the Breathe Network is a new initiative on simpler living, kicking off with a series of events around the UK in the next 2 months. It would be nice if some of this fed into the election debates too: one of the causes of our present financial crisis, probably the main cause, is greed and overconsumption. But I don't hear anyone challenging an economic model based on consumer capitalism and personal debt.
One volcano in Iceland has thrown our airfreighting industry up in the air: green beans from Kenya and strawberries from New Zealand might be short at Tescos for a while longer, though I imagine the goods will all reach their appointed homes long before the stranded passengers. In normal times, there might be some discussion about whether, as a country, we need to change our patterns of consumption and spending. A few extra wind farms here and there isn't going to have much of an impact when, if the whole world consumed at UK levels, we'd need a couple of extra planets to satisfy the appetites.
'less stuff, more life' is the Breathe networks tagline. Sounds good, the issue is always the detail...
Showing posts with label credit crunch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label credit crunch. Show all posts
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Saturday, January 09, 2010
History of Now: Do the Fat Shoppers have a Vision?
It's been a weird week, a combination of a nasty infection and snow has meant no evening engagements at all. Instead, BBC2's History of Now has been a good way to spend some of that time, giving a retrospective on the Noughties and even giving Andrew Marr the last word as a nod to his work on the 100 years before that.
Last nights was on globalisation, and featured the (not often heard) story of London as a multicultural success story, and recent record immigration levels not resulting in riots in the streets as a big achievement. There was also the irony of Britain hosting G8 at Gleneagles to try to make progress on climate change whilst half the population was jumping into planes for a cheap weekend break to Prague.
A couple of things have really jumped out at me.
1. The Noughties was the decade when restraint went out the window. Any sense of moderation when it came to consumption, travel, sex, alcohol or food consumption (the average weight of male and female rose significantly over the decade), borrowing, spending, emotion, language, behaviour, greed, self expression you name it, the idea of anything having a limit, being enough, seemed to have been thrown out entirely.
Which in turn reminded me of Proverbs 29:18 'where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint', or 'where there is no vision, the people perish' in other versions.
In the last couple of years, sheer economics, plus a few other factors, has reintroduced some sense of limits. Cut price air travel is down, partly due to the debt crunch, partly because we're more aware of the carbon footprint. Bad language on TV, and 'edgy' (Newspeak for 'offensive') material has been reeled in in the wake of the Brandon Ross affair. Consumption has, sort of, pulled back in the last 18 months, but not massively - we're still addicted to shopping.
And what's the vision?
2. If you were Karl Marx in 2010, identifying the opiate of the people, I doubt religion would be anywhere in your top 5 candidates. History of Now pointed out that social mobility had ground to a halt, and the gap between rich and poor had grown much wider. How had that happened without social unrest? Because of enough high-profile opiates to keep the masses always hopeful of breaking in: the Lottery, X Factor, Pop Idol, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It maybe wasn't a coincidence that Britains biggest export in the Noughties was game show formats. It's a classic bit of magical misdirection: keep everyones eyes on Cheryl Cole and Jimmy Choo, and they won't notice what's really happening.
I'd love for this next decade to be unrestrained, but in the right things. Love, service, compassion, generosity, humility, kindness, truth, wisdom. There's more to life than shopping, and there's more to fulfilment than singing to Simon Cowell. If the next decade is more of the same, then we'll accumulate a few more toys, put on a few more pounds, and the sound of the Emperors' fiddle will grow louder over a burning world.
Last nights was on globalisation, and featured the (not often heard) story of London as a multicultural success story, and recent record immigration levels not resulting in riots in the streets as a big achievement. There was also the irony of Britain hosting G8 at Gleneagles to try to make progress on climate change whilst half the population was jumping into planes for a cheap weekend break to Prague.
A couple of things have really jumped out at me.
1. The Noughties was the decade when restraint went out the window. Any sense of moderation when it came to consumption, travel, sex, alcohol or food consumption (the average weight of male and female rose significantly over the decade), borrowing, spending, emotion, language, behaviour, greed, self expression you name it, the idea of anything having a limit, being enough, seemed to have been thrown out entirely.
Which in turn reminded me of Proverbs 29:18 'where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint', or 'where there is no vision, the people perish' in other versions.
In the last couple of years, sheer economics, plus a few other factors, has reintroduced some sense of limits. Cut price air travel is down, partly due to the debt crunch, partly because we're more aware of the carbon footprint. Bad language on TV, and 'edgy' (Newspeak for 'offensive') material has been reeled in in the wake of the Brandon Ross affair. Consumption has, sort of, pulled back in the last 18 months, but not massively - we're still addicted to shopping.
And what's the vision?
2. If you were Karl Marx in 2010, identifying the opiate of the people, I doubt religion would be anywhere in your top 5 candidates. History of Now pointed out that social mobility had ground to a halt, and the gap between rich and poor had grown much wider. How had that happened without social unrest? Because of enough high-profile opiates to keep the masses always hopeful of breaking in: the Lottery, X Factor, Pop Idol, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It maybe wasn't a coincidence that Britains biggest export in the Noughties was game show formats. It's a classic bit of magical misdirection: keep everyones eyes on Cheryl Cole and Jimmy Choo, and they won't notice what's really happening.
I'd love for this next decade to be unrestrained, but in the right things. Love, service, compassion, generosity, humility, kindness, truth, wisdom. There's more to life than shopping, and there's more to fulfilment than singing to Simon Cowell. If the next decade is more of the same, then we'll accumulate a few more toys, put on a few more pounds, and the sound of the Emperors' fiddle will grow louder over a burning world.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Toy Story
The Guardian had a profile last week of Gary Grant, who runs the toy chain The Entertainer. It's managed to stay in business through the recession, despite not opening on Sundays and not stocking any Harry Potter merchandise.
"Last year I prayed more about my business than I have ever done and in October, for the first time, I felt God say to me 'you need to call the staff together,'" he says. "I said 'God, you're mad, I'm not doing that' – because you can have a personal conversation with God – I got to work on Monday morning and I heard God ask me again, 'are you going to call the staff together?'"
So he did. The born-again Christian – or "charismatic Christian" as he prefers – emailed workers inviting them to a "time of reflection". "Ye of little faith," he jokes. "I thought six or so would come along and sit with me and pray for Woolworths and the 28,000 people potentially losing their jobs. I got six chairs out and went to get more and when I came back there were 30 people in the room. It was very moving."
Apparently there's a global shortage of Lego. There's plenty at Legoland, or perhaps James May still has it all.
"Last year I prayed more about my business than I have ever done and in October, for the first time, I felt God say to me 'you need to call the staff together,'" he says. "I said 'God, you're mad, I'm not doing that' – because you can have a personal conversation with God – I got to work on Monday morning and I heard God ask me again, 'are you going to call the staff together?'"
So he did. The born-again Christian – or "charismatic Christian" as he prefers – emailed workers inviting them to a "time of reflection". "Ye of little faith," he jokes. "I thought six or so would come along and sit with me and pray for Woolworths and the 28,000 people potentially losing their jobs. I got six chairs out and went to get more and when I came back there were 30 people in the room. It was very moving."
Apparently there's a global shortage of Lego. There's plenty at Legoland, or perhaps James May still has it all.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
MP Claims for Cash in Church Collection
Frank Cook claimed back a £5 donation made at a church service to commemorate the sacrifice of RAF pilots. The left wing MP for Stockton North signed the claim thus: “Battle of Britain church service, Sunday 17.09.06. £5 contribution to offertory on behalf of Frank Cook MP.”
From Guido Fawkes. The claim was rejected by the fees office. Mr Cook told the Telegraph "I don't remember the specific details of the Battle of Britain Day donation, but the claim was quite unjustified and I have to hold up my hands and say sorry."
Fair enough, it's only £5 and he's apologised. But why would anyone even think of claiming for this in the first place?
I'll say it again, forget all this tosh about 'reforming the system'. ITS NOT THE SYSTEM THAT'S THE PROBLEM ITS THE PEOPLE. The financial credit crunch last year, and the moral credit crunch this year, are both the result of people doing greedy and irresponsible things because they thought they could get away with it. Yes better (and independent) regulation will help keep people honest in the future, but if an MP can't be a good, honest and trustworthy steward of taxpayers money without having a 'system' to keep him/her that way, then we don't want them as an MP in the first place.
