Military Chaplaincy - Another pace (the role)

Having established that our forces are not in the business of murdering, we now turn our gaze towards the role of the Chaplain in a military setting.

First and foremost the Chaplain is there to provide moral and spiritual guidance and pastoral support to ALL members of the armed forces, and the service in which they serve in particular. The Chaplain is present for those of ALL religions and those of NO religion. Regardless of the who or what, we engage with them and bring the otherness that we, as minister of the Gospel, have in this setting.

The Chaplain teaches and reinforce the values and standards of the service of which they are a part and will also find themselves engaged in the teaching of LOAC (Law of Armed Conflict) and engaging in some extremely challenging conversations regarding RoE (Rules of Engagement) and the reasons for our presence in places (and the jobs we are doing). Alongside this we have the field services, communions and other 'church' services, which include vigils, acts of remembrance, sending off of those who have died in combat and the receiving of same back here in the UK. We do funerals (military and civillian), weddings, baptisms and the other stuff normally associated with the parish/pastoral roles.

There is the joy of sharing Christ and seeing men and women in uniform accept Him and come through in their faith to a place where they themselves are selected for training. There is the precious ability to discuss with those in uniform the philosophy and theology of faith and to help ALL with their journey along their chosen path (one of my joys has been to help a young Buddhist grow in their faith such that they are now becoming a leader of others).

We are not in the forces to excuse or justify wrong, for this is not what our faith requires (Micah 6 - humility, justice, mercy says it all). We NEVER glorify war and do, in our acts of remembrance, accept the folly and failures that bring us to conflict - honouring the dead of all sides and those who were non-combatants too.

If anyone wants to be fully engaged in the pastoral role and have before them the opportunity to share their faith and to display it in their own life and attitudes, then look no further than the military Chaplaincy roles - full on and for christ - always

Trying to find the balance

One of the big issues surrounding Christian living is that of finding a place whereby balance is found and maintained. For instance, in the upper room, Jesus calls us to love one another:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

Now a command given to us by the Boss is surely something we should do all we can to comply with! But of course love is not a pushover in that it begets responses that the focus of that love might not consider loving (I know this to be true from being a parent, for love is not permissive and accepting when they focus of it is doing something wrong).

Then we have the call to unity as found in John 17: 20-26. Here we find Jesus praying that all the believers might be one (just as He and the Father are one) and by this the world will believe (just as they did when they saw the unity in Acts 2 in the community and in Solomon's portico). The Act's reading (2:42) is the model for Church growth and Christian living:

"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

What an idyll we find here - signs and wonders, unity in word and deed and people flocking to join. Something we lack these days as we scuttle into our small corners and bemoan modern society and its values and the decline in moral behaviour and thinking.

What do we have these days? People seeking to use elements of Church as weapons against others! People calling us to be united and expel the dinosaurs who oppose 'modern' (popularist, revisionist) thinking. People who choose to hear what they want to hear and disregard the rest (overactive 'Boxer' gene syndrome).

I hear people who call us to 'act against' those who seek to cause others to sin (perhaps the millstone and deep water of Matthew 18 might apply here) and other who call us to 'embrace today's society and rewrite the Bible accordingly (thus rejecting 2,000 years of received wisdom and orthodox thinking).

Seems to me that the popularist movements of their day have all resulted in less people coming to church and I have a sneaky suspicion that the same might be true of the next cause celebre! The Church is called to be counter-cultural and surely the more we look like society; the more we embrace society's standards and values the less reason there is to become part of it, because after all, there's no difference. After all if it's the same as the world, what's the point of coming in?

Now some will cry 'Jesus and God's love' but of course having thrown God (or at least diluted Him and the book about Him and humanity) out of the frame and diminishing Jesus into little more than a soppy, approving and impotent love and (with Oestreicher and Montifiasco combining to complete the 'Jesus, God made gay' image) a reinvented Christ.

Add to this the call to love the image of the invisible God made visible in the person before us (1 Jn 4) and the call upon us to 'restore gently those caught in sin' (which of course many will deny is sin these days, we're just doing what we are made to do and be) of Galatians 6 and it is obvious that the journey to balance, love and obedience is not the easiest we will ever take.

But take it we must.

Pax

It's Friday in Afghanistan

Which means prayers for the general populace and this means that we need to be praying too!

