Saturday, May 18, 2013

The failures of Committee Stage of Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill


The CARE Public Policy Team have produced a helpful document summarising the shortcomings of the Committee Stage of the Government's 'Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill':

Key Facts:
 Report Stage of the Marriage Bill is now only days away
 Considerable problems with the Bill remain
 Committee stage achieved very little
 Not one word of the Bill was amended despite the fact that numerous amendments were put down
 Of the 19 MPs on the committee only four were against the Bill
 There were no dissenters in the Labour ranks

Commenting on the Committee stage Mark D’Arcy, BBC Parliamentary Correspondent said, “In short, it's all a bit of a ritual. The dissenters dissent and the supporters support, and the whole thing is as mannered as a minuet danced at the court of Louis XVI.”

A range of concerns were not properly addressed by the Government. Here are four:

1) Failure to put same sex relationships into same legal framework as opposite sex marriage

The Government’s Position
 The Government Minister, Hugh Robertson MP, supported the Bill’s position that adultery is only a ground for divorce in a marriage between two people of the opposite sex.
 The Minister noted that introducing homosexual adultery would bring “significant uncertainty for couples. It could lead to divorce applications failing, and adultery would be difficult to prove.”
Critique by MPs
 Tim Loughton asked: “Why should a same-sex couple who want to get married not be subject to the same obligations and rules as an opposite-sex couple who want to get married?
 He added: “One could logically make the case for legal recognition of same-sex relationships, but if the standards of commitment required are different from those required in a marriage, it would be completely wrong to categorise such relationships as marriage.”
David Burrowes remarked that debate on this issue exposed “the flawed notion of equal marriage as a concept.”
VERDICT: The notion of equal marriage is a flawed concept.

2) Failure to address inequality

The Government’s Position
 The Minister made clear, in accordance with the Bill, that couples already in a civil partnership who wish to marry will not be required to have a same sex marriage ceremony, unlike every other couple.
 He said: “a couple in a civil partnership will have already gone through a civil partnership registration, demonstrating a level of commitment not unlike-different, but not unlike-that required for a marriage ceremony.
 He added that the conversion from a civil partnership to a marriage “will simply involve a straightforward administrative process for those who prefer that, while those who want a more public ceremony will be able to hold that at a place of their choosing.”
Critique by MPs
David Burrowes responded: “How can I set out the Government’s case that the Bill is all about equality for same-sex couples to be married like opposite-sex couples, when only same-sex couples can be civil partners and have this conversion - perhaps this paper upgrade - to marriage, so skipping the other formal requirements of the Marriage Act?
VERDICT: The Minister failed to address the fundamental subject of inequality.

3) Failure to address religious freedom for registrars

The Government’s Position
 The Minister argued, in accordance with the Bill, that registrars should be compelled to perform same sex marriages even if it is against their conscience or religious belief.
The Minister responded to Tim Loughton’s question about freedom of conscience by saying: “They are different functions. One is an abortion; the other is a same-sex marriage.
Critique by MPs
 David Burrowes and Tim Loughton pointed out that the law has long accommodated atheist teachers who do not wish to teach religion in schools and pro-life doctors who do not want to perform abortions. There is no reason why this principle should not be extended to registrars who do not wish to conduct marriage between two people of the same sex.
 The Minister was asked by Tim Loughton: “Why is it the principle that a surgeon who has strong Catholic views is allowed to pick and choose whether to perform abortions or other surgery, if the same principle cannot be applied to a Catholic registrar with strong views, allowing them to pick and choose whether to perform that other public service? What is so essentially different that we protect one but not the other?
VERDICT: There is inconsistency in the Government’s position. In both cases public servants perform a public function for which the public pay. Merely saying that they are different functions is not justification for treating them differently.

4) Failure to address protection for schools

The Government’s Position
 The Minister asserted that “no teacher is under any duty to promote or endorse a particular view of marriage, and neither would they as a result of any revised guidance in the future.” However, he was unprepared to allow this to be written into the Bill.
 He further commentedteachers are entirely free to express their views in any reasonable way that they wish, but not in an offensive or discriminatory fashion.” But what constitutes an “offensive or discriminatory fashion” was not clarified.
Critique by MPs
 Tim Loughton quoted John Bowers QC – Employment Silk of the Year 2010 – who, in his legal opinion, says that teaching that one form of marriage is “better than another” would likely “amount to unlawful direct or indirect discrimination.”
VERDICT: The Minister was unable to address the major concern of protection for teachers who do not feel able to endorse the new definition of marriage.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Have we lost the war against Female Genital Mutilation?


From Brother Ivo:

The Female Genital Mutilation Act was passed in 2003 with little scrutiny, and no opposition. Since then, no prosecutions have taken place, and it has been reported that each year some 7000 women continue to present themselves at a sample of London maternity clinics having suffered this procedure - some 5 per cent of births. In the UK, we have 17 clinics devoted to reconstructions and remedying the health consequences of badly-performed operations. The prohibition does not appear to be having much practical effect. Ordinarily, this would provoke calls for a review.

Unfortunately it seems to be a subject which continues to be swept under the carpet. We have dealt with it once; we have moved on.

France passed similar legislation at the same time, but at least they followed it up and subsequently brought over 100 prosecutions. Additionally, the French, being less squeamish about offending minority cultural sensitivities, routinely monitor children at risk within communities where the practice is likely to be found. If one thinks about it, it is not a crime easily concealed from the medical community, and we expect them to report crime in a variety of circumstances. So how is it that the police appear more active in relation to the Twittersphere than in relation to a widespread crime in relation to this Act?

Brother Ivo needs to be clear: he finds the whole idea of such mutilation utterly repellant and none of the issues he explores in this post is intended to apply to children. Not only does a 'procedure' with no health benefits plainly constitute 'significant harm' within the terms of the 1987 Status of Children Act, but disfigurement of those who do not and cannot lawfully consent is never acceptable under any circumstances, ever.

When he thinks for a moment what some of these little girls suffer, he is overwhelmed with anger and could probably be persuaded to attach the millstone around the necks of perpetrators prior to their being cast into the depths. Sadly, the police and Crown Prosecution Service appear less passionate about the subject.

He has no more liking for adults undergoing the procedure, for when God created Eve he saw that she too was good. It is the sin of human pride to think oneself capable and entitled to improve on the Lord's design. But, for these purposes, Brother Ivo is prepared to move on and consider the matter more broadly with a view to exploring the inconsistencies of human autonomy.

It seems that we were prepared to write the headline by passing the Act, but are unwilling to press on and engage in the practicalities that might vigorously put an end to this barbaric practice.

In any other sphere, we might expect to find our progressive friends, including feminists, pointing out that the legislation isn't working, and that the better focus for action would be to 'respect diversity' and to promote 'harm reduction'. The latter is currently the argument deployed in relation to the war on drugs, and before that, the same approach was used to change the prohibition on abortion, when it was asserted that it was better to engage with an evil than to attempt to suppress it.

