The Most Hated Family in America April 1, 2007
Posted by rupertward in fundamentalism, Louis Theroux, society, TV.12 comments
Tonight on BBC 2, Louis Theroux produced a documentary on the Phelps Family, dubbed the most hated family in America (you can see some highlights here). The Phelps family, with patriarch Fred Phelps, essentially make up Westboro Baptist Church (with only one non-family member, Steve, that we saw on the program, who had been a journalist doing a program on the Phelps, and then joined them!). The family and church are fundamentalist, anti-gay, anti-America, pretty much anti-everything.
The family picket funerals of soldiers who dies in Iraq (a sign of God’s judgement), other churches (they hate gay people enough), and even a store that sell Swedish hoovers (don’t ask … oh OK, apparently the Swedish authorities arrested a pastor who preached against homosexuality). It is a hate-filled, rules based, grace-less religion that seems so far removed from all that I know of God, Jesus, and the Christian Faith. There is nothing in common that I have that with this group …
Or have I?
Louis Theroux, in his disarming and yet penetrating way, gets beneath the surface. He makes a couple of penetrating observations of the Phelps family, that rings some bells for me in other segments of the Christian Church, and my own life … albeit in a less extreme form:
1. “In their world, being hated is proof they are doing the right thing … they preach a hatred, that is reflected back on them, confirming them in their beliefs.”
We may not preach a hatred like the Phelps. We may not be so angry or judgemental. But don’t we sometimes think too, that we are oppressed or marginalised? We are the ones being sidelined by the society we live in. By people at work or college. By our neighbours. Doesn’t our society increasingly hate Christians? Or hate what we stand for? And we justify ourselves by saying that it is clearly a sign that we are saying God’s word, that the world can’t accept it.
And yet we don’t often to stop to look at why they might not be liking our message. Just maybe it isn’t the message, but it is the way we saying it … just maybe we have a little anger and judgement in our voices … and that is what the world is objecting to?
Of course there will be things that the church has to say which won’t be popular. But isn’t it easier to point the finger at others, rather than examining ourselves? And doesn’t Jesus have something to say about that?
2. “If you preach that the world is full of condemned sinners, the world will begin to take that shape.”
We may not use the same language, but Louis makes the point well: what you look for, is what you see. If we expect to see evil and lawlessness, then that is what we will notice. The acts of kindness, the love, goodness, humanity of others … we tend not to notice those things, when we expect to see something else.
In fact, I think Louis is saying something more: the way we see the world, will actually shape the world in that way. If we see the world full of condemned sinners, then that is what we actually call up in people. If we see people as image bearers, even if we are broken image bearers, then something of humanity and goodness will emerge.
What do you think? Do you think it is just what we stand for that the our society seems to be rejecting or do you think we bear some responsibility for? And how do you see the world?
Christian Spin March 21, 2007
Posted by rupertward in Politics, society.36 comments
Update: The House of Lord’s this evening supported the Sexual Orientation Regulations, and they will now become law in the UK on 30th April. Read the BBC report here.
Various groups have been issuing their viewpoints in the last few days, for some in the hope of influencing the vote tonight:
Evangelical Alliance: urging people to protest, as does Anglican Mainstream. LCF had been urging thier mailing lists to lobby any members of the House of Lords known to any recipients.
Faithworks: press release in support of the SOR’s and they have produced a very helpful guide to some of the frequently asked questions about the SORs. Really worth reading in my opinion, but then I guess I would!
Malcolm Duncan (Faithworks): good discussion on his blog
Faithworks do have some good advice: read the SORs themselves, before rushing off to a hard and fast opinion.
Original Post on Friday 9th March:
Yesterday the government published the “sexual orientation regulations” that will apply in England, Scotland and Wales from 30th April this year. They are laws that are designed to make discrimination, based on people’s sexual orientation, illegal. So, for example, this law would enshrine the right of people with a homosexual orientation to be able to use “goods, facilities or services” in the same way that others can with a different sexual orientation. For example, access to public places, accommodation such as hotels or guest houses, services of a profession or trade etc. So no longer can a plumber turn down a job because the guy wanting the work done is gay.
