Life will never be the same...Bosnia, 20 years on.

I served in Bosnia from Sep 1994 until October 1995, with the Royal Military Police, first with the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) and then as a part of the Rapid Reaction Force 24 Airmobile Brigade. The war was still raging there and I was deployed to an area in the north of the country.  The area we covered was populated by both Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats, who were Christian by religion. We got on well with the townspeople and farmers alike. It was almost as if the hatred of the war had not reached this area. We patrolled the streets and supply routes daily, attempting to make sure the much needed aid convoys were getting through to the people who needed them. We conducted policing operations with various factions and we tried to be a presence of stability and dependability in a country in the grip of a violent civil war.

Ethnic cleansing was rife, people in towns across Bosnia simply disappeared; their homes were singled out and then burnt down. Some were taken to camps, others were discovered in the mass graves, others became refugees/displaced persons..

I found myself in a country that was being destroyed through a raging civil war. Where fellow humans had been going about their lives and had then just left, fled, been murdered.

In Luke’s gospel, Jesus speaks about “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” This was exactly what was in Bosnia.

            “The enemy it turned out, had been living right next door, right down the street. Until just yesterday Bosnians had shared everything, drinking coffee together, going to parties and funerals together, visiting each other, marrying each other, but now…” (Hukanovic, 1998)

But now, now was killing time and when this time arrived it was these ordinary people that had committed these terrible acts of brutality and violence.  How did this make me feel? I had been sent here to protect this innocence, these ordinary people, yet I had been killing time in a secure compound when the slaughter had happened.

 

Wave after wave of emotion ran through me during those months, even now twenty years later, I find it hard to express honestly the horror that ethnic cleansing is.

Professor Norman Cigar is a military analyst who wrote          “Overall, ethnic cleansing seems to have followed a premeditated strategy, rather than being an improvisation arising from unfolding events.” (Cigar, 1995)

If as Cigar suggests that this slaughter and cleansing was premeditated, then did it not show that these ordinary people already had an intrinsic ability to commit terrible violence towards other humans. If this was true, how could the God I know and love have allowed this to happen? Stories and images from British Forces operations in the country came to mind. Acts of Christian kindness by British soldiers who professed to have no faith. They patrolled the aid routes and stood guard over the bread queues. These images came back to me and helped me to remember that in the midst of this inhumanity were people exercising free will given by God, to love their neighbour.

So, ordinary people could commit terrible violence and soldiers could carry out acts of humanity. As a peacekeeper and soldier I felt useless, angry and helpless simultaneously. I have come to understand that such anger once stoked can make any human capable of violence and sin. Continuing this thought process, we would be leaving Bosnia when our tour of duty was completed but Bosnian survivors would not and how would they deal with the feelings we all had.

            “Most wars feed on hate, and the masters of war know how to manufacture it well. It is the proportions of the Balkan hate and its rawness right there on the fringes of what some thought to be civilised Europe that causes us to stagger.” (Volf. 1992)
 

Peace enforcement in Bosnia has been in place since late 1995. However peace is not there. The whole of the Balkans is a bubbling pot of emotion, hatred and anger, this is all too evident in the footage and reports which continue to come out of the Balkans.  Hukanovic a survivor of the death camps of Bosnia closes his autobiography with, “Lord, may you never forgive them.” (Hukanovic, 1998:163)

But I am not a Bosnian, I was a stranger seemingly killing time in a foreign land, so how have I dealt with my experiences and my feelings.

I have used scripture and secular writing to help me find God in those places and memories of human evilness. The writings of Corrie ten Bloom and Eva Schloss both survivors of the Nazi concentration camps, have enabled me to reconcile some of my feelings of anger. Anger towards those ordinary people who committed such evil and towards the mandate we as peace keepers were working under which did not allow us to launch offensive operations. I have gradually ceased to be as angry with God. Earlier in this reflection I wrote about British soldiers showing compassion and love to their ‘neighbours’. I began to understand that God was there, in those soldiers and in the aid workers who were prepared to and in some instances did, lay down their lives for their ‘neighbours’.