It is in that latter sphere that the parallel is closest, for do we not constantly hear about 'the woman's right to choose'?

Whenever anyone seeks an adjustment of abortion time limits, are we not confronted with the shrillest cries that women must have absolute control of their own bodies without legislative Interference? If the entire baby has no 'legal personality' to be protected, it seems hard to see why the clitoris should be individually favoured. It is indeed occurring to Brother Ivo that the only purpose currently served by the Act is to act as a totem: a 'crime against feminism'.

Usually when such an Act falls into question, or even disrepute, our progressive friends move towards a preference for replacing prohibition with regulation, and in this instance a strategy such as a more hygienic management of the health risks. We heard it in relationship to the backstreet abortion, and currently hear the same argument deployed for needle exchanges for drugs users or licensed brothels. Why not here?

If one thinks about it, it is odd for a culture to regard itself as superior in condemning the body dysmorphia of adult women from sub Saharan Africa whilst promoting the 'boob job' the 'vajazzle' and even the 'designer vagina'.

It actually gets curiouser and curiouser.

When we turn to the 'Transgendered community', we have no such squeamishness. Our NHS pays for similar surgery - even, occasionally, for serving prisoners - and the philosophical underpinning appears to be that such re-configuring is not only to be 'celebrated' as a form of 'liberation', despite the considerable mutilation involved, but the passing of adverse comment risks the commentator being accused or even prosecuted for 'hate speech'.

So wherein lies the difference?

If an adult woman wanted such surgery in the UK, what precisely is the basis for not respecting her wishes, given the raft similar operations currently being undertaken without demur?

One suspects that the answers, if given, would centre upon patriarchal power forcing women into such a demeaning decision, as if no man ever deployed emotional, physical, economic or cultural reasons to impose his preference for the termination of a pregnancy.

Here we come to the crux of the question. Can anyone satisfy Brother Ivo's intellectual curiosity and give him a single reason against Female Genital Mutilation that does not carry at least equal force in the case of abortion - noting, of course, that in the latter case it is possible to argue (as he does) that additionally another's life is ended. If we can override the woman's views in one case, why not the other?

Our progressive and feminist friends care passionately for this Act. We ought perhaps to press them to 'use it - or lose it', and along the way scrutinise their defence with greater care than was deployed when the matter first came before Parliament.

(Posted by Brother Ivo)

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Nick Boles and Nadine Dorries - a tale of two electoral pacts


Ever since the 2010 General Election, the Conservative Party has been mulling over the possible long-term consequences of coalition, mainly in preparation for a forthcoming era of political indecision and hung parliaments. On the left is Nick Boles - privately-educated, PPE Oxford, son of a knight, moderniser, europhile, gay - who imagined an electoral pact with the Liberal Democrats. On the right is Nadine Dorries - comprehensive-educated, former nurse, daughter of a bus driver, traditionalist, eurosceptic, anti-gay-marriage - who has mooted a deal with Ukip.

Nick Boles wrote back in 2010:
If large numbers of Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs feel that the harsh but necessary measures being implemented by the coalition are destroying their chances of being re-elected, they will begin to panic and look for opportunities to bolt.

That’s why I conclude my book with a call for an electoral pact. This autumn both David Cameron and Nick Clegg should ask their parties to approve a binding agreement to fight the 2015 general election as coalition partners.

...the pact would give parliamentary candidates in constituencies in seats held by a coalition party a free run against other parties... We would also agree on which coalition party should contest the most marginal seats of the opposition parties. If the voters do decide to embrace the alternative vote, the pact would require each of the coalition partners to urge their supporters to give their second preference vote to the candidate from the other coalition party.
And here's Nadine Dorries in this week's Spectator:
She has already mooted 2015 candidates with a joint Ukip/Tory endorsement. Now she reveals she will be seeking that arrangement for herself. ‘I will be having that kind of conversation with my association,’ she says. She’d need its permission to stand as a joint candidate - but she seems happy for herself and other Tory MPs to seek this before the leadership then follows.

She says she can appreciate the conflict felt by Tory voters who went for Ukip in the local elections. ‘There are members in my association who approached me recently who are confused,’ she said. ‘They have always been Conservative and will never change their allegiance but feel very much as though they have a huge amount of empathy with Ukip. I feel it would be a travesty if Ukip came in and took the seats off our councillors or indeed me when actually their policies and their beliefs are very much Ukip. Because what we have done, we have thrown clothes off and they have picked them up and put them on.’
Nick Boles was 'notably' not slapped down for his LibDem dalliance: indeed, he was rewarded with a job in Government. David Cameron made him a junior minister in the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Nadine Dorries has been swiftly slapped down for her proposed Ukip alliance. David Cameron said his party 'doesn't do pacts and deals'.

Right.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

EU Referendum - Cameron nails his colours to the mast


He may have been dragged to the referendum table kicking and screaming; he may have waited until President Obama had given his 'fix the relationship' renegotiation nod; he may even have waited until the week of Eurovision in order that the country might better appreciate the artistic, cultural, political and democratic benefits of being a full and active participant in all things European. Or he may be trying to head off a damaging amendment to the Queen's Speech which, if passed, traditionally spells the end of the government.

Whatever his motive, there is no denying that David Cameron has not only put clear blue water between the democratic Conservatives and the autocratic Lib-Lab elitists; he has given hope to a generation that the United Kingdom might once again become a sovereign, self-governing nation, free to sign trade treaties and free to enact laws unencumbered by EU diktats and gold-plated regulations. The Bill is quite remarkable in its brevity and clarity:
1. Referendum on the United Kingdom’s continued membership of the European Union
 (1) A referendum is to be held on the United Kingdom’s continued membership of the European Union.
 (2) The referendum must be held before 31 December 2017.
 (3) The Secretary of State shall by order appoint the day on which the referendum is to be held.
 (4) An order under this section may not be made unless a draft of the order has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.
 (5) The question that is to appear on the ballot papers is—
“Do you think that the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union?”
 (6) In Wales, a Welsh version of the question is also to appear on the ballot papers, as provided by order.

2. Entitlement to vote in the referendum
 (1) Those entitled to vote in the referendum are—
   (a) the persons who, on the date of the referendum, would be entitled to vote as electors at a parliamentary election in any constituency, and
   (b) the persons who, on that date, are disqualified by reason of being peers from voting as electors at parliamentary elections.

3. Conduct of the referendum and further provisions
 (1) The Secretary of State shall by order provide for the rules in accordance with which the referendum is to be conducted.
 (2) The Secretary of State may by order make further provisions about the referendum.
 (3) An order under this section may make provision modifying or amending this Act or another enactment.
 (4) An order under this section may not be made unless a draft of the order has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.

4. Interpretation
 (1) In this Act—
   • “enactment” includes—
   (a) any provision of an Act,
   (b) any provision of, or of any instrument made under, an Act of the Scottish Parliament,
   (c) any provision of, or of any instrument made under, Northern Ireland legislation, and
   (d) any provision of subordinate legislation (within the meaning of the Interpretation Act 1978);
   • “the referendum” means the referendum under section 1.

