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Prophets are not good at making laws because they are too busy searching out injustice – thank God. Such folk are not leaders or governors. On the other hand, law-makers re pragmatic and a bit dull. Graeme Smith contends that the Labour Party is, and should be, in the business of electing a leader not a prophet.

It is decision time for Labour Party members. Beginning this week ballot papers start dropping on comrades’ doormats across the country. It will bring to an end a protracted, some would say overly long, contest.

But, as someone who rushed headlong, unrestrainedly, into the arms of Tony Blair, I have been glad of the extended period to consider my options. It has been good that we have had a broad field to choose from (just), and a real contest. But the campaigning is drawing to a close, the prevarication must cease, and the cross has to go besides someone’s name. So who should it be?

One thing, more than personality, more than policies on education, or foreign affairs or deficit reduction, more than age or gender or ethnicity or even televisual beauty, has influenced my choice. However much it seems like the perfect antidote to the Blair years the next leader of the Labour Party must not be a prophet. Leadership and prophecy are not the same thing, in fact they are best kept well away from each other.

There are three key reasons why Labour can’t indulge its fantasy for a prophet as the next leader. First democratic politics is all about coalitions. It is about setting up big tents and encouraging people in. Good democratic leaders build alliances and make deals. They compromise and negotiate. Prophets are terrible at this sort of thing. Prophets are essentially religious. They must be pure and blameless, able to stand above the fray, casting judgements on the sins of the rulers and the peoples.

A good prophet knows how to spot a heresy. The problem is democratic political parties are not like religions. They cannot afford the privilege of having faultless orthodoxies unsullied by compromise. In politics prophets are either dictators or eccentrics, fanatics or fools. Good leaders are not prophets and they can rarely, if ever, afford the luxury of prophetic utterance.

Second good political leaders preach hope. They offer visions which seek to draw in as many as possible. They promise us a better society. This is why we are prepared to compromise, because we share the vision. By contrast prophets speak the truth. They speak the truth to power, be it governors or governed. This is not to say that good political leaders lie, they do not. Nor is it saying that democracy has no place for truth tellers, it does and they are a vital part of its life.

Prophets do invaluable service holding rulers to account. We need the Tony Benns and Keith Josephs. But prophets critique what is in front of them whilst democratic leaders direct our gaze beyond the immediate to something greater and better and more splendid. It is because of this hope, made real for us by good leaders, that social change is possible.

Third, leaders are agents of change whilst prophets are spectators of the present. Richard Rorty is helpful here. Rorty argues that the academic Left in the US has become too fixated with clever theory and cultural sophistication. It is busy observing and explaining, adding to knowledge, whilst changing nothing. They are spectators. This compares poorly with the academic Left of the first half of the twentieth century. They knew how to change things. They knew how to campaign to make laws fairer. They understood the mechanisms for improving democratic society and they made them work for the vulnerable. The contemporary Left knows how to call society rotten in a myriad number of ways, the old-fashioned Left stopped society from being so rotten.

Prophets are not good at making laws. They are too busy searching out injustice and oppression – thank God. Such folk are not leaders or governors.

Leaders are like the old-fashioned academic Left in the US, agents of change, law-makers. They are a bit dull. They seem a bit compromised, not quite as pure as we would like. They have a large number of friends who inhabit a number of different milieux. They can seem, well, slippery. But they make change possible and real. They are the leaders in a well-functioning democracy. David Miliband looks like one such figure and so this week he will have my vote.

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© Graeme Smith is Senior Lecturer in Practical Theology at the University of Chichester. He is editor of the journal Political Theology (http://equinoxpub.com/journals/politicaltheology) and his most recent book is A Short History of Secularism (IB Tauris, 2008).

A 'people's tribunal' hearing testimonies from victims of anti-Christian violence in India's eastern Orissa state in 2008 has criticised state agencies.

A 'people's tribunal' that heard testimonies from victims of anti-Christian violence in India's eastern Orissa state in 2008 has criticised state agencies for aggravating the suffering of those caught up in the attacks - writes Anto Akkara.

"There is a shocking level of institutional bias on the part of state agencies (including police) leading to their collusion in the violence, connivance in efforts to block the subsequent process of justice and accountability," declared the jury in New Delhi at the end of the unofficial 22-24 August 2010 National People's Tribunal on the violence in Orissa's Kandhamal jungles.

"After hearing these testimonies, all that I can say is that I hang my head in shame as an Indian," lamented A. P. Shah, a retired chief justice of Delhi high court who headed the jury of eminent people from different walks of life. All the jurors were non-Christians with the exception of Ruth Manorama, who is a member of the Church of South India.

The jury urged a special investigation by India's federal government into violence against Christians by Hindu extremists following the slaying of Hindu leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati in August 2008.

While the Orissa government acknowledged 42 deaths, activists presented affidavits to the tribunal stating that more than 90 people had been killed, and 300 churches and 5400 Christian houses had been looted and destroyed, creating more than 54,000 displaced people in Kandhamal.

Catholic Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, which includes Kandhamal, was among those present as the tribunal jury pronounced its verdict.

"Our aim is to bring forward the complete truth and deprivation suffered by Kandhamal people, and ensure justice and rehabilitation to the victims," Ram Puniyani, a Hindu activist from Mumbai, told ENInews.

Puniyani is one of the coordinators of the National Solidarity Forum, a coalition of more than 50 social action groups that organised the tribunal that marked the second anniversary of the violence.

Kanaklata Nayak, whose husband was killed in front of her, told the tribunal that she was forced to flee Kandhamal with her young children due to threats she received after testifying in a local court against the alleged killers.

The tribunal accused the Orissa administration of "underestimating the magnitude" of the violence in Kandhamal that continued for weeks with the state government making few apparent attempts to curb it.

[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]

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A new opinion poll suggests that the majority of Scots are not ill-disposed towards the upcoming visit of the Pope, despite disagreements about his views.

A new opinion poll suggests that the majority of Scots are not ill-disposed towards the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI, despite disagreements about his views - with the majority being "neither for nor against".

The Opinion Business Research poll, which was commissioned by the Scottish Catholic Media Office, found that 31 per cent of respondents were "very or fairly favourable" to the papal visit, while 63 per cent were neither in favour nor opposed.

Those opposed comprised a smaller than expected minority, with three per cent objecting and just two per cent "strongly" objecting.

Commentators say that the results are encouraging in respect of the continuing diminution of the religious sectarianism which has in the past marked many areas of Scottish life, not least in Glasgow.

Scotland on Sunday newspaper commented: "When historical antipathies were still mainstream opinion in this country, the results would have been very different. Even 15 years ago, opposition would have been significantly greater."

It continued: "That is not to gloss over the fact that five per cent of objectors represents a quarter of a million people in a population of just over 5 million. It would be wrong, however, to make assumptions about their motives... Although the poll did not explore the opinions of those opposing the visit, a reasonable supposition would be that many are motivated by their opposition to the Pope's unyielding line on abortion, contraception and homosexuality. Or the Church's conduct over recent child abuse accusations. Or simply because they are secularists who question the Catholic Church's status and influence. These are legitimate points of view, and critics of the Catholic Church have a right to use the visit to give voice to their opinions.

