Tuesday 20 December 2016

Violent discontent.

Yet another dreadful attack yesterday in Berlin simply adds once more to the horror of this year.
Terror attacks motivated by religious zealots are something we are getting used to...
There have been too many now to count...they just cause despair.
When I met a man whose reaction to my statement that I was a priest was to say "Sorry I don't like religion."
"Neither do I "
My flip response surprised me but it's true...organised religion can be restrictive and centred around people rather than God.
This year many people have been killed in terror attacks by lone assassins.
This is very scary. The feeling that we are not safe grows with every sad event..
I think this anxiety of not being safe is what has brought the surprise result of various ballots.
The Brexit vote, the election of a non politician in America, are both examples of people voting for change because the actuality is grim and the outlook horrid.
People on strike, people gathering in groups to protest are growing examples of discontent.
The more violent protests that randomly kill innocent people and bring horror to the whole world are the worst example of this discontent.
So once more I turn to prayer whilst realising that the only person to benefit from my prayers is me.
We are becoming selfish I'm afraid...



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

2 comments:

Ray Barnes said...

I don't think we are necessarily selfish Jean, more that we feel helpless.
If our elected lords and masters can do nothing constructive to bring this mayhem to an end, how much less are we able to influence events.
I'm sure there will ultimately be a solution. Not at all sure how we will like it.
As you so rightly say, prayer is about all we can do.

UKViewer said...

Violence has featured in our lives for the past 50 years, just as one comes to an end, another cycle starts.

Unless we can overcome the divisive self interest of those nations that are hogging the worlds resources, how will we ever remove the discontent felt by so many.

They resort to violence for many reasons, sometimes it appears to be the last resort

The current swing towards right wing extremism is another reaction of the discontented against a perception that the liberal society is no more equal than a dictatorship.

We allow too many people to be pushed to the edge, and our own government is a prime mover in this. We deliberately complete victims by our selfish policies to advantage the rich, over the poorest and most vulnerable. In fact, we put punitive legislation in place to ensure this. No wonder there is discontent around.

I hope that pray that people will become disillusioned with the violence (much as they did in Northern Ireland after 35 years of it) and will resort to the peace and reconciliation that God offers us, and wants for us.

But I don't anticipate the path towards this to be easy. All people of good will, of whatever faith and religious persuasion need to unite to pray and work to bring the Kingdom of God near, day by day, into all peoples lives.