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withthecollaroff

~ views beyond the stained glass world

withthecollaroff

Monthly Archives: November 2014

What hope religion?

21 Friday Nov 2014

Posted by andybryant3 in News Perspectives

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Jerusalem, Religion, Synagogue killings, World faiths

The killings at the Kehillat Bnei Torah synagogue in West Jerusalem earlier this week were another reminder of how religion all too often creates rather than solves problems.  This latest incident has been linked to unrest in East Jerusalem, and rumours (strongly denied) that Israel might be about to allow Jews to once again pray at the site of the Al Aqsa mosque which for the Jews is also known as Temple Mount.

In the present climate such permission would be incendiary but surely if religion is the force for good that some claim would not the image of Jew and Muslim praying together at this shared holy site be the best possible image of hope for the world? Instead religion (and none of the world’s faiths are free from this taint) seem the source of so much conflict and killing.  It is as if the moment one person says “I believe…” there is an immediate judgement, even condemnation, of the other.  It is easy to see why some would want to say the world would be better off without religion.

Yet the violent cannot be allowed to have the last word.  Religion has also deeply enriched civilisation and people of faith continue to be significant contributors in making this world a better place.  Perhaps people of all faiths need to be less free in claiming to speak in the name of God, learning instead to be still in the presence of God, and striving only to out do each other in acts of love and of service. Only then might those of no faith begin to think that there is a valid role for religion in our world.

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Poppies

13 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by andybryant3 in News Perspectives

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Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red., Poppies, Remembrance, Tower of London

The poppies at the Tower of London – Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red – have drawn crowds in their millions and proved a powerful and moving memorial to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. But no sooner was the last poppy planted than the first poppies started to be taken down.  Some have called for the display to stay longer and others have suggested that at least parts should find a permanent home.  Yet the temporary nature of this installation is part of its essence.

Poppies are such fragile flowers and similarly these ceramic flowers have their own fragility.  It is such a powerful thing that we choose something so fragile as our symbol of remembering.  All the effort in planning and putting together this installation will all too quickly come to an end.  And surely that is frighteningly appropriate echoing lives so loving nurtured and treasured too soon cut down in the hell of war.

Lasting remembrance does not depend on us enshrining these ceramic poppies but rather in striving to ensure that such carnage can never be repeated.  We honour the memory of those who died by re-committing ourselves to the cause of peace and justice – a tender flower which, if it is to flourish in the harsh winds of this world, will need all the nurture and care we can provide.

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