Passive Resistance

Apologies for the unusually disturbing image! When I first read that monks in Tibet were immolating themselves in protest against what the Dalai Lama describes as "cultural genocide" I was shocked and disturbed. Seen through the lense of Richard Dawkins' critique, actions like this appear to blur the distinction between a peaceful and humane religion and the worst excesses of suicide cultism. The imagery of burning appears frequently in Buddhism and Hinduism as a symbol of the impermanence of all things.
As a child growing up in Manchester I have memories of running away from IRA bomb threats with my mother during the Christmas shopping season. Perhaps there are analogies between the Tibetan Buddhist's struggle against the onslaught of the Chinese state's philistinism and the "leftish" nationalism and Roman Catholic identity politics that led to my home city being bombed in 1996. Would we feel differently about the IRA if they had taken the route of passive resistance, advocated by Ghandi? (Bobby Sands springs to mind). In the end I am heartened that no one in Unitarianism would want anyone to be a martyr- I am sure Norbert Capek in particular would agree. But there is a time to demonstrate peacefully and resist passively. In some extreme scenario, which I hope never to see in this country, there might even be a case for armed struggle. Looking at the comforting words of an old sermon, "it is not always easy to practice kindness. What happens if a person is treating us badly? Are we supposed to be kind and just take it like a martyr? Of course not, we have every right to set boundaries - to practice what is sometimes called tough love. The important thing is that out intention is to encourage human dignity for everyone whether we are practising soft love or tough love".  

On a related point it is with great reluctance that I will be joining other public sector workers in strike action on 30th November. As the Minister for Communities and Local Government said recently, "the big society is not all sitting on bean bags and singing Kum-Bah Yah. It is red in tooth and claw". Quite! You've sort of done the job for me there Mr Pickles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3JKcExmQlA&feature=related

Ruskin In The Guardian

Just a quick one to post the link to this Guardian article by David Barnes. It is like the article I wanted to write myself but for various reasons stopped short of. There are some comments about anti-semitism at the bottom from someone who seems to know there stuff which I would also point out.

There was also an article on John O'Farrell's Newsbiscuit which made me laugh. I feel sorry for whoever that was aimed at! I suppose an occupational hazard of being a liberal do-gooder is being easy to lampoon and Ruskin undoubtedly had his fair share of that- to be fair Tom Hollander did not play him that unsympathetically. As Ian Hislop said in "The Age Of The Do-Gooders", "they are easy to mock and as a satirist I will not fail to do so, but I also take my hat off to them".

http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2011/11/06/anti-capitalist-protester-starts-anti-capitalist-events-management-company/

So I will take that as a green light. One thundering voice coming up!

Wealth and Wisdom

Victor Meldrew picking up the phone...

"Hello. What?.... No I don't want to subscribe to Which?"

I have only recently realised that David Renwick's character Victor Meldrew, consumed by his personal war with the brutality and short sightedness of the modern world might have been missing a trick. I had Which? magazine all wrong. I had wrongly assumed Which? was a product of the 1980s obsession with misguided consumer "empowerment" that stemmed from the privatisation of public utilities. Instead it was founded in good old Bethnal Green by a man called Michael Young who had the far sighted idea of producing objective advice to consumers as an antidote to "consumer culture".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which%3F
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Young_(politician)

In my youth I took a dim view of middle-class "penny pinchers" who took a pious view of how thrifty they were without having really experiencing poverty and maintaining a sense of entitlement to the wealth they did have. To an extent a misguided application of liberal (as opposed to radical) feminism might explain why skills of household management might have been lost. Expectations concerning control of household expenditure and finance in heterosexual relationships can be highly "gendered"- although this need not be the case.

