AN ALTERNATIVE 'CHRISTIANITY BEGAN ... ' FROM THE INNOCUOUS ONE THAT I READ!

Christianity began well ... and ended in ...see below!  

Christianity began in Galilee as 12 disciples of Jesus and then by many more as Followers of the Way. Only later were they called Christians - as a taunt.

Saul was converted and interpreted the death of Christ as atoning for the sins of the world, rather than the ultimate act of non-aggression and non-violence. A crucifixion that spoke volumes of the iniquity of capital punishment and, indeed of corporal punishment that was also used on this good man. Yet, both punishments are so beloved of the righteous of the Lord - and has been for centuries. They certainly don't believe in sparing the rod, because the Bible tells them so.

The Apostle Paul took Christianity to Asia Minor and Greece but it never became a philosophy, even though the intellectual Greeks loved to debate religion.

It went to Rome and it changed from being almost unheard of for Followers of the Way to enter the army, to it becoming acceptable to do so - and ever since.

It went to Europe and the rot really did set in. Non-aggression and non-violence became not just unheard of but completely non-existent amongst the supposedly faithful of the Lord. The words even, were never used such was the popularity of the soldiers of the Cross being literally warring crusaders against evil Islam and, even the wrong kind of Christianity! No longer were they faithful followers of the way of the Lord who taught and practised loving enemies rather than aggression and violence.

It came to America and that most devout nation; indeed, the nation with the mostest - the most of absolutely everything, including Bible believing, born again Christians. Yet, for the last six decades, along with its best buddy, the UK those most righteous nations have warred, have attacked, have invaded, have occupied nations with their godless and evil Communism. Only the tiny, Christian sects and branches of Christendom have been noted for their non-aggression and non-violence. Only they have remained true to the roots of Christianity and its Founder's 'unsuccessful' Way of non-aggression, non-violent direct action and of, literally loving those who have come to war, attack, invade and occupy.

The worst heresy, the ultimate irony and the final insult is the Bible reading and prayerful duo who launched the War of Terrorism against two Muslim nations who had done nothing to deserve the judgement of the righteous of the Lord from the US/UK. This Christian war or crusade against evil shows just how far the supposed disciples of the King of Love and the Prince of Peace have departed the Faith. They, who talk the most about defeating evil, need to first repent of their own much greater evil, methinks! There is the Jesus parable of the mote and the beam or, the splinter and the plank. Judgement begins in the House of the Lord - and, indeed on all who take the sword and the rod to punish the evil, sinful, rogue and failed nations of the world. Except, the US/UK/Israeli hegemony gets away with it. There is no judgement for their injustice, aggression and violence because they are all powerful - unlike their founder, Jesus Christ; all powerless, non aggressive and all failing!

That Trump chump champions the Bible but not non-violence!

That Trump chump champions the Bible but not non-violence.  As he sends in the troops and the tear gas to clear peaceful protesters he feels safe enough to finally show his face.  He holds up the Bible as justification for what he has just done!  Certainly, that is in accordance with parts of the Old Testament but certainly not the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospels of the New Testament.

I want the GP to be upstanding and outstanding

Dear Andi - time for me to reply, in blue, below to your most welcome last e-mail of the 23 June, when you wrote:

"Hi Tim 

"Thank you for the respectful and less aggressive tone in this email. I do appreciate it.  Certainly not aggressive, I hope since I am forever going on about trying non-violence and making friends as a more helpful and positive UK foreign policy!  Sometimes I have to be forthright and straight.  And, you are in a prominent leadership position, Andi so I do expect more from you.  You are my leader, too after all.

"However in my last email to you I also made it clear I won't respond if you copy lots of others in. Let me restate that it's not polite to spam all sorts of people with no declared interest in the subject. Jonathan Bartley is not involved in this conversation. Jonathan is even more important than you are, Andi.  I met him in person in a public place when I tried to tackle him about my concerns.  He explained that he could not speak to me, then but, gave me his card for me to contact him.  A week or two later I wrote to him.  There has never even been the courtesy of an acknowledgement, let alone a reply.  This is no way good enough, Andi.  Neither are our Solihull or Birmingham councillors, or any of the others you have included. Do you understand that by copying all and sundry it is perceived that your intent is to publicly embarrass the primary recipient of your email? Conversations like this must be private and confidential, or there can be no trust between us.  Andi, others have got to be aware of what is going so very, very wrong.  It is not just you but all your GP members who must be won over in order to change your very mistaken transport policy.

