From Knowledge to Wisdom

Beacons of an interbellum

The Saturday papers had a piece about the forgotten destruction of Tokyo. Atom bombs dropped on two other cities led to the Japanese capitulation on 15 August 1945. But several months before that 60% of Tokyo had been destroyed by conventional bombing.

The article includes survivors' accounts of the fire storm that raced through neighbourhoods of traditional Japanese wooden houses. Of people escaping from the flames by jumping into the rivers, only to freeze to death. Of people gathering in groups in the street so that they would not die alone.

One of the survivors crept out from under one of these piles of burnt people on the morning after.

There is bitterness on many counts. The suffering of the survivors has never been recognised or compensated by the government. Whereas those who suffered from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been cared for and compensated.

The bombing of Tokyo is hardly known or remembered, although it is estimated that 100,000 people died on the night of the bombing.

There is bitterness about the misleading propaganda the Japanese government used to fool the people.

The postwar constitution, imposed by the Allies, commits Japan to pacifist neutrality. Japan has no military forces but a self-defence force. This force was trained by the American General Curtis LeMay. For which effort he received a high honour from Emperor Hirohito. The same General LeMay had in 1945 ordered the bombing of Tokyo.

I went outside to make my Saturday visit to the supermarket. The morning sun shone on the peaceful street.

I stood, contemplating the peace. A baby boomer contemplating six decades of peace. My father, in his nineties, sits most of the day doting in his armchair. His most lively conversations are about his experiences in the war, Dunkirk, North Africa, Italy.

In my early decades I enjoyed Clement Atlee's National Health Service and free education. In my later decades I have enjoyed the open frontiers within the European Union.

So I stood at my front door considering the pretty red bricks that pave the street, the horrors of war and the profligacy of peace. And took my bike to the supermarket, passing the monument to the allied soldiers who died liberating this area from Nazi occupation.

Reference
Joan Veldkamp in "de Volkskrant" Saturday 16 August 2008

"Great Hatred, Little Room" - peace in Northern Ireland

Been reading Jonathan Powell's "Great Hatred, Little Room" on the history of the Northern Ireland peace process, after a tip by banstead on Flickr.

Powell was Tony Blair's Chief of Staff and deeply involved, for ten years, in the public and private processes of negotiation with Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin, and various Unionist leaders including David Trimble and Ian Paisley, along with the Irish government lead by Bertie Ahern.

The story gives detailed insight into how the negotiating processes worked, mainly what was going on in the confidential contacts and the secret meetings that led to the public meetings and public agreements (and disagreements).

There are anecdotes about the people and the circumstances. You get the impression that Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness really felt at home in 10 Downing street. Powell tells how on one occasion he urgently had to get Adams and McGuinness in from the back garden where they were playing with Tony Blair's kids and trying to ride a skateboard down the path. A photograph of the incident would have given a totally misleading impression of the public relationship between Sinn Féin and the British Government.

The story of the negotiations is told in a welter of detail. So it seems like an endless process, repeatedly covering the same ground, with progress measured in imperceptible steps, and successes followed by immediate setbacks. It is clear that endless patience and determination were needed. Part of the motivation for writing the book is to explain why and how success was achieved so that lessons can be learned for resolution of conflicts in other regions of the world.

Achieving a lasting peace in Ireland is positioned as a major mission for Tony Blair. He was convinced a settlement was possible and was determined to keep on talking until it was achieved.

Scary Bad News

Despite the fact that my family classify me as a "doom and gloomer", I actually think that I have a naive optimistic view of the world. That partly comes from being a baby boomer - growing up in the fifties and sixties of the 20th century, it seemed that the normal course of events in the world was for things in general to get better. In the UK we had free schooling, free healthcare from the National Health Service and in the sixties The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Radio Luxembourg and stereo record players. And it was possible to hitch-hike from my home in Edinburgh to the south of France.

The only serious doom and gloom bit that I recall was a few days around the Cuban Missile Crisis when I was outside school looking up at the sky and wondering whether there were actually US and Soviet nuclear bombs being delivered over our heads by ICBM. Well, of course, there was the assassination of John Kennedy. That was a serious break in the everything gets better all the time trend.

