When it's Cool to be a Historian

I read the following paragraph recently from Martin Gilbert's A History of the Twentieth Century (Volume Three, 1952-1999) and thought about how much fun he must have had writing it.

The section is about the invasion of Kuwait by the army of Iraq in 1990 and the response of the global community to it. Quoting President Bush (senior) from his memoirs, Gilbert writes:

"In the first few weeks of the crisis, I happened to be reading a book on World War II by the British historian Martin Gilbert. I saw a direct analogy between what was occurring in Kuwait and what the Nazis had done, especially in Poland....I saw a chilling parallel with what the Iraqi occupiers were doing in Kuwait."

I can imagine a fictitious conversation in the future:

What did you do during the war, granddad?

Well son, I used the excellent facilities of Merton College, Oxford to write books that influenced world leaders. Now bring me my slippers, there's a good lad.

Marvellous.







If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Clean Coal

Humour aside, NewScientist reports today that the World Bank's Clean Technology Fund (CTF)is coming under increasing criticism because of its funding of coal power stations in developing countries. The new US administration has withdrawn funding from the CTF.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Responding to Adrian Warnock on Measures of Leadership

Adrian Warnock has posted this week on the subject of measures of gifting and knowing your role as a leader. Since the views expressed in the post are widely held among Christians - the passage is a particular favourite of cell churches, for instance - it seemed appropriate to respond to it and invite readers to consider another perspective on the passage and its application for today.

The passage in question is Exodus 18.

Adrian's arguement, if I have understood it correctly, is that the Exodus passage refers to different measures of leadership capacity that different people possess ("leaders of 10's , leaders of 50's, " etc ) and that church leaders today should be aware of their measure of leadership gifting and seek to operate faithfully within that specific sphere or measure.

My problems with this interpretation are several:

1. The men in Exodus 18 were essentially judges not pastors or elders. The words used to describe them in the NIV are "officials" (21) and "judges" (22). They are called "leaders" in verse 25, but this term is immediately qualified in the same verse by again referring to their role as "officials" and "judges". Moses is here setting up a system of law enforcement - more a police force than a church leadership team.

2. The view that the different roles these judges occupied were based on their "differing capacity for leadership" is stated but not proven from the text. The passage itself does not actually tell us what basis was used by Moses for selecting some to be officials over 10 and others to be officials over 1000. It is an assumption that the different roles were based on "capacity" but not a conclusion that arises naturally from the text, which merely states that men were appointed to these roles.

3. It is entirely possible that Moses made these appointments based not on measures of gifting but on age or on family or clan ties. Anyone reasonably familiar with middle eastern cultures in the past or present would not find that sentence as shocking as those of us raised in a modern, urban and western environment. Of course, I am not claiming that this was the basis for Moses' decisions - I am merely illustrating that "gifting" is not a necessary way of understanding the passage as it is not referred to at all within it.

4. Adrian assumes the validity of the "number one" leader model for local churches and basis his application of the passage on that assumption. His application includes the following : "Sadly we fail to realise that not every godly Christian leader should aspire to be the so-called "number one" leader of a church." I would respond that it is surely preferable that no godly Christian aspires to such an un-biblical role.

The phrase "number one" is virtually always placed in inverted commas when used in a Christian context, as I have done in this sentence. Such usage highlights the inherent problem with the term. We feel it to be an inappropriate phrase because we claim to believe in servant leadership rather than hierarchy in church life; at the same time, our use of the term reveals that, in fact, we do believe in hierarchy in the local church. Hence the inverted commas, as a way of trying to have our leadership cake and eat it.

Who was the number one among Jesus' apostles after the ascension? The vision caster? The most gifted public speaker? Actually, it was the the one who had always been the greatest - namely, the least of all.

Adrian does, of course, make a valid point, which I agree is implicit indirectly in the passage, that leaders should not assume more of themselves than is realistic. Perhaps Paul had something similar in mind when he exhorts us to "not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." The context of this passage in Romans 12:3 does have to do with gifting in a broader sense - not whether I am a "leader of 50" or not but whether my gifts include teaching, being a mercy-giver, prophesying or leadership, all of which are to be used to serve the body of Christ and build others up.

Stephen Fry, Pre-Columbian Art and Bristol's Bookbarn

Two unrelated threads came together this week as I was rummaging through the leftovers of Bristol's Bookbarn, which is closing its vast doors and giving away its remaining stock free of charge to anyone who turns up to take it.

One of my interests is early American history, so I was pleased to pick up from the musty warehouse two titles on pre-Columbian civilisations of America.

Meanwhile, right on cue, Twitter celebrity Stephen Fry (he's also a writer, actor and broadcaster, I believe), who has been tweeting this week about his current trip to Baja California to film Last Chance to See for the BBC, uploaded the following photo of pre-Columbian cave art from his travels.