5. Expenditure
 (1) There shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament-
   (a) Any expenditure of the Secretary of State in consequence of this Act; and
   (b) Any increase attributable to this Act in the sums which under any other Act are payable out of money so provided.

6. Short title
 (1) This Act may be cited as the European Union (Referendum) Act 2013.
Be as cynical as you like, but no prime minister since Harold Wilson in 1975 has gone this far. Yes, the Act would be predicated on the Conservative Party winning the next General Election; and, yes, it is dependent upon David Cameron being prime minister in 2017. But there is no remote possibility of the Conservatives not delivering on this: it binds hands, ties feet and gags mouths. It is much of a cast-iron guarantee as David Cameron could give in coalition.

The purists will say (as Nigel Farage already has) that constitutionally Parliament may not bind its successors, and they would be correct. And His Grace certainly would not argue that this Act ought to be binding in any sense upon a future Labour administration, or Lib-Lab coalition - should either be the outcome of the 2015 General Election - which chose to continue along the tedious path to 'ever closer' union'. But for a Conservative government, it would be an inescapable trajectory to 'ever closer referendum'.

And, most importantly, there is no renegotiation obfuscation in this question: it is straightforwardly In or Out.

We had been led to believe that such a stark choice was crass and crude; that the question ought to be something more nuanced, like: 'The Prime Minister has worked very hard indeed to renegotiate the UK's truly beneficient relationship with the EU and has won mighty and impressive concessions. Do you think the UK should take advantage of this God-given, heaven-sent opportunity, or retreat into the political outer darkness of nowhere?'

But the question isn't predicated upon any renegotiation; there is no mediated or manipulated 'third way'. Cameron goes to Brussels, and negotiates. Whatever he comes back with (or doesn't), the question remains the same - In or Out.

That might just focus a few oligarchical minds: they will need to consider constantly 'What will make the British vote "Yes"?'.

Or they may try to circumvent this ghastly plot by helping to ensure that the populist Cameron loses in 2015 and we are governed by a Miliband-Cable cabal in coalition with Clegg as our commissioner in Brussels.

That will be the choice before us: a Manichæan struggle between darkness and light in which a vote for Ukip really would neuter and negate their own professed super-objective. They may want out, but secession cannot be without the consent of the people in a referendum. A vote for Labour or the LibDems would be a vote for the status quo. A vote for the Conservatives would be a vote for Ukip.

A difficult call. But His Grace will leave it to his wise readers and enlightened communicants to discern the lesser evil.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

If Gosnell is guilty of murder, when does life begin?


The monstrous case of Dr Kermit Gosnell, largely censored by the mainstream media, is at last making the headlines. His abortion house of horror, which earned him almost $2million a year, has been found by a jury to have been a literal slaughterhouse, where babies (aka 'late-term abortions') were born breathing and whimpering, clinging desperately to life, but were surgically dispatched with a quick snip to the back of the neck. And bags and bottles were found filled with foetal remains, including severed feet. On this conveyer-belt of death, one baby was delivered healthily at 30 weeks; another was born in a filthy toilet. They all went the same way - a pair of scissors in the back.

And now Dr Gosnell he has been convicted of the first-degree murder of three babies, and the prosecution is seeking the death penalty. For some reason, he was acquitted of murdering a fourth. Perhaps he or she didn't whimper loudly enough. But in the potted highlights of three snipped spines, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that this man was responsible for thousands of perfectly legal abortions performed over a career spanning 30 years.

Not everywhere has a 24-week limit - the threshold at which the Pennsylvania and UK legislatures determine the existence of human life. Across Europe, the upper limits are: France 12, Germany 12, Italy 12, Belgium 12, Bulgaria 12, Denmark 12, Czech Republic 12, Greece 12, Hungary 12, Luxembourg 12, the Netherlands 13, Poland 12, Slovakia 12 and Sweden, the most ‘liberal’, 18.

Places like Pennsylvania and the UK are the exceptions. Yet if it be murder to snip the spine of a baby born at 25 weeks, why is late-term abortion, or 'partial birth abortion' not always murder? Is it that a pair of scissors in the back of a visible neck is more of a grim reality than slicing up the unseen baby in the womb?

Some 200,000 abortions are routinely performed in England and Wales every year. How many of these are quite bloody and gruesome affairs which go completely unreported? There has been an undeniable shift away from using abortion as a last resort in favour of a post-conception contra-genesis, where life is now deemed to begin with the first breath. If you can legally kill a baby that has not breathed, why not one that has just whimpered for 20 minutes or so?

It is perhaps worth noting that in Scripture both the Hebrew word ר֫וּחַ (‘ruach’) and the Greek word πνεῦμα (‘pneuma’) are used interchangeably for both ‘breath’ and ‘spirit’, and that certain passages draw out the correspondence between the Spirit of God and the human spirit (eg 1Cor 2:10-12). There is, however, no scriptural, scientific, moral or ethical justification for the increasingly pervasive assertion that if the ‘foetus’ has not breathed, it has not lived. This is the belief that leads to such practices as those performed by Kermit Gosnell.

George W Bush found 'partial birth abortion' so abhorrent he set an example to the Western World by outlawing it. President Obama takes a slightly different view.

Setting aside Europe, which constitutes an unimaginable slaughter of holocaust proportions, the 200,000 abortions in England and Wales works out at 23 babies systematically killed every hour. If one factors in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the NHS terminates the life of a baby and cremates the body every two minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Or, put another way, the British state legitimises the murder of a baby every single minute of a working day, and then burns the evidence. Such a callous, systematic and efficient slaughter would impress even Adolf Eichmann.

The term ‘holocaust’ is derived from the Greek holókauston, which referred to a completely (‘holos’) burnt (‘kaustos’) sacrificial offering to a god. That god is sex. The Western world is obsessed with it. Gosnell is the price we pay for that obsession.

And now, with the development of drugs to do-it-yourself at home, these figures are quite possibly a gross underestimation. It is even more scandalous that it is the British taxpayer who pays for 80 per cent of abortions, and that the NHS spends a fortune on keeping premature babies alive which are born within the abortion time limit, but terminates far more 'viable' babies. We need to return to the 1967 default position that abortion is a profoundly undesirable thing, and that a universal presumption of care for the baby from the moment of conception should be the norm. Since the age is obsessed with ‘rights’ – of man, woman and animal – there needs to be a codification of 'foetal rights'. As former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams once pointed out, it is ironic that the pregnant woman who smokes or drinks heavily is widely regarded as guilty of infringing the rights of her unborn child; yet at the same time, with no apparent sense of incongruity, there is discussion of the possibility of the liberty of the pregnant woman herself to perform the actions that will terminate a pregnancy.