Anyway, three news items last weekend put me into a doom and gloom perspective on world affairs:

The Bush regime has the characteristics of a Mafiosi organization Jan Tromp, the Volkskrant's correspondent in the USA, is moving on after four years. He had a feature article in Saturday's paper that was an inventory of evidence of the corrupt, secretive, deceptive, anti-democratic and illegal activities of the Bush regime. Now, of course, we knew this already. Ages ago I joined the kids on a Stop Bush demo.

kinda self-explanatory.    Originally uploaded to Flickr by jillwrites.com.

But, somehow, the extensive matter of fact inventory of known evidence wiped away all hope that somehow things might come right in the USA, in the end.

European Body Life Conference 1

Just back from the European Body Life Conference where Frank Viola and Charles 'Chuck' Wilhelm were the main speakers. This is a first quick post with some first impressions. I have come home with a lot of stuff to digest and will be working through some of the themes in the coming weeks.

We were very generously hosted by a gathering of the saints in beautiful vineyard countryside near the Neckar just south of Heilbronn, Germany. About 70 people from ten European countries and the USA participated.

Main themes were:

God's desire, God's eternal purpose, God's passion, God's plan
God had a plan, a purpose, an intention way back in eternity before time and before creation. That purpose will be fulfilled someday in the future.

Themes that are part of this are:

The Bride of Christ
Salvation is a detour on the way to fulfilment of God's eternal purpose. And it is a problem that so much of Christendom has lost the plot and is sitting camped around the theme of salvation on this detour and does not realise that this is not the destination. We should be moving on to much bigger things.

Church as a gathering of the saints under the headship of Jesus Christ
No hierarchy of institution with professional pastors running the show. No historical baggage and tradition. Church as God, not man, intended it to be.

Grass roots intentional community. We are called not just to meet with our brothers and sisters but to share our lives with them. Hearing God. Knowing God's intention for the gathering and for us as individuals.

Zion, the place where God meets His people.
Zion is a physical place and a spiritual place.

The point of reference
For much of Christendom in this age of individualism the point of reference of the Gospel as presented by the church is 'me'. 'Me' getting saved, 'me' getting blessed, 'me' getting to heaven. And if it is not about 'me' then it is about 'my friend' who needs something - healed, blessed, a special touch. When actually the Kingdom of God is in the first place about the King, His reign, His objectives. By His grace we are included in His plan. So the point of reference should be God and His purpose.

Community
The community of the Trinity spilling over to include the community of the People of God.

First impacts:
I have come away with a much more coherent view of the relationships between the OT and the NT. I can now see it as a coherent whole. The exercise we did looking for related things in Genesis 1 and 2 and Revelation 21 and 22 was fascinating. These describe the periods before the the fall and after satan is bound. So here we can get some insight into God's eternal purpose and its fulfilment. (The rest of the Bible is about the detour caused by the fall and the repair job done by salvation.)

And I think I see the contours of a way forward in the context of our gathering. But it will take prayer to know that God sees it that way and it is not just a me! me! me! dream. And it will take time and patience.

The people of God. It was a healing experience just being together with so many saints for so long. And the only doctrinal/cultural issue that really bugged me was whether true worship can only be offered when standing on your feet or whether it is OK to remain quietly seated and let the musicians do the job.  ;-)  But one of the sisters called me to order and told me to have patience and understanding.

From the Protestant Church of Smyrna

See the report from the From the Protestant Church of Smyrna to the Global Church about the recent torture and murder of three Christians in Malatya, Turkey.

It is a gruesome story in more than one way:

• Firstly the terrible way the Christians were tortured and murdered.
• Secondly the fact that they were murdered for their belief.
• Thirdly the ambiguous attitude of the people and authorities in Turkey.

Such barbarism is all the more disturbing when it happens so close to home. Turkey is a candidate for EU membership. It is a popular holiday destination. Two groups from my daughter's school will spend a week there in October. Many fellow residents of NL are of Turkish origin.

So are we in Europe going backwards into barbarism? Is this the 'clash of cultures'? Do we have to pay attention to Jespersen and Pittelkow and their book "Islamists and Naivists"?

Are we strong enough in our faith to face the persecution, when it comes our way, with such grace as the families of these martyrs?

References:
Bible publishing firm murders in Malatya on Wikipedia
Turkish Believers "Satanically Tortured" Before Being Killed on BosNewsLife
"Danish wake-up call on Islam" review of Jespersen and Pittelkow book on International Herald Tribune

Pope Benedict and Islam

A recent speech by Pope Benedict has provoked violent protests among Muslims in many countries.

