Assassination and the law

As I understand it the assassination of Iran's General Qasem Soleimani is at first sight something that must surely be regarded as a violation of international law and by this act of aggression confers upon those who commissioned and delivered the act, the label 'terrorists!'.

Even though I am assured, and quite confident, that General Soleimani had indeed planned and commissioned acts of aggression in Syria and Iraq (and other places too perhaps) the action in which Soleimnai was killed can not be justified on the grounds of his tyranny and as no state of war exists and the General was on foreign soil and effectively hors de combat this is both a wrong and dangerous action to have taken. For as General in Chief, surely the President has set aside diplomacy and publicly placed on the table state sponsored acts of aggression.

Now I am of the mind that this has been the case in the actions of the Iranian sponsored involvements in Syria, where nationals who oppose the current regime have been killed, and also feel that there is enough suspicion to support the claims that Iranian involvement in Iraq has resulted in the loss of coalition life. That this is covert does not remove the warrant of international law or God's law. There is the case that 'tyranny' can be used as a just cause for such acts, I don't think that this applies here. Neither do I think the action can be considered to be 'preemptive or anticipatory self-defence' (unless the US can provide evidence that by removing this man from power as act of aggression (or terrorism) was prevented.

Some might say that there is evidence of belligerency (that is warlike or aggressive behaviour) on the part of Iran and so the act of assassination cannot be considered the be terrorism. The problem here is that so many motion pictures, historical books and first-hand accounts can lay the same charges as those Gen Soleimani was accused of at the door of US armed forces or agencies. If we take this as the case, what not precludes Iran for engaging in 'tit for tat' responses?

As a final thought, what of 'protected persons'? The European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism brings into view the fact that"a serious offence involving an attack against the life, physical integrity or liberty of internationally protected persons, including diplomatic agents; by means of bombs, grenades, rockets, automatic firearm or letter or parcel bomb is an act of terrorism.

As one who is concerned with maintaining the rule of law (something British forces do by abiding by the Law of Armed Conflict [LOAC] and keeping within the Rules of Engagement [RoE] and operating within the Geneva and other conventions and treaties) I am struggling with today's actions. Coupled with the jingoistic Tweeting of an American Flag by the President of the United States and the baying masses who champion acts that appear to be wrong, we find ourselves in a difficult moral situation today. The Bible offers us this thought in Exodus 20.13: "You shall not commit murder!" Taking a life in combat is to kill another person: A combatant. We, the British forces are taught that we are Lawful, Professional and always act Appropriately in all situations (Thats what LOAC, RoE, and the various conventions and treaties challenge us to be and do. Anything outside to that is the felonious taking of life and any act of murder removes from us any higher moral ground and removes from us our moral compass.

Even if this does not promulgate state-sponsored action, the potential for this to ignite a response from members of the Islamic faith against what is (erroneously in my opinion) labelled as Christian is great. It is an act that is in many ways the same as striking a tinderbox in a gunpowder store (which didn't work for Guy Fawkes and his covert strike team but might for others in today's context.

We should be circumspect when the conditions so dictate such action. Anything else is a recipe for something tragic and costly in terms of lives and the potential for peace. Dialogue rather than military engagement is always the preferred path, and when this fails is the time when I and those who wear uniforms are called upon to fix the mess politicians have made.

Please pray for the players in this tragic and sorry episode.

Please do not cheer at the demise of a life which appears to have been taken wrongly, for their is no victory for anything but the forces of darkness and the rule of stupidity.

Please reflect and, if I am wrong, offer me correction, and if not - work to bring about peaceful results from this sad and sorry situation. I will hopefully revisit and where necessary add sources - but in this splurge from somewhere in my head, I have not had the memory or time to do so.

Pax

Measured and balanced responses

It seems to me, albeit hampered by my limited wit, that one of the perennial issues is that of responding to stuff we consider to be wrong with Church stuff and letting ourselves loose on a path that will:

a. take us back to the time when Jesus walked the earth, or

b. take us back to be what the New Testament Church was before the patristic errors, politics and power corrupted it, or

c. take us forward to something orthodox and enabling that speaks into today's realities, and

d. scrub everything and just live out what the New Testament tells us as if we were living in the days when we had only the Eucharist and the fellowship of other believers.

The problem for me is that I have proclaimed some of the above and sought the others from the pulpit, from my knees and in the sacred space that is both prayer and praise.

Many years back I can recall being in the company of a group of Christians who decided that they had no need of theology. All that was necessary to be a 'good Christian' was to read the Bible and live it - the input of those who might write on its contents being nothing other than a call to error and putting their own spin onto what was obvious without it.

Being someone who had just started studying at Bible College I sat back (quietly) and watched at whatever was about to happen in this group. It sounded good and yet, as time progressed, the reality looked awful! As they read, interpreted and applied the words of the Bible taken from one place they denied the words that resided elsewhere. Not only that but the core values that are:

i. The ten commandments (Exodus 20)

ii. The call of the shema* (Deuteronomy 6.4) to,  'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might', and

c. The words of Leviticus 19.18 which explicitly says, 'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord!'

Sad to say that the last time I heard of any of those in the original group they had all binned Christianity as 'something that didn't work' and were doing their own stuff and living quite joyless, but self-serving lives. This brings me to consider many things in terms of lifestyle, attitudes, fruit and joy because I'd like to think that getting it right with God ticks all the positive boxes - but does it I wonder?

And I'm open to those who find freedom away from Christ - but would add that it might be freed from Christians rather than the Boss Himself (surely not, Christians are all lovely, aren't they?)

