Category Archives: Opinion

Opinion: Doing Jesus’ Journey

Facing Reality

Richard Rohr – Centre for Action and Contemplation

  15th March, 2024  
  Father Richard reminds us of our deepest Reality in God, which we cannot access except by facing our lived realities.

Both God’s truest identity and our own True Self are Love. So why isn’t it obvious? How do we find what is supposedly already there? Why should we need to awaken our deepest and most profound selves? How do we do it? By praying and meditating? By more silence, solitude, and sacraments? Yes to all of the above, but the most important way is to live and fully acknowledge our present reality. This solution sounds so simple that most of us fabricate all kinds of religious trappings to avoid taking up our own inglorious, mundane, and ever-present cross of the present moment.

As James Finley says, “The greatest teacher of God’s presence in our life is our life.” For some reason, it is easier to attend church services than quite simply to reverence the Real—the “practice of the presence of God,” as some saints have called it. Making this commitment doesn’t demand a lot of dogmatic wrangling or managerial support, just vigilance, desire, and willingness to begin again and again. Living and accepting our reality will not feel very spiritual. It will feel like we are on the edges rather than dealing with the essence. That’s why many run toward more esoteric and dramatic postures instead of bearing the mystery of God’s suffering and God’s joy inside themselves. But the edges of our lives—fully experienced, suffered, and enjoyed—lead us back to the center and the essence, which is Love.

We do not find our own center; it finds us. Our own mind will not be able to figure it out. We collapse back into the Truth only when we are spiritually naked and free—which is probably not very often. We do not think ourselves into new ways of living. We live ourselves into new ways of thinking. In other words, our journeys around and through our realities lead us to the core Reality, where we meet both our truest self and our truest God. We do not really know what it means to be human unless we know God. And, in turn, we do not really know God except through our own broken and rejoicing humanity.

In Jesus, God reveals to us that God is not different from humanity. Thus, Jesus’ most common and almost exclusive self-name is “The Human One” or “Son of Humanity.” He uses the term dozens of times in the four Gospels. Jesus’ reality, his cross, is to say a free “yes” to what his humanity daily asks of him. It seems we Christians have been worshiping Jesus’ journey instead of doing his journey. The worshiping feels very religious; the latter just feels human and ordinary. We are not human beings on a journey toward Spirit; we are already spiritual beings on a journey toward becoming fully human, which for some reason seems harder—precisely because it is so ordinary.

oOo

 

 

Opinion: Israel and Palestine part company

Thanks to Anglican Bishop George Browning, first published on 9th March in John Menadue’s Pearls and Irritations.

Every religion is rooted in core beliefs or dogmas but is judged or weighed by the character it espouses and the values with which it identifies. Belief is verified or condemned by the way life is lived. Christianity is known to espouse “love your neighbour as yourself” or, “do to others as you would have them do to you”, or, “do not judge”, or “forgive others” etc. By those critical of any value in religious expression it is rightly weighed by the lived quality of these characteristics. Often, Judaism has shamefully been characterised in the negative, such prejudicial characterisation rightly called ‘antisemitism’. I wish to do the reverse, to speak of the essential virtue of Judaism which has clearly been abandoned by the State of Israel.

George Browning

Judaism is founded upon covenants it believes have been forged with God and through which certain privileges have been assured, on the basis that accountabilities are adhered to. What follows is not my understanding of this covenantal relationship, but the understanding of the loved and much-revered late Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of Great Britain.

Lord Sacks points out there are specific covenants in Hebrew scriptures that relate to Israel and its future, notably covenants with Abraham and David; but preceding them is a universal covenant with the whole created order, made at the conclusion of the Noah flood narrative, which finalises the pre-history creation narratives. The point Lord Sacks makes is that any specific covenant must always be understood and implemented in the context of the universal covenant with the whole created order and specifically with all humankind.

What he is saying is that, at its roots, Judaism must always live out its unique identity in service of the good of the whole created order and never for itself at the expense of others. This truth has been manifested in the lives of hundreds of extraordinary Jewish people who have blessed all human life through the sciences, the arts, and many humanitarian causes. But it is not the character of the State of Israel, which since 1947 has behaved as a pariah and bully towards those who have had every right to call the lands ‘between the river and the sea’ their home.

On the 7 October 2023 Hamas engaged in activity which was abhorrent, no matter the context. The treatment of Palestinians by Israel had been increasingly brutal, without any hope of their rights being honoured, while the long hoped for and promised Palestinian State has been denied in perpetuity. The people have faced an enduring blockade from which no respite was likely soon, perhaps ever. Despite all this Palestinian suffering, the killing of innocent Jewish civilians in Kibbutz on the Israel/Gaza border must be condemned.