From Guido Fawkes. The claim was rejected by the fees office. Mr Cook told the Telegraph "I don't remember the specific details of the Battle of Britain Day donation, but the claim was quite unjustified and I have to hold up my hands and say sorry."
Fair enough, it's only £5 and he's apologised. But why would anyone even think of claiming for this in the first place?
I'll say it again, forget all this tosh about 'reforming the system'. ITS NOT THE SYSTEM THAT'S THE PROBLEM ITS THE PEOPLE. The financial credit crunch last year, and the moral credit crunch this year, are both the result of people doing greedy and irresponsible things because they thought they could get away with it. Yes better (and independent) regulation will help keep people honest in the future, but if an MP can't be a good, honest and trustworthy steward of taxpayers money without having a 'system' to keep him/her that way, then we don't want them as an MP in the first place.
Monday, May 25, 2009
70% 'reconsidered core values' in the last year.
Christian Research have published a study on whether the credit crunch is making people re-examine their core values and priorities. A survey of over 2000 people in April found that 70% of them had "had cause to reconsider their core values, or think about the big issues like ‘the meaning of life’, in the last year".
Here's what that re-evaluation looked like in practice, in terms of what people were thinking about doing:
Researcher Benita Hewitt argues that what folk are mainly looking for is belonging, rather than a deeper meaning or purpose to things, as a result of insecurity due to the credit crunch. More details on that in her powerpoint presentation on the research.
Another interesting finding:
The place of prayer, church going or reading the Bible
- 1 in 4 considered either praying, going to church or reading the Bible
- 17% of people searching either prayed, went to church or reading the Bible and found it helpful and worth doing again
- 8 in 10 of those who considered praying, did so, found it helpful and worth doing again
45% of adults say they are Christian and are searching. Of these, 1 in 3 considered praying, going to church or reading the Bible.
23% of adults are not affiliated to any religion and are searching. Of these only 4% of considered praying, going to church or reading the Bible
On the same site, it's worth looking at the conference report, which looks at evangelism in the modern day context, what works, what helps, and how we equip people better, some interesting reflections.
Ht Evangelism UK.
Here's what that re-evaluation looked like in practice, in terms of what people were thinking about doing:
Researcher Benita Hewitt argues that what folk are mainly looking for is belonging, rather than a deeper meaning or purpose to things, as a result of insecurity due to the credit crunch. More details on that in her powerpoint presentation on the research.
Another interesting finding:
The place of prayer, church going or reading the Bible
- 1 in 4 considered either praying, going to church or reading the Bible
- 17% of people searching either prayed, went to church or reading the Bible and found it helpful and worth doing again
- 8 in 10 of those who considered praying, did so, found it helpful and worth doing again
45% of adults say they are Christian and are searching. Of these, 1 in 3 considered praying, going to church or reading the Bible.
23% of adults are not affiliated to any religion and are searching. Of these only 4% of considered praying, going to church or reading the Bible
On the same site, it's worth looking at the conference report, which looks at evangelism in the modern day context, what works, what helps, and how we equip people better, some interesting reflections.
Ht Evangelism UK.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Who's Milking Who?
11 pages in todays Telegraph on the MP's expenses 'scandal', which they seem to be releasing as slowly as they can. At this rate it will be roughly 30 days to get through all 650 or so MP's. In my local Tesco's corner shop there were two stacks of Telegraphs (unprecedented), shunting the Mirror and Express out of the way.
Remind me who is milking this expenses thing? Is it MP's, or the press? Or the retailers? Or pretty much everybody?
It's not about 'systems' (did the party leaders agree on a common line yesterday? What are Cameron and Clegg expecting to come out about their people?), it's about character. Being an MP doesn't make you immune from greed, neither does being a journalist, nor does being a retailer. And if you're in a culture that winks at it, or even encourages it, then it's even harder to act with integrity.
This doesn't just expose the greed of MP's, it exposes the greed of everybody. Isn't that what got us into the credit crunch in the first place?
Remind me who is milking this expenses thing? Is it MP's, or the press? Or the retailers? Or pretty much everybody?
It's not about 'systems' (did the party leaders agree on a common line yesterday? What are Cameron and Clegg expecting to come out about their people?), it's about character. Being an MP doesn't make you immune from greed, neither does being a journalist, nor does being a retailer. And if you're in a culture that winks at it, or even encourages it, then it's even harder to act with integrity.
This doesn't just expose the greed of MP's, it exposes the greed of everybody. Isn't that what got us into the credit crunch in the first place?
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Faith in public: Blair and Blears, Nurses and Curses
Tony Blairs speech at the Obama prayer breakfast makes interesting reading:
Today, religion is under attack from without and from within. From within, it is corroded by extremists who use their faith as a means of excluding the other. I am what I am in opposition to you. If you do not believe as I believe, you are a lesser human being.
From without, religious faith is assailed by an increasingly aggressive secularism, which derides faith as contrary to reason and defines faith by conflict. Thus do the extreme believers and the aggressive non-believers come together in unholy alliance.
And yet, faith will not be so easily cast. For billions of people, faith motivates, galvanises, compels and inspires, not to exclude but to embrace; not to provoke conflict but to try to do good. This is faith in action. You can see it in countless local communities where those from churches, mosques, synagogues and temples, tend the sick, care for the afflicted, work long hours in bad conditions to bring hope to the despairing and salvation to the lost. You can see it in the arousing of the world’s conscience to the plight of Africa.
There are a million good deeds done every day by people of faith. These are those for whom, in the parable of the sower, the seed fell on good soil and yielded sixty or a hundredfold.
What inspires such people?
Ritual or doctrine or the finer points of theology? No.
it's a speech that could be delivered in America without apology, but Blair hints at the difficulties with faith and public life in the UK
I do not mean by this to blur the correct distinction between the realms of religious and political authority. In Britain we are especially mindful of this. I recall giving an address to the country at a time of crisis. I wanted to end my words with “God bless the British people”. This caused complete consternation. Emergency meetings were convened. The system was aghast. Finally, as I sat trying to defend my words, a senior civil servant said, with utter distain: “Really, Prime Minister, this is not America you know.”
do read the whole thing, very good.
Hazel Blears spoke to a new Debt initiative set up by the Evangelical Alliance, aiming to co-ordinate and resource Christian responses to the debt crunch/recession. She quoted the Bible a bit, and promised to listen more to Christian groups. A new 'charter' is promised to give local authorities/funding sources more encouragement to fund welfare work offered by Christian groups, but there's concern that it might restrict what we can actually do.
Anglican leaders, including African bishops have called for Robert Mugabe to step down. If only political leaders in Africa were just as forthright.
It's utterly bizarre that using the word 'golliwog' in a private conversation gets you the sack, whilst abusing the Prime Minister for his race and disability at a public event doesn't.
The Somerset nurse suspended after offering to pray with a patient has been reinstated. The statement from her NHS trust makes it clear that they weren't happy with what she did, but recognises that spiritual support is part of patient care:
"We feel we were right to investigate the concerns from people about Caroline’s actions...
However, we are keenly aware of the importance of an individual’s spiritual belief, and we recognise that Caroline felt that she was acting in the best interests of her patients. For some people of faith, prayer is seen as an integral part of health care and the healing process....
It is acceptable to offer spiritual support as part of care when the patient asks for it.
But for nurses, whose principal role is giving nursing care, the initiative lies with the patient and not with the nurse."
New NHS Guidelines, published at the beginning of January, state that attempting to 'preach' your religion, or expressing particular points of view consistent with your faith, could be interpreted as harassment. The guidlines are worryingly vague. There is no distinction drawn between 'preaching' faith and simply telling folk what's good about it.
The Good Childhood Report, featured in the media earlier this week, has now been published, summary here. Dave Walker has put together a good collection of links on this today.
Worth Abbey is now holding Monastic Taster Weekends, for people interested in exploring a calling to be a monk.
More on most of these in my latest Touching Base column at the Wardman Wire.
Today, religion is under attack from without and from within. From within, it is corroded by extremists who use their faith as a means of excluding the other. I am what I am in opposition to you. If you do not believe as I believe, you are a lesser human being.
From without, religious faith is assailed by an increasingly aggressive secularism, which derides faith as contrary to reason and defines faith by conflict. Thus do the extreme believers and the aggressive non-believers come together in unholy alliance.
