves re-shaping our desires, not just our political hopes.

Pic: Witness for Peace, Mexico

FASTING FOR LIFE

People from a range of traditions in the US and elsewhere are fasting for peace in Iraq tomorrow, as part of a continuing commitment to work and pray for change - the theme being "from conquest to community, from violence to reverence".

The idea of fasting is little comprehended these days, probably being seen merely as a piece of punitive self-abuse by those persuaded of Dawkins-like simplifications. In the Gospels, Jesus warns against the manipulation of fasting by religious authorities. Rightly understood, however, it a practice of self-examination and social re-orientation, based on the notion that human beings are not simply the sum total of their appetites - but have the God-given capacity to transcend self in solidarity with those who are denied the bread of life, and in reaching out towards the gift of a transformative love beyond limited or tribal affections.

Fasting is therefore an integrative discipline, based on the realisation that we think with our bodies and desires, not with disembodied and unaffected minds (the conceit of a certain naive conception of autonomous reason). Our rationality is inextricably bound up with our being relational creatures - 'dependent, rational animals', as the moral philosopher Alasdair Macintyre has put it. There is genuine liberation in this.

In a consumer society, fasting has a particular poignancy. As a distinctly 'religious' practice with broad roots it can connect with 'secular' initiatives like Buy Nothing Day (coming up on 24 November 2007) and other attempts to resist the "thou shalt have no other jeans before me" culture. That, by the way, is the wonderful title of an essay by the late German theologian Dorothee Soelle. It appears in a collection of essays edited by social theorist Jurgen Habermas called The Spiritual Situation of the Age (MIT Press).

MEDIA MAKETH THE DEMO?

Public protests are, by their nature, designed to gain publicity for a cause. As a veteran of such occasions over the years, I know that this is not straightforward process. A certain ritual is involved, especially in the inevitable numbers game. Police issue attendance statistics which are between a third and half the size of the organisers. Papers report up and down this scale according to their editorial sympathy or otherwise. Statisticians scratch their beards and go somewhere for the middle.

Then if the subject of the protest is "newsworthy" (popular and mainstream) reporters will take some interest, irrespective of it's actual size. Thankfully, that applied to today's Burma rally in London's Trafalgar Square. A turn-out of less than 2,000 was frankly a bit disappointing. But PM Gordon Brown met Buddhist monks and others in a photocall at No 10 before heading off to say there almost certainly wouldn't be a November 2007 general election. And Burma has been front page news for ten days, with global concern. So the BBC gave the demo coverage, and so will tomorrow's papers.

But if the topic had been less amenable to government interests or less immediately accessible to the increasingly narrowly defined mainstream 'news agenda', then a gathering ten times that size wouldn't have guaranteed even so much as a mention. Remember marches against the former Chilean junta during the Thatcher years? They got 20-30,000 people and were almost invisible, press-wise.

These days, the game has shifted. Facebook's remarkable 350,000 global social networking site in support of the Burmese monks (register to access) has attracted huge attention in itself. The demography of protest is measurable virtually as well as actually. And IT means that small-scale individuals can take on corporate interests as never before. The Burmese junta has had to work very hard to keep information and support out as part of its repression. To a significant extent it has failed. You can kill your opponents, but you can't stop the spirit of freedom in the long run...

BUSH LIKES CIGARETTES MORE THAN POOR KIDS?

So whatever happened to "compassionate conservatism", then? Go figure... the National Council of Churches USA, the United Methodists and other secular and religious NGOs are continuing the struggle. Jon Stewart has a brilliant satirical take (which raises some serious points in a highly entertaining way) on The Daily Show:

ACCEPTING EVANGELICALS SPEAK OUT

Contrary to the popular media image, many evangelicals are not anti-gay, says a UK campaigning network which draws hundreds of evangelical Christians and their friends together. This week they are backing the launch of a church education initiative on Jesus and prejudice. Read the full story here. See also: Why Evangelicals must think again about Homosexuality by Roy Clements. Some years ago I authored a pamphlet (which began life as a public talk) called Towards Communion: Recovering sexuality as an ecumenical concern. That was just before things turned so very, very nasty in the churches.

