The commissars are back

Len McCluskey said rivals to Jeremy Corbyn were unlikely to win union support.
Source; Guardian Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

Perhaps they have forgotten but Marx is dead, Thatcher is dead. 

Severely weakened by Margaret Thatcher, the power of the Trades Unions is not what it used to be but the current difficulties being experienced by the Labour Party, driven by Momentum, have provided the opportunity for some Union bosses to flex their muscles again, Len McCluskey General Secretary of Unite and General Secretary Mark Serwotka of the Public and Commercial Services Union among them, with Corbyn appearing to be under the control of the unions.

The hard Left is campaigning for people to join the Labour Party simply to vote for a Leader who does not have the confidence of  the majority of Labour MPs to lead them. The hard Left's intervention is reminiscent of  Militant Tendency in their attempted take-over of the Labour party in 1985 before Neil Kinnock made his memorable speech at the Party Conference in Bournemouth. 

Many of the new activists appear to be young idealists who did not vote in the EU Referendum then complained afterwards because they did not like the result, mainly because of a perceived restriction on their movement around Europe, the same generation which tries to stop discussion in our universities. Examples here and here.

I have listened to Jeremy Corbyn. He is a prisoner of Party members who delude themselves into thinking that they represent the electorate. Corbyn may be the clear choice for leader of the Labour Party but MPs are elected by a much broader spectrum than party members. He says that the Opposition should be putting "enormous pressure on the Tory government on inequality, injustice and poverty", sounding remarkably like a pale reflection of what Theresa May has on offer in her leadership speeches.

More importantly, Theresa May is focused on Brexit, as is the electorate, not the petty party politics which continue to obsess the Labour Party. Principles without power are not the stuff of government. Corbyn may represent his party but the wider electorate takes a broader view.

There is no confidence in Corbyn among MPs as their leader so he should stand down to restore confidence in Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition in the interests of the country.

Postscript [19.07.2016]

The Trident vote has come and gone with a thumping majority in favour of renewal. Unlike 140 of his party colleagues the Leader of the Opposition decided to do his own thing and vote against the motion in opposition to Labour Party policy. The wishes of the membership can be fluid apparently.

Given Corbyn's pick and mix approach to politics he could be a modern day Anglican but apparently he has no religion. He says "I go to churches, I go to mosques, I go to temples, I go to synagogues. I find religion very interesting. I find the power of faith very interesting." A little more faith in his fellow MPs would not go amiss instead of pressing the Labour destruct button. Said to be a "nice guy", Jeremy could easily be a New Anglican!

Let us not pray

"Atheists are to hold a service in St John the Evangelist Church, Leeds" Photo: Yorkshire Evening Post 

"We’d like to take all of the good bits out of church and leave the religious stuff behind."

No, that is not the voice of the New Anglicanism although many may think so as coffee time replaces faith as the central act of 'worship' in the Church of England. 

St John the Evangelist, the oldest church in Leeds, dates from 1634. The Grade I listed building which is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust after being made redundant in 1977 is to echo again to the sound of music although there will be no prayers. In a move designed to "take all of the good bits out of church and leave the religious stuff behind" the church's dedication to St John the Evangelist now sounds singularly inappropriate - story here - but who knows!

The disposal and further use of redundant Christian churches is bound to cause problems of identity simply by their appearance on the basis that 'an elephant is an elephant'. What appears to be a house of God will be seen by observers as a house of God even after deconsecration, a process most will know little if anything about. Although a deconsecrated church becomes just another building, its very appearance in most cases still makes it an act of witness, albeit historically.

Like it or not there is an odd sense of unrecognised 'Godliness' in what the Sunday Assembly movement is doing in a church building. God is love! What they seek is professed to be 'for good'. That can't be bad. One day the 'non-worshippers' may sit in silent contemplation and look around wondering what inspired people to construct the ancient building they are not worshipping in.

Another church in the news is St Peter's Catholic church in Stoke-on-Trent which has been sold to the local Muslim community after they made the best offer. That is not so good. Christ's kingdom is not about money but it is under constant threat from Islam. Providing Muslims with another safe haven where radicalisation may take place looks like another act of submission (the meaning of Islam) while Muslims continue to oppress non-Muslims around the world with muted self criticism and implied approval here by constantly giving ground to an oppressive religio-political system of Islamic expansionism.

Also in the news, reported here, the Prison Officers Association has expressed their concern about the growing power and influence of Muslim gangs in prisons. Inmates are being bullied into converting to Islam with fears that some of the converts could be radicalised, a process which inevitably leads to the slaughter of innocents, here, contradicting claims that Islam is a religion of peace.

Communities around the world constantly suffer under Islam particularly when they are minorities as demonstrated by the latest outrage in Egypt here where drive-by, masked gunmen sprayed a wedding party outside a Coptic Church in Cairo with bullets from automatic weapons killing four people including two young girls. Check 'Voice of the Copts' here for what life is like for minorities under Islam.