And yet, faith will not be so easily cast. For billions of people, faith motivates, galvanises, compels and inspires, not to exclude but to embrace; not to provoke conflict but to try to do good. This is faith in action. You can see it in countless local communities where those from churches, mosques, synagogues and temples, tend the sick, care for the afflicted, work long hours in bad conditions to bring hope to the despairing and salvation to the lost. You can see it in the arousing of the world’s conscience to the plight of Africa.
There are a million good deeds done every day by people of faith. These are those for whom, in the parable of the sower, the seed fell on good soil and yielded sixty or a hundredfold.
What inspires such people?
Ritual or doctrine or the finer points of theology? No.
it's a speech that could be delivered in America without apology, but Blair hints at the difficulties with faith and public life in the UK
I do not mean by this to blur the correct distinction between the realms of religious and political authority. In Britain we are especially mindful of this. I recall giving an address to the country at a time of crisis. I wanted to end my words with “God bless the British people”. This caused complete consternation. Emergency meetings were convened. The system was aghast. Finally, as I sat trying to defend my words, a senior civil servant said, with utter distain: “Really, Prime Minister, this is not America you know.”
do read the whole thing, very good.
Hazel Blears spoke to a new Debt initiative set up by the Evangelical Alliance, aiming to co-ordinate and resource Christian responses to the debt crunch/recession. She quoted the Bible a bit, and promised to listen more to Christian groups. A new 'charter' is promised to give local authorities/funding sources more encouragement to fund welfare work offered by Christian groups, but there's concern that it might restrict what we can actually do.
Anglican leaders, including African bishops have called for Robert Mugabe to step down. If only political leaders in Africa were just as forthright.
It's utterly bizarre that using the word 'golliwog' in a private conversation gets you the sack, whilst abusing the Prime Minister for his race and disability at a public event doesn't.
The Somerset nurse suspended after offering to pray with a patient has been reinstated. The statement from her NHS trust makes it clear that they weren't happy with what she did, but recognises that spiritual support is part of patient care:
"We feel we were right to investigate the concerns from people about Caroline’s actions...
However, we are keenly aware of the importance of an individual’s spiritual belief, and we recognise that Caroline felt that she was acting in the best interests of her patients. For some people of faith, prayer is seen as an integral part of health care and the healing process....
It is acceptable to offer spiritual support as part of care when the patient asks for it.
But for nurses, whose principal role is giving nursing care, the initiative lies with the patient and not with the nurse."
New NHS Guidelines, published at the beginning of January, state that attempting to 'preach' your religion, or expressing particular points of view consistent with your faith, could be interpreted as harassment. The guidlines are worryingly vague. There is no distinction drawn between 'preaching' faith and simply telling folk what's good about it.
The Good Childhood Report, featured in the media earlier this week, has now been published, summary here. Dave Walker has put together a good collection of links on this today.
Worth Abbey is now holding Monastic Taster Weekends, for people interested in exploring a calling to be a monk.
More on most of these in my latest Touching Base column at the Wardman Wire.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
More Debt Resources - book sale at Eden
Eden books are currently offering 20% off all titles on money management, the offer ends on Feb 16th.
Other debt resources here.
Other debt resources here.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Debt Resources
Update: latest debt stats from Credit Action just out:
£135m daily increase in UK debt
£59,702 average household debt (including mortgages)
£224m interest paid in UK daily
every 10 minutes a property is repossessed
2,466 people made redundant every day
1 person every 4.8 minutes declared bankrupt or insolvent
£102 average daily decrease in house prices in 2008
The average houshold paid nearly £3500 in debt interest in 2008.
The average interest rate on credit card lending is currently 17.42%, which is 16.0% above base rate (1.5%).
30% of adults are concerned about their ability to manage personal debt.
full monthly report here, bleak stuff.
original post
Following on from the CRE post yesterday, here's a slightly bigger list of debt and money resources for churches:
- Christians Against Poverty http://www.capuk.org/home/index.php, debt counselling and advice. Tel 01274 760720
CAP have developed a CAP Money course, a 3-session course on money management for use in local churches, and will train local church members to run the course. There’s a training day in Bristol on 25th April. This is a great way of doing something practical for the community. (recommendation from one person who's using the course here)
- Care for the Family http://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/ online resource on debt and money management. CFF has just published The 60 Minute Debt Buster, on money management, which was on sale at the CRE. If it's anything like the Rob Parsons books on marriage and parenting, it will be very good.
- Credit Action http://www.creditaction.org.uk/home.html has information for employees, self employed, singles, young parents, lots of practical advice, and up to date information on debt in the UK. Tel 0207 436 9937
- Church of England links to resources on debt and money. http://www.cofe.anglican.org/debt
This week is also poverty and homelessness action week, lots of downloadable resources for events, church, schools, youth, factsheets etc. on the website (thanks for the link Joe).
And there are various contact numbers/websites at the end of this Care for the Family publication, including the CAB, Business Debtline, National Debtline, and Consumer Credit Counselling services.
£135m daily increase in UK debt
£59,702 average household debt (including mortgages)
£224m interest paid in UK daily
every 10 minutes a property is repossessed
2,466 people made redundant every day
1 person every 4.8 minutes declared bankrupt or insolvent
£102 average daily decrease in house prices in 2008
The average houshold paid nearly £3500 in debt interest in 2008.
The average interest rate on credit card lending is currently 17.42%, which is 16.0% above base rate (1.5%).
30% of adults are concerned about their ability to manage personal debt.
full monthly report here, bleak stuff.
original post
Following on from the CRE post yesterday, here's a slightly bigger list of debt and money resources for churches:
- Christians Against Poverty http://www.capuk.org/home/index.php, debt counselling and advice. Tel 01274 760720
CAP have developed a CAP Money course, a 3-session course on money management for use in local churches, and will train local church members to run the course. There’s a training day in Bristol on 25th April. This is a great way of doing something practical for the community. (recommendation from one person who's using the course here)
- Care for the Family http://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/ online resource on debt and money management. CFF has just published The 60 Minute Debt Buster, on money management, which was on sale at the CRE. If it's anything like the Rob Parsons books on marriage and parenting, it will be very good.
- Credit Action http://www.creditaction.org.uk/home.html has information for employees, self employed, singles, young parents, lots of practical advice, and up to date information on debt in the UK. Tel 0207 436 9937
- Church of England links to resources on debt and money. http://www.cofe.anglican.org/debt
This week is also poverty and homelessness action week, lots of downloadable resources for events, church, schools, youth, factsheets etc. on the website (thanks for the link Joe).
And there are various contact numbers/websites at the end of this Care for the Family publication, including the CAB, Business Debtline, National Debtline, and Consumer Credit Counselling services.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Is the Crunch a Catholic? The Seven Deadly Sins and the Credit Crunch
Though the Catholic church seems to have recently mislaid its moral compass, it was not always so. Long before they were linked to the churches own financial scandal, the Seven Deadly Sins were commended as a medieval precursor of PSHE. Since nothing else seems to be working, gimme some old time religion....
Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.
Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.
Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.
Hang on, I thought these were drafted in the 4th century? It all sounds strangely familiar. All you need to do is add 'marketing' to link Envy to the other two, and you have consumer capitalism. You could draw other lines from Gluttony to the obesity problem, or global warming, and one from Greed to Thatcherism.
Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.
Mmm......now where were we? Oh yes. That makes 4 sins which are about having stuff we don't currently possess, which is the engine room of consumerism. When this instinct spills over into relationships you get affairs, rape, and a whole load of stuff which stems from seeing people no longer as people, but as means to satisfy our own desires. Meanwhile the tabloids print pictures of naked women opposite a story on a sex offender and never do the maths.
Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of
the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.
I don't know if phrases like "we have abolished boom and bust" would count, or a consistent habit of blaming our economic woes on the USA (whatever happened to the special relationship?). One of the many troubles with pride is that, because you never admit to any mistakes, you never learn from them. So much energy is put into maintaining a public facade of competence that we tie ourselves, and others, in knots.
And before we point the finger (oops, too late), it's not just politicians who do this. When did you last read a blog post where, after the comments, the author writes "sorry everyone, I'm obviously talking complete nonsense, you are right and I was wrong."
Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.
Seeing the protests around Europe in the last few days, I wonder if we could do with a bit more anger. We've probably got enough going around, but we misdirect it - the middle classes at Jonathan Ross, the young at each other. Anger is a great agent for change if it's directed at the right things, but much of ours is blind fury, a catharsis of our own feelings rather than moved by compassion and a sense of justice.
Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.
At last! A sin recognised by the government. Unfortunately this is one we're going to have to get used to. The recession is good news for the slothful, as it's much easier to blend in with the rest of us. Not the best time to launch a welfare-to-work push, though I guess if it fails nobody will notice (see Pride).
The avoidance of spiritual work is perhaps the more serious. Who we are - as individuals and as a society - is to a large extent what we have decided to be, or what we have let ourselves become. We can be proud, greedy and angry, or we can be humble, generous and kind. We have a choice, daily, over which way to go. The path of least resistance leads to all of the above, the road less travelled goes to that old place of myth and legend, Virtue.
And here are the 7 virtues: Faith, Hope, Love/Charity, Courage, Restraint, Justice, and, um, Prudence. It would be interesting to sit down with this list and Obama's inauguration speech and tick them off, one by one, but that's another post. (Meanwhile if you'd rather just have a giggle, go here.) Plenty of money is currently being thrown around to fix our sputtering economies, but we also need to address the questionable morality which got us here. If the debt crunch is at root a moral problem, then how do we fix that?
this is a cross post from Touching Base, a weekly column hosted by the Wardman Wire.
Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.
Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.
Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.
Hang on, I thought these were drafted in the 4th century? It all sounds strangely familiar. All you need to do is add 'marketing' to link Envy to the other two, and you have consumer capitalism. You could draw other lines from Gluttony to the obesity problem, or global warming, and one from Greed to Thatcherism.
Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.
Mmm......now where were we? Oh yes. That makes 4 sins which are about having stuff we don't currently possess, which is the engine room of consumerism. When this instinct spills over into relationships you get affairs, rape, and a whole load of stuff which stems from seeing people no longer as people, but as means to satisfy our own desires. Meanwhile the tabloids print pictures of naked women opposite a story on a sex offender and never do the maths.
Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of
the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.
I don't know if phrases like "we have abolished boom and bust" would count, or a consistent habit of blaming our economic woes on the USA (whatever happened to the special relationship?). One of the many troubles with pride is that, because you never admit to any mistakes, you never learn from them. So much energy is put into maintaining a public facade of competence that we tie ourselves, and others, in knots.
And before we point the finger (oops, too late), it's not just politicians who do this. When did you last read a blog post where, after the comments, the author writes "sorry everyone, I'm obviously talking complete nonsense, you are right and I was wrong."
Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.
Seeing the protests around Europe in the last few days, I wonder if we could do with a bit more anger. We've probably got enough going around, but we misdirect it - the middle classes at Jonathan Ross, the young at each other. Anger is a great agent for change if it's directed at the right things, but much of ours is blind fury, a catharsis of our own feelings rather than moved by compassion and a sense of justice.
Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.
At last! A sin recognised by the government. Unfortunately this is one we're going to have to get used to. The recession is good news for the slothful, as it's much easier to blend in with the rest of us. Not the best time to launch a welfare-to-work push, though I guess if it fails nobody will notice (see Pride).
The avoidance of spiritual work is perhaps the more serious. Who we are - as individuals and as a society - is to a large extent what we have decided to be, or what we have let ourselves become. We can be proud, greedy and angry, or we can be humble, generous and kind. We have a choice, daily, over which way to go. The path of least resistance leads to all of the above, the road less travelled goes to that old place of myth and legend, Virtue.
And here are the 7 virtues: Faith, Hope, Love/Charity, Courage, Restraint, Justice, and, um, Prudence. It would be interesting to sit down with this list and Obama's inauguration speech and tick them off, one by one, but that's another post. (Meanwhile if you'd rather just have a giggle, go here.) Plenty of money is currently being thrown around to fix our sputtering economies, but we also need to address the questionable morality which got us here. If the debt crunch is at root a moral problem, then how do we fix that?
this is a cross post from Touching Base, a weekly column hosted by the Wardman Wire.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Red Bull Economics
An upbeat letter from Barclays earlier this week, forecasting £8bn profit for 2008 (in any other age we'd have been scandalised by this kind of figure, now we're just relieved), shows that even the banking sector isn't a complete catalogue of woe. Royal Bank of Scotland, turning in a humungous loss, isn't the whole story.
Yet the government is spinning us a different line: this is a global recession, every country is suffering, there's nothing we could have done about it. Call me naive but if a bank can manage its affairs well enough to post a 10-figure profit in a year like 2008, then it takes quite some credulity to believe our government and economy is entirely powerless in the face of global market forces.
It's also a handy get-out clause: if it's not our fault, then we don't have to admit to being wrong about anything. It's good politics, but the one who fails to learn from the mistakes of history is doomed to repeat them. Meanwhile Gordon Brown can export the blame across the Atlantic, whilst taking the credit for putting together a rescue package.
But isn't credit the problem? Would we have a less severe housing crash if steps had been taken to dampen down prices a few years ago, and to restrict irresponsible lending by banks? Is it sustainable to continue build an economy on debt. Consumer debt is a bet on future income, we are spend money which doesn't yet exist. Our economy has been running like a nightclubber on Red Bull - propping itself up on the artificial stimulant of credit, and only now the effects have worn off are we realising that the body economic is completely knackered*.
The economic slowdown is now starting to hit really hard - Corus, Barratts, Woolworths, etc. It seems like a harsh time to be asking difficult questions, but they've got to be asked at some stage or we'll end up here again. Robert Peston talks of needing to 'reconfigure' our economies, but so far all we've seen is scaffolding to prop up the old structure. Here are a few questions I have, which may all have perfectly sensible answers. Not being an economist, or an expert in global trade, all I can do is ask the questions. Some may be dumb, unrealistic, naive etc. And if that's the only reason others aren't asking them, then I'll shut up:
- Is consumption the only way out of recession, or is it just a short term fix?
- We've been living beyond the means of the planet for some time now, is it time for some creative thinking about how our national economies can be smaller, how we can function with less consumption of resources rather than a constant increase?
- Can work be shared out more evenly across a population (why are some working 50-60 hour weeks and some 0?), or across a lifespan?
- Is it possible to sustain a modern economy without mind-boggling levels of debt? Can capitalism reinvent itself, or does market capitalism, with its constant reliance on the creation of new demands through advertising for the market then to 'satisfy', always end up consuming itself?
- Is modern capitalism compatible with the constraints of a finite planet, or does it need a major overhaul? Is this a one-off blip, or the first of a series of recurring shocks which show that our global economic and environmental RPM's are in the red zone?
The old chestnut about crisis and opportunity being 2 sides of the same reality has probably been overdone, but it's often only when everything falls apart that we ask questions about what we had to begin with. Most alcoholics only start on the path to recovery once they hit rock bottom, and recovery involves a very different set of principles and practices to what got them into trouble in the first place.
*In 2008 personal debt overtook GDP. We now owe more than the economy produces in a year. To put it another way, we are trying to run a year ahead of our capacity. The only way for the burden of debt to fall is for spending to reduce below income, so that we can use the remainder to pay off debt. So the choice is: reduce debt (= recession, because spending will fall), or try to maintain debt at current levels, or higher (which is what the govermnent seems to be aiming at).
Yet the government is spinning us a different line: this is a global recession, every country is suffering, there's nothing we could have done about it. Call me naive but if a bank can manage its affairs well enough to post a 10-figure profit in a year like 2008, then it takes quite some credulity to believe our government and economy is entirely powerless in the face of global market forces.
It's also a handy get-out clause: if it's not our fault, then we don't have to admit to being wrong about anything. It's good politics, but the one who fails to learn from the mistakes of history is doomed to repeat them. Meanwhile Gordon Brown can export the blame across the Atlantic, whilst taking the credit for putting together a rescue package.
But isn't credit the problem? Would we have a less severe housing crash if steps had been taken to dampen down prices a few years ago, and to restrict irresponsible lending by banks? Is it sustainable to continue build an economy on debt. Consumer debt is a bet on future income, we are spend money which doesn't yet exist. Our economy has been running like a nightclubber on Red Bull - propping itself up on the artificial stimulant of credit, and only now the effects have worn off are we realising that the body economic is completely knackered*.
The economic slowdown is now starting to hit really hard - Corus, Barratts, Woolworths, etc. It seems like a harsh time to be asking difficult questions, but they've got to be asked at some stage or we'll end up here again. Robert Peston talks of needing to 'reconfigure' our economies, but so far all we've seen is scaffolding to prop up the old structure. Here are a few questions I have, which may all have perfectly sensible answers. Not being an economist, or an expert in global trade, all I can do is ask the questions. Some may be dumb, unrealistic, naive etc. And if that's the only reason others aren't asking them, then I'll shut up:
- Is consumption the only way out of recession, or is it just a short term fix?
