Through the prism of the #Coronavirus leaders are devaluing human life

All days matter

Sometimes, you have to mine the rich seam of biblical stories to illustrate issues in our contemporary times. There is no better time to share an event in the ministry of Jesus Christ where he healed a woman who had been afflicted for 18 years on the Sabbath.

Having demonstrated compassion and mercy in the healing of the woman, the leader of the synagogue was livid with rage and indignation, completely oblivious of the amazing miracle, he remonstrated saying, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” Luke 13:14 (NKJV)

Obviously, the leader of the synagogue was keeping the law, the 4^th commandment of the 10 delivered to Moses in the wilderness on tablets of stone.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Exodus 20:8-11 (NKJV)

No Sabbath for the pain

The leader of the synagogue did have a valid point, but there was another call to his humanity. I do remember clearly when I had cancer and the pain that was sometimes too otherworldly for description, the pain did not take a break on any day and not on our modern Sabbath of Sunday.

In fact, on one Sunday, the Fentanyl pain patch I wore on the skin of my belly had peeled off that I was in such pain until the effects of the newly applied patch kicked in, I laughed myself to delirium, my friend thinking I was having a psychotic event. I was relying on the endorphins released by laughter to assuage the pain.

Jesus responded, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” Luke 13:15-16 (NKJV)

By this, first Jesus was offering the primacy of works of necessity over everyday work. Leading a beast of burden to the water on the Sabbath was work but of necessity. Then, by comparison, he averred that healing on the Sabbath was a work of necessity as much is it was one of compassion for the woman that could not wait another day, even if she had been afflicted for 18 years.

Our humanity is paramount

This brings me to the handling of the Coronavirus pandemic in some countries, in the UK where the outrageous policy of pursuing herd immunity with regards to a virus for which there was no vaccine. The implication being the UK government was afraid for the cost and consequences to the economy if the country were locked down. They were ready to sacrifice the vulnerable, human beings to the capitalist machine.

It was in my view the most apathetic and dispassionate act of inhumanity a government was ready to visit upon its people just not to upset big business. Thankfully, reason prevailed, but it would be impossible to forgive the government for ever suggesting it and there can be no redemption for the thought process that allowed it. They had sided with the leader of the synagogue against the core element of our humanity to preserve and protect life.

Human beings over the economy

Over in America, Donald Trump is grappling with a situation over which he has little control. Just a month ago, he could boast of a record rising stock market and the best employment figures in US history. Today, the stock market is below the numbers when he took office on the 20^th of January 2017 and unemployment figures are rising. The interventions from the Federal Reserve and Treasury have not stanched the stock market decline, the sentiment is broadly negative.

It appears Donald Trump is ready to go against the advice of the medical experts and truncate the measures put in place to limit the spread of the Coronavirus, in order to give a fillip to the economy. The risk is the Coronavirus will cut a larger swathe through the country and they would be in a worse place than they are now. Much as the economy is important, human beings run these economies and the machinery it depends on, human beings must always come first. [BBC]

America loving people more than money

As if this was not bad enough, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, 69, who will be 70 in April suggested that the older generation of the 70s were ready to sacrifice themselves and die for the sake of America going back to work, because the Coronavirus was destroying America, and what he meant was destroying America’s economy.

“You know, Tucker, no one reached out to me and said, ‘As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?’ And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in.” said Dan Patrick [Guardian]

It is interesting that “keeping the America that all America loves” was not people, else it would have included the parents and grandparents of the children and grandchildren. It does also make one wonder if Americans would be more predisposed to selling off their parents and grandparents. It must be plumbing the dregs of our humanity to rate the advancement of the economy over generational ties and familial love.

Yet, the Lieutenant Governor would have us believe that the greater love might be better expressed in espousing the American way than having our parents and grandparents with us. Let Coronavirus take them away, for they are expendable. The economy is the god of happiness and fulfilment.