What happened on 7th October could not pass without response from Israel. The response needed was two-fold. Perpetrators in the Hamas military wing needed to be brought to account, but equally, perhaps more importantly, the reason why this atrocity occurred needed to be addressed. The reverse has occurred. Israel has doubled down on its persecution of Palestinian people, most egregiously in Gaza, but also in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and even in Israel itself.

Since October 7, Israel has engaged in some of the most inhumane aggression against fellow humanity ever seen in our lifetime. What exists in the mind of aggressors that they can knowingly cause mass starvation to thousands? What exists in the minds of the same individuals that they can herd innocent civilians into what was called a safe zone and then bomb them? What exists in the minds of the same individuals that they can cause the death of thousands of children, make orphans of others, and cause many to suffer excruciating pain without relief.

What possesses the mind of Israel’s leaders that they do all in their power to prevent aid arriving in Gaza? All possible denigration has been made of UNWRA, the only viable channel of aid distribution in Gaza. But it is not simply UNWRA, Israel has made it as difficult as possible for most humanitarian organisations to offer Palestinian aid. Visas are refused and operatives discredited. Mohammed Al Halabi, the head of World Vision in Gaza has been in gaol since 2016 for ‘supporting terrorism’. He was convicted in 2022. No evidence to justify his conviction has ever been made public, indeed independent audits have shown the accusations to have been entirely false. Why does Israel prohibit or punish those who wish to aid the most vulnerable?

Judaism is one of the oldest and most honourable religions, based on covenants that assume global humanitarianism. Indeed, there is an assumption that Judaism will be a blessing to all nations.

In contrast, the State of Israel was born in violence and the dispossession of others, its ambition for extension and control of all territory ‘from the river to the sea’, as reaffirmed recently by Netanyahu, depends on the same tools.

Long may Judaism and Jewish people be a source of blessing to human life on this planet, but we must forlornly conclude that Israel has long since parted company with Judaism and that Christians who without reservation support Israel because of its ‘divine chosen-ness’ are cruelly deluded.

The Author: George Browning was Anglican Bishop of Canberra Goulburn 1993 – 2008. He was President of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network 2013 – 2022. He is now its Patron. He is also Patron of Palestinian Christians in Australia, and of the Palestinian ecumenical liberation theology centre -Sabeel.

oOo

Opinion: Outdated ‘God’ terminology

Ant nest theology

Feb 4, 2024

Consider an ant nest in far flung outer Siberia.

The significance of that nest to people walking the streets of Sydney is virtually nil. Multiply that level of insignificance a trillion times, as in almost infinitesimally insignificant. That, we know today, is a true indicator of planet Earth’s place in the universe.

If the ant nest should disappear overnight, it would cause us no concern.
If Earth should disappear (as it will sometime) the rest of universe would not notice.

Here, I suggest, is a worthwhile starting point for theology, the study of “god” today.

We can no longer theologise imagining Earth as the focal point of the universe. Nor can we theologise meaningfully without taking “everywhere” seriously. Credible theology cannot be about a deity in the heavens anymore. If we insist on using the word “God” it must point to a reality beyond our comprehension, a reality present in all places, at all times, holding everything in existence.

Our scientific understanding of energy present and active everywhere in the universe may well be the best pointer we have to the mysterious source and sustainer of all that is. It provides the counterbalance needed against the prevailing notion of a deity watching over creation, listening in and responding to calls.

With this in mind, let us return to the ant nest in Siberia.

What is the task of every ant in that nest? I assume that it is to work together with other ants to keep the nest sound, and to provide a well-functioning home for the well-being and continued existence of the ant community.

How do the ants in that nest know what to do?

The theological implications of that simple question are enormous. In fact, I believe it is one of the most important theological questions we may ask ourselves today.

Consider this: there is no outside presence or power or ant god providing a set of instructions on how each ant is to behave. There is no school of learning life skills for ants. No, the ants know instinctively what to do. Not only that; they are capable of expanding their knowledge, adapting and changing their behaviour in the face of new challenges.

Likewise, the trillions of cells in my body know instinctively what to do and how and when to do it. They do not need an outside presence or power or god providing a set of instructions on how each cell is to behave.

These two examples lead us to consider a creative, energising, knowing presence embedded in all things. Call it the ground of all being, or source and sustainer of everything, or the breath of God, if you wish. Importantly however, this reality cannot be understood as a “deity”, a god, a localised super-being anymore.

“God” terminology in this context is outdated and confusing. A new word or phrase is needed but it is not forthcoming. The task of formulating new theological language will take considerable time. For now, I will stay with creative, energising, knowing presence to describe the mysterious reality beyond our words and ideas. Here I am inspired by Gregory of Nyssa who, in the fourth century, wrote that this reality “is present in everything, pervading, embracing and penetrating it.”

