ERI meets in Rome and Geneva
I am off to Rome for meetings with the
Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers CLTs. This is a very
important meeting. A host of actions are coming together. At this
meeting the ERI project will be formally established and given
life. It will move from the drawing board to the arena of
action.
A group of Brothers, both Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers, are then moving on to meetings with Franciscans International in Geneva. It is hoped that at the conclusion of this series of meetings that the formal draft Memorandum of Agreement will be signed by all the parties. So, by the end of this week, two actions will have joined hands, as it were, the establishment of ERI and the establishment of a new partnership with Franciscans International.
May we all work for God's dream for humanity, for which Francis, Clare and Edmund worked so passionately.
I will post updates to an external blog while I am away.
A group of Brothers, both Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers, are then moving on to meetings with Franciscans International in Geneva. It is hoped that at the conclusion of this series of meetings that the formal draft Memorandum of Agreement will be signed by all the parties. So, by the end of this week, two actions will have joined hands, as it were, the establishment of ERI and the establishment of a new partnership with Franciscans International.
May we all work for God's dream for humanity, for which Francis, Clare and Edmund worked so passionately.
I will post updates to an external blog while I am away.
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Religion and Social Justice: Neal
Lawson
10/01/07 11:09 |Reflections|Permalink
Writing recently in The
Guardian (January 3rd), British politician and columnist,
Neal Lawson, suggests that religious people may be the only members
of civil society who can speak out credibly on social justice
issues.
He believes that politicians have largely surrendered their moral authority in their readiness to compromise principles and values in their fascination with media and focus groups. We live, Lawson, argues, in a society permeated and corrupted by a smug consumerist complacency. Only religious figures appear to be willing in these times to puncture this complacency. He cites the recent Christmas messages of both Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, in support of this claim. In their messages both church leaders challenged believers to reject consumerist values and to align themselves with the struggle for social justice and the assertion of humanity in a world where human life has been trivialised by markets, media and the cult of celebrity.
He goes on to say: "As the lifeblood of morality drips from our body politic, it leaves a small pumping heart of socially and morally aware religious leaders and institutions. I don't care if they are Muslim, Catholic or Church of England - if they preach the cause of the poor and the needy in our bloated materialistic world, then they are my people".
As we move to the establishment of Edmund Rice International as a new expression of the Edmund Rice voice in the struggle for justice, human rights and the assertion of the dignity of marginalised, it is consoling to receive, albeit in proxy fashion, this affirmation from Britain's more radical Left. Lawson acknowledges that, as an atheist and a passionate combatant for a secular society, it is difficult for him to recognise that an aggressive secularism has done more harm than good. He now believes that the moral vacuum at the heart of contemporary society must seek a remedy among religious believers who understand both the power of their moral traditions and the need to gather with others in the struggle for justice.
Neal Lawson chairs the left-of-centre pressure group Compass. He is currently writing a book about turbo-consumerism.
He believes that politicians have largely surrendered their moral authority in their readiness to compromise principles and values in their fascination with media and focus groups. We live, Lawson, argues, in a society permeated and corrupted by a smug consumerist complacency. Only religious figures appear to be willing in these times to puncture this complacency. He cites the recent Christmas messages of both Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, in support of this claim. In their messages both church leaders challenged believers to reject consumerist values and to align themselves with the struggle for social justice and the assertion of humanity in a world where human life has been trivialised by markets, media and the cult of celebrity.
He goes on to say: "As the lifeblood of morality drips from our body politic, it leaves a small pumping heart of socially and morally aware religious leaders and institutions. I don't care if they are Muslim, Catholic or Church of England - if they preach the cause of the poor and the needy in our bloated materialistic world, then they are my people".
As we move to the establishment of Edmund Rice International as a new expression of the Edmund Rice voice in the struggle for justice, human rights and the assertion of the dignity of marginalised, it is consoling to receive, albeit in proxy fashion, this affirmation from Britain's more radical Left. Lawson acknowledges that, as an atheist and a passionate combatant for a secular society, it is difficult for him to recognise that an aggressive secularism has done more harm than good. He now believes that the moral vacuum at the heart of contemporary society must seek a remedy among religious believers who understand both the power of their moral traditions and the need to gather with others in the struggle for justice.
Neal Lawson chairs the left-of-centre pressure group Compass. He is currently writing a book about turbo-consumerism.
Internet Explorer 7
I regret that the website is currently
not working well with Internet Explorer version 7. I don't use a
Windows machine personally and don't have access to IE7. I hope to
remedy this shortly. However, I have followed the discussion on the
web in relation to IE7 and the ways in which bizarre display
outcomes occur. The problem is particularly acute for any website
that is designed in Rapidweaver which is the case for the ERI
website. The particular theme in use is notoriously vulnerable
under IE7. The Rapidweaver people have published a notice saying
that they are trying to resolve the issue. As soon as a fix becomes
available I will implement it. For the moment I would strongly
advise people to access the ERI website either in IE6 or Firefox.
For the inconvenience currently being caused I am very sorry. Such
is the way of progress in the IT world!
New South African School for
Girls
You may have seen the piece from The
Christian Science Monitor about Oprah Winfrey's new school in
Johannesburg on the home page. Oprah Winfrey hosts a very popular
TV show in the United States. She is a highly successful,
intelligent and thoughtful person. So, it is not surprising that
she should become interested in education, particularly in
education for girls in the developing world.
Following the path already charted by Bill and Miranda Gates, Madonna and Mark Shuttleworth, some of the world's extremely wealthy people have begun to display a philanthropic interest in the provision of education for Africa. Unlike the international aid community, however, these new mega-philanthropists tend to be unwilling to work with national governments. They bypass local systems and the pitfalls of corrupt officialdom through the sheer power of their investment and global prestige. Is this a good or bad development? Many were appalled at Madonna's actions in Malawi. Some are critical of Oprah Winfrey's involvement. Many applaud Bill Gates and Mark Shuttleworth. The jury is still out.
There is good news here, I believe. The spotlight is on Africa and on education. For Edmund Rice people who have been labouring for years in education in Africa with little or no recognition, there may be some seeds of hope here. Education in Africa requires resources. Perhaps there is a new generation of philanthropists beginning to emerge in the West who may be willing to invest in Edmund Rice Education in Africa. If this were to happen, not only would Edmund be pleased, he would also understand.
Following the path already charted by Bill and Miranda Gates, Madonna and Mark Shuttleworth, some of the world's extremely wealthy people have begun to display a philanthropic interest in the provision of education for Africa. Unlike the international aid community, however, these new mega-philanthropists tend to be unwilling to work with national governments. They bypass local systems and the pitfalls of corrupt officialdom through the sheer power of their investment and global prestige. Is this a good or bad development? Many were appalled at Madonna's actions in Malawi. Some are critical of Oprah Winfrey's involvement. Many applaud Bill Gates and Mark Shuttleworth. The jury is still out.
There is good news here, I believe. The spotlight is on Africa and on education. For Edmund Rice people who have been labouring for years in education in Africa with little or no recognition, there may be some seeds of hope here. Education in Africa requires resources. Perhaps there is a new generation of philanthropists beginning to emerge in the West who may be willing to invest in Edmund Rice Education in Africa. If this were to happen, not only would Edmund be pleased, he would also understand.