I have been campaigning and working for a greener and more sustainable, sensible and ecological society since I moved here, to this house, in Jan 1976.  I have been attending FoE meetings since the 70s and GP meetings since the 80s.  I have been, largely, a successful failure.  However, in those matters where I have got my way, it has been through maximum publicity, making waves, well and truly stirring things up and making a nuisance of myself!  Only by pleasantly but constantly pointing out that something is wrong and that there is a far better, more constructive and helpful way forward, have I won.  Well, actually, mostly lost!  I have used mock battles (x2), interviews, press releases, petitions, letters/e-mails, phone calls, personal visits, gate crashing politicians surgeries, observing umpteen boring meetings at council HQs and transport HQ and catching the politicians before they skipped off to evade me.  I even went to the Strasbourg Parliament to see one MEP who never held surgeries or wrote to me but did see me, there (but a complete waste of time)!

"But as you have listened to at least one of my requests I will reply on this occasion. 

"It is true that WMGP has not debated or voted on rail policy. This is not good enough, Andi.  And my very own political party has never given me a fair hearing.  I attended one Dudley GP meeting, this decade where I was allowed to tell the meeting about the idiocy of turning our local mainline railway into a short, shuttle tram line on part of it.  But, only while you were all voting on some important matter or other.  None of you were interested or at all bothered!  However, I think you misunderstand how the Green Party works.  It should work by hearing my side of the case and not just the Establishment's.  Please don't be one sided in formulating transport policy.  Hear the other point of view.

"Members democratically decide national policy, with proposals subject to energetic debate and taking evidence into account. This sets out our broad policy agenda.  What about deciding on LOCAL policy, a wasted mainline railway almost a stone's throw from where we were sitting in that Netherton GP meeting?  Never a debate/discussion, no evidence and no hearing of my side of the case on a vital local and regional and even a national issue

"We don't set regional or local policy in this way. There are many reasons for this. One is that we simply don't have the time or resources to do so at  regional level, given our current electoral position. Manifestos are drawn up by small working groups given authority by the regional executive. They will do so in line with national policy and adapt it to local circumstances. There is no members vote on developing regional policy - if we tried to do this we would never do anything else! And we certainly wouldn't have an MEP and around 100 councillors, as we do now.  Deciding to no longer run roads, buildings or extremely extravagant Metro trams on railway lines should NOT be a highly complicated issue for GP members to grapple with and to come down on the side of ONLY trains going back on train lines.

Is your first priority, Andi getting members elected or postponing extinction?

"On public transport nationally the Green Party sees roles for tube-like metro systems, for both heavy and light rail lines including trams as well as investment in bus services. Like you, we want to massively expand the provision of public transport and make it as cheap and accessible as possible - free public transport is something we'd love to see happen.  Excellent.  So please shout about it using the evidence I have provided you with.

"But as a political party we must keep all options on the table that aren't diametrically opposed to our objectives. NOT options that are stupid and scandalous and unsustainable, Andi just because they are public transport.  What is politically possible isn't always our ideal scenario but that's just politics - it's messy and imperfect. Most of the time we have to compromise or we get nothing at all. Of course - we could crusade for utopia and be proud of our glorious failure. But we're more interested in making change happen. So don't be preoccupied with getting councillors elected who still don't do much when they are.  So our much vaunted and hoped for Cllr Will, only lasted one term before shooting off on his grand tour of Europe with Vicky.  The Solihull Opposition GP have not lifted a finger to help me because, like you, they want trams as their top priority instead of using the £2 BILLION to get the trains back and reversing the gradual decline in bus use.

At the last count, in Stourbridge in May, did you say something to me about not standing yourself because you were co-ordinating all the other GP candidates who were standing?  Should you not have been leading from the front, Andi and doing the two jobs?  At least, I stood simply to have the opportunity to courageously mutter something, anything green and sensible from the platform.  I would have loved to have heard other GP candidates spout off for one or two minutes, as I tried to do rather lamely last May.  The most important sentence was my last: "You are about to authorise something as silly, for half a billion pounds, as putting London Underground trains for 6.7 Kms on the London to Paris, Eurostar, HS1 line."

The 'brief', parabolic history of humanity must now be on the slide and the prophetic Green Party is silent.  A guilty silence.  Truly disappointing.

