Blood Diamond: are diamonds the new fur?

This is an unusual movie to reflect on – half action/drama and half documentary. Critics looking at the Hollywood Indiana Jones style action slam the movie for its slow pace and length. Those looking for documentation of the dehumanising illicit diamond trade in post colonial Africa lament the simplification and trivialisation of a complex humanitarian issue. As a fan of both genres, I still found myself gripped by the narrative and the reality to which it was drawing attention. The characters were fully rounded and the setting was enough to draw attention and focus to the challenges of contemporary Africa. The illicit diamond trade has been around for quite some time, aided and abetted by the affluent west. Reportedly, the profile of this movie has provoked some soul-searching amongst Hollywood’s elite and a self-scrutiny of their penchant for diamonds. If this is true, there are two indicators of hope – yes, Hollywood does have a soul – and yes, it’s avatars are well-placed to influence change amongst consumers.

Pirouetting Penguin Packs Powerful Punch


The message of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Ugly Duckling has moved beyond the worthy goal of promoting self-esteem for who you are to serving a more universal ecological awareness campaign. Right now, the swan in the making has transmogrified into an anthropomorphised tap-dancing penguin called Mumbles. Frankly, my expectations were not high as we took in Happy Feet at the multiplex tonight. But I found it a very engaging work with stunning visuals and soundtrack. There is enough drama in the story line to keep families alert. And the use of cinema that is so thoroughly entertaining to pack an environmental wallop deserves some kudos. So go for it if you’re hanging back from giving it a look.

Movie Critique: Babel

Babel is a drama that winds together a collage of several families seemingly far removed from each other but linked by one inevitably tragic incident. The main players are as far removed as Morocco, Tokyo and Mexico. Yet the communication difficulties explored under the direction of Alejandro González Iñárritu have less to do with language differences than with normal failings relating to such human adventures as sibling rivalry, prejudice, teenage sexuality, family conflict, parenting and grieving. I was left pondering whether this was not really the point of the original tale of Babel in Genesis 11. So much human potential is lost because of a failure to really sit and attend to the other, particularly when experiencing stress. There are times in the film when this kind of attention between some of the characters breaks through, suggesting hope and promise of stronger connectedness. The screenplay overall is a strident commentary on our times – globalisation is shrinking our human village – but there are rifts between those nearest and dearest to us that must be addressed if we are to see any sort of reversal of Babel on a larger scale. Maybe those of us who preach the good news of Christ can take note of Babel’s message and contemplate the context in which we both speak and listen.

Government Funding for School Chaplaincy

The Prime Minister recently announced a huge multi million dollar funding package to place chaplains in high schools. As someone who has been involved in funding and supporting chaplains, I think this is a bad idea. Its a job for the church, not government, and I see compromise and bureaucracy edging its way in to what has been a very worthwhile programme.

I am in full agreement with Doug Hynd, Lecturer in Theology, St Marks Institute, Canberra, when he writes:

The sting in the tail of the Prime Minister’s proposal to provide funding for chaplaincies is that an effective veto power over appointment will be held by the Government. This will require bureaucratic vetting and Ministerial decision. The integrity of any faith community lies in its authority to call and approve its leaders and teachers. The government proposal in principle challenges the exercise of this authority. Churches have had to fight long and hard to assert their independence from state power in the west, that is what the separation of church and state is all about. Mr Howard may deny it or downplay the significance of what he is proposing but as announced the program will cross the line between church and state that has been drawn with much pain and at substantial cost by faithful Christians throughout the centuries. Indeed, Churches are still having to fight government attempts to control their life and witness in so many countries across the world. Governments ruling on the suitability of people to act in any role on behalf of a faith community is a thoroughly bad idea, As my mother would say “It will end in tears before bed time.” This sort of control over the suitability of religious figures for public roles has normally been a practice engaged in by governments of more totalitarian tendencies. The churches should refuse to participate in efforts to obtain this funding and boycott the program. If chaplaincy and pastoral care placements in schools are sought by the local community then churches should raise the money themselves and work with the local community to that end. That way the Christian community will retain the integrity of their identity and mission as a community that is not subservient to governments of whatever political persuasion. Action with the community at a local level will avoid the stigma that will be associated with receiving funding under this program, a stigma that will hinder the engagement and witness of the church in substantial sections of the Australian community. It will also build stronger connections with the community and be a more faithful witness to the way of Jesus than accepting government funding under conditions that make the church subservient to the government.

Revisiting Aquachurch

This book (by Leonard Sweet) was probably one of the most influential in getting this aging baby-boomer to begin thinking outside the square when it comes to organising and leading churches through change. It comes to light again as I travel with my congregation through a Church Life Review process. Many of our learnings are reflecting the challenges in this book – the need for fluidity rather than rigidity in our planning and organisation. I find this a particular challenge as churches join other community organisations in responding to the need to tighten internal structures in terms of governance and duty of care. There is a tension between the call to creating spaces for spontaneous response to the movements of the Spirit and the careful administrative oversight to which church leaders are increasingly summoned. Whether it is a creative tension remains a moot point.

Pope Benedict XVI – that speech

Much has been written in the media concerning an excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI’s recent speech at Regensburg which cited a medieval Byzantine emperor’s less than favourable view of the Islamic practice of “conversion by the sword.” I don’t propose to discuss this, but merely to point a very thoughtful treatment by Gil Baillie of the speech and the reaction it has provoked. It is on his blog at http://cornerstone-forum.blogspot.com/ ( now archived under September 15th, 2006).

Gil Baillie is the author of the ground-breaking work, Violence Unveiled, applying the insights of the anthropologist, Renee Girard, to the implications of the applied gospel of Jesus Christ.

Riding the Apocalypse with Bob


According to artist, Robert Brittain, the last book in the Bible is best understood as a visual and visceral experience. The Apocalypse, or the Revelation of John, comprises a vision revealed to the early church pioneer while a prisoner on the Mediterranean island of Patmos around AD90.

Last Sunday at the Church of Christ Wembley Downs, Robert Brittain unveiled a frieze depicting the vision in twenty four scenes. Robert presented the broad sweep of the vision, focusing on key events inspired by the words from the Lord’s Prayer, “on earth as in heaven.” The following question and answer session revealed a high level of interest and engagement on the part of the congregation.

Two lasting impressions were the power of the integrity of the work and the responses elicited by some of the images. Earlier in the week, as the frieze was being laid out to be set up, passers-by offered similar spontaneous reactions. It is a compelling work that invites participation with a body of scripture that is rarely engaged because it is considered overwhelming, threatening and too difficult to understand.

“What is different about this is its lightness – and obvious joyful, hopeful outcome,” said one visitor.

Another starkly notable feature was the prominence of the victim’s suffering negating evil design, first in the depiction of the slain Lamb, and then in all who were blessed through participating in him.

Robert Brittain is available to present his work on enquiry through the Wembley Downs Church of Christ, 9245 2593 or djr@cisp.com.au Posted by Picasa

Coffe Cup Quote

Someone sent this quote found on the side of their coffee mug:

“It’s tragic that extremists co-opt the notion of God, and that hipsters and artists reject spirituality out of hand. I don’t have a fixed idea of God. But I feel that it’s us — the messed-up, the half-crazy, the burning, the questing — that need God, a lot more than the goody-two-shoes do.”Mike Doughty, musician.

Part of me resonates deeply with this!