This week I have had some big conversations, this is not
that surprising as I tend to initiate deep conversations with most people I
meet. But this week has been quite full on in that way, homosexuality in the
Bible, faith and politics, the death penalty and the faults of capitalism to
give you an idea…
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| Teaching Chelsea about who is running our country! Featured political quizzes and wine - good combination... |
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| Lunch with people from Heathfield Baptist Church, discussing faith and politics and marriage in the Bible. |
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I have been doing workshops on children’s human rights this week.
It feels slightly odd to be talking about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with people who have never heard of them or have any idea what World War Two is…. a topic I am so familiar with in a place that causes me to regularly re-evaluate my assumptions – takes some thinking about.
I explained that no one has to do anything in order to get human rights, you don’t have to belong to a certain religion, be rich or be a law abiding citizen in order to be treated with dignity and respect.
Later in the workshop I talked about human rights abuses and used two examples from last years ‘Write for Rights Campaign’ by Amnesty International, these blew their minds. They couldn’t believe that someone could be tortured and imprisoned because of a text between friends or accused of trying to overthrow the government due to a photo of political graffiti on Facebook. We then talked about how they would feel in this situation... (I did a similar activity with the group of young people at Alderbrook Sixth Form, encouraging them to empathise – there couldn’t have been more different results!)
The teenage boys honestly believed that killing people out of revenge was an obvious decision and by no means morally questionable.
Their mind set was so defensive, if you attack me then I’m not going to blink before getting my own back.
They wanted to kill the teacher who had reported the joke between friends, they wanted to kill the police officers who arrested them and they wanted to kill the witnesses that had got them into prison in the first place.
Suggesting that all those people are human beings with the right to life was an alien concept, clearly their human rights were more important than those who were offending them. These boys didn’t talk to shock or get a reaction out of us, they were simply answering the questions bluntly, it was obvious to them what action they would take.
That evening I turned to my notebook, and wrote a page of questions:
It feels slightly odd to be talking about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with people who have never heard of them or have any idea what World War Two is…. a topic I am so familiar with in a place that causes me to regularly re-evaluate my assumptions – takes some thinking about.
I explained that no one has to do anything in order to get human rights, you don’t have to belong to a certain religion, be rich or be a law abiding citizen in order to be treated with dignity and respect.
Later in the workshop I talked about human rights abuses and used two examples from last years ‘Write for Rights Campaign’ by Amnesty International, these blew their minds. They couldn’t believe that someone could be tortured and imprisoned because of a text between friends or accused of trying to overthrow the government due to a photo of political graffiti on Facebook. We then talked about how they would feel in this situation... (I did a similar activity with the group of young people at Alderbrook Sixth Form, encouraging them to empathise – there couldn’t have been more different results!)
The teenage boys honestly believed that killing people out of revenge was an obvious decision and by no means morally questionable.
Their mind set was so defensive, if you attack me then I’m not going to blink before getting my own back.
They wanted to kill the teacher who had reported the joke between friends, they wanted to kill the police officers who arrested them and they wanted to kill the witnesses that had got them into prison in the first place.
Suggesting that all those people are human beings with the right to life was an alien concept, clearly their human rights were more important than those who were offending them. These boys didn’t talk to shock or get a reaction out of us, they were simply answering the questions bluntly, it was obvious to them what action they would take.
That evening I turned to my notebook, and wrote a page of questions:
-
What makes me different to these boys?
-
Why do I have higher aspirations for my life?
-
Where does my hope come from?
-
When God looks at them what is he thinking?
-
Why should you treat people better then they
treat you?
And so the list went on and on.
I then mind mapped some of the things that have helped me get here:
I then mind mapped some of the things that have helped me get here:
- Consistent education with family and friends
encouraging me to try my best.
-
People holding hope for me when I couldn’t
believe in a better tomorrow.
-
People listening to me when I expressed an
opinion.
-
People trusting me to make independent decisions
and plans.
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| One of the five notebooks I bought with me, this is where I splurged all my questions. |
I then prayed for all the people who I am working with and
asked for wisdom on how I can offer an alternative view point without coming
across as ridiculously idealistic and naive.
This also got me reflecting on people who have held hope for me, I was reminded again just how powerful this is. I am in awe that so many close friends and youth workers (Sarah Sharpe!) continued to pray for me, continued to listen to my expressions of utter hopelessness and anger whilst firmly believing that there would be a day when I could step back and hear their words as statements of truth. I am so grateful for their persistence and patience for I know that I didn’t make it easy for them being stubborn and a little opinionated.
This also got me reflecting on people who have held hope for me, I was reminded again just how powerful this is. I am in awe that so many close friends and youth workers (Sarah Sharpe!) continued to pray for me, continued to listen to my expressions of utter hopelessness and anger whilst firmly believing that there would be a day when I could step back and hear their words as statements of truth. I am so grateful for their persistence and patience for I know that I didn’t make it easy for them being stubborn and a little opinionated.
I heard a comment recently that ‘As Christians we should be the most
positive people on earth because we know what is to come’ I struggled with this
a lot.
I care so deeply about the injustice and suffering that overwhelms the world – how can I possibly care about this and be positive at the same time?
I have to ground myself and trust that God has the last word and he is loving and just ALWAYS and therefore justice will come eventually if not in my life time.
Ahh why is my reaction even as I am typing this!
I care so deeply about the injustice and suffering that overwhelms the world – how can I possibly care about this and be positive at the same time?
I have to ground myself and trust that God has the last word and he is loving and just ALWAYS and therefore justice will come eventually if not in my life time.
Ahh why is my reaction even as I am typing this!
There is a clip I always go to when I think of hopelessness,
it has got me through some difficult days, it was one of my important things I
quoted at my baptism and it came to mind again today.
Prayer requests:
- - To resist the urge to become numb to what I am
experiencing, had some dips in mood over the last couple of days and can get to
the point where I simply don’t want to care about anything.
- - To trust that God is in control and he holds
hope for these young people.
- - To always listen to the young people I am
working with, not getting distracted by running the session exactly to plan but
taking the time to give them my attention fully.
Thank you for making it to the end of my eighth blog post!
Ps. The Christians in Politics PAX clip is now up! I went to London just before I came here to discuss my faith and politics and young people, was brilliant - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIV2xMyR95s
Pps. Here are some skydiving photos I got sent from last week.
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