Gosnell's snipped spines we see: NHS severed hands, feet and eyeballs being sucked down a tube we do not. The nation cries out for a latter-day Shaftsbury or Wilberforce in Parliament who will bang on about this barbarism ad nauseam, day after day, week after week, until something is done about it.

Monday, May 13, 2013

The Walsingham Bubble Mass

Bubbles at the Elevation from Fr Simon Rundell on Vimeo.

His Grace was going to write today about something religio-political that irked him, but then he saw this, and he was sorely angered. Apparently, the Diocese of Exeter held a 'taster' for the Walsingham Youth Pilgrimage, which included Mass celebrated by Bishop John Ford of Plymouth. We are told: 'Having used bubbles earlier to consider their beauty, uniqueness and specialness - just like us - filled with breath which ultimately goes right back to God, we were encouraged to blow bubbles as the holy elements are raised, and fill the sacred space with light, airy prayer-filled bubbles...'

Right.

His Grace is so convulsed with incredulity, he can scarcely type. He is so used to writing about those who inhabit the metaphorical Westminster Bubble that it had completely escaped him that the Church of England was blowing its own, quite literally. Can you imagine Jesus getting Judas and Peter to do these on the night he was betrayed? "This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is clouded in bubbles for you." Or St Paul:
For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to blow bubbles at the Lord's supper.
For in blowing every one showeth himself to be a pillock: and one is dippy, and another is just preposterous.
What? have ye not houses to blow your own fairy liquid foam and froth? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? what shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
He didn't blow bloody globules of air.
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
And the Lord's death isn't a particularly effervescent soapy fest.
Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
And unworthily includes jocularly, trivially and absurdly.
But let a man examine himself (yea, and a suffragan bishop, too), and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup, but cut the bloody spumes of lather.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily (yea, with fizzy globules), eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Evangelising with a nail


From Brother Ivo:

Whenever Brother Ivo puts his hand in his coat pocket to find his mobile phone, car keys or change for the parking meter, he finds a nail. It is about 3 inches long.

He was given his nail last Good Friday and he put it in his pocket. He did not intend it for it to remain there, but never quite found a good enough reason to put it aside, which is perhaps what Bishop Stephen Cottrell intended when he wrote his short Lent book The Nail. Its 75 pages can be read in a sitting, and comprise seven reflections which can be used privately, with a Study group or, as Brother Ivo encountered it, as a constituent part of a Good Friday 3-hour service.

After setting out a relevant part of the gospel, the author presents a fictional internal reflection for each of the key participants of the passion narrative; Peter, the Roman Centurion, Pilate, Caiaphas, Judas, Mary Magdalene, and Pilate's wife each in turn asks questions of themselves and indirectly of the reader.

The biblical texts are familiar, which is perhaps why the Bishop's additional exploration is useful. To hear possible questions, reactions, motivations and doubts of these participants draws the reader into personal engagement with the crucifixion from a very human human and strangely vulnerable perspective.

The fictionalised monologues may not be 'true', but they contain truth in the same way that a Shakespearean play may reveal much about the human condition on a grander scale. It becomes easier to excuse Peter his cowardice when he asks: "What would you have done?" The Centurion reveals our own cynical self=-justifications when he begins with bravado: "What a laugh, strung up by us lot for aggravating his own." Yet even he reflects more sensitively on how Jesus affected him, before passing the buck - to Pilate. Mary Magdalene confesses: "I had never known God before."

We live in an age where 'How do you feel about..?' has become the opening gambit of many media reporters, and by this elevation of the emotional response to importance in each and every daily issue, truth is often devalued. It is not wrong, however, occasionally to use such techniques. They can take us deeper. Jesus's teaching method was to start where people found themselves. If those around us use their own emotional response as the guiding principle of what they believe and 'consume', it becomes increasingly necessary to spark such a response, but with the intention of leading them the foot of the cross.

One might once have been able to jolt people into a realisation of their need for faith by declaring 'Jesus wants to wash you in the blood of the lamb', but the Jeremy Kyle generation - to whom such cultural references mean nothing - needs to be approached from a different angle. They are repelled by the ease with which they believe Christians condemn them, so accessible books like The Nail are truly valuable.

Being short, it does not feel intimidating, but it packs a punch: story-telling works.

In Jesus' ministry, he does this all the time. 'Behold a sower went out to sow..' invites the audience to engage with the coming story and its message. We are ready to pay attention and ask 'What happens next?' Similarly, no parent can fail to identify with the grieving father of the Prodigal Son, knowing what is best, yet patiently waiting for the child to learn from their own mistakes. The projection we make onto the sower hoping for a harvest, or the father awaiting his child, is fictional, but also universal.

So it is that when Stephen Cottrell's Judas begins: "I have to explain.. It's not what it looks like." We want to hear his account of self-justification and expect to confront him; yet with his plausibility, he does not let us condemn him easily. The more we hear his and every other person's plea to be understood, the more we realise that they truly are just like us.

When Brother Ivo experienced the reading, everyone was given a nail, and its significance remdinded at the end of each witness testimony. The words were repeated: 'You hold in your hand a nail that was used to crucify Christ.'

We all have our part to play.

It remains as a reminder in Brother Ivo's pocket, and when it makes itself known, there is also a recollection of the chilling sound from the closure of each of the witness readings - that of a nail being driven by a heavy hammer into a block of wood.

Brother Ivo has been thinking of his nail as he watches the world's leaders in politics, the Church and the media exculpating themselves from a variety of scandals concerning bullying, abuse of power, obfuscation, and sexual abuse. He cannot help regretting that so few of them will read The Nail.

Imagine if our leaders spent less time trying to prove themselves innocent and more time trying to improve themselves by acknowledging culpability.

Imagine if they ceased justifying themselves and allowed themselves more time to be justified by faith.

Isn't this where the secular world starts to go so wrong? With no internal controls, and an aversion to feeling personally discomforted, personal failure is not something to be considered and worked upon, but rather to be denied and given over to those who manage reputations.

'Make it go away' is so much easier to ask than forgiveness. The former is an assertion of power; the latter of vulnerability.

How much would public life be improved if Ed Balls came forward and said: "I really wish we had not spent all that money, like we did." Think of how children's lives would be transformed if David Cameron confessed "We really have not done enough to explain the value of marriage for children or done enough to support them." Imagine Lord Patten reflecting: "We have become too protective of own privilege." Perhaps Nick Clegg might say: "I did not do enough to protect women" or Tony Blair: "Actually, I'm not the pretty regular sort of guy I claimed to be."

These would be early steps on the way to the world being truly transformed.

Actually, Brother Ivo does not insist on humiliating public confession. He would settle for our leaders making a start by admitting it to themselves.

For the want of a nail..

(Posted by Brother Ivo)

Saturday, May 11, 2013

MyGayZine - the vindictive pursuit of sexual uniformity



Here we go again.