The references quoted by Pope Benedict explain some of the divergence between the Christian view of God and the Muslim view.

In the Christian view man is made in the image of God, and this likeness includes the logos rationality of God.

In the Muslim view God is so far away beyond our perception that we can't say much about Him or his motivations - so He acts, as far as we can see, at random, unpredictably. That view leads to a devaluation of human reason. And it limits our expectation of being able to relate to God and limits our expectation that He should act in consistent ways.

This seems to explain some of the differences between Muslim and western cultures.

Irish Money

I was travelling in a remote corner of Europe: the British Airways flight from Dublin to Derry/Londonderry. An international flight within the United Kingdom - Republic of Ireland common travel area.

Although the ticketing and aircraft were in BA house-style, the flight was operated by Logan Air, "Scotland's airline", with its main hub at Glasgow. They fly the islands of Scotland and have this odd route from Glasgow to Derry/Londonderry to Dublin and back. So the cabin crew was a cheerful lady from Scotland.

Alcoholic drinks had to be paid for. There was some discussion about currency. Based out of Glasgow, the cheerful Scottish lady had a clear preference for pounds sterling.

Sitting behind me were an elderly, genteel couple from the area of our destination. They were having a whispered conversation about paying for the drinks and I overheard Euro being referred to as "Irish Money". That familiar, warm, cosy, ambiguous, homely feeling rolled over me - back in Northern Ireland, centre of its little universe, where "the south", the "Free State" is a foreign land and the Euro, the currency in use from Finland to Spain and from Portugal to the Polish border, is "Irish money".

Keeping Track of the Kids - the Court Case

The Case: The State against Catherine, Ruth, Marieke Mieke and Bram

Characters:
The accused: Catherine, Ruth, Marieke Mieke and Bram, members of the International Socialists, Amsterdam
The Public Prosecutor: a tall blond guy who could not communicate well
The Judge: a blond of about forty with a high intelligent forehead
Advocate for the defence: Jelle, one of the gang, looking very smart in his toga
Clerk of the Court
Three journalists
The public: concerned parents and close friends

The Scene:
A courtroom for criminal offences in the Amsterdam Courthouse, the Parnas Building designed by Ben Loerakker.

The charge:
Refusing to follow the instructions of a police officer according to Article 184 Section 1 of the Criminal Law of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

A Hearing in Eight Acts:
1. Identification
2. Introduction of the case
3. The accused tell their story
4. Review of the personal circumstances of the accused
5. The case for the prosecution
6. The case for the defence
7. Closing remarks
8. Judgement and sentence

Keeping Track of the Kids

The kids have made the AT5 News again. (Link to previous).

Basically the news item says the four students, members of the International Socialists, who were arrested on 10 November at the request of the Hogeschool Amsterdam, will be in court on Thursday. They regard their arrest as a restriction of their right to freedom of speech.

So we will be in court on Thursday to see if the judge is of the same opinion.

What do I think about the war?

Reading a couple of articles in this morning's paper, challenged by Mark 'Ashamedly silent' and with my thinking coloured by N.T. Wright on evil I felt inspired to try to form my opinion about the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. (See references below.)

Starting points
Nation state
The formation of nation states has caused us problems. Standing back for a moment, considering the question of why humanity is divided into tribes and nations. Why does each have a claim on a fixed piece of the land surface so that all stretches of land are assigned to only one nation state. The nation state seems too simplistic a construction to meet the real needs and reflect reality on the ground. See Northern Ireland, the Balkans and Kurdistan as examples of areas where enforcement of a simplistic nation state has caused long term conflicts.

So, maybe the establishment of Israel was a mistake. But as de Winter says: "At that time it was quite normal to draw a line on a map and accept that as the border of a country. No one saw it as a problem. And for millions of Jews it was the only place they had to go."

Context of the Gospel of Judas

Here is a link to a clear piece putting the 'Gospel of Judas' in context after all the hype launched by National Geographic. It is by Clinton E. Arnold, Professor and Chairman, Department of New Testament at Biola University, California. Thanks to Laura for the reference.

