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A tiny child lying dead on a beach.
Not the first. Not the last. Nothing remarkable.
But for a few days the world felt a shade more hospitable.
Those who’d ignored, or had not paid attention, felt their hearts go out to one lost Kurdish Syrian.
Shared on social media, pictures for ‘likes’.
Some folk were genuine.  Some just virtue signalling.
Some back with action; give money, give time. “This made me see. Damn!”
Others went back to photos of latte on Instagram.
Those who had spoken in fearful hysteria of “swarms,” “infestations,” “invasions,” stopped to shed their crocodile tears, before going back to their usual headlines, and their policies for fear.
For a hostile environment, there’s paperwork to be done.
How “I was deeply moved” in politics becomes “Let’s move on”.
Gesture politics: let’s do the bare minimum. It shouldn’t hurt our base and may even help us win again. Bring over a few thousand for just a few years, and hope that everyone stops asking. Cheers!
A brief respite in rhetoric, but not for too long; they are still “other,” and we want them gone.
Pay off other governments, not our obligation. “We’re helping where they come from” means “We’ll do anything to stop them being a part of our nation.”
A dinghy, overcrowded, not fit to float, but there’s money to be made. No time to check the life boat.
Alan Kurdi: dead on a morning of fear. Unknown dead still trapped in Syria.
Unknown dead across the Med. Unknown dead under the wheels of European trains and lorries. Unknown beaten in Calais, Dunkirk. If it’s cold, take their shelter. If it’s hot, take their water.
Unknown dead in Yemen. Bombs ‘Made in Britain’. Used by our allies. Please don’t pay attention!

Isaiah prophesied that swords would be turned into ploughares. But there’s profit to be had, and we’ve Brexit to pay for.
Now three years on, and the world has stopped caring. Aid must serve Trade, and the far-right is rising.
Weak politicians plot how to get ahead. We haven’t learnt how to welcome the stranger. And many more are now dead.

 

 

 

SCIAF (https://www.sciaf.org.uk/ ) support work with displaced people around the world, including the Rohingya in Bangladesh and those displaced by the war in Syria through the Church’s international organisation Caritas. https://www.caritas.org/

 

 

 

 

Sometimes seeking social justice needs shock tactics, and you might say that’s what we used to bring home to our parish of St Theresa’s in Dumfries the on-going difficulties experienced by a community in Ethiopia that we have been supporting for more than three decades. Visiting that community and being able to share our experiences in our own and other parishes means we are now able to share the burden of that support through the wonderful generosity of parishes and friends. 

 

St Teresa’s has had an association with the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady in Ethiopia since 1985 when we offered help to those dying in the drought that hit the country so badly then. At that time the Order ran a nursing home in Langholm, so the connection to the Ethiopian sisters was easy. An Irish Sister, Sr Colette, paid us a visit and the friendship was sealed. We have been supporting them ever since.

 

In turn each parish priest encouraged us in the work, but it wasn’t until Fr Jim Hayes came to us that we made our first visit. A group of 12 parishioners, including three secondary school pupils, made the eye-opener of a journey in 2012.

 

There were those who weren’t too sure about us making the visit. Some were wary of our safety, particularly close family and friends.  But to meet and get to know so many of the Ethiopian people we had been supporting for such a long time completely changed the mind set of our whole parish when we returned with stories of our experiences.

 

Who could fail to be impressed when we told them of the care and consideration we were each shown? More importantly, however, was being able to explain, through our enthusiastic talks and photographs, what was really needed in the community we’ve been supporting.

 

We had always sent funds without really knowing what was actually required by the sisters. They were so polite and meek, that whatever we wanted them to do with our donations they did. Going there and seeing the situation first hand meant we discovered that of course, they knew best where the funds were needed. Now we send funds and let them decide how best to use the cash. They are such hard workers and great organisers, very frugal and can stretch a pound like elastic. They are also great fun and never without a smile for long.

 

When we got back, an education project - TEACh Programme (Teresa Educating A Child) - was born Success has bred success and in this last school year we have sent 113 children to school in Nazret, Buccama and Addis Ababa. Leaning that Addis Ababa means New Flower in Amharic, and St Teresa being the Little Flower, we renamed our mission The Ababa Project.
 
Travelling to Ethiopia may have shocked folk, but now we have groups of supporters who sponsor a child for £20 per month, which pays fees, and provides the uniform, shoes, a daily meal, stationery and hygiene items. The journey was worth it.

Movies for kids are not my territory, but I couldn’t help noticing publicity for Batwoman, following the announcement that actor Ruby Rose is to play the character in the next movie. Posters show a young woman thrusting through the air dressed only in what seems to be spray-on paint and an eye mask that covers most of her neck and face. Only red lips and a pair of nostrils are revealed – even the character’s eyes are a blank.

 

Here is a character we are supposed to celebrate, for a whole raft of reasons, and presumably that we are to encourage our girls to follow.  Batwoman is a wealthy heiress inspired by the superhero Batman to use her wealth and resources to fight crime as a masked vigilante in Gotham City.

 

It would be interesting to hear Boris Johnson’s take on Batwoman. Does that mask threaten his emotional stability? Would he demand that she remove it as she speeds through the Gotham City night to battle with evil forces? Does her uncovered and glistening letterbox red mouth pose a threat or a promise? Would he mistake her for a bank robber instead of a crime buster?

 

Why is it acceptable in our society for a woman to reveal every feature of her body (whether in the costume of a comic character or in the supermarket during a heatwave) but deemed threatening to dress modestly?

 

The insulting language of Boris Johnson and the alarming support of his apologists makes me far more afraid for our society than seeing women wearing the niqab on our streets.

 

In her criticism of Johnson, Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson compared the wearing of the niqab to wearing a Crucifix. I may be very wrong, but my understanding of the veil adopted by some Muslim women is that it is worn for modesty, even for protection, and not as a symbol of religion.

 

I would be willing to bet two free tickets to the premiere of the next Batwoman movie that Boris Johnson has only one agenda when it comes to expressing ‘concern’ about women wearing burqas and niqabs – and Sayeeda Warsi expressed that perfectly in The Guardian in the wake of his extraordinary column in The Telegraph – ‘…what really disgusts me in this whole episode is that Muslim women are simply political fodder’.  In other words, Boris wants a shot at the Tory leadership and he will exploit any ‘populist’ idea to achieve that.

 

I’m privileged to represent Justice and Peace Scotland on the Scottish Bishops’ Conference Committee on Interreligious Dialogue. The work done by that committee brings together people of all faiths in Scotland. Talking, respecting, sharing – that’s how communities integrate and become as one.

 

Last year in Cairo, Pope Francis asked Christian and Muslim religious leaders to join in building ‘a new civilization of peace’ by rejecting ‘every form of violence, vengeance and hatred carried out in the name of religion and in the name of God’. I hope we can close our ears to Boris’s plotting nonsense and follow Pope Francis’ advice.