A Christian printer by the name of Nick Williamson, 28, from Portadown in Northern Ireland, is about to be hauled off to court by another horde of militant homosexualists. Honestly, this is getting beyond a joke. There was a time when a Christian printer could politely decline to print gay porn, and the nice, understanding, empathetic homosexual completely understood, shook hands, and trundled off to find a printer who wasn’t remotely bothered by explicit images of gay men doing what gay men do. It was an era of live and let live; of liberty, tolerance, and the mutual accommodation of difference.

But now we must all be assimilated. Or, rather, the Christians must: the homosexualists haven’t got the balls to find some mosque-based printing outfit in Minaret Tower Hamlets and demand that they help propagate images of men mounting men. No, of course not: the throne of Allah would shake. When the ahadith discuss liwat (sexual intercourse between men), the general consensus is that both should be flung off the nearest cliff.

So it’s easier to bully Christians.

MyGayZine is an online magazine for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Northern Ireland. They asked Mr Williamson of Blufire Media in County Armagh for a design quotation. But Mr Williamson had a problem with the content of this site. He could have said he was far too busy to accept the job, or he could have provided some outrageously prohibitive estimate of costs. But this would have been lying. And why should Mr Williamson lie? Is he ashamed of his faith? Must he hide Christ under an AppleMac for fear of being insulted and harassed?

No, he pointed out calmly and politely to the magazine’s editor, one Danny Toner, that the MyGayZine website contained explicit sexual images, and that he did ‘not feel comfortable’ taking the job on because it ‘would be in contradiction to my own faith’. Mr Williamson explained succinctly: ‘Unfortunately due to the nature of the magazine we are unable to give a quote.’ He wasn’t prepared to print that kind of material whether homosexual or heterosexual.

So, how is this anti-gay discrimination, exactly?

If a man won’t print pornography of any genre – because it is all perversion – by what moral or legal right does the homosexualist insist that his particular genre of the perversion ought to be privileged?

Ah, but Mr Toner was ‘shocked’ and ‘annoyed’ by Mr Williamson’s rejection of his harmless rainbow website. And let us add ‘hurt’, ‘outraged’ and ‘offended’, for good measure. So the case has been referred to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

It beggars belief that Danny Toner believes that Nick Williamson should be required by law to print material of a nature that could reasonably be considered to be in direct conflict with the core elements of his religious beliefs. Would he force a Muslim to design and print material that offended his creed? Should the Muslim printer be obliged by statute to assist an anti-Muslim horde in the denigration of Mohammed or the cursing of Allah?

We have become aware over the years that it appears to have become a crime to believe that homosexuality is a sin, and to permit that religious orthodoxy to determine one’s actions in the public square (or your B&B or your hotel [from which His Grace demurs]). We have become used to streaming allegations of homophobia from screaming gayers who insist that their innate sexual preferences should trump millennia of cultural mores and normative religious orthodoxy. But this must be the first case of pornophobia: the first time a homosexualist is hurt and offended because the Christian doesn’t print porn of any description.

No doubt this case will turn on the relative definitions or increments of gay porn – not least because Mr Toner is adamant that MyGayZone has no adult content. In which case we can argue about the definition of ‘adult content’, for many parents might be concerned if their child were visiting this particular site, not least because they tend to promote a certain lifestyle or inculcate certain beliefs and attitudes toward sexual morality which might offend many Christians, Jews and Muslims (not to mention Sikhs, one or two Hindus, and the vast majority of Mormons and Scientologists). Mr Toner will insist that his website talks harmlessly about gay life, travel and culture, with the odd recipe for carrot and ginger soup. But others will find therein the exaltation of a lifestyle to which they strongly object.

And then we’ll get the spinning of the written correspondence, which has already been made public by Mr Toner, no doubt adduced as evidence for Mr Williamson’s bigotry, intolerance, hatred and homophobia. His first response was straightforward: ‘Unfortunately due to the nature of the magazine we are unable to give a quote.’

Difficult to see how that might ‘hurt’, ‘offend’, ‘confuse’ or ‘embarrass’ the recipient. But, sensing a marketing opportunity to boost the profile of his website, Mr Toner sought clarification, to which Mr Williamson apparently responded: ‘To work alongside (even printing for) the LGBT would be in contradiction to my own faith and so I will have to let this quote slide.’

And there you have it. Blatant homophobic discrimination.

In this corner of the United Kingdom, refusing to offer goods or services on the grounds of sexual orientation contravenes the The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006. This determines that a person (“A”) discriminates against another person (“B”) if –
(a) on grounds of sexual orientation, A treats B less favourably than he treats or would treat other persons; or
(b) A applies to B a provision, criterion or practice which he applies or would apply equally to persons not of the same sexual orientation as B; but –
  (i) which puts or would put persons of the same sexual orientation as B at a particular disadvantage when compared with other persons;
  (ii) which puts B at a disadvantage; and
  (iii) which A cannot show to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim; or
(c) A applies to B a requirement or condition which he applies or would apply equally to persons not of the same sexual orientation as B; but –
  (i) which is such that the proportion of persons of the same sexual orientation as B who can comply with it is considerably smaller than the proportion of persons not of that sexual orientation who can comply with it; and
  (ii) which he cannot show to be justifiable irrespective of the sexual orientation of the person to whom it is applied; and
  (iii) which is to the detriment of B because he cannot comply with it.
(2) A comparison of B’s case with that of another person under paragraph (1) must be such that the relevant circumstances in the one case are the same, or not materially different, in the other.
(3) A person (“A”) subjects another person (“B”) to harassment in any circumstances relevant for the purposes of any provision referred to in these Regulations where, on the ground of sexual orientation, A engages in unwanted conduct which has the purpose or effect of –
  (a) violating B’s dignity; or
  (b) creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for B.
So the degraded and humiliated homosexual Danny Toner is taking the hostile and intimidating Christian Nick Williamson to court in order ‘to fight homophobia and to bring it to people's attention’ (and get a few extra hits for his website). It is nothing but malicious, vindictive, anti-Christian bullying. Why is it that homosexuals, who have endured decades and centuries of sometimes appalling persecution, cannot see the hypocrisy of their militant pogrom?

Friday, May 10, 2013

Abortion comes to Ireland


This is guest post by Sister Tiberia:

Very few people will not be aware of the story that began this - the Irish dentist Savita Halappanavar who died in an Irish hospital of septicaemia, during a miscarriage at 17 weeks of pregnancy. For those of you who don't know the medical details they are well summarised HERE by a Canadian gynaecologist.

Her view was that "Infection must always be suspected whenever, preterm labor, premature rupture of the membranes, or advanced premature cervical dilation occurs (one of the scenarios that would have brought Ms. Halappanavar to the hospital)", and that the only correct treatment at this point would have been induction of labour coupled to aggressive antibiotic therapy.

The Irish courts agreed with this gynaecologist and handed down a verdict of "medical misadventure" (medical malpractice for the American readers).

But that isn't what this post is about. Because if the death of this lady and her unborn child sowed the wind, then Ireland is now reaping the whirlwind. The Irish Parliament is now debating the wretchedly misnamed "Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill 2013" - which potentially is going to give Ireland more liberal abortion laws that many other EU countries.

