Part 116. All change?

Next month The Salvation Army High Council will meet to elect a new General. An officer elite consisting of Territorial leaders will decide who is to be the next leader. The poor bloody infantry, the footsoldiers, has no say in the matter. A key issue for some in the Army is the current exclusion from officership on sexual orientation grounds. Will the new General take a progressive inclusionist stance or simply adhere to the fundamentalist exclusionist position? The Anglican Communion is in turmoil over issues relating to sexual orientation. Will the next General be faced with similar problems? 

In the UK and Australia the Army is not only losing members, it is losing officers at much faster rate than it is recruiting. In the UK some corps no longer have full-time officers. In the UK a membership working party has been established. Its report will be analysed. Will it recommend radical changes in the criteria for membership and officership? We can but hope.

Part 115 The lens of love.

In earlier posts reference was made to the overarching commandment to love your neighbour. We sought to determine the meaning of neighbour and, considering biblical references, the meaning of love. Recently I came upon the idea that we should not peruse scripture to define love. Instead we should interpret scripture through the lens of love. I concur. 

Part 114. Nuff said

In these posts I have been exploring what faith means to me and underlying theological concepts. I have been at pains to emphasise that I have no wish to influence people to support my opinions. Indeed, I welcome constructive discussion. There is little for me to add. 

I shall post on controversies and events as they arise and also on matters relating to The Salvation Army's Social Justice Champions.

 I shall continue to post on my Facebook page: John Hopkinson Theology Page, and on the Facebook Group: Theology of Social Justice.

Part 113. Neighbours

In earlier posts I penned a few words on the meaning of neighbour. I concluded it was not limited by specific geographical areas but, as in the words 'love your neighbour' it encompasses all humanity, namely people. Recently I came upon a Facebook page 'Sad Jesus'. It promotes the following statement: 

Neighbour is not a geographic term, it is a moral concept.

 The page administrator got quite upset when I noted that humans are people, real people, not concepts moral or otherwise. We do not love moral concepts as neighbours, we love people wherever they are, whether known to us or not.

Part 112. Be good, do good.

The Christian faith it is said, correctly in my opinion, is based on love, a nebulous word defined by St. Paul by other equally vague words. Likewise the word good is imprecise. Love others and do good are pillars of living for many who profess Christian faith. The imprecision of the words leaves us open to the devices of the gatekeepers, of upholders of doctrine and the like seeking to impose their definition.

It is my opinion that there are no objective ethical standards we should adhere to and most certainly not have imposed on us.

Part 111. Practical theology

From time to time public bodies undertake consultations with the public on a range of topics. A consultation might be on a proposal which, if implemented, would have a positive or negative impact on the life of an individual suffering deprivation. Every year local councils hold a public consultation on the following year's budget and the impact of the proposals.

 Does your church respond to consultations? Does it campaign? Of course doing so may well lead to conflict. So what!! A church should not be deterred from demanding social justice. 

Part 110. Reaching out

Reaching out into the community does not feature as a priority in some churches. Inward-looking, fundamentalist and literalist in biblical interpretation, such churches show no interest in loving neighbours, no interest in social justice. Instead they Iive in piety bubbles, self-congratulatory and have an insufferable air of superiority and pomposity.

Part 109. Mulling it over

In previous posts I expressed the opinion that the Old Testament is not inspired by God but is an attempt by individuals at particular times and places to make sense of the world around them. Whilst a metaphysical entity may exist, or not, is a matter of opinion not provable nor otherwise by reference to texts.

 I do not doubt that Jesus lived and his message is unchanging. It should be understood against the backcloth of the religious, social and political sentiment of the time. However, it is incumbent upon us to interpret the message and apply it to our times. We must apply the message of love to the world today. The message is unchanging: the world has changed.

So, do I have faith given my objection to the idea that the bible is inspired by God rather than humanity's searching for a metaphysical reality? I concur with the statement in Hebrews 11:1. 'Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.'

Part 108. Overcoming material poverty.(3)

Many people living in poverty reside in areas of multiple deprivation. However many do not, particularly in rural areas. Poverty is caused often by a congery of factors and the manifestations of poverty show up in a variety of ways. Thus it follows that there is no one simple policy change which will eliminate poverty. We fool ourselves if we believe there are easy or quick solutions. There are policy changes which would have immediate effect but others will take a long time for the effects to show through. As Galbraith argued, we have the means in society but not the will to tackle poverty. As Christians we must campaign for social justice, we must press for change in our society, in our communities. We have to challenge authorities to effect change.  

Part 107. Salvation Army. Social Justice Champions

In 2022 The Salvation Army in the United Kingdom & Ireland Territory announced the creation of a new category of volunteers, Social Justice Champions (SJC). Their role is to campaign on local/community issues by contacting local decision makers. I have applied to enrol as a SJC.

I don't recall having read anything about this initiative at my local corps nor in publications from division and certainly not of any successes. I am very disappointed that much more has not been done to promote this initiative.

Part 106. Overcoming material poverty. (2)

The Salvation Army has 26 debt device centres and also offers online support. A recent report by the Centre for Social Justice indicates that in the UK over one million individuals are in the clutches of illegal lenders (loan sharks) charging up to 1,000 percent interest. Timely debt advice may have saved some from the loan sharks who engage in dubious practices to secure repayment. People may be in desperate need of cash urgently for food, debt repayment or rent and loan sharks offer a quick fix-at a price.

There needs to be far better access to debt advice. I believe a significant step along the road to alleviating at least some of the stresses of poverty would be the creation of a Salvation Army credit union, or at the very least promoting existing credit unions.

Part 105. Overcoming material poverty (1)

There is a massive amount of literature on the causes and consequences of poverty. It is not my intention to add to this mountain. Rather, I seek to set out my opinions on how Christians should respond to poverty issues.

I commend for your perusal the following organisation:

Christians Against Poverty UK. Website: capuk.org

The organisation offers direct action in support of individuals living in poverty as well as undertaking research and campaigns. It is engaged in much needed work and should be supported.