I predict a riot

At morning prayer today I found myself wondering what would have happened in Acts 19:21ff had social media been around:

@Demetrius: Oi tweeps, you seen this? A bunch of Macedonians led by some nutter called Paul are saying our gods ain't real. Plz RT (64 RTs 48 Favs)

@Artemus4ever: RT @Demetrius: Oi tweeps, you seen this? A bunch of Macedonians led by some nutter called Paul are saying our gods ain't real. Plz RT (84 RTs 24 Favs)

@SilverSmiffy: @Demetrius @Artemus4ever  UNBELIEVABLE. How is this is allowed to happen in Ephesus today? (27RTs 13 Favs)

@guildofsilvers: Tweetup down at the theatre. Our jobs are under threat. (127 RTs 64 Favs)

@Ephesusnews: Riot down at the theatre, no one sure why. Please tweetpic or vine if there. (745RTs 550 Favs)

@Demetrius: @Gaius & @Aristarchus You scum, go back to where you came from. (35 RTs 14 Favs)

@NigelF: @Gaius & @Aristarchus You rotters go back to where you came from. (63 RTs 43 Favs)

@PaulTarsus: Plz pray for @Gaius & @Aristarchus who've been taken to the theatre in Ephesus by an ugly mob. (23 RTs 16 Favs)

@Artemus4ever: @PaulTarsus Who you calling ugly? Come down here and say that. (17 RTs 12 Favs)

@Demetrius: @StephenFry @RichardDawkins have you seen what these people of The Way are doing. Please RT. (34 RTs 24 Favs)

@RichardDawkins: Religion has caused all the riots in the world... ever. (6315 RTs 2319 Favs)

@StephenFry: Tonight on QI the letter E BBC2 10pm. And here's a selfie of me in Ephesus with my cab. (2312 RTs 1542 Favs)

@TownClerk: Nothing to see here tweeps.

asylum #Iraq

Last Friday the government decided that it does have a responsibility to intervene in Iraq with military force.  I have today written to my local Member of Parliament Simon Burns asking him to request that relevant government departments ensure that additional steps are taken to alleviate suffering in Northern Iraq and to provide refuge and sanctuary to those most in need. I would encourage as many people as possible to do the same. It is shameful that our country lags behind so many European and other countries in responding to this need. Put quite simply, if we have a 'moral' obligation to bomb then we have a moral obligation to offer sanctuary to those who are the innocent victims of violence in Iraq.

If you wish to join me in lobbying your local MP on this matter details can be found here.

The full text of my letter is as follows:

Dear Mr Burns

Responding to the humanitarian crisis in Northern Iraq

I am deeply concerned by the gross human rights abuses being committed in Northern Iraq that is seeing thousands of religious and ethnic minorities displaced from their ancestral homes. The forced and bloody exodus of Christians and other religious minorities underlines most graphically that freedom of religion and belief, a right set out in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is being denied in the most violent and systemic way possible.

I welcome the humanitarian steps the Government has taken to date, but given the distressing pictures and reports that continue to come from Northern Iraq, I fear that our collective efforts are failing those most in need.

 

The level of humanitarian aid must be increased significantly and its delivery must be accelerated. No effort should be spared to protect all groups forcefully displaced by this conflict. The Government should follow the example set by other European governments and make provision to provide asylum to those that are unable to return to their homes for fear of persecution and death.

As a constituent in your area, I ask you to raise these concerns with the Secretary of State for International Development and other relevant departments to ensure that additional steps are taken to alleviate the humanitarian suffering in Northern Iraq and to provide refuge and sanctuary to those most in need.

Yours sincerely,

Revd Canon Philip Ritchie

Voiceless

Plenty of other people have commented on the resignation of Sayeeda Warsi from David Cameron's cabinet over the government's stance on Israel and Gaza. The only comment I would make about that issue is I haven't the first idea what our government's stance is, apart from the £8billion in arms that we flog to Israel.

