Smash the BNP?

Today the Edinburgh Feminist Network banner went on its first ever road-trip out of edinburgh, along with me and Hilary. Our roadtrip was to take part in the Scotland United Rally in solidarity with the muslin community and all victims of racial violence. This was organised in response to plans by the Scottish Defence League's plans to protest outside Glasgow Central Mosque (which actually didn't happen in the end). Overall it was a really positive time, its always great to see huge amounts of people coming together to say that racism in all its forms is unacceptable. And yet, despite all the positives there were a few things that happened today that have left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

One of the slogans being chanted on the march was 'smash the BNP' and this was further emphasised by statements in the (many) speeches which used at times violent and dehumanising words to describe fascist groups and racist people. Much as I agreed with the anger being expressed, by far the best suggestion was made by Rev Ian Galloway, a speaker from the Church of Scotland. In his speech he made mention of the fact that in his tradition (and mine!) we are called to love our enemies.

During the march I was very tempted to counteract the 'smash the BNP' chants with 'Love your enemies - pray for those who persecute you', but when it comes down to it, I'm to much of a coward. However righteous our anger, threats of violence and hate, even when done in the name of justice, only lead to more hate and more violence. If we want to really create change, then we will have to use different tools.

Behind all the shouting, the message of Christ is a much more radical one. Its the call to love your enemies. Contrary to our many easily made slogans Nick Griffin, the BNP, the SDL and co are not actually evil, they are human. They are tragically wrong about a huge amount of things, and their hate should justly be condemned, but until we acknowledge the humanity of those we disagree with I truly don't believe we will get very far in trying to make the world better. Peoples minds aren't changed by being yelled at, they are changed when we engage with them, or even better, work to change the conditions in which hatred thrives.

You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend' and its unwritten companion 'hate your enemy'. I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best - the sun to warm and the rain to nourish - to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the loveable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run of the mill sinner does that.

In a word what I'm saying is Grow Up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. LIve out your God created identity. Live generously and graciously towards others, the way God lives towards you.

The Message Bible Matthew 5

Feminist Blether Report

Lovely Liz has a shiny new podcast with her friend Gordon, and myself and Hilary are on it to make an exciting feminist special! So go have a look at the blether report!

'Non-christians'

We talk a lot in church about 'non-christians'. I used to just accept this phrase, and used it a lot when describing my friends who didn't go to church, were members of other religions, believed different things etc. Its only recently that I've realised how horrifying I actually find this term. I don't think anyone would actually voluntarily describe themselves as a 'non-christian' (except maybe if this was a new development and they used to be a christian). People may describe themselves as muslims, jews, atheists, pagans, non-religious, socialists, anarachists, disinterested in religion/politics or any other number of things, but people very rarely describe themselves as something that they are not, at least in my experience.

I can no longer conceive of describing one of my friends, who has opinions about spirituality, life, politics and everything else under the sun as merely 'a non-christian'. I think it shows a disctinct lack of respect for all that people are and believe to describe them in this way. I would love for more of my friends who don't know Jesus (ha! thats such an evangelical thing to say) to become christians, because I think christianity has such a huge amount of truth and beauty, my life (and my eternity) would be so much less without it. But when I engage with people I care about around issues of faith and spirituality, I want to know what they believe as well as sharing with them what I believe. I want to know how they express their spirituality as well as talking about/showing how I do. When we describe people as 'non-christians' and describe them by their LACK of belief, then we do not leave the door open for this kind of interaction. This is a sad loss for all of us.