 Gustavo Gutierrez cited in the Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology states that, “liberation theology has its origins in the reality of the ‘premature and unjust death of many people’”. (Rowland, 2007:3) I have learnt that my theology, my beliefs and values were radically shaped by my experiences in Bosnia. Prior to my tours there, my faith was naïve. I did not have any comprehension about the true extent of humankind’s ability to commit terrible sin. Now I do and because of this I now holdfast to a creed that says all people are equal and valued by God.

 Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” (Eph 4:1) I believe I received my calling on the blood soaked streets of Bosnia, a calling to defend and speak for those who cannot defend themselves, to see God in all people regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender or sexuality. I am no saint, I still struggle with my anger not always using it to effect change or righteously but by hurting people. I have learnt to reflect on the implications that my anger can have, I have learnt that reconciliation is crucial in this world. I have learnt that an ordinary person has the ability to influence this world; that we neither need to make a time to kill, nor kill time whilst atrocities are happening but through prayer and action we can bring about change.

To do so requires courage, the composer of Psalms 46 comments that bows must be broken and spears shattered[1]. The prophet Micah calls for the remoulding of weaponry into tools of agriculture[2]. These actions require someone to undertake them, they won’t happen by themselves. The German theologian Moltmann, himself a prisoner of war during the 1939- 1945 war, said, “Top level discussions between privileged persons usually do very little to relieve the suffering of ordinary people.”[3]

Jesus himself preached and undertook radical action to encourage and demonstrate that justice has to come from the people[4]. Mahatma Ghandi once said, “be the change you want to see in the world” [5]  and Volf a Croatian theologian wrote, “the kingdom of God enters the world through the back door of servants’ shacks, not through the main gate of the masters’ mansions”.[6] We are called and ordered to undertake and act for justice. And that is what my faith is about today.

 It is about standing up for what you believe to be right, even if it seems to cost you everything. It is about placing yourself between the bully and the bullied even if this makes you the target. My faith isn’t perfect, there are dark times when I find it hard to conceive there is a God, let alone believe in it/him/her. These are normally times when I am facing the bizarreness of first world living, when people become so bound up in doctrine and dogma that they forget the golden rule – To do unto others as you would have done unto yourself. When politicians, faith leaders and the press can become so obsessed with their own agendas (which to be fair is quite often all about keeping the thinking person in a box and thus not questioning what the leadership are up to) that they fail to see the world beyond their own briefcase or prayer book or paper. Likewise those who sit in the pews and are only concerned with the bricks around them are no better. Yes there is a place for our own needs, but surely issues about who sleeps with who, or if a child can receive communion before some man in purple says so, are irrelevant if the world we live in is teetering on the brink of a war that will take thousands of lives, a climate disaster that may see millions displaced and new diseases that are effectively a plague time bomb.

 

I recently preached a short sermon that included these words, "in Christianity the practical definition of love is best summarised by Thomas Aquinas, who defined love as "to will the good of another," or to desire for another to succeed. This is the explanation of the Christian need to love others, including their enemies. As Thomas Aquinas explains, Christian love is motivated by the need to see others succeed in life, to be good people."
And thinking about those vivid experiences of twenty years ago and some since then, I come to the conclusion tonight that, yes "to will the good of another" is where I am at. On this Sunday in September as people mourn those murdered this day, as others await the referendum on Thursday, I am thankful for those I served with for both guiding me and being alongside me. I think of those who were slaughtered in the genocide of twenty years ago and since in wars and conflicts around this globe and I reaffirm my commitment to the creed I believe in, that all people are equal, even if this means  I will be in exile and excluded by some.

---

[1] Ps 46:9

[2] Micah 4:3

[3] Selvanayagam, I (1995:3). A Dialogue on Dialogue: Reflections on Interfaith Encounters. Madras, CLS Press.

[4] Lk 4:16-30

[5] Indian Philosopher 1869 -1948

[6] Volf, M (1996:114). Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation. Nashville, Abingdon Press.

A bit of a fixer-upper

This is an adaptation of the short reflection I gave this morning at chapel. Sadly the Frozen reference wouldn’t have worked with the congregational age range today so I left it out. However - who else has managed to work Trolls and Thomas Aquinas into a sermon!!




Romans 13:8-10

8Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.