Fairly recently I "rubber-necked" at a Diwali celebration in Trafalgar square and was interested to hear how in Hinduism there is an emphasis on the combination of wealth with wisdom. I know George Orwell characterised Eastern religions as "death worship" but I think he might have had the same concerns/layman's prejudices I had about the caste system. As "religious types" are often characterised as unworldly people it is interesting to think that even my trip to the shops might be an opportunity for spiritual practice. Informed consumption by those of us with resources to spare might be the answer to many of the world's problems as well as our own.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakshmi#Respect_for_money

Horray for Giles Fraser!

Now don't get me wrong! Some of my best friends work in the City of London and some of them were more committed Christians or for that matter supporters of the Labour movement than I ever was as a student. Can you throw the money changers out of the temple and then ask them for corporate social responsibility and philanthropy? In any case what is quite surprising is the variety of unlikely sympathisers that the St Paul's occupation has gathered. Martin Wolf of the Financial Times for instance has acknowledged that "the left does not know how to replace the market. But pro-marketeers need to take the protests seriously". So when I heard the news about Giles Fraser's resignation I thought I would throw my two-pennyworth in. Althougn everyone is welcome to speak their truth with love, part of the attraction of Unitarianism for me is the historical link between rational dissent and the radical cause of social justice. Examples include the Rev John Trevor and his establishing of the Labour Church. Imagine a church where the Hymns were written by William Morris!
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/REtrevor.htm
Because of this I have been motivated to get singing outside of chapel with a political group. I might well swing by the camp at St Paul's where I can. If they do turn the sprinklers on them, perhaps I will show up with a towel in hand?
Giles Fraser's stand does indeed echo the story of Oscar Romero, another advocate of liberation theology and non-violent protest. "The violence we preach is not the violence of the sword, the violence of hatred. It is the violence of love, of brotherhood, the violence that wills to beat weapons into sickles for work". Even in socialist utopia the skills of good bankers will be necessary to run social investment boards, credit unions and mutuals. So it is not about "banker bashing" per se. If that sounds hopelessly idealistic, then it is not for nothing that William Morris called his book the "News from Nowhere". Socialist Utopia has also gone by the name "Christian Commonwealth" or should you care to go back that far "The New Jerusalem".
Giles- there are many Christian Socialists in the good old CofE. But if like me you reluctantly find there is no compromising with the other wing of your church.... you know where to find us!

Interesting times friends. It's good to be back!:)

I came across this beautiful poem which I hope you enjoy too :)

Broken Dreams

As children bring their broken toys

With tears for us to mend,

I brought my broken dreams to God

Because He was my Friend.

But instead of leaving Him

In peace to work alone,

I hung around and tried to help

With ways that were my own.

At last I snatched them back and cried,

"How can You be so slow?"

"My child," He said, "what could I do?

You never let them go."

by Lauretta Burns

A poem to reflect on

And God Said, "No"

I asked God to take away my pain.

God said 'NO. It's not for me to take away. It's for you to give it up.'

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.

God said 'No. Her spirit is whole. Her body is only temporary' So love her whole.

I asked God to grant me patience.

God said 'No. Patience is a by-product of tribulations. It isn't granted. It is earned.'

I asked God to give me happiness.

God said 'No. I'll give you blessings. Happiness is up to you'.

I asked God to spare me pain.

God said 'No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.'

I asked God to make my spirit grow.

God said 'No. You must grow on our own. But I will prune you to make you fruitful.'

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.

God said 'No. I will give you life so that you may enjoy all things.'

I asked God to help me love others as much as he loves me and God said 'Ah, finally you're getting the idea'.

By Claudia Minden Weisz

Prayer

'To be at peace with ourselves, we need to know ourselves'

Caitlin Matthews

This prayer it intended to be spoken aloud....

MY SPIRIT FINDS COMPANIONSHIP IN MANY FORMS

I allow myself to be guided and comforted by the Universe. I allow people and events to gently lead me to my good. I ask for help in all of my affairs and I accept the help that is offered me from many quarters. I do not walk alone. I do not call in vain. Even my whispered dreams are heard by an attentive Universe. I am alert to the help which comes to me for their unfolding.

From Heart Steps by Julia Cameron