Now with this understanding in mind, consider the human community living on a planet as insignificant to the universe as any ant nest in Siberia is to us.

What is the task of every human being?

I want to postulate that the task of each and every human being is to live in harmony with other humans; to work together to establish and maintain a human community that thrives, evolves and endures.

As with the ants and everything else in existence, a creative, energising, knowing presence is embedded in us, grounds us in existence. This presence within the human community, within every human being, reveals how we should best act to build a well-functioning, healthy community.

In the great Axial Age several hundred years before Jesus, some of the greatest philosophical, moral and religious thinkers emerged in different parts of the world: Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Hippocrates, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zoroaster, the Buddha, Confucius and many others. Their respective insights, along with many others, point to a common set of values that could underpin and drive the cooperative task of the human enterprise.

Their great minds are examples of the creative, energising, knowing presence within everything coming to human expression. This expression is universal. It happens in every human community, influenced by and limited by place, time, history, knowledge, culture and beliefs.

The important theological principle here is that we do not need an external heavenly-based Deity to tell us how to behave, to be compassionate and caring, to love our neighbour, to be tolerant and forgiving, to avoid violence and greed. No, the source of all, the creative, energising, knowing presence that underpins reality is embedded within us. Attuning to, then acting on our innate knowing of what is right and nurturing, is the basic requirement to create healthy, evolving and enduring societies.

The great philosophical, moral and religious thinkers were not alone in their wisdom. All the great mystics shared the same insight and told us a similar story about ourselves. Hundreds of years ago the mystic Rumi wrote: “What was said to the rose to make it open was said to me here in my chest.”

This is one reason the mystics in particular, have been viewed with suspicion by church authorities throughout the Christian centuries. Their beliefs about the inner knowing and innate goodness of each human being, clashed with traditional theology founded on notions of a flawed humanity, of separation from God and the need for a Saviour to reconnect humanity with Him.

Christian theology has told Christians they were born in sin, were unworthy of God’s presence with them, and that they needed the Church and its sacraments in order to access the Sacred. It told people that God could not be close to them and that only unswerving obedience to the Church could get them close to God and ultimately to God’s dwelling place in heaven. This understanding of humanity remains the official position of the Christian Church.

Ants in their nests are fortunate to be spared such negative perceptions of their species.

Christianity’s denigrating ideas about humanity have distorted people’s sense of themselves and of how they might live out their innate potential. In many instances across the world, it disrupted and destroyed traditional community life and culture.

People in the twenty first century have every right to question the Christian Church over its persistent refusal to consider new, and not so new, understandings of reality that point to a very different understanding of who and what we are as human persons.

Traditional Christian theology’s understanding of humanity is the exact opposite of what Jesus taught and gave his life for. He wanted people to change their negative understanding of themselves and to believe the good news of God’s presence within them. He urged them to use their belief in, and their experience of that presence to create God’s kingdom on earth.

The Christian Church, in its early haste to turn Jesus into a God-figure equal to or better than the Greek and Roman gods it was competing against, locked itself into disconnection theology. Ever since the council of Nicaea in the fourth century, the Church has ruthlessly silenced any thinking contrary to its redemptive theology, doctrines and creeds.

Even now, in the 21st century, a Roman Catholic bishop can silence any theologian, speaker or writer who publicly dares to question a key tenet of Catholic belief. For example, it is still absolutely non-negotiable to question the idea of a heavenly deity locking people out of heaven because of the “first sin”, or that Jesus has to be understood as the Saviour who rescued humanity from eternal separation from that deity.

As I wrote in my earlier article, “The Need for Theological Reform”, it is time to ask bishops publicly to declare if they really believe, as The Catechism of the Catholic Church demands they, and we, believe, the scientific nonsense espoused in paragraphs #389, #390 and #400 of the Catechism. This nonsense is the foundation on which the Church’s Christology is based.

Jesus yearned to empower people. The Christian Church on the other hand, has historically disempowered its adherents and continues to do so. It made people dependent on “middle management”; dependent on men with special powers who could dispense the sacred to the unworthy. The classic example in the Catholic Church is the understanding of Eucharist. Here, what was in the early days of the church celebrated as affirmation, empowerment and commitment to the message of Jesus, still plays out dependence, reception and unworthiness.

Ants know better how to organise and sustain community life. Deep within us, we in the human community know how to do that, too. If the Church returned to what Jesus taught, if it would empower, encourage and lead by example so that the followers of Jesus might accomplish here, on earth, what he dreamed was possible and of more importance than anything else: create human communities shunning violence, greed, division and fear. He taught us how to do it. Christian theology, teaching and practice crippled the “how” bit.