Firstly, there was no need for this Bill. Irish law already allows the termination of a pregnancy if the mother's life is in danger. The fact that the hospital misinterpreted the law has been seized upon by people who have wanted the country's abortion law liberalised and saw this as a perfect opportunity. A double tragedy became a political opportunity - and the opportunity was taken.

Phyllis Zagano at the National Catholic Reporter in America has an excellent article on this.

In it she explains that, under the new law, abortion will be permitted under a number of circumstances previously not legal under Irish law, including if the mother is considered to be suicidal. You don't have to be an unrepentant cynic to see just how that can and will be abused. The requirement that three doctors (one gynaecologist and two psychiatrists) will have to be in agreement for the law to be invoked brings less than fond memories of the two-doctor "safeguard" in English law. Yes, it's working really well this side of the Irish Sea. No, of course we don't have abortion on demand in the UK. Really. Yes, I know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.

The new Irish law also - frighteningly - has no term limit on when an abortion can be performed. As Phyllis says: "With no term limit on when an abortion may be performed, in theory, a medical condition at eight and a half months could allow for a partial-birth abortion - killing a partly delivered baby."

I strongly recommend reading the whole of Phyllis's article. Because, at present, the relatively limited opposition to this Bill in Ireland is being led by the Catholic Church, and in the aftermath of the scandals its moral authority is seen by many as limited. Phyllis comments: "Yes, the Irish bishops have complained about the bill. Yes, the Irish cardinal has suggested excommunication for those who vote for it. But few in the age group truly affected by the law could care less what any churchman says or does." The main group that might have actively fought this is simply not going to be listened to.

Pray for Ireland. Because whatever the wrongs of the Savita Halappanavar case - and they were many - the floodgates have been opened. God have mercy.

Addendum from His Grace (from LifeSiteNews):
"While Ireland’s Catholic bishops and the pro-life movement are fighting desperately to keep the government from enacting legislation to permit abortion, Boston College, a Catholic institution in Massachusetts, is honoring the head of the same government."
It is curious, while the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland is threatening to excommunicate its members should they support this Bill, that the Jesuits of Boston are being seen to reward the architect of the policy with an honourary doctorate - and a doctorate of civil law, at that! Enda Kenny reportedly responded to the threat of excommunication: "As I explained to the cardinal and members of the church, my book is the Constitution and the Constitution is determined by the people."

At what point is a Roman Catholic politician obliged to put canon law over the civil law, and where is the latitude? In the UK, Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has made it clear: “I take my whip from the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church rather than the Whip's Office.”

Now, there's a loyal Roman Catholic most worthy of an honourary DCL from Boston College.

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Nigel Lawson makes Ukip the Greatest Show on Earth

            Peter Brookes cartoon for 08.05.2013 The Times

When Kenneth Clarke referred to Ukip supporters as clowns - perhaps out of a degree of coulrophobia - he gifted Nigel Farage one of the greatest ripostes of recent political history: "Send in the Clowns", the Ukip leader sang, as Sondheim's fools were fooled and three-way politics was turned on its head.

Following Ukip's seismic performance in the local elections, neither Clarke nor Farage could have imagined that an entire circus would soon come to town. Not with mad hats, blue wigs, red noses or floppy shoes, but all the traditional performance skills of the clowning profession. Nigel Lawson is used to high-wire acts. He can walk a tightrope, tame a lion, and probably ride a horse, an elephant or an ostrich, too (though the Queen is due to announce their banning in circuses today).

The Lawson clown is now the Ringmaster, and he will soon become the Emcee of Euroscepticism. This is no bad thing: the movement has long needed a Master of Ceremonies with gravitas to compensate for Farage's sparkly Music Hall act. Lawson is no Churchill, but he speaks with impeccable logic and the weight of experience. More importantly, he is a convert to the cause: this once-europhile chancellor - the man who forced Margaret Thatcher to join the ERM in preparation for Britain joining the euro - has recanted and repented. And not only is now anti-euro, he is anti-EU. And that makes this clown not so much a clumsy auguste or harlequin attempting trivial acrobatic feats of balance and agility, but a dignified and sophisticated clown blanc - expressing the tired weight of the wisdom of his years.

This clown has also turned fortune teller, and has revealed the 'Hanged Man' Tarot card.

David Cameron will not be able to renegotiate the UK's 'relationship' with the EU. Anything he wins will be 'inconsequential', for the Acquis is one way: it is 'ever closer union'. Nothing he gains will be of any substance, for that would be a shift to an à la Carte Europe, which is simply not on offer. Clown Lawson tells us that the EU has become a 'bureaucratic monstrosity' and that the benefits of leaving 'would substantially outweigh the costs'.

If Cameron can't even circumvent the obfuscatory strategies of his own civil service, what hope does he have taming the Euro-Beast?

Clown Lawson now understands what many of us have long known: “Not only do our interests increasingly differ from those of the eurozone members but, while never ‘at the heart of Europe’, we are now becoming increasingly marginalised as we are doomed to being consistently outvoted by the eurozone bloc.”

If we were to leave, not only would we save the £8bn a year 'membership fee', we would no longer be subject to EU regulation and red tape which Clown Lawson reminds us 'imposes substantial economic costs on all member states'. And the City would be saved from an EU 'frenzy of regulatory activism... the foolish and damaging financial transactions tax, imposed against strong UK opposition'.

He added: “Those who claim that to leave the EU would damage the City are the very same as those who in the past confidently predicted, with a classic failure of understanding, that the City would be gravely damaged if the UK failed to adopt the euro as its currency.”

The mistake Ken Clarke (and the europhile media and establishment) makes is to believe that clowns are inconsequential idiots in a circus pantomime. They are not and were never 'court jesters'; clowns have long served a socio-religious and psychological role - even in some cultures combined with the role of priest. They entertain in order to impart a truth: they exaggerate to reflect our absurdities and hypocrisies. They warn, admonish and enlighten. And the people generally like them for their forthright defiance and colourful impudence. Better than the bland sea of political mediocrity, anyway.

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

CofE annual statistics 2011 - good news and bad


The Church of England today released its Annual Statistics for 2011 revealing a strong growing trend for Christmas attendance, an increase in child and adult baptisms and a growing stability in weekly service attendance.

Christmas 2011 drew 14.5% more (yes, more) worshipers to Church of England services than attended in 2010, reaching a total of 2,618,030. Whilst one of the factors for such a high annual increase include the poor weather on Christmas Day in 2010, initial returns from 2012 suggest a further increase in Christmas attendance on these high 2011 figures revealing a growing trend for church going at Christmas.

So, Christmas Christians are on the up.

And the number of christenings increased by 4.3%, which was accompanied by a rise of just over 5% in adult baptisms with a combined total of 139,751 baptisms – meaning that the Church of England conducted an average of over 2,600 baptisms each week during 2011. Thanksgivings for the birth of a child also rose - an 11.9% increase, taking numbers to 6,582.