- We've been living beyond the means of the planet for some time now, is it time for some creative thinking about how our national economies can be smaller, how we can function with less consumption of resources rather than a constant increase?
- Can work be shared out more evenly across a population (why are some working 50-60 hour weeks and some 0?), or across a lifespan?
- Is it possible to sustain a modern economy without mind-boggling levels of debt? Can capitalism reinvent itself, or does market capitalism, with its constant reliance on the creation of new demands through advertising for the market then to 'satisfy', always end up consuming itself?
- Is modern capitalism compatible with the constraints of a finite planet, or does it need a major overhaul? Is this a one-off blip, or the first of a series of recurring shocks which show that our global economic and environmental RPM's are in the red zone?
The old chestnut about crisis and opportunity being 2 sides of the same reality has probably been overdone, but it's often only when everything falls apart that we ask questions about what we had to begin with. Most alcoholics only start on the path to recovery once they hit rock bottom, and recovery involves a very different set of principles and practices to what got them into trouble in the first place.
*In 2008 personal debt overtook GDP. We now owe more than the economy produces in a year. To put it another way, we are trying to run a year ahead of our capacity. The only way for the burden of debt to fall is for spending to reduce below income, so that we can use the remainder to pay off debt. So the choice is: reduce debt (= recession, because spending will fall), or try to maintain debt at current levels, or higher (which is what the govermnent seems to be aiming at).
For a different angle, try 'the good recession' (ht Tim Chester)
If you are familiar with sumo wrestlers, they gain hundreds of pounds. These men are huge. And they do this by eating tons of food and literally train their bodies not to feel full. They literally stretch their stomachs, massaging their intestines to make room for food. Isn’t that gross? And they do this to reset their definition of a normal meal so they can gain hundreds of pounds. In a similar way, our definition of need, when it comes to possessions, is completely out of proportion. We’re like those sumo wresters that have redefined their needs so that we can take in more and more.
Useful help sites
Matter of Life and Debt (CofE resource page)
Care for the Family resources on money and debt.
Christians against Poverty list of local debt counselling centres and details of what they do.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Quote of the month so far
In case you missed it
"We need a reboot not a bailout, as the man said. It’s time to think different. The fantasy that the answer to one housing Ponzi is another is profoundly barmy. Debt fuelled growth is problematic. It makes everybody feel good for all the wrong reasons.
The wealth is like fairies in Peter Pan — fine as long as you believe it really is wealth, but every time a house is undersold, a fairy dies. It’s certainly no substitute for hard work, added value, goods and services. Borrowing to bailout has to be paid for by future taxation.
If we must borrow heavily off our children, perhaps even our grandchildren, as the UK did to defeat fascism in the 1940’s, at least let it be for a rational and worthy cause, not just more of the same."
Bishop Alan, on the credit crunch, Labours record, and critical bishops.
"We need a reboot not a bailout, as the man said. It’s time to think different. The fantasy that the answer to one housing Ponzi is another is profoundly barmy. Debt fuelled growth is problematic. It makes everybody feel good for all the wrong reasons.
The wealth is like fairies in Peter Pan — fine as long as you believe it really is wealth, but every time a house is undersold, a fairy dies. It’s certainly no substitute for hard work, added value, goods and services. Borrowing to bailout has to be paid for by future taxation.
If we must borrow heavily off our children, perhaps even our grandchildren, as the UK did to defeat fascism in the 1940’s, at least let it be for a rational and worthy cause, not just more of the same."
Bishop Alan, on the credit crunch, Labours record, and critical bishops.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Prayers around Work and Redundancy
from the CofE website
Prayer for those remaining in the workplace
Life has changed:
colleagues have gone – redundant, out of work.
Suddenly, what seemed so secure is now so very fragile.
It’s hard to know what I feel:
sadness, certainly,
guilt, almost, at still having a job to go to,
and fear of the future:
who will be next?
how will I cope with the increased pressure of work?
Lord Jesus, in the midst of this uncertainty, help me to keep going:
to work to the best of my ability,
taking each day at a time,
and taking time each day to walk with you
for you are the way, the truth and the life. Amen.
other prayers on the site cover redundancy, debt, the new year, and world events. There's even one for working out your household budget. Ht Ruth Gledhill
On the same topic, there is a one-day conference coming up next week: 'The Church, Economic Uncertainty and the South-West', happening in Taunton on 13th Jan. Here are the details and booking info.
Prayer for those remaining in the workplace
Life has changed:
colleagues have gone – redundant, out of work.
Suddenly, what seemed so secure is now so very fragile.
It’s hard to know what I feel:
sadness, certainly,
guilt, almost, at still having a job to go to,
and fear of the future:
who will be next?
how will I cope with the increased pressure of work?
Lord Jesus, in the midst of this uncertainty, help me to keep going:
to work to the best of my ability,
taking each day at a time,
and taking time each day to walk with you
for you are the way, the truth and the life. Amen.
other prayers on the site cover redundancy, debt, the new year, and world events. There's even one for working out your household budget. Ht Ruth Gledhill
On the same topic, there is a one-day conference coming up next week: 'The Church, Economic Uncertainty and the South-West', happening in Taunton on 13th Jan. Here are the details and booking info.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
3 Kings: 2 Impostors
Christmas sermon preached at our Carols by Candlelight on Sunday night, with major nods to this sermon by Tom Wright for some of the inspiration.
The two narratives of Jesus birth present radically different points of view. Apart from the birth of Jesus himself, there's scarcely a detail in common. Matthew tells the story from Josephs point of view, and brings in Herod and the Magi, Luke tells it through Mary's eyes and brings in the census and the shepherds.
Both gospel writers mention a king: for Luke it's Augustus Caesar, ruling from Rome, for Matthew it's Herod, the local tyrant. Let's start with Luke.
Imagine an empire which controls the known world. It runs a global financial system, which everyone has to buy into. It is at the heart of a war machine which takes credit for bringing peace to all men, but only brings peace through the threat of armed force. It styles itself as the saviour of the world, the bringer of good news, and the favour of this empire rests on those who will dance to its tune.
What are we describing? The world in 2008, or the world in year Zero? This is the empire run by the Caesars, and all of its imitators right down to the present day. It’s an empire which raises a finger, and whole groups of people are thrown into turmoil.
You see this clearly in Luke’s story of the birth of Jesus, which we heard a moment ago. Tom Wright puts it this way: Luke takes the trouble to tell us about the Roman emperor Augustus, and his desire to take a census of more or less the whole known world. This isn’t just background information, or local colour to spice up the story. Empires, censuses and taxes were hot topics in the Middle East in the first century. When we have a census, we just fill in a boring form and send it off. They’re going to tax us anyway. Every time they had a census there were riots and people got killed: censuses then raised the sharp and dangerous questions of who runs the world, how it’s run, who profits by it all, who gets crushed in the process, and, perhaps above all, when is it all going to change? And what should we be doing about it?
So this Caesar orders a census, and thousands of miles away a young couple are forced from their home to travel 100 miles on foot, resulting in the birth of a baby. Not just a baby, but a new king, announced by God’s messengers the angels. And Luke puts the question to us: which is the true king? Who is really in charge? Are you a subject of Caesar, playing by his rules: the rules of finance and war, and bureaucracy and control, or are you a subject of king Jesus and his rules?
Well, you may say, I didn’t expect to be told about empires and money and wars when I came to church tonight. I expected to hear lovely things that would make me feel good inside. But that’s the trouble with how we’ve treated Christmas these many years.
It’s time we gave Christmas its baubles back. This story is not an invitation to an escapist spirituality, which gets lost in dreamland and snow whilst the world goes to hell in a handbasket. This story is a story of a God who infiltrates the sad, unjust, corrupt, painful mess of the world to change it.
We are insulated from so much of the mess, though with the credit crunch that’s started to change for many of us. But something is deeply wrong. For example, it would cost just $40bn to provide clean drinking water for the hundreds of millions who currently lack it, yet somehow we can’t find that but we can find 20x that amount to bail out our banks and 15x that amount to fight a war over oil. At what stage did this maths begin to add up?