Michael Morwood

About Michael Morwood

Michael MorwoodMichael Morwood has an extensive background in spirituality and adult faith formation. He is internationally acclaimed for his clear and accessible writing, workshops and lectures on the need for Christians to reshape religious thinking and imagination. He lives in Perth, Australia, with his wife, Maria

Michael Morwood has over 40 years’ experience in retreat, education, parish and adult faith development ministries, and is well known in Progressive Christian movements in Australia and the USA.
 
Bishop John Shelby Spong wrote of him:
 
“Michael Morwood … is raising the right and obvious questions that all Christians must face. In his response he provides fresh and perceptive possibilities for a modern and relevant faith.”
 
 
Michael’s particular interest is in helping adult Christians examine what they believe and why they believe it, what they imagine and why they imagine the way they do.
oOo

Opinion: The bad sermon – length and style

In at least one instance, Paul preached so long, someone went to sleep, fell out of a window, and died (Acts 20:9). I don’t think I’d recommend that as a sermon strategy.

Context, and the text itself, are likely the most important parameters to shape sermons, but the evidence is piling up that long sermons work against retention and recall of information, and speaking below the audience’s intellect and interest is another sure way to fail.

 

FOLIO OLIO: THE MOST BORING OF ANTI-SERMONS #1940

It has been said that “the best preachers develop audience awareness, always discerning how well folks are listening. Respond to their restlessness with energy, focus and excitement about the text. Is your voice lulling them to sleep? Change your pitch, pace and volume. Let the Word that has saturated you in your study overflow in your pulpit to them in the pew. You may preach as one who knows the Word, but do you preach as one who loves the Word? They’ll listen better—and sit longer.” (The long and short of sermons)

Reasonably short sermons acknowledge that our attention span is limited. As a former QUT lecturer in the Education Faculty I soon learnt about attention span. Despite continued practice of 50-minute lecture, the academic literature is full of articles and books supporting and propagating the conclusion that lectures should adhere to the 10- to 15-min attention span that is characteristic of modern students. In the book Tools for Teaching, Davis (link) states that “…student attention during lectures tends to wane after approximately 10–15 minutes.” Similarly, Wankat (link) argues that “Although student attention is high at the start of a lecture, it has reached a low point after 10–15 minutes.” When the lecture begins, most students are paying attention, and for most students that attention lasts for about 10 minutes. Indeed, McKeachie (link), in Teaching Tips (8th Ed.), has maintained that “Attention typically increases from the beginning of the lecture to 10 minutes into the lecture and decreases after that point.”  But do we need the research evidence. Isn’t it obvious? Just look at the audience after 15 minutes, or better still, stop and ask them a question about what you have said so far!

Teachers who move into conversation with their audience gain better attention also. The audience likes to feel their opinions are valued and that they are not empty vessels there to be filled.

But the difference between teaching and preaching is important. Jesus used both. They complement each other when it comes to getting a message across.

Matthew 11:1 says, “When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities”.

This is the difference between preaching and teaching in the Bible:

Preaching is proclamation. Teaching is education.

Preaching is announcing. Teaching is instructing.

Preaching is making a declaration. Teaching is making a disciple (Matthew 28:19-20).

In the original Greek that the New Testament was written in, the Bible uses one root word that we translate to the English word teach (didasko), but there are two root words that we often translate as preach (kerysso and euangelizo). Preaching should use all three. The first word, kerysso, means to announce; proclaim; make known. The second word, euangelizo, which has a similar construction as the Greek word for evangelism (euangelion), means to proclaim good news, announce good news, or proclaim the gospel.

Jesus didn’t just teach; he announced good news. In good preaching we announce and educate, a combination of proclamation and practical advice. doing one without the other is not serving the audience well. (Brandon Hilgemann)

In summary keep it down to 15 minutes maximum and experiment with mutimedia, varied voice, interaction with the audience, and combine proclamation with teaching.

Your thoughts?

Paul Inglis, March 2024

oOo

Opinion: Choices matter

From subscriber: Bev Floyd.

WARNING!!

There is untold vitality and opportunity for those who reach the centre of their being. It is a way made possible by a focus on one thing… being one’s true self. As Soren Kierkegaard said, ‘Purity of heart is to will one thing.’

As we go along life’s path we meet many opportunities for choice. Each choice we make affects everything and everyone. It does!

We now know that the whole world is ‘connected’. The old song about our ‘knee bone being connected to our thigh bone…’ etc is not just about our bodies. It tells a truth about bees and tides and clouds and plants and on and on and on. We are a part of everything and although our choice may be small in the scheme of things, it will have an impact.