Love is such a powerful word that has so many connotations and meanings. It can be a force for good and a means by which great deeds are done. Yet sometimes it feels so hard to love people particularly when we are in pain or frightened. Here in the hospital we are quite often thrown together with people who become our neighbours quite simply because of where our bed is or because we share an illness. And the call to love your neighbour as yourself can seem just a step too far when you are out of your comfort zone and away from those who love you. Yet it is in these times and in situations we can truly fulfill the law that St Paul was talking about in today’s reading.




Likewise there are times when we are out of our comfort zone that loving someone is not so much a fulfillment of the law but that which just comes naturally. I think of soldiers I served with during the war in Bosnia who acted with such love and compassion for those we were trying to protect. A love that could potentially have cost the soldiers their lives. I think of those here in this hospital who despite their own pain and fear, show love to the young doctor or newly qualified nurse, the patient who has no family who for the time they are on the ward becomes a part of another patient’s family, included in visits and deliveries of sweets or newspapers.




In Christianity the practical definition of love is best summarised by St. Thomas Aquinas, who defined love as "to will the good of another," or to desire for another to succeed. This is the explanation of the Christian need to love others, including their enemies. As Thomas Aquinas explains, Christian love is motivated by the need to see others succeed in life, to be good people.




I think there is no finer way to sum up all of the above than in the wise words of the Trolls of Arendelle…






We’re not sayin' you can change him
‘Cause people don’t really change
We’re only saying that love's a force
That's powerful and strange
People make bad choices if they’re mad
Or scared, or stressed
Throw a little love their way
(Throw a little love their way)
And you’ll bring out their best
True love brings out their best!

Everyone’s a bit of a fixer-upper
That’s what it’s all about!
Father!
Sister!
Brother!
We need each other
To raise us up and round us out
Everyone’s a bit of a fixer-upper
But when push comes to shove

The only fixer-upper fixer
That can fix up a fixer-upper is

True! true!
True, true, true!
Love (True love)
Love, love, love, love, love
Love! (True love!)
True...




No matter why we are in this chapel today, each one of us, no matter of our ills, worries or fears, has the potential to fulfill each day that most important of laws, to love one another. For it is in this way each of us will bring love to this world, this place and to and for one another.

Wanted someone not gay/bi or straight, neigher lay or ordained, enquiries within!

I posted a status on Facebook which seemed to have galvanised the troops into a series of responses -

"Dr W has said very strongly that I need to talk to someone about my disintegrating faith & my broken heartedness about all things vocation. But she has also clearly stated the someone should not be gay/straight/bi, neither ordained nor lay, and definitely no one I'm likely to snot if they mean to me. Does anyone here translate spaniel as Poppy seems my best bet!"


Thanks troops you all very lovely, if not slightly bonkers. The main point of my status was the hilarity which Dr W's requirements caused. However on a serious note thank you for the lovely messages. I have a fantastic spiritual director who I trust immeasurably and a great team leader at work. My frustrations with the church denominations will, I have no doubt continue ad infinitum. A church which markets itself as the church of the state, should in my humble opinion play by the rules, or in this case The Law as we in the real world like to call it. But hey as it has successfully discriminated against women for a few hundred years, who knows how long it will be before us weather causing, genocide raising gays are allowed to ooh I don't know, not break the law of the land and get married in a church.

 As for getting married and being a vicarette well, the bookies have better odds of me being elected president of Russia. Them on t'other side of the coin who are obsessed in worshiping gay instead of God are not any better, but to be honest and here is the crux of the whole thing - kids are being slaughtered across this globe as I sit here typing this wittering. They are being blown apart and those that survive the bombs and missiles will I imagine die a slow death from infection because with no electricity or fresh water there will be no way of sterilising equipment and storing drugs. But hey who cares about that sort of thing when the civilised (and I use that term very loosely) world can pull each other to pieces about who sleeps with who in their own beds.

If I thought for one instance that people would stop killing children across the globe if I didn't share my be with the lovely Dr W, I would say fine, bunk beds it is! But that is never going to happen because people are slaughtering kids because of many things not because of who I choose to love. However as a loving couple we can give so much back to a world of hate and pain,


we can be the ripple makers in this world and be a part of something that says it doesn't matter who you are, or what you believe, we are human and we are humanity in the flesh.