The Sabbath was made for man

I appreciate that there are many in power that have neither the emotional intelligence nor the human compassion to see the value of humanity in the face of adversity. Human beings become an inconvenience in the pursuit of riches and legalism. Like the leader of the synagogue, what mattered most was keeping the law, damn the infirm, they can suffer another day or even die than be given succour, mercy, consideration, and healing on the Sabbath.

To which Jesus responded in another place in the gospels after healing another on the Sabbath, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27 (NKJV)

For all the importance we want to place on the law and other activities, the human being and humanity comes first.

What is a life worth?

The question to those who think otherwise, you have to ask, “How much is a life worth?” Is it better to save life or to pursue our aims oblivious of the suffering? For the Good Samaritan saw value in the person of the helpless person who was robbed and left for dead by the wayside, just as a priest and another walked by. [The Parable of the Good Samaritan – Wikipedia]

The story that got told was of a plain Samaritan who happened to be kind, for it was his deed that saved a life, he went out of his way to act out of human kindness when he could have concentrated on the urgency of his own business. It is in recognition of his deeds that his story became that of the Good Samaritan. Human kindness is what creates the story of life that matters more than anything else.

This should be our thinking, those who are not able to put humanity first and do everything to save a life no matter the cost will be ready to sacrifice anyone including their children, parents, grandchildren, and grandparents to their other pursuits. Beware of these wolves, they are wickedness personified and evil beyond description.

Thought Picnic: Of Charity and Sacrifice

Welcome to the temple

Back at church today, one was caught between the enduring and the sacrifice, that being the story of Christ and the seemingly ordinary story of two men as depicted on plaques and memorial stones in the church.

There is much to be said of both the magnificence and simplicity of Manchester Cathedral (Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George in Manchester), its very accessible and welcoming nave and a message easy to the ear, the hearing and the soul.

In the traditional church calendar, today marked the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, the hymns, the readings and the sermon followed this theme.

Accommodation and ceremony

The pamphlet contained everything, this time, not much of a fidget to follow the service. At Communion the openness of fellowship is most evident because members of all Christian Churches are invited to receive Communion, yet you can also step forward to just receive a blessing. By informing a steward before the service, you can also receive a gluten-free communion wafer.

This time we did go High Church with incense at the altar, something the pamphlet informed us about, the pomp and ceremony at church can be quite engaging just as it is spiritual, I would suppose anytime I am in Manchester I would be revisiting my Anglican heritage and roots.

Enduring charity

Humphrey Booth (d. 1635) was a wealthy merchant whose charitable activities are recorded on plaque in the church, but more significantly is that what he bequeathed to Manchester that helped in restoring the church in the aftermath of the Manchester explosion of the 15^th of June 1996. I was in Manchester on that day, just 10 yards from where shards of glass fell on someone not long after I heard a loud bang and wondered until it occurred to me that it was a bomb.

Had he expended his means on ostentatious and hedonistic living, it is unlikely that 366 years after his death any of his substance would have been so remembered and recorded in posterity as I have been able to observe.

More on Humphrey Booth’s legacy – The Humphrey Booth Resource Centre.

Recognised piety

John Bradford (c. 1510 - 1555) of indeterminate birth date is memorialised with a plaque as a scholar, a reformer, a fearless preacher, a prebendary of St Paul’s Cathedral and was burnt at the stake for heresy. The heresy being as a Protestant he refused to revert to the Catholic faith that Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary) tried to restore in the land.

English church history has it that the government feared the consequences of putting John Bradford to death, more significantly, the crowds did protest his burning at the stake.

Honour of sacrifice

What caught my eye about his plaque was not that he was a son of Manchester and of great repute to be recognised as learned and significantly opposed to the direction of the royal court but that his last words were, “Oh, What am I Lord, that thou shouldest thus magnify me?”

