Israel, the innocent victim?

Those with a Facebook account, check out this photo album from Michael Prysner.

Hamas are in the wrong. They should not be firing rockets into Israel or attempting to provoke war. But, Israel is so, so incredibly wrong in retaliating in the way they have. So much devastation, so many deaths. The cycle of violence and hatred is perpetuated.

I can not even begin to understand the blind, biased attitude of those who support Israel in this action. Look at these photographs and then tell me that Israel is doing God's will!

Cluster bombs and Australia

I posted on this a couple of days ago. Since then I've done a bit more research and found that Australia has signed the "Convention on Cluster Munitions" treaty and has therefore agreed to not produce, use or proliferate cluster munitions.

Australia did baulk at signing at first because of a recently purchased cache of "smart bombs" worth $14 million, which could possibly have been classified as cluster bombs. Apparently they don't and so we are among the 107 signatories.

The treaty will be officially closed and ratified in December at the Oslo Conference after which time the treaty's clauses will be introduced into legislation by the participating countries.

Here's an SBS news report on the signing of the treaty, including Australia among the signatories.

Cluster Bombs put children and civilians lives at risk in Georgia

I received a press release from Dani at Survivor Corp. yesterday (a link to the release is at the bottom of this post). It details Russia's use of cluster bombs in it's recent military action against Georgia.

Cluster bombs, along with their close cousins, land mines, have been responsible for horrific injuries to children and non-combatants in current and former conflict zones around the world.

In May this year 107 countries signed a treaty in Ireland, agreeing to cease production and use of cluster bombs in armed conflict. Several countries have avoided signing the treaty and are downplaying the dangers of the bombs to the civilian population in conflict zones. Most notable among those refusing to sign are the governments of the USA, Australia and Russia.

As an Australian I am appalled at the Australian governments stance on these weapons and the lame excuses they are offering for refusing to sign the treaty.

Australia is a signatory. I made a mistake! See this post for more information (updated 1 Sept 2008).

I would encourage all readers to follow the links included in this post to get a better understanding of the problems these weapons are causing around the world. Working in former conflict zones I have seen the results similar weapons, such as landmines and other unexploded ballistics, have on the unsuspecting civilian population. Even years after conflict has ceased, these weapons still pose a significant risk to life and limb.

As citizens of the world I think it is imperative we speak out against, and raise awareness of, actions that put the lives and standard of living of the vulnerable at risk. The more people who are aware of the situation in Georgia, and are aware of the significant number of Western governments condoning Russia's action through their own refusal to support the ban on these weapons, the more likely it is we will see a change in the way things happen.

People! Write to your politicians about this. Tell people you meet about this. Raise awareness of the fact that our your government (if you are an American or a Russian) wants to freely use similar weaponry in a similar way in other parts of the world.

The first link here is to Survivor Corps' media release. I'd encourage other bloggers to post the release or a report on Russia's unacceptable actions in invading a sovereign territory and use of cluster bombs. The remaining links are to related news articles.

Please drop him an email or send him a letter telling him how abhorrent it is telling how glad you are that a modern, western nation like Australia would refuse agree to sign a treaty banning the use of cluster bombs. The more people who speak out against this the more likely they are to change their approach to this issue.

• Survivor Corp. Press Release

• Russia 'used cluster bombs' in Georgia - ABC News Report
  

• Australia baulks at cluster bomb ban - Sydney Morning Herald Article

• The Cluster Munitions Coalition
  

• Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith

I'd also encourage you to contact your local Federal members, this is an important issue of global responsibility taking and accountability.

Thanks Dani for bringing this issue to the fore!

Beijing Olympics, Commercial TV & School Projects

I was watching the 7 Network's (my old employer) morning news show, Sunrise, this morning and was taken by the "big sell" they are doing on China. Of course it's all because of the Olympics.

The show was broadcast live from Beijing and all the presenters and guests were sprouting praise for China; it's military precision in everything from street cleaning to flag raising and the wonderful way in which the country had embraced the "Olympic spirit".

I don't know if I'm alone in this, but I am finding the way in which our commercial media is going gaga over China infuriating. Tienanmen square is only mentioned in terms of it's value as a tourist destination, attempts at cleaning up the place only talked about in terms of aesthetics and no mention whatsoever about China's atrocious record, past and present, on the human rights front.

You could be forgiven for thinking (my tongue's in my cheek) the media had sold-out (or been bought out) by the Chinese regime and were now working for the Chinese equivalent of Orwell's "Ministry for Truth".

For the record, I think anyone who says China's record on this front has nothing to do with sport has their head up their arse. No matter how well the Olympic opening ceremony goes off or how many gold medals our athletes win (or how much money our commercial networks make from selling out to a Communist regime) it will not change the fact that people are living and dying under the oppressive control of one of the worlds worst human rights offenders. Only a few months ago the world was up in arms over the Chinese governments sale of a shipload of weapons to Mugabe's tinpot regime in Zimbabwe. How soon we forget!

My kids are all doing projects at school on the Olympics. I sat down and talked with them about all of this the other night and we are working out a way in which they can make sure they include the truth (in a kiddie way) about China's treatment of its people and minorities in their class presentations.

Please visit Amnesty International's website and check out some of the things you can do to help raise awareness of the situation in China. I would like to propose a synchroblog on this, but as this blog doesn't get many visitors that's not going to work - but if you do read this and own a blog, please consider blogging about it and encouraging your blogging friends to do the same.

Let's not let sport (and the genuine good-will the Olympics generates) become a mask for China to hide behind!

Chinese Weapons Ship leaves South Africa

Chinese cargo ship carrying arms shippment to Zimbabwe, anchored off South African coast (picture stolen from Sky News)

A Chinese ship reportedly carying arms and ammunition to Zimbabwe has left the South African coast after port workers refused to unload its cargo and the South African courts blocked its passage through the country.