Just across the road in ASDA you can walk through the door and buy fruit, from South Africa. Just think where that’s come from. It has flown over the starving of Zimbabwe, the refugees of the Congo, the militia zones of Sudan, over the heads of millions of people who have no food, no clean water, no hope and no future, it has flown over their heads so that we can buy it. At what stage did this start to make sense? This is the world of Caesar, of the system which doesn't care for the little people, where money and power and celebrity talks and everyone else has to lump it. And God is born into this system, like a virus, to change it from the inside out.
King Caesar: the global system, the rule of power and money which we see starting to disintegrate on an almost daily basis. The world which makes us feel so small – an American crook steals $50bn over here, and thousands of people lose their jobs at MFI and Woolworths. A bunch of overpaid city types get the frights on the stock market, and our pensions vanish overnight. And we feel powerless. Yet Luke himself focuses on the powerless: Jesus born to a homeless couple in a stable, the angels coming to the shepherds: security guards on a nightshift, a pretty low status job. Here is where the action is. Here is a new king, with the poor and weak, the small, the normal people. God with us.
But there is an alternative to Caesar, and to Jesus, and Matthew introduces us to him. The third king is Herod: a more local, petty power than Caesar, but just as brutal. Herod murdered family members whom he thought to be a threat. Yet he surrounded his brutality with a religious veneer: building a great temple in Jerusalem and trying to pass himself off as a rightful Jewish King. (A temple, incidentally, that God was so unimpressed by that, despite it's size and quality, he had the Roman army knock it down within 70 years of its construction. He had a different kind of Temple in mind.)
Maybe it’s not the system that’s our problem, but something closer to home. I met someone the other day who is off work with depression because of bullying. Or its within our families, our streets, our community, where we feel vulnerable to those who throw their weight about. Some of them even use religion to support their power games. Those people we make an extra effort to keep happy, because we all know what happens when they get unhappy. Many people are afraid: afraid to be out on the streets after dark, afraid of their boss, afraid of the threat to them, or to their children.
The local tyrant. By the time we meet him in Matthew, we already know Herod is an imposter - Matthew sets out the genealogy of Jesus, which puts him in direct descent from King David. He gives Jesus the title 'Christ' - the Messiah, the promised king. And then the shock: "during the time of King Herod" (2:1) - who on earth is Herod? Jesus is clearly the rightful king, so what's this impostor doing on the throne in his place?
Which of the three kings do we want be ruled by? Which is the true king? Caesar: the system. Herod: the tyrant. Or Jesus. Not a king who rules by rules and forms and a faceless system, not one who rules by violence and threat. The true king is different.
what happens where Jesus is king?
- Wilberforce: fought for decades to abolish slave trade
- St. Peters: built a chicken shed into a church hall, now full to bursting with groups for all ages. It seems quite fitting that an animal shed should be a centre of hope for a community, just as it was once, and still is, the centre of hope for the whole world.
- Street Pastors; over 2000 people now, aged 18 to 80, on the streets on Friday and Saturday night, looking after the drunk and the depressed and the lost and the lonely.
Can I say to you, we need you. If God has blessed you with life, health,
and prosperity, then we need you.
There is so much to do, there is so much that still needs to change. Christmas is not the time when we escape from all this, it’s the time when we see that God himself has put his shoulder to the wheel of world history, and we say ‘yes’ to Christ, our king and 'no' to these impostors and pretenders. Jesus doesn’t want your vote in a phone poll, he doesn’t want you to buy his merchandise and branded items, he wants you and me to get up and work alongside him in the new world that God wants to build. The shepherds left their work, the wise men left their homes, Mary and Joseph took the risk of saying ‘yes’ to God’s call. Because there is a new king.
This is the surprising news of Christmas: you have a choice. You can live by the old rules, under the old ruler, or you can live a new life under a new king, a life under God’s favour, a life worth living.
The two narratives of Jesus birth present radically different points of view. Apart from the birth of Jesus himself, there's scarcely a detail in common. Matthew tells the story from Josephs point of view, and brings in Herod and the Magi, Luke tells it through Mary's eyes and brings in the census and the shepherds.
Both gospel writers mention a king: for Luke it's Augustus Caesar, ruling from Rome, for Matthew it's Herod, the local tyrant. Let's start with Luke.
Imagine an empire which controls the known world. It runs a global financial system, which everyone has to buy into. It is at the heart of a war machine which takes credit for bringing peace to all men, but only brings peace through the threat of armed force. It styles itself as the saviour of the world, the bringer of good news, and the favour of this empire rests on those who will dance to its tune.
What are we describing? The world in 2008, or the world in year Zero? This is the empire run by the Caesars, and all of its imitators right down to the present day. It’s an empire which raises a finger, and whole groups of people are thrown into turmoil.
You see this clearly in Luke’s story of the birth of Jesus, which we heard a moment ago. Tom Wright puts it this way: Luke takes the trouble to tell us about the Roman emperor Augustus, and his desire to take a census of more or less the whole known world. This isn’t just background information, or local colour to spice up the story. Empires, censuses and taxes were hot topics in the Middle East in the first century. When we have a census, we just fill in a boring form and send it off. They’re going to tax us anyway. Every time they had a census there were riots and people got killed: censuses then raised the sharp and dangerous questions of who runs the world, how it’s run, who profits by it all, who gets crushed in the process, and, perhaps above all, when is it all going to change? And what should we be doing about it?
So this Caesar orders a census, and thousands of miles away a young couple are forced from their home to travel 100 miles on foot, resulting in the birth of a baby. Not just a baby, but a new king, announced by God’s messengers the angels. And Luke puts the question to us: which is the true king? Who is really in charge? Are you a subject of Caesar, playing by his rules: the rules of finance and war, and bureaucracy and control, or are you a subject of king Jesus and his rules?
Well, you may say, I didn’t expect to be told about empires and money and wars when I came to church tonight. I expected to hear lovely things that would make me feel good inside. But that’s the trouble with how we’ve treated Christmas these many years.
It’s time we gave Christmas its baubles back. This story is not an invitation to an escapist spirituality, which gets lost in dreamland and snow whilst the world goes to hell in a handbasket. This story is a story of a God who infiltrates the sad, unjust, corrupt, painful mess of the world to change it.
We are insulated from so much of the mess, though with the credit crunch that’s started to change for many of us. But something is deeply wrong. For example, it would cost just $40bn to provide clean drinking water for the hundreds of millions who currently lack it, yet somehow we can’t find that but we can find 20x that amount to bail out our banks and 15x that amount to fight a war over oil. At what stage did this maths begin to add up?
Just across the road in ASDA you can walk through the door and buy fruit, from South Africa. Just think where that’s come from. It has flown over the starving of Zimbabwe, the refugees of the Congo, the militia zones of Sudan, over the heads of millions of people who have no food, no clean water, no hope and no future, it has flown over their heads so that we can buy it. At what stage did this start to make sense? This is the world of Caesar, of the system which doesn't care for the little people, where money and power and celebrity talks and everyone else has to lump it. And God is born into this system, like a virus, to change it from the inside out.
King Caesar: the global system, the rule of power and money which we see starting to disintegrate on an almost daily basis. The world which makes us feel so small – an American crook steals $50bn over here, and thousands of people lose their jobs at MFI and Woolworths. A bunch of overpaid city types get the frights on the stock market, and our pensions vanish overnight. And we feel powerless. Yet Luke himself focuses on the powerless: Jesus born to a homeless couple in a stable, the angels coming to the shepherds: security guards on a nightshift, a pretty low status job. Here is where the action is. Here is a new king, with the poor and weak, the small, the normal people. God with us.
But there is an alternative to Caesar, and to Jesus, and Matthew introduces us to him. The third king is Herod: a more local, petty power than Caesar, but just as brutal. Herod murdered family members whom he thought to be a threat. Yet he surrounded his brutality with a religious veneer: building a great temple in Jerusalem and trying to pass himself off as a rightful Jewish King. (A temple, incidentally, that God was so unimpressed by that, despite it's size and quality, he had the Roman army knock it down within 70 years of its construction. He had a different kind of Temple in mind.)
Maybe it’s not the system that’s our problem, but something closer to home. I met someone the other day who is off work with depression because of bullying. Or its within our families, our streets, our community, where we feel vulnerable to those who throw their weight about. Some of them even use religion to support their power games. Those people we make an extra effort to keep happy, because we all know what happens when they get unhappy. Many people are afraid: afraid to be out on the streets after dark, afraid of their boss, afraid of the threat to them, or to their children.