"Even among these groups, however, proactive opposition to the visit seems limited. An organisation called Protest the Pope has now abandoned plans to demonstrate in Scotland, though it intends to hold a march in London."

The paper added: "Tiresome bleating does no-one any good, and makes us all appear petty and small-minded."

Simon Barrow, co-director of the religion and society think-tank Ekklesia commented: "The latest polling evidence indicates that a majority of the public, in Scotland at least, have a pragmatic approach to the forthcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI. There is unease in many quarters, not least committedly Christian ones, about some of his views. But most people are neither uncritically adulatory nor bitterly antagonistic. They want conversation not confrontation, and will judge the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics on his words and actions, not on the ceaseless pro- and anti- propaganda that has surrounded preparations for the visit."

Meanwhile, a new network entitled Catholic Voices for Reform is being launched to bring together those within the Church who favour a more open and receptive spirit, which they see as central to the Catholic tradition, as distinct from the 'traditionalists' who oppose change.

Those proposing reform - including a change in the Church's opposition to birth control, acceptance of women's ministry, a renewal of institutional structures and lay participation, and a welcoming stance towards lesbian and gay Catholics, will offer contrasting views to some of the official 'Catholic Voices' - the established group which has recruited and trained 20 media-friendly spokespeople to defend existing church positions before and during the Pope's September tour.

The network Catholic Women's Ordination (www.catholic-womens-ordination.org.uk/) has played a leading role in the new network.

Ekklesia's Simon Barrow said: "It is especially important that we hear from a diversity of voices within the Catholic community itself during the papal visit. A great number of ordinary Catholics wish to see genuine change and openness within the Church, based on historic Christian commitments. But their views and example can easily be lost amid what appears to be a war of political position between noisy advocates and angry critics of the current pontiff."

He added: "Perhaps the biggest signal in the Opinion Business Research poll is that in an increasingly post-Christendom context, most people do not have strong views one way or the other, at least in terms of the way the issues surrounding the papal visit are presently being presented. This indicates that the competing passions of both ideological religionists and ideological secularists are missing the public mood to a significant extent."

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Thousands of participants in the four-day Greenbelt Christian arts festival in Cheltenham have been reminded about the plight of blockaded Gaza.

Thousands of participants in the four-day Greenbelt Christian arts festival at Cheltenham Racecourse have been reminded about the plight of blockaded Gaza.

A campaign entitled "If Greenbelt was Gaza" has been asking the 20,000 plus attenders of the annual event to "confront the stark contrast" between ordinary life in Britain and the "day-to-day life experienced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip".

Christians in Palestine and Israel are among those calling for international solidarity with the people of Gaza, and concerted action towards a just-peace which offers security and hope to all people in the region, Jews and Arabs alike.

The Gaza initiative asks festival-goers to consider how they would manage with only one tap on the site or how many thousands of people would survive without basic provisions.

Greenbelt is backed by international development agency Christian Aid, the Methodist Church in Britain, the YMCA, the Church Times, and the Church Times.

The Methodist Church passed a policy in June 2010 calling for a boycott of goods from illegal Israeli settlements on the West Bank . The issue is also a matter of debate within the Church of Scotland.

Israeli human rights group B'tselem, Christian Aid's work in the Occupied Territories, Israeli-Arab peacemaker Archbishop Elias Chacour, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), and anti-Zionist Israeli academic Ilan Pappe are among the other voices being heard.

More about Greenbelt here: http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/

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Home Office asylum and immigration statistics show that government must acknowledge "serious failings" in the asylum process, says the Refugee Council

In response to the publication on Aug 27 of the Home Office asylum and immigration statistics for the second quarter of 2010, Donna Covey, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council said: “We are pleased the government is currently looking to improve the asylum system, but these statistics show how important it is that they acknowledge some of the serious failings of the asylum process.

“Too often people seeking safety in the UK are let down by the asylum system - these figures show that almost a third of appeals are still being allowed, proving a significant proportion of initial asylum claims are being wrongly refused (this figure is almost half for Somali asylum seekers (49 per cent) and Zimbabwean asylum seekers (48 per cent). With the government proposing further cuts to legal aid for asylum seekers, we are concerned that without legal advice, many more will be wrongly refused protection and returned to countries where their lives are in danger.

“The detention figures are also cause for alarm - up to 40 per cent of people detained were later released back into their community, showing that detaining them was unnecessary in the first place. Detention must only be used as a last resort, and for the shortest time possible."

Covey continued: “We now urge the government to focus on improving the first stages of the asylum system, to ensure people are supported throughout the process so that the right decisions are made first time. Not only will this save public money by getting people out of the system faster and avoiding costly legal challenges, this will also ensure people who have fled horrors in their own countries can start rebuilding their lives here.”

Read the Home Office statistics here: http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/immiq210.pdf

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As key talks loom again, World Council of Churches delegation is travelling to the region to emphasise the need for a “just peace”.

At a time when there are signs of hope emerging from the churches in the Middle East around the conflict in Palestine and Israel, a World Council of Churches delegation led by General Secretary the Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit will be travelling to the region to emphasise the need for a “just peace”.

While planning for the visit was initiated several months ago, it now coincides with the start-up of peace negotiations on 2 September 2010 in Washington DC United States.

“The purpose of this visit is to support the churches in the region and to encourage all actors involved to make needed changes to the situation there,” Tveit said prior to the visit.

The delegation, which includes WCC staff members and the moderator of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, the Rev Kjell Magne Bondevik, will be visiting with WCC member churches, ecumenical partners and leaders from the Jewish and Muslim communities as well as WCC partner agencies and political leaders. The visit is 28 August to 2 September.

“We want to reaffirm that the WCC as a fellowship of churches is working and praying for peace and justice for all people in the Holy Land,” Tveit said. “The conflict in the region requires a political solution. All religious institutions and communities should work together for a just peace. This is essential for a reconciliation and healing process.”

“We are aware of the extreme difficulties facing the negotiations beginning 2 September,” he said. “We pray for those in charge of this important work and believe that the negotiations must be inclusive of all in the region who suffer because of this conflict and be based on principles of international law.”

During the visit ,Tveit will also say that the Kairos Document, which was developed by Palestinian Christians in late 2009, is resonating in WCC member churches around the world.

“The WCC member churches are viewing this document as [a] cry for justice coming from Palestinian Christians, whose human dignity is being diminished and denied,” Tveit said.

The WCC has been encouraging its member churches to develop and coordinate active advocacy plans to address government, international bodies, interfaith partners and churches in the region to end the occupation of Palestinian territories and the suffering of both Israeli and Palestinian people.

The visit is also one part of an overall effort within the WCC leading to the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation, to be held in Jamaica, May 2011, where nearly one thousand people will gather to move forward the Ecumenical Declaration for Just Peace.

The WCC delegation will visit with the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), which is a WCC-sponsored programme that brings people from around the world to Palestine-Israel to provide a protective presence to vulnerable communities. The ecumenical accompaniers monitor and report human rights activities and abuses and support Palestinians and Israelis working for peace.