I recall from my Sunday school days the words of Paul, ‘…if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.”

So… choices matter. Even small choices can change the direction in which we are heading… and can change the world.

Some will not choose love. They will choose anger and hatred, spite and power. That’s what happens when we are allowed to choose. Sometimes we make a wrong choice.

There is evil in the world. Depravity, unlove, hatred, spite, jealousy, anger, bitterness…

I am not sure why or how it comes about… Is it more in some people’s being when they are born? Is it the result of gradual decline? Does it come about because the social environment is skewed? Is it built into the way things are so there is a clear choice between good and evil?

I do not know. I only know how hard I have had to battle the forces of ‘unlove’ in my own personality. Some came from my inborn personality. Some came from the environment around me. Each step forward was    a struggle. Nor was it all progress.

Yet I was also blessed with examples of goodness and kindness and empathy that guided me towards a better path. I took hold of examples from literature and from history. I found supportive friends.

I was part of a ‘religious’ environment. I was a church-goer. I regularly heard sermons about goodness and love.

So… now… you may ask, why do you speak out against ‘organised religion’?

I will still… and always… acknowledge the benefits I’ve had from being part of it. But, as John Shelby Spong (an American Anglican bishop) said ‘Christianity must change or die’. That is because it is not listening to the many secular discoveries that have changed the way we should be thinking and believing.

‘Organised religion’ (in my case, the Christian version) needs to re-interpret its message. The message of creation, of ‘salvation’, of the role of the bible. And that is just the tip of the ice-berg.

I have friends who think it may be possible for the ‘church’ to change. They work within the system to try to bring about change.

For myself, I have decided to concentrate on the future. The choices we make depend on correct information. That depends on searching for and recognising truth.

‘What is truth?’ Asked Pilate as he was asked to sentence an innocent man. Indeed. What is it? Where can we find it? Often it is no longer a concern of churches. Well… in many.

I reckon everything hangs in the balance. The future is at stake. Small decisions we make may change the way things go.

Let’s make right choices.

oOo

Opinion: Genocidal Israel, condemned by words and actions

Commentary from subscriber and author, John Queripel:

John Queripel is a Newcastle-based historian, theologian, social commentator and published author of three books. His blog may be found at www.johnqueripelblog.com

Published in Pearls and Irritations , John Menadue’s Public Policy Journal.

In the indictment brought against Israel by South Africa in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC asserted it was, ‘the first genocide in history where its victims are broadcasting their own destruction in real time in the desperate, so far vain hope that the world might do something.’

Not only that however, the ones carrying out their genocide are also broadcasting their intent.

Not even the Nazis were that blatantly injudicious. Rather than baldly stating their intent they used many circumlocutions like the ‘final solution,’ ‘special treatment,’ around the ‘Jewish question.’ In using such terms all in authority knew what was meant. Such euphemisms may have even allowed a sense of decorum, to be kept regards the real plans of genocide for European Jewry, homosexuals, Romanies, and other ‘untermenschen’ (lesser people) in general. Such language could also later serve as a means of cover.

Thus, the proceedings of the January 1942 Wannsee conference, during which the detailed plans were made for genocide, were not broadcast, while few copies of revealing minutes were secretly distributed.

That heinous conference copiously using euphemisms, determined that the Jews and others would be transported eastward, and organised into labour gangs. The work and living conditions would be sufficiently hard so to thin the large numbers by ‘natural diminution,’ while those surviving would be ‘treated accordingly.’

While the German populace had been progressively imbued with a racial ideology from the Nazi ascension to power in 1933, the full intent of that ideology was never made explicit to the general populace, although as it became more perverse and extreme, with people grown accustomed to it, increasing numbers must have known, or have at least suspected, its extent.

The rationale for this genocide was that, ‘international Jewry’ was planning such against Germany, and that Germany was only doing such a ‘distasteful’ thing in self defence. That in the current Gaza conflict sounds familiar.

The judiciousness of the Nazi regime, as amoral as it was, can be contrasted with the open boasting of genocidal intent by the current Israeli government. The South African indictment includes nine pages of quotations from Israeli leaders regarding their intent, among the most brutal ever uttered.

A few shall suffice.

On 9th October 2023, the Israeli Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant announced, ‘I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed…We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.’

The following day, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian echoed him, stating, ‘Human animals must be treated as such. There will be no electricity and no water [in Gaza], there will only be destruction. You wanted hell, you will get hell.’

On October 10, the Israel Defence Forces spokesperson, Daniel Hagari announced dropping ‘hundreds of tons of bombs…the emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy.’

Two day later, the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Israel Katz said, ‘Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home,’ later adding, ‘They will not receive a drop of water or a single battery until they leave the world.’