NOT FORGETTING AFGHANISTAN

In addition to the huge variety of Burma activities over this weekend, Christian Peacemaker Teams UK, the London Catholic Worker, the Oxford Catholic Worker and Voices UK are organising a peace walk through London on Sunday 7 October 2007 to mark the sixth anniversary of the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.

The walk will highlight the call for an end to the bombing of Afghanistan and the withdrawal of British troops. Those taking part are being encouraged to wear black or white clothing and symbols. The peace walkers will meet at 10am on Sunday at St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, 78 Bishopsgate, EC2, near the Bank and Liverpool Street underground stations.

For more information, contact 0845 458 2564. See also: http://www.voicesuk.org

SOME INSPIRATIONS FOR LIVING WELL

"There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less."
- G.K.Chesterton

"This is what you should do:
Love the earth and sun and animals,
Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,
Stand up for the stupid and crazy,
Devote your income and labour to others,
hate tyrants,
Argue not concerning God,
Have patience and indulgence toward the people...
Re-examine all you have been told in school or church or in any book,
Dismiss what insults your very soul,
And your flesh shall become a great poem."
- Walt Whitman (Preface, Leaves of Grass)

"Just how would you demonstrate to others that you are true disciples and followers of Christ except by feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the poor, comforting the sick and imprisoned, washing feet and showing love for one another?"
- Leonhard Schiemer, CE 1527.

"The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the source of all art and science. So to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; [their] eyes are closed."
- Albert Einstein

"Those who believe they believe in God but without passion in the heart, without anguish of mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, and even at times without despair, believe only in the idea of God, and not God [in Godself]."
- Madeleine L'Engle

(Hat-tips to Karin McDonald and to Tim Chesteron. Jesus Icon image (c) from Ancient Sculpture Gallery, with thanks)

INTERNATIONAL BLOGGERS' DAY FOR BURMA

RELIGION AND FREE SPEECH

Another good article by the prolific commentator Sunny Hundal (Pickled Politics, Asians in Media, the New Generation Network and various other projects) on The Guardian's Comment-is-Free (Cif): Muslims should embrace free speech. Some religious groups may instinctively want to censor ridicule of their faith. But it harms them in the longer term, he argues. The article ends:

"[R]eligious minorities aren't the only ones who misunderstand free speech and expression. It isn't uncommon for readers on Cif and elsewhere to demand that the niqab be banned because it offends them. Similarly, I recall Brownie on Harry's Place calling for Neil Clark's article on Cif to be censored; and Norm Geras saying Columbia University should never have invited President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently. I find it amusing when people are happy for the BNP to make idiots of themselves in the media, but not others.

"I understand that many Muslims feel under attack right now, given that xenophobic attacks on them have become commonplace. The problem is that most people don't think logically; they think emotionally. While Jews and Christians have become more politically astute in realising that creating a stink only backfires in their faces, most Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims are woefully immature in this regard. Free speech is especially important for minority groups because when there is a crackdown through legislation on 'unpopular' thoughts, it usually affects them disproportionately. It's about time they realised this."

Frankly, I'm not sure that many Christians have grasped the free speech message with much maturity, either. Just over a year ago I suggested why the churches and Christian campaigning groups need to be challenged practically and theologically on this issue. See also the Ekklesia paper: Rethinking hate speech, blasphemy and free expression from the time of the promulgation of legislation on the topic.

FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY?

I'm writing about the Northern Rock crisis and responses to it at the moment. The need for a radical re-conception of dominant economic modes is highlighted by the New Economics Foundation, The Christian Council for Monetary Justice, the work of Richard Douthwaite, and Peter Selby's book Grace and Mortgage, among other sources. Meanwhile, I look forward to Philip Goodchild's forthcoming book (October 2007) The Theology of Money, summarised below. (My own modest contribution is a research paper called Is God bankrupt?)