There is much brouhaha about all this in the Christian world. So what are we to make of it?
1. In principle, I think this is a good thing. Jesus, it seems to me, is often on the side of the oppressed & marginalised in society. He stands up for women, lepers & non-Jews (all of whom were in different ways were outcasts), and gives them back their dignity and basic human rights. Whether it is people of a different religion, colour, race or sexual orientation, I think we as Christians should be standing against discrimination based on these things. I may not agree with all the beliefs or lifestyles choices of some of these groups, but they still deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. And please, in doing so, I am not endorsing their beliefs or actions … to think that, is to ignore much of the life of Jesus recorded in the gospels! I would expect no less from others, even if they didn’t agree with my Christian Faith.
2. Law is a necessary, but is a very blunt instrument for tackling such problems. Just because there is a law, won’t stop some of the bad attitudes to gay people that exist in the UK, US and I am sure other places. The Law might have an affect on changing behaviour (if people are worried enough about the consequences of breaking that law), but it never changes hearts and attitudes. And that is where the Christian Church ought to be at forefront of this debate, calling not just for change in behaviour towards discriminated people, but calling for a change in attitude (and we happen to know SOMEONE who is rather practiced at bringing deep and profound change in human hearts!). This is our ground…
3. There are some challenges for the Religious Organisations with these regulations, but they are not half as bad as some are making them out to be. I do think it is very sad that a compromise was not found for Catholic adoption agencies to continue adopting children and be exempt from accepting same sex couples (although I don’t think the Catholics helped themselves in the discussion – but that is the another subject all together!)
4. There is a real tension and debate to be had here where the rights of two different groups clash: here it the religious group and gay rights group. There is a danger that one could have more legitimacy in law for their rights, and I wonder if sometimes we Christians are seen as a bit of soft touch. However, listening to some Christian groups, it seems they are arguing their rights over the rights of gay people, and that just isn’t right either! We need to be standing up for their rights, and the rights of Christians to say they disagree.
5. The loudest voices in the Christian world (it seems to me) are from the extremes, and they are marginalising the majority of us, who, in the main, don’t think the a same sex relationship is God’s intention, but don’t want to be associated with the propaganda coming from such groups as the Lawyers Christian Fellowship (LCF) or to go down the route of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement.
6. I admit I am not a lawyer. But I can read. There is a bandwagon that is easy to get on, but sometimes seems based on very little fact. There are serious number of straw man arguments flying around, and it annoys me and it does the Christian Faith no credit. At worst it is lying. At best it is blatant misinformation. I call it Christian Spin, and it should stop. So here goes at burning a few of these straw men …
- The LCF state in a recent press release that the government have published the laws “without making any significant concessions to protect the rights of Christians and others with deeply held religious beliefs.” Yet when I read the laws themselves, I see a whole section on religious organisations, that exempt them from the regulations, including hiring out a building (see 14(3)(d)) … or am I reading these laws wrong?
- It is often said the ministers or religion will be forced to bless same sex partnerships, but again this doesn’t seem to be true from Reg 14(4)(a) where it the law explicitly states that it is not unlawful for a minister to restrict the services they offer.
- In a further press release, the LCF quote a Joint Committee for Human Rights, that has been looking the regulations, where they state that a homosexual pupil should not be subjected to teaching that “that their sexual orientation is sinful or morally wrong“. The LCF then comments:
“The Committee are explicit in their view that no Christian schools should have the right to promote marriage over homosexual relationships or hold to a Christian ethos that sex is only right in a heterosexual monogamous marriage.”
Eh? Sorry? Did I miss something there? I don’t believe that someone’s sexual orientation is “morally wrong or sinful”, and would have no problems in teaching that in church, school or whereever. Otherwise, in my opinion, it would be exactly the same as believing that someone born blind was morally wrong or sinful, and we all know what Jesus had to say about that (see John 9 – and please don’t stretch that analogy too far: I am not saying that someone who has a homosexual orientation is the same as someone born blind). But teaching that a homosexual orientation is not wrong or sinful has NOTHING to do with kind of lifestyle that people live and what is God’s way of living, does it?
In fact the Joint Committee go on to say that this “would not prevent pupils from being taught as part of their religious education the fact that certain religions view homosexuality as sinful”. But, guess what, no mention of that in the LCF press release!
There are more moderate views being expressed. Faithworks (founded by Steve Chalke) come out in favour of the SOR’s, probably in a similar position to mine. The Evangelical Alliance, are somewhere in the middle.
What do you think? What is a Christian response to these regulations? What would Jesus be saying?
Also see two previous posts: Gay Rights (sexual orientation regulations): Part 1 and 2.
[Note: please, this is not a debate here about the rights or wrongs of homosexuality. It is also not an opportunity to have a pop at other individuals. It is OK to disagree with me, or with others who make comments, but should anyone cross these lines, I will remove your comments].
Loneliness: our constant companion and friend? February 26, 2007
Posted by rupertward in Church, Community, Loneliness, preaching, society.11 comments
Next Sunday, I am speaking at church on Loneliness, and in light of a previous post, Preaching as Community?, I am hoping for some help! Here are a few thoughts, I hope will generate a bit of discussion or some comments (so go on, stop lurking and add your thoughts!):
Loneliness is one of the greatest human problems, especially so in our modern society with the fragmenting of community & family and the migration of people from the country to the city. It is not to be confused with being alone, but is more a feeling of being cut off or separate from others. The old cliché that you can feel most alone in a crowd definitely has some truth in it.
I think it is something that most people grapple with at some point in our lives, and for some it is something they live with pretty much constantly. There are probably lots of reasons why people feel lonely, but I want to suggest here that there is something inevitable about feeling lonely.
There is a longing deep inside us to be fully known and to know others fully; for other human beings to look at us, as we really are, and to accept us, to love us, to move towards us. We are longing for a deep connection with others, and anything less, leaves us feeling very alone in this world.
But as we learn from the Genesis story of Adam and Eve, our selfishness has led us to live in ways that are self-protecting; we metaphorically put fig leaves over our sin and our shame, which leads to separation from others. While we move towards God and find his love and grace for our brokenness and shame, and therefore move towards others in vulnerability and honesty, we will never be free of our selfishness. At least not this side of death, and a full realisation of the Kingdom.
So loneliness becomes our constant companion, reminding us that we are meant for so much more. It tells us that we are works in progress, being restored and healed. We experience longing for real and authentic relating to others, that we occasionally get glimpses of and which only awakens a hope for more.
What do you think? Is loneliness inevitable? Is it our friend? Or is it something that Jesus does come to set us free from? Is it our enemy? Does it really show up our lack of authentic community? What have you experienced or learnt about loneliness?
To finish, a quote from Mother Teresa:
When Christ said: “I was hungry and you fed me,” he didn’t mean only the hunger for bread and for food; he also meant the hunger to be loved. Jesus himself experienced this loneliness. He came amongst his own and his own received him not, and it hurt him then and it has kept on hurting him. The same hunger, the same loneliness, the same having no one to be accepted by and to be loved and wanted by. Every human being in that case resembles Christ in his loneliness; and that is the hardest part, that’s real hunger.
William Wilberforce February 22, 2007
Posted by rupertward in Church, Politics, society.6 comments
This morning I happened to listen to a fantastic program on Radio 4 on William Wilberforce (my wife had changed the radio from Radio 5 that I usually listen to!). Melvyn Bragg presents “In Our Time” which you can listen again to here (or if you read this a week after posting, you will be able to find it in the archives here). Bragg looks at the life of Wilberforce, and is very explicit about Wilberforce’s faith, that motivated his life mission to see the slave trade abolished. Really worth listening too if you have a spare 45 minutes.