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Christian Aid has welcomed Kenya’s new constitution but warns the country’s democratic institutions must be bolstered to prevent members of the political elite furthering their own interests.

Christian Aid has welcomed Kenya’s new constitution which passed into law 27 August, but warns the country’s democratic institutions must be bolstered to prevent members of the political elite using the reforms to further their own interests.

It says the greatest challenge now is to ensure the provisions of the constitution are rapidly translated into eagerly-awaited benefits for ordinary citizens.

The new law, which replaces the country's 1963 independence constitution, maintains a presidential system, but one with checks and balances. These include devolved government, the enshrining of the National Human Rights Commission and the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission in law, and an end to MPs’ tax free status.

The allocation of 15 per cent of the national budget to 47 counties around the country is one area where new abuses may flourish, Christian Aid warns.

Dereje Alemayehu, Christian Aid’s East Africa County Manager, said: ‘The constitution enshrines principles and creates institutions that could enhance accountability and bring an end to the pervasive impunity that characterised Kenya’s past political evolution. It is critical that the reforms are not captured by the chameleon political elite.

‘The new constitution is a significant political breakthrough, with the lack of safeguards it contains being the most important issue behind the ethnic tensions which led to recent conflict.

‘Now civil society must be empowered to take full advantage of the democratisation it promises, enabling citizens to hold those in power to account, while ensuring that policies reflect their needs and interests, and safeguard their rights.

‘The battle against corruption, for instance, will also need to be taken to grassroots level in the new counties. In the past, powerful Provincial Governors and MPs were notorious for their neglect of duty and the impunity they enjoyed.

‘Transparency and accountability now will greatly depend on the structures to be put in place and the involvement of citizens in holding the county governments to account. We need to empower citizens to make MPs answerable to their constituencies. The new constitution has provisions for constituents to recall their MPs if they don’t perform. Where necessary, this must be acted upon.’

Mr Alemayehu added that Christian Aid’s work in Kenya will focus on advocating the implementation of the Bill of Rights contained in Chapter 5 of the constitution.

In addition to civil and political rights, such as freedom of speech and association, socio-economic rights, including the right to health care, housing, sanitation, food, safe water, social security and education, are also enshrined, as well as the government’s responsibilities and roles in providing basic services.

In addition, efforts through partner organisations will be concentrated on ensuring and monitoring implementation of the constitution’s new policies on tax, climate change, gender issues, the marginalisation of northern Kenya, land policy, health and ethnicity.

He added that it was critical that a process of reconciliation now took place to bring on board those who against the Constitution, including a number of church leaders, as well as the ‘water melons’ – those who positioned themselves between the ‘green’ (Yes) and ‘red’ (No) camps without allowing them to water down the huge democratic achievements of this constitution.

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Amnesty International has expressed concern over the atitude of the French authorities towards Roma and travellers.

Amnesty International yesterday (27 Aug) expressed deep concern about recent statements and measures taken by the French authorities that appear to target Roma and Travellers. The organisation is troubled that some Roma people are being returned from France to their countries of origin following statements by the French government suggesting links between Roma and criminality.

The French Minister of immigration, Eric Besson, has announced that around 250 Roma would be returned yesterday, and that around 800 would be returned by the end of this month. 86 Roma were already returned to Romania and Bulgaria on 19 August and around 130 the following day.

The measures followed the announcement by the French government that around 300 irregular camps inhabited by Roma and Travellers would be closed within three months, following a ministerial meeting on 28 July to discuss “the problems posed by the behaviour of certain Travellers and Roma”. During that meeting, President Sarkozy reportedly referred to irregular camps inhabited by Roma as “sources” of criminality, allegedly including child exploitation and prostitution. Amnesty is alarmed that such statements were made by the President of the French Republic, as they could perpetuate negative stereotypes which contribute to the stigmatisation of and discrimination against Roma and Travellers.

Amnesty International considers that French officials should be working to fight discrimination, rather than making inflammatory statements linking entire communities to alleged criminality. The organisation is concerned that such statements may lead to even further discrimination against Roma and Travellers. No one should be returned or expelled simply because they are Roma.

Amnesty welcomes the 25 August statement by Viviane Reding, the European Union Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, on the Roma situation in Europe. Commissioner Reding regretted that “some of the rhetoric that has been used in some Member States in the past weeks has been openly discriminatory and partly inflammatory”.

Members of France’s traveller communities, the majority of whom are French citizens, have also been targeted by the announcement that 300 irregular camps would be closed.

Under French law, all municipalities (communes) with more than 5,000 inhabitants must establish authorised halting sites for Travellers. However, in April 2009 the government was criticised by the French Equal Opportunities and Anti-Discrimination Commission (HALDE) as only 25 per cent of the municipalities under that obligation had done so. The HALDE stressed that the State’s failure to fulfil its obligation resulted in an increase of the number of Travellers living in unauthorised halting sites.

Amnesty International is calling on the French authorities to focus on fully implementing its own legislation and provide adequate halting sites and protection of the housing rights of all.

The organisation also reminds the French authorities of their obligations under international human rights law to guarantee the rights of all people, including Roma and Travellers, to adequate housing. The French authorities cannot evict anyone from their home, even if it is in an irregular settlement, unless all other alternatives have been exhausted and they have consulted all affected residents. Evictions can only be carried out when appropriate procedural protections are in place; adequate alternative accommodation must be provided; and relocated residents must be offered compensation for all losses.

Amnesty International also urges France to remove any provisions of French law which are discriminatory against Travellers, such as requiring them to carry travel permits and restricting their voting rights.

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Reform of admissions policies is needed to stop growing inequality in school provision in England, says a new report from children's charity Barnardo's.

Poor children already lagging behind their better-off peers in terms of educational achievement are held back by socially selective school admissions, says a new report from the children's charity Barnardo's.

Unlocking the gates: Giving disadvantaged children a fairer deal in school admissions outlines how widening access to good neighbourhood schools has a critical role to play in narrowing the opportunity gap in education.

The charity, which has a church background, is calling for banded admissions to publicly funded schools in England to address growing inequalities, ensure that all children have a fair opportunity to get a quality education, and to combat some of the feared effects of the Conservative-led government's 'free schools' policy.

Children born into disadvantage, already less likely to do well in school, more likely to leave at 16 and become ‘NEET’ (not in education, employment or training) and less likely to go on to higher education, are condemned to go the worst not the best schools, says Barnado's.

While able and articulate parents will go to extraordinary lengths to increase the odds of their child getting in to their chosen secondary school - moving house, hiring private tutors or attending Church more regularly - many poorer parents find it impossible to navigate the daunting school admissions system.

Sometimes these parents are not even in a position to appreciate their children are in a race which might be vital to their futures, says the charity.

Barnado's stance is a particular challenge to church and other faith schools, who receive massive taxpayer funding, but are allowed by law to discriminate in favour of their own communities in admissions and employment.