This philosophical and theological study of the nature and role of money in the contemporary world comes from one of the UK’s most renowned philosophers. By contrast to the received wisdom of economics that money is a passive object of human invention and control – an instrument of exchange and a measure of value – this work explores the significance of money as a social contract and therefore as a dynamic social force within the global economy. Goodchild examines the theory of money in a comparable manner to Adam Smith, Karl Marx and Georg Simmel. However by contrast to the conclusions of these thinkers, he proposes that money is essentially created in excess of reserves, making it a simultaneous credit and debt. Since money is a debt that must be repaid with interest in the form of money, then the creation of money imposes a social demand for an increase in profit and an increase in the creation of money in order to repay debt. This vicious circle drives the expansion of the global economy. In summary, Goodchild argues that money is a promise, a supreme value, a transcendent value and an obligation or a law. He argues that money has taken the place of God. It is the dominant global religion in practice, even if no one believes in it in principle.

Philip Goodchild came to prominence as one of the earliest generation of scholars of Deleuze, and he has also made a significant contribution to Continental philosophy of religion with two edited volumes, Rethinking Philosophy of Religion, 2002 and Difference in Philosophy of Religion, 2003. His major monograph, Capitalism and Religion: The Price of Piety, 2002 was described by one academic journal as ‘a defining book of the decade’. This book develops these ideas further.

Two extracts from this title are available for download, courtesy of SCM Press Ltd:

Chapter One (Size:80 KB) Introduction (Size:121 KB)

CRISIS CONTINUES IN BURMA

Scores of Buddhist monks are trying to leave Burma's main city, Rangoon, following the military's bloody crackdown on anti-government protests, reports say. (Monks 'seeking to flee Rangoon' BBC Report).

	Global Day of Action for Burma: Saturday October 6th 2007 The Lady of Burma Play to be Performed in London this Friday Burma Activist Gets Standing Ovation at Conservative Conference Timber firm D.A Watts & Sons to stop selling Burma teak Article 19: UN Human Rights Council Must Act Congressman Pitts Calls on all EU Countries to Support Sanctions against the Dictatorship in Burma

ENVIRO-MENTALISM?

So much church communication is, well, a bit rubbish. Which makes the new YouTube video campaign by Christian Aid - highlighting the demand for an 80 per cent carbon emission cut in the upcoming Climate Change Bill - particularly gratifying. This is my favourite of the two. Full story here.

BURMA, LONELY PLANET AND THE BBC

Good piece of digging by Dean Ayres, whose blog is always worth reading in any case.

SO THE TORIES ARE STILL TORIES, THEN

That is, they talk about the environment, 'the politics of hope' and social responsibility these days, have a new warm logo and a telegenic leader who exudes unspecific niceness. But what really gets them excited is giving 3.5 billion pound tax advantages to the wealthy to ensure that deep-seated disparities of wealth based on inheritance and off-shore domiciles remain, with a little cosmetic dressing (token sums from the extremely rich to the slightly-less-but-still-pretty-rich). They also refuse to regulate the financial services industry while bleating about personal debt and trying to blame the treasury for a smaller chunk of borrowing. Not that Mammon gets much of a challenge from the other main parties, of course. But at least they don't believe in the "economic necessity of inequity" as a moral principle (a key element in Conservative economic thought, even in its non-Thatcherite guises). Well, Blair came close. By contrast, Douglas E. Oakman suggests reasons for resisting such ideologies, for some of us anyway. Based on philological considerations and contextualization of the very earliest Jesus traditions, especially Luke 16:13, this article argues that at the core of the concern of Jesus of Nazareth was a critique of Mammon (a domination system that idolizes wealth), developed in terms of an alternative practice of power in relation to a vision of the unlimited givingness of God.

FEAR, FREEDOM AND POWER

"It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it...

"Fearlessness may be a gift but perhaps more precious is the courage acquired through endeavour, courage that comes from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one's actions, courage that could be described as 'grace under pressure' - grace which is renewed repeatedly in the face of harsh, unremitting pressure.

Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure.

"A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve [humanity]'s self-respect and inherent human dignity. It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear.

"Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again..."

Aung San Suu Kyi's essay "Freedom from Fear" was first released for publication to commemorate the European Parliament's awarding to her of the 1990 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The award ceremony took place in her absence at Strasbourg on 10 July 1991.

MARCHING FOR BURMA

The Burma Campaign UK said an estimated 3,000 people attended a march in London, which was the biggest protest for Burma in the UK so far. Gatherings were also held in cities such as Newcastle and Brighton.

The protests happened as UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari met detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the Burmese city of Rangoon.

The London demonstration, which was organised by the Burmese Democratic Movement Association, followed a call for action on social networking website Facebook. The march was led from Trafalgar Square by a Buddhist monk while various members of the UK's Burmese community carried banners, flags and large portraits of Ms Suu Kyi.

Burma Campaign UK's founding member John Jackson called on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to ensure the EU presented a united front as he hoped continuing international pressure would make its mark. Full BBC report. And Indymedia UK reports here and here. There will be a bloggers' day for Burma on 4 October 2007 and an international day of solidarity on 6 October.

The eyes of the world focus on the violence in Myanmar
Euronews.net, France - Sep 29, 2007
A Similar demonstration of support for the Myanmar people took place in Bangkok.

Protesters demand end to Burma regime
Indian Muslims, CA

WHERE NEXT?

Andrew Harding for the BBC in Bangkok: Burma hurtling into the unknown. Also: How should the world react? (Beeb vox pop); A prayer for Burma (Philippines); Oil companies look to exploit Burma (Sydney Morning Herald, Australia); Protesters urge Olympic boycott over Chinese support for Burma (San Francisco Chronicle, USA); Hope Wanes Among Protesters in Myanmar (Associated Press)... and more on the rumour front Junta head's family said to have fled from capital (Electric New Paper, Singapore).

INSIDE BURMA'S MILITARY

The question about whether there is dissent or the possibility of mutiny was briefly mentioned during a BBC Radio 4 Profile expert analysis of the situation in Burma a few minutes ago (19.15 GMT). The programme is hosted by Evan Williams. A regional commentator said that there are some in the military who fear vengeance from within and without if the continue on the same path. But it is difficult to assess the extent of such feeling or its possible impact on the current situation. Overall the programme left one under no illusion about the extent of the regime's determination to maintain its grip on the arms, the money and the power, portraying a junta fatally out of touch with the world, the interests of the country - and therefore tone deaf to international resonances. It wasn't an encouraging picture. But the scale of resistance and its network of global support is also stronger than ever before. Meanwhile, there's a good article on Guardian Comment-is-Free (with less stupid than usual responses to it, as well) entitled Burma's true leaders [September 29, 2007 12:00 AM] The monks have bravely filled the vacuum created by the decapitation of the opposition movement. It's by Aung Zaw, a Burmese exile, is the editor of the Thailand-based Irrawaddy magazine.

BURMA EMBASSY PROTESTS

In London today protestors demanding an end to the military crackdown on anti-government demonstrators in the country officially called Myanmar - by the dictatorship - gathered outside the country's embassy to voice their concern (picture). Dozens of similar vigils and marches have been taking place around the world.

FOCUS SHIFTS TO UN ENVOY IN BURMA

United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari arrived in Myanmar on Saturday 29 September 2007 and headed straight to the capital, Naypyidaw, for talks with government leaders, diplomatic sources report. Details here on Channel News Asia. News summary on Ekklesia. Hourly News and Photos on The Irrawaddy – Independent Burma / South East Asia News | Daily Protest Synopsis | UN Security Council Expresses Concern over Crackdown | FPIF - Monks Versus the Military | Singapore Police Target Local Burmese Demonstrators | EU should boycott Olympics | Free Burma Corporate Boycott 2 | Online Petition Stand with the Burmese Protesters | National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma – exile government | Free Burma 2 | Burma net