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Technorati tags gospel of judas biola

Quote of the day

"The men and women in our technical age risk becoming victims of their own intellectual and technical achievements, ending up in spiritual barrenness and emptiness of heart,"
Pope Benedict XVI, Christmas 2005

Keeping Track of the Kids

Catherine phones home today: "just to let you know we were arrested (again) for a while this afternoon". The piece on AT5 Nieuws roughly translates as:

Anti Verdonk Activists Arrested
Four activists were arrested on Thursday afternoon at the Amsterdam College (Hogeschool) because they were collecting signatures in favour of the resignation of Rita Verdonk. The International Socialist activists were demanding Verdonk's resignation because of the fire on Schiphol which cost the lives of eleven people. According to the  Socialists "the arrests are a continuation of the police policy which lead to the earlier forcible removal of protest banners against Verdonk from house fronts." The police arrested the activists on the grounds of breach of the peace".

According to the news reports their arrest by the police was initiated by the College management. The police sent four cars to arrest four students who were peacefully collecting signatures on a petition.

After being held in a police cell for six hours and questioned about the organisation of the protest they were suddenly released without charge. Theories about what triggered their release include that the national TV news were onto the story, it is a good follow up to the police removing the protest banners. But bad news for Job Cohen, Mayor of Amsterdam, his speech at the memorial to Theo van Gogh last week was full of stuff about Amsterdam being a great place for liberty and freedom of speech.

The Everglades - Water, bird and man

More on water management from a wonderful country: The Everglades | Water, bird and man | Economist.com.

New Orleans

Sounds from a wonderful country: listen to David Rovics on New Orleans.

More pictures on BBC.

Press dismay at Katrina chaos

A collection of sharp quotes from the press around the world at BBC NEWS | Press dismay at Katrina chaos.

Katrina had more than the power of the wind and water, because, now, when they have subsided, it can still reveal the emptiness of an era, one that is represented by President George W Bush more than anyone. - Argentina's Clarin

'Emptiness' is a key word there. This is an era of emptiness. Where is the world going? What does it hope for? The rich hope for the next wave of technology and the poor hope for clean water. And the President of the greatest nation symbolises emptiness.

 

Quote of the day

In the Economist there is a nice reflection on the British tradition for civil liberties and the adoption of strangers into society. This in the context of Mr. Blair's blustering about measures against potential terrorists. It is fortunate that long traditions of civil liberty are so embedded in law and international treaties that it will take more than a quick PATRIOT Act to undo them.

Britain has a long tradition of sheltering firebrands, which is reflected in the law. Victorian London was an excellent place for foreign radicals to set up shop—whether they were scholarly types like Karl Marx, who plotted the overthrow of capitalism from the reading room of the British Museum, or militants like Johann Most, a German anarchist who was allowed to wander the streets despite penning a guide called “The Science of Revolutionary Warfare”. Ancient laws on free speech, a light touch from the censor and a lack of legal distinctions between citizens and non-citizens have appealed to African National Congress supporters and Islamist radicals alike. If the government really wanted to overturn this tradition, it would need extensive legislation.

See: Watch your mouth | Economist.com.

Quote of the day

Word out of Beijing last week hailed the fact that the number of Christians in China is greater than the number of communists. Latest figures show the number of Chinese Christians to be between 80 million and 100 million, while the official Communist Party has 70 million. Leaders at a recent meeting of THE HAGGAI INSTITUTE, the world's premier interdenominational Christian leadership training program with more than 1,000 trained Chinese Christian leaders, were not totally surprised. Leaders of HI say that as many as 35,000 Chinese are confessing Christ on a daily basis.

David Virtue, VirtueOnline
VIRTUEONLINE Digest - 27 Jul 2005 to 2 Aug 2005 (#2005-38)
BEIJING: Christian v communist

China Doing What They're Good At

I recently felt the need for a more environmentally friendly means of fetching the weekly shopping and other bits and pieces from the supermarket and other village shops. Taking an MPV 750 meters into the village two or three times every Saturday is not really very sociable.

So when I came across a special offer on a gentleman's transport bicycle (heren transportfiets) I went for it. A week or two after I placed my order I was pleased to discover that I am an early adopter of a new trend -  Elsevier (Week 21) ran an article on the "De terugkeer van de bakfiets" - "The comeback of the carrier cycle".

A heavy load on the front and the backpedal hub break (terugtraprem) will take a bit of practice. See pictures in my photo album. And there are some interesting global trends in the origins of my new bike.

Quote of the day

A fragment from a conversation yesterday about the referenda in France and The Netherlands on the EU Constitution:

'An EU referendum is like a tentamen (exam) in a Dutch university - you just keep on repeating it till you get the right answer.'

Attribution: anonymous members of the SP who are currently running a fervent 'No' campaign.