What's the Story in Dalamory » justice

Riots in England

freda — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 11:52:32 +0000

It has been frightening watching events unfold over the last few days, even though there have been no riots/violence in Scotland. Here we are too busy worrying about floods and in Edinburgh, for instance, the Edinburgh Festival goes ahead as normal. The Prime Minister has acknowledged that the largest police force in Scotland has done a valuable amount of work in managing to diffuse gang culture, and that England can learn a lot from this.

As I write this the debate is going on in Parliament to look at policies and reasons for the looting and stealing. Such televised and accountable debates make me proud to be part of the UK. However, the sickening events shown on the news happening this week are truly worrying. There seems to be an underlying lack of citizenship amongst certain people, and the fact that the riots were excuses for mass acquisitiveness and a breakdown in civilised behaviour, is almost beyond belief.

I have only briefly seen news reports from around the world of how England is viewed – but it is pretty bleak. One interviewee spoke of the string of comments from within the UK and abroad, he is the only person I have heard who used the words: love and compassion. I can only wonder if English society – and to an extent Scottish culture too – is broken and sick because of the inequality in education, the lack of vocational work opportunities and the lack of understanding and respect between different strata of society. Some people have very little hope, and that filters through to those who are working and struggling to get by, as well as being endemic amongst the unemployed and seemingly unemployable.

It all makes me so sad. I am consciously trying to move from anger and fear to sadness in my prayers, then maybe there is the chance I can get nearer to the changing power of compassion and love.

Posh and posher

freda — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 07:47:34 +0000

The BBC Programme Posh and Posher, screened on last night’s TV was a blistering indictment of our educational system and the reasons for the narrowing of the world of politics in the UK to a privileged and wealthy elite.

I have mentioned the fact that I went to a Grammar School in the 1950s and early 60s……. I sort of regret now that I referred to it as “posh,” for if Andrew Neil’s commentary shows anything, it is that the “posh” he speaks of, means being part of, or comfortable with an “aristocracy”- an “old boys’ network” (even if you are a girl) and have obtained your degree from Oxford or Cambridge universities, preferably in their PPE course (politics, philosphy and economics.) Apart from the fact that this worries me because of its narrowness, as a country we are kidding ourselves that a descent into a them/us mentality is anything other than dangerous. The cuts that are being applied to the lives of ordinary people, poor people and the vulnerable are vicious and will come back to bite the coalition government. A government that delivers them with such sanctimonious, hand-wringing pleas, that as it is not their fault, it must be that of Labour. They seem to forget or ignore the world-wide recession and banking crisis. (I’ll have a go at the bankers another day.)

The position in Scotland is slightly different in that the Scottish Parliament comprises in the main MSPs who have got there on ability and dedication – at least that is what I like to think. Because of the system of voting the electorate can vote for whichever party they favour and the seats are divided up amongst them. This creates a system whereby politicians have to work together to achieve goals and make policy.

The problems overall with the UK – and of course Scotland is still part of the UK – are to do with the narrowing of the field from which politicians emerge. This means that economic policy, fiscal authority, defence and foreign policy are overwhelmingly decided by those who have been educated predominantly in the English public schools system. There are fewer Scottish fee-paying schools, but again they tend to produce the type of candidate that is favoured in modern politics. This is happening in the three main parties. Other routes to a career in politics through local activism or trades unions are being marginalised.

One section of the programme showed an interview with a young man who was working in an independently funded youth club in one of the Glasgow Housing Schemes. He spoke articulately about the gulf that exists between our politicians and the people living in Easterhouse. A founder member of the club told of the gulfs that education, poverty and bad housing cause. Education has to be the answer and somewhere, somehow people will start to realise that a meritocracy and a passion for justice will fuel a country of which we can all feel proud.

At the moment I almost wish I was several years younger so that I could construct the barricades. I can only hope that somewhere young people are so incensed that they decide to fight back.

The Pope’s visit to the UK

freda — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 18:19:47 +0000

Over the last couple of days I’ve been busy watching coverage of the Pope’s visit. To put it into context, many years ago, when I was an ordinand, I ended up being helped by a spiritual director who was a Jesuit monk. I used to visit the retreat house/conference centre on the outskirts of Glasgow and spend a day there in prayer and meditation. During the course of the day I would visit with the monk and he would ask how things were going in my work and my walk with God, then he would suggest a bible passage that I could use as a focus for the day. I learnt to reflect on my life, work, family and study. It was a special time out of a very busy life, and I valued the insights I learnt over three or four years.