A final thought (stolen ruthlessly from my boss at work): Everyone has spiritual experiences, for everyone is spiritual. Some people then go on to make a religion out of these experiences. Very understandable. Tidies them up. Puts them in a box. Instead of saying, "Here are my experiences" they say "Here is my religion." All boxed and sorted. The trouble with boxes, however, is that they tend to be airless and things inside get stale. Religions can very easily become boxes, and places of airless decay. You are spiritual. May religion serve you. Not kill you.

Out of the mouths...

This evening I was having some rare 1-2-1 time with my daughter, her little brother had gone to bed and was asleep in under 5 minutes, so I took Elsa down stairs with me. I gave her a chair to sit on whilst I finished off some baking. She has a sheet to fill in for her move to Year 1, so I read out the questions one at a time and she pondered and then answered me. One questioned asked who her friends were in reception. Elsa rattled off what seemed to me to be the whole class. I said we could probably write that she thinks of all her class chums as friends but who did she play with or go to when upset. She listed a few names which we agreed to write down. Then she said a little shyly and of course "X is my boyfriend". Having gripped the bench whilst taking a sharp intake of breath, I said, "sorry, what?" Elsa again said "X is my boyfriend. Well he will be one day." Whilst I was working out my next move, she then said, "of course I might have a girlfriend, like you and mummy are girlfriends, which would be nicer, but I guess what really matters in all of this is, that I fall in love with someone who falls in love with me, it doesn't matter if they are a boy or a girl".

And in that instant I wished my daughter was standing up in front of the General Synod having the discussion with me in front of them, because there is more wise, genuine love in that child, than in most of the adults I know. In the book Through the eyes of a child: New insights in theology from a child's perspective,  there is a section which reflects on the voices of children in the wilderness years, how "the thinking and practice apparent in conventional religious circles usually suggested children's spiritual resources were deficient in comparison with those of adults - until they had learnt and internalised the prayers, the practices and the beliefs of the tradition".

I couldn't be further from this thinking if I chopped off my own head and offered it for use as the football for the world cup final tomorrow night!! This 5 year old daughter of mine, has shown me (yet again) such grace, unconditional love and wisdom that I feel blessed to have her ministering to me. Ministering to a minister in exile, because of the adults in this world whose obsession with the practices and beliefs of tradition, override that most basic commandment 'to love'.

I sat down with Elsa and we shared a bowl of grapes together and then I snapped a piece of chocolate in  half and we ate that together in silence. She then said, "I love you mummy and I love our chats." As one who is exiled from the table because of standing by that commandment 'to love', this grape and chocolate spontaneous Eucharist tonight was quite possibly the most soul  nourishing communion, I have ever received.
May we all become like children and thus enter the kingdom of heaven.

On Children
 Kahlil Gibran
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Slow to bless and quick to chide

Show me an old fashioned and probably mostly unused English Hymnal and I will say without hesitation 470 please. The hymn in question was one of my favourites when I was growing up and as a chorister was probably sung more in the wedding season than any other! The words of the hymn are here:


Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
to his feet thy tribute bring;
ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
evermore his praises sing:
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King.

Praise him for his grace and favor
to our fathers in distress;
praise him still the same for ever,
slow to chide and swift to bless:
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glorious in his faithfulness.

Father-like, he tends and spares us;
well our feeble frame he knows;
in his hand he gently bears us,
rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Widely yet his mercy flows.

Angels, help us to adore him;
ye behold him face to face;
sun and moon, bow down before him,
dwellers all in time and space.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace.

What I love most about this hymn are the words, within in each verse is a nugget that could be taken away and used. Used as a frightened daughter of an alcoholic mother who was the exact opposite of 'slow to chide and swift to bless', 'ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven' when having had to leave the military I found myself alone, penniless and in a really bad place. 'Well our feeble frame he knows; in his hand gently bears us' words that in the most awful of times I could hold onto that no matter how alone I felt or indeed feel, I am being held.

But in the last day those words have changed a little for me, for I realised that the Church in which I had sung those words and found comfort in them, was capable of  'swift to chide and slow to bless' and that the foes the Church needs to be rescued from is its own inability to 'praise...the God of grace.'

I naively expected the church to drag its cumbersome disciplinary feet for sometime about how they were going to 'deal' with a priest who committed such a terrible act as to get married to the person they loved. But no it seems in a world that is teeming with acts of genocide and in a time when half of the world's refugees are children, the church decided to flex it's waning muscles by disciplining a man whose vocation it is to walk alongside those in distress, who in his ministry as a hospital chaplain gently bears those whose feeble frames are failing. Why? Did he break the law? No, he simply married the person he loves.

