Choices, choices, choices!

Brian is not only venerable but also wise. He made a perceptive comment about the two men in the home headlines at the weekend. He said he'd been "reflecting on Humility : When Justin Welby was told he had been chosen to be the next Archbishop Of Canterbury he said 'Oh, no!' and expressed 'amazement and astonishment'. When George Entwistle was appointed to head the BBC he 'thought the trustees had chosen the best person'." Brian's wry comment was, "Such self-confidence!" 

It seems to be the season for changes and elections, some more arcane than others - though who's to say that Americans spending $3 billion to elect Barack Obama is more rational than a Chinese party caucus "choosing" Xi Jinping? Or that the Church of England choosing its new Archbishop by means of a confidential "Crown Appointments Commission" is any more sensible than a country electing completely unfamiliar officials called Police Commissioners on the basis of no information - as apparently we are expected to do on Thursday? Admirable though it is to restrict expenditure on such things, the only information we've received thus far is our polling cards - no information about what these new fangled creatures are, what their powers and responsibilities are going to be, no information about who the candidates are or what they stand for. It's true that you can find something out on the internet if you know where to look, but many voters, particular of my in-laws' generation (who are probably the most likely demographic to vote), are not internet users. Ignorance is no basis for democracy, only for prejudice.

Obama gets Osama

Well, after the best sort of weekend, i.e. when ALL our family are around, enjoying each others' company - and Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City all won! -, it was a sharp reminder of reality to wake up last night (after a cacophony of dreams) to hear on the World Service President Obama announcing that Osama Bin Laden had been killed in Pakistan not far from Islamabad. So he hadn't been holed up in the remote mountains after all as we'd been told. It makes sense, of course. Merging into a populous place makes you much harder to find. The reports came of swelling cheering crowds in Washington. 

My initial reaction was "At last. Good riddance - but that's not the end of Al Qaida." However that first feeling has been qualified by further things I've read and heard since. The first was Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, whom I'd come across as the world's foremost expert on autism, talking about his new book Zero Degrees of Empathy: a New Theory of Human Cruelty. The write-up says: "Simon Baron-Cohen proposes turning the focus away from evil or specific personality disorders, and to understand human behaviour by studying the 'empathy circuit' in the brain." Writing as a post-Holocaust Jew and professor of psychology and psychiatry, his perspective demands respect. The 'Start the Week' programme was clearly recorded earlier and so didn't mention Bin Laden's death, but I was simply struck by the idea of not labelling someone as "evil" - although I am sure "evil" is an appropriate adjective for some actions. 

A second was Andrew White's verdict: "So Osama Bin Ladin is dead! A day that has been longed for many years. Today is just the beginning of the fight against Al Qaida. Terror is not over, the reality is that that we are now all in a very dangerous time. Al Qaida will try and show the world that they can and will still commit terror. So we all need to be on our guard.

".... with today’s news I am not sure what will happen but we continue onwards and upwards."

Another was a part of the New York Times' report, including official and unofficial reaction: "In Westchester, Harry Waizer, a survivor (of 9/11), paused nearly a minute before he began to speak when reached by phone. ‘If this means there is one less death in the future, then I’m glad for that,’ said Mr. Waizer, who was in an elevator riding to work in the north tower when the plane struck the building. He made it down the stairs, but suffered third-degree burns.

‘But I just can’t find it in me to be glad one more person is dead, even if it is Osama Bin Laden.’

"Asked whether he felt any closure, Mr. Waizer said, ‘I’ve said for years I didn’t think there would be, but I’ll probably need to think about that more, now that it actually happened.’

"‘You know, the dead are still dead,’ he added. ‘So in that sense, there is no such thing as closure.’" 

I thought that sentence, "I just can't find it in me to be glad one more person is dead, even if it is Osama Bin Laden," was simply remarkable.

Overwhelmed by hope

Yesterday I heard a remarkable story. Well, I'd heard it before, as have most of the world of course. But it's different when you meet the man himself, isn't it? When he tells his story. And when he shakes your hand and blesses you.

