John Martin's Notebook

Faithful unto death

Every time Christians suffer, we see in them the truth that Christ suffers too. Their blood is his own and their tears his very own and into this fellowship we are invited to share, writes Francis Omondi, chair of Trustees CMS Africa in a newly published article, Read it all

Free for what?

Nelson Mandela once said, “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” Terry Jones, the would-be Qur’an burner from Florida has not been without his supporters in this country. Few have dared to support him unequivocally. Most have tried to make the point that freedom of speech is on his side and they claim (unfairly I think) that in a politically correct Britain it is in diminishing supply. Well, in Kashmir at least 15 Christians are dead, a Christian school, built by the sacrificial gifts of UK people is just ashes. A beautiful Mogul-style church has only its walls standing, its roof and interior having been torched. Attempts were made to burn a nearby Christian hospital was foiled only by a combination of sudden rain and pleas that it was essential to healthcare, particularly mothers and babies. All this happened without the threatened Jones bonfire. It’s hard to imagine the scale of repercussions if he had gone ahead. Not just in Kashmir but in Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, Malaysia, just to name just a few countries and where Christians are a tiny minority. Freedom. The debate about how Christians handle their freedom is as old as the church itself. It was a boiling problem in Corinth. The presenting issue was divisive: should Christians eat meat offered to idols? It's possible that the central market in Corinth had various shrines and the normal pattern for local butchers would be to approach one of these pagan altars and make a token offering of the meat. Now for some Christians, especially those of Jewish extraction with a long tradition of poking fun at idols, they had no supernatural power and hence presented no problem of conscience. For others, perhaps people who had once bowed to these idols, to eat such meat would be to defile one's self. St Paul’s advice to the Corinthians in this matter is apposite. He himself probably sided with those for which marketplace meat was no problem. But he counsels doing without for the sake of those of tender conscience: “Take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.” (1 Corinthians 8.9) He boldly says if necessary he would go without meat altogether rather than cause a weaker person to fall. Terry Jones has the freedom to do what he likes. He has the freedom to noisily protest about 9/11. But Paul's words apply to him with compound interest. In this instance it's not a matter of fragile consciences, it's a matter of fragile people, folk who are politically weak, unable to defend themselves when communal violence and anger erupts. As a fellow Christian Jones, tragically, was deaf to their predicament. Terry, you need to repent in sackcloth and ashes. Maybe start planning what you are going to do to make amends, though sadly, I think that will be beyond your powers.

UK Christianity has bottomed out

Christian Research is saying that UK Christianity has 'bottomed out' after years of decline in church attendance, report.

Let me offer six comments:

1. Much of the change is down to the vision, energy and expansion of black majority churches. It's well summed up by a comment from a friend with wide connections in these churches. "There came a time when they decided they should no longer be singing 'Nobody knows the trouble I've seen', but songs looking positively to the future."

2. A mood of corporate depression has lifted. When I came here to UK 30 years ago, if I said, "Do you know they do such and such in church in Australia?" the predictable, weary, reply would be, "That would never work here!" There is a different positive mood about, despite so many critics.

3. UK churches are more confident in themselves. For years churches here lauded third-rate ranters from elsewhere, giving the impression that only the exotic was worthwhile, not sufficiently valuing home grown preachers and teachers. In Alpha UK has a significant export of its own.

4. The penny has dropped that people are in church because they want to be there, not because it's the expected thing. 

5. British Christianity has creatively adjusted to changes in the culture in ways that are studied and imitated all over the globe.

6. The tenor of research is more helpful. For years though it did not intend it, major reports by Christian Research seemed to take a perverse delight in saying how according to their projections UK Christianity was "a generation from extinction." It gave every cynic and every poison pen ammunition to bash the churches over the head.

Qur'an burning

People have been asking me what I would do if someone in the UK annouced plans to burn copies of The Qu'ran.

I didn't disagree with Hillary Clinton when she said it was "disrespectful" but there is more to be said. The people most likely to suffer repercussions are Christians living in places where their position is precarious: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Malaysia - just to name a few. I'd want to add that the idea of burning books is a sign of a bankrupt mind.

Legal action: If this were a UK issue I would take legal advice and perhaps gather Christian support to seek an injunction to prevent the burning going ahead. My sense is it would violate UK law.

Media: The guy is an attention seeker with a tiny congregation. I would be contacting journalists and TV people to dissuade them from giving him the oxygen of publicity. His loud pronoucements have already prompted investigative journalists to enquire into his previous activities and he hasn't come out smelling of roses.

Neighbourhood Action: I doubt there is a lot of value in rocking up to the local Mosque in ambassadorial mode. I had a Quaker friend who tried this after 9/11 and found himself being directed to a group for enquirers into Islam - the Mosque's version of Alpha! But if I had Muslim neighbours I would take the opportunity to tell them I would repudiate such an action.

All this is a very interesting window into the American scene. John Chane the bishop of Washington said this week that America is a nation boiling with anger having been unable to properly mourn 9/11.

America is a very insular place. Middle America has very little idea of the impact it has on people and places it doesn't know or understand.

American Christians have no idea that there are Christians elsewhere who assign to the US the status of the imperial power. Some even apply biblical references referring originally to Babylon and Rome to the US.

When American Christians hear this sort of thing they are hurt and bewildered because they see their nation as a guardian of freedom, whereas many outside the US would say the opposite.

An African told me recently that one of the few ways open to people from his continent to express their pain and anger with the US is to 'rough up' a soft target - like the Episcopal Church.