On October 13, Israeli President Isaac Herzog justifying collective punishment, charged, ‘It is an entire nation out there that is responsible. It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true.’

Finally, on October 29, the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu invoked the Biblical story of Amalek to justify Israel’s assault on Gaza, stating, ‘You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible, and we do remember, and we are fighting.’ I reference this account following.

Lest it be argued that such statements were a result of some ‘understandable rage’ concerning the Hamas attacks on 7th October, such genocidal intent well precedes those events. They are copious , extending over many years, and may be found here.

During my time as a theological student I remember being horrified, upon first learning what is called in Hebrew, the herem (trans ‘utterly destroyed’), the consecration to God of persons or things, to be excluded from ordinary use. This extended to warfare where everything, including those captured, including women and children, were to be consecrated to God by being ‘utterly destroyed.’ This practice, commonly known as ‘the ban,’ meant there were to be no spoils from war, but rather total annihilation. Thus the Canaanites once defeated, were put to the sword (Numbers 21:3), likewise those in Jericho (Joshua 6: 17-21), and the aforementioned Amalekites (1 Samuel 15: 3,8). Such horrendous practice found its basis in the Law or Torah (Deuteronomy 7:2).

It seems by the extent of destruction in Gaza, both by their actions and statements, Israel has revived this reprehensible practice.

oOo

Opinion: Myths of Leadership

Following an earlier reflection on “Change”, we are drawn to the work of our subscriber, Bill Synnot and Associates, leading Australian change management consultants. This team of consultants offer refreshing and practical ways to address the challenges of change in organisations based on their work with 700 organisations. Their interactive questioning model fits well with the way progressives interrogate systems.

Four Myths of Leadership

  1. Great leaders are charismatic
  2. Leaders must have a great vision
  3. Change agents must be hired externally
  4. Radical change requires radical action

(for more detail see: https://www.billsynnotandassociates.com.au/kb/2040-four-myths-of-leadership.html)

More leadership Myths (5)

  1. Too young to lead
  2. One leadership style fits all
  3. Quality comes at a cost
  4. You’re either got it or you don’t
  5. If no one is negative, everything is positive

(for more detail see: https://www.billsynnotandassociates.com.au/kb/9647-more-leadership-myths.html)

oOo

Opinion: The Kingdom of God has Come

As we approach 2024, once again our minds are drawn to speculation about what lies ahead of us. Dr Peter Lewis reflects on the faulty teaching about the Second Coming that takes away our responsibility for following Jesus’ teaching and taking responsibility for all humanity and the place we inhabit.

All the best for the year ahead as we enter our 24th year at the UCFORUM.

No Second Coming

The Second Coming of Christ is an erroneous idea that developed among Christians in the last third of the first century AD. It weakened the assurance that the first Christians had that the kingdom of God had come.

Jesus took on the role of the Suffering Servant as described in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 and in some of the psalms, and as the Messiah giving his life in accordance with that role he expected the kingdom of God to come. In Mark 9:1 he says that some standing with him will not die before they see the kingdom of God come in power, and he was not referring to the Transfiguration.

In some of his parables he describes what the kingdom is like, but they are rather vague and only give hints as to what to expect. Probably Jesus himself had no clear idea of what would happen, but he was confident that people and God would be brought together and he (the Son of Man) would be sitting at the right hand of God, which was what he told the high priest in Mark 14:62.

In Mark 16:19 Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God and the kingdom of God has come for those who believe. During his lifetime the good news was that the kingdom of God was near, but with his ‘sacrifice of love’ it had come.

The first followers of Jesus realized that they were in the kingdom. As Paul or whoever wrote the letter to the Colossians said, “[God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” (Col 1:14) In the kingdom God rules with Christ at his right hand, and a way to understand this is to think of human existence as being in both the objective and the subjective. Jesus in the form of the Holy Spirit is prompting our thoughts in the subjective.

The Lord’s Supper is the central sacrament in Christianity, and those who believe in Jesus Christ take him into themselves: the Holy Spirit enters their minds and they are in the kingdom of God. The sacrament is repeated to remind Christians of who Jesus was and what he did. To say that the kingdom has not yet come and to hope for a miraculous event in the sky, as described in 1 Thess 4:13-18, is to deny what Jesus did on the cross.

Some scholars think that 1 Thessalonians was the first letter that Paul wrote, but although some parts might be from his hand, the rest was written much later, probably during or soon after the First Jewish War (66-70 AD). In 2 Cor 3:17b Paul writes that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,” but in 1 Thess 5:12 it is written that Christians have people over them in the Lord to admonish them. In 1 Thess 2:16 the author says that the wrath of God has come upon the Jews. Surely this is a reference to their defeat in the Jewish War.