Esther and Vashti

The biblical character Esther gets a fair bit of attention, there is even a musical of her life. For those unfamiliar with the story, the 17th book of the bible is called Esther (of only 2 named after women, along with Ruth) and is famously the only book of the bible that doesn't mention. Esther is a Jewish woman living in Persia in the period that the Jews spent in exile. When King Xerxes needed a new wife he took all the beautiful women in the country and brought them to his palace where they spent a year being made beautiful (I know I have no idea what they can possibly have been doing in this time either!). Esther was chosen as the new Queen, but didn't tell anyone she was Jewish. When her uncle discovered that the kings official Haman had plans to have all the Jews killed, he went to Esther for help. Esther risked her life by going to see the King uninvited (this was punishable by death) where she invited the King and Haman to a banquet. During the banquet Esther told the King she was a Jew and that Haman wanted her people killed. Haman was hanged, and Esther's uncle Mordecai was honoured. The Jews then defeated in battle those who hated them, killing 500 men (and possibly unstated numbers of women and children). The Jewish festival of Purim celebrates Esther and Mordecai saving the Jewish people from genocide.

There is a lot to learn from this story. For starters we learn a bit about the place of women in Persian society at this point. There is no reason to suggest that the women in question had any choice about being taken to the palace, and it certainly appears from this story than only the most beautiful would be chosen. Esther also shows her courage in using her office to save her people from harm.

While Esther's bravery has made her famous the bravier of the Xerxes previous queen is heard much less. Vashti only features very early on in the story. Xerxes was having a banquet (which lasted 180 days!). On the 7th day after 'drinking much wine', he commanded Queen Vashti to come down and show her beauty to the important man. She refused. On top of her disobedience this was seen as dangerous as, 'All the wives of the important men of Persia and Media will hear about the Queen's actions. THen they will no longer honour their husband.' She was no longer allowed to enter the King's presence because of this (not entirely sure if this means she sent out of the palace, exiled or even executed).

Because of my total ignorance on the broader Persian culture at this point in history I can only comment on my own current perspective (but I would love it if someone else could shed a bit of light). I can only imagine how humiliated this must have been for Vashti, to be summoned down by her drunk husband to be put on display as a beautiful object for the men he was entertaining to look at. I am amazed by how much bravery it must have taken for her to refuse to go down, in the light of all she was risking. Clearly the men of the court understood how big an effect this could have on their lives, she had refused to do what her husband commanded, and they saw that this could have a direct effect on their wives behaviour.

I know that Vashti wouldn't have called herself a feminist (since the word didn't exist) but she deserves to be celebrated as the brave revolutionary she was, instead of sidelined at the start of the story. There is something to be learned from the stories of both of these brave women, from Vashti who gave up all her privilege to take a stand, to Esther who was able to use the power (however limited) that she was given to help those who were powerless.

Bad blogger!

I very much doubt anyone reads here any more due to the distinct lack of posts, I'm clearly a terrible blogger and I'm all out of inspiration! Any thoughts on what I should blog about?

At the moment, I'm being very inspired by:
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galations 5v1

What do you think it means to be really free?

What she said...

I love this post

Message from Scottish Women's Aid

2009 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the publication of Simone de Beauvoir’s ground-breaking book ‘The Second Sex’ in which she asked the question ‘what is a woman?’. To celebrate International Women’s Day 2009 and the anniversary of the book’s publication, Scottish Women’s Aid is asking what it means to be a woman in 2009. We plan to create an interactive ‘virtual exhibition’ operated through our web-site, gathering answers from women as well as public figures.

Beauvoir drew on biology, history, philosophy and anthropology to conclude that during her own time, and previous to it, woman was ‘Other’ to the normal male human being, the second sex, discriminated against, objectified, less valued. ‘Woman’ she also decided is neither a fixed entity nor intrinsic to the female human being but created by society and is an identity that shifts with time and culture. In other words, in the words of the book’s most famous line ‘one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman’.

The book inspired and motivated a generation to agitate for change. Indeed much has changed since Beauvoir wrote: anti-discrimination legislation has been passed, there are more career and education opportunities for woman etc. But much still needs to change: the pay gap still exists and women continue to experience violence in the form of domestic abuse, rape and trafficking in large numbers.