Not only that but we need to consider our responses to the happenings of the past week sensibly and in a measured and balanced manner.

Last night, during a 'Padre's hour' I asked the cadets what they thought about Afghanistan and the news and attitudes they'd either had or had heard. Some of the comments that came out of our conversation were:

"Unwinnable"     "Time to get out"    "Lost the battle"

"If we leave we deny the value of those lives that have been lost (404 personnel!)"

What was obvious was that the US forces have certainly not helped the situation with the serial errors that are: urinating on dead Afghanistan nations, burning Korans and the murder of sixteen civillians.

So before some of those who are continually bleating about warmongers, occupation, oppression and pulling out start to sharpen their knives, let us consider the situation and our response (especially our response as Christians if the cap fits) to the situation.

What is happening in Afghanistan (with regard to the British forces, and these are the only group I feel competent to have an opinion on) is that we are giving Afghanistan nationals the opportunity to live free from fear. We are also making inroads to weakening the influence of the Taliban (or we were until the serial sadnesses) and we are training the ANA/ANP (Afghan National Army/Afghan National Police) to manage and control their own nation's security. All of which is positive and good.

I think the commissioning of the same legal eagle who represented the infamous serial killer, Ted Bundy, is a massive error for a number of reasons (including guilt ny association with Bundy. It's easy to think, "Oh yeah, John Henry Browne, the bloke who defends proven killers!")


The call for the man to be tried in Afghanistan has been ignored by having him taken out of the area and he's now on his way (I assume) to the good old US of A. His brief sums up my fears when he says:

"He's one of our boys and we have to treat him fairly . . . He has no animosity towards muslims!"

Wow, I'd hate to see what would have occurred if their had been animosity!!

Other defend the actions taken by pointing to a friend having lost a leg the day before whilst others claim he was unfit and 'didn't want to go' or was suffering 'battle fatigue'

The reality is that much ground has been lost, something clearly demonstrated by the fact that President Karza, in a strategy designed to reduce civilian deaths, has told the US to pull its troops out of village areas and let Afghan forces take the lead. The reality is that trust has been lost at all levels of the people of Afghanistan.

So, what do we do?

1. We pray for the families of those who have had their loved ones murdered,

2. We pray for those who are on the ground and seeking to do their duty (and their families),

3. We pray that the right thing would be done regarding this sad episode - I fear for the responses should the man be brought (as some reports claim) to a trial of sort in some eighteen months or so and found 'not guilty' or in some way exonerated and I am fearful that others seek his death to show that some sort of 'justice' has been seen to have been done. Justice, Mercy and Humility!

4. We pray for the comrades and family of the yet to be named soldier as it's obvious he isn't in a good place, and

5. We pray that the actions of wicked men who might use the Friday prayer to arouse and inflame passion through corrupting the Koran coms to nothing.

I've tried to keep this short and realise that there is much more that can be said but think there is enough here for people to join the dots for themselves.

Pax

Abu Qatada - When Integrity fails

It seems to me that the furore over the the decision to release the wayward Muslim cleric and the ban by the European Court of Human Rights regarding him being deported to Jordan are all part and parcel of the same problems that led to the untimely death of Baha Musa some seven and a half years ago.

Now I know, having read many of the garment-rending and teeth-gnashing blogs that what I'm going to write might not be popular, but the truth rarely is! In both cases the root of the problem lies in the reality that when wrong things are done - bad things happen, and there is no doubt that Qatada's release and the ban on his deportation are not good. So who, or what, is to blame?

The blame lies firmly at the feet of those who cease to operate with Integrity and where this action occurs there is, as Newton observed, a reaction, and sadly this reaction is often greater in terms of outcome that the initial wrong act. The wrong act of gaining evidence by use of torture and coercion brings about the result that, as I understand it, a guilty and wicked man is afforded the protection that others have had denied because of his preaching and actions. This is a stern lesson for us as we realise that by acting wrongly the wrong are themselves protected and the modern mantra of the 'means justifying the end' is totally wrong.

Acting wrongly never brings about something that is right and this is echoed by the findings (and the realities) of the Baha Musa case as well. People who have been acted against, by acting wrongly themselves, are in danger of damaging the innocent if they lose sight of the need to maintain their integrity and throw discipline to the wind.