When I look at traditional Christianity and what passes for it today, especially amongst the leadership, one can only be moved by the stories of charity and sacrifice, charity that endures for centuries and sacrifice where those who suffer by reason of their faith see their suffering in the light of their innocence still count it great honour to so treated for their profession.

One must stop and think, beyond which the search for Good Samaritan humanity that touches people continues in the church and on the streets.

Getting off the pain train

Leaving the resort of pain

For weeks I had sacrificed my peace at the altar of pain, bringing offerings of agony and lamentations of the unbearable as I worshipped as a subject of things going wrong and circumstances becoming dire.

Along with this comes moments when you begin to lose faith in those around you because their problems, small as they might seem to me are too great for them to see beyond their hills to the valley of distress in which I have wallowed.

Looking for my bedpan friends

You can measure someone’s stress at work with my condition and then say the stress is insignificant; neither can one place the responsibility of visitation on others where they most definitely have their own schedules.

However, in the midst of all that, people have been understanding, selfless, considerate and concerned, one cannot descend in cascade to the depression of the hurt much as all humanly possible criteria are there to justify that feeling.

In the end, in circumstances like this you have friends but the bedpan friends are very few and sometimes very far, one can vindictively prepare for vengeance or love them all the same, I have been loved, that is why I survive, I survive because I have been spared, I am spared because I should rise to a greater calling in my life and make radical change.

Ascend and decline in thought

A hospital bed with its automatic buttons for elevation and decline, allowing for the freedom of mind but the physical restriction of the body tethered to both infirmity and intravenous infusions, a time to reflect and better not on yourself but on others and the gratitude for all that has happened to this point.

I was sorely irritated with the person I shared my ward with, obstinate he was, recalcitrant not by half, stubborn beyond belief and definitely in pain, he had lost his lower leg. He was being considered a nuisance by the nurses and he called all hours, I wonder what jumped on my vocal cords to stop me blurting out a coarse expletive, but I was restrained.

There was a need for him to sit in an adapted wheelchair for up to an hour but that caused such discomfort that he was begging to be put back in bed after 5 minutes but this went on for as long as it was required for him to satisfy that requirement. Naturally, the Dutch would find ways to circumvent the rules but put them against sticklers or enforcers of the rules and the rules win.

Entitlements come with health

Yes, I was cross with him and then he told me he was 81 and suddenly I found a deep respect for him to tolerate his situation but still it is important not to get involved.

It left me to wonder if I could survive wars and whether there were situations where the quality of my character might be diminished for the reason of circumstances in which I find myself. Pause, think and meditate.

At 81, I would have thought one had entitlements but it appears entitlements come with when you are hale and hearty, anything short and your entitlements are subject to other opinions of your circumstances – something to have in mind even if you have many to call on to support you in times of need.

Looking beyond this to times when this would be distant stories with lessons learnt, I thought I took communion this morning but I had the bread and not the wine – an abridged communion despite the concern of spreading germs in a hospital is hardly the whole treatment, I was left wondering what else was a cut down version of what was traditionally quite different.

On the up

Replacing feelings with faith one begins to see how things must change for the better and they would because circumstance that doesn’t kill strengthen you but where was it written that we should be overwhelmed, man has the innate will to overcome, my 81-year-old ward mate is not giving up after what many might called a full life, I have no right by reason of many things including my faith to not see ahead of me the reality of all this being part of my past.

The people are high on opium - III

My uncle is another example

I explore further my Muslim heritage. As you will recall, I paid tribute to the religious pragmatism and tolerance of my paternal grandfather. My uncle, who is my father’s kid brother, also took up Islam.

My memories of him are quite fond, I even remember when he celebrated his 22nd birthday asking if he would wait for me to catch up; I was just coming to 8 then.

I have not in anyway matched the fondness, love and dedication between siblings that my father has with my uncle, they may not worship each other but they are certainly close and do really look out for each other.

