A Dangerous Malaise

Over the last few weeks I have been heavily involved supporting the IF campaign, I and other like-minded people have travelled to both London and Belfast in order to ask the eight of the most powerful leaders of the world to do something for the weakest and most vulnerable of this world, we want them to take measures to end world hunger.

I do not know what effect we will have had, or what difference we will have made, however I am certain that the effort has been worthwhile, making our voices heard on behalf of the poor is always better than remaining silent.

In general I feel exhilarated by the last few weeks, but not completely.

One thing which has saddened me about the last few weeks has been that there were fewer of us than in previous years. In 2005 when the G8 summit was last held in the UK 225’000 people walked around Edinburgh calling for an end to global poverty. This year that number was reduced to 45’000 in London and only 2’000 in Belfast.

So I am left asking myself why.

Undoubtedly there are some people who don’t care about these issues; there are some free market economists and believers in prosperity spiritualities who think that we should let the hungry starve. There are also a lot of deeply concerned elderly people who can no longer get to these events. 

But what about the rest?

I don’t believe the reason is that most people don’t care about world hunger, part of being fully human is to be concerned for those who suffer.

I think the difference is that many more people have stopped believing that they can make a difference. We have fallen into a kind of national despondency. We no longer believe that we have any power. I’ve listened to various people over the last few weeks who’ve told me that: our politicians don’t listen, our media prefer to decide what we think for us, multi-national corporations aren’t interested in what we think, and our fellow citizens don’t care about anyone other than themselves. So what’s the point, let’s give up.

Perhaps as a nation we are still reeling from 2003 when an overwhelming majority of the country opposed the Iraq war, over a million people marched in London, and yet it happened anyway. So why bother anymore.

Such views are understandable but dangerous. Our national malaise is dangerous because power so easily corrupts, any authority which is not properly held to account can become very dangerous. 

These ideas of powerlessness are exactly the thoughts which those with power would like us to be thinking, those with the power to improve our world would like us to believe that we have no influence, they would like us to keep our mouths shut and accept that poverty is a regrettable but unavoidable reality.

But to believe ourselves powerless would be to commit an act of heresy.

I live in a democracy, I am free. But the benefits of freedom come at a price, I have a responsibility to think about the world beyond my front door and to make my voice heard on behalf of those who have no voice. It is my responsibility to hold politicians and corporations to account for their actions. I do have power.

Right now I am feeling newly empowered.

Seeking Community

It is now just over three months since Steph and I left Corrymeela, and it is now time to announce our next exciting adventure.

We are going to be part of a new Christian community living in Birmingham.

Carrs lane church in the city-centre have for a long time been exploring ways in which they can be more present to the city-centre. One of their ideas is that the church become the home of a lived Christian community. We are going to be part of the beginning of this community from August onwards.

We will be living in a large flat inside the Carrs Lane church building. Our community life will involve four important element:

Twice Daily prayer,

A daily meal together,

Regular hospitality, and

each member committing to some kind of practical ministry in the city-centre.

This is a beginning to something which could be really exciting and, we hope, very fulfilling. There is still much to get worked out and lots of details to explore.

I suspect there will be plenty to blog about as we move forward.

I am Bradley Manning

I was simply obeying orders.

That was a defence given by defendants at the Nuremburg war crimes trials which took place after the Second World War. The argument was given that because the individuals involved were acting under orders they were therefore not responsible for their actions. So, they argued, these men who had committed horrific acts of mass murder and torture should not face justice because they were not responsible for their actions.

The Nuremburg tribunal rejected this logic, according to Nuremburg when it comes to crimes against humanity there is no defence of being under orders, we each have an individual moral responsibility not to commit war crimes.

All of which Preamble brings me to considering a significant event which has occurred this week and which, I think, concerns all of us.

On Monday 3^rd June court-martial proceeding began against Bradley Manning, the US soldier who released secret information to the wiki-leaks website in 2010. The information detailed illegal actions carried out by the US military, actions which could very easily be defined as war crimes. (For more info read here)

Bradley Manning was a young 22 year old soldier who was confronted with a moral question. What should someone do when they believe that the actions of their government are immoral and wrong? He knew that to stay silent in the face of evil is to collaborate with evil; and so he took a courageous decision. The cost of making that courageous decision could be decades, perhaps a whole lifetime, in prison. And yet he acted as the Nuremburg tribunal 65 years earlier had called on all future soldiers to act.

Anyone who has half an eye on world history knows that history is only ever redeemed by a small group of very courageous people who take a stand against the immoral use of power. Each of us has a voice which we can choose to use or not use. 

When we are confronted with the shameful truth of our sinful actions there are two possible reactions, we can repent and be converted, or we can run away from our actions doing our best to get rid of the prophetic voice in our midst speaking truths we don’t want to hear.

The US military would like the Bradley Manning court-martial to be a quiet affair of little interest to the world at large. It is our responsibility not to let that happen. In 2008 while campaigning for election Barack Obama said in a different context: “Government whistleblowers are part of a healthy democracy and must be protected from reprisal”. He was right. Too much power easily corrupts; if we are to avoid our governments and militaries being responsible for future war crimes then we need prophets like Bradley Manning who call foul when our governments step out of line. What is at stake here really is that serious.

There is currently a campaign asking people photograph themselves with a placard reading "I am Bradley Manning", inspired by the film Spartacus the idea is that we show our solidarity and support. Three Nobel peace prize winners, including Desmond Tutu, are already behind the campaign. Bradley Manning himself has been nominated for this year's peace prize.see this link

  

I will be writing to Barack Obama, and the US military; I urge everyone to do the same. (Click here for some sample letters)

For info can be found here