Tag: triggernometry

  • Justice must be justice for all

    Justice must be justice for all

    The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.

    Proverbs 29:7

    I’ve just watched this Triggernometry interview with Dr Ella Hill. She is a medical doctor and a grooming gang survivor. I think it’s a hugely important interview and I wish everyone would watch it, or at least the first part of it.

    A few weeks ago I wrote about Black Lives Matter and consistency, and in that post I mentioned the victims of these grooming gangs. In the video here they make the very same point: why is it that most of the ‘woke’ social media crowd are up in arms about systemic racism in society, pulling down statues etc, and yet are doing precious little about the 500,000 victims of grooming gangs in the UK?

    As Ella Hill pointed out in the video, the crimes committed against her were racially and religiously motivated. Her abusers constantly made reference to her whiteness. Grooming gangs function because they see white women as easy prey and justify what they do because these women do not have moral standards (‘if they are not covered head-to-toe they are asking to be raped’).

    Why is it that people will ‘take the knee’ publicly in support of BLM, even the Archbishop of Canterbury (plus many other bishops and clergy) will talk about the need for deep repentance when it comes to racism (or rather, a particular kind of racism), but when it comes to these girls who have been raped – nothing?

    Justice should be justice for all

    This seems to me a matter of basic justice. It shouldn’t be a matter of identity politics. Where are the people in power standing up for those who have been abused? Where are the cries for justice for them?

    In a similar vein, when a Islamist man killed three people at a park in Reading last month, where was the public outcry? Why is it that it’s only certain kinds of terror attacks that get the Twitter crowd going – when it’s the ‘right’ kind of perpetrator?

    This, at the heart, is my problem with ‘woke’-ness and this kind of identity politics. They may claim to be “social justice warriors” but they don’t really care about justice – or at least, they don’t care about it enough. Justice, if it is to be proper justice, is to be justice for all. Justice for some is not justice. It reminds me of the famous quote from George Orwell’s Animal Farm: “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” Equality, fairness, and justice must mean treating all people equally.

    Of course, we can’t fight every battle, and I wouldn’t expect everyone to. But our society at the moment – even the church – will consistently fight particular battles but not others. Our bishops will queue up to criticise Dominic Cummings for breaking Lockdown rules (for example), but will make absolutely no noise when an amendment is tabled to the domestic abuse bill to relax controls on abortion.

    Stephen Cottrell, my former diocesan bishop (recently made Archbishop of York), recently said Jesus was black. He talks about racial inequality – and I’m sure certain sections of the media will applaud him for saying it – but he doesn’t talk about this particular inequality.

    Christianity and Justice

    It seems clear to me: we should stand up for truth and justice wherever they need to be stood for. even if it’s not ‘politically correct’ or convenient. The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about righteousness and justice, I quoted it at the start: “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.” (Proverbs 29:7).

    If we only care about justice for people who it’s fashionable to care about (e.g. BLM), then we don’t really care about justice. There’s a slogan which is popular among certain crowds at the moment: “Silence is violence”. I think there is a grain of truth in it. If we don’t speak up for those who can’t speak up for themselves, who will? As the Bible says:

    The Lord works righteousness
    and justice for all the oppressed.

    Psalm 103:6

    ALL the oppressed. Not just the ones it’s fashionable to show your support for.

    Overcoming evil with good

    What impressed me about the interview was Ella’s Christian faith. She quoted Jesus “Love your enemies” (strangely enough, also quoted by Laurence Fox in his Triggernometry Interview) and said she loved those who had abused her.

    Earlier on today I happened across this verse from Romans 12: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” And this is the solution, the only solution, to the problem.

    The government seems to think that telling the truth will lead to an outbreak in anti-Muslim hate crimes. I think that’s why this is being hushed up, apparently a report is due which was supposed to be published but wasn’t. It seems to me that the reality is that hushing the truth up only feeds the far-right. There are those whose response will be hate – but hushing things up will not help, and in fact the ones who want to hate already do.

    By contrast, what we need to do is expose the truth. Justice, as we have seen already, must be done! But, at the end of the day, as Christians we have weapons which work at a far deeper level than the ‘woke’, who can only point, accuse, and ‘cancel’. We must never overcome evil with evil; rather, we must overcome evil with love.

    That’s the only thing which will actually work. More and more I come back to this when I see the terrible injustices happening in our society. The only thing which ultimately will make a difference and heal us – both as individuals but as a society as well – is the grace of God in Christ Jesus.