So my personal experiences of working ecumenically with Roman Catholics have been positive. It never seemed to be a problem that I was a woman ordinand or that there were differences between our two churches over matters of hierarchy, tradition and issues of justice. We simply had a working relationship whereby I was encouraged to learn more about faith by someone who was older and wiser than myself.

Over the years I have been disappointed at the intransigence of the RC church on matters of equality, but that is as it is – a difference we live with. What I have come to realise is that just as there are differences of opinion in Protestant churches in the UK between an Institution’s policy and the practice on the ground, there are similar differences in the Roman Catholic church. Within the faith there are those who disagree with policy that is laid down on things such as women in ministry, genetic research, sex education, sexuality, condoms, AIDS and married clergy. Their church has been subject to great scandal over child abuse and the way they have handled it in the past. In fact, all churches have their own scandals because we are all people.

What I would wish for is a sympathetic dialogue between people of all faiths and none, so that we can do the best for humankind and the world we inhabit. It seems that these themes are being addressed throughout these few days and for that I am grateful. It is just plain common sense that we should get on with each other.

Jeremiah friend or foe?

freda — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 07:58:25 +0000

One of the senior members of my last church once asked me what I thought of Jeremiah; I have to confess that I mumbled about the prophet being one of doom, gloom and misery. The other day I found myself thinking of this occasion when I was reading a few verses from Jeremiah 7 in my daily readings. The commentator was talking about God promising to be with us in the midst of everyday lives, and went on to say that it was no use going to church unless we also stood up for justice and looked after people in need.

Sadly, it is often true that people drift away from churches because they don’t see the relevance of the worship to contemporary issues or even worse, because someone has been difficult or bad to them. In rural areas it is often the case that people gather together out of a sense of community, yet in many places that gathering of people is becoming older and older. That’s not true everywhere, of course, there are some churches where people of all ages gather for worship and fun and to be encouraged in faith. It is these so called “successful” congregations that are studied by those worried about the decline in church attendances.

I’m not sure why I started this today……. it kind of sounds like the start of a sermon. Confession time here: I rarely read online sermons unless I know the preacher, but occasionally a good first line grabs my attention. My thoughts this past week have been very much on how others see or understand God. Mainly that is because I have been listening to an audio version of The Shack, by William P Young. I first blogged about it here in 2008. It is a book that people seem to either love or hate, and how people feel does not split according to their tendency to follow one type of theology or another.

Standing up for justice in a blog which is by its nature open source, is not always easy. Many bloggers are much braver than I am. As explained previously, I tend to worry about giving offence. It is a disease that comes insidiously to clergy, who have to worry about the need to be prophetic like Jeremiah, and to balance that with the inevitability of annoying those who contribute to the coffers of the church. That is why The Shack is so refreshing, it stands theology on end and makes the reader think about heart and mind and what really matters. The three persons of God (ie the doctrine of the Trinity) is dealt with in an innovative and refreshing way, and difficult issues like evil, suffering and death are addressed head on.

As it is nearly 2yrs since I first discovered the book I would be interested in hearing what others think.

Still a woman today

freda — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:00:32 +0000

This should almost be a Part II on being a woman – as the comments on yesterday’s post give much food for thought. Lydia, of writerquake, highlights a cartoon post by nakedpastor which made me laugh, but as you can see in the comments on his blog a great deal of heated argument and feeling has been generated.

I wanted to continue the discussion on today’s post with some examples from my own experience, but quickly realised that even by disguising names and places, it would be too easy for people to be recognised. Scotland is a small country. And though I have been desperately hurt by thoughtless discrimination masquerading as biblical principles I would not like to cause upset to anyone else. Suffice to say that I do know what I am talking about. Before these things happened to me I was happy enough to be one of the crowd who said, “discrimination has never happened to me…..” But now I know better and there is no going back. I always tried to remember that I was a minister and part of the public face of the church, so it was up to me to love and keep on loving. It is doubtful that I ever achieved that ambition, but the whole point is to aim high.