SCENES FROM A CONFLICT ZONE

Some of the regional and on-the-spot citizen journalism is summarised and linked in the post Bad Times in Burma, by Dave Lucas. There are pictures of recent street scenes in the confrontation between citizens and the military here. The Burma News Cbox says there is little emerging at the moment. The response of the Japanese is noted (they are meeting to discuss the situation). Which way China jumps, and whether dissent in the army proves substantial, will be critical factors in deciding the outcome of the struggle between democracy and dictatorship. The junta evidently realises that it is in a life-and-death conflict - with the eyes of a watching world trained on it. Last night, at Sanchaung lann, the army reportedly went into a monastery to arrest the monks. When the people in the area tried to prevent them from going into the building, the soldiers threatened that they would shoot at the people, but did not immediately do so. It is believed that the military (SPDC) is trying to trick the United Nations envoy by asking their followers to carry out a 'set-up' protest - rallying against the genuine demonstrations. SPDC followers will force civilians to join in this action at gunpoint. This highlights the scale of the propaganda war going on. News just (13.45) in suggests that the army are wanting to use sniper tactics rather than mass killings against their civil and substantially nonviolent opponents, recognising their isolation in a global setting.

COUP CLAIMS AND BURMA LATEST

This post was updated at 02.44 GMT, 29 Sep 07.

Claims of military unrest and possible coup in Burma

As yet unconfirmed reports from military sources in Burma say that there is significant unrest in the army, with reports of mutinying in some areas and claims that a coup is taking place. Meanwhile the death toll of protesters has been growing significantly.

Also: (BBC)

US strengthens sanctions on Burma

US travel ban on Burma officials

Soldiers break up Burma protests

Japan inquiry into reporter death

In pictures: Protests over Burma

Nine killed in Burmese crackdown

Accounts from inside Burma

and Facebookers assail Myanmar junta AFP - 3 hours ago
Myanmar Blackout Forbes - 4 hours ago

Blog (warning: disturbing images) http://burmamyanmargenocide.blogspot.com/

CHURCHES CALLED TO BURMA BOYCOTT

Bradford church blockades Total garage over Burma crisis | Ekklesia

A progressive church in Bradford is calling on all churches to advocate a boycott on Total garages during the present crisis in Burma - because the company is seen as an important prop to the murderous regime there.

THE SITUATION CHANGES - 19.43 GMT

Via Cbox:

Go to this link for more details http://www.newsdeskspecial.co.uk/burma/

29 Sep 07, 01:43 Military sources in Rangoon are claiming that the regime's number two, General Maung Aye has staged a coup against Than Shwe, and that his troops are now guarding Aung San Suu Kyi's home. A meeting between him and Suu Kyi is expected. Maung Aye is army commander-in-chief and a renowned pragmatist.

29 Sep 07, 01:18 URGENT : From internal source: It is heard that the junta has set a plot to assassinate the most senior venerable monks (Sanga Maha Naryaka) tonight as if it is done by the monks involved in the protest. 28 Sep 07, 23:30 Army is currently entering almost all the monasteries in Yangon now and shooting the people. (http://burmanews.cbox.ws/)

ON THE GROUND IN BURMA

Some reports on Guardian News blog that the Burmese military are divided: "4.15pm - The Irrawaddy is suggesting that the army disquiet about how to handle the protests goes right to the top. Unconfirmed reports say there are unusual troop movements underway in Rangoon, amid reports that Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the junta's chief, and Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, his second in command and the commander in chief of the army, have disagreed over the response to the recent demonstrations. Maung Aye is planning to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi and is disturbed by the bloody crackdown, diplomatic sources have told the Irrawaddy. It adds that Suu Kyi has been taken to Yemon Military Camp on the outskirts of Rangoon."

