Solidarity revealed

It's getting noticeably hotter by day this week, not only here, but in Britain. Clare has been making the most of her time with Ann in Pembrokeshire, and fine weather, to visit a different beach every day and post photos of them, on Instagram and Viber. She's in her element. I'm not that comfortable sunning myself on sand, though I love to walk along the promenade and sea shore, day or night. 

Monday was a day with no appointment, just clothes to wash and a visit to local food shops, notably an eco-tienda, the other side of the Bull Ring plaza, to purchase a jar of Tahini using my best Spanish with complete success. But, most of the day I lay low in the apartment avoiding the intense heat, venturing out to the Old Town in the late afternoon as it was cooling down, to get some exercise. Having done a lot of walking over the weekend, my legs were quite tired. I'm walking at least 3-5km a day, but I'd like to build up to 5-7km a day every day, to get back to the fitness level I had last autumn in Mojácar.

Tuesday was also a day with no appointments, but a day of preparation for Owain's visit, and a day to draft a sermon for next Sunday's first visit to the Salinas congregation to celebrate the Eucharist. I found myself drawn to the Genesis lesson about Abraham and Ishmael and its relation to Islam.

More information is emerging today about the attack on worshippers at a Finsbury Park Mosque in London, by an assailant from Pentwyn, Cardiff, who seems to be a loner filled with hatred for Muslims. The impact of this act of terrorism, like the London Bridge incident last month, has been a defiant expression of solidarity by people of all faiths and none at every level, both the leaders and the led. 

'Live and let live' has been a default expression of tolerance in British urban society for generations, despite politics, despite local difficulties and compatibility tensions between communities with different lifestyles. It's not always comfortable, but people get used to it, make it work, as much by passive acceptance as through active community relations. There are more ways for people from different backgrounds to get used to each other than we realise. But, when there's an external threat to the natural balancing act going on in every kind of living community, there's a most remarkable reaction from within. 

People who've been muddling along start taking notice, and stop taking peace and stability for granted. Crisis pushes them out of passive acceptance of each other into a defensive affirmation of a diverse common life together. A sense of human solidarity becomes more conscious. It breaks down barriers of race, language and culture in public. What may have occurred when near neighbours had something to celebrate or grieve about, is revealed by harsh circumstances to be an experience shared by the larger community, which just wants freedom to continue muddling along, putting up with each other and living with differences.

Memories are awakened of my time as Team Rector of St Paul's Area Parish, Bristol at the time of the 1980 riots. That was a place where many poor people of different races and cultures muddled along together. Rioting broke out as a result of a bungled operation by poorly briefed police officers unaquainted with the area, without consulting police working there day by day. It was an expression of utter frustration by local young black people with far reaching consequences, and it attracted global attention for a while. 

There were unaddressed social problems as well, that's for sure, and a great need for British public bodies to re-examine their attitudes toward those who were of a non-British culture, in order to find out what all had in common, and what differences there were which called for respect. There were many top level enquiries, and a few changes, though never enough to make a major difference. Even then, as the crisis passed, all who lived in an area subject to intense scrutiny soon wanted just to be left alone to get on with a struggle to survive which no media or political intrusion could ever make a real difference to. 

Young rioters effectively said: 'Stop messing with us' to police with no idea how to administer law and order worthy of respect, as local Bobbies could. Hit a community with an islamophobic attack, or an islamist attack and we can label them politically any way we desire, but when the people of a place bond together in mutual respect to support each other, they may simply be saying: 'Let us be. Let us deal with this as best we can.' Whoever suffers, whoever is the victim, the community feels it's an assault on them and their effort to live together. It's almost like a revelation, this discovery that, as St Paul tells us "We are members of one another."

   

The quality of Christian martyrdom

The past twelve days since the Nice terrorism outrage has seen several more dreadful incidents of deadly violence in Germany, and this morning, another in Normandy, involving hostage taking in a church in Normandy, with the murder of a priest Fr Jacques Hamel (84), by men claiming the inspiration of Islamic State ideology. And this the same day as mass murder of disabled people in a Japanese care home by a man declaring the disabled have no right to life. The news of both these happenings again kept me close to broadcast media for much of the day, praying, and wrestling with the outrageous nature of these assaults on our common humanity.

Six years ago in my home diocese of Llandaff, Fr Paul Bennet was killed on his Aberdare vicarage doorstep by a mentally sick man. Ten years ago, Brother Roger of Taize was killed in church by a mentally sick religious follower. Forty years ago, Archbishop Janani Luwum was killed as he appealed to the dictator Idi Amin to halt the persecution of Ugandan people. Thirty six years ago Archbishop Oscar Romero was murdered while saying Mass in El Salvador, in a vain effort to silence his protest against human rights abuses. Twenty seven years ago Fr Ignacio Ellacuria and his companions were also murdered by the Salvadorian Army in an attempt to silence their challenges to the record of human rights abuses. 