The recent growth in foundation schools and academies means that there are increasing numbers of schools which act as their own admissions authority. In January 1988, 15 per cent of schools were their own admission authority, by January 2009, that figure almost tripled to 42 per cent.

"The churches and other faith groups, whose creeds preach equality but whose current practices are based on selection and privilege, have a particular opportunity to take a lead in radically reforming their admissions policies to open up educational opportunity for all in the schools they sponsor," said Simon Barrow, co-director of the Christian think-tank Ekklesia, which has advocates reform of religious foundation schools as part of the Accord Coalition for inclusive education.

"Some Christian foundation schools, like the Lambeth Academy, have been setting a good example of what can be achieved, but church authorities, not least the Church of England, have been dragging their feet or opposing reform," he added.

"Preserving advantage for yourself is not a Christian virtue, whereas concern for your neighbour irrespective of background or outlook, and special concern for those pushed to the margins, are clear imperatives of the Christian message, reflected deeply in both the biblical texts and in the church's tradition," said Barrow.

The system for determining school admissions is complex and presents a particular challenge for disadvantaged families who are leading chaotic lives, say reformers.

Frequent house moves, a lack of spoken or written English, disability or learning difficulty, and domestic violence, are just some of the circumstances which lead to many parents failing to submit an application for their child at all.

Martin Narey, Barnardo’s chief executive commented today: "The school admissions system has become a complex game, one that many parents in poorer households are not aware is going on around them."

He continued: "Even when conscious of a race for the best schools, some less confident and able parents are often overcome by a fatalism and are resigned to the fact that their son or daughter will be left with whatever school other parents don’t want."

Unfair admissions practices result in schools with skewed intakes that do not reflect the population of the surrounding area, says the charity.

The top secondary schools in England take on average only five per cent of pupils entitled to free school meals (a proxy for low income); this is less than half the national average. Despite evidence showing that social segregation harms pupil performance and that all children do better if schools have a mix of pupil ability and background, half of all pupils entitled to free school meals are still concentrated in a quarter of secondary schools.

Narey goes on: "If we are to wipe out the entrenched poverty that erodes the life chances of one in four children in the UK, if we are to re-ignite social mobility, then we must stop educational disadvantage being passed down from one generation to the next."

"Secondary school admissions fail to ensure a level playing field for all children. Instead we are seeing impenetrable clusters of privilege forming around the most popular schools. Allowing such practice to persist – and almost certainly expand as increasing numbers of schools take control of their own admissions - will only sustain the achievement gap in education and undermine the prospects of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children," says the Barnado's chief.

The consequences are significant. Children from disadvantaged homes are half as likely to get five good grades at GCSE as their classmates - in 2009, 27 per cent of children eligible for free school meals achieved five A* to C grades (with maths and English) at GCSE, compared to 54 per cent of those not eligible.

Also, pupils who do not receive free school meals stand a 32 per cent chance of going onto higher education, while pupils in receipt of free school meals stand only a 13 per cent chance – a gap of 19 percentage points.

As Government plans to expand the number of foundation schools, academies and free schools continue, Barnardo’s is calling for greater school 'freedoms' (as more schools act as their own admission authorities) to be matched by clearer accountability, to ensure a balanced pupil intake.

Report recommendations aimed at ensuring the secondary school admissions system does not leave the poorest behind include:

* Promoting ‘banding’ (admitting equal proportions of pupils in different ability bands) as a fairer basis for school admissions;
* Requiring schools to report annually on the profile of their pupil intake in reports to parents and governors, and increasing scrutiny of admissions practice by the School Adjudicator and/or OFSTED;
* Separating responsibility for setting school admissions policies from administering them, as while policies often meet the letter of the law, practice can fall short.

Read the whole report here: http://www.barnardos.org.uk/what_we_do/campaigns/education_campaigns.htm

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Africa is facing climate change that will kill more people than traditional causes such as malaria and HIV, says a Ugandan environmental expert.

The continent of Africa is facing a future in which climate change will kill more people than traditional causes such as malaria and HIV, according to a Ugandan environmental expert.

Dr Rose Mwebaza has warned Anglican bishops from Africa who are meeting in Entebbe, that lakes across the continent are shrinking and drying up, crops are failing, deforestation is leading to terrible flooding and, as a result, people are fighting and killing each other over resources.

“Africa is facing several [environmental] challenges,” said Dr Mwebaza, a senior legal advisor on environmental security at Nairobi’s Institute of Security Studies. These include increased droughts and reduced availability of water; desertification - one factor in major flooding - and increased incidents of diseases in previously unaffected areas.

“Lake Chad in 1973 covered several countries,” she said. “It is reduced to a shadow of its former self. It is vanishing from the continent right in front of our eyes.”

The same was true of Mount Kilimanjaro, she said. Once covered with plenty of snow, experts predict that, within 2 to 5 years’ time, there will be none left on that mountain. “These are the things that are happening right in front of our eyes.”

“I think climate change is going to cause more deaths than many of the other traditional causes such as malaria and aids,” she said. “Whenever I say that, people look at me surprised, but it’s true.”

“The Rift Valley used to be a bread basket, a fertile area… it’s now a wasteland. A lot of the rivers are completely dry. What this is leading to is that it has become a security problem. People are literally killing each other over resources.”

“[Governments] are facing the problem of malaria and several other diseases that didn’t exist before or existed only in a few locations…that is adding to the health challenges of those countries.

Against this grim backdrop, Dr Mwebaza told the All Africa Bishops Conference that there were, however, some relatively simple things that churches could do to support communities to mitigate the impact of climate change. She highlighted three things: information, energy projects and reforestation projects.

“If the church provides the community with information centres, either in the parish or diocesan office, you would be amazed at how those information centres can transform communities.” An example of this transformative information includes how to build simple pan dams to capture rainwater for irrigating crops, watering cattle and - together with water purifying techniques - to provide potable water.

A simple energy project that Dr Mwebaza explained had made a major difference in her diocese, is biogas. Turning cow dung into gas that is burned for light and heat is cheap and low-tech, prevents oil smoke-related health issues, allows children to study into the evening and means less deforestation. The church, she said, could help promote such projects in dioceses and parishes.

Finally Dr Mwebaza said that planting trees would have a huge environmental impact and could also make the church considerable sums of money through carbon trading schemes. “The church is the one of the biggest landowners on the continent. If they reforested just a quarter of the land they have they could make a significant difference.”

She gave the example of a government-led reforestation project in Uganda, in Kibaale and Mt Elgon that are projected to amount to 1,500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide worth US$45 million dollars.

The Second All Africa Bishops Conference (AABC) from the 23 – 29 August 2010 is meeting in Entebbe, Uganda. The conference brings together Bishops from 400 dioceses in Burundi, Central Africa, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Seychelles, Mauritius, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Tanzania, Egypt and Uganda.

More here: http://www.africanbishops.org

With thanks to the Anglican Communion News Service

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The scent of violence in everyday life, in culture and in the news has become endemic in the Philippines, says Shay Cullen. But there is hope where different values and practices are initiated, and where human transformation can challenge the roots of impunity and injustice.