Instead of bowing down in front of the church and doing the bidding of a bunch of men (because perish the thought a woman should wear purple and a silly hat), he chose to follow love. From the day of his marriage to the day of his license being removed was less than two months.
In a direct contrast the abuse of children in Chichester diocese by 2 priests was carried out over nearly 2 decades and it wasn't until 2013 the Church grown ups apologised for their failing to stop it happening.

When I wrote about my decision to step away from the Church of England after the Archbishop seemed to blame gays for the death of innocent Africans, and let's not forget that wonderfully entitled 'Pastoral guidance on same sex marriage' which to be fair was anything but pastoral, I honestly believed we had hit the bottom of the barrel. That the church of England couldn't honestly get any lower, but it seems they have drilled the bottom out of the barrel and are now merrily digging away with their hands to get even lower. I also naively thought that outside of the church they couldn't hurt me anymore, but they got me with that one - so I turn back to the words I began with, because they are not owned by the church, but owned by those who believe in a loving God, 'Well our feeble frame he knows; in his hand gently bears us'

and because I always come up as a prophet/activist in those ridiculous personality tests, a re-vamped verse of 470 -

Angels help us to ignore them;
God shows us love face to face;
sun and moon, bow down before him,
dwellers all (gay, straight, married, single, divorced, widowed, childless) in time and space
Allelulia, alleluia!
Praise with us the God of Grace (and give us just a little bit more of it in these trying times).

For those of us who are tonight pushed further into exile and a time of wandering alone, may the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God.

Thinking about Pentecost and my fab dad's birthday

 

Acts 2:1 – 21           

Theme  - “Extraordinary Power”

When I was a little girl, I remember coming to meet my dad off his naval ship which was in dry dock at the Swan Hunter yard on the Tyne. It was eerily quiet waiting at the top of the hill with my sister, when suddenly there was a screeching siren and out of nowhere thousands, literally thousands of men appeared and came up the road out of the gates and onto the streets. The noise was incredible, the language colourful and the energy extraordinary. My dad as usual appeared about 10 minutes after the mob had disappeared with his ear-defence still firmly clamped onto the top of his head. He had missed the siren as he had been in the depths of the ship, he had missed the noise of the crowd of men coming up the hill, all talking in their own accents and dialects but he still had his own energy, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he came up to meet us. My mind often wanders to that scene when I read the story of Pentecost, the wind, the fire, the noise, the energy, the extraordinariness of the whole thing. I guess though the clear difference between the Swan Hunter experience and the  reading  from the book of Acts that we will hear later on, is that only I and a select few have my memory of that day, where as in what happened on that Pentecost day launched not a ship but a Church, and millions of people knew and still know the story of the Holy Spirit’s extraordinary power. Amen.

 

Talking of launching ships and special days - Happy Birthday to my dad, who in a few days celebrates (in a grumpy dad not celebrating kind of way) his birthday. Thank you dad for not only launching the daughter ship, but standing by like a cross between a pilot launch and a tug boat, to guide me through the storms and the deceptive calms of the ocean that is life.

You make me feel like dancing...

Anyone who knows me will know that the Captain doesn't dance, and she certainly doesn't disco dance. However there are times when one has to boogie for the greater good! And that is exactly why on Saturday the 17th of May instead of hiding in my garden with a cold coke and paddling children, I was, with several hundred other folks marching to the sound of the English Disco Lovers, through the middle of the Toon. Why, what and WHO? I hear you ask!

 

The English Disco Lovers (EDL nice) tagline is 'gyrate not hate' and they are a mixed bunch of people who counter the violence, vileness and thuggish behaviour of the English Defence League with good old fashioned cheesy pop. The EDL (boo) are an assorted bunch of people from seemingly all over the country who seem to believe it is their given right to discriminate, spread hatred and fear and generally stir up all sorts of nastiness all in the name of this our Country.