Also, a 21.03 ( local time) report on Cbox say the cadets wanted to come to Mandalay to stand by the monks and the people but had their weapons confiscated. [Hat tip again to Nigel Rogers]

The CBox Burma News 'twitter' is here: http://burmanews.cbox.ws/

BURMA SOLIDARITY AND CONSUMER ACTION

JustChurch in Bradford are urging a consumer boycott of Total, the largest investor in the dictatorship - which was blockaded yesterday. There will be more on Ekklesia this evening. In the meantime here is some information from the Burma Campaign - the 'dirty list' of companies backing the regime.

Many people are also wearing red clothing today, in solidarity with the monks and other civil society protesters risking their lives on the streets of Ragoon.

My friend Nigel Rogers writes: "West Country friends may care to note the entry for Britannic Garden Furniture Limited Costers Close Quarry Road Alveston Bristol BS35 3HZ. Britannic Garden Furniture is the West Country’s leading British manufacturer of “genuine” (Burmese) teak garden furniture. Their furniture can be found in such prestigious places as Hyde Park and the Tower of London. The Burmese regime owns all teak plantations in Burma and teak sales earn the regime millions of pounds every year.

The company has said (check your glasses here): "As for Aung San Suu Kyi, admitted her party had won the election on a very small turnout. We note that she seems to be very comfortable and well looked after in her bungalow and seems easily to communicate with the outside world. Burma's human rights, admitted, are not very good and probably fifty percent of the rest of the world are not either."

RELIGION ENGAGING POLITICS

The answer to the age-old question about whether religious engagement in politics is a good or bad thing is inevitably, "well, it depends what kind of religion involved in what kind of politics you are talking about". Collaborative action to model alternatives or to stand up for justice and peace through civil society and the political process is one thing; sectarian, Christendom or fundamentalist attempts to manipulate governance for self-interest is quite another. Not that everything can be neatly tidyed into those two baskets, of course. But much discourse at the moment nevertheless seems to suppose that it is simply a matter of choosing between domineering religion or privatized religion - which is pretty silly, when you look at the complex reality and consider different frameworks.

For this reason, many people (and not just 'religious people') will welcome Madeleine Bunting's balanced comments in The Guardian today (sadly and instantly dismissed as 'cynical opportunism' by the angry brigade at the National Secular Society). Her piece is entitled An enlightened politics, and references the role of monks in the attempt at nonviolent resistance to dictatorship in Burma.

"[On]ne cannot help but wonder quite how the batch of critics of religion will interpret the role of the Buddhist monks. Christopher Hitchens has recently argued that religion poisons everything and goes on to insist that no progressive political movement has had any religious influence. He insists that a figure like Martin Luther King Jr was in no real sense a Christian. How will he explain the Burmese monks? Will Richard Dawkins accuse these monks of child abuse for encouraging young boys to join their monasteries? It would be sophistry to argue that Buddhism does not talk of a God and that it is not a "real" religion (an old and tired debate).

"It's not that we should regard Buddhism as having a uniquely positive contribution to make to politics. Things aren't so clear cut - it plays a positive role in some places, and not others. Burma's Buddhist traditions are closely linked to those of Sri Lanka. Both are Theravada, but in Sri Lanka, the sangha have played a reprehensible role in Sinhalese nationalism.

"The point is that you cannot generalise about the role of religion in politics [my emphasis]. At some points in human history it has been a malign and terrible influence, at others, it has been critical to the development of progress and challenging injustice, as Tristram Hunt wrote on this site recently. In recent years, we have seen a lot of the former which is what makes these images of monks and nuns so powerful. They are reminding us all that faith can inspire great courage, dignity and compassion."

They key question of course, is what makes the difference. This is something we are constantly working on at Ekklesia.

Incidentally, the claim that MLK wasn't really a Christian beggars belief - if you'll forgive the pun - and shows astonishing disregard for the evidence. Which is really very depressing. Whether we are Christians, atheists or people of other life-convictions and stances, we need a much better encounter/dialogue between those of faith and those of no faith (or "good faith", as Peter Challen well puts it). The fine (humanist) people at The O Project are among those trying to promote this - and to highlight the positive social justice work done by non-believers; something that is as equally lost on the institutionally religious as the inspiration of faith is to Hitchens et al.