In these circumstances 'Let us not pray' is far more attractive than the prayers of those called to prayer five times a day while carrying out their barbarous acts in the name of religion.

WATCH

  
Readers of this blog, and of comments I have made on various other blogs, will know that I have taken exception to the fraudulent claims of Women and the Church (WATCH) in their campaign for the ordination of women and their refusal to honour the promise of a place in the Anglican church for those who do not accept the legality of their claims. Their campaign is documented here. 

Much of what is written is self-congratulatory and simply records the progress of their campaign but one document stands out above the others because illustrates what they are about. Extracts are copied below together with the source for anyone who wants to read the whole document. Unsurprisingly, faith and tradition are not regarded as important as Feminism which appears in Canon Lucy Winkett's first sentence:

"Never mind Gordon Ramsay, we have in modern society a

new F-word: Feminism.

At current rates of change, it would take 40

years to achieve equality in the judiciary, 60 years to

achieve equality in business and a staggering 200 years

to achieve equal representation of women and men in

parliament. Until women are consecrated bishop, there is

no representation in the leadership of the established

church. Apart from all the theological arguments, this

absence damages our mission and our communication

with the society in which we are embedded.

And in the 21st century, in the West, women have more

freedom and choice than at any time in our history. There

are very few areas of public life that are technically closed

to women; we are airline pilots, politicians, astronauts,

lawyers, mechanics, builders, football club owners. The

only areas of public life still closed to women are those

protected by organised religion.

But the fact is that it is part of the mission of the

church to read the signs of the times, to practise discernment,

to cultivate wisdom. Christian women and Christian

women leaders have something to contribute, not just to

the church’s internal debates on what women are allowed

to do – but to the wider debate in the society we serve.

Women clergy have found a place in British society and

we are learning to be priests in our own way. We are only

just beginning to see the difference we are making and

the possibilities that a whole priesthood offers to the

people of God. In a million pastoral encounters it will

have mattered to someone that the priest they sought

out was female. The receptiveness of women combined

with our authority as priests has made a compelling combination

in parishes throughout the country.

"... so we are transformed...

into people of compassion, people who see

what others overlook, people who can begin to trace the

vague outlines of the prophetic vision of the reign of God

where justice and mercy embrace and a grand table is

set." James Schmitmeyer (Liturgy and Justice ed. Anne Y.

Koestner p 73)

Women can be signs of

change – an affirmation that things do not always have to

be as they are.

I would like to suggest that the presence of women in the

decision making layers of the church could have a significant

effect on the theology and ecclesiology and therefore

the mission of the church in society.

Women who reflect on the gender critique available to

them when looking at the institution may help to move

the church from an overemphasis on Christology towards

a more Trinitarian understanding of God; and this may

help us in our communication with the rest of society.

Feminist theologian and Biblical scholar Rosemary

Radford Ruether encourages us not to indulge in

Christolatry; by that she means an over-emphasis on the

one man Jesus to the exclusion of God the Creator or the

Holy Spirit. Also we must try to avoid an over-emphasis

on the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was male. ... A greater

emphasis on the Trinity produces a differentmodel of church

because it expands as it goes up rather than contracts.

... Christianity in the West has been very effective in

confining and controlling women’s energy and sexuality.

Notable and famous exceptions stand out from the

crowd, but the fact remains that millions of voiceless

women have lived and died being taught by male

Christian leaders that they were responsible for all the sin

in the world. It’s all about Eve. She was the one who was

taken in by the serpent and she tempted her man away

from his higher calling.

The need for our half-changed world to change further is

urgent. Christian women can play our part in imagining

what this changed world might be like. We can tell our

daughters and our sons that things do not have to be as

they are.

For almost all of Christian history, from the suppression of

the gospel of Mary Magdalene, to the 2nd century martyrdom

of Perpetua and her companions – from the

medieval denouncement of mystics as heretics to the

witch hunts of the Middle Ages, from the first women

preachers in the radical sects of the 17th century to the

campaigners for social justice of the 19th, women have

been speaking and praying from a situation of marginalisation

as far as church authority is concerned. This is a

vital concept for us to grasp.

Now women are on the inside, are exercising authority in

state and church, although the power is not yet equally

shared and the pay is certainly not equal. We are in a

new situation; I am not here to make a case for women

to be bishops – that case is obvious...

From the historical perspective of exclusion, women are

able to speak with authority from long centuries of marginalisation,

to bring these perspectives into the decision

making structures of society and church.

In the West, we live in a half changed world. There are

now very few areas of public life not open to women –

except those protected by organised religion."

Extracted from WATCH keynote address here.

Where is the historic faith in their New Anglicanism?