In 1 Cor 15:24-26 Paul talks about the end of time when Christ’s reign has been successful and he hands over the kingdom to God the Father. This is a different situation from the Second Coming as described in 1 Thess 4:13-18, which was perceived as imminent.

To understand how the idea of an imminent Second Coming arose in the early Church one needs to consider the historical circumstances. When Mark wrote his gospel, which concluded with Jesus sitting at the right hand of God, conditions were stable and Christianity was spreading in the Roman Empire. He was writing before the fire in Rome, which occurred in 64 AD. Nero blamed the Christians and they were horribly persecuted. Then in 66 AD the Jewish War began. It was a terrible time for everyone involved, and it is understandable that some Christians would look to Jesus to come again and save them.

But being in the kingdom of God means responsibility. It means living as Jesus exemplified and commanded us to do, in order to consolidate his reign and change the world. It means living in the present, facing the current circumstances and doing something about them if they are in the dominion of darkness. Burying our heads in the sand, saying that the kingdom has not come and hoping for a Second Coming, is the opposite of what Jesus was about.

In Galatians 2:20 Paul said, “Christ lives in me.” Actually he lives in everyone who believes. With Christ in their hearts Christians are in the kingdom of God, and their task is to increase the kingdom. When times are bad and wars are raging their response should not be to pray for a Second Coming but to be Christ in the world.

Peter E. Lewis               28th December 2023

Peter Lewis was the dux of the Brisbane State High School and studied medicine at the University of Queensland. He went on to become a general surgeon and was a volunteer surgeon in Bangladesh for three years after their terrible war for independence. He was then the supervisor of the Accident and Emergency Centre at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney for five years before becoming the surgeon for the Solom

on Islands. On his return to the Gold Coast he took an interest in palliative care and was the vice-president of Hopewell Hospice for twenty years. For many years he has collected and studied coins relating to the history of Christianity, and since his retirement he has been a volunteer research associate with the Centre for Coins, Culture and Religious History, cccrh.org/ He has always had a strong Christian faith and when in the Solomon Islands he obtained a BD from London University by correspondence, and subsequently a postgraduate diploma in theology from the Brisbane College of Theology. In 2020 he wrote The Ending of Mark’s Gospel: The Key to understanding the Gospels and Christianity, for which Dr Paul Inglis kindly wrote the blurb.

oOo

Opinion: Sowing the seeds of a land dispute in Palestine

Lorraine Parkinson responds to Chris Budden

Thanks Chris, for your comments. Much of it is in accordance with my own approach to a desperately tragic, unending enmity between the two peoples inhabiting the land of Israel. I think most of us have seen the current violence coming from a long way off, not least because the West Bank is being eaten up daily by ultra-orthodox Jewish settlers and others hanging on to their coat-tails. It is of course incongruous that Israel has always received support, including financial, from conservative evangelical Christians, mainly in the US. When all the Jews return to Zion, apparently that is when the Messiah (aka Jesus) will return, they believe. From the 19th century, the Zionist Movement was founded in Europe to establish an ‘autonomous Jewish state in the land of Israel.” By 1931 175,000 Palestinian Jews were living in the land of Israel. At the time there were 760,000 Palestinian Muslims living there. By 1947 there were 630,000 Palestinian Jews in Israel, and 1,181,000 Palestinian Muslims.

I want to broaden out the whole picture a little, and refer to the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which supported a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. The British were granted a mandate over ‘mandatory Palestine’, and were supposed to carry out the promises of the Balfour Declaration. In the 1930s, when Jews were being persecuted in Europe, the British restricted their immigration into Palestine. Ship-loads tried to gain entry to the US, Canada and Cuba and were refused. By 1947 there were 250,000 displaced Jews (Holocaust survivors) in refugee camps in Europe. The British rejected several attempts to allow 100,000 of them to immigrate to Palestine. These people could not return to their homelands in Europe because they had lost family, community and all of their property. They also faced continuing antisemitism. So ships were organised to go to mandatory Palestine without British permission. The British intercepted the ships and sent 50,000 refugees to detention on Cyprus. In 1947 one ship full of Holocaust survivors was sent back to Germany. World-wide opposition to this embarrassed the British and led to the eventual UN recognition of a Jewish state in Palestine in 1948.

This background information I believe helps us observers from the outside of the conflagration to widen our view of all that has gone in in Israel ever since. Desperate people fighting with Muslim ‘people of the land’ who have been there for many centuries, is never going to have a good outcome. People become entrenched in their own point of view and so the struggle has gone. In recent days the increasingly right-wing (read: allied with right-wing religious orthodoxy) government has encouraged more and more taking of Palestinian territory. Hamas is a natural response to this for those who see violence against Israel as the only answer. It has found support mainly in Gaza. Israel’s military superiority has been used continuously against ordinary Palestinians to disrupt their daily lives in many ways, including the endless ‘check-points’, all in the name of security. Palestinians have always had inferior infrastructure and water and power services, plus second-class schools and medical resources.

