Ben Blogs

I believe that one of the reasons that the political extremist are prominent in many parts of the world is because of one thing : fear.

This fear - of change, of not being heard, of becoming worse off - is a big part of extremist politics. These movements focus on destroying an unlikely possibility, rather than given the electorate an alternative viewpoint.

I want the BNP to give more ideas on other parts of everyday life, not just immigration and Britishness. I want the American far-right to provide more evidence to their claims, rather than attack alternatives with misinformation and hyperbole. I want transparency to exist throughout all political thought. Let's see where the 'beef' is.

I believe that the Church, the bringers of God's Kingdom, need to be less imbued with most fears. The church seems to take aim at shooting itself in the foot when the call for political/social action comes.

When the NHS came into existence, not long after World World Two, the national church opposed it. There was a feeling of mistrust of the government helping and enhancing the work already in place (see here). What we see now is a health care that is accessible and to the benefit to all.

This is happening with the Health Reforms in the States: the church does not want to provide for 60 million people because of the potential increase of abortion. Pregnancy terminations effects our understanding of human worth; so is the people not receiving care in times of ill health and disability because of low income or social security dependence.

A church might fundraise for new equipment in their building, for fear of not looking modern; yet not know of anyone in need.

A denomination can hold certain ethical views so tightly, in certainty of living the 'right way', that God can be squeezed out with it.

Some Churches only donate to Christian charities, whatever the crisis or appeal; fearing compassion without a homily will eradicate the Gospel.

Now is the time for the church to follow the way of Jesus.

(I know. It's silly isn't it?)

Jesus was a no-strings attached kind of guy. When He cared for anyone, He healed, He listened, but He never made anyone believe they had anything to fear: Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole(Luke 8:50); Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Jesus gave His frustration to the religious authorities (check out the seven Woes in John's Gospel), which reverberates in certain parts of Christianity today.

It is time to stop finding comfort in fear, and be comforted by the words of the Comforter.

Is it me or is being dumb back in fashion?

I read that there have been five failed court cases trying to prove US President Barack Obama is not American - Stupid!

Statistics show that there is no change in the possibility of relationship breakdown with co-habitors or a married couple. Whoever says otherwise - Stupid!

A survey shows that British children believe that Winston Churchill never existed, but Sherlock Holmes did - Stupid!

The Bible should be read literally - Stupid!

That last one will upset some people. I don't want to offend anyone, but we need to be clear about this. What do we do with such scripture as:

If a man commits adultery with another man's wife - with the wife of his neighbour - both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10)

If two men, a man and his countryman, are struggling together, and the wife of one comes near to deliver her husband from the hand of the one who is striking him, and puts out her hand and seizes his genitals, then you shall cut off her hand; you shall not show pity. (Deuteronomy 25:11-12)

Do not allow a sorceress to live. (Exodus 22:18)

If we take this as literal, then we are living in such a way as to exclude everyone from the depths of God's love and power.

I believe that the Bible is inspired from God, and that God spoke to such men and women so for them to share who God is and what it is to be human. However, to treat the Bible as God is plain ridicules.

When we explore the history, the theology expressed, the people God affected, what their actions mean, and what the stranger verses meant in that time scale (think prevailing paganism and purity, for starters), we get down to the unfathomable character of God and the eternal truths that the Bible hints towards.

Here’s something: the question surrounding homosexuality and Christianity is complicated. The difficulty is down to Biblical literalism, Natural Law leanings, and fear!

To start with, saying the Bible says so is, to say the least, problematic. The most commonly quoted verse in Leviticus, chapter 18, verse 22, which says: 'Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable’. However, when we look at the verse three of that same chapter, with an eye to historical local culture, it reads: ‘You must not do as they do in Egypt… as they do in the land of Canaan… Do not follow their practices’. We need to be aware that this reading was actually stopping followers from participating in pagan worship, which featured different sexual acts (including sex with children, animals, incest-ual acts), in order to ‘please the gods' (also, we must read the chapter to see the full context). Christianity believes in a God of love who made humanity to His image and wants us to love Him and everyone with compassion and respect. Doing something to ensure His happiness is not on His agenda. Using sex as a tool is not what sex is about, either.

Another point to underline: Do we have a pick and mix attitude to the Bible and our religion? Do we emphasis some parts of the Good Book and leave off others is adapting God to our needs, rather than seeking the fullness of God, in whatever way, to understand and follow the mission of individual and collective masses? This needs to be reflected upon always.