So, baby liturgies are more in demand.

Average weekly attendance nationally fell by less than half of one per cent (0.3%) to 1,091,484 - representing a relative stabilising of average weekly attendance figures. Almost half of the Church of England’s regional areas saw growth (yes, growth) in Church attendance, with 20 out of 44 dioceses showing increases. Nationally there was a 1.2% increase in children and young people attending to 216,928.

So the National Secularists and British Humanists can stick that in their pipes and smoke it.

Weddings saw a slight decrease of 3.6% in 2011, to 51,880, whilst the number of wedding blessings (Services of Prayer and Thanksgiving following a civil ceremony) was up by 4.5%. The wedding figures confirm the trend of the past decade where the Church of England married an average of 1,000 couples every week.

Church of England clergy and lay ministers conducted 162,526 funerals in 2011, a fall of 2.8% on the previous year, reflecting figures from the Office for National Statistics which showed a fall of 1.8% in deaths in England and Wales in 2011. On these figures the Church of England conducted an average of over 3,000 funerals every week in 2011 - over 400 every day.

Welcoming the publication of the statistics, the Rt Rev'd Graham James, Bishop of Norwich, said: “These figures are a welcome reminder of the work and service undertaken by the Church of England annually. 1,000 couples married, 2,600 baptisms celebrated and over 3,000 funerals conducted every week of the year.

“The attendance figures are heartening, especially the very strong growth in Christmas day attendance. The encouraging news of further growth to come even on these high figures is very welcome and points to a growing trends. Also welcome is the stabilising of the numbers of those who attend church services on a weekly basis. With almost half of our dioceses showing growth, there is a quiet confidence underlying these figures.

"The growth of the numbers of children and young people attending is an encouragement and reflects the investment made by churches across in the country on youth and children's workers to serve not only the church but the whole parish."

“The increase in the number of adults being baptised and those families bringing their children to be Christened is also good news showing growth in the numbers of those both coming to faith and reflects the wide nature of the ministry offered by the Church - for all of life from the cradle to the grave."

The bad news?

Sunday attendance has declined over the decade, and this is particularly noticeable with child attendance:

You don't need to be a genius to work out that decreasing child attendance is a matter of existential concern. There trend toward believing without belonging continues apace, raising undoubted missiological challenges. If the people will not go to church (except at Christmas), more must be done to meet people where they are at. This blog, for example, vastly exceeds any parochial church average Sunday attendance. Indeed, the weekday cyber-attendance puts other congregations well into the penumbra, and with excess of 100,000 visiting every month to hear His Grace's homilies, his cyber-pulpit equals that of any Gothic cathedral.

A church that is not engaged creatively in mission is not fulfilling its primary objective - that of preaching the gospel to make believers to make disciples. If Jesus had chosen to irrupt into the 21st century instead of 0BC, he'd doubtless be blogging and tweeting. At least about the meaning of the Resurrection, for Easter attendance at church has seen a general decline, particularly in the latter part of the century:


And the proportion of babies being baptised into the Church of England has fallen significantly from a high of 70% in 1930 to just 12% in 2011:


It's easy to whinge about this and blame the bishops, or to criticise the Archbishop of Canterbury (yes, even the new one) for his woeful leadership and lamentable witness.

But when did you last lead someone to Christ?

Monday, May 06, 2013

Church of Scotland report denies Jesus was the promised Messiah


Christians should not believe those parts of Scripture where God promised that a virgin would conceive: Isaiah 7:14 didn't really refer to a promised messiah: it was just about a general plan of salvation. And he wasn't born in the long-promised Bethlehem either - that's just a metaphor for anywhere, like Slough. And he didn't have to be a 'he' either - that's just a metaphor for all humankind. And his name didn't have to be Jesus (Mt 2:21) - meaning 'The Lord saves', because it could have been Brian or Steve: there's no real promise that the Lord will save us from our sins (Zech 3:9). He is not 'God with us' (Mt 1:23), and he didn't need to suffer (Is 53:7) because there's no real reward for obeying the word of God (Lk 11:27). Jesus isn't the visible image of the invisible God through whom all things were created (Col 1:15f) - that's just silly. He didn't reconcile us to himself through the cross (v20), and he's not the glory of the nations (Ps 96:3; 39:21). And when God promises that nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ (Rom 8:35), he didn't really mean 'nothing' - he meant God's love is completely dependent on the which side of the bed he gets out of in a morning. 

Oh, hang on. His Grace has got it wrong.

Sorry.

It's only the Jews who shouldn't take God's promises literally. 

That's alright, then.

And neither should Christians when they relate to Jews and Israel. Ah, now it's becoming clearer.

If God makes a promise to Jews, it's a metaphor. If He makes a promise to Christians, it's literal except where it refers to the Jews and Israel.

Yes, that's right. According to a report by the Church of Scotland, 'Israel' and the 'Promised Land' is all just one big mushy metaphor for... well, something like the fuzziness of promises that aren't promises. God's promises are just pictures, without precise meaning, and certainly could never apply to matters of geography. The 'Promised Land' in Scripture is not a literal land - it's more 'a metaphor of how things ought to be among the people of God. This "promised land" can be found, or built, anywhere'.

Except, of course, in Israel.

This astonishing Church of Scotland report is entitled The Inheritance of Abraham? The 'Promised Land', and the scare quotes say it all. It is supposed to be a 'discussion document' for debate, but its tone is consistent with the anti-Israel pro-Palestine narrative we have come to expect from some quarters. This once fervently Zionist Church of Scotland - which enthusiastically supported the right of Jews to return to their ancient homeland - now says Israel does not belong to the Jewish people. If it is adopted later this month by the 700 Church members who constitute the General Assembly, it may become the official position of the Church. Unsurprisingly, Jewish leaders are somewhat irked by this.

Quoted in the Jewish Chronicle, Ephraim Borowski, Scottish Council of Jewish Communities director, said: "The document is an outrage to everything that interfaith dialogue stands for. It is biased, weak on sources, and contradictory, and closes the door on meaningful dialogue. On behalf of the Jewish community of Scotland, we call upon the Church to withdraw it from the forthcoming general assembly. If the Church cannot build bridges, can it at least refrain from burning them?"

In the same newspaper, the Board of Deputies vice-president Jonathan Arkush said: “I am at a loss for words that the Church of Scotland should have delivered such a slap in the face to the Jewish community. The document is deeply troubling on many levels. It appears to have been produced with no consultation with the Scottish or national Jewish community. It is littered with misrepresentations of Jewish history, values and beliefs as well as basic factual errors.

“It is an ignorant and tendentious document masquerading as a theological statement. The Church has done a deep disservice to itself by producing a document without any regard to the trust, respect and dialogue on which interfaith relations should be based.”

Please read the report for yourselves (hyperlink above), but its reasoning essentially turns on: 'Would the Jewish people today have a fairer claim to the land if they dealt justly with the Palestinians?' It adds that from some Christian perspectives 'the desire of many in the state of Israel to acquire the land of Palestine for the Jewish people is wrong'.