"As I've said many times, we support bringing back trains on the Black Country line, but we can't rule out trams or Sprint buses in all circumstances everywhere. But you should as a true green and Green!  It would be unethical to mislead the public about what is possible given the political and financial constraints that exist.  But you are misleading the public.  The financial constraints demand that you understand that fareless, electric, priority at traffic lights, bus lane, buses PLUS, the trains and stations back where the lines still exist is the politically sensible, prudent and the financially responsible thing to do.  NOT FINANCIALLY BRUTAL, FISCAL STINGING, METRO-LIKE TRAMS, ANYWHERE.  My advice gives the least greenhouse gases.  And that is all that matters.

"You are completely free to disagree and campaign for your own vision, if that's what you want to do.

I first stood for the Greens in the 1992 General Election.  In my own constituency of Halesowen and Stourbridge as it was called then.  My agent was the wonderful Quaker and Green activist Joyce Millington of Stourbridge.  For years, she had been rightly calling for fossil fuels to be rationed, as we nearly had in 1973 during the three day working week to save oil.  I completely agreed with her.  It is even more urgent, now that all good Greens and greens should be calling for fossil fuel rationing; that we should be getting out of all fossil fuels as quickly as possible - out of enlightened self interest.  That is what I will be doing if there are any public platforms that I can get on, if I get nominated as an Independent candidate for Metro Mayor next year.

I want the Green Party to be fearless and outspoken.  To be different from the other parties.  To stand out from them with integrity and honour.  To be as different from the grey parties as the awesome Greta Thunberg in sailing instead of flying and, in using buses and trains instead of cars.  PLEASE Andi!

All the very best to you, my friend

Tim

Steve Chalke gets it right - transcript

STEVE:
It was the first Christmas after the outrage of the September 11th attack on New York and Washington DC. America and her allies had recently invaded Afghanistan and the tension was building with Saddam Hussain's Iraq. I was doing some work as a presenter of a breakfast television show and was asked to interview a well-known American church leader. As part of the interview I asked him to talk about his understanding of what the Christmas story was all about.

“Peace and goodwill to all,” he replied, “Jesus is the Prince of Peace. That's the core of His life changing story.”

“So if Jesus is the Prince of Peace and one of his key messages was love your enemies, what does that mean on a world scale?” I asked. “I think it’s much easier to understand Jesus’ message on a person-to-person level – it doesn’t necessarily apply to nation/state relationships”.

After the show I asked one of the studio crew what he thought of what our guest had said. His reply was simple, “Love your enemy, but kill them first! 

I have often thought that, at any level, Jesus’ famous sound bite ‘Love your enemies’ probably amounts to, at one and the same time, the most admired and least practised piece of teaching in history. The myth that violence is the only solution to many of the world’s problems still thrives, seemingly everywhere. And, Jesus’ advice about non-violence is dismissed as impractical idealism, extraordinarily, no such charge is ever made against violence, in spite of the fact that history has proved, time and again, that war hostility and terrorism solve nothing in the long run.

Put differently, you can't kill your way to peace.

The ‘might is right’ principle seems to pervade cultures everywhere.. You only have to look at our films to see what dominates our own worldview. From Popeye to Tom and Jerry and Rambo to Batman, we are repeatedly sold the lie that violence is the only way to win and eradicate the enemy. And to add irony to insult, James Bond, the British Spy, in the service of Queen and country kills, murders, threatens, bullies, seduces, commits adultery, lies, steals, cheats, breaks the law and beats his enemies to a pulp.

But, have we actually been deluded into believing a myth that is destroying us? It was Gandhi who wrote: ‘I object to violence because even when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.’ As Carl Jung poignantly observed, “You always become the thing you fight.”  Perhaps the ultimate weakness of any kind of violence is that it is a descending spiral; begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. May be violence can never stop violence, simply because every ‘successful’ violent act deepens our faith in it and this very success leads others to imitate it.

Although, at this moment, Islamic extremism presents our contemporary world with a unique threat – to which very understandably it has been necessary to respond - radicalisation is much more than an Islamic problem. It is a human problem. For instance, here in South London, more young people are enticed by the lure of gangs and guns than ever seduced by the sinister world of extremism and terror.

