About the most generous thing I can say about Pope B16’s speech at the University of Regensburg last Tuesday is that he put his foot in it. While it does seem that his quotation of Emperor Manuel II Paleologus, relating to Mohammed, was reported internationally out of context, Cardinal Ratzinger should know that in this day and age, anything he says will be taken down and used as evidence against him.

On Saturday the Vatican Secretary of State issued a statement of clarification, followed by the Pope’s qualified apology at Angelus on Sunday. The quotes, he says, do not reflect his personal thoughts. That sounds reasonable enough, but why use that argument in his “Faith, Reason and the University” address?

At a time when relations between the Christian world and the Islamic world are decidedly tetchy in places, discretion, even from the head of the Roman Catholic Church, is the better part of valour. Which brings us to the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, George Pell. Let’s just pour a barrel-full of kero on that scrubfire, hey George?

Interesting debate at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free blog today, kicked off by an opinion piece from US theological author Karen Armstrong.

For all that, my personal view is that the Pope is probably entitled to the Voltaire defence, and that any worthwhile religion is robust enough to withstand criticism, contempt or ridicule. Christianity and Islam are both robust. There’s no need for over-reaction.

Today, September 17, has been declared a Global Day of Action for Darfur. dayfordarfur.org tells us that the day “was originally conceived by a group of NGOs working on Darfur and concerned about the slow response of the international community to the crisis”.

It’s also the first anniversary of the signing of the 2005 UN World Summit Outcome Document. Of particular relevance here are paragraphs 138 and 139:

Responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity

138. Each individual State has the responsibility to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. This
responsibility entails the prevention of such crimes, including their incitement, through appropriate and necessary means. We accept that responsibility and will act in accordance with it. The international community should, as appropriate, encourage and help States to exercise this responsibility and support the United Nations in establishing an early warning capability.

139. The international community, through the United Nations, also has the responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, in accordance with Chapters VI and VIII of the Charter, to help to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. In this context, we are prepared to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, through the Security Council, in accordance with the Charter, including Chapter VII, on a case-by-case basis and in cooperation with relevant regional organizations as appropriate, should peaceful means be inadequate and national authorities are manifestly failing to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. We stress the need for the General Assembly to continue consideration of the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and its implications, bearing in mind the principles of the Charter and international law. We also intend to commit ourselves, as necessary and appropriate, to helping States build capacity to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and to assisting those which are under stress before crises and conflicts break out.

So what are we doing about it? Damn little. An obscenely small amount. Mary Liddell in today’s Observer summarises the situation:

The African Union’s 7,000 peacekeepers, feeble, underfunded and unwelcome, are leaving in a fortnight. Sudan’s leader, Omar al-Bashir, refuses to accept the 20,000 replacement force mandated by the United Nations. The resulting security vacuum would force out aid workers, condemning to death many of the 2.5 million who depend on them. It would also let Bashir unleash a military solution to a three-year conflict that has killed 300,000 people and left 2 million homeless; 10,000 Sudanese troops are massing to take on the rebels.

A good centralised resource page for information and action about the situation in Darfur can be found at the excellent International Crisis Group website.

As for John Winston Howard, he still registers a nil return for mentions of “Darfur” either in Hansard or in transcripts available on the Prime Ministerial website. But then, he never was big on humanitarian issues, was he?

I’ll post about the Australian political activity in relation to Darfur in a separate item. I’ll finish this post with a prayer, published by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, on Friday:

Heavenly Father,

We pray for those whose lives are lived on the margins of nations and suffer from the wars that others fight around them. We pray for the warring factions, that they may see themselves under the gaze of God and those who suffer for their cause. We pray for the peoples of Darfur who are haunted by fear of violence, hunger and hopelessness, that they may continue to be fed, visited and defended. We pray for the work of peacekeepers, negotiators and the humanitarian organisations that security may prevail. We pray for the Government of Sudan and for her unity. We pray for peace in the name of him who is the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Benny Sixteen has cancelled the annual Vatican Yuletide concert.

Initiated by John Paul II in 1993, the annual pop music event has been canned by Benedict XI, apparently because of his disdain for music written by non-German composers alive since 1791. Which kinda narrows it down a little.