The culture of violence and torture is commonplace in the Philippines today. Young people in school fraternities are subjected to beatings and torture by their peers; called hazing, it is so severe that many have died.

The student torturers learn perhaps from what they know about the police and military who routinely torture suspects and summarily execute many with impunity. They learn from US trainers, as practiced in the Iraqi torture chambers of Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo. The torturers seem to enjoy inflicting pain on their victims and video and photograph the horrific acts.

The video games played on home computers or in internet shops turn killing, murder, violence and rape into entertainment for pleasure-seeking youth. Adults allow it, but is it the way to prepare them for life? Minors who commit violent crimes are born innocent but learn from adults and older peers. Children are exposed to violence in the home, on television, in the movies, classrooms, school yard and on the streets. Students can go wild and shoot dead teachers and [other] students.

When family, community, school and society provides little positive input to young people who are desperate for dignity, respect, attention, and acceptance, we can expect rebellious youth filled with anger or hatred because they are unwanted, excluded and hopeless. Many young people turn rebellious when they are excluded from a life of economic and racial equality, opportunity and education. With concern, respect, friendship and opportunity, they can be inspired to live a good life but they need trusting adults they can admire and imitate. If treated well, most will become good. If abused, some tend to become abusers. They will respond to the friendly attention of a role model, and fulfill their obligations and responsibilities.

I see this transformation every day in the lives of the 54 kids taken from prisons to an open trusting affirmative environment. Give respect and goodness to youth (if they are not too damaged) and you will get it in return.

Last week Filipinos here and abroad were filled with horror and disgust as they watched a cruel police torture session on television. The video showed a man lying naked on the floor of a Manila police station screaming and squirming in agony as the highly decorated senior police inspector sat over him viciously pulling a cord attached to his genitals while beating him with a belt to make him confess to a crime. Other police were standing around. One made the video recording of it on a cell phone. The victim is suspected to have been murdered later.

Another highly decorated former police inspector, Rolando Mendoza, 55, took hostage a bus load of Hong Kong tourists last 23 August in a Manila park, and murdered several of them before he was shot by a police sniper. The entire nine hour drama was broadcast live on television here and abroad. Mendoza was convicted of drug-related extortion and brutality against an innocent cook of the Mandarin hotel in Manila in 2008. He demanded to be reinstated despite his conviction and that of his extortion unit.

In another recent ANC television report, teenagers rescued from the Manila jails told of their harrowing experience of police torture and brutality. One boy showed his feet with the toenails extracted and cigarette burns on his neck. Conditions in the detention cells were described as subhuman. The videos can be viewed at www.preda.org

During a peaceful demonstration in 1996, I and my companion were arrested and beaten, punched and kicked. My head was banged repeatedly on the steel floor of the police van as I was taken to jail. My wrists were tightly handcuffed behind my back with two sets of cuffs for many hours so my wrists were cut and scarred. We were jailed, interrogated and subjected to psychological abuse and foul language by the lawyer of the former mayor.

To stop such horrific abuse we need to end the culture of violence, the impunity of the powerful, and work for a just and decent society where the rule of law and justice prevails and the dignity of everyone is respected and honoured.

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(c) Shay Cullen is a Columban priest and director of the human rights centre PREDA, which is best know for its campaign work and investigations into syndicates and paedophile rings, its rescue and rehabilitation of children, and for bringing successful prosecutions against Filipino and foreign offenders. Visit www.preda.org for more related articles. Shay Cullen's columns are published in The Manila Times and in publications in Ireland, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.

Christians are arriving in Cheltenham for Greenbelt, one of the country's largest Christian festivals, which includes a focus on politics and the arts.

Christians from across Britain and beyond are arriving in Cheltenham today (27 August) for Greenbelt, one of the country's largest Christian festivals. About 21,000 people are expected to attend the event, which tends to include a focus on Christianity's relationship with society, politics and the arts.

Despite the economic situation, attendance figures have increased significantly since last year. The festival takes place at Cheltenham Racecourse and runs until Monday evening.

Greenbelt's major sponsors include Christian Aid and the Methodist Church. This year's theme is “The Art of Looking Sideways”.

The programme includes a vast diversity of talks, debates, worship, music, arts and performances, as well as activities aimed at children and young people. There are also a large number of campaigning stalls focused on specific issues. These include the Peace Zone, organised by members of the Network of Christian Peace Organisations (NCPO).

Prominent speakers include theologians Stanley Hauerwas and Richard Rohr, human rights activist Peter Tatchell and politician Clare Short. Also present on the programme are comedian Jeremy Hardy, poet Roger McGough and, on the musical side, Courtney Pine and Gil Scott Heron.

Earlier this week, the religion and society thinktank Ekklesia suggested that Greenbelt is showing the institutional churches the way forward in a post-Christendom era.

"The future of Christianity in a plural world involves living out a fresh, hopeful way for humanity, rooted in critical faith and action for justice and peace,” said Ekklesia Co-Director Simon Barrow, “It is not about clinging to privilege, preaching at people from on high and becoming caught up with inward-looking arguments”.

Barrow added, “Celebration, exploration, conversation and thoughtful commitment flow naturally together at Greenbelt. These are the qualities the Christian community needs for its engagement in, and conversation with wider society, at a time when 'religion' is increasingly scrutinised and suspected."

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The UK Bisexual Convention this weekend will include a time for multifaith worship and meditation each day. A record number of people are expected to attend.

The UK Bisexual Convention this weekend will include a time for multifaith worship and meditation each day. Over 400 people are expected to attend the gathering, known as BiCon, marking a record turnout for the annual event.

BiCon is this year combining with an international bisexual gathering, bringing participants from at least twenty countries. It will take place at the University of East London from today (Friday 27 August) until Monday 30 August.

The regular worship is one of a number of optional events during the weekend. The programme includes workshops on ethical and political issues as well as sessions exploring more personal matters. There are also social activities in the evenings

“I'm excited about being part of the largest BiCon held in the UK,” said Sharon Langridge, a bisexual Christian from Sheffield.

She told Ekklesia, “It's a great environment in which to be a person of faith and a bisexual. There's silent worship/meditation every morning and a session on spirituality and sexuality on Monday”.

The increased numbers are seen by some as indicative of a growing awareness of bisexuality. Some bisexual activists fear that despite increased social acceptance of gay and lesbian people, understanding of bisexuality is lagging behind.

The organisers say that, “BiCon is enjoyed each year by people who are just beginning to make links with the UK bisexual community, as well as by regular attenders who come back time and time again”.

The number of Christians attending BiCon is likely to increase next year, when scheduling means that it will not clash with the Greenbelt Christian festival, as it has done this year.

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If two of the main cornerstones of the Armenian people are their faith and language, a third is the Armenian genocide that took place under cover of WWI.

The human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has said that he is looking forward to speaking at the Greenbelt Christian festival this weekend, despite controversy.

The human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has said that he is looking forward to speaking at the Greenbelt Christian festival this weekend. Tatchell said that, while not being a Christian himself, “we have more in common than divides us”.