So I'm about to embark upon some thinking about the patristic errors, the desire to go back and the ways that some have gone into new territory (they haven't really by the way - they just think they have but indeed there is 'nothing new under the sun!

So come along with me and put your views, correct me, shout me down, lift me up and take us forward and let's have a look at Christianity in the now as something that doesn't deny the 'then' or corrupt it for the approbation of those outside the Church.

Let's get it on!

* shema (Shem aah) - the Hebrew word for 'Hear' - taken from 'hear, o Israel, the LORD . . '

Book of Common Prayer - A dinosaur?

That's how it was described to me recently. In fact I was told that it was a 'relic of the past' and my companion went to great lengths to tell me how BCP and evening services ought to be a thing of the past (along with robes, choirs and all 'that old -fashioned' stuff)!

Last Sunday I was privileged to engaged in a BCP sandwich, beginning with an early-morning communion services and ending with evensong (a Common Worship communion as the filling) and I found it to be an extremely uplifting and rewarding experience. The communion, a 'said' service, appealing to the mind and challenging us as we heard the ten commandments (outside of this service, when was the last time we encountered them I wonder?) and such wonderful words as:

'Here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy and lively sacrifice unto thee'

There is no doubt that this service brings us to a place of penitential encounter with the risen Christ in a stunningly simple manner using words and stillness that are rarely found within our fast paced, music-ridden, services. It appeals to head and heart and provides a space that so many of us, with its accompanying silence, appear to almost fear these days.

The evensong with Psalm and canticles - and let's be fair, pointing and singing them have always been a challenge for many of us - is a very different kettle of fish indeed. After all there are hymns (which I've swapped for some of the modern offerings with great success) and space for an Anthem (the choir's showpiece spot and a chance for us to be touched by something splendid) too. Combine this with a gentle, steady and measured progress through the words and what you have is something that marries reflective and contemplative and offers insights and opportunities for true encounter.

But of course my colleague didn't agree, claiming BCP services were, 'So samey and repetitive'! My response to this being, 'Of course the worship band offering is different every time isn't it?'

Well of course it isn't, although my colleague did accentuate the importance of changing the services to make them attractive ('if you don't they get bored and stop coming!'), something that raises the question: Are our services engagement or entertainment ? Are we concerned with quality and efficacy of the worship we offer or merely looking to the numbers of people turning on and tuning in? Ratings or relationship? What a cruel thought (which I kept to myself of course)!

Another person popped in to the conversation and dismissed it all with simple side-swipe that dismissed BCP as 'too cerebral' and reiterated how evening services 'just weren't popular anymore' - just goes to show that you can't win. But perhaps we need to look at the popularity of evening services and their decline (I favour blaming weak and ineffective clergy and television bringing such offerings as the Forsythe Saga, Upstairs Downstairs and the Onedin Line to show that you could be entertained, moved and engaged on a Sunday evening at home rather than bored to death in a church building.

The glove was laid down then - I wonder when the Church will think about picking it up and engaging in the battle for ratings - not with entertainment but with a contagious, compelling and appealing faith?

ps. I think there is a place for all forms of worship style and wonder whether we are guilty of not trying to introduce BCP, Taizé and other forms of worship to our members because we fear they might not 'like' it. I think there is merit and value and potential for encounter in every form (even the Rupert Bear Prayer Book [Blast!]) if we bring it to a people who we have prepared correctly. A people who are willing to seek God outside of their own comfort zones (which of course means those who lead need to be outside their own first, doesn't it?)

The Tenth Day of Christmas - The Decalogue

Yep - no prizes for guessing what comes in tens in the Bible today is there?

The Ten Commandments - now modified by many as the ten (or fewer) suggestions, good ideas or restrictions.

The BCP (Book of Common Prayer) Communion service starts of with the recitation of these (followed by a request that God writes them on our hearts but since BCP is a fading feast for some the nearest most Christians come to them is a joke, which goes like this:

A dogcollar, standing at a Zebra crossing, was greeted by a colleague. 'Where's your bike?' they asked, only to be met by the sad response, 'You know, I don't have a clue. I think someone might have pinched it!'

'There's a simple solution to that,' said his friend, 'Next Sunday preach on the Ten Commandments and when you get to the "'Thou shalt not steal' bit - have a look round at the congregation and see who looks away, you've found your bike!'

The following Monday the two passed each other, on their bikes. 'I see the sermon worked,' Cried one. 'Indeed it did,' responded the other, 'I got to the adultery bit and I remembered where I'd left it!'

I wonder when the last time was that you heard a sermon (or series) on the Ten Commandments or (other than BCP) had all ten before you in service. I asked about twenty  people and their response was, 'errrr - don't think I have!' So let's at least attempt to redress that situation a little with a visit to Exodus 20:

'Then God spoke all these words:

1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
4. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
5. Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.'

There you are - what needs to be said other than these are the basic building blocks of our society, smooth coexistence with out neighbours and the path for concord and peace if kept.

Postscript
The comment that there 'is no love' in the Commandment has been made. It is surely love that causes them to be given, for surely it is a parent's desire that their children live well and are happy and at peace will all.

The place where love is not found is in the way we apply them to others (whilst usually excusing ourselves) and as a remedy to this I offer Galatians chapter six:

'Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.'

Toddler Ten Commandments

1. If I like it, it's mine.

2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.

3. If it’s in your hand, but I can take it from you, it's mine.

4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.

5. If I wish I’d had it a little while ago, it's mine.

6. If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.

7. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine

8. If it looks just like mine, it's mine.

9. If I think it's mine, it's mine.

10. If it’s broken, it’s yours. Unless you want it, then it’s mine again