Ekklesia takes up the story.

http://www.sacbc.org.za/Pastoral_Statement.htm

The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has instructed its priests to stop using witchcraft in their healing masses.

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23764

Once billed as “the most dangerous man in Mississippi,” former Ku Klux Klan member and terrorist Tom Tarrants became a Christian while in prison for attempted murder and now serves as president of the C.S. Lewis Institute in Washington, D.C.

More of this story at the Baptist Press.

World to end on August 22 (Brian Whitaker, The Guardian, 9.8.06)

If it’s reported by the Wall Street Journal it must be true!

PS: The comments on this blog entry are actually entertaining. I must try out the recipe for blackcurrant jam before the Apocalypse cuts off the electricity.

Riah Abu El-Assal is the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem. As presiding bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, he oversees the Anglican Church in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Yesterday he issued the following statement on the crisis in the Middle East:

Dear Friends,

For the past forty years we have been largely alone on this desert fighting a predator that not only has robbed us of all but a small piece of our historic homeland, but threatens the traditions and holy sites of Christianity. We are tired, weary, sick, and wounded. We need your help.

We have seen and we have been the recipients of the generosity of our American and British friends. We cherish the support of everyone throughout the world who stands with us in solidarity. Daily, I hear from many of them who express outrage at the arrogant and aggressive positions of President Bush, Secretary Rice, Senator Clinton, and Prime Minister Blair. I am saddened to realise just how much the deserved prestige of the United States and Britain has declined as a result of politicians who seem to devalue human life and suffering. And, I am disturbed that the Zionist Christian community is damaging America’s image as never before.

Little more than a week ago, we were focused on the plight of the Palestinian people. In Gaza, four and five generations have been victims of Israeli racism, hate crimes, terror, violence, and murder. Garbage and sewage have created a likely outbreak of cholera as Israeli strategies create the collapse of infrastructures. There is no milk. Drinking water, food, and medicine are in serious short supply. Innocents are being killed and dying from lack of available emergency care. Children are paying the ultimate price. Even for those whose lives are spared, many of them are traumatised and will not grow to live useful lives. Commerce between the West Bank and Gaza has been halted and humanitarian aid barely trickles into some of the neediest in the world.

Movement of residents of the West Bank is difficult or impossible as “security measures” are heightened to break the backs of the Palestinian people and cut them off from their place of work, schools, hospitals, and families. It is family and community that has sustained these people during these hopeless times. For some, it is all that they had, but that too has been taken away with the continued building of the wall and check points. The strategy of ethnic cleansing on the part of the State of Israel continues.

This week, war broke out on the Lebanon-Israeli border (near Banyas where Jesus gave St. Peter the keys to heaven and earth). The Israeli government’s disproportionate reaction to provocation was consistent with their opportunistic responses in which they destroy their perceived enemy.

In her recent article, “The Insane Brutality of the State of Israel,” American, Kathleen Christison, a former CIA analyst says, “The state lashes out in a crazed effort, lacking any sense of proportion, to reassure itself of its strength.” She continues, “A society that can brush off as unimportant an army officer’s brutal murder of a thirteen year old girl on the claim that she threatened soldiers at a military post (one of nearly seven hundred Palestinian children murdered by Israelis since the Intifada began) is not a society with a conscience.” The “situation” as it has come to be called, has deteriorated into a war without boundaries or limitations. It is a war with deadly potential beyond the imaginations of most civilized people.

As I write to you, I am preparing to leave with other bishops for Nablus with medical and other emergency supplies for five hundred families, and a pledge for one thousand families more.

On Saturday we will attempt to enter Gaza with medical aid for doctors and nurses in our hospital there who struggle to serve the injured, the sick, and the dying.

My plan is that I will be able to go to Lebanon next week - where we are presently without a resident priest - to bury the dead, and comfort the victims of war. Perhaps as others have you will ask, “What can I do?” Certainly we encourage and appreciate your prayers. That is important, but it is not enough. If you find that you can no longer look away, take up your cross. It takes courage as we were promised.

Write every elected official you know. Write to your news media. Speak to your congregation, friends, and colleagues about injustice and the threat of global war. If Syria, Iran, the United States, Great Britain, China and others enter into this war - the consequence is incalculable. Participate in rallies and forums. Find ways that you and your churches can participate in humanitarian relief efforts for the region. Contact us and let us know if you stand with us. I urge you not to be like a disciple watching from afar.