We would be enormously pleased if you and your group were to support this by answering the question ‘what is a woman in 2009’, providing a short quote, poem or doodle and if possible a photograph to go along with this. You can email us your contributions or join our facebook page “Scottish women’s aid”

I have attached an info rmation sheet on The Second Sex for your info rmation.
Ellie Hutchinson

Administration Information Worker



Scottish Women’s Aid

2nd Floor 132 Rose Street

Edinburgh

EH2 3JD

0131 226 6606



www.scottishwomensaid.org.uk

Scottish Women's Aid Charity No SC001099 is recognised as a charitable organisation by the Inland Revenue in Scotland .

The information in this email (and any attachments) is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. If you are not the named addressee you must not use, disclose, distribute, copy, print or rely on the contents of this email and should destroy it immediately.

Please note that we cannot guarantee that this message or any attachment is virus free or has not been intercepted and amended. While every reasonable precaution has been taken to minimise this risk, we cannot accept liability for any damage which you sustain as a result of software viruses. You should therefore carry out your own virus checks before opening any attachments.

The views of the author may not necessarily reflect those of Scottish Women's Aid.

The Kingdom of God

Its funny, there are a number (they tell me its seven) passages in the bible that negatively mention homosexuality, but only one of them ever makes me cry. I can so easily ignore Leviticus, and for some reason 'that passage' in Romans doesn't really affect me but this does:

'Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be decieved: neither the sexually immoral nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor theives nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.' 1 Corinthians 6v9

The Kingdom of God is an illusive concept, and I don't think we ever really get a total grasp of what it means. Jesus (as He so ofen did), mostly speaks about it in riddles. We know that it belongs to the poor in Spirit (Matthew 5v3), its like a man who sowed good seed (Matthew 13v24), like a mustard seed of faith and like yeast which spreads (Matthew 13v31), its like treasure hidden in a field (Matthew 13v44), like a net that catches fish (Mattthew 13v47), we know that it doesn't live by the same hierarchies as most of us live by (Matthew 18v3). Its like a King who frees us from our debts only to watch us show no grace to those around us (Matthew19v21-35). We know that it belongs to children and those like them (Matthew 19v14). We need to give up all our earthly possessions to find it (Matthew 19v21-24). Its like a landowner that pays everyone the same regardless of how much work they do (Matthew 20v1-16), where the first are last and the last are first. Its like a King who prepares a banquet and invites the lowest of society to come (Matthew 22v1-14). Its a Kingdom where we are called to make the best of what we have (Matthew 25v14-30). Its about righteousness, peace and joy (Romans 14v17).

And as I read the gospels, I become surer and surer that this illusive kingdom, this kingdom which has nothing to do with the false boundaries of nations that we create, is something that I want to be a part of it. I want to be a part of the radical, righteous, just way of doing things, that goes against absolutely everything we know. I want to recieve the grace that Jesus gave when he died, and be a part of showing that grace to the world in his resurrection. I want to learn more about what all this means, and I am so, so, so sure that this crazy, confused set of stories is what I want to live by.

So yes, it absolutely does break my heart when Paul suggest that I might not be able to be a part of all this. And I know that some people think that homosexual then didn't including loving monogomas relationships, and I know that its hard to see how much of what was written to another culture applies to our culture today. But can I take the risk? God, and this new system based on grace are the things I love most in the world.

And so I'm still left somewhere in the middle of two ideologies not really sure where I can go and hold myself together in one piece. Heres praying for answers, ideally soon.

Coming out of the Shadows

I’ve decided that its time to come out of the shadows. There’s no especially easy way to tell people that you love that you’ve been keeping something from them, so I hope that you are able to understand that I’ve had to process some of this without you. I’m a lesbian.

I’ve known this for about six years, and I’ve been slowly coming out to a few friends starting from when I was 18. I’ve gone on a fairly big journey, from being sure that this meant that I was going to be celibate and single forever, to now being less sure what is right/wrong and what the path God is calling me down is. I have never (honestly) stopped thinking that God loves me through all this. That’s one of the few truths that I’m sure of.