Astonishing coincidences.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Feeling Happy? Help is at Hand

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Satanic Verses - 20 Years On

A few links from commentators marking the 20th anniversary of the fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini against British writer Salman Rushdie over the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses.

A brief summary of the issue from the BBC web site.

Lisa Appignanesi comments on the ban from a non-censorship perspective.

The legacy of the fatwa was to make public criticism of Islam as a religion politically and socially unacceptable, says Kenan Malik.

Interview with Salman Rushdie from 1990.

The Times of India on the challenges of publishing "offensive" books post-Rusdie.

Members of the Iranian Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission explain why they believe the fatwa is still in force and should be implemented.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

British Journalists in Mass Photography Protest Outside Met Police HQ

Recent years have seen an increase in the use of police powers to interfere with the right of British citizens and journalists to take photographs in public places.

Of particular concern is a clause within the Counter Terrorism Act which sanctions the arrest and imprisonment of anyone whose pictures are "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism."

Even before the Act becomes law on Monday 16th Feb, police have been accused on several occasions in recent months of attempting to interfere with journalists and members of the public taking photographs in public. Recent examples include:

• photographer Jess Hurd had her camera forcibly removed and was arrested for 45 minutes while taking photographs of a wedding in London's Docklands in December 2008. National Union of Journalists spokesman Jeremy Dear said of the incident: "Despite the government’s warm words about the right to photograph in public and new Home Office guidelines it appears the routine abuse of these powers goes on."
• a Metropolitan Police Sergeant attempted to forcibly remove the camera of NUJ member Justin Tallis while photographing an anti-BBC demonstration on January 24th. Full story here.
• also in January, an amateur photographer was stopped by police while taking photos of ships in Cleveland. He was asked if he had any terrorist connections and told that his details would be kept on file.
  

Meanwhile, in March 2008, Austin Mitchell MP obtained 190 signatures for an Early Day Motion
protesting the recent spate of incidents involving police officers, police community support officers or wardens attempting to confiscate cameras and other equipment or otherwise interfering with the right of citizens to take photographs in a public place.

In response to these trends, and on the day the above law officially comes into effect, photographers from across the country will be conducting a mass picture taking session outside New Scotland Yard, home of the Metropolitan Police.

The photo shoot is supported by the National Union of Journalists and the British Journal of Photography.

The event also has a facebook page here.

An opportunity for some happy snapping.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Gaddafi, the AU and the Trials of the NGO

The following quote from Edith Jibunoh, Senior Manager of Africa Outreach, is a good example of the thin line that NGO's often have to tread when they build partnerships with national governments and international political bodies.

On the one hand, they do not want to alienate host nations by making critical remarks which might result in their humanitarian work being undermined or permission to work denied. On the other hand, if they are tasked with reporting on a specific event - in this case the recent African Union summit in Addis Ababa - then they cannot exactly say nothing at all.

Read between the lines of Ms Jibunoh's report for an insight into future debates (heated ones!) that the AU will face in the coming few years and also the opportunities for NGO's to further hone their diplomatic skills.

The summit also announced the appointment of Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi as Chairman of the AU and Gaddafi used the opportunity of his inauguration to restate the case for an African Union government. Gaddafi’s position insists that the only way Africa can meet the challenges of globalization and the fight against poverty, without Western interference, will be through a united government, with Africa speaking with one voice. Gaddafi would also like to see a single passport for free movement of African citizens, and a single military force for the continent. Gaddafi has strong support from Senegal’s President Wade but he faced strong opposition from other nations, led by South Africa, who reported that African countries were not ready and the idea was a long way off from implementation.

The discussions were lengthy and heated at times, but the final agreed resolution was to change the AU Commission into an Authority, after leaders rejected the initial proposal to transform the commission immediately, into a union government. Former Chairman of the AU, President Kikwete of Tanzania, said an adoption of a union government had to be preceded by a study of the legal ramifications so that the sovereignty of the member countries would not be compromised. The details of the structure for the new authority will be agreed at a special session in the next three months with plans to formally launch at the next AU summit in July. Views on the desired speed of integration from AU authority to AU government varied from nine to thirty-five years but all leaders agreed that the continent needed to speak with one voice on international issues, especially trade and climate change.

Presumably, the Colonel won't still be President of Libya in thirty-five years, despite being granted the grand title of King of Kings by African tribal chiefs in 2008.

Source.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Don't Forget Mystery

In the church of my dreams, the Bible is central and speaks with "final authority on all matters of faith and practice" (to quote a document from the Baptist church of my youth). Such a valuing of the Scriptures will inevitably lead to teaching from the Bible that is doctrinal in nature. So far so good.

From this can arise the desire for a "systematic" theology that covers all aspects of Biblical revelation and attempts to draw together the different strands of Bible truth into a comprehensive whole. Affirming that Scripture is not internally contradictory and assuming that all strands of Biblical truth can be harmonised, we can then develop a system of belief that attempts to explain all - a kind of Biblical equivalent of the scientist's search for a Grand Theory of Everything.

