CHRISTIANS RESIST THE CUTS -EXPOSE THE BIG SOCIETY LIE!

I have been involved in the last couple of weeks getting together with others a statement to launch a network for resources for Christians to get involved in resisting the cuts and the Big Society. Below is the Networks opening statement

A Group of Christians - activists, ministers and theologians - have issued a statement calling upon Christians to unite with others in the movement to resist the governments cuts in public spending and welfare provision and to be cautious of being co-opted into the Big Society initiative. The document also articulates a radical theological critique of government policies and the social and economic order they seek to maintain.

Below is a summary of the statement and call. The full 5,000 word document can be downloaded at THE COMMON WEALTH Website
Christians in Britain today are called to take a stand. Faced with the biggest cuts to public spending for over a generation, it is not enough to retreat into the private ghetto of religious consolation.

As Christians, we are convinced that the actions of the current government are an unjustified attack on the poor[1]. The rhetoric of necessary austerity and virtuous belt-tightening conceals a grim reality: the victimisation of people at the margins of society and the corrosion of community. Meanwhile, the false worship of markets continues unchecked and the immorality of the growing gap between rich and poor goes unquestioned.

We call on the churches to resist the cuts and stand in solidarity with those targeted. We urge them to join the forces fighting back against a distorted ideology. Above all, we commit ourselves not to give in to despair, fear and fatalism. Another world is possible, the world announced by Jesus in his teachings, embodied in the love he took to the cross, alive in the Spirit of his risen strength.

Some might scorn such sentiments. After all, surely the government is sympathetic to Christian ideals? They promote the Big Society, in which the state hands power to individuals, entrepreneurs, charities, and, yes, faith groups. So shouldn't the churches be taking this opportunity with both hands? Shouldn't Christians show they can contribute through this ‘Big Society’ opportunity to easing the pain of these hard times?

We challenge this misconception. Not because we enjoy the luxury of opposition for its own sake, but because we believe that the rhetoric of Big Society is a Big Lie. It masks oppressive business as usual, suffocating all dissent with its phoney 'we're all in it together' soundbites. It is divide and rule dressed up as high-minded community spirit.

We recognize that, on the ground, churches and ministers are faced with difficult choices. We have to work within the current system as a means of trying to get the necessary resources to support the vulnerable and the poor. Sometimes that will mean taking government money with a ‘Big Society’ label to do what has to be done.

When we find ourselves ‘caught in the middle’ in this way we need to help and support each other making the right decisions, never forgetting that we have been placed in this position by a government which takes the side of big business.

It follows that any engagement we have with the Big Society agenda or its equivalents should always be guided - and often limited - by a fundamental critique of the present order. Praying and holding onto the vision of the Kingdom that is revealed in the Church’s sacraments and other symbols of transformation, we are called to speak against the false consciousness of the market driven idolatry in which we presently labour. Nothing should dim the fire of the hope that is in us.

In this document, we briefly set out why we take this position on specifically Christian grounds. We stand ready to work with those in other communities and traditions who resist the cuts.

Our Call
We encourage Christians to
· Sign this Statement and become part of the Common Wealth Network.
· Read and learn about arguments against the cuts and dominating myths about the need for debt reduction eg http://www.redpepper.org.uk/Countering-the-cuts-myths
· Explore study material arguing for a radical Christian vision for economic justice, based on recovery of Biblical tradition. Check out the resources page on Common Wealth website.
· Support and work with local anti – cuts alliances and the national co-ordinating bodies facilitating resistance to the cuts for instance The Coalition of Resistance http://www.coalitionofresistance.org.uk/
· Support workers to struggle for ways to more fully participate in their own economic wellbeing and that of their co-workers.
· Oppose the waste that spends billions on weapons of mass destruction like the Trident missile system
· Seek ways to share our wealth from rich churches to ones based in poorer communities in funding projects to alleviate the worst excesses of the cuts and to assist organizing grassroots community organized resistance
· Support initiatives like Church Action on Poverty and its community organising arm ChangeMakers empowering local communities often at the brunt of the cuts in public services and welfare benefits to speak and act for themselves.

[1] See http://www.church-poverty.org.uk/news/churchchallenge and http://niallcooper.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/when-the-poorest-and-most-vulnerable-bear-brunt-of-the-spending-review-it-is-our-duty-to-speak-out/

REMEMBRANCE & THE PRINCE OF PEACE

I was a little taken aback last year when rung by the Steward of the church I was preaching at on the Sunday before Remembrance Day. She informed me that they expected a two minute silence at 11am -just the time when the service I had planned would be in the middle of the sermon and the breaking of the Word. I was heartened and encouraged in my keeness to renegotiate such an intrusion into the Preaching Service when I read Angela Sheir Jones' blog later that day and her reflection on Poppys and Peace, which is well worth a read.