At the age of 14, a South London kid, became a Christian - a follower of Christ. In that moment, he felt as if his small pointless story had been caught up in a much bigger, radical vision to bring positive change to the world; that he’d joined a huge gang – a gang that was worth belonging to – with a narrative that was strong enough, compelling enough, infectious enough, deep enough, rooted enough, and radical enough to dedicate his life to.

That kid was me.

Everyone needs a narrative worth living by; one that explains to us who we are, supplies us with a sense of worth and purpose – and which offers us hope for the future. Any counter terrorism strategy that falls short of this fails to get to the heart of things.

Do governments, guns and traditional armies have a role to play in our war against terrorism? Theologians and philosophers from Thomas Aquinas to Dietrich Bonhoeffer have spent centuries wrangling over Just War Theory; attempting to find a moral response to the evil perpetrated by those who wreak violence and war on the innocent. Of course a response may be necessary. But, can guns alone finally ever win the peace? Never! In this they are impotent. Instead, in the end we must find and promote a new narrative to live by, together, that brings real change, because lasting change, arises from local communities, one relationship at a time. Every act of love is a victory over hatred. Every act of kindness, a victory over violence. There is finally no other way.

Christians see Jesus Christ as the supreme example of the power of peace – He was oppressed and afflicted, but he did not fight back. His teaching, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ has inspired countless men and women through the centuries to live as non-violent radicals.  For those who have lived out this ‘upside down’, non-violent approach to life in past days, such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Desmond Tutu, or the older Nelson Mandela, there is almost universal admiration and respect. 

Now the challenge before us is to articulate for a new generation a narrative that is powerful enough to bring real and lasting peace to our vulnerable multi-cultural, multi-faith communities as well as to the diversity of our wider world.

It is never enough to talk about peace. It is never enough to believe in peace. The real task, the only task, is to work at peace – As Jesus said; ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.’

And now I invite you to reflect in a moment of prayer as we hear the Oasis Waterloo Community Choir sing an arrangement of the hymn Dear Lord and Father of Mankind.

Dear friends

I was delighted to hear on ITV News that Steve is against selection of the brightest children to go to more grammar schools.  Theresa May's plan is for yet more preferential treatment for the wealthiest and most privileged to go to the 'best' schools in the land by building more of the supposed 'best'.

I want inclusion that means that those at the bottom should get the best of everything.  Bias to the poor and not the rich.  The rich and brightest are well able to look after themselves.

I was also delighted to hear your excellent 'Sunday Worship' broadcast on Sunday.  Steve's sermon was the very first sermon I have heard - and I am 68 years old - that specifically mentioned non-violence as the way of the Cross - as Christ's way.

Well done, Steve!

Dear Tim

Steve just wanted to thank you for being in touch; your support, kind words and encouragement are much appreciated.

With kind regards

Judith

Judith Doel, PA to Rev Steve Chalke MBE, Founder and Leader, Oasis GlobalThe Oasis Centre 1 Kennington Road, London. SE1 7QP| T. 020 7921 4241 | F. 020 7921 4201 | www.oasisuk.org; www.oasisglobal.org; www.oasiscommunitylearning.org; www.oasischurchwaterloo.org; www.stopthetraffik.org

Learn this lesson from Syria

Rage against the oppressor with extreme care and with non-violence.  Only overthrow an oppressive government (regime) by the ballot box, not the bomb and bullet.  If there is no ballot box, put up with the tyrant or get out of his reign of terror, oppression and sheer nastiness.

from Avaaz on Israel-Palestine

As a new round of violence kicks off in Israel-Palestine and more children are killed, it's not enough just to call for another ceasefire. It’s time to take definitive non-violent action to end this decades long nightmare. 

Our governments have failed -- while they have talked peace and passed UN resolutions, they and our companies have continued to aid, trade and invest in the violence. The only way to stop this hellish cycle of Israel confiscating Palestinian lands, daily collective punishment of innocent Palestinian families, Hamas firing rockets, and Israel bombing Gaza is to make the economic cost of this conflict too high to bear. 

We know it works -- when EU countries issued guidelines not to fund the illegal Israeli settlements it caused an earthquake in the cabinet, and when citizens successfully persuaded a Dutch pension fund, PGGM, to withdraw, it created a political storm.

'Focus on Israel'

Dear friend

My son, this morning, gave me the Summer 2014 issue of 'infocus', that I read at the time when my copy was sent to me - thanks.