The local tyrant. By the time we meet him in Matthew, we already know Herod is an imposter - Matthew sets out the genealogy of Jesus, which puts him in direct descent from King David. He gives Jesus the title 'Christ' - the Messiah, the promised king. And then the shock: "during the time of King Herod" (2:1) - who on earth is Herod? Jesus is clearly the rightful king, so what's this impostor doing on the throne in his place?
Which of the three kings do we want be ruled by? Which is the true king? Caesar: the system. Herod: the tyrant. Or Jesus. Not a king who rules by rules and forms and a faceless system, not one who rules by violence and threat. The true king is different.
what happens where Jesus is king?
- Wilberforce: fought for decades to abolish slave trade
- St. Peters: built a chicken shed into a church hall, now full to bursting with groups for all ages. It seems quite fitting that an animal shed should be a centre of hope for a community, just as it was once, and still is, the centre of hope for the whole world.
- Street Pastors; over 2000 people now, aged 18 to 80, on the streets on Friday and Saturday night, looking after the drunk and the depressed and the lost and the lonely.
Can I say to you, we need you. If God has blessed you with life, health,
and prosperity, then we need you.
There is so much to do, there is so much that still needs to change. Christmas is not the time when we escape from all this, it’s the time when we see that God himself has put his shoulder to the wheel of world history, and we say ‘yes’ to Christ, our king and 'no' to these impostors and pretenders. Jesus doesn’t want your vote in a phone poll, he doesn’t want you to buy his merchandise and branded items, he wants you and me to get up and work alongside him in the new world that God wants to build. The shepherds left their work, the wise men left their homes, Mary and Joseph took the risk of saying ‘yes’ to God’s call. Because there is a new king.
This is the surprising news of Christmas: you have a choice. You can live by the old rules, under the old ruler, or you can live a new life under a new king, a life under God’s favour, a life worth living.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Faith and Recession
Following the success of Back to Church Sunday, the Sunday papers speculated about whether the credit crunch is forcing people to reassess their values, bringing some of them back to church. (Ht Start the Week). Meanwhile comment is Free at the Guardian is hosted a series of articles last week on 'Can Religion Help Us Through the Slump?' Here's the line-up
Monday's response - Julia Neuberger: Whether you're religious or not, what matters is the desire to make a difference to other people's lives
Tuesday's response - Francis Davis: Across the country it will be priests and imams who stand with local people in their moments of need . Davis is one of the authors of Moral but No Compass, which surveyed the charitable work of the church, and pointed out the inadequacy of the Governments dealings with Chrisitan charities.
snippet: While Gordon Brown's response (to the recession) has been to lead us into even more borrowing, there will be thousands for whom a hug will be just as crucial as their gas meter is ripped out in front of their eyes or as they find themselves locked out of their houses by insistent lenders and landlords.
In neighbourhoods across the country it will be priests and imams who stand with local people in such moments of terror. They are, after all, often the only "professionals" to have the courage to actually live among the people with whom they work.
Wednesday's response - Ishtiaq Hussain: Like other people of faith, Muslims are enjoined to be charitable; crucial during times like these
Thursday's response - Graham Kings: When belts tighten, do they have to tighten around the necks of the poor?
Friday's response Nick Spencer: Some varieties of religion prey on the poor, others offer them help. Both kinds will flourish during the recession
Ht Thinking Anglicans.
... with a whole host of carol services coming up, I'm challenged by all of these about the message I'll be preaching. Often I try to tie Christmas in to something in the news, or something topical, and this year the challenge is to relate it to the recession and the implosion in global capitalism. First main one on Weds (Yeovil College), I'll probably post a full list later this week.
Monday's response - Julia Neuberger: Whether you're religious or not, what matters is the desire to make a difference to other people's lives
Tuesday's response - Francis Davis: Across the country it will be priests and imams who stand with local people in their moments of need . Davis is one of the authors of Moral but No Compass, which surveyed the charitable work of the church, and pointed out the inadequacy of the Governments dealings with Chrisitan charities.
snippet: While Gordon Brown's response (to the recession) has been to lead us into even more borrowing, there will be thousands for whom a hug will be just as crucial as their gas meter is ripped out in front of their eyes or as they find themselves locked out of their houses by insistent lenders and landlords.
In neighbourhoods across the country it will be priests and imams who stand with local people in such moments of terror. They are, after all, often the only "professionals" to have the courage to actually live among the people with whom they work.
Wednesday's response - Ishtiaq Hussain: Like other people of faith, Muslims are enjoined to be charitable; crucial during times like these
Thursday's response - Graham Kings: When belts tighten, do they have to tighten around the necks of the poor?
Friday's response Nick Spencer: Some varieties of religion prey on the poor, others offer them help. Both kinds will flourish during the recession
Ht Thinking Anglicans.
... with a whole host of carol services coming up, I'm challenged by all of these about the message I'll be preaching. Often I try to tie Christmas in to something in the news, or something topical, and this year the challenge is to relate it to the recession and the implosion in global capitalism. First main one on Weds (Yeovil College), I'll probably post a full list later this week.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
A Moral Duty to Spend Money?
Woolly Thinking
Woolworths was heaving with bargain hunters yesterday, duped by the news stories of a big sale, and the sign in the window of 50% OFF EVERYTHING. If your eyesight was poor, you might miss the 'up to' hidden in the corner, and then wonder why there were virtually no half-price items in the store. In fact, the standard discount was 10%, some of which was the VAT cut.
Our appetite for deception hasn't been dulled by the debt crunch. If anything it's become even more acute. One seller in the market yesterday called out 'you'll never see these prices again' and I wanted to stop and ask him if he was telling the truth.
Woolworths was heaving with bargain hunters yesterday, duped by the news stories of a big sale, and the sign in the window of 50% OFF EVERYTHING. If your eyesight was poor, you might miss the 'up to' hidden in the corner, and then wonder why there were virtually no half-price items in the store. In fact, the standard discount was 10%, some of which was the VAT cut.
Our appetite for deception hasn't been dulled by the debt crunch. If anything it's become even more acute. One seller in the market yesterday called out 'you'll never see these prices again' and I wanted to stop and ask him if he was telling the truth.
The Answer to Debt Is..... More Debt
But this pales into insignificance compared to the rabbit hole that is our economic policy. Here we are in a debt crunch (yes I know it's called the 'credit crunch' but the word 'credit' is marketing sophistry. It's debt) brought on by irresponsible lending, unsustainable levels of consumer debt, a house price bubble, and reckless borrowing at levels never seen before in the UK. So what shall we do? I know:
- The government should borrow at levels never seen before in the UK.
- Reduce interest rates, making it less painful to get into debt, whilst penalising those who've been responsible and saved money.
- As businesses struggle for cash, plough billions into the banks, the same banks who got us into this mess and last year gave bonus awards the size of an African country.
- Pass legislation on sustainability and a reduced carbon footprint, and at the same time yank every economic lever possible to raise levels of resource consumption by the general population
These are the kind of solutions that makes homoeopathy look scientific. Okay, within one story they make economic sense, but is the story the Wealth of Nations or Alice in Wonderland? Is there any society in history which has made it the moral responsibility of its citizens to spend money? There is such a desparation to re-clothe the naked Emperor which is our consumer debt society, and quickly, that surely we should be a tad suspicious. Where are the people asking fundamental questions about the system itself?
2 examples:
- after the short-term pain, a fall in house prices will once again enable a family to own a property without both parents having to work full time and shove their kids into (government sponsored) childcare to make it possible. At least, it will until you get clobbered with university fees. Families are suffering now because owning a home puts you at the limit of your financial resources, so if anything gives then there is no slack. But we have waited for the bubble to burst messily, rather than questioning how big it was allowed to grow in the first place.
- Where too are the voices which, when total consumer debt overtook annual GDP, reminded us that debt is money that doesn't really exist, that isn't really yours, and that one day you have to pay it back?
Soul Destroying
A story is told of a Himalayan mountaineering expedition, where the Western climbers wanted to make quick progress. For three days they walked quickly, though the sherpas seemed reluctant. On day 4 the sherpas sat down and couldn't be moved. One climber asked the sherpa translator what was happening, and he replied: "after walking so fast for 3 days, they are now waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies."
