What is the 'scourge' of modern Britain?

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, who is a real gem when it comes to standing up for the rights of the poor and sidelined has declared that low pay is a 'scourge on our society'. As I write this the very controversial programme titled 'Benefits Street' is being screened on Channel 4 and there is a torrent of insults coming through on Twitter about those who do not work and claim benefits. Some are so incensed that their 'taxes are paying for these people'. Sometimes it seems as if being 'in work' has become the new definer of high moral values. Work is the new religion. Ironic then that most people on benefits are, actually in work. However, working for low pay just does not pay the bills given the rise in living so this is where the state steps in with the benefit system. Dr Sentamu is right to speak out because the working poor are a conveniently forgotten fact in the quest for lower public spending. I hope that Dr Sentamu's views get an airing at General Synod this week.

General Synod Recognises Violence Against Women As a Serious Issue

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: REPORT BY THE MISSION AND PUBLIC
AFFAIRS COUNCIL (GS 1933) 6 Presentation under SO 97.
  r Philip Fletcher (ex officio) (Chair of the Mission and Public Affairs Council)
to move:
7 ‘That this Synod, believing that all people are made in the image of God and
that all forms of violence based on gender represent a defilement of that
image:
(a) affirm work already undertaken in dioceses, deaneries, parishes and
Church of England schools in raising awareness and caring for
survivors of gender-based violence in all our diverse communities;
(b) support measures to bring perpetrators to account and provide support
for changed lifestyles;
(c) encourage boys and men to stand against gender-based violence; and
(d) commend Anglican Consultative Council Resolution 15:7 on preventing
and eliminating gender-based violence to dioceses, deaneries and
parishes and urge them to seek practical approaches to its
implementation.

General Synod will meet this week (10 to 13 Feb) in London and an item on the agenda for discussion on the first day is the report on violence against women. As a Christian Feminist it heartens me that this issue is being given prominence after all the accusations (quite understandably too) about the CoE not furthering the gender agenda.

The extract set out above seems to detail a determination on the part of the CoE to root out the violence and to deal with it by offering support to the victims and to, further, educate people on the seriousness of the situation. There is no mention of calling in the relevant authorities but I assume that the Church takes it as a given that violence against women is a criminal activity given this statement: 'The pastoral strand concerns the care of both survivors and perpetrators. For the latter this includes supporting measures to bring 
them to account and to work for a changed lifestyle'. 

The theological reasons for exploring gender violence are stated as being: ‘Christians are called by God to discern and to respond to, God’s mission of love to the world, the missio Dei. That activity of God, reconciling the world to God’s own self, generates in Jesus Christ, and through the Spirit, the vision of a world in which human beings live in harmony and love towards one another, respecting each other and supporting one another. Human behaviour which exploits or injures others creates a drag on the reconciliation of the world to God’s own self (2.Corinthians 5.19).’ 

The emphasis in bold is mine is because I believe that the sentence is the theological bridge between why anyone should do anything to help solve the problem of gender violence and why the church is taking action. Recognising that there is a greater societal cost and placing this within the context of religion is an important way forward in framing violence against women as something that harms everyone. This strand of thought is taken further in para 10 of the report: 'We are part of a culture which dehumanises and devalues many people. Gender-based violence does not happen in a vacuum but is part of an exploitative culture in which poverty, inequality, oppression, anxiety and fear all play their part.'

Integral to further exploring the reasons for violence is an appreciation, as one example, of how the austerity cuts has led to an increase in violence against women. When I was growing up in the Global South (decades ago) it was widely accepted and recognised (though no authority did anything about it) that domestic violence was far more prevalent among the very poor and would happen when the man of the house, who worked in a physically demanding job as a hard laborer all day, would indulge in home made alcohol in the evening and then take his frustrations out on his wife and daughters through beatings. Fast forward to modern times and it is being reported that there is a causal connection between the austerity cuts and a rise in domestic violence. No doubt the Right will jump in here and blame the individuals for their own actions. While everyone is responsible for their behaviour we do not live in unconnected world which is why I support Para 10 and the understanding it displays of a wider approach taken.

Prayers please for General Synod. 

Al-Qaeda and Christians

The leader of Al-Qaeda is against the fighting of Christians in Egypt. Apparently, Ayman Al-Zawahri wants his band of followers to focus on resisting Egyptian. He has said: "We have to be busy confronting the Americanized coup of el-Sissi and establish an Islamic government instead". To put this into context, the Coptic community backed the coup which overthrew Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood leader, and, subsequently, were violently attacked for this by the Muslims. Is this a rare show of diplomacy or is it a cunning strategic move to outfoot the West? Whatever the reason I pray that the Christians in Egypt will be able to find some peace among the ruins of Egypt.