Like all of us, I despair that there will ever be a peaceful Israel, with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side. It is, however, important to try to keep eyes on the wider picture of the struggle of both peoples to find a home in the land of the Bible. For one thing, we Christians should remember that there are millions of mainly cultural Jews around the world who are very critical of successive Israeli governments in their treatment of the Palestinian people.

Lorraine Parkinson 2nd November 2023

The author: Rev Dr Lorraine Parkinson. Lorraine is a biblical scholar, theologian and author, and considers herself ‘somewhat of a mystic’.  Exploring the faith from a viewpoint outside traditional boundaries has allowed and encouraged her to see the ‘biggest picture of all’. Use our search engine to find other posts from Lorraine.

oOo

Opinion: Re-reading the story of Palestine and Israel

Re-reading the story of Palestine and Israel

There are, in my opinion, three contributing factors to both poor analysis and inadequate responses to the conflict between Palestine and Israel, and the particular role of Hamas.

Let me be very clear from the beginning. Hamas’ actions in Israel were wrong, profoundly and horribly wrong.

First, however, the response and analysis has sought to ignore history. There is a pretence that Hamas simply attacked Israel out of the blue in an act of irrationality. They are mad people who must be eliminated, regardless of the cost to the civilian population. Consider the reality:

  • In 1917 the British Government issued the Balfour Declaration supporting the establishment in Palestine of a home for Jewish people. The aim was not to protect Jewish people, but to get rid of them out of Britain.
  • Prior to World War 2, there were relatively small numbers of Jewish people in Palestine, which was controlled as a British Protectorate.
  • At the end of the war, and with the guilt of the near annihilation of the Jewish people in Germany, support was given to finally enact the Balfour Declaration. People entered Palestine, often illegally, and began to push Palestinians off their land.
  • By 1948 there was significant occupation. The UN declared that the land should be partitioned, and two states established. Israel was established, but a Palestinian state has never gained proper support. Israel is opposed to such a state, believing it would threaten their security.
  • The State of Israel is a settler-colonial state, and has done exactly what such states have done in Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada. That is, they have stolen land, and justified that theft with the claim that the place was largely unoccupied. Where it was, the people did not use the land properly. People can be dispossessed because they are lesser people – it is a racist narrative, that has been imbedded in apartheid.
  • Palestinians have been pushed into smaller and smaller enclaves, reducing any chance of a proper state. They have had walls built around them, their movements are controlled. Witnesses say that they live in a virtual prison.
  • In the last 10 years, 3500 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF, including large numbers of children.

One of the things we learned from the struggle against apartheid in South Africa was that we should asked those who are oppressed to tell the story of their oppression, and not to ask the oppressors. People should tell their own story, and not have it told by those who continue to harm them.

Second, the clear narrative across the world is that some people are of more value than others. The latest deaths in Israel quite rightly bring forth international condemnation. But the deaths of Palestinians rarely cause a protest. And because people are not seen as equal, then it is okay to seek revenge that is completely disproportionate. Many more Palestinians must die to make up for the death of citizens of Israel.

Third, the US and its allies like Australia must take some blame for what is happening because we have failed to uphold international law; we have failed to insist that the law applies to Israel. The settlements on Palestinian land are illegal, yet they keep expanding. The state of Palestine has been declared by the UN, but no-one does anything to make it happen. It is illegal to attack civilians, but civilians in Palestine are attacked and killed all the time, and no-one is held accountable. It is illegal to punish civilians for what their military do, which is exactly what Israel is doing, but the US and its allies will not tell them to stop.

Let me say it again, this is not a defence of Hamas. Which, by the way, was supported by Israel for years as a way of dividing the Palestinian opposition.

This is a claim that we will not have peace in the area until people are treated as of equal value, until international law is respected, and until people stop stealing land. The alternative is a never-ending spiral of violence.

The response to this argument is often to label it and me as antisemitic. This is about the actions of the State of Israel. To name the ways a state breaks international laws, and oppresses other people is not antisemitic or aimed at Jewish people at all. I hope opponents will not throw labels that obscure the debate but will actually respond to the arguments I have made.

Chris Budden, 31 October 2023

The author:

Rev Dr Chris Budden is a retired Uniting Church Minister who is still actively engaged with First Peoples, and teaches a course on reconciliation at UTC, Sydney. He has a long interest in ways to find peace in Palestine-Israel. His present research interest is the Preamble.

oOo