As I understand it there are ways and means of extraditing Qatada legally and these need to be looked at and acted upon. For those who call upon our government to 'do what is right' even though it is wrong are calling upon our nation to descend into the same pit as those against whom we contend physically, morally and spiritually. We need our nation, through the actions of our government, to show integrity and have the courage to do what is right even though other would have us merely engage in the act of revenge!

And those who call for our government to ignore the rule of law and deport Qatada are themselves in danger of leading us into a place where we become bedfellows with those whom we despise rather than being a people who obey the rule of law and act lawfully.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, my brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.

Micah 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Hard (and perhaps unpopular) words - but words I feel we need to heed as a nation and in our own personal walk. If we act within the law all that we do will bear fruit and honour God. If we act against God we sow the seeds of despair and frustration. Perhaps this is what we get with an increasingly secular society (now that's a contentious thought too! - must be my day to tick people off)?

Pax

World Mental Health Day

Yesterday was World mental Health Day - A day which hopefully raises the profile, and awareness, of mental health issues and encourages full, frank, open and honest discussion about this often problematic topic.

I was going to say that I struggle with my Christian faith at times, especially when it comes to mental health, but as soon as the words appeared on the screen I realised that in fact my struggle isn't with my faith or with God but with those who call themselves Christian. My reasons for this are easy to understand and simple to speak out (I hope). So I will try and explain them using some stuff from the Bible (it is what Christians do!)

James 2:14 - 17 (NLT):
"What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?
Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless."

This is the big problem with the issue of Christians and the poor, the homeless and the mentally ill (often, it seems, one and the same) for a number of Christians (and even more with other or no faith label). They walk past the focus of their pity and mumble, "God bless you," and hurry on by! But there is some help to be found in the Bible - Read on:

Micah 6: 6 - 8 (Revised Vic Version):
"What can we bring to the LORD?
What kind of offerings should we give him?
Should we bow before God with offerings of direct debits?
Should we offer him our debit card numbers and our Argos catalogue of gifts?
Should we sacrifice our children to pay for our sins?
No way people, the LORD has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."

What God wants is us up close and personal. We are made in His image and this displays itself in creativity, in coming alongside (parakletos - just like the Holy Spirit does with us, bringing God into our daily reality), in finding out our names and listening to our stories. I struggle with people who merely give those who beg a coin and rush by for in doing so the neither resolve the problem nor help the person!

When we see a beggar we need to stop and find out their story, engage them and come alongside. This done we provide an answer to their need - a sandwich and a drink if they need food is the fulfilling of the most basic need. Giving them the money to buy it themselves is perhaps to just fund that which supports their problem and thus is a curse rather than a blessing!

If the problem is homelessness - then there are people who deal with that (I found out the numbers of the local hostels and places of help and would give those who claimed to be homeless or with specific needs a card with the relevant numbers (and a 'phone card to ring them). So often we fail to do what is right because we are too busy or just don't know the answers - but if we keep seeing the problem can we use this as an excuse? Obviously not because the Bible has that covered too:

Matthew 7:12 (NLT)
"Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you."

This is up there with the 'Judge not . .' passage (beginning of the chapter). If we lived our lives on the basis of treating others as we would like to be treated then we would see a very different world and as Christians, isn't this where we should be now? I see Christians expel people because of their actions and yet in the same breath tell me that those actions were initiated by the person's mental illness! As my dear old (long departed) Mum used to say, "There but for the grace of God go I!"

She understood that the line between those who have and those who don't is fine and fragile (especially in today's financially challenging times) and to afford people the dignity that we would like to be shown is surely the conferring of a basic human right let alone a Christian duty!

So three gold-plated rules from the Big Black Book of Life (BBBoL) - Three little things that would benefit our society, help support the mentally-ill and touch the weak, marginalised and oppressed (and that's before we bless those who have!).

Easy to explain - simple to do - so why aren't we doing them?

You may turn over your papers!

Crime and effective punishment

Working on the theory that Rowan probably won't be racing to respond to Ken Clarke's comments regarding the recent riots as a 'legacy of broken penal system' I thought I'd have a go. Undoubtedly my words will be less erudite and, hopefully, more accessible than Rowan's) but here goes anyway!