    At the cross, we see justice done: Christ died on the cross for our sins. The wrath of God was satisfied, the price was paid. And yet, we also see mercy: Christ dying in place of sinners. Stuart Townend’s song “How Deep the Father’s Love” puts it like this:

    It was my sin that held Him there
    Until it was accomplished;
    His dying breath has brought me life –
    I know that it is finished.

    Why should I gain from His reward?
    I cannot give an answer;
    But this I know with all my heart –
    His wounds have paid my ransom.

    There is a hope for our society, there is a hope for justice, and it ultimately it is found on an ancient hill outside Jerusalem.

  • How do we heal society?

    How do we heal society?

    Earlier today I watched a fascinating interview with Laurence Fox on Triggernometry. It was an interesting interview, talking about many of the problems going on at the moment in society. I don’t want to get into all the politics and rights and wrongs of what’s happening in society at the moment, but I think many people feel that there is a real sickness and it’s getting worse.

    Konstantin Kisin, one of the interviewers in Triggernometry, said the other day:

    A couple of years ago, I recorded a Christmas message called “Do you fell the shadows deepen?” If that was the case back at the end of 2018, it’s even more the case in mid-2020!

    The most fascinating part of the interview I watched was the part starting at 38 minutes in.

    If you don’t want to watch, here’s a transcript (typed quickly by myself – so might have a few mistakes..)

    Konstantin: I don’t know, man, I want to have an answer. I want to go this is what we do, then this is what we do, then this is what we do. But all I can see now as we look into the future is, how do you stop the violence in the short term? OK, you prevent the protesters from both sides getting together, that’s what you do, right? What do you do after that? What’s the next step?

    Laurence: (Pointing upwards) It’s that one up there I’m afraid, it’s the only answer, whether you believe in it or not, it’s the only answer. Because, what are we gonna come out of this with? We’re certainly not going to come out of the situation we’ve just been through with a great faith in scientists (laughter) … scientists are the new estate agents. People need meaning, right?

    We’ve spent a long time looking to science, we have to turn around and look to the values, the real values society was built on, and those are Judeo-Christian values, and that’s – you’ve gotta look up there, and look at what was said by him and by the people that followed him. That’s what I reckon.

    And that’s not coming from a person who’s profoundly religious. I’m just going, there is a manual, they wrote a book about this before, you know, and try and bring some of those values back. There are very complex things in the Bible which are really tricky to get your head around, and they can educate.

    After that the conversation moved onto other things (although Laurence did briefly return to it later on by talking about Jesus’ words “love your enemies”.

    I find it intriguing that Laurence recognises that what we need is a return to Judeo-Christian values. This is what I think a number of people have begun to realise, including people like Douglas Murray and John Anderson (former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia) – to name but two examples.

    What I want to say is: can you have the fruit of Judeo-Christian values, without the roots of Christianity? Can you have all the good stuff – loving your enemies, for example – without the roots of actually believing in Jesus?

    One of Jesus’ most famous teachings is “love your neighbour as yourself”. A lot of people have heard of that one. What most people don’t know is that this is only the second most important commandment. Let me quote the whole section of the Bible:

    Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’

    Jesus replied: ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’

    Matthew 22:34-40

    So the first greatest commandment is to love God with everything we have. Now, the question is: can you have the second commandment without the first? Can we really love our neighbour without loving God?

    I think Jesus would say, no, you can’t. That’s because we need his help, we need the kind of love that only he can give. In John 15:5, Jesus says: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” I’ve been reflecting on those words a lot lately: “apart from me you can do nothing”. Jesus says that we cannot do anything apart from him. The ‘fruit’ that he talks about is the fruit of obedience to God – love.

    Love is not something which we can simply work up in ourselves; it’s something which is given to us by God. If we seek him, he will give it to us.

    Is it really surprising that in a society which ignores and rejects God (like ours), that it doesn’t really love? Is it really surprising that there is so little forgiveness? Is it really surprising that woke heresy hunters are cancelling anyone who doesn’t agree with them? These are the fruits of a society which has turned its back on God.

    So the choice that we face as a society for the road ahead is not between Judeo-Christian values and other values. It’s deeper than that: it’s between seeking God or not seeking him. It’s not what we will choose, but who. Will we choose the Lord who made us?

    if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

    2 Chronicles 7:14

    Postscript

    As Laurence said: “There are very complex things in the Bible which are really tricky to get your head around”. If you’re struggling to make sense of the Bible, do have a look at my website Understand the Bible. It’s dedicated to helping people understand the Bible and the Christian faith from scratch (no prior experience or knowledge required). The course content is all free, there’s even a mobile app you can download to make it easier.