The World's Wealth is Owned by 85 People. Can you believe this?

I know at least 85 people, whether they be friends, family, acquaintances, business colleagues, church friends or neighbours. Everyone must know at least 85 people, thanks to Facebook which allows people to augment their friendship base. If you then scale these 85 people up on a global platform is it not astonishing to think that most of the world's wealth is accumulated in their hands or, more to the point, in their bank accounts? 

According to an Oxfam report, these 85 people are as wealthy as the rest of the world's population.If you had to place everyone on a gigantic set of the scales of justice the 85 would be parachuted into the clouds within a milisecond against the combined weight of the 3.5 billion who inhabit Planet Earth. One would think that there would exist a law of natural justice which dictates that equity should be shared equally or, at the very least, equitably. How is it that in large parts of the world families sleep on pavements by the side of the road and children die of hunger while a small number of people who would not even fill a train from Leicester to Grimsby, as a wild example, have all the means to grow fatter and fatter? 

While the poor are villified for 'scrounging' off governments and depriving the rest of us hard working people off our due rewards, the super uber rich deprive all of us, hard working or not, by not paying taxes, by paying their workers low wages and by thrusting the cross of the free-market at the rest who dare to question excessive irresponsible capitalism. 

Happy New Year Jokes

PARAPROSDOKIANS (Winston Churchill loved them) are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently humorous.
1. Where there's a will, I want to be in it.

2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it's still on my list.

3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

4. If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.

5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

6. War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. 

8. They begin the evening news with 'Good Evening,' then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

10. Buses stop in bus stations. Trains stop in train stations. On my desk is a work station.

11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.

12. In filling out an application, where it says, 'In case of emergency, notify:' I put 'DOCTOR.'

13. I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

14. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

15. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

16. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

17. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

18. Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

19. There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.

20. I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure.

21. You're never too old to learn something stupid.

22. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

23. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

24. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

25. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

26. Where there's a will, there are relatives.

Finally:

27. I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it's getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

How Clear Is Your Christian Conscience?

Every year I rant about the rampant consumerism that consumes Christmas and masks the real meaning of it. Walk into any shop and you wonder what cut price chocolate or over priced perfume has to do with the birth of Jesus. However, an article in Christian Today questions how clear our Christian conscience is at this time of the year.

It suggests ways of helping people who are suffering from tragedies and persecution around the world. At a simple level Christmas is about remembering others but there is a need to distinguish the 'haves' from the 'have nots'. I am not talking in the political sense of the 99% who are 'have nots' and the 1% who are 'haves'. Instead, so many people buy presents in excess of what their family and friends need. I cannot count the number of time I have received body lotion and soap and appreciative as I was I did not actually need these. To reverse this in my own way I have taken Christmas food to the local Foodbank. It is the easiest way to remember those who are lacking in these times because, unfortunately, given the proliferation of Foodbanks in the country there is bound to be one near you.

At 5 Mins Past Midnight 29 Years Ago

At 12.05 am in the early hours of 3 December 1984 the largest industrial tragedy occurred in a town called Bhopal in India with devastating consequences that last till today. An American company called Union Carbide had set up a chemical/pesticide plant in Bhopal. As is so often the case with industrial accidents the company had lapsed on safety measures due to cost cutting measures. There were shortfalls in the way the storage pipes and tanks which carried and stored the chemicals were treated. As a result, there was a gas leak on that fatal night which spread rapidly killing about (figures are disputed) 20,000. Almost every single family in Bhopal lost a member who succumbed to the gas.

As also is so often the case large companies which cause these accidents walk away scot free because they are able to hide behind the intricacies of global trade which blurs the boundaries between corporate and state responsibility. Union Carbide which has seen been bought by Dow Chemical blame the Indian government for not doing enough to help the residents of Bhopal. Caught between the web of the corporate blame game lie the residents of Bhopal who continue to suffer from the harmful after-effects of the contamination which has now seeped into the ground and in their drinking water. There are generations of children being born who are suffering a multitude of health problems and who are being born with disabilities. 

Please pray for justice for Bhopal. The stories of those who managed to live through that horrible night resemble what I imagine hell on earth to be.