It was great to hear a program that did not dilute the role that Christian Faith played in the life of Wilberforce. If you look at The Amazing Change website, connected to the Amazing Grace film that is coming out in a few weeks time in the UK, you can hardly find any reference to Wilberforce’s faith. Even the name of the Clapham Sect has been changed to Clapham Circle, and no reference to them all being Christians! [HT toggietales]
It is an amazing story, which is in the media as this year celebrates the 200 year anniversary of the Houses of Parliament passing a law to abolish the slave trade. Wilberforce had found faith due to the influence of Isaac Milner, in his 20’s, and then considered giving up politics (he was MP for Hull) and going into the priesthood [there is an interesting article on his conversion at the Church Society website]. But a conversation with John Newton (author of the hymn Amazing Grace and a former slave trader) persuaded him otherwise, and to devote his life to the abolition of the slave trade. Many years later, in 1807, he had persuaded parliament to pass a law abolishing trading of human beings, but it was not until 1833, a few days before Wilberforce died, that slavery itself was abolished.
Wilberforce is an inspiration to those of us now who believe that Christians should be at the forefront of any move to bring about social change in our society [see previous posts, Visit to Cambridge or Dancing in the Aisles]. And maybe too, a reminder that there are still people who are being bought and sold in slavery today?
Is Carbon the new Sex? February 13, 2007
Posted by rupertward in Environment, fundamentalism, society, TV.23 comments
Last night was the airing on Channel 4, in the UK, of God is Green, as mentioned in a previous post. Mark Dowd presented the program, looking at why religious leaders have been so silent on environmental issues. But that does seem to be changing somewhat, with the Bishop of London pledging not to fly for personal reasons for a year, having previously declared that driving large cars, or flying on holiday was sinful.
So Mark Dowd asks “Is Carbon the new Sex?”. [Maybe I am in danger of fueling an interesting debate that has been happening in the comments on another post, “Dancing in the Aisles“?] Will we be confessing our carbon sin to each other, as we have been confessing other sin?
Well, perhaps not. But finally the church is waking up to its responsibility to be prophetic to our society. So often we have limited being prophetic to some words that are shared (and often forgotten pretty quickly afterwards) on a Sunday morning when we Christians gather together. But we have often lost our role of being a prophetic voice to the society we live in, calling people to live less selfishly for the sake of others, our children and their children.
It seems to me that we have not bothered about our responsibility to care and stewardship of creation, as our theology has often got in the way. There are still some wacky Christian groups who see the changing patterns of the world’s weather as a sign of the “end times”, the immanence of the return of Christ. And why bother with taking care of the world if Jesus is coming back soon, and we will have a “new heaven and new earth” … all will be restored?
Fortunately, that view is increasingly less common in the Christian world (although it has to be admitted there is still a lot of it about, for example see this article). The early church thought Jesus would return before they died. They have been people throughout history that think the end of the world is nigh. What happens if it isn’t? What if there is another 2000 years, or 10,000 years?
Added to this is the interpretation of the passage in Genesis 1 … where God tells the first man and woman to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” [verse 28]. Unfortunately this has been taken in isolation of the mandate in Genesis 2:15 to “work it [creation] and take care of it“. [See a post by Paul for more on the Hebrew words used in Gen 2:15 and for his take on the program last night.]
We are seeing that God has given us responsibility to care for creation. We are to be stewards, not consumers of the world we live in, ruled by profit and GDP. Surely we have a responsibility to pass on the world we live in the best possible condition to our children, and to call the rest of the world to be similarly minded? And surely, as Mark Dowd pointed out in his film, we have a responsibility to the poor, who have done very little to contribute to climate change, but would be ones most affected?
Wouldn’t it be great for the church to be known as the group of people who are at the forefront of the movement calling people to live less for themselves, and more for the benefit of the whole?
Big Mouths on Big Brother January 28, 2007
Posted by rupertward in News, racism, society.12 comments
Shilpa Shetty, an Indian actress, has won Celebrity Big Brother. Somehow, after all the controversy last week about alleged racist comments by Jade Goody and her cohorts, where people were asking if this was a mirror onto racism in Britain, now we have the answer.
I have to confess I didn’t watch it. I wanted to, but was appalled by what I read. At best it was bullying: aggressive and vindictive. Many were saying it was racially motivated. I wanted to watch, and see for myself (and maybe there was a little to voyeurism there too!), but it just seemed to endorse the awful way Channel 4 handled the whole episode.