This year has seen a sharp rise in bookings for Greenbelt, which is expected to draw around 21,000 visitors. It will run from tomorrow (Friday 27 August) to Monday 30 August at Cheltenham Racecourse. Major sponsors include Christian Aid and the Methodist Church.

Tatchell told Ekklesia, “I'm honoured to be invited to Greenbelt, and especially honoured that I've been invited to do three separate talks. I hope I will offer some challenging ideas, and in turn be challenged by the audience. During the question-and-answer sessions, I'll be very happy to accept criticisms and counter-arguments.”

The socially conservative group Anglican Mainstream has called for a boycott of Greenbelt because of the invitation to Tatchell, as he is known for his campaigns for gay rights.

Anglican Mainstream's Lisa Nolland drew criticism in May, when she suggested that Tatchell's presence at Greenbelt would put children at risk.

Writing this month, she was keen to emphasise that “I hugely admire Peter Tatchell's defence of human rights and religious liberty”. But she added, “I am appalled by some of his views, because I believe they are toxic to human wellbeing”.

Nolland suggested that Tatchell's comments about the diversity of sexualities imply acceptance of paedophilia.

In reply, Tatchell said, "Dr Nolland and her friends should re-read the Ten Commandments, where it warns against bearing false witness”. He accused Anglican Mainstream of giving a “highly biased, selective and distorted account of my views”.

He insisted that he strongly opposes child abuse and said that Anglican Mainstream never mention “my proposals to help young people make wise and responsible sexual choices” or “my suggestions about how young people can be better protected against sexual abuse”.

Amongst other subjects, Tatchell will be speaking about the “struggle for queer freedom” in Africa. He has praised African Christian human rights campaigners, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of Uganda.

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Blake's famous 'Ancient of Days' is popularly taken to be a depiction of God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mark Vernon explores the extraordinary artist and poet's disturbing vision.

Do go to see the newly acquired etchings by William Blake at Tate Britain, or take a look online (http://www.tate.org.uk/learning/worksinfocus/blake/). They display all the unsettling power and apocalypticism we expect from this exceptional, romantic artist.

One shows a young man tethered to a globe of blood by his hair. In another, someone burns in a furnace. Underneath, Blake has written lines such as, "I sought pleasure and found pain unutterable," or, "The floods overwhelmed me."

What you won't find in the gallery, though, is any explanation of these visions. Instead, Blake is treated as impenetrable, his imagery obscure, his calling idiosyncratic. He's rendered slightly mad, and so safe. We can look and admire, but like a modern gothic cartoon strip – that his art no doubt influences – he can be enjoyed, but not taken too seriously.

That's a shame. For not only can Blake be read. What he says carries at least as much force today as it did two hundred years ago.

Consider one of the figures who is in the new works: Urizen. He's well known as he's the same figure who appears as Blake's famous "Ancient of Days" – an old man, with Michelangelo muscles, a full head of long white hair, and a wizard-like beard. Urizen is a key figure in Blake's mythology.

He is not God. (Blake thought it laughable to imagine the divine as a father-figure, as God is found within and throughout life, he believed, hence referring to Jesus as "the Imagination.") Instead, Urizen is the demiurge, a "self-deluded and anxious" forger of pre-existent matter, as Kathleen Raine explains. His predominant concern with material things is signified by his heavy musculature. He is variously depicted as wielding great compasses, absorbed by diagrams, lurking in caves, and drowning in water – as in the new Tate image. It shows that his materialism has trapped him.

Blake loathed the deistic, natural religion associated with Newton and Bacon. He called it "soul-shuddering." Materialism he dismissed as "the philosophy in vogue." He thought the Enlightenment had created a false deity for itself, one imagined by Rousseau and Voltaire as projected human reason. The "dark Satanic mills" of Jerusalem are the mills that "grind out material reality", as Peter Ackroyd writes in his biography of Blake, continuing: "These are the mills that entrance the scientist and the empirical philosopher who, on looking through the microscope or telescope, see fixed mechanism everywhere."

Urizen is theirs. The demiurge presides over a world that suffers under the tyranny of the laws of nature, and Urizen is as imprisoned by the constraints of space and time as are the individuals who follow him. "He who sees the Ratio only sees himself only," Blake mused. The materialist's view of the world is a prison because it's a world created by limited perceptions.

So far, so predictable, you might think. The man who saw visions on Peckham Rye (Peckham Rye!) is bound to be an idealist, even a spiritualist. (Though he once remarked that the unimaginative see ghosts; the truly inspired, he continued – tapping his head – see visions.) But he speaks more broadly.

For one thing, there's an important political dimension to Blake, because the liberty he sought was of both body and mind. He was a fierce republican, on occasion getting into trouble for damning the king. He read Mary Wollstonecraft and boasted of knowing Tom Paine, though he must have disagreed with them too, on account of Wollstonecraft's rationalism and Paine's deism. He was sure that spiritual freedom must be worked out in the world. He interpreted the political troubles of his day as reflections of an inner, spiritual turmoil, and although he didn't gain a substantial audience in his own times, he was quite clear that his vocation was as a public prophet. He wanted his work to be seen.

There's another crucial aspect, too. Blake did not merely demonise his opponents, but recognised himself in their philosophy as well. The Ancient of Days is a figure he returns to repeatedly. Urizen is a subject that produces some of his finest work. Raine explains that he is exploring his own psyche in the bearded old man who is "enslaved by his own ego." If Jesus is called "the Imagination", Satan is called "the Selfhood" – an association that is more psychological than theological. It's the inner part of me, and you, with which we must fight for freedom, he is saying. That's why, underneath another of the new works at Tate Britain, he writes: "Everything is an attempt to be human."

His illustrations map the spiritual drama he envisaged every person undergoing. Their "truth" is revealed in so far as they engage you – and that they do so by unsettling, by disturbing. Blake offers us symbolic figures that are half familiar, as if we've seen them before, in forgotten dreams.

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© Mark Vernon is a writer and philosopher. An agnostic with a keen interest in religion and spirituality, his books include The Meaning of Friendship, After Atheism and Teach Yourself Humanism. An honorary research fellow at Birkbeck College, London, his own venture is called The School of Life. Mark's website is entitled Philosophy and Life, and has been listed among the Sunday Times' best blogs.

This article is adapted from one on Guardian Comment-is-Free, with thanks and acknowledgment.

Also on Ekklesia: 'William Blake liberates the Bible for the people', by Christopher Rowland. http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/6386

The prospects for progress in the direct Israeli-Palestinian talks in Washington look meagre, says Paul Rogers. But breakthrough is essential if Israel is to be saved from itself.

A long diplomatic hiatus in efforts to resolve the longstanding Israel-Palestine conflict will end when direct talks are convened in Washington on 2 September 2010.

The Barack Obama administration’s commitment to progress is highlighted by the president’s role in opening the discussions, and in its invitation to Egyptian and Jordanian leaders to attend the gathering. But the obstacles are formidable, with the White House’s ambition of a resolution of outstanding issues taking only a year, looking very optimistic.

A list of the four most substantive and difficult matters that will have be engaged is enough to illustrate this:

• The settlements that now stretch right across the West Bank, and which have been greatly expanded since the Oslo peace process started in the early 1990s.