It is believed the arms were sold to the Mugabe led government by the Chinese government. Opposition parties in Zimbabwe have said the arms would be used against the Zimbabwean public, especially those opposing the Mugabe regime.

Sky News have reported that South African newspaper, the Beeld, has published details of the ship's inventory which includes 3 million rounds of AK-47 ammunition and 1,500 rocket propelled grenades.

While China's human rights record in relation to Tibet has been in the news a lot lately, it's also worth remembering the Chinese governments ongoing involvement in violating the rights of other minority groups within China - including millions of Chinese followers of Jesus - and their continued involvement in supporting oppressive foreign regimes such as those of Mugabe in Zimbabwe, through the supply of arms and ammunition. Weapons which almost undoubtedly will used against innocent civilians.

I think we (Australia and perhaps the rest of the Western world) should be boycotting the Beijing Olympics. I can't think of a more current and internationally significant way of letting China know that we want nothing to do with their oppressive political system and oppose their involvement in and support of other oppressive regimes elsewhere in the world, not to mention the role they have to play in the persecution of minorities within their own boarders.

Some links to news sites with information on the Chinese ship and its cargo. You can also congratulate the South African dock workers by emailing them from the website of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union website.

BBC News

All Africa.com

Sky News

Jesus the Warrior

I was thinking about some comments Glenn made on my last post (Hard Words for the Australian Church) - about the "taking the city" kind of terminology used often in certain Christian circles. Glenn made the point that it kinda reminded him of the terminology of the Crusades.

Jesus ministry and his rejection as the Messiah by the first century Jews ultimately related to his refusal to fullfil the role of the military-type Messiah. Someone who would finish the job of ridding Israel of the Romans once and for all and restoring the theocracy. Jesus simply didn't fit this bill and so people became disillusioned with him and, in the end - one week after they gave him a triumphal entry to Jerusalem - they oversaw his execution.

I wonder if this use of militaristic language betrays a similar form of thinking within the modern church. A crusade kind of mentality that wants Jesus to be a military-type Messiah, demanding allegiance to his cause at the end of a sword (taking the city - by force) rather than the lay-down-your-life and transform-the-world in love (agape) kind of Messiah of the gospels?

Will the "failure" of Jesus to act in these ways lead to the same kind of disillusionement experienced by the first century Jews and if so what effect could this have on the church?

Saddam is Dead

I just heard on CNN that Saddam Hussein was executed this morning. I was waiting for this announcement since the fail of his appeal earlier in the week.

It is definitely, as Alyssa said while we watched the report, hard to feel sad. This man was the epitome of evil. He directly and indirectly was involved in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's and Kurds and Iranians. His regime was drenched in the blood of his own people and he ruled with fear. But even knowing all this, I do feel a twinge of sorrow. Not so much for Saddam himself but for the philosophy (or theology as the case may be) that says capital punishment is the answer to the problem of violence. That restitution can be found in the taking of a life.

I recently came across a phrase that aptly describes this way of thinking. It is the "myth of redemptive violence"; the idea that violence in any form can bring about positive, redemptive change.

As a follower of Jesus, I struggle to come to terms with the nature of justice, particularly true, godly, justice. And, while I plan on doing more research, I do at this point in time accept at least some of the tenets of the "just war theory", in that in some cases for justice to prevail a coercive and sometimes fatal force is required (if a homicidal maniac was threatening my family and likely to kill or do serious harm to any one of them, I would, if I had the opportunity, use whatever force necessary to prevent their coming to harm - I make no apologies for this). Yet, as a Christian, I also believe that Jesus spoke clearly on the issue of capital punishment - the calculated and judicial act of taking a life in payment for a crime committed.

Jesus brought home the fact that, under the Law, we are all guilty and deserving of the death penalty - but he came to provide a different solution -to save not to condemn to death (John 3:16-17). Furthermore, when he was faced with the adulterous woman in John 8 (1-11), a woman who under the Law was clearly deserving of the death penalty, he reminded the accusers of their own guilt and freed the woman, with the command to "go and sin no more".

In this simple act Jesus made clear the two fold significance of sin and its penalty and his own mission of salvation, rather than condemnation. He set the captive free, regardless of her guilt because of the very same guilt (the guilt of sin) resting on the shoulders of those who, rightly, accused her.

I have no doubt that Saddam Hussein deserved life imprisonment. But I cannot accept that a deliberate act of violence, perpetrated against him by the Iraqi judiciary is any less bloodthirsty or any more redemptive than any of the violent acts committed by Hussein while he held control of Iraq.

As a follower of Jesus I must oppose the death penalty, no matter how fitting it may seem, because, with the sole exception of the cross of calvary, this kind of redemptive violence is a myth. We cannot take Jesus' act in John 8 and view it in isolation. Did he only mean his actions to be a reflection of the specific situation he was facing at that time? Or can we look beyond the surface, at his teaching's elsewhere in the gospels and say with conviction, Jesus did away with the death penalty in every circumstance? Just as most of us wouldn't accept any courts imposition of the death penalty for adultery, or for witchcraft or for homosexuality, if we are to be consistent, we also cannot accept the death penalty for murder or any other violent crime. No matter how appropriate it seems at the time.

Yes, Saddam Hussein died this morning for nothing. The memory of the crimes he committed will long outlive any fleeting sense of joy or justice achieved by the act of his execution. I just pray that God will, as he is in the habit of doing, work all these things for the good of those who love him!

For an interesting take (and I don't fully agree with everything Rob Bell is expounding here) have a listen to Rob Bell's series of sermons on the Myth of Redemptive Violence at Mars Hill - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3.