What is perhaps just as concerning is that as a result of Baroness Warsi's resignation we have lost one of the only voices in government prepared to speak up about persecution, not least Christian persecution, across the world. In her resignation letter Warsi specifically mentions this issue and I for one am grateful for her work in this area. I contrast it with the silence emanating from the rest of government about which I have previously posted.

The media has been a bit more vocal about the issue of Christian persecution. This morning the BBC Today programme even managed to find a couple of minutes in its busy schedule for a piece in which Christians connected with the eradication of the church in Mosul, Iraq, were able to articulate their concerns. Here's the clip from the Today programme.



One final thought. Some of the more right leaning Christian social media commentators were very quick to disparage Warsi and RT others attacking her. They might like to reflect that we have now lost the one person in government who was prepared to speak up consistently for our brothers and sisters in Christ whose very lives are at risk across the globe.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Deafening silence

I've been doing a spot of Googling in the rare free moments during our church Holiday Club week to catch up on responses to the murderous onslaught being endured by Christians in Mosul, Iraq. I particularly wanted to read what our leading politicians have had to say. So here's what I've found:

"                                                              

                                 ".

Now it may be that Google has been asked to remove links to our leaders' comments under the new and rather bizarre 'forgotten' policy in operation at the behest of an EU court but I doubt it. Frankly, it looks like our leading politicians would rather pretend it just isn't happening.

I don't often agree with Damian Thompson, however, this is an important and timely piece. In Iraq, ancient Christianity lies in ruins. But who cares?

Error of judgement.

The news has been full of horrific images from around the world over the last couple of weeks and thanks to modern communications we are able to watch much of the reporting from these scenes in real time. One particular piece of journalism has attracted a large amount of attention and criticism. Sky News reporter Colin Brazier was reporting from the MH17 plane crash site and he began to rummage through a passenger's suitcase while speaking to camera. Part way through the reporter suddenly says 'we shouldn't be doing this... this is a mistake' and stops. However, the video went viral, in some versions without the final comment from Brazier, and the full force of social media instant rage came crashing down upon Brazier's head. Today in The Guardian Brazier explains how he came to make the error of judgement in his broadcast and in so doing gives us an insight into what many journalists are confronted with when reporting from these scenes of devastation.

The incident raises several issues for me. The first is that I am not sure why we need to have so many reports from these situations in order to understand what has happened or is happening. Did we really need reporters standing in the middle of the wreckage to convey the horror of what had occurred? Whenever a disaster, tragedy or atrocity takes place the default seems to be to send one of our well known news presenters to stand at the scene, breathlessly telling us what we already know. Are they really better placed to inform us from the field rather than from the studio? Often they are simply anchoring the programme and introducing other reports. Is this about creating a sense of tension and immediacy rather than helping us to gain insight into the events?

In Brazier's case the situation was different. He and other journalists had been allowed access into the heart of the site, where normally they would be excluded to the perimeter, as Brazier observes in his piece. We also had an insight into the shambles around the site as investigators and journalists where herded around by the Ukrainian rebels and we were able to observe the failure to secure the situation, protect the evidence and enable a proper investigation to take place. There are times when the on the ground reporting does bring a perspective that would otherwise be missing.

What is also revealed in Brazier's piece is the toll that this type of 'in the field' reporting has on the journalists. I guess we have become so familiar with seeing these reporters speaking to camera against a backdrop of mayhem, that we can forget they are human beings, struggling with their own emotions as they engage with the devastation around them. Brazier speaks of the sudden connection between what he was seeing and his own family as the context of his error of judgement:

And so during that lunchtime broadcast I stood above a pile of belongings, pointing to items strewn across the ground. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a pink drinking flask. It looked familiar. My six-year-old daughter, Kitty, has one just like it. I bent down and, what my Twitter critics cannot hear - because of the sound quality of internet replays of the broadcast - is that I had lost it. It is a cardinal sin of broadcasting, in my book anyway, to start blubbing on-air. I fought for some self-control, not thinking all that clearly as I did so.

