I went to a very moving exhibition yesterday. Schools from across Rochdale borough gathered to show off their artwork, poems and presentations around the themes of faith. The day was organised by Sacre, the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education. Each local authority has one and the Diocese of Manchester is represented along with other faiths. Doesn't sound much fun - but it was very impressive.
There were poppies everywhere ! Children had painted them, made large ones out of papier mache and done small red poppy prints with polystyrene. I asked the children what they were remembering and they told me about the many dead, and some told me of the brave soldiers' sacrifice. Many pictures showed the horror of war like this one.
Poppies have touched the hearts of the nation more than ever this year. Jon Snow presented Channel 4 news from outside the tower of London the other day. I have met several people who have been. It is a modern place of pilgrimage.It's touched the public imagination.
The main item on the news that night was the number of people dying from Ebola. Dying alone in the dirt, looked on at a safe distance by others, many are dying without medical care or anyone to hold them or touch them in their last hours. We saw film of Aminata from Devil Hole Junction in Sierra Leone. The TV crew had been to film her the day before and they came back yesterday to see if she was still alive. She wasn't - her body lay, untended, in the dust.
I revisited Devil Hole Junction and found that Aminata, who we filmed yesterday very sick from Ebola, died at about 8.30 last night.
Her semi-naked body had been writhing around next to a very public track when she died. She had suffered in the blazing sun all day.
There is no cordon - people pass close to her body. Nobody has any protective equipment here.
Mohammed, who we also filmed yesterday (see the film at the bottom of the page), is alive but has now been waiting around 30 hours for an ambulance. He looks sicker today.
All this as the Sierra Leone government announces $5,000 compensation for every health worker who has died. The value of a human life here, it seems. - See more at: http://blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/human-life-sierra-leone-5000/8551#sthash.dMFRguja.dpuf
I revisited Devil Hole Junction and found that Aminata, who we filmed yesterday very sick from Ebola, died at about 8.30 last night.
Her semi-naked body had been writhing around next to a very public track when she died. She had suffered in the blazing sun all day.
There is no cordon - people pass close to her body. Nobody has any protective equipment here.
Mohammed, who we also filmed yesterday (see the film at the bottom of the page), is alive but has now been waiting around 30 hours for an ambulance. He looks sicker today.
All this as the Sierra Leone government announces $5,000 compensation for every health worker who has died. The value of a human life here, it seems. - See more at: http://blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/human-life-sierra-leone-5000/8551#sthash.dMFRguja.dpufThere are things we remember. And things we would prefer to forget.We are keen to forget the warnings about climate change. George Marshall in a book entitled "Don’t Even Think about It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change" says that we always look for stories where there is a bad guy and a good guy when really things are more complex.
The missing truth, deliberately avoided in these enemy narratives, is that in high-carbon societies, everyone contributes to the emissions that cause the problem and everyone has a strong reason to ignore the problem or to write their own alibi … If our founding narratives are based around enemies, there is no reason to suppose that, as climate impacts build in intensity, new and far more vicious enemy narratives will not readily replace them, drawing on religious, generational, political, class and nationalistic divides … History has shown us too many times that enemy narratives soften us up for the violence, scapegoating or genocide that follows.
The children at the SACRE day would not let us forget the horror of war. That's right and good. I met children who had been helped to think by their wonderful teachers about the tragic loss of human life. That story of remembrance must always bring to mind the grieving German parent too, and lead us into the complexity of the big picture.
I wish we would remember those who are dying because of Climate Change. That's a hard one for us - because the enemy is us. Not a them in the past.
We have from our own lives so many good memories. I heard yesterday what great things the Churches of the Rochdale Deanery did a few years ago for refugees, collecting food and necessities. I met with the Mayor and the Council Leader last week and we were rejoicing in the mazing number of volunteers who help... at the Foodbank, Petrus, Charity Shops, Churches, Children's groups etc.
