Month: January 2008

Kenyan aid dilemma

Post author By john
Post date 31 January, 2008

What leverage does a large donor have to ensure that recipient countries observe the principles of good governance? Not much, according to a recent BBC News article. Kenya’s donors have been threatening to cut aid to the country unless there is a satisfactory outcome to the post-election crisis, but is this really going to happen, and if it does will it make any difference to the Kenyan government?

The US is the biggest donor, giving around $650 million per year, plus another $350 million through private funding, but all of it is targeted spending. In other words, it goes directly to recipient projects, and does not go through the Kenyan government. Stopping the funds would result in closing down education and healthcare projects, affecting only the poor and disadvantaged. The UK had also pledged substantial funds this year in targeted spending.

The Kenyan government will not be able to fund its election promises of free education without donor money, but in the present circumstances keeping election promises is probably not high on the government’s agenda. Further, aid donors tend to measure success by amount of funds expended, rather than by objective analysis of long term effectiveness, so there is little incentive to cut aid in an attempt to force good governance.

Future

Becoming less religious

Post author By john
Post date 30 January, 2008

Recent research has revealed that 31% of Australian teenagers aged 13 to 17 have no religious beliefs. The research also revealed that those with no religious beliefs were less likely to be involved in their communities, be concerned about their society, and donate money than those who held serious spiritual and religious beliefs.

The research involved a national survey of 1219 people between the ages of 13 and 24, of whom more than 670 were aged 13 to 17. 17% of those aged 13 to 17 who were surveyed were classified as active Christians, 13% marginally active Christians, 17% nominally active Christians, 15% New Age believers, 7% other beliefs and 31% no religious beliefs.

The survey figures are not directly comparable with results from the past, but they suggest that if churches in Australia continue doing what they are currently doing, the number of participants is just going to keep heading downwards. If church decline is to be reversed, churches need to find new ways of communicating the gospel in a manner which connects with younger generations.

Present

Kenya: No improvement in sight

Post author By john
Post date 29 January, 2008

“We saw gross and systematic abuse of human rights, of fellow citizens… We cannot accept that periodically, every five years or so, this sort of incident takes place and no-one is held to account .” That’s how former UN secretary general Kofi Annan summed up the violence he saw over the past few days in Kenya. Mr Annan succeeded in arranging the first face-to-face meeting between rival presidential candidates Kibaki and Odinga since the disputed elections four weeks ago, but immediately after the meeting Kibaki reignited tensions by reading a speech which differed from the one agreed in the meeting.

Kibaki’s side views the mediation process as merely a tactic to buy time before they can return to business as usual. Odinga’s side will not be content unless Kibaki is removed from the presidency. Various peace proposals involve some sort of power-sharing arrangement. Hardly anyone seems to be suggesting a legal solution: The declaration of Mr Kibaki as winner of the election did not comply with the law because the Electoral Commission had not followed due process in tallying the votes, so the correct legal approach is for the Commission to finish its job properly and then declare the winner. However, there is very little confidence in the impartiality of the Electoral Commission or the judiciary, so a legal approach seems no more likely to provide an acceptable resolution than any other approach.

In the meantime, violence breeds violence, and each act of atrocity makes ultimate peace so much harder to achieve. Whilst lawlessness continues, the perpetrators have the opportunity to go unpunished; once the rule of law is re-established, they may face retribution. So it is in the interests of those who commit violence for the insecurity to continue.

Past

The Diet of Worms

Post author By john
Post date 28 January, 2008

One of the most famous church meetings of all time was known as the Diet of Worms. Although the name suggests a rather unpalatable meal, it actually refers to a general assembly (“diet”) of the estates of Emperor Charles V which took place in a city in south western Germany called Worms. The Diet of Worms started on this day 487 years ago – 28 January 1521 – and continued for almost four months until 1521.

Martin Luther was summoned by the Emperor to appear at the Diet to see whether he would recant his writings which were critical of the Church. In the face of much emotional pressure and threats to his personal safety, Luther is reported to have said, “Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason — I do not accept the authority of popes and councils… Here I stand. I can do nothing else. God help me. Amen.”

The fallout from the Diet of Worms lasted for years, tore countries apart, set nation against nation, felled kings and plunged dynasties into suicidal bouts of infighting. Almost 500 years later the church is still divided into its two primary branches – Roman Catholic and Protestant, and theologians still disagree on the fundamental principles of the Christian faith.

Faith

Incredibly self-indulgent

Post author By john
Post date 26 January, 2008

“American Christians tend to be incredibly self-indulgent so they see the church as a place there for them to meet their needs and to express faith in a way that is meaningful for them… There is almost no genuine compassion or urgency about serving and reaching people who don’t know Christ.” That’s the reason Erwin McManus gave for the decline of churches in America.

What is so “self-indulgent” about finding a church which meets your needs and allows you to express your faith in a way which is meaningful to you? And if the church isn’t about people expressing faith in a way which is meaningful to them, what is it about? Well, we seem to have been fooled by centuries of tradition into thinking that the church exists for the benefit of its members; in reality it’s there to help us serve others, which is something that can be done more effectively as a team than as individuals. It’s not about expressing your faith in a way that is meaningful to you, it’s about expressing your faith in a way that serves others.

Erwin McManus has a final word about church decline: “I think the bottom line really is our own spiritual narcissism. There are methods and you can talk about style, structure and music, but in the end it really comes down to your heart and what you care about.”