2 Corinthians 6.11
“ We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians, our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. In return - I speak as to children - open wide your hearts also.”

In, with, and through Christ,

The Rt. Rev. Riah H. Abu El-Assal
Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem

Pray for peace in the Middle East.

Pray for an end to the hostilities between the Israeli Defence Forces and the Hezbollah militants, and between the Israeli Defence Forces and the militants of the Palestinian Territories.

Pray for the people of Lebanon, Israel and Gaza who have lost family, lost their homes or their livelihoods or have been injured as a result of the bombings in the current conflict. Pray for those people in Lebanon and throughout the Holy Lands who follow the word of the Gospels as delivered by Your son Jesus Christ, that they may find reassurance in your word in these times of war.

Pray for those military personnel who have been captured by opposing forces, that they may be freed and returned to their homelands unharmed.

Pray for the Australians trapped in Lebanon as a result of the disablement of Beirut Airport, that they may be able to return to Australia swiftly and safely. Pray that their friends and family in Lebanon remain unharmed.

Pray for the leaders of the governments and of the militant groups in Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. Although they may not worship you, dear Lord, in a way that we believe to be the right way, we pray that they will use their faith in You to bring a return to peace, humanity, and reasoned debate of their differences. Pray that they reject the notions of violent revenge and disproportionate attack.

Pray that those groups who stand outside the law and inflict harm in neighbouring countries be restrained and brought to justice by their governments.

Pray for the G8 Summit in St Petersburg, for the United Nations, and for the heads of government of the leading powers of the world, that they may be able to use their influence wisely and fairly to bring a swift ceasefire.

Pray for the missionaries and aid workers in the Palestinian Territories and throughout the Middle East, and pray for the Bishop of Jerusalem and the clergy of all his parishes across these troubled regions.

Amen.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
- The Apostle’s Creed, part of the Anglican declaration of Faith.

How can an allegedly intelligent man, so cynical, so satirical, so stubborn as Rick Eyre commit hinself to the Christian faith and maintain most, if not all, of his existing philosophies and beliefs? It’s not as absurd as it may look. In fact, it’s not absurd at all.

I consider that I have always believed in the concept and existence of God, and that, certainly in the last decade or two, I have believed in Christian values - though not necessarily adhered to all of them. My concerns were not with God or with Jesus Christ, but with organised religion. So often in history it has been done badly, especially when invoked as a justification for politics, power or wealth.

But not all religion is like that, and at the parochial level, the church can and does provide an enormous power of good. I can go on in depth about particular issues, but I’m happy to have tied my beliefs to faith in God and Jesus. I believe that with the Anglican church, I am in the right niche, a local church with a strong contemporary family and community focus, a denomination that is part of a global Anglican communion. And a faith that places value on our devotion to God, rather than what God can do for us.

There are some policies of the Sydney diocese of the Anglican Church that I do take issue with - in particular, its opposition to the ordination of women as bishops. The church can only properly flourish if it is able to make the most of all of the talent available among its clergy.

The other question relates to gay clergy. I’m quite undecided on my attitude towards gay clergy - the biblical attitudes to homosexuality are open to a lot of controversy - but whatever happens, I believe that a schism of the Anglican Communion must not happen. Tolerance is the important thing here.

Does my committment to Christianity mean that I have become part of the Religious Right? Not on your proverbial. I believe that the ideal Christian practice is one of humanity, social justice, and equality. While I believe in tolerance, acceptance and engagement with all legitimate faiths, I do have problems with the deregulated “free-enterprise evangelism” that has become so prominent in the US and seems to be permeating the pentecostal movements in Australia and elsewhere.

Religion and politics? There’s room for both - in parallel and ethically consistent streams. I’ll need further blog posts to outline examples of these.

Finally, for now: don’t worry about me turning this blog into a platform for evangelism - that’s not my style. But you can slightly more religious context from time to time, especially when I get into discussing the Episcopal Church of USA and its relationship with the rest of the Anglican Communion.