I know that the people reading this have different opinions about morality and the bible, and will have different opinions about this journey I’m on. I hope that we can agree to be respectful and loving towards each other and show each other grace in our journies.

I don’t have any answers about how my faith and my sexuality fit together, so why am I doing this now? Firstly, I’m tired of the constant energy it takes to assess every sentence, and censor every conversation to make sure that I’m not saying anything that will ‘give me away’. I don’t want to have to do that any more. I’ve also realised that when I’m honest about this with people, I become closer to God. I value my relationship with God more than my secrets.

I’m also doing this because vulnerability is important. When those of us who follow Jesus are too afraid to be honest about our stories, then the kingdom of God is diminished. Given the controversy about sexuality is in the church, it has never been more important for gay people within the church to be honest about the fact that we are HERE. From the few people in the church I’ve already talked to, I can see that when people become aware that there are gay people in the church that they love, and whose faith they respect, things becomes less black and white, and people are treated with the grace they deserves. If I can be a part of making this happen then I will be very blessed.

For all our sakes, I am grateful that, “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Will you love the "you" you hide if I but call your name? Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same? Will you use the faith you've found to reshape the world around,through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?

Lord your summons echoes true when you but call my name. Let me turn and follow you and never be the same. In Your company I'll go where Your love and footsteps show Thus I'll move and live and grow in you and you in me.

Aldermaston Big Blockade

Most of you, and certainly those of you who live in Scotland will at least be vaguely aware of Trident. In Faslane, a few hours from Glasgow (the biggest city in Scotland) is Britain's main (only?) nucleur weapons base. Nuclear weapons are horrific, and immoral for so many reason, but if you want to read up a bit about why its important that we protest against the presence of weapons that could wipe out a continent then have a look at CND Scotlands lovely website.

I love the Peace movement, as its one of those places where Quakers, feminists, hippies, Mennonites and elderly church of Scotland ministers get together with MPs and trade unionists to fight a common battle.

Basically, Trident is not the only place concerned with nuclear weapons in the UK, and given that Scotland has an increasingly large anti-nuclear movement, with the most powerful MSP in the country (Alec Salmond) being oppossed, CND (Campaign for Nuclear disarmament) are focusing some of their campaigning on England, Aldermaston to be specific.

Aldmermaston is a nuclear weapons factory near Reading in the South of England, and to quote the briefing paper for the big blockade:

The facilities are being built
to test design and construct a
new generation of nuclear
warheads. The project is
going ahead in advance of any
parliamentary decision. In July
2008, documents obtained by
CND confirmed that the government
has already decided
to build new nuclear warheads.

A blockade is being planned for the Aldermaston Factory, which basically is an attempt to 'get in the way' for a day. It takes protest to a new level, showing that when something is going on that we consider to be wrong, and illegal, it is a DUTY to get in the way and stop it happening.

Involvement can range
from their simple but visible
presence at the gates, to trying
to communicate with
workers, to directly impeding
access to the illegal and immoral
work at Aldermaston
(by blockading the gates for
as long as possible and risking
arrest).

Training is available the day before the march, the protest is entirely non-violent, and non-arrestable roles are availabe if you are uncomfortable with that or can't because of your work.

Details of the Blockade

Date: Monday 27th October
Contact: 0845 4588 361

There will be be groups going down from all over the place, including Edinburgh, so if you want to get involved then try to find your nearest CND/Trident Ploughshares/Justice and Peace group and so on, and see if you can find people to go down with. These things are much less scary in a group. Your nearest Quaker community would also be a good bet.