My Bible believing and Zionist Christian family are in full agreement with Israel continuing to wage war on Gaza to teach them a lesson that they never seem to learn. Would you, perhaps feel able to write a short piece in the next issue of 'infocus' on the following lines?

TELL THEM TO TALK TO THE TERRORISTS!

This must be one of the most important and tragic unresolved nightmares in the world today.

Over the years, tight road blocks and checkpoints, strict restrictions and searches, invasions/occupations, suicide bombers, rockets and aerial bombing raids have all failed to bring peace with justice for both sides. Three wars on Gaza have all failed.

In our church, it seems that I alone think that non-violent actions must be tried, in the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ of the gospels. Bizarrely, it is not our political leaders with their Judeo-Christian upbringing - nor our church leaders in sermons - who have ever uttered the sentence, " We must use non-violence". In fact, it was a Palestinian MP, Mahmood Bagooti on the Radio 4, 'Today' programme last July. I counted four utterances of the all too rare two words, as he was interviewed by John Humphrys, showing what he was doing to persuade his side to follow in the footsteps of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jnr and, above all, Jesus Christ!

Israel must talk to the terrorists with the help of their ally, the USA, as Margaret Thatcher began to do with the IRA, when she was Prime Minister. John Major and Tony Blair continued to success.

Israel and Palestine MUST talk to each other.  Make friends of your neighbours, O Israel, rather than deepening the enmity!

"The same old story" means never ending violence and aggression - for even the righteous of the Lord/Yahweh. A dismal outlook!

The Very Necessary War

For me, a very necessary war because:

1. We were the superpower of the day and, therefore, had to intervene as the policeman, judge and jury of the world.
2. In 1914, UK had seen centuries of warfare on the mainland of Europe, anyway.  More war there would not seem unusual.
3. Britain had a culture and tradition of war and, war first and foremost.  Churchill's magnanimity in victory and jaw, jaw came much later.
4. Patriotism, militarism and nationalism were also the norm.
5. Every citizen knew Britain was right and on the side of upholding civilised values throughout the world.
6. It had always been unheard of not to do your patriotic duty to King and Country.
7. Throughout every country in Europe and Russia, every subject of these monarchs believed their kaisers, czars and kings were God's representatives on earth and, therefore, knew best.  When they wanted war, war it had to be.
8. It was widely believed in the readership of the penny dreadfuls and the ever so popular 'Daily Mail' that the Germans were less than human - Gerhuns not Germans.  They were evil and had to be fought when they invaded our fellow industrialised and colonial power of Belgium.
9. We had to honour our alliance with France and Russia.  We always honoured our treaty obligations and we were always men and women of our word.  "Perfidious Albion" was a disgraceful slur on our nation.
10. Better to die gloriously as a hero with your name engraved in stone for ever, than risk being ruled by Germany.
11. Violence was the done thing; non-violence was non-existent in European thinking and absent from the English vocabulary (still to this day)

FOOTNOTE:

Ten million combatants and a further ten million non-combatants were killed in the industrial slaughter that was the 1 WW of four and a quarter years.  This was the price that Max Hastings (in the one hour long documentary on BBC2, 'The Necessary War') and everyone of his interviewees agreed was worth paying and that made this war necessary to stop German hegemony in Europe and to maintain the British Empire.  In addition, each side believed God was on their side.   The poor, deluded Empire soldiers were killing and being killed for the noble and glorious cause of God, King and Country - and to avoid any chance of coming under Berlin's control.  Why God should ever want to have anything to do with such a stupid creation does make me doubt the wisdom of such an all powerful and all knowing God of justice.

Dear Mr Weller,

Thank you for this. 

I agree with some but by no means all of your views. Ultimately, Britain fought the First World War because Germany posed a threat to its security.

Best wishes

Gary Sheffield

Sent from my iPhone

Dear Prof Gary

Thanks so much for reading my piece, that was partly tongue in cheek - and for having the decency to reply.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, I know but, could Britain not have waited until it was obvious that Germany was moving to invade our shores and then launched a pre-emptive attack of self defence?  Our island location should have given us a tremendous advantage in being the last to be invaded (if we ever were) by the Germany of 100 years ago.  Was not Kaiser Bill pre-occupied with conquering certain countries on the European mainland?

Thankfully, that bloodbath and this century's attacks on weak Iraq and Afghanistan have given us such a bloody nose that we have not gone in, with all guns blazing, in Syria or Crimea.