This desire is, of course, understandable and at one level is to be welcomed. It does, however, have its risks. One problem that can emerge in a church or movement committed to expounding Biblical truth is that its understanding of doctrine can become overly formulaic and can fail to recognise that in the end, all doctrine ends in mystery.

When we say that "God is love", for example, we are saying something that at one level appears reasonably clear and able to be understood (to the mind made alive by the Spirit). But at the same time, we are also staring wide mouthed into the most profound mystery of the universe, a mystery that makes the unraveling of the human genome appear child's play.

Although the words of Scripture are sufficient, they are not exhaustive. They do not tell us all that can be known, only that which we need to know for our salvation and for living a godly life.

Perhaps Paul had something similar in mind when he confessed that "we know in part" and when he portrayed this present life as "looking into a dark mirror" or (as other versions put it) "seeing only dimly". Because so much attention has been spent in recent decades explaining that these verses in 1 Corinthians do not refer to the cessation of spiritual gifts with the closing of the canon of Scripture, we have perhaps not been as careful to explain what they actually do mean.

In context, Paul is saying that all of our current knowledge about the things of God is limited - not incorrect, just limited. It is like the knowledge that a child has about the world around him - simplistic, basic, lacking depth or rigor. "Now", says Paul, "we know in part."

What is Paul's response to the reality of our current childish knowledge compared to our future adult knowledge of spiritual things? Does he abandon doctrine? Not at all. Rather, he emphasises love: And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

In the church of my dreams, doctrinal teaching is important. But it is to be set forth with a healthy dose of humility and a recognition that at present we're just kids talking about big stuff that we don't really get. This being the case, we adopt humility in our dealings with each other, and we make great efforts to think, speak and act lovingly towards all those who belong to Jesus Christ, even with those who don't agree with our view of the Millenium.

Cluster Bombs - Why the World Needs the Ban

News that Sri Lanka's last functioning hospital in the country's northern war zone has been hit by cluster bombs is a grim reminder of why the world needs to implement the treaty signed in Dublin last year banning the production, transfer, stockpiling and use of cluster munitions.

Reports of the bombing of the hospital in the area of Puthukkudiyiruppu were communicated by U.N. spokesman Gordon Weiss who said that despite the earlier evacuation of the hospital, 15 U.N. staff members and 81 members of their families were apparently trapped in the immediate area, which is one of the last regions of Sri Lanka to remain under control of the Tamil Tigers movement. Tamil fighters have been fighting for an independent homeland in the north of Sri Lanka for over 25 years. Casualty figures for this latest attack are currently unknown.

Disputed video footage from an alleged earlier cluster bomb attack in Sri Lanka appears to show fragments of munitions with cyrillic markings, indicating a possible Russian source to the cluster bombs allegedly owned by the Sri Lankan military.

The 2008 Dublin agreement was signed by 111 countries despite the absence at the conference of the major producers of cluster bombs - the United States, China, Russia, Israel, India and Pakistan.

Cluster bombs scatter smaller munitions across a wide area on impact, causing widespread destruction. Such weapons also cause a long-term danger to civilians, especially children, who may pick up unexploded bomblets by mistake.

The government of Sri Lanka publicaly denies using cluster munitions in its long campaign against the Tamil seperatist movement. Sri Lanka is not a signatory to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Gaddafi - Head of African Union?

Diplomatic sources in Egypt are quoted as saying that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has been elected by member states as the head of the African Union who have been meeting this weekend in Addis Ababa.

If true, the news is a significant achievement for Libya's head of state, who came to power in a military coup in 1969 and is the world's longest-standing head of government. As reported on this blog, the Colonel has been making efforts in recent years to reintegrate Libya into the international community following years of diplomatic isolation and UN sanctions. These efforts included hosting African tribal chiefs in Libya last summer, a gathering which included the acclamation of Colonel Gaddafi as "king of kings".

The African Union's aims include accelerating "the political and socio-economic integration of the continent" while Colonel Gaddafi himself has advocated the introduction of a common African currency. The Colonel is clearly not an Afro-skeptic.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.

Random Links

Tried ecocho yet?

If you were unsettled by the recent academic study by Harvard physicist Alex Wissner-Gross on the amount of CO2 generated by each Google search, ecocho may be of more than passing interest.

Powered by Yahoo, the search engine takes a portion of its ad revenue and uses it to pay for trees to be planted.

With over 6,000 trees currently planted, the site is a modest step in the right direction of helping to green the internet, a project which is currently in its infancy.

The carbon offsetting is verified by accounts KPMG and by Australia's Global Carbon Exchange.

Ecocho can be easily integrated into IE and Firefox though I found the code for embedding it into iGoogle was incomplete.

I use it most days to supplement my Google searches if I know more or less what I'm looking for and need a simple way in to the right URL.

Make sure you use the right country option on the top right of the home page and why not give it a try.

As the page says, "You search, we grow trees."

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS.