Categories: uncategorized
Date: 23 May 2009 22:37:23
Right....it's going to be a rant and yes it's going to annoy lots of people. You have been warned, but I'm going to go for it anyway.
According to Not Stupid and others the world is on the brink of total ecological disaster due to climate change.
According to Shnews the situation for refugees in Calais is turning into a "humanitarian crisis"
According to the United Nations News Centre there are up to 300,000 people who have been displaced in Sri Lanka. Many of these will have witnessed terrible events and many will have lost relatives in horrific circumstances.
According to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign there are now over 6 million Palestinians living as refugees, many in camps in the West Bank and Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan
According to Gingerbread 1.5 million children in this country, from single parent families are living in poor homes. Many of them will be below the poverty level.
According to the BBC today a 13 year old boy is yet another young person who has been arrested for a stabbing, and yet another young life has been lost.
Add in the statistics about job losses around the world, those without clean water or homes around the world, teenagers with alcohol addictions and so I could go on and we have the stuff that the church should be reported for caring about. We have the stuff which really requires justice. What do we get? More division around issues related to human sexuality. The BBC report is one which sums it all up really....picture one group of Christians holding placards against another group, the minister at the centre of the current debate in Scotland talking about "justice". This is the picture the world is getting of us as Christians and I am pissed off with it.
Christianity is about submission and humility....showing the folly of injustice by the victim offering to walk the extra mile....not public slagging matches and publicised division. Similarly authentic upholding of scripture involves speaking out for the poor and the oppressed not by attempting to destroy your own (or as in this case voting by a majority not to destroy). I'm not saying this issue isn't an issue and doesn't effect people....goodness knows I am more than aware of the fact it does. However, whilst we are fighting about it more people die each day, the planet gets another day nearer to distruction and more children kill each other. Can we wake up and speak prophetically about these things....and maybe even get up off our arses to do something to try and stop them rather than tearing ourselves apart and giving ungodly witness on issues which in the whole scheme of things should be lower down the list.