exile: take the power back? a christian british airways (ba) employee has lost her appeal against a...
TRANSCRIPT
Exile: take the power back?
A Christian British Airways (BA) employee has lost her
appeal against a ruling which allowed the airline to stop her wearing a cross at
work.
...Nadia Eweida says she was placed at a
disadvantage due to her beliefs.
Despair: a coping strategy
Despair, too, presupposes hope. ‘What we do not long for, can be the object neither of our
hope nor of our despair’ (Augustine). The pain of despair
surely lies in the fact that a hope is there, but no way opens up
towards its fulfilment. Thus the kindled hope turns against the one
who hopes and consumes him. ‘Living means burying hopes’, says Fontane in one of his novels, and it
is these ‘dead hopes’ that he portrays in it. Our hopes are
bereft of faith & confidence. Hence despair would seek to
preserve the soul from disappointments. ‘Hope as a rule
makes many a fool.’
Hope: the christian myth
In pre-Christian Europe, History was a series of cycles, with no overall meaning. Against this pagan view, Christians understood history as a story of sin and redemption. Humanism is the transformation of this Christian doctrine of salvation into a project of
universal human emancipation. The teaching of Jesus was that the old world was about to come to an end
and a new kingdom established. There would be unlimited abundance in the fruits of the earth. Those
who dwell in the new kingdom – including the righteous dead, who will be raised back to life – would
be rid of physical and mental ills. Living in a new world that is without corruption, they will be
immortal. Jesus was sent to announce this new kingdom and rule over it. There is much that is
original and striking in Jesus’ ethical teaching. He not only defended the weak and powerless as other
Jewish prophets had done, but he also opened his arms to the outcasts of the world. Yet the belief that
a new kingdom was at hand was the heart of his message and was accepted as such by his disciples.
The new kingdom did not arrive, and Jesus was arrested and executed by the Romans.
sociological power seeking justification
#suspicion?
psychological weakness seeking
consolation
moral weakness seeking revenge
Faith: no reasons, just causes
Resurrection: take it or leave it?Take it away, and Karl Marx was
probably right to accuse Christianity of ignoring the
problems of the material world. Take it away, and Sigmund
Freud was probably right to say that Christianity is a wish-fulfillment religion. Take it
away, and Friedrich Nietzsche was probably right to say that
Christianity is a religion for wimps. Put it back, and you
have a faith that can take on the postmodern world
Joy: the Christian revolution
Entering the suffering of the world most fully & testifying to the love of God
Faith: fools’ gold?or more precious than gold? We are showing today that we
are willing to invest assets our country has to strengthen the banking system. But the most
precious asset of all is something that if lost can only be restored not by words but by actions...the asset of trust and confidence. Confidence
about the future is needed for confidence todayGordon Brown, 13 Oct 2008
If I say “I have faith in Gordon”, what am I saying? What restores faith? What is the proof of my faith?