In every census from 1986 to 2001 I answered the question asking about my religion with the word “Nil”. When the next census comes around on August 8 this year I will be recording my religious status as “Anglican”.

My committment to Christianity, which took place in the second half of 2005, surprised some of my friends and family, who probably saw it as a reaction to my break-up with Di. But it goes far deeper than that. The fact is that I have never been that far away from the Christian faith.

Let’s go back to the beginning. I was baptised in 1960, when I was a year old, at what is now the Belmont Squash Centre, near Lake Macquarie. In those days it was Belmont Methodist Church. Though I was notionally a Methodist, in real terms that meant little. At scripture time at Marks Point Public School I was in the Methodist class run by Mr Middleton, but for Sunday School I went to the only church in town, the non-denominational Marks Point Mission.

I think Sunday School had a counter-productive effect on me, I can remember being bored stiff by the Old Testament bible stories. Stories of the Middle East two or three thousand years ago just didn’t cut it for me. I didn’t really help that I was the only one in my family who was actually going to church. That I did was due to the interest of my godmother, my auntie Enid, who was (and is) a devout Baptist and took her godmotherly role of looking after my spiritual upbringing seriously.

Nonetheless, when I started high school in 1971 I decided I had had enough of Sunday School and stopped going to church. I then did the teenagerly thing and rebelled against religion. My early teens, in which Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was my hero, saw me take a deep interest in Marxism, having been suckered in by the naive simplicity of John Lennon’s “Imagine” - particularly the “no religion” bit. (Was I really an admirer of Chairman Mao in those days? Yeesh!)

When I was around seventeen/eighteen I was at the peak of my book-reading years, inspired I must say by reading the complete “Lord of the Rings” trilogy in a week during the school holidays. Among the vast array of Penguin Classics that I read during that phase of my life were translations of The Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, some of the Upanishads and a book of Buddhist scriptures. While in no sense was I shopping around for a religion, I believe that reading these books as part of my literary travels has been an invaluable experience in more recent years. None of these books, however, had as profound an impact on me as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s “Frankenstein”.

There’s probably little else to say about my spirituality until the mid-1980s, my mid twenties. (Even the Methodist Church in Australia was gone by then, merged with the Presbyterians into the Uniting Church.) By that time I was, politically, a Keating Laborite, but sometime around 1985 or 1986 I reached the conclusion that I did actually believe that there was an omnipresent being that governed our universe. My mantra, in response to those who enquired after my faith, was that I “believe in God but not in religion”. For it was the negative effect of religious differences and abuses of power that I saw as being detrimental to society.

There’s a long and involved buildup to this that I won’t go into here, but by the late nineties I realised that I no longer felt the emotion of hatred towards people on a personal level. I know this wasn’t absolute, but much more so than in my younger days. I think that I recognised from that time onward a conscious acceptance of the qualities preached by Jesus.

Nonetheless, I would never have seriously contemplated taking up religion if I hadn’t met Di. In many ways she has been more of an inspiration to me than she is ever likely to acknowledge. When I accompanied her to church at All Saints, Petersham on Good Friday 2000 it was the first time I had set foot inside a church for anything other than a christening, wedding, funeral or election in almost thirty years. I was, however, to remain a casual attendee to church after that, declining to participate in Communion because I saw it as a ritual.

We were married at All Saints, Adara was baptised there, and I was becoming more sympathetic towards the church, especially to its value at the parochial level. Even as our marriage was deteriorating, I was becoming closer to the church. I participated in the Lord’s Supper for the first time on Christmas Day, 2004.

When our marriage came unstuck very rapidly in May 2005, I turned to our minister, Antony Barraclough, for guidance and support. I think initially I was looking for some sort of referral to a church counselling service, but Antony began holding regular bible-reading sessions with me.

After a couple of months, he had won me over. From being a “secular Christian”, sitting on the other side of the fence following Christian values without having the belief in the Gospels, I know was ready to embrace faith in the word of God, as delivered by his Son, Jesus Christ.

Bazz, as everyone calls Antony, has been an excellent source of support and inspiration to me over the past year. I now play an active role in the running of the Sunday morning services, and have revamped the church’s website.

Does this mean that I have abandoned my political beliefs and my philosophical ideals in committing myself to Christianity? Far from it. That’s the subject of my next chapter.