Maybe this recession, painful though it is for impatient Westerners, is the same thing happening on a national level. We have been rushing ahead of capacity - of our personal capacity, and that of the economy and the planet. It's time to stop and let everything catch up. Maybe as we stop we'll get the time to think, reflect, and adjust.
The danger of the pre-Budget report, the interest rate cut, and the Christmas sales, is that they perpetuate the headlong rush for debt-and-spend that is the UK consumer lifestyle. We rush past the shivering, naked Emperor, and are too busy shopping to wonder why we ache, and feel distant from ourselves.
Spend or Save?
Meanwhile we plaster a terrorist attack on a rich hotel in India across our front pages, but when twice the number fall in Nigeria, nobody hears, whilst 5,000 infants a day die from preventable water-borne diseases. One estimate puts the cost per head of clean water & sanitation at £15. That's under $40billion for all 2,500,000,000 people in the world who lack either clean water or proper sanitation, which is the same as the rise in government borrowing from 2008-9. At what point did this kind of maths start adding up?
In blog threads about faith, it's not long before people like me are taunted for believing in sky fairies and the like. But which Christmas makes more sense, the one where we spend, or the one where we, and others, are saved?
this is a cross post from Touching Base, a column hosted by the Wardman Wire.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Safe as the Bank of....
The Co-operative Bank has been significant by it's absence from the headlines in the last few weeks. Why? Probably because it has an ethical banking policy, which curbs the lending of money to people who can't pay it back (like a couple I heard of last week, both on benefits, who were sold a mortgage which they then couldn't pay). It sounds like the Co-op is doing ok.
Given the pickle that other banks have got themselves into, and the levels of shock that Lehmanns etc. caused when they 'suddenly' went bankrupt, either some people have been incredibly incompetent, a lot of facts have been hidden from the public, investors, and staff, or people have wilfully ignored those facts in pursuit of just a bit more profit (this is also known as greed).
Where moral bankruptcy leads, actual bankruptcy follows.
Update: interesting, if slightly technical, article from the FT (HT Politics Home):
How could banks have persuaded themselves, their shareholders and the public that they were making so much money when in reality they were losing it? The history of financial deception and self-deception is as old as humanity,
Given the pickle that other banks have got themselves into, and the levels of shock that Lehmanns etc. caused when they 'suddenly' went bankrupt, either some people have been incredibly incompetent, a lot of facts have been hidden from the public, investors, and staff, or people have wilfully ignored those facts in pursuit of just a bit more profit (this is also known as greed).
Where moral bankruptcy leads, actual bankruptcy follows.
Update: interesting, if slightly technical, article from the FT (HT Politics Home):
How could banks have persuaded themselves, their shareholders and the public that they were making so much money when in reality they were losing it? The history of financial deception and self-deception is as old as humanity,
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Bipolar Banking? Analysing the Money Markets
I'm not sure I agree with the Pope.
"We see it now in the collapse of the great banks that money disappears, it's nothing," he remarked earlier this week. I'm sure he'd have been just as chilled if St. Peters Rome (completed with the money raised by selling time off purgatory to medieval peasants), had collapsed. The moral he drew was that God is more dependable than money.
But this isn't a crisis of money, it's a crisis of faith. 5 live's phone-in yesterday morning included Kriss Akabusi, who reminded us what we already knew, that the word 'confidence' comes from the Latin for 'with faith'. (You didn't? Me neither)
Market Mentality
Look at the language people are using: 'the main emotions are panic and fear' (Times) 'uncertainty and fear' (George Bush) 'panic, fear, frenzy' (Telegraph), 'brutal...riot...chaos' (Wall Street Journal: bit more macho). What's striking is that most of it is psychological language. The crisis is not quite 'all in the mind', but it's close. The talk is about rebuilding confidence - without confidence the market won't stabilise, but until the market stabilises people won't have confidence. Oops.
Look at the language people are using: 'the main emotions are panic and fear' (Times) 'uncertainty and fear' (George Bush) 'panic, fear, frenzy' (Telegraph), 'brutal...riot...chaos' (Wall Street Journal: bit more macho). What's striking is that most of it is psychological language. The crisis is not quite 'all in the mind', but it's close. The talk is about rebuilding confidence - without confidence the market won't stabilise, but until the market stabilises people won't have confidence. Oops.
If you had to compare the graph of any banking share over the last 12 months to a mental state, it would be manic depression. The manic phase: overpricing, fuelled by reckless borrowing, has turned almost overnight to a spiral down. Take HBOS: somewhere between £12 and £1.20 is (shareholders hope), the true value of the company. But it doesn't change that quickly over 18 months.
DONT PANIC!
One thing I admire about Alastair Campbell is his openness about his depression, of which there is more in a documentary tomorrow. Our financial markets are cracking up too. Unfortunately, being in a room full of 1000 other panicking people doesn't make it easy to stop panicking. Just as modern life is toxic to mental stability, so is the stock market.
I remember those neat little charts from economics 'O' level (GCSE for you young 'uns), which made market behaviour look oh so scientific. The worshippers of the free market maintain tha
t the market system itself is fine, but after the last few weeks, that belief seems increasingly psychotic (= loss of contact with reality). Whilst the real economy grinds slowly into recession, share prices cry 'look at me' as they jump from a cliff. The Gadarine swine, who hurled their demon-possessed porcine bodies into a lake from a cliff-top, are the closest biblical metaphor.
t the market system itself is fine, but after the last few weeks, that belief seems increasingly psychotic (= loss of contact with reality). Whilst the real economy grinds slowly into recession, share prices cry 'look at me' as they jump from a cliff. The Gadarine swine, who hurled their demon-possessed porcine bodies into a lake from a cliff-top, are the closest biblical metaphor.Medicating the Market
So who will cast the demons out of the pigs? The challenge is at least as much a mental one as an economic one: what will trip the psychology of the markets into an upswing, or, at the very least, boring old stability? What is the seroxat for stock markets? We have the talking cures (one a day from George Bush), and a sizeable one-off financial pill, but every depressant knows that medication works -when it works at all - only when you take it regularly over the long term.
So who will cast the demons out of the pigs? The challenge is at least as much a mental one as an economic one: what will trip the psychology of the markets into an upswing, or, at the very least, boring old stability? What is the seroxat for stock markets? We have the talking cures (one a day from George Bush), and a sizeable one-off financial pill, but every depressant knows that medication works -when it works at all - only when you take it regularly over the long term.
What is the long term medicine? Gordon Brown, speaking on Monday, outlined a moral solution:
"My values, the values of the country, celebrate hard work, effort, enterprise and responsible risk taking - qualities that markets need to ensure that the rewards that flow are seen to be fair....And that is why we back the work ethic; we support effort and enterprise and responsible risk-taking. These are the morals markets need."
"My values, the values of the country, celebrate hard work, effort, enterprise and responsible risk taking - qualities that markets need to ensure that the rewards that flow are seen to be fair....And that is why we back the work ethic; we support effort and enterprise and responsible risk-taking. These are the morals markets need."
So the problem, according to Brown, is irresponsibility, lack of trust etc., and the solution is a more robust moral code for the markets.
Just in case we hadn't got it, he said the same thing again on GMTV on Thursday: "I am angry at irresponsible behaviour. Our economy is built around people who work hard, who show effort, who take responsible decisions, and whether there is excessive and irresponsible risk-taking, that has got to be punished."
That's all well and good: markets without a moral foundation don't work. If there is no trust, integrity, honesty etc. then there is no basis for open trade and commerce. But is that enough? Will it stop the kind of speculation and herd psychology which drives markets over a cliff? And if not, what's the alternative?
This is the way the world ends, not with a whim, but with a banker.
(ht) We don't know if global 21st century capitalism can survive without epidemic levels of borrowing, because we've never tried it that way before. But we do know if we don't try a different way, there won't be a globe full stop. Like it or not, global recession is the only sure-fire way to reduce our carbon footprint.
(ht) We don't know if global 21st century capitalism can survive without epidemic levels of borrowing, because we've never tried it that way before. But we do know if we don't try a different way, there won't be a globe full stop. Like it or not, global recession is the only sure-fire way to reduce our carbon footprint.
It's too soon to tell whether we'll look back on autumn 2008 as the beginning of the madness, or its end: the final dash to a watery grave of an unbalanced and unsustainable system. How's the patient, nurse?
(cross-posted from Touching Base, a weekly column at the Wardman Wire)
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