There are of course situations where the journalists cannot gain access. At the moment reports are coming out of Iraq that Christians in Mosul are being driven out of their homes or murdered for their faith. The story is gaining some coverage but is largely being drowned out by the situation in Gaza and the Ukraine. What is noticeable is the lack of on the ground reporting from Mosul, presumably because it is too dangerous for journalists to go anywhere near the place, and so there is little visual imagery to convey the atrocity on our televisions. Perhaps if we could see something of the tragedy that is unfolding in Mosul more attention might be given to it by news agencies, the public and our politicians, who seem to be almost silent when it comes to anything to do with Christian persecution in the Middle East.

I confess I was appalled when I saw Brazier's Sky News video clip. Looking back at my Twitter timeline I see I didn't make a comment at the time or RT anyone else's comments. though I easily could have - it only takes a click. I'm grateful to Brazier for his openness and honesty about what happened and for the reminder that those reporting the news are affected by what they encounter and can make mistakes, just like the rest of us.

Not one stone left upon another

I was surprised to read a report today drawn up by the U.S. State Department which declared that there are no public Christian churches left in Afghanistan. The International Religious Freedom Report on Afghanistan covering the period July to December 2010 describes the situation regarding non-Islamic places of worship:

In the 20th century, small communities of Bahais, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, and Sikhs lived in the country, although most members of these communities emigrated during the years of civil war and Taliban rule. By the end of Taliban rule, non-Muslim populations had been virtually eliminated except for a small population of native Hindus and Sikhs. Since the fall of the Taliban, some members of religious minorities have returned, many settling in Kabul.

Nuristanis, a small but distinct ethno linguistic group living in a mountainous eastern region, practiced an ancient polytheistic religion until they converted to Islam in the late 19th century. Some non-Muslim religious practices survive today as folk customs.

There are two active gurdwaras (Sikh places of worship) in Kabul and 10 in other parts of the country; there were 64 gurdwaras throughout the country before the war. There are four Hindu mandirs (temples) in three cities: two mandirs are located in Kabul, one of which shares a wall with a mosque; one is in Jalalabad; and one in Ghazni. Eighteen others were destroyed or rendered unusable due to looting during the mujahidin civil war.

There is one synagogue, located in Kabul, which is not in use for lack of a Jewish community. There is no longer a public Christian church; the courts have not upheld the church's claim to its 99-year lease, and the landowner destroyed the building in March (2010). Chapels and churches for the international community of various faiths are located on several military bases, PRTs (Provincial Reconstruction Teams), and at the Italian embassy. Some citizens who converted to Christianity as refugees have returned.

The report also commented on the persecution of Christians in Afghanistan:

The government's level of respect for religious freedom in law and in practice declined during the reporting period, particularly for Christian groups and individuals. Residual effects of years of jihad against the Soviet Union, civil strife, Taliban rule, popular suspicion regarding outside influence and the motivations of foreigners, and weak democratic institutions remained serious obstacles. In May 2010 video footage of Christian converts being baptized aired on an Afghan television station and was re-aired every night for a week due to its popularity with the public. The station did a series of follow up segments as well. In response, inflammatory public statements were made against Christian converts by two members of parliament. These incidents led to targeting of Christian groups and individuals. At least two individuals who converted from Islam remained in detention at the end of the reporting period. (Note: All individuals detained for conversion from Islam were released after the reporting period ended.) Negative societal opinion and suspicion of Christian activities led to targeting of Christian groups and individuals, including Muslim converts to Christianity. The lack of government responsiveness and protection for these groups and individuals contributed to the deterioration of religious freedom.

The detailed account is well worth reading in full to gain a snap shot of the state of religious freedom in Afghanistan at the turn of the year.

I read this report on the day the Morning Prayer reading is Mark 13:1-13.

It begins:

As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!" Then Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down."

And ends:

and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Michaelmas

Today we celebrate Michael and All Angels. Here’s a picture of a stone my son found on Branscombe beach in Devon a couple of years ago.



You might like to check out Malcolm Guite’s Michaelmas: sonnet for the archangel.

Please also pray for Yousef Nadarkhani a Christian pastor in Iran facing execution for his faith. May he and his family know God’s presence, peace and protection at this time.