• The final boundaries for an independent Palestine, including the status of Gaza and the physical link between the strip and the West Bank.

• The status of Jerusalem - seen by both parties to the dispute as its capital (see Mariano Aguirre, 'Israel-Palestine: a frontline report', on http://www.opendemocracy.net/, 26 March 2010).

• The rights of the Palestinian diaspora, both refugees and their descendants living in the region and those in other parts of the world, including the question of a return to land and homes lost in 1948.

The Palestinians face enormous problems, of which even the enduring political division between the Fatah and Hamas movements is but one. Their national predicament is such that many Palestinians find it near-impossible to envisage a viable state as a realistic possibility; a significant minority now embraces the idea of a unitary state covering the whole of historic Palestine. This 'one-state solution' is anathema to almost all Israelis, not least as demographic trends would mean that Israeli Jews would become a minority in such a state within a few decades.

More generally, Israel’s overriding preoccupation with security reinforces its view of a region of enemies where any measure of political progress is seen in terms of the new vulnerabilities it may entail. Thus, for example, it views Hamas as exclusively a terrorist entity with which no negotiation is possible.

The reward of failure

At the outset of the talks, the Israelis will seek - as a precondition for any negotiations - the immediate and complete acceptance of the state of Israel, with all the security guarantees it requires (see Akiva Eldar, 'With a victory like this...', Ha'aretz, 23 August 2010).

Any decision by Israel to halt the freeze on new settlement-construction, and to restart further large-scale building projects, could wreck negotiations before they are underway. This alone means that it will be fortunate if the two sides are still talking in October, let alone in mid-2011.

Moreover, many in the Israeli government are confident that Israel is negotiating from such a position of strength that it need not make any serious concessions. They are bolstered here by a domestic rightward shift over the past generation, in part because of the influx of migrants from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s (see Colin Shindler, 'Israel's rightward shift: a history of the present', openDemocracy, 23 February 2009).

The calculation here is that the talks will (sooner or later) fail, leaving Israel to return to its tried-and-tested stance of enforcing security through overwhelming conventional military power, backed up by nuclear forces. In addition, behind its own iron fist it can rely on the backing of the world's sole superpower.

Israel is supported in this outlook by influential networks in Washington, among them the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) and other lobby-groups. Aipac itself may not enjoy such unstinting loyalty as before - and liberal Jewish initiatives such as J Street offer a more nuanced view of what it means to be 'pro-Israel' - but it has been successful in forging links with evangelical Christians who espouse an apocalyptic vision of Israel’s role in God's plan (see 'Christian Zionists and neocons: a heavenly marriage', openDemocracy, 2 February 2005).

This balance of forces, with Israel “impregnable in its own insecurity” and the Palestinians weak and divided, looks a recipe for diplomatic failure. Yet three factors are in play which should in principle give the Israelis pause - and should certainly be of deep concern to any thoughtful Israeli politician with a longer-term perspective on his or her state's situation.

The costs of failure

The first factor is that asymmetric military systems in the region - especially the extraordinary levels of mass production of short- and medium-range missiles in Iran, Syria and elsewhere - are becoming ever more difficult for Israel to counteract. Hizbollah, in Lebanon, has tens of thousands of missiles that can reach across much of Israel (see Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, “The Hizbollah project: last war, next war”, 13 August 2009); and Iran, whether or not it has serious nuclear ambitions, is developing robust solid-fuel medium-range missiles (see 'An asymmetrical drone war', openDemocracy, 19 August 2010).

The second is that some senior figures in the American military are beginning to express in public a view they may previously have voiced only in private: that in relation to US interests in the middle east, Israel is part of the problem rather than a means to a solution. The argument here is that the Palestinians’ enduring predicament, for which Israel bears a great responsibility, acts as a potent radicalising force across the region - with deleterious effects both on the US’s strategic position and on the security of its forces (see 'America and Israel: a historic choice', openDemocracy, 18 March 2010).

The exceptionally close relationship between the Israeli and the American military makes such a shift of focus too important to ignore. The United States, after all, meets over 20 per cent of the Israeli defence budget, and US forces make extensive use of Israeli equipment and training facilities. A number of columns in this series has explored this theme: (see, for example, on openDemocracy, “After Saddam, no respite” [19 December 2003]; "Between Fallujah and Palestine" [21 April 2004]; "Gaza: the Israel-United States connection" [7 January 2009]; and “A tale of two towns” [21 June 2007]). In these circumstances, indications of diminishing support for Israel in leading US military circles should be of huge concern to serious Israeli politicians.

The third factor is more long-term; it too relates most immediately to the United States, but it also affects western European public opinion. In June 1967, Israel vanquished three Arab armies in the six-day war and in the process, occupied great swathes of territory. This historic victory consolidated support in the west (particularly the US) for what was perceived as “brave little Israel”, and in time was also seen by those adhering to a politically influential Christian-Zionist worldview as the fulfilment of a religious destiny.

Almost two generations on, both the region’s geopolitics and its demography have changed. The war of 1967 is a living memory only for those in middle age or above; far more important and pressing on the minds of people observing the region from outside. is Israel’s widespread destruction in the Gaza war of 2008-09, the relentless expansion of settlements in the West Bank, and other human-rights infringements great or small.

The Israeli government may present these issues in a very different light - but its message is less persuasive than ever. In many circles, even those previously sympathetic to Israel, a profound reversal of roles has occurred in the region’s 'David vs Goliath' combat - with the result that Israel, now seen as an overweening bully, is losing its moral legitimacy.

Some in Israel’s national community - journalists, academics, NGO workers among them - recognise this, and are doing their best to alert their compatriots to the dangers of the situation (see Thomas Keenan & Eyal Weizman, 'Israel: the third strategic threat', openDemocracy, 7 June 2010). But most Israelis, starting with the Binyamin Netanyahu administration, do not. As a whole, the Israeli state seems not to understand - and may simply be unable to see - that its posture is unsustainable (see 'Israel’s security trap', openDemocracy, 5 August 2010).

Time really is running out for Israel; but most probably, only outside actors can enable the country to recognise this (see 'After Gaza: Israel’s last chance', openDemocracy, 17 January 2009). In this respect, the Barack Obama administration may be different enough from its predecessors as to ensure some serious diplomatic progress.

If, as a result, the Washington talks on 2 September 2010 become truly serious in the coming months, Obama’s presidency could yet be responsible for a historic achievement that would help save Israel from itself.

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(c) Paul Rogers is professor in the department of peace studies at Bradford University, northern England. He is also involved with the Oxford Research Group. He has been writing a weekly column on global security on openDemocracy since 26 September 2001. See: http://www.opendemocracy.net/author/Paul_Rogers.jsp

Further links to the articles mentioned in this article may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/39u9n8k

“Being chosen,” as in the case of biblical or modern Israel, is still a grand theological theme inhabiting discourse in America, says Martin E. Marty. The concept is hotly disputed. And it is especially troubling when it becomes a matter of credal orthodoxy.