I would want to go further than Angela though as I have never been keen to wear a red poppy in or out of church and have for several years supported the Peace Pledge Union's White Poppy Appeal. However, I am even more averse to the symbol of the Red Poppy as we see it recruited to muster support for the outrageous invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Last year the excellent Christian 'think tank' Ekklesia published an interesting looking report questioning Rememberance Day culture and making positive proposals as to how it might be revised.Reimagining Remembrance can be downloaded from the Ekklesia website.

I did hold a two minute silence at the beginning of the service on that Sunday, a silence that was prefaced by three stories - the first was told to me by an elderly member of Droitwich Spa Methodist Church about his experience as a soldier in the 'second world war', a war, he believed was necessary to rid the world of the evil of Nazism. His story was of fighting alongside Muslim soldiers from what is now India and Pakistan and how he was moved by their devotion and commitment to prayer five times a day and how he felt it was their prayer that helped him get through the horrors of the war. The second is a story from my wife Annies'' family. The story is of her paternal Grandfather and Great Uncle who chose because of their Christian faith to carry stretchers and not guns and were two of hundreds of young working class Methodist Concientious Objectors, in that futile and murderous war of 1914-18. The third will be of my experience of recently living for a year close to a hospital in Birmingham that treats the wounded soldiers from Afghanistan. I wear my white poppy not out of any disrespect to them but as a reminder of the frequent sight of their bandaged amputated legs as relatives or friends pushed these young people up the street passed my window, the reminder of that sight and the memory of the thousands of Afghans and Iraqis killed or maimed, calls me not to stay in silence but to renew my opposition to these latest futile and murderous military ventures, in the name of Jesus - the Prince of Peace.

ISLAM MEETS STREET ART - THE WORK OF AEROSOLARABIC

I had a lovely time the other week being interviewed by Mohammed Ali also known as AerosolArabic for his Soul City Radio show on local Unity FM radio in Sparkbrook. Mohammed is an internationally renowned Birmingham born graffitti artist who develops in his work a fusion between Islamic calligraphy and contemporary street art and has recently opened up a community arts space - The Hubb - in the heart of Sparkbrook Birmingham. He has just published a short article on his work on the international Common Ground website. He also has an interesting exhibition on in Coventry at The Herbert Gallery called Breaking Down The Wall. On 11th November he will be speaking at the Herbert on Can Graffitti Art Really Change The World and on 19th November he will be performing live with other artists at The Herbert Gallery exploring the themes of Justice, Freedom and Peace that are at the centre of his work. He is also talking about his work at the Urban Theology Forum at Birmingham University on the afternoon of 10th November contact Chris Shannahan for details. Mohammed Ali reflects a new generation of Muslims exploring a new process of dialogue that is developing beyond the world of official 'interfaith'

In his own words:

It’s an important time to challenge .. stereotypes and encourage real dialogue between ordinary people with different ideas, identities and backgrounds, not leave it to faith leaders sharing tea and biscuits. Art is one way of facilitating this dialogue. In my art, I convey principles – peace, justice, brotherhood and respect – that I believe are fading away from our modern societies, but which I highlight to make people aware that they do in fact share common principles. For the average Joe or Jane who travels to work during rush hour traffic, and for local residents who walk past a particular mural every day, I want the walls that carry my messages to come alive and remind people of these shared principles.

MORE 'CLASH OF CIVILISATIONS' THAN GOSPEL- SOOKHDEO'S 'THE CHALLENGE OF ISLAM'

I wrote the following review for the Methodist Theological Journal The Epworth Review it is appearing in this quarter's edition which is out tomorrow

Patrick Sookhdeo

The Challenge of Islam to the Church and its Mission

(Issac Publishing 2009 £? Paperback)

pp193

ISBN 978-09787141-5-4

There is a debate in contemporary Evangelicalism on the attitudes that should be taken towards inter faith encounter and dialogue, particularly with Muslims. This book is a polemic for one side of this argument. As someone who is involved in friendships with Muslims this was not an easy book for me to read because Sookhdheo predominantly speaks of Muslims impersonally and negatively. The book, despite assertions to the contrary in the final paragraph, promotes fear and discourages people from taking the step of seeking dialogical relationships with Muslims. Prominent evangelical institutions and individuals who have sought to do so are criticised.

Sookhdheo claims to engage Islam as an advocate for the persecuted church in Muslim contexts. However the book often reads more as an attempt to co-opt the vulnerability of the persecuted church for an agenda that appears heavily influenced by right wing North American fundamentalist Christianity. There is a need to bring the experience of the persecuted church to the table of dialogue and through recent evangelical involvement in Christian-Muslim dialogue initiatives in the UK this has begun to happen with some success.