I think it wasn’t so much as racism, but just plain ignorance. The three young girls in the house really couldn’t understand Shilpa or the culture she comes from. They didn’t understand how she could have servants, what kind of houses they live in, or how or what they eat in India etc. But isn’t that the root of all kinds of intolerance: Ignorance? We don’t do it that way, and we don’t understand why others wouldn’t do it the way we do. It’s not so much about colour of skin, or the accent we have, but the difference in our cultures. And when others don’t understand that, often they tease, poke fun, ridicule, bully or worse. And that really IS racism.
But now the good old British Public have voted, and have shown what they thought of Jade, Jo and Danielle … and Shilpa, who responded with dignity, poise and grace.
Perhaps this episode does show what Britain is like: there are undercurrents of racism in our society, but most people are appalled by that and will stand up for the marginalised & oppressed … as long it is at the safety of the end of a telephone! Some good news after all.
The Rise of Fundamentalism December 3, 2006
Posted by rupertward in fundamentalism, Politics, society.4 comments
I have been pretty busy last week, so not much blogging. Lots of thoughts going round my head, but not sure where to start! So perhaps, I will start something that I have been wondering about for the last few weeks … the rise of fundamentalism in our society.
The term “fundamentalism” was originally coined by evangelical Christians, in response to growing liberal wing of the church to assert the “fundamentals” of the faith. However, throughout the mid 20th Century, the movement became increasingly separatist and dogmatic. Recently we have also seen the rise of Islamic Fundamentalist (which many moderate Muslim’s would be as embarrassed about, as many Christians are, of our version of Fundamentalism).
Recently, however, we are beginning to see another group of fundamentalist entering the arena … the secular fundamentalists. Rather than just being atheists, not believing in God, or seeing the need to believe in God … a new breed of atheists are emerging who believe that all religion is evil, wrong, and to be stopped at all costs.
I have noticed in the last few weeks, the rise of this , with the controversy of Christian Unions in Exeter, Birmingham and Edinburgh (I’ll blog something about this later in the week); the refusal of BA to allow an employee to wear a small cross, and just recently the proposed introduction of “sexual orientation regulations” being fast tracked in Northern Ireland. Peter Hain, on last weeks Question Time (30th Nov), was extolling the virtues of this law, that would allow a same sex couple the right to a bed in a guesthouse; he argued that it would be wrong for guesthouses to have a sign outside saying “no gays allowed” in the same way that it would be wrong for a sign to be outside saying “no blacks allowed”. What he didn’t talk about was the concerns of Christian groups that people could be prosecuted for promoting heterosexual relationships, or refusing to “bless” a same-sex partnership.
My point here is not to argue about gay rights, but to appeal for a level playing field of dialogue. Increasingly the secular fundamentalists seem as bigoted at the religious versions they so despise, and seem determined to silence all religious voices. Perhaps it is time for us to put an end to all fundamentalism … but there again, maybe I am just being prejudice against fundamentalism?
Visit to Cambridge November 9, 2006
Posted by rupertward in Church, Politics, society.add a comment
At the beginning of the week, I was in Cambridge with a bunch of other church leaders. We are talking together about forming a network, that recognises our friendships over the years, and formalises a partnership and learning together for the future.
Billy Kennedy and Roger Ellis have invited a few people to meet over the last couple of years, and this is set to continue 3 times a year, to develop friendships, learn together, and pray.
It was an inspiring time; especially a tour of Cambridge led by Ranald Macauley from Christian Heritage, who took us around some of the colleges of Cambridge, where we learnt of how Christians had been motivated by their faith to get involved in politics, science, and arts to bring about massive change in the country at the time. The most well known for most of us would be William Wilberforce who was involved in the movement to abolish slavery.
Inspiring stuff; rather daunting too. Left me with some questions: the church seems so often way behind in the major issues of our day. For example we only now seem to be taking seriously the environmental issue. How can we be at the forefront of bringing change to our society? How can we value those, in our churches, who are already working to bring change in their 9 to 5 jobs, but so often aren’t recognised as those on “front line mission”?
Good to be with friends too … had a great catch up with Lynn Swart.
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