Beware the preacher man….I didn’t take that advise and was treated to a sermon about slavery last Sunday on R4 (13 mins)….should you be a slave don’t despair, have faith, Jesus saves….the manacles of every kind of slavery are hammered loose by the love of Christ….who will be your new Master, the living God, the God of light and truth and justice. Praise the Lord.
However to more earthly matters slavery apparently is all that demeans human beings…Pope Francis says of modern slavery that it is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ.
It comes in many forms….human trafficking its worst manifestation, and a slavery to ideology and prejudice isn’t too hot but then we get to the real scourge of modern life….a slavery to consumption, a slavish belief in a materialistic world that disregards the supernatural dimension of reality, a slavery to the power of Darkness!
Gosh.
All very good but how do they explain this…
Church of England stores up riches on Earth
The value of Church of England property and shares jumped by £800m last year to nearly £5bn.
The church’s investments in multinationals and other companies which make up the bulk of its share portfolio have also attracted controversy.
The Church of England’s investments are wide-ranging and complex.
They range from pieces of woodland used for timber to investment strategies run by some of the world’s biggest hedge funds, and stakes in big oil companies.
The Forces of Darkness indeed.
All that aside and the point of this post is nearing…the trendy Reverend Richard Coles was slapped down as he muttered similar sentiments as the above about the evils of consumption and materialism on Saturday Live.(26 mins) Very funny it was too to hear his discomfort as he was contradicted by Trend forecaster James Wallman who talks about managing your ‘stuff’.
The goodly Reverend Richard Coles, on a goodly BBC salary, whitters worthily on about the ‘bonfire of the vanities’ long, long ago in Florence whenst the goodly citizens cast all their worldy possessions onto a bonfire lest they be tempted into sin.
The Rev tells us that this was a moral statement against luxury, a moral argument for making your life simpler and clearer…and it has a resonance today…no?
No. Apparently not.
What James Wallman told us he’s not coming at this from a moralistic perspective. It’s not about getting rid of all our stuff, it’s not anti-stuff, it’s not anti-capitalism, it’s not anti-consumerism, it’s anti-too much stuff. You can’t find happiness, identity, status and meaning in things you want.
‘Oh’ says the Rev. He’d just knitted himself a hair shirt. Damn!
Giles Fraser no doubt provided a burly shoulder to cry on.
The likes of Coles, Fraser, Welby and Sentanu, Lowe and Sizer are now the Church of England.
Cakes out for Islam, whetstones to sharpen the swords at the back.
No knowledge whatsoever of the Old Testament, too scared to do even a cursory check on the Koran…
This week saw Satan getting redacted from the Baptism Service-the only mention of him in a ritual, now gone.
It also saw Welby cringe up in Dresden-whereas no German prelate would ever apologise for Coventry or Bow.
The Cof E also are hoping to tell its few dupes that we need more EU, more social justice and less foodbanks and privilege…without of course, naming the parties that will “deliver” on these aspirations of the bishops.
And-as ever-no denunciation of Islam in all its barbarities…from the Achille Lauro to Copenhagen…Islams grand!
The Cof E is finished…Israel and its people are the winning side, contrary to all appearances-and how you treat the Jew will be the measure of you.
An interesting comment by a foodbank volunteer on the local BBC radio station a few weeks ago … “and some people open the box and hand back the items they don’t like”. She intended it to praise the recipients. There is, of course, another take!
When the topic of foodbanks comes up you may like to mention sometimes the million people who lost their jobs in just a year in 2008/9. That added, what 2+ million, to the potential demand for foodbanks, but of course it is only since May 2010 that demand has grown.
Interestingly the DWP are now allowed to refer people for a parcel. Now what do you do if you work for the DWP and have to sanction claimants for not sticking to their side of the benefits deal, who then say they have no food. At least they can now get a parcel.
My father was an old fashioned welfare officer (now social workers). We lived in a town with London overspill. Sometimes women would come in a say hubby had gone off to London for the weekend and they had no food for the children. Rather than give them money father took them to a shop and bought them enough basics to get them through the weekend rather than handing out cash. They rarely came back.
I believe France pays out some benefits in vouchers to use at supermarkets, which cannot be used to buy cigarettes and alcohol and probably other things. The supermarket keeps the till roll and submits it to their DWP. Something similar may help recipients to not spend their fortnightly benefit in the first few days, as I unfortunately believe many with drink and drug problems do.
I had quite high hopes for Justin Welby when appointed being someone who had had a job in the real world previously. I’m sure many of his members are ready to help their neighbours, but suspect most are rather less ready to help those who do not set out to help themselves and settle for a life on benefits. Something the cap on benefits seems to be doing. Removing any cash benefit for more than a second child born 9 months after the announcement of the policy change may have a stunning effect on the number of children “born into poverty” where a benefits system can provide a four child family to need employment paying around £35k gross before being better off working!
There can be more than throwing ever more cash at a problem to solve it. Gordon Brown only ever seemed to boast of input. The NHS was 50% better off, after inflation in 2010 than inflation only increases. Was the NHS 50% better? I think not. Ditto education.