Over the past week the blogosphere has been surprisingly quiet about the bloodshed following the Kenyan elections. Perhaps that’s understandable – there’s so much crap flying around already that the horror that’s become life in Kenya is probably more than most of us can deal with.
Fortunately +Tutu hasn’t stayed silent. He’s travelling to Kenya to mediate an end to the slaughter. God Bless him – if anyone can bring Christ to the mess that’s exploding there it surely must be him.
What’s got me annoyed though, is that +Akinola and his crew have never been reticent to criticize what they perceive as “immoral” behaviour among us folks of the decadent west. Well call me an old-fashioned liberal universalist (or any other name that feels satisfying to sling around), but, but burning people to death inside a locked church is in my book about as immoral and decadent as behaviour gets. And it’s fairly certain that the current violence is a much bigger concern to the suffering Kenyans than questions of ordination and sexuality. So where is the Coneheads' wrath and disgust now?
Jesus was pretty clear about dealing with the log in one’s own eye before debating the speck in somebody else’s. Might it then in this case be more appropriate for +Akinola to address the machete in his neighbour’s eye before condemning the loving relationship in my neighbour’s bedroom?
Monday, 7 January 2008
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6 comments:
".... where is the Coneheads' wrath and disgust now?" Same place it was last month when the Observer ran the appalling piece on children being burned and hacked to death in Nigeria at the bidding of fundamentalist preachers because they are "witches". Haven't heard a great deal from Akinola and the Rev'd Canon Dr. Sugden, Esq're., about this bit of home turf trouble, have we?
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2224553,00.html
No, and no again, on both accounts. I have literally had nightmares about the children "witches." I could not even imagine parents who could be persuaded to do such things in the "name of God" to their own children. I also cannot imagine such silence on the part of the Anglican Church in Nigeria.
Boocat, if you hear of any group that is working seriously to help these children in Nigeria, can you let us know? The Observer report appalled me, and that's without the photographs, which I have not risked looking at. I would dearly like to do something practical for these kids. Thanks, Roger
Being less articulate than others I can only say in response to your question regarding logs, specks, and machetes, "yes!"
The Church Times reports "the Archbishop of Kenya, the Most Revd Benjamin Nzimbi, has appealled to church leaders to “preach peace, unity, and co-existence”". Pity he can only apply this principle in his own back yard.
The only place that I have found thus far for donations toward aid to the child "witches" of Nigeria is Stepping Stones Nigeria (steppingstonesnigeria.org). It would appear to be legitimate. It is mentioned on the Guardian web site with the photographs of the children that went with the article and video they ran. The information was along side the Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network (the organization that has taken the children in to house, clothe, feed and give them medical attention)as being the place to make donations.
Additionally, the following was up on Stepping Stone's web site: Stepping Stones Nigeria is a UK Registered Charity no.1112476 and a Company limited by Guarantee, registered in England and Wales, no.05413970.
Since I am naturally suspicious of any money sent to Nigeria, I tried to find something about this situation and a way to donate through the ERD site, but nothing would come up. A big flaw in the ERD site is there seems to be no way to email them directly with a specific question.
Since there seem to be ways to check this organization out, I am probably going to go ahead with this through Stepping Stones. These children need help.
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