Jesus Christ offers us a narrative where we cannot get off the hook by blaming the other, by making an enemy of a them so we can feel good. We begin from the starting point that everyone is made in God's image so there can be no enemy, except our own lack of love. Jesus cared deeply for the poor but he healed the children of the rulers too. There was no personal enemy but the idolatry of power, the system that made the poor, poorer still. Our remembering of Jesus brings us real life and hope.
That's good news. We can face the truth and know that we are welcomed at his table of love.
There were poppies everywhere ! Children had painted them, made large ones out of papier mache and done small red poppy prints with polystyrene. I asked the children what they were remembering and they told me about the many dead, and some told me of the brave soldiers' sacrifice. Many pictures showed the horror of war like this one.
Poppies have touched the hearts of the nation more than ever this year. Jon Snow presented Channel 4 news from outside the tower of London the other day. I have met several people who have been. It is a modern place of pilgrimage.It's touched the public imagination.
The main item on the news that night was the number of people dying from Ebola. Dying alone in the dirt, looked on at a safe distance by others, many are dying without medical care or anyone to hold them or touch them in their last hours. We saw film of Aminata from Devil Hole Junction in Sierra Leone. The TV crew had been to film her the day before and they came back yesterday to see if she was still alive. She wasn't - her body lay, untended, in the dust.
The value of a human life in Sierra Leone? $5,000
I revisited Devil Hole Junction and found that Aminata, who we filmed yesterday very sick from Ebola, died at about 8.30 last night.
Her semi-naked body had been writhing around next to a very public track when she died. She had suffered in the blazing sun all day.
There is no cordon - people pass close to her body. Nobody has any protective equipment here.
Mohammed, who we also filmed yesterday (see the film at the bottom of the page), is alive but has now been waiting around 30 hours for an ambulance. He looks sicker today.
All this as the Sierra Leone government announces $5,000 compensation for every health worker who has died. The value of a human life here, it seems.
The value of a human life in Sierra Leone? $5,000
I revisited Devil Hole Junction and found that Aminata, who we filmed yesterday very sick from Ebola, died at about 8.30 last night.
Her semi-naked body had been writhing around next to a very public track when she died. She had suffered in the blazing sun all day.
There is no cordon - people pass close to her body. Nobody has any protective equipment here.
Mohammed, who we also filmed yesterday (see the film at the bottom of the page), is alive but has now been waiting around 30 hours for an ambulance. He looks sicker today.
All this as the Sierra Leone government announces $5,000 compensation for every health worker who has died. The value of a human life here, it seems.
The missing truth, deliberately avoided in these enemy narratives, is that in high-carbon societies, everyone contributes to the emissions that cause the problem and everyone has a strong reason to ignore the problem or to write their own alibi … If our founding narratives are based around enemies, there is no reason to suppose that, as climate impacts build in intensity, new and far more vicious enemy narratives will not readily replace them, drawing on religious, generational, political, class and nationalistic divides … History has shown us too many times that enemy narratives soften us up for the violence, scapegoating or genocide that follows.
The children at the SACRE day would not let us forget the horror of war. That's right and good. I met children who had been helped to think by their wonderful teachers about the tragic loss of human life. That story of remembrance must always bring to mind the grieving German parent too, and lead us into the complexity of the big picture.I wish we would remember those who are dying because of Climate Change. That's a hard one for us - because the enemy is us. Not a them in the past.
We have from our own lives so many good memories. I heard yesterday what great things the Churches of the Rochdale Deanery did a few years ago for refugees, collecting food and necessities. I met with the Mayor and the Council Leader last week and we were rejoicing in the mazing number of volunteers who help... at the Foodbank, Petrus, Charity Shops, Churches, Children's groups etc.
Jesus Christ offers us a narrative where we cannot get off the hook by blaming the other, by making an enemy of a them so we can feel good. We begin from the starting point that everyone is made in God's image so there can be no enemy, except our own lack of love. Jesus cared deeply for the poor but he healed the children of the rulers too. There was no personal enemy but the idolatry of power, the system that made the poor, poorer still. Our remembering of Jesus brings us real life and hope.
That's good news. We can face the truth and know that we are welcomed at his table of love.