This is such an important protest, I wish I could go but I can't make it, for a booking form and more information and flyers, then email blockawe@yahoo.co.uk

Prossy Kakooza

Prossy is a 26 year old women seeking asylum in the UK, after having to flee her home country (Uganda) due to a series of serious assaults, including sexual assaults, due to her being a lesbian. Her initial asylum claim was refused as the home office did not consider her risk to be serious enough for her to stay, despite the fact that she can be imprisoned for her sexuality in Uganda, and her further serious risk of violent attack.

Prossy will be renewing her claim before the Asylum Tribunal very soon, so its very important that we show support to her at the moment. There is a facebook group here
and an i-petition here. To hear more about her story go here

My prayers go out to Prossy, it would be disgusting for the government to send her, and the others like her who have claimed asylum on grounds of sexuality in the last few years (and often been refused), home.

Paula in Bolivia

As some of you know and some of you don't, my twinny Paula is going to Bolivia for nine months to speak Spanish and work with street children. If you're interested in keeping up to date with what she's doing then her blog is Bolivian Blogging

The Comfort Women - take action

During the Second World War the Japanese forced thousands of women from Korea, the Phillipines and other countries into sexual slavery. These women were repeatedly raped and subject to enormous amounts of human rights abuses. Many of these women are still suffering from this trauma, but increasingly many are bravely coming forward and telling their stories in the fight for justice.

Japan has still not apologised for these horrific atrocities. Like I've said in earlier posts, apologising can seem almost meaningless, but actually I believe apologising is the first step towards real change, justice, and healing. No one person was responsible for this, those who abducted the women, those who raped them, those who authorised it, and those who simply did nothing, all have a share of the blame. This, like so many others, is the crime of a nation (probably nations) as well as individuals.

I believe that an apology from Japan, followed by real compensation for the women still living, and an acknowledgment that the attitudes to women that led to these abuses still exist and need to change are essential. (I think what I just said could be described as repentence, acknowledging the sin but going further than that and creating real change).

Several nations have called for Japan to officially apologise, including the USA, the Netherlands, Canada and the European Parliment. Amnesty International are currently calling for the Phillipines to join these nations in requesting repentance. particularly significant given how many Fillipino women were comfort women. You can take action to support this campaign here

p.s. I love this post you should read it!

Recovering from ideas of God

When I was 15 I was convinced that God wanted me to leave school after I'd done my Standard Grades (like GCSEs in England) and start doing youth work (never mind that I was still a teenager myself!). This was basically my worst nightmare. I really liked school, was very good academically, and far too timid to work with troubled young people! I obsessed over it for ages, desperatly wanting not to do this, but feeling this immense pressure to leave what I liked and do something I hated for God. I finally changed my mind about doing this when an amazing woman came up to me randomly in a youth group meeting and told me that God had good plans for me, not plans to hurt me (see Jeremiah). I'm very grateful to her for being willing to faithfully tell me this when she had no reason to believe that its what I needed to hear.

This story, and a couple of others that I don't want to tell over the internet (privacy is a wonderful thing!) are representative of the idea of God that I'm still trying to fight, and I don't think I'm alone in this. Years of reading true christians stories about how people laid down all their ambitions to do something they never would have considered themselves have left a part of me still believing that what God wants for me is do the things that i want to do least. So although I don't like talking to strangers, I think God wants me to become some crazy street evangelist, and although I'm not very good at working with teenagers, that must be what God wants me to do because I would find it hard.

And I suppose this isn't entirely a lie, because the christian way is narrow, the gospel is full of challenges and (contrary to most 'megachurch' thought), no one ever said that walking in Jesus' way was easy. But through all those challenging things the bible says (love your enemies, give up your property so you can follow God, free the oppressed, bring about justice, live holy and pure lives), there is an infusion of love and grace and joy.

So right now I'm trying to teach myself that even though I've chosen a difficult life journey, that God wants GOOD things for me, not things that will hurt me.

We're back!!

Reclaim the Night Edinburgh is back, click on the link to stay updated on the planning process, get involved and add your comments and thoughts.