Pic: Madeleine Bunting

THE STRUGGLE FOR BURMA'S SOUL

This is from eyewitness accounts of the recent clashes in Burma, relayed to Time magazine reporters. Read the whole report here.

The battle for Shwedagon began in ferocious noonday heat ... By 12:30 p.m., hundreds of monks, students, and other Rangoon residents approached the police, stood in the road and began to pray. Then the soldiers and police began pulling monks from the crowd, targeting the leaders, striking both monks and ordinary people with canes ... An 80-year-old monk stood with the student, bleeding from a baton gash on his shaven head ... A pause came upon the battle. The monks regrouped at a nearby monastery to march downtown. But first came a chilling display of the people's anger — and the monks' moral influence.

"A man on a motorcycle rode up. Motorcycles have been banned in Rangoon for years, ever since — the story goes — the paranoid generals fear being shot by assassins riding one of them. Most people on motorcycles are therefore assumed to be spies. Thus sensing an enemy, the mob pounced. The man was pulled off his bike and set upon by students and people armed with wooden sticks. "Beat him!" they cried. "Kill him!" Quickly, the monks intervened and ushered him away to the safety of a nearby monastery. The mob, however, set upon his motorbike with clubs and rocks, smashing it to bits."

THE COURAGE OF THE BURMESE PEOPLE

"The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear." - Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Here is the latest information I have about protests in support of the nonviolent uprising against dictatorship in Burma.

LONDON:
March from Trafalgar Square to the Embassy of the Union of Myanmar.
Please arrive at 11:30 am on Sunday 30th September; the march will begin at 12:00 pm.

There is a demonstration outside the Burmese Embassy in London every day from 12-1pm

Embassy of the Union of Myanmar
19 a Charles Street
London W1J 5DX
Nearest tube Green Park
More information here

TORONTO:
Thursday, Sept. 27 at 6:00 pm, City Hall (Bay and Queen)

MELBOURNE:
In Front of Melbourne State Library
6.30 pm Thursday 27 September 2007
Please bring candles if you are able
For enquiries contact burmanetwork@gmail.com or 0412 071 935

Amnesty International is organizing various protests :
Australia: http://www.amnesty.org.au
UK: http://www.amnesty.org.uk
US: http://www.amnesty.org
Canada: http://www.amnesty.ca
Please email any other details of protest and solidarity action to: burmamonksAThotmail.com

GOOD NEWS ON CREATIONISM

[From the Ekklesia media centre. See also the full news brief and updated press release]. And hat tip to Glenn Branch and the excellent National Center for Science Education in the USA]

"Simon Barrow, co-director of the UK Christian think-tank Ekklesia, has welcomed the government's new guidelines which prohibit teaching creationism and 'Intelligent Design' in science classrooms, but say pupils in RE need to understand how such ideas arise, as “an important step forward”.

He commented: “Creationism and Intelligent Design are not legitimate scientific theories. They are constructs based on discredited ideas about biblical texts, a misunderstanding of the idea of creation (which is an understanding of the world process as gift, not a theory of origins in competition with evolution) and a god-of-the-gaps approach rejected by serious theologians.”

Ekklesia argues that creationism is a well-funded political movement primarily orchestrated by the religious right in the USA as a response to its wider loss of power and influence.

“Pupils seeking to acquire an understanding of religious and other life stances need to understand how and why fundamentalist world views emerge”, said Barrow. “But they also need to know why they are rejected by mainstream theologians and scientists. Likewise, as the government rightly says, creationism and ID have no place in school science classrooms.”

In order to stress that opposition to creationism and ID are not matters that need divide religious and non-religious people when it comes to the classroom, Ekklesia has made joint appeals to the government for clarification with the British Humanist Association (BHA).

Archbishop of canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has described creationism as "a category mistake" in religious thought.

The guidance to teachers can be viewed here.