My uncle also took after his father in marrying a very beautiful lady with a strong Christian background. In their case, the children both had Muslim and Christian names, however, only the first son; now of blessed memory took up Islam.

Exceedingly worthy of emulation

My uncle in his demeanour is probably the friendliest, approachable and considerate Muslim gentleman I have ever met. He defers, respects, acquiesces and concurs with disarming humility that conveys strength where nominally one would expect weakness.

Selflessness in consideration for others dictates how he sues for conciliation and peace in soft-spoken tones that appeal to reason and common-sense. It makes him an unwilling mentor and more so, a person exceedingly worthy of emulation.

This man lives out the qualities and essence of being a Muslim; in whom one would find no bitterness or rancour; a person who exercises self-control and comportment in all circumstances.

The sacrifice – faith and belief - personified

On the maternal line, I also had cousins who with a strong Muslim heritage through their paternal grandparents. In that setting, I participated more in the Muslim festivals which during my secondary school days fell during term time.

The main festival involved the slaughter and preparation of the sacrificial ram which re-enacts the sacrifice that Abrahamic sacrifice of his son, Isaac; at least the context is that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son in the service of God.

God’s acknowledged that selflessness by providing a ram to replace Isaac on the sacrificial altar. The same selflessness in service to God is required of followers of Mohammed’s doctrine.

However, that should also be viewed in the light of Abraham’s complete personality and conduct which allowed him to belief first and then exercise faith in God being able to revive back his son; if the sacrifice did take place.

Blades for rough hairs

All of us got involved the preparations; after the Imam from the mosque cut the throat of the ram, we had to shave the ram before the butchering of the flesh.

This involved making a tourniquet round the neck and then from a slit in the back legs, after clearing pathways with a stick, the carcase was filled and bloated with air like a balloon.

This made the skin taunt allowing for soap to be applied for shaving the rough hairs, by holding the blades with fingers as the shaving stick.

I think, I was quite a dap hand at the job; it was an activity I relished.

The silent majority of reason

The Muslims I knew then, at home and at school, would hardly have been part of the fracas that occupies our streets around the globe.

It is however, unfortunate that they constitute the silent majority of reasonable and likeable Muslims. Their religious diet definitely does not consist of opium.

Which altar for the best sacrifice?

Marriage in relation to man

By happenstance a few years ago one was privy to correspondence between a very beneficent mentor and his nephew. The matter concerned the nephew’s attempts to resolve an abusive marital dispute which affected the nephew’s sibling.

Being in a patriarchal and African setting, the nephew was instructed, if not commanded to ensure that the younger sibling returned to her position of honour and submission to her spouse without adequate attention to the core issue of the abuse.

The nephew in response with all deference, given the opportunity of expression through writing rather than meeting addressed both the unpalatable and acceptable circumstance of an marital union and the need to address the issue that no society should continue to condone abusive relationship no matter what was at stake, this being security, family honour or any other form of adherence and creed that seems to garner more importance of the principals.

The view was that the duty of obeisance, submission and honouring one’s husband is really borne of the husband being selfless, respectful, understanding and even considerate to a fault to his spouse.

That attitude would always be reciprocated with the attention husbands crave for and at times demand.

The fact is, if the husband is not ready to risk all for his mate, is it unlikely that he would gain much in the total affection of his spouse.

The point is, to honour and obey as in the traditional sense is not about provision, but about selfless devotion first on the part of the man and then reciprocated by the woman.

In the end, the nephew concluded that marriage as an institution, creed or tradition was made for man and not man for marriage.

That it has happened through out the ages does not take from the fact man still predates the institution of marriage and hence when it comes to the crunch; marriage should and must always come second in pre-eminence to man.

Tradition in relation to man

Furthermore, a biblical encounter between Jesus and the teachers of the day, illustrated that fact further when they remonstrated about Jesus healing on a Sabbath which is a religious rest day.

Having first asked if it was good to do good on a Sabbath, he went on to say, the Sabbath was made for man and not man for Sabbath.