The grand theological themes don’t fade or disappear from headlines or prime time in the US. “Being chosen,” as in the case of biblical or modern Israel, is the grand theological theme today.

My clippings and blog-printout file bulges with records of renewed debates over what it means to be a “chosen people,” and whether Israel today should make use of the concept. Perhaps the most widely-known recent controversy was inspired by Michael Chabon’s 'Chosen, but Not Special' op-ed in The New York Times (published on 6 June 2010).

Identified only as author of The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Chabon spends no time on the biblical concept. His theme is the Yiddish word seichel, which, he says, means “ingenuity, creativity, subtlety, nuance.”

Seichel has helped Jews as a people to survive, but Chabon thinks it has been lacking in recent highly-publicised actions by Israel.

No self-hating Jew, Chabon does say that “we Jews” are not always comfortable living with the consequences of the myth of seichel.

Now to the point: This is “the foundational ambiguity of Judaism and Jewish identity: the idea of chosenness, of exceptionalism, of the treasure that is a curse, the blessing that is a burden…To be chosen has been, all too often in our history, to be culled.”

Chabon does not mention it, but I recall a grimly humorous or humorously grim prayer by a rabbi who thanks God for having chosen Israel but then, reflecting on “the burden” that goes with this, asks God next time to choose some other people.

Plenty of other people have seen themselves as chosen. Most theologically nuanced was Abraham Lincoln’s word for Americans: “an almost chosen people.” Of course, there are no biblical roots for calling citizens of the United States a “chosen people,” nor were there for the English, from whom Americans, including many of our founders, inherited the myth.

Such myths, like Lincoln’s word about the United States being “the last, best hope of earth,” can be empowering and ennobling, but they can also issue in arrogance, imperial swaggering and destruction.

Back to Israel’s issue: We non-Jews do not have to settle the debates internal to Judaism and Israel on this subject. But non-Jews such as the almost-chosen Americans do have much at stake. The Jewish paper Forward on 21 May 2010 published John C. Hagee’s 'Why Christian Zionists Really Support Israel.'

Evangelist Hagee was a counsellor to Presidential candidate John McCain’s team for five minutes during the 2008 election campaign, until the team leaders caught on to the consequences of any Hageean embrace.

Hagee assures Israel that it can count on Christian Zionists, no matter what it does: “Our support for Israel starts with God’s promises in the Hebrew Bible,” which many of this school of thought translate to the idea that the United States must help assure that Israel will own all the land within some boundaries mentioned in 'the Hebrew Bible.'

Non-Jews will not understand Jews who have a sense of history unless they understand how central 'the Land' is in their thought. But they can chafe – as many of us confess to have done years ago – when chided for not believing that Israel’s chosenness had to be an article of Christian belief today, and that non-belief was anti-Semitism.

Chabon repeated the many reasons for identifying with Israel that are political, moral, strategic and empathic. But such identifying does not need to become credal, as it does in the world of Christian Zionists and their more moderate allies. “Get over it” is part of Chabon’s message, and then “get on with it” implies more pragmatic consequences.

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(c) Martin E. Marty The author is a leading US commentator on religion - and the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago. His biography, current projects, upcoming events, publications, and contact information can be found at www.illuminos.com.

With grateful acknowledgements to Sightings, and the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School, Illinois, USA.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Catholic Cardinal Wilfrid Napier are opposing a proposed media law that critics say resembles apartheid legislation.

The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Roman Catholic Cardinal Wilfrid Napier are among hundreds of high-profile South Africans calling on their compatriots to oppose a proposed media law that critics say resembles apartheid legislation - writes Munyaradzi Makoni.

In an unscripted speech on 18 August 2010 at the Institute for Democracy in Cape Town, Tutu, who is due to retire from public life in October, challenged South Africans to fight for press freedom by mobilising the spirit which made the 2010 soccer World Cup a success.

Referring to the FIFA soccer competition which South Africa hosted and which ended in July, Tutu said, "We are on a high, or we were on a high. We were, all of us, on the same page."

He continued, "Why don't we get on to the same page about the media? I am just saying it must be odd to think that people who were together, moving in the same direction, could suddenly find that we are at odds with one another, that you bring something that virtually everybody rejects."

Tutu challenged opponents of the new media control proposals that the ruling African National Congress has put forward, to fight back. He said, "This is your country, and it is going to become what you allow it to be."

The Catholic Archbishop of Durban, Cardinal Napier, who like Tutu was a noted foe of apartheid, has also spoken out against the ANC's proposed Protection of Information Bill and a state media tribunal.

"It is hard to imagine how any person, group or organisation, which only a few years ago was protesting so vigorously for the exposing of all injustice, all corruption, all favoritism and nepotism, could in such a short time be calling for legislation designed to prevent the reporting of these very ills," said Napier.

The archbishop was among hundreds of readers, academics and activists who sent e-mails, faxes and text messages to The Mercury, in support of the Durban daily newspaper's "No" campaign to the proposed media changes.

"It must be either an extremely short memory or a very guilty conscience that could drive one who had suffered under the old regime to change so quickly from opposing to supporting that undemocratic conduct," said Napier, who also heads the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops' Conference.

In an appeal to South African President Jacob Zuma, Napier said, "Please do not allow our country to be brought into disrepute so soon after the wonderful picture of unity and solidarity that South Africa presented to the world during the World Cup."

South Africa's African Christian Democratic Party said the proposed law would have a negative impact on access to information. Steve Swart, ACDP lawmaker and spokesperson on justice matters, told ENInews that the bill goes against the constitution, and will severely curtail the right to freedom of information.

"There might be valid complaints against the media but our view is, 'Let us point out the weakness with the current ombudsman system, and strengthen it,'" Swart said.

[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]

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Christian Aid is encouraging supporters to write to UK PM David Cameron, reminding him of his pledge that his government will be the greenest ever.

The UK-based international development agency Christian Aid is encouraging supporters to write to UK Prime Minister David Cameron, reminding him of his pledge that his government will be the greenest ever - both in terms of action at home and internationally.

The agency is calling on the PM and the British government to act decisively to help get United Nations climate change talks back on track, and in particular, to deliver a deal that works for the world's poor.

As part of Christian Aid's supporter day on Wednesday 20 October 2010, they will be handing in a letter to Mr Cameron and hope that it will contain many thousands of signatures, confirming the churches' and the British public's support for action to defend the environment and assist the world's most vulnerable.

On the action day itself, leading US civil rights campaigner the Rev Jesse Jackson will be addressing the crowd, along with Christian Aid's director, Loretta Minghella, and the head of Christian Aid Scotland, the Rev Kathy Galloway - former leader of the Iona Community.

Those involved will also be hearing directly about the day-to-day reality of the fight against poverty and injustice from campaigners from India and Zambia.

The letter to the Prime Minister calls for adequate resources for developing countries to adapt to climate change and to develop cleanly, in addition to current aid commitments.

It also asks for European Union domestic emissions cuts of at least 40 per cent by 2020.

You can sign the letter here: http://tinyurl.com/2ww2st9

Buy Christian Aid charity gifts and support present aid online.

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