 

Now call me a bluff old traditionalist and a bit of a throw back to the days when the words: honour, courage and loyalty, were the sub-headings in the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst handbook but, I don't think scaring families of Asian origin, chanting hate filled venom and targeting places of worship with violence, abuse and yes wee-wee, are in anyway honourable, courageous or loyal. In fact I would go so far as to say they are despicable acts of hooliganism that are cruel, hateful and demeaning to those of us (the majority of sane people ) who not only love this country but think that this country is loved, and shows love to those who live in this country, regardless of race, creed, colour, religion, gender, sexuality.

 

When I signed to the colours of Her Majesty The Queen some 22 years ago, it wasn't with an oath to only protect Christians, or whites, or those of pure English blood. I didn't receive the Queen's Commission some 16 years ago with her implicit instructions to only look after the chosen few, no, By Her Majesty's Command - my Loyalty, Courage and Good Conduct were to be the tools of my service to this country. I add this paragraph into this blog especially for the toerags who strutted round Newcastle yesterday as a part of a 'defence league' yet I doubt had the backbone to take the oath and stand the line, defending this our country. For those of them who chanted that it was in my name, no, no it wasn't, it wasn't in my name or in the name of Her Majesty's armed forces.

 

Back to the disco then: with friends some of whom had dodgy taste in disco - fashion, we gathered in the city and then with an extremely good hum
oured (and certainly by the end of the day, a very dehydrated) police escort, we marched (slightly inaccurate - more like a cross between a sashay and a bimble) around a given route, pausing at the Grey's Monument to heard rom a variety of speakers, sadly some teenager loose with a megaphone and bucketful of claptrap rather ruined any hope of hearing the grown ups speaking their wisdom to us, but it did give me an opportunity to read the inscriptions on the monument:

 

THIS COLUMN WAS ERECTED IN 1838
TO COMMEMORATE
THE SERVICES RENDERED TO HIS COUNTRY BY
CHARLES EARL GREY K.G.
WHO, DURING AN ACTIVE POLITICAL CAREER OF
NEARLY HALF A CENTURY
WAS THE CONSTANT ADVOCATE OF PEACE
AND THE FEARLESS AND CONSISTENT CHAMPION OF
CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
HE FIRST DIRECTED HIS EFFORTS TO THE AMENDMENT
OF THE REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE IN 1792,
AND WAS THE MINISTER
BY WHOSE ADVICE, AND UNDER WHOSE GUIDANCE,
THE GREAT MEASURE OF PARLIAMENTARY REFORM
WAS AFTER AN ARDUOUS AND PROTRACTED STRUGGLE
SAFELY AND TRIUMPHANTLY ACHIEVED
IN THE YEAR 1832.

and on the opposite side of the pedestal

AFTER A CENTURY OF CIVIL PEACE,
THE PEOPLE RENEW
THEIR GRATITUDE TO THE AUTHOR
OF THE GREAT REFORM BILL.
1932.

How moving to stand under the shadow of this great man who so many years ago stood with courage in adversity to champion civil and religious liberty, whilst watching the people of the city today standing and sashaying together, in a bid to counter the evil that is discrimination, and hatred. How sad that so many years on, hatred and discrimination do still exist in our society, that they have not died out but seem in some places and some peoples minds to be their single purpose and drive.


This was certainly the impression the EDL (boo) gave as they beat their chests and huffed and puffed their way into their static demonstration across the police line from the cheesy disco music and even cheesier placards (sighted 'Down with this sort of thing', 'Racists smell' and ‘Careful now’!). There is a lot wrong with this country (take for example not our entry in the Eurovision Song Contest – but our fascination and following of this bizarre competition) but and it is a but, there is such a lot to be proud of. Proud of/ and for all of us, not just a select few who believe that they are in some way better than the rest of us just because they are white and allegedly Christian (don’t even get me started on the whole Christian rant). The thing that for me that we should be proud about is that we are a country that has for all time, “been a constant advocate for peace and a fearless and consistent champion for civil and religious liberty”. We are a country that is stronger standing together no matter what creed, colour or ethnicity people come from. In this fast moving world, stability and unity are vital, please don’t let us fall apart and become a nation that instead of funky synchronised disco movers we become renowned as a nation of dad dancers (sorry dad!).

Come on England
These things they are real and I know
How you feel
Now I must say more than ever
Things round here have changed
I say, too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-rye-aye
(With thanks to Dexys Midnight Runners)