Action to Take

Thanks to Womanist Musings that I got this information from

"Equality Now is urgently concerned about Kobra Najjar, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery who lost her final appeal for amnesty. Iranian women’s rights activists working on her case report that Kobra has exhausted all domestic legal remedies and that her execution by stoning could happen any time.

Kobra is a victim of domestic violence who was forced into prostitution by her abusive husband in order to support his heroin addiction. He was murdered by one of Kobra’s “clients” who sympathized with her plight. Kobra has already served 8 years in prison as an accessory to her husband’s murder. The man who murdered her husband also served 8 years in prison and is now free after paying blood money and undergoing 100 lashes, while Kobra faces imminent stoning to death for adultery - the prostitution her husband forced upon her.

Equality Now is also concerned about recent reports of seven other women and one man, all accused of adultery sentenced to death by stoning, whose executions are also reported to be possible at any time. In Iran, adultery is the only crime punishable by stoning.

Stoning violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Iran is a state party. The ICCPR clearly prohibits torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment. It also limits the imposition of the death penalty “only for the most serious crimes.” No criminal or other act warrants violent and inhumane punishments such as flogging and stoning. Moreover, adultery is a private act and should not incur criminal punishment. Protection from arbitrary or unlawful interference under the ICCPR has been found by the United Nations Human Rights Committee to include consensual sexual activity between adults in private.

Please write to the Iranian officials below, calling for Kobra’s immediate release, the commutation of all sentences of death by stoning and the prohibition by law of all cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments in accordance with Iran’s obligations under the ICCPR. Urge the officials also to initiate a comprehensive review of the Civil and Penal Codes of Iran to remove all provisions that discriminate and perpetuate discrimination against women, including those regarding adultery and fornication, in accordance with Iran’s own constitutional provision for equality before the law.

His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Head of the Judiciary
c/o Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr
Teheran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: iripr@iranjudiciary.org, irjpr@iranjudiciary.com and info@dadgostary-tehran.ir
Phone: +98 21 22741002, +98 21 22741003, +98 21 22741004, +98 21 22741005

Note: The contact information above may encounter delivery problems so please keep trying to send your message. Thank you for taking action!

Please also contact the Iranian embassy in your country. The following link may help you find the contact information: http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/Iran/Iran.html"

Do we call Jesus a feminist?

Firstly, the shiny new 'Carnival for Progressive Christians' is up at the wonderful Purteks. You should have a look, its fairly brilliant.

When I haven't been working and watching FAR too many soul destroying American TV shows (when did Smallville get so ridiculous??), I've been thinking a lot lately about whether or not Jesus, and therefore God (as I believe that Jesus is God), should be given the label 'feminist'.

Before I can answer this question, I need to have an understanding of what the word 'feminist' means. My working definition is that a feminist is someone who believes in, and works for, the liberation of women from the systems, institutions and beliefs that opression them. I'm aware that within that different people will have varying opinions of what is and is not opressive, but I think thats ok. I'm trying to practise a feminism that is a fairly large tent at the moment, and I think thats a good thing. Theres much more to be learned when we don't just agree on everything. I'm aware that my definition of feminism has its limits, but I think its a fairly good start.

So, using this definition of feminism could Jesus be a feminist? Well, to some degree, yes! Jesus taught women when most people considered women to be basically incapable of learning, going against beliefs of his time. Jesus trusted women to spread the news of His resurrection when women were not considered to be 'reliable witnesses' in court, going against the sexist systems of his day. Jesus had time for women (and men) who were considered unclean, and women who were judged. Jesus did and does, radically challenge all sorts of beliefs and institutions, including patriarchal, sexist ones. On top of this we are aware from all over the bible that God is a liberator, calling for and bring about our liberation both from spiritual darkness and all forms of earthly injustice, including sexist ones.

So I think I can say that I definatly believe that Jesus wasn't to liberate women and men from sexism. But does this mean I can call Jesus a feminist? Honestly, I don't think so. Feminism is limited, one of the many ways through which humans have and continue to attempt to understand all that is wrong with the world. Feminism CANNOT be fully true, because none of us fully understand. God does fully understand. God sees all of time and knows what is wrong and why, and fully understands the reasons behind it. Because of this I can never put the small labels through which I understand the world onto God.

More than this, to apply my labels to God is to do things the wrong way round. My ultimate aim is to live fully for God (although first I have to discover what that means!). I don't want to simply apply the values I already have to God. I believe that my journey in feminism has been part of this, but I need to be sure that feminism is on of the tools which I use in my attempt to understand my amazing Creator, and that it doesn't become the rule book through which I choose to define God. God is not limited to my politics.

What are you thoughts? How would you answer the question in the title?

The Anglican Church, Sexuality and Colonialism

If you've been reading the papers over the last week then you've probably realised that the Anglican Communion (which is global and includes the Church of England), is in a bit of a mess at the moment. Not unusually in the church its all about sexuality, homosexuality specifically. I should probably clarify before I go on that I'm not an Anglican and have only a very limited knowledge about this way of doing church (as I'm Scottish and therefore a puritanical presbyterian!), so please forgive and correct any errors you say.

One of the more recent events is the marriage (or as most of the newspapers put it 'marriage') of two male Anglican priests in London earlier this month. While this has been controversial for a long time, a lot of the controversy started when Gene Robertson was the first openly gay person to be made a bishop. Theres a really nice profile on him here . There was a lot of anger over this, particularily from many of the African Bishops, which has culminated in an alternative to the Lambeth Conference (big gathering of Bishops) being held for conservative Bishops in Jerusalem at the moment, with a lot of time being taken up discussion homosexuality.

Some people have rightly highlighted that these Bishops have behaved appallingly in their unwillingness to condemn homophobic hate crime (in many of the African countries, often state sanctioned violence).

I am equally shocked by this, and pray that as they discuss these issues they will be able to reach a gracious and compassionate stance even if they don't end up reaching more liberal conclusions about the bible. And yes, I wish that we weren't so obsessed with sex in the church, but I recognise that this is a real difficult issue. While so many of these conversations are laced with some disgusting homophobia, at root this is a question about the very nature of the bible, and so it is important that people in the church are given the space to engage seriously with issues of sexuality and reach their own conclusions.

However, the thing we have to remember is that this alternative meeting is a lot more significant than just a big disagreement over relationships and sex. We have to remember that the history of the Anglican Communion goes right alongside the British Empire and Colonialism. Even now, the Archbishop of Canterbury (who is British) is in charge. This isn't just a question of sexuality, its also a question of whether or not wealthy white countries (Britain being in charge, and the US being where much of the controversy is coming from, the Episcopalian church there is very liberal) should be able to tell developing countries what to do.

While always keeping in mind the awful, un-Christlike abuse and violence towards LGBT people all over the world (in Africa and the middle-east in particular), we cannot win this battle by continuing in fundamentally racist and imperialist attitudes. If the African Anglican Church is to change its mind on issues of sexuality, then African Christians and African LGBT people will have to lead the way. We can give our opinions and assistance to their struggle, but we don't get to be in charge.

Lessons in not giving up

I spent most of Saturday at Faslane (where our nucleur weapons are kept), making a peace chain round the base with CND. I feel like I have a real heritage with CND, partly because my parents were involved in the past, but mostly because CND is just full of amazing older progressive christians. Surrouding myself with elderly quaker women and members of the Iona Community makes me feel safe and inspired.

But more than anything else I was reminded of the hope and drive that has kept CND existing for 50 years. Most of its more committed members are getting old now, peace loving grandparents who've been trying to change the world for a long time. And nucleur weapons have gone in and out of fashion a lot over the years. They came back for a while last year but protestors (especially the student sort) are a fickle group and we've moved on to new and more exciting causes this year. So many big deal causes are forgotten about, from Make Poverty History to landmines (one of the first campaigns I got involved in as a teenager - not much has changed).

I've inspired by the fact that all the people I met on Saturday haven't given up. They really believe that they are going to win one day and they are so full of hope. Trends will always come and go, but those of us who really care, whether its about violence against women, sweatshops, the arms trade, climate change or anything have got to find the hope and the strenth to keep going when the press has gone and the trendy campaigners have moved on.

LIke so many of the anti-nucleur campaigners, even now when I feel somewhat hopeless, I am hanging on because 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me', and because I really, genuinly do believe that Christ will win one day, and the real, non-cliched peace will come.

Reflections on Community

Like all slightly pretentious 'emerging' type Christians, I spend a lot of my time talking about community. And of course, there is good reason for this. Community is up there with grace, redemption and justice in some of the key themes of the bible and christianity in general. One of my favourite things about the trinity is that it shows that even before humans were created there was community: God within him/herself is a community of three. When the bible says that we are 'made in the image of God', then being made to relate towards and love others is a key part of that. And of course, the concept of community is key to what we read about the early church. Without romanticising what it was like too much, we can read that the early church was a community which 'shared everything' (in Acts) and was always willing to give to another part of the body that was in need (as when there was a famine in the church in Jerusalem).

However, like most slightly self obsessed people that spend too much time on the internet I spend a lot less time actually doing community (its definatly a verb) than I do thinking about it. This has not always been the case, and I have some examples in my life of some wonderful forms of community. When I was a teenager I was part of a bible study group (our name was 'gorgeous girls going for God' - embarrasing but true), that was an amazing community to be a part of. This community changed my life, made God relevant to me, and in all likelihood I wouldn't still be trying to follow God without the amazing women involved. When I got involved in organising Reclaim the Night Edinburgh last year, I found myself being involved in one of the most genuinly caring communities I'm ever seen. Being involved in this community also changed my life. I'm most definatly a feminist (and scary and humourless etc) now, which I probably wouldn't have said before.

But there are two key features of community that I'd like to look at, both are reasons which mean that at the moment, I'm finding community hard. Often, when progressive liberal christians talk about wanting christian community, what we really mean is that we want community with christians who are exactly like us. We want to be able to surround ourselves with people who think like us and act like us so that we can feel safe. And of course, there is some truth in this dream. I definatly want to have more christians in my life that think like me! But this is a very limited view of what community means. We are deluded if we think that the community in the early church was one were everyone agreed. You don't have to get far into Paul's letters to see the many conflicts there were about food offered to idols, about what particular church leaders people followed, about whether or not women should lead and a whole lot more. Its really not unlike the conflict we have today. But to my mind, real community will mean looking beyond the real, and sometimes huge differences we have with the christians around us, and trying to work out how to be a part of each others lives, and love each other anyway.

The women who I was in a bible study with as teenagers now have very diverse lifes (some of us are even married!), politics and ways of living out their faith. But because we have established an honest community of love we are still part of each others lives to some degree, and still friends despite our differences. For me, this differences are constantly challenging me in what I think and how I live, usually changing me for the better.

But this is not the main reason that I often avoid community, especially christian community. If we want to have community then we have to really get to know each other so that we can be involved, supportive, loving and challenging. And right at the moment, I'm really struggling with this. Like many of us, I like people to think that I'm perfect. If I begin to really let you know about my fears, my failures, the selfishness that I try to hide with my right on politcs, my desperate search for approval, my feelings of rejection from the church, then you will realise that I don't have it together and that I'm not perfect. I'm not sure what I'd do if I had to get rid of my mask of always being right.

Thinking about community raises more challenges and fears for me than anything else at the moment. Yet if what I said at the start is true, that to exist in community is part of our 'God-given' nature is true, then at some point we're all going to have to take up the challenge. Life is better when we're together.

(I loev to end on a good cliche)