There appears to have been some progress in the Church of England regarding the possibility of women being given equal status as bishops, though I understand this is by no means certain. There is a 2yr process whereby anything can happen in terms of exerting influence and gaining a position of power by those who are firmly in the against camp. I can hope – being an optimist most days – that the coalition government may influence people into being more reasonable about equality and justice. And who knows, only time will tell if we end up with a country and attitude to religion that is more accepting of people’s human rights.

I have to highlight what Cloudia of Comfort Spiral said yesterday:

…..we yanks have supposed separation of church
& state, yet religion rules…you have a state church, but a secular society….curious.

Yes – interesting indeed.

A lifetime as a woman

freda — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 07:04:48 +0000

A bit obvious you might think – A lifetime as a woman – of course that is what it is. I am not going to get into a discussion of transgender issues, don’t know enough about it. But I do know about being a woman and what it means – from being born during WWII, growing up in the 50s, being married in the 60s, being a mother of four, becoming a mature student in the 80s, a Minister in the Church of Scotland in the 90s, and a retiree in the 21st century. That qualifies me to speak about certain things. So though this rant comes with a slight apology to my Church of England friends, I cannot stay silent any longer.

In the CofS women have had equal rights in terms of ordination to the Eldership and the Ministry since 1968. However, I recognise that in practice this is not always the case. For example there are still parts of Scotland where women are not accepted, despite Church Law. Those of us in ministry were well aware that there were parts of Scotland where being appointed to a parish were not possible because of local prejudice. Here is where my willingness to accept another’s point of view could spoil my argument, for I can see that some people support a narrow point of view which truly believes that scripture is against equality for women, at least in terms of ordination. And this despite the fact that for many years it has been a question asked about at Selection Procedures. The idea being to make sure that new ministers accepted the legal position of the CofS.

This being the position, I have watched and listened to the debates on the place of women in the Church of England over the years. I always thought it was a mistake that the women themselves accepted a secondclass priesthood right from the start of their ordination. It was written into the canons that people were perfectly entitled to stay clear of any bishop who dared to ordain women. As I understand it, Flying Bishops could be brought in from other dioceses, these being bishops who had not soiled their hands by ordaining women.

Today, in the General Synod of the Church of England, the matter of whether women can be admitted to the episcopacy is to be further debated. As I said, I had never thought it to be any of my business. But I am so, so angry that my sisters are being denied equality and the opportunity to serve God and the church. It matters to me because we live in the United Kingdom, and the CofE is an established church in England, the major part of the UK in terms of population.

All I can do is to pray for grace. Not for me to blindly accept injustice, but for others to reflect upon why it is that religion is so downright offensive. We can do little about other countries. But I still feel very much a part of the UK and want to continue to be proud of our laws of state and a national religion that promotes justice, equality and an ability to allow other religions to exist in what is supposed to be a Christian country.

Of course the other alternative is that we become a secular state and stop pretending.

Aamer Anwar

freda — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:52:05 +0000

Something makes me uneasy about the case where Anwar made such stark comments to the media. Cannot quite put my finger on it, but I wonder about the whole concept of freedom of speech and the fear we all have of terrorism and associated activities. We are told that this could be the start of a hundred years of living with terrorism and that can only be depressing news for all of us. After all, who can expect to live longer than that to see some kind of sensible resolution.

The only thing possible in this week leading up to Remembrance Day is to remember the lessons of the past and to hope and pray for peace in the future. To hope even in the face of intransigence and hostility. That way, commonsense wins.

Liberian adventure

freda — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 05:49:04 +0000

I have often praised our local health services here. Our GP is currently on sabbatical in Liberia, helping out and being challenged by a whole new culture. Her blog gives a flavour of the work and the needs of the place. Dr Adrienne tells early on, of a baby dying shortly after birth because of a lack of basic drugs and oxygen.

More than anything it makes me aware of the blessings we have in Scotland. As I have said before, there may be a lot of things that need to be improved, but basically we have the workings of a good and just society. And it is always good to hear of people trying to make things better elsewhere in the world.

What's the Story in Dalamory » justice

Riots in England

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