And the report urges the Church to consider backing 'economic and political measures involving boycotts, disinvestment and sanctions against the state of Israel focused on illegal settlements'.

The chief executive of the Council of Christians and Jews the Reverend David Gifford said the report was ill-considered, regressive and insensitive to Jewish anxieties and the range of Israeli public opinion: “The at times unfortunate words and phrases reflect sadly on the authors and smacks of Christian superiority over Judaism,” he said. “While few would disagree that serious issues need to be addressed by the state of Israel, instead of offering fresh opportunities and an openness to engage with the Jewish community in a joint response to the worrying trends in the Israel/Palestine conflict, this report runs the risk of further alienating our own Jewish community and increasing its fear and anxiety.”

He's not wrong. The assertion that God's promises to Christians are somehow of a different theological order to those He made to Jews is verging on the anti-Semitic. If the Church of Scotland wants some facts, here are a few:

Israel is central to Jewish religious and national identity. It is the one piece of land historically promised to the Jewish people as recorded in Genesis. It is the only land where the Jewish nation has ever experienced self rule. In contrast, there has never been an autonomous Palestinian state in the area. It was ruled by a succession of empires until the Ottoman Empire fell in 1917 and the League of Nations granted the British a Mandate in 1920.

Archaeology confirms the Bible record of a land promised to the Jews, who spoke and wrote Hebrew, and worshiped Israel’s God in what is now Israel at least 1,000 years before Jesus was born. Jews are the only people who have ever had an autonomous state on this tiny piece of land. They governed themselves as a national entity,producing kings, visionary prophets and writers from whose pens flowed some of the most treasured writings in the history of the world. Archaeological support for these claims includes:
✡ an ancient Hebrew alphabet, from 10th century BC discovered at Tel Zayit in 2005;
✡ Israel is named in ancient Hebrew on the 9th Century BC ‘Moabite Stone’;
✡ An inscription at Tel Dan dating from the time of King Ahab names the ‘House of David’ and ‘Israel’.

Jews have inhabited the Holy Land continuously for 3000 years. Despite attempts by successive occupying powers to expel them, communities of Jews have lived in the Holy Land continuously since the time of Abraham until the present in, for example, Safed, Tiberias and Hebron. Jews returned to the Holy Land throughout the Diaspora period, notably from Spain and other Mediterranean countries in the late 13th and 14th Century.

In Jerusalem Jews have been the largest ethnic group since the 1840s. During the Mandate many Jewish communities in Arab towns such as Nazareth and Gaza were forced out by Arab neighbours and their members joined kibbutzim or moved to predominantly Jewish towns. Since the Babylonian exile, the Jewish diaspora has spread as far as South America, China and Australia. But Jewish ethnic identity, recognised by the countries in which they lived as minority communities, was based on Jewish affinity with the land of Israel and the Jews living there.

At the 1920 San Remo conference, the League of Nations granted Britain a Mandate over Palestine. It committed Britain to the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine west of the Jordan River. Recognition of ancient Jewish links with the land was foundational to the Mandate. A Palestinian state was to be established east of the Jordan River (present day Jordan). Jews could not settle or buy land there.

The assertion that the Jewish homeland was stolen from Palestinians is false. In the early 19th century more than 10,000 Jews lived throughout what is today Israel. In 1880 Jews made up about 6 per cent of Palestine’s population. The land was then a run-down colonial outpost of the Ottoman Empire. Jews purchased much land from Arab owners legally during the late 19th and early 20th century and by dint of huge effort, turned it from rocky hillsides and malarial swamps into productive and profitable land.

By World War One, the Jewish population of Palestine was around 85,000 out of 700,000 (roughly 12 per cent). It rapidly became the most dynamic economic centre in the Middle East attracting people from all over the region eager for a share in the growing prosperity of Palestine. In contrast, no independent Palestinian entity or identity has existed until the 20th Century.

On 29 November 1947, the United Nations voted to create an Arab and a Jewish State alongside each other in what is now Israel and the West Bank. It was accepted that Israel would have a sizeable Arab minority. The Jewish State was allotted 56 per cent of Mandate Palestine, since the UN correctly predicted heavy Jewish immigration from Europe after the creation of the Jewish State. Perhaps they also guessed that large numbers of Jewish refugees from Arab nations would also need a home.

The Jewish Agency, led by David Ben Gurion, accepted the plan. Arab leaders rejected it, and Arab attacks on Jewish communities began at once. Britain announced that her troops would be withdrawn from Palestine on 15 May 1948. Aware that Arab countries had vowed to destroy any Jewish state, David Ben Gurion declared the independence of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948, with borders as stipulated in the UN Partition Plan.

Significantly, the Declaration of Independence stated: 'We appeal ... to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions..' Within days of the British withdrawal, 35,000 Iraqi, Lebanese, Syrian and Egyptian troops (led by British officers) invaded Israel. Despite overwhelming odds, and the loss of 1 per cent of the population of Israel, Israeli forces decisively defeated the Arab armies. Israel took territory beyond the UN allocated borders because their territory could not be defended against further Arab attacks. 

Some 6-800,000 Palestinian Arabs were displaced as a result of the Arab war on Israel in 1948. Some were compelled to leave their homes by IDF forces. But many left voluntarily before the 1948 war because local and national leaders advised or compelled them to do so. Palestinians who heeded this advice could not return to their homes after the Arabs lost the war. Unsurprisingly, given repeated Arab threats to annihilate Israel, Israeli leaders feared an Arab ‘fifth column’. However, most Arabs who had remained in Israel became Israeli citizens. Jews were also expelled from their homes by Arab forces, for example from Gush Etzion and K’far Darom in Gaza, all built on land purchased legally. And of course Jews were expelled from the Old City of Jerusalem. In addition, 800,000 Jews were forced to abandon homes and businesses in Arab countries. They arrived in Israel with nothing.

These are the forgotten refugees of 1948. Both sides committed atrocities. Women and children were murdered by Jewish fighters of the Stern gang and Irgun in the peaceful Arab village of Deir Yassin. Arab fighters took revenge by murdering Jewish women and children in K’far Etzion and members of a convoy taking medical supplies to Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital.

Modern Israel combines the best ideals of the west – democracy, openness to debate and criticism as well as new ideas in technology and the arts. Such ideals are much needed in the region. Given the ferocity of comment in the Israeli press and the intensity of debate and moral self-criticism which so characterises discussion in Israel – so rare in public life today – the attacks on Israel are profoundly depressing and disturbing.

God promised Abraham that his descendents would have a land, and would be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. Israel is a fulfilment of that promise. We thank the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for the restoration of the Jewish people to their land, because it was a promise that He would so. And if that was not a promise, then Jesus is not the long-promised Messiah, and our promised salvation is nullified in a myriad of meaningless metaphors.
‹Older