José Henriquez

Alfredo Cooper with José on the far right, Bishop Henry Scriven behind 

Last night, in St John the Baptist Church, Grove, one of the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped and rescued last year, José Henriquez and his wife Blanca, interpreted by Alf Cooper (evangelical chaplain to the President of Chile), told the story of the explosion, how the miners survived and how they were rescued. Here's the moment when José and Blanca were reunited: The rescue on TV. It was incredibly moving to have the two of them there, in front of us, very  much alive and saying, "Don't give up hope and don't give up praying." I particularly remember Blanca describing how she and her daughter first heard of the accident. At first, the radio gave the name of the wrong mine, and she thought, "Well, that's not where José's working." But later it was corrected and they realised it was Copiapó. Instead of staying glued to the radio, they turned it off and knelt down and prayed. And continued for the duration - as did the miners in their underground tomb, twice a day, for 69 days, all together.

José and Alf were interviewed on Radio 4's Sunday programme, which gives some idea of a little of what we heard (26 minutes, 10 seconds in):
Radio interview with José . Last night he was quite undemonstrative and struck me as someone who was very much at peace. He was utterly sure that the miners' rescue had been a miracle, as the exploratory drill which eventually found them hit a rock and was diverted into the chamber where they were.

His over-all message was that God is alive and real, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He is loving and good - which means His answers will be for our good. At the end he and Alf Cooper prayed for the whole audience. It was a privileged evening, I must say. Next week, the two of them are speakers at President Obama's presidential prayer breakfast in Washington! For all that and all the media attention, he struck me as a genuinely humble guy who simply wants to share the goodness of God

José and Alf praying for their audience

Eco-warriors and peace-warriors

I thought

you'd like to see my two marching grandchildren with their mum at the Wave march in London on Saturday.  I'm immensely proud of them.  And love them.  I can't see why they weren't interviewed on TV.  But that's not important.  As Barack Obama has just said, 'We seek a better world for our children and grandchildren.'  That's as true about the environment as about peace - for which he's receiving his Nobel prize.  It sounds like an interesting discussion of the just war theory worked out in practice in the 21st century.  I'd better concentrate.  'The desire for peace is seldom enough.'  'Peace entails sacrifice.'  'We lose ourselves when we compromise the very ideals we fight to defend.'  It's quite something having such a thoughtful US President.  'Condemnation (of human rights' abuse) without discussion will do nothing to change the status quo.'  Interestingly he's linked peace with the need to preserve the environment.  'No holy war can ever be a just war.'  'Adhering to this law of love - do unto others what you'd have them do to you - has always been the struggle of human nature.'  'Let us reach for the world that ought to be, the spark of the divine that lies within our souls.'

'News'

Traditionally the summer months were known as the silly season for news stories. It seems that it's extending into autumn this year. For me the big one is the hullabaloo about Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize. I reckon it's a no-brainer. Even if nominations did have to be in a few days after his election, as I remember it even that soon he had changed the dynamic of global diplomacy from one of shooting from the hip to one of human engagement. It might be that the Iranians are not 'evil' and it might not be most productive to threaten to blow them out of existence. And he has redefined the US government's position on climate change. And started movement again on Israel and Palestine. Admittedly the fruits of his vision have yet to be realised. And, as I said when he was elected, there is a danger in pinning too much hope on one man. HE can't change human nature.

And then there's the media storm over Mr Anton du Beke's gratuitous use of a racist term - three weeks ago. First neither he nor the show deserve such media time. Secondly it should have been dealt with by an apology to Laila Rouass on his part, acceptance on her part, and leaving it behind by both of them. And the press hounds being told to get lost.

And there's the Grove Christmas tree, planted three years ago in the centre of the village - which was cut down by vandals, so everyone thought. It turned out in fact that county council arboriculturalists had felled it arbitrarily. Sorry! They've offered to replace it.

On a more serious note, I must say I agreed with Judge James Allen when he said it would be 'unconscionable' if Christine Gill, an only child, were not to inherit her parents' estate - in spite of the will assigning it all to the RSPCA. Apparently her father had bullied her mother into agreeing to the terms against her own wishes. There is a difference between animals and humans, and people should come first. Animal charities in this country are anything but underfunded. And great though the work of the RSPCA is, I'm really disappointed that they have said they will appeal. Have they, I wonder, been advised by predatory lawyers?