I think, as has the SNP, the UK as a whole would be wise to learn from Norway as regards both energy (North Sea oil and gas) policy and peacemaking.

Best wishes

Thoughts on the day of Mike Verduyn's funeral

19 Dec 2013

At Mike’s funeral, Tony read out from Ecclesiastes about a time for killing and a time for war.  This on the very day that the two converts to Islam were convicted of the killing of ‘Help for Heroes’ T-shirt wearing, Lee Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks.  They say they only killed a British soldier because of their killings of Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.

The week before saw the death of Nelson Mandela who was feted, applauded and celebrated.  Yet, he was a man of violence who had long renounced non-violence as being ineffective.  Yet, Gandhi and then Martin Luther King Jnr had shown the power of non-violence.  Both men got what they wanted.  Mandela did too but, only after spending 27 wasted years in prison.  He should have stuck to his earlier non-violence.

Mike had a rear car window sticker that said, ‘Respect for British armed forces’.  Respect them as heroes, as 450 making the ultimate sacrifice and, all the soldiers serving, so nobly their Queen and Country.

Which power bloc of humanity does the most killings?

Many thanks, John.  Sorry for this length - I just love to crystalise my thoughts in writing!

Which power bloc of humanity does the most killings - the Christian capitalist West or the Communists and Muslim extremists in the East?

I particularly liked 'Drop Medicines, not Bombs'.  Not just medicines but, for Afghanistan and Iraq from the War of Terrorism started on 7 October 2001, we would have been better off dropping 'bikes' not bombs!  By bikes I mean everything but handing out death and injury.  Parachute humanitarian aid in to these poor countries and never death dealing devices, unless authorised by the Security Council and never Congress and the US President.

My Christian discipleship also means doing what Paul advised, "Think of others as better than yourselves."  Hence, I am very unpatriotic in mischievously delighting to point out how it appears that the Christian West, down too many centuries (not just the 20th) has been the worst offender in killing other humans.  Death by all kinds of horrendous means that the West got to do first. From, just 1945:- use of WMD, Korea, the Kenyan atrocities in the 1950s, the West's wars against the Communists in many countries of SE Asia, extra judicial killings but, good news, we do seem to refrain from suicide bombing (I wonder why?  Of course, no need to when we have drones to keep us safe when killing!)

It seems, that it was not the Arab Muslims or the Communists who did the most killings (even when remembering but, never verified, Stalin's millions that he killed*).  For me, this is because of the European nation's responsibility for rounds one and two of the industrialised scale slaughter.  Known, by me, as the wild West's World War 1914 to 1945, with the interlude between 1918 and 1939.  20 million godless Communist Russians were slaughtered to help the Christian West defeat Nazism.  Nazism that came out of a Christian country, too!

I think it is unlikely that the Nazis would have risen to power if the West had not started the 1914 war.  The victors saw to it that vanquished Germany was treated without Churchill's much vaunted magnanimity.  German reparations meant that they had their noses rubbed in the dirt.  It was all a breeding ground for very angry, very patriotic, right wing, National Socialism.  Thus, the sequel in 1939.

We persist in thinking that the violent Communists and the violent Islamists are worse than ourselves because, quite naturally, we more carefully keep a record of their killings of us than that of our own of them - and, we never really like violence, of course; it is forced upon us!  In the last century, the 'Christian' Europeans even got their colonies to help in the slaughter to defend their mighty empires in the (so worthy) West's World War.

Hence, my boring and constant theme:- that I would like - shock horror - to hear, occasionally, a Christian preacher exhorting their flock to avoid arms manufacturing and the armed forces when it comes to a job.  Actually, I did hear Tony Campolo (on Friday 6 Sept at B'ham Christian Centre) do just that in the context of President Obama wanting to punish Syria for using chemical weapons in August.  Praise the Lord - and pass the ammunition!**

NOTES *"Ralph Miliband was a supporter of Marxist ideology that was being used to run governments in other parts of the continent and other parts of Europe which was responsible for an awful lot of terrible things, including millions and millions of deaths."  (Jon Steafel, Dep Editor of Daily Mail, on 'Newsnight', BBC2 on 1 October 2013)

** Christians might only vote for political parties that try non-violence or, at least, non-aggression and who abide by Security Council wishes or UN resolutions.  That means, for me, voting for none of the major three war parties.  Therefore, abstaining. 

"Jesus wants to save Christians" - book review

"JESUS WANTS TO SAVE CHRISTIANS" - FROM BEING EXILED by Rob Bell

To be like Jesus is a tall order but not so impossible if Rob Bell could have been a little more outspoken about us all renouncing the attacks, the occupations, the aggressions, the sheer violence of our descendants and, now, ourselves - on other nations.  The Church in exile is the church wrapped in the devil's arms of violence; it should be noted for its non-violence.

Jesus wants to save Christians to be more like Him in the way He renounced empire building in His first temptation.  Rob omits to remind his readers that the Christian West has been at the forefront of taking and taking over countries to be all their own - called colonialism.  Now the religious, God fearing, USA is the largest empire on earth.  The Church in exile is the church in unholy empire of being on the take; of being in domination.  Not quite what Jesus intended!

"Man shall not live by bread alone".  Yet, the Church has done just that in grabbing what and who it can while the going was good.  Not just land and fossil fuels but slaves to make us rich beyond what humanity has ever seen before.  We are now turning, transforming, the stones of rare minerals and a host of other finite resources to live it up to bring today's comfort and riches.  But bread for the poor and future generations is overlooked, ignored, forgotten.  Including the stones of fossil fuels and all finite raw materials.

Is this not what Jesus also wants to save Christians from in order to be more like the Man God who rejected what we never, ever reject?

Rob - You have more to include in the next edition, please!

CARDINAL KEITH O’BRIEN

CARDINAL KEITH O’BRIEN – response on CrazyRev blog, Rev Brian Ross

Thanks for these excellent thoughts on the need for repentance by us all.  My own less worthy thoughts follow!

Are you not missing the point, Brian, that although his own sexual orientation appears to be gay, he was speaking out, very vigorously in recent years and months, against homosexual activity and orientation.  Therefore, the charge of hypocrisy remains and his repentance - if it ever happened and you are only hoping it did to help salvage your position(!) - was not genuine.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien remains in a very strong state of discrimination and prejudice from his outspoken comments, something that the Lord Jesus Christ never did.  In fact, He embraced gladly the outcast minorities of His day - women, lepers, tax collectors and sinners.  And you must know who the sinners were (while telling them not to do it again, I know!).  But the good Lord was really rather namby-pamby on such issues of sex, according to Dr Luke.  He was much stronger on preaching non-violence.  He was, too, dead against empire building, according to temptation no 3 - something that we Christian Brits have been particularly good at down the centuries, along with the accompanying violence.

Did you also oppose the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967, Brian?  Do you, now wish the law to be repealed?

Skyfall-ing in

The most spectacular and the most impossible to nod off Bond film ever.  In the process, perhaps, the film with the world's worst driving!

'Skyfall' underlines the status quo, so that the next generation is brought up 'right'.  It passes on our society's established values, attitudes and beliefs, over recent centuries, that are not the most worthy - of getting our way by coercion, force and, astonishingly, the slaughter of the innocents (this latter is not in the Bond films).

I think the films reinforce our Western predilection for such things that has been at the heart of too much European life for centuries of going out to conquer and dominate other countries.  All this, even after the Europeans' world wars that finally brought them up short to unite in peace between themselves.  Such a pity that the European's non-violence between themselves did not spread to leaving other countries well alone, too.

We had twenty children killed in Connecticut a few days ago;
twenty thousand children in our 13 years War of Terrorism;
even, many more than that, in the War on Communism in SE Asia between 1945 and 1975.
The Bond films nurture our Western ways for such things, to ensure they are passed on to the next and succeeding generations.  The general media message is: enemies are essential but, making and keeping friends with those who do things differently from us - other cultures, religious beliefs, political systems and traditions - is not so essential.

The film glorifies and promotes behaviour that we are not meant to indulge in - from speeding over roof tops breaking every imaginable speed limit, even sending old ladies flying on pedestrian crossings, to blowing up a beautiful old and isolated Scottish mansion.  It also continues the silent, imperceptible, so easily absorbed indoctrination of us all that we have very dangerous enemies of the State and that attack, aggression and violence is the only way - to get them before they get us.  Therefore, we cannot possibly abandon our love affair with guns and grenades, rifles and bombs - even when the sky falls in on the New England families of the latest killings.  We are subconsciously inculcated with this drivel via entertainment, of which fifty years of Bond is the most popular.

