Posts Tagged ‘Violence’

Posted on June 3, 2009 - by Frank

Torture – A Loss of Control

It is my belief that violence is the last resort of the desperate. Torture is the use of violence usually for the purpose of obtaining information.

The debate about American use of torture on detainees rages at the moment and I squarely place myself on the side of the argument against the use of torture.

The latest Time magazine has an article in it titled “How to Make a Terrorist Talk” and it is certainly worth a read. There is a great quote within it from Eric Maddox, an army staff sergeant. Maddox has authored a book called Mission: Black List #I, a book that goes through his interrogations in Iraq that led to the capture of Saddam Hussein.

He states this:

There is nothing intelligent about torture… if you have to inflict pain, then you’ve lost control of the situation, the subject and yourself.

Posted on February 27, 2009 - by Frank

Friday 27th Feb. – Lent 2009

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While in prison for smuggling Jews out of Germany and later, executed for being involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler just before World War II ended, Deitrich Bonhoeffer penned this poem:

Christen Un Heiden – Christians and Unbelievers

Men go to God when they are sore and suffering,
Pray to him for succour, for his peace, for bread,
For mercy for them sick, sinning or dead:
All men do so, Christian and unbelieving.

Men go to God when he is sore and suffering,
Find him poor and scorned, without shelter or bread,
Whelmed under weight of the wicked, the weak, the dead:
Christians stand by God in his hour of grieving.

God goeth to every man when sore and suffering,
Feedeth body and spirit with his bread,
For Christians, heathens alike he hangeth dead:
And both alike forgiving.

On July 16th Bonhoeffer penned a letter to a friend that has been interpreted by many people in various ways. Some have read it as his denial of God. It has been seen as his theology of a religionless Christianity and sometimes as his idea of Christianity without God. These two sentences have thrown many people into states of anger as many others of us have embraced them:

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Posted on February 23, 2009 - by Frank

Absorbing Violence

For some time I have been considering what it really looks like to stand with the poor and oppressed as a Christian. I believe this is something central to what it means to live the Christian life and pursue the things God cares about as demonstrated through the life of Jesus.

 

Through my journey of shaping my life in this direction I have found myself feeling admiration towards movements that I simply do not sit well with. It is an admiration that has troubled me.

 

In his book, Violence, Jacques Ellul talks of the natural human inclinations when using one’s life to stand with the poor and oppressed. He makes the point that if one follows their natural human inclinations then the instinctual response will eventually kick in and violence will be used as a tool to further the cause of the marginalised. He points to Christian perspectives that have engaged and embraced such forms of revolution and argued it to be a Christian outworking of God’s call to stand with the down-trodden.

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Posted on December 30, 2008 - by Frank

Israel vs Hamas – the Latest Violence

I’m on holiday at the moment, but I could not sit comfortably without saying anything about the latest violence that has erupted against Gaza.

Israel is now in it’s third day of air-strikes in the densely populated Gaza strip. The first nine hours of the strike saw 100 tons of bombs dropped and the death toll at the time of typing stands in excess of probably 250 Palestinians and the number of wounded is somewhere upward of 400. There are Israeli ground forces amassing on the border of Gaza with artillery strengthening as well. The government has passed an order for a call up of reserves, bolstering the number of troops significantly and Israel’s defence minister, Ehud Barak, has called this an “all-out war” on Hamas, stating that this is just the beginning.

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Posted on October 25, 2008 - by Frank

Palestinians and Christian Reductionism

Warning – this post may offend many. The situation I am about to address is a firebrand that causes high emotion for many people. I am not seeking to make any friends with this, I have just decided that for the first time, I wish to air publicly, some of my privately held opinions on this matter and I believe it entirely relates to the point of this site. I cannot, in good conscience, remain silent on this issue only to protect my own reputation. If it ruins this site and my reputation, I will walk away with a clear mind and heart. Peace.

Let’s be clear from the outset that when I use the term “reductionism”, I am not using it in the sense of scientific inquiry where reductionism refers to investigating something by reducing it to the study of the components within it. I am instead referring to the reduction of complex situations and arguments to oversimplifications that simply heighten and negatively feed already volatile situations.

Allow me to also be clear that when I approach the situation, my Christian faith and position as a Christian Minister is one large part of me that informs my approach to the problem – I am especially interested in the many varied factors of religion playing out.

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Posted on July 24, 2008 - by Frank

UN & Fiji Work Together to Find Ways to End Violence Against Women

Fiji along with 9 other countries has been selected for a United Nations pilot project on Violence Against Women. Participants from government, civil society, including faith based organizations, the UN and AusAid are at a three day workshop, which is in the final day today, to deliberate on a report on Fiji with regard to this issue; and the way forward.

By 2010, the UN intends to have established joint programming on violence against women through pilot programmes in 10 countries. A Task Force has been set up following the UN Secretary-General’s in-depth study on Violence against Women mandated by the UN General Assembly resolution 58/185. They will provide enhanced support to national level efforts under a multi-stakeholder joint programming framework that will involve governments, civil societies, UN agencies, and donors.

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