To use the Natural Law argument, is troublesome, too. Natural Law being 'a theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set by nature and that therefore has validity everywhere'. As being homosexual is not normally a ‘lifestyle choice’, then, by definition, this might be termed as ‘natural’. You could have a long argument about sex and procreation, yet you could take love out of making love. Our understanding of what is ‘natural’ in humanity and nature is constantly developing; to be rigid on such a subject is not a way to express wisdom.

Fear must be part of some people’s foundation towards homosexuality. Being different, especially with sexuality, makes many people uncomfortable. I have been the only practising Christian/man/under 50 year old/over 21 year old/married person (delete as appropriate) in many settings. The feeling of not fitting-in can be horrible. Having that feeling about your intimate life, with the expectation of bullying, must be horrendous. To believe that God’s unconditional and far-reaching love and grace can be ‘turned off’ due to issues of sexuality (which is Divinely given) seems to shrink Him.

This is a sensitive topic, which we need to keep on talking about, for the strengthening of the communion of Christ.

I struggle with the modern idea of autonomy. This idea of 'as long as your happy, I don't mind', and 'don't tell me what to do', and 'you should do what you want' seems to be an automatic sentence for many of us. Are we losing sight of the possibilty of bad decisions? Is choice so valued that we are willingly ignorant to unfortunte circumstances to our actions?

I am speaking as a church member, which some believe to be sapping the possibilty of people thinking for themselves. Yet, there is more than one Christian denomination, which came from people thinking differently, being moved by such thoughts and making big changes to their lives and beyond (Like Luther, Clavin, Wesley, et al)

Today, protecting property by force is applauded, the right to die trumps palative care, and Brits who break the law abroad, are commended for having 'a bit of fun'.

When recent debates are in action, the right to choose is the opponent to anything the other side brings: abortion; euthanasia; even the US health reform (if we ignore the unfounded claims of death panels - which don't exist in countries that have similar system -like mine infact!). The human right of autonomy trumps all other himan rights.

Now is the time to remember that choice is part - and not the only part - of what it is to live in a free society.

A supportive response to this blog by Philip Bell))

For the past couple of weeks, I have been using the bus from central Bristol home. I find this a reminiscence exercise, especially on the bus journeys I used to use sometimes twice daily.

What I am finding, though, is that the old buildings, mainly shops, are going, and some are not being replaced or taken over by anyone. What I am seeing is something that I regarded as always being there going.

Summer of 2005 carries on this theme. All of my school, all three schools, from ages 4 to 14, were tore down during that time. They are now empty wasteland or housing developments.

What am I hanging on to? Surely I'm not suppose to hang on to stuff like this? To live life to the full (John 10:10) I need to, because of God, become a new creation; because the old [ways have] gone, the new has come(2 Corinthians 5:17)! I need to not hang on to this stuff, and learn and grow from what I got from it all, and be defined by my future, not my past.

I have tried, for years, to be moved by the arguments from Atheist about the freedom and the openness of living without God. Unfortunately, I have yet to be moved by any writer or speaker on this subject.

My main point is that being anti-religion is all there is to Atheism seems to be. Just disliking a certain way to think and live is not the basis to a way of life. I heard Philosophy Bites (a podcast) which had A C Grayling talking about the subject of Atheism. Again, all I got from is ‘we don’t do that’; surely there’s more to it than that?

The attack on the history and current difficulties seem a little misguided; just pointing out what’s wrong is lame, showing what is better is far more positive and directive way of moving people to a new way of being human. The biggest attacks on the Christian faith have, actually, come from Christians, some even quite high up. If the main commentators on Christianity’s failures and reform come fro within - Rob Bell, Adrian Plass, Tom Wright, John Ortberg - then Atheism is failing.

The whole thing of putting down Christian leaders, of history and the present day, seems easy and, has to be said, emotion rather than evidence driven. The author Sam Harris is quoted in saying ‘If I could wave a magic wand and get rid of either rape or religion, I would not hesitate to get rid of religion‘. He has also said ‘there’s nothing more natural than rape.’ I know this is only one of a host of Atheism speakers, but the fact that others are willing to support such a statement is troubling. Surely the perceived view of repression of religion cannot be a greater evil to the physical, psychological, and emotional abuse that rape causes (for all parties). The view of we are brilliant beast, but fundamentally beasts, unable to hold back our urges seems confusing and unclear to me.

So, if you are an Atheist, or a former one, please tell me: what is the attraction of Atheism that does not include any reference to religion?