There is nothing new about the murder of clerics as they celebrate Mass or teach the faithful about the saving power of the Gospel of Christ. As clerics are public figures, it's a risk that goes with the job, that one might be called upon to surrender one's life, perhaps more likely to the arbitrary evil appetite of those whose minds have been perverted, so they can no longer tell good from evil, evil from good, rather than from an organised persecuting power, like Nazism or Atheism or Soviet Communism. The so-called islamic state has an apocalyptic ideology driving its outrageous tactics, derived from perverted sectarian islamic thought, and is no less dangerous in its idolatrous addiction to violence than any previous expression of totalitarian rule. In the end its actions will prove futile, but at great cost to the rest of humankind.

A malicious individual or collective ideology, spells ill-will either way. It expresses power to divide and destroy community through the fear of violence. Of its very nature, this is diabolical, in the ancient sense of the word - divisive, unleashing chaos. The reality of the 'devil and all his works' depends not on whether it exists in the same sense as God exists, but on the power ill-will has to influence reality. Human beings make diabolical acts happen out of malice, but also by indifference and neglect. Evil has the potential to take on a life of its own beyond our ability to resist or control. Understanding this 'mystery of iniquity' seems much diminished in social awareness today, so people are less than ready to cope with it. St Peter's vivid wake up call twenty centuries ago still applies.

'Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion; whom resist, steadfast in the faith' (1 Peter 5:8)

In the end, Christians are not called upon to believe in the absolute existence of the devil, but rather to proclaim the victory of Christ over the devil - He who was in all things reconciling the world to Himself by the power of love, not dividing the world against itself, leaving us helpless facing chaos.

An active, faithful elderly retired priest in Normandy has been taken out by the power of unbridled evil having its way because people of good will have not yet done enough to prevent or protect innocent and vulnerable people from getting hurt. This isn't a criticism of security services. This is a matter for every member of each community that declares a faith conviction.

Those 'diabolical' forces thrive in a world where not enough interest is taken in those alienated from the ordinary affairs of life, those who separate themselves and seem threatening, so that it takes an effort to hear what they honestly have to say about themselves. Every social group has separatists and extremists in need of engaging in dialogue, in an effort to understand and address what causes their bitterness and anger to thrive. Minds are perverted by propaganda and lies long before evil choices are made. Only a constant struggle to ensure that truth and justice are done for all people, can counter the poisonous destructive effect of ill-will.

Fr Jacques Hamel kept the faith, and was killed because of the faith he lived by and represented as a priest, serving people through the church his entire life. We will struggle to recall his murderer's name, but this priest's name and his story will live on.

'The noble army of martyrs praise thee O God.'

May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
    

On being spared the gory details

It's impossible not to feel outrage at yesterday's brutal murder of a British soldier on a Woolwich street. How will all the different parties affected by this act of public brutality react? Islamists cannot represent the religion they claim to defend. Using religion as an alibi for their action makes ordinary believers very vulnerable to attack by extremists of another kind. One can only imagine how hard it must be for officers and leaders having to maintain discipline and restraint to angry young soldiers under their command.

The highly diverse local community seems to be taking the lead in its determination to stay strong and united and not scapegoating anyone for the actions of individuals whose minds have been poisoned by the deceit of doctrine that justifies futile violent retaliation. The spontaneous action of a couple of female passers-by, one tending to the victim the other engaging with one of the attackers about what they'd just done was a remarkably brave humane contradiction to an act of brutality, which will live in public memory long after the perpetrators have been punished and their names forgotten.

Most disturbing however was the broadcast of video of one of the attackers taken by a passer-by at the scene, enjoying his ten seconds of public notoriety, having his say before arrest. All part of the modern conviction that if it can be seen it must be seen. Was it in the public interest to let the murderer's speech broadcasted across the planet before he comes to trial? Doesn't this interfere with due legal process? Who knows what unintended consequences could have been unleashed by this news editorial 'need to know' decision? How many more perverted minds will feel the need to ensure their violent crimes are recorded in this way in order to have a few minutes to make their statement in the public eye?

As it happened, this morning was the monthy RadioNet Users Group meeting, and although the attack was not a subject for discussion, it was clear it was on people's minds, as public security and safety is one of the chief concerns of all who attend. In any time of economic down-turn, security budgets tend to get whittled down, there are fewer police available to attend incidents and response times are slower.  What if something like this were to happen on a Cardiff street? The Woolwich attach may not have been predictable, but one of the unfortunate things about publishing video of the incident was hearing a voice at the scene remonstrating with police officers arriving on the scene: "Why has it taken you do long to get here?" It's become a familiar refrain in many parts of the country.