There is a powerful and noble evangelical missionary tradition of serious and loving Christian engagement and sharing with Islam and Muslims, that includes the likes of Constance Padwick and Kenneth Cragg. Little of this tradition is behind The Challenge of Islam, which appears to draw more upon Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civilisations’ thesis for its inspiration than the gospel of Jesus Christ. Anyone interested in how evangelical Christians might help contribute to responding positively and creatively to the challenge of Islam to the church in the 21^st century would do better to pick up Roland E Miller’s Muslims and the Gospel or Richard Sudworth’s Distinctly Welcoming.

A VICTORY FOR COMMUNITY ACTION - SPYCAMS TO GO!

Great news today - the West Midlands Police Authority reported last night that the police will be removing the surveilance cameras targetted at the Muslim communities of Sparkbrook, Sparkhill and Washwood Heath in Birmingham. I blogged on this issue here and here this summer and have been involved in supporting the campaign to have the cameras removed. Local Councillor Salma Yaqoob has a fuller report of the meeting and analysis of the decision and what it means here.

JOURNEY TO MECCA

I went to see the recently released film Journey to Mecca at the IMAX cinema in Birmingham the other week with Annie. We really enjoyed it as a beautiful cinematic experience and as an opportunity to get close to the amazing spiritual experience of the Hajj, with some great insights for the non-Muslim into the spirituality of the pilgrimage to Mecca and I would encourage Christians to take the opportunity to go and see it to get a better understanding of the last of the five pillars of Islam. However I am also aware that not all my Muslim friends are enthusiastic about the film or its particular spin on the life of Ibn Battuta. For a very different approach to Ibn Battuta's journeys and an exploration of the diversity of Islam both in Battuta's time and our own try watching the BBC Four 3 hour documentary by Tim Mackintosh - Smith on Battuta's travels that is available for download here. Whatever the truth about Battuta's life is (and it does appear that the JTM film takes some liberties on that account) do take time to be cinematically immersed in the experience of the Hajj and take yourself down to the IMAX - it's worth the £8.

THE BARONESS,THE BISHOPS, THE BIG SOCIETY AND THE CUTS

The corollary of the Big Society is the smaller state. If you talk about the small state, people think that you are Attila the Hun. If you talk about the big society they think that you are Mother Theresa

David Davies MP

It was good to see a large demonstration against the proposed cuts in public expenditure in Birmingham City Centre yesterday, my preaching engagement however, didn't allow me to attend with the mid day start. I have recently seen examples on the ground where community projects are facing serious pressures due to the cuts already taking place, never mind those coming in the October spending review. An excellent Asian women's project that I visited the other week that works with women with learning disabilities and is housed in a Methodist Church is already feeling the pinch, as is a Community Cafe in another Methodist Church in the same area.

Meanwhile a clearly orchaestrated campaign to get parts of the church on board with the 'Big Society' initiative as a neat veil to the dismantling of public services is taking place. Baroness Warsi addressed the House of Bishops in the Church of England recently and articles have appeared from Tory Ministers on the Big Society in the Roman Catholic weekly The Tablet. Moreover, the Church of England and the Church Urban Fund have sought to engage with the ConDems 'Big Society' initiative through the proposed Being Neighbourly project, with a multi-faith element included. This I believe is seriously misguided for a number of reasons, not least in the way it seems to be proposing that the Church of England act as the conduit for monies that are supposed to have an interfaith remit. The bizarre and embrarrasingly possible scenario of a Muslim-Sikh initiative -for instance - requiring church sponsorship before it can be considered for funding is almost colonial in its arrogance. The CofE seems to be excited by being 'taken seriously' by Government, failing to recognise how they are just being used as the sweetner for the proposed attempts to dimantle the welfare state and public services and how reverting to such a privilaged position is in detriment to the church's mission and the gospel.

Thankfully other parts of the Church in England have been concerned to highlight the damage cuts will do to society and to the most vulnerable especially. Church Action on Poverty and the Quaker's Joeseph Rowntree Foundation have highlighted their concern for those most vulnerable and presented some alternatives. However no one from the Churches appears to have questioned the whole ratianale for cuts. An excellent Q & A on why cuts are unnecessary can be found at Red Pepper magazine and the Trade Union Congress has produced an informative booklet.

A Trade Union Sponsored campaign Coalition of Resistance is a good place to start for those Christians and people of other faith concerned to resist the human sacrifices being proposed to the false god of the market and want to join with others in resisting the cuts and organising for a just society more akin to the Biblical principles of Jubilee - where no one has too much and no one has too little - and the radical vision of redistribution of wealth lived out by the early church. Theologian and Activist Ched Myer's work on Sabbath Economics from the US is another excellent resource for exploring what might be a Christian response to economic injustice that takes grassroots community organising seriously unlike the pseudo localism of the Big Society.