 It is totally incomprehensible for us that our invading, attacking and occupying of other countries might make them so ungrateful that they turn into our enemies and try and hit back.  Indeed, quite outrageous for them wanting to harm us.  We can't have them defending their lands and resources from us.  Or, of letting them be so un-Christian (or un-Muslim) as to show revenge on us.

Never mind - "Man is God's greatest work."  (Sister Wendy Beckett on Desert Island Discs 16.12.2012.)  She could not possibly have meant the nation's greatest role model.  Could she?  What does Sister Wendy make of 007?

Always violence, aggression and slaughter for ...

Always violence, aggression and slaughter for one millennium and still going strong!

Giving Afghans and Iraqis the vote every few years is just not worth all the slaughter. It is called bringing democracy down the barrel of a gun; just like we condemned the Communists for spreading revolution down the barrel of a gun - we are no better! In fact, down the years, the white nations have killed many more black people than they of us.  We whites are so hypocritical and racist!

It was the Christian, white nations and not the Muslim, black nations who developed and first used chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. We were responsible for the 1st WW and its sequel, the 2nd WW. In fact, we had the Arabs, united to the last man under our army hero, T E Lawrence fighting with us in the 1st WW - only for the Arabs to be let down later!

In a recent thirty year period, in one corner of our country, we had a civil war between two branches of the UK and two branches of the Christian Church that resulted in many more Irish republicans killed than they managed to kill of our own Irish monarchists who were loyal to the Queen. Figures from the BBC website. Bloody Sunday is only one most disgraceful and shameful episode in the history of the heroic British Army.

I have just seen in the 'Church Times' that one leading Christian vicar is arguing in print and, this morning, on BBC Radio 4 that the US/UK/NATO must continue the warfare in and on Afghanistan. The churchman is the Rev Dr Giles Fraser, Vicar of Putney in London.

Giles Fraser agrees with the War of Terrorism on the good people of Afghanistan. I know it is directed at the Taliban and al Qaeda but, as usual in modern warfare, the people of non-violence get injured and killed in much greater numbers than the wicked Taliban and al Qaeda that our men of violence are trying to eliminate for ever. Does this really satisfy Giles' Church of England's just war teaching?

David Dimbleby on 'Question Time' last month, said that al Qaeda is to be found in fourteen countries. Does Giles seriously think that even if we were to defeat al Qaeda in Afghanistan, that they would no longer exist in the other thirteen?

Does Giles not know that our current war in Afghanistan is the fourth? We lost the first three, just like the Russians did more recently in their fewer wars in that country. We are certainly not winning this current war, even after eight years of desperately trying and we are told it is going to last for decades!

Does Giles not suppose that if we were invaded and occupied by foreign armies, that our men and women of violence would not similarly fight back? People of non-violence, like me, would be classed amongst the non-collaborators rather than the resistance fighters.

Does Giles not recall that our country has not been seriously invaded since 1066? Instead, we have had one millennium of invading, occupying and exploiting many nations around the world. Iraq and Afghanistan are simply the latest in a very long list of countries that are the victims of our many crimes of aggression down the centuries.

As a man of the cloth and a Christian believer, should Giles not be leading his flock in the way of non-violence as taught and practised by Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jnr and Donald Lord Soper? In my book, Giles is now a man of violence, along with too many in the church and society.

Non-violence and non-occupation are unheard of!

On Wed eve 11 March, the Archbishop of Birmingham did not comment directly on the points in my comment summarised as, "Would he be prepared to teach and preach non-violence in his sermons and homilies? Would he urge Protestants not to retaliate against this week's Catholics with their killing of three Protestants, with tit for tat killings of Catholics?" The media reported it as Republicans killing Loyalists, to take into account Christian sensitivities and to avoid pointing up Christian violence. They prefer to highlight Muslim violence, of course.

When will we have faith leaders urging non-violent direct action (NVDA), restraint and conflict resolution by Churchill's jaw jaw, rather than war war; all this, instead of a career in the military and the years of military attacks and occupations in foreign lands that that then entails? Our schools, colleges and universities also shy away from teaching non-violence and avoid highlighting our invasions, attacks and occupations.

When will we have them applying, in their sermons and homilies, the
teaching of the non-violent Christ in the Gospels to everyday living today?