I, through foolishness, left my mobile phone in my trousers, put in the wash, was look for it after a day not being attached to it, and now have to use a [broken] old phone. My forgetfulness has made me review my use of my communication technology.

Am I using it too much? Do I feel unfulfilled because no one has text or called me this afternoon? Why do I wish for decent internet and bluetooth connection for my next mobile phone?

After much oh-ing and ah-ing, I've decided to use my old phone, which was working fine last Christmas. It turns out I am not losing street cred (although this is no cool phone), people still want to keep contact with me, and I can wait for the day when 3G phones wont cost me food for a week.

Do I need to put to death such earthly desires (ff Colossians 3:5)? Am I wanting to gain more than give (ff Proverbs 21:26)? Will I ever be content with what I own (ff Ecclesiastes 4:8)?

I wonder why we do this? Is contentment too fuzzy a goal to aim for? Why am I mulling over the meaning of our connectivity over a mobile fone? Strange days, in deed...

I can't believe some people.

I was with friends last week, when I heard someone say that she would never allow her children to drink out of plastic bottles. When I pressed her for a reason, her response was 'I got an e-mail that I have to pass it on to all my e-mail contacts'. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!

When I looked this information up - I found that she was fooled by a hoax that was trying to scare people and get their e-mail addresses for unscrupulous purposes. As I was trying to explain the misinformation, she responded with 'I care about my children'; what response is that?

I was at a party recently, and I was part of a 'putting the world to rights' conversation with some old friends. One of them, a nihilist I believe, said a few pointless things. One thing was that he would not bring a child in to this dark, over populated world. This man is single - so what? He complained that over-population (depends what research you read) was Africa's fault, that too many children was causing their poverty, and they should restrict reproduction (which is like how China do things, and they are famed for their human rights abuses).

When I explained that the most populated continent is Europe, that infant mortality is high in a lot of African countries, and that life expectancy is shockingly low also (for example, Nigeria's is in the mid forties), and that poverty, not reproduction, is why people are poor, it stopped the conversation dead. I had proof, not anecdotes, and people became uncomfortable.

Seeing that religious people are suppose to be 'mad' and 'ignorant'. Yet the Bible say things like 'Seek the Truth, for the Truth will set you free'(John 8:32) or 'Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts. At the town centre she makes her speech... you wouldn't take my advice and brushed aside all my offers to train you... you wanted your own way - now, how do you look?' (Proverbs 1:20, 29-31). Looking out for more knowledge and understanding is a Biblical principle.

My only hope is for more people to hunt out what's true and real in the world, to be Socratic in order to understand it, and to live life in the full reality of existence.

I find that this is the time of year, with the summer holidays and changes at all workplaces, that one of the great problems raise its head - boredom.

We can become so bored that we can start making boring things interesting (snail racing, rain, being ill, etc.). Holiday time is meant to be a time when we are to rest from our work; yet too often I hear people talk about time off as 'I have to...' rather that 'I am looking forward...'. What's that all about?

What to do with boredom? Maybe it's time to understand ourselves better and try to know what it is we need in our time of rest. Viktor Frankl, author of 'Man's search for Meaning', spoke about the existential vacuum: when all that we regard as normal in our lives are, temporarily or permanently, taken from us (It's known as The Sunday vacuum - which makes sense no matter how ever you view it).

I struggle with this, more so since I left college; I can have the ants in my pants and mopy moments, like anyone. But if we spend time, each day even, away from it all, and listen to a still small voice (1 Kings 19:12), we can see the world, and our place in it, a little more clearly and enjoy it all more.

Is it me, or is the whole idea of mission an odd one? When I think of spy missions, I'm thinking inhospitable places, or secret locations, and normally immensely dangerous (hence Bond being so sexy). Yet in a church context, it seems that mission is all about putting on events exactly where we are and inviting the people in: as if we've been excluding 'outsiders' except for this particular week.

What's this all about? We believe that Jesus, Paul, and many others stepped out to share their faith; and we still don't want to be in the same place as 'pagans'. What's it all about?

When a minister, at the end of a service, say 'Go forth' or 'Go in peace...', are we willing to go out and do anything regarding what we've heard, experienced, or want to share?

Now is the time to change that - Go forth and be Good News to all who you meet. May our churches remember that Jesus is with us always, even when we are trying to be like Him to someone who doesn't get it. Let us never be down hearted, because believing also leads to suffering as well as fullness of self.

Go Forth!