Apparently, were we to examine the backgrounds of those who have been collared for their part in the recent riots, we would find that the majority were known criminals who had come into contact with, and been processed by, the judiciary with little or no effect. This should come as no real surprise for the circus that is British criminal law finds itself engaging in ASBOs which are, in my experience, generally to be regarded as ineffective badges of pride for many who receive them. Coppers and PCSOs I talk with often complain that someone will be taken to the nick, charged, appear before the bench, receive their ASBO and be back in the same place from which they were barred within days (and sometimes hours!).

Those who find themselves given community service or bound to appear in a certain place at certain times find the experience anything but punitive. A couple of examples I've heard of (by various means):

A man who'd been convicted of football related incidents was ordered to report to the local nick on match days. When the radio reporter asked him about his punishment mentioned the fact that the spent theSaturday afternoon in the custody suite, where the custody office left a radio playing with the football - so he didn't miss much of the happenings! Now you might say that the punishment was being removed from the actual 'being there' bit, but the bloke didn't think he'd been that punished and found it all a bit funny!

Someone who'd been put away for three months for theft stole a car on his way home from the prison because he didn't want to have to wait for public transport! Funny and depressing in one episode.

A senior officer spoke last night in the BBC discussion on the riots saying, "There was 'no intelligence' on the part of the Police before the riots." How very true. But it doesn't take much intelligence (hence I can understand it) to see that those who engaged in the rioting were the 'hard core' criminal types who live outside of society's rules and codes of conduct. These are the people who live for themselves and merely see prison and the legal system as a niggling nuisance rather than effective deterrent. These are the people who laugh as community sentences, ignore fines and come out of prison largely unaffected and totally unabated in their acts and attitudes. These are indeed the feral underclass which needs to be dealt with be4cause they draw the next group of people into the pool with them.

Then we have the 'followers', those who look at the hard core and see them get away with whatever they appear to choose to with little obvious effect. They see them act as they want and see this underpinned and supported by the welfare state in terms of benefits and the like. These are the people who filled the spaces behind the real criminals and emulated their heroes and in doing so filled the gaps and made detaining the ringleaders more difficult. They are the 'noise' that interferes with the process. The problem is that the two groups together make for something exciting and this causes others, who would otherwise be regarded as honest and law-abiding, to be caught up.

Sadly it is these people 'caught up' who are affected by the process of law and it is these who are seeing quite punitive sentencing now which is devastating for them and fatal for their future careers and expectations. The hard core are, as a generalisation, academically limited and having few career choices see no loss in their being acted against by the system. The followers are a mixed bag and for some the only hope they have is to be promoted into the hard core whilst others, coming to their senses and realising their potential slip back into being part of a stable and productive society.

It appears that 70% of those arrested had a criminal history whilst the other 30% were merely 'good' people who were caught up and who have, by being so, have damaged their community and their own lives. The problem is of course that we all have the potential to make the wrong choices (I still call that sin) and within even the best of us is that small voice that urges us on when rational thinking cries out to us to 'Stop!'.

So I have to agree with Ken Clarke in that the way we deal with criminal acts not only appears ineffective but obviously is. Whilst Labour (and didn't they they do such a good job in so many areas when they held power?) point to Clarke's comments being merely financially motivated I think the man has a point. The point of a penal system is to convict and work towards the person not reoffending (that's why some like capital punishment I guess). We need to change the way the person acts and this isn't done by rewarding bad behaviour - hence the call by many that those who are convicted should lose benefits and be ejected from social housing.

If we take the marginalised and marginalise them further how can we hope to see them inculturated?

If we take the 'have nots' and make them such that they have less how do you expect them to respond?

But if we take the ignorant and educate them, the excluded and include them, the one dimensional lives and set them free surely we will see the people, their families, their homes, their communities also change.

The problem is that there is a fine line between doing those things and being seen to reward those who live outside of our society. The problem is that to do so is costly in terms of energy, effort, societal will and (as always) financially.

But the cost to our society is surely greater if we don't do this?

This is surely the Christian basis of our dealings with wrongdoers - we take them and convict them of their wrongdoing and educate them such that they become transformed by the renewing of their mind. And for for those who won't be - then we have the full force of law and the security of removing them from the society that they so corrupt and damage.

Pax