In Scripture, after God created the earth, He rested on the seventh day, however, that did not become a religious status till the giving of the 10 commandments well over a thousand years after the creation.

In effect, all institutions, traditions, creeds, belief systems and laws are made to serve men and to help man in service to his faith or society. They were patently not made as altars on which to sacrifice men.

The nephew’s final line was – you cannot sacrifice my sister on the altar and institution of marriage. No marriage should exact the cost of life in the pursuit of adherence to tradition.

Iraq in relation to now

So, it is with regret that I read that Ken Bigley, an unfortunate victim of the terror that has engulfed Iraq was murdered by his captors, which is bad enough, but that he was sacrificed on the altar and principle of not negotiating with terrorists is of greater revulsion and cant.

Let us step back a little; it can be argued that the world with Saddam Hussein in power is a safer place. I would not dispute that, but once Iraq was ridden of Saddam, it became the cauldron of the worst terrorist onslaughts by and type of insurgent in generations.

More people have lost their lives in Iraq than the sum of all terrorist attacks that have been inflicted on this world since September the eleventh 1991.

There is no rosy situation in Iraq, strive as they may to hold elections in January, the impunity with which the so-called American precision bombing seeks out children, marriage ceremonies and civilians beggars belief; it is too incredible to express in words.

The terrorist in relation to why

Let it be heard with no dissimulation, nobody, I mean nobody becomes a terrorist as a career move. There is a grievance, a wrong, a hurt, a cause, an injustice, a loss, a disappointment, desperation, oppression; really a situation or circumstance that creates the urge to wreak terror.

A terrorist that does not have the weaponry, manpower and expertise that could be brought to bear by a superpower would find other ingenious means to inflict damage on their oppressors and their collaborators and friends.

I do not support an concept of terrorism, but the causes run deeper than the perpetrators that front those causes and until the root of the cause of terror is dealt with, terrorists would abound.

The main sources of terror can be broadly outlaid in the following areas

• The continued deprivation of Palestinians in favour of the Israelis, until the Palestinians have a home, there would be no peace in the Middle East.
• The continued lack of determination for the peoples of Chechnya, as long as Russia continues to put stooges in Grozny rather than let the people choose their leaders, the horrors of Beslan would be the first of many to colour the 21^st century.
• Saudi Arabia has both the problem of a ruling family that is seem to be unresponsive to the yearnings of their people and whilst the atmosphere of the country adopts the stricter Wahhabist Islamic creed, the rulers are considered less devout and unrepresentative of that creed.
• This is why Americans, regarded as infidels by the devout were allowed to set up bases, soon to be completed decommissioned in Saudi Arabia which is the holy Islamic land. This situation gave birth to Al Qaeda. The goal of Al Qaeda is to continue to terrorise till Saudi Arabia is rid of every single infidel.
• Pockets of terror created by people seeking revenge for losing mentors, loved ones, leaders and communities.

It is not without cause that many of the wars the Israelites found in the Scriptures had the express command to annihilate every living thing, because a remnant would adopt an only purpose of seeking revenge at any cost – terrorism is the goal of getting back and getting even at any cost.

War in relation to cowardly escapists

Finally, this whole issue of war-mongering bothers me much, it appears a leader does not consider their tenure distinguished till having exercised the opportunity of sending their younger generation to their deaths in a cause that could probably have been negotiated but aborted.

I feel, nobody should call others to arms till they themselves have borne arms and faced the wrath of enemy combat. The convenience of arms-length command allows irresponsible leaders to take flagrant risks at war with the consequences put completely out of sight.

George W. Bush has not once attended a funeral of any one of the many that have died in combat in Iraq.

Civilisation in relation to process

If civilisation masquerading as democracy and free trade can only be promoted through the use of force and arms, we are the poorer for it in this age and no better than the Vandals and Barbarians we at times hold in derision.