Books

A child soldier’s story

Post author By john
Post date 25 January, 2008

“I raised my gun and pulled the trigger, and I killed a man. Suddenly, as if someone was shooting them inside my brain, all the massacres I had seen since the day I was touched by war began flashing in my head. Every time I stopped shooting to change magazines and saw my two young lifeless friends, I angrily pointed my gun into the swamp and killed more people.” That’s how Ishmael Beah describes his first engagement as a child solder in his autobiography A Long Way Gone: The True Story of a Child Soldier.

The book tells the story of a 12-year-old boy separated from his family when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels invaded his home town in Sierra Leone without warning. Most people were murdered, some were raped or brutalised and pressed into the service of the RUF. A few managed to escape, and the author was one of them. For several months he wandered from town to town with other displaced boys, frequently surviving close scrapes with the rebels or other people who distrusted anyone, until he was recruited into the “army”, before eventually being rescued and rehabilitated.

It’s not a pleasant story, but it is very engaging and well-written. It shows how a sensitive intelligent child can be drafted against his will into committing brutal acts of violence. It helps to explain what wars are like, particularly in Africa, and how violence begets violence. It helps us to understand people who have been victims of war, and most of all it encourages us to do everything possible to prevent war.

Poverty

Revaluing relative wealth

Post author By john
Post date 24 January, 2008

Good news and bad news: the good news is that we (Australians) are richer than we thought; the bad news is that global poverty is worse than we thought, as is the gap between rich (us) and poor (them). Last month, the International Comparison Program released its preliminary results of a global co-operative effort to collect comparative price data and estimate purchasing power parities for 146 economies.

It is not simple to compare the wealth of different people in different countries. The simplest way is to use the foreign exchange rates. For example, one Australian dollar is worth 34 Indian Rupees, so you could say that an Australian with an income of $1,000 is just as wealthy as an Indian with an income of 34,000 Rupees. However, the prices of items in different countries are different, so the Indian with 34,000 Rupees may be able to buy twice as much as the Austtralian with $1,000, making him twice as rich in reality. The only way to know for sure is to make a detailed comparison of the prices of different items in the different countries. The value of money in each country can then be compared in terms of currency units which have the same purchasing power as one US dollar has in the US.

The International Comparison Program has resulted in a 4% increase in the estimated GDP per head of Australians, but at the same time it has resulted in a decrease in the estimated GDP per head of people in most developing countries. GDP per person in Australia is estimated at PPP$32,798, while GDP per person in Zimbabwe is PPP$538, and in Democratic Republic of Congo PPP$264.

Future

The future of racism

Post author By john
Post date 23 January, 2008

Following on from Monday’s reflections on Martin Luther King Day and yesterday’s post on continuing inter-ethnic fighting in Kenya, it seems appropriate to ask what part racism will play in the future. Will the world be a more tolerant place, or will racism become more prominent and intractable? As the Internet is making us more global, are we becoming more welcoming of diversity or are we fracturing into prejudiced enclaves?

At the surface level, progress has been made in eliminating racism. Racial segregation is no longer looked on with favour in most countries. However, at a deeper level the separation still occurs. Churches in America and Australia still tend to be predominantly mono-ethnic. Even in my own church which is deliberately multicultural by virtue of holding services in different languages, there is still not enough effort made by most people to cross cultural boundaries and make inter-ethnic friendships. It’s easier to stick with people who look and act like me.

So what does the future hold? That depends on what people make of it. If heaven is going to be filled with people “from every nation, tribe, people, and language”, then perhaps we need to start practising now getting used to enjoying spending eternity with such diverse people. As Paul said, “There cannot be Jew or Greek, slave or free person, male or female, because you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Present

Kenya struggle continues

Post author By john
Post date 22 January, 2008

It is now three weeks since the announcement of election results in Kenya, and the post-election violence and fighting continues. It seems that the incentives for the principal protagonists to reach a peaceful resolution are outweighed by the incentives to continue fighting, and so the country suffers, particularly the people who are most vulnerable.

The Daily Nation reports that the government has appointed a committee to lead peace negotiations, and the opposition has indicated that it will not co-operate with such “negotiations”. The opposition has repeatedly stated that it will only engage in negotiations in the presence of a respected international mediator, while the government has refused to engage in negotiations under such conditions. So, three weeks have gone by, without negotiations.

In the meantime, more people have been killed in ethnic violence over the weekend, adding to the number of unarmed protesters shot dead by police last week. Five people were murdered with arrows during a raid by armed youths in Kipkelion District on Saturday night, and various others were killed with machetes and other weapons in other parts of the country.

Past

Martin Luther King Day

The third Monday in January is observed in the United States as Martin Luther King Day. The holiday was observed for the first time on 20^th January 1986, some 18 years after King was assassinated. President Ronald Reagan was firmly against the holiday, but Congress passed the King Day Bill with an overwhelming veto-proof majority.

It often seems to take a country a lot longer than the rest of the world to recognise one of its own heroes. Numerous Nobel Peace Prize winners have been regarded by their own governments as little more than rabble-rousers. Al Gore, the 2007 winner, is regarded with disfavour by conservative Americans, as is Jimmy Carter, the 2002 winner. Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 winner who struggles for the rights of women and children in Iran, is regarded as a nuisance by her government. Other examples include Aung San Suu Kyi, Desmond Tutu and Lech Walesa. Outside of their own countries, these people have been regarded as great statesmen and women. As Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honour, except in his own country, and in his own house.”

Remarkably, Martin Luther King was only 35 when he received his Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, the youngest person ever to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organisation formed to provide leadership for the civil rights movement.