Defining anti-Semitism

In recent weeks there have been difficult exchanges among blogging Methodists about the meaning of terms such as "discriminatory", "anti-Jewish", "racist", "anti-Semitism", and associated words such as "Holocaust denial", "supersessionism" and "Zionism". 

Several Methodist bloggers have rushed to publish (even a petition) with angry denials that anything said or done within British Methodism could be remotely anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish.

These difficulties have arisen out of a report and resolutions laid before the 2010 Methodist Confernce in June 2010 which purported to outline a road to peace between Israel and Palestine.

Before the report was debated the British Jewish Board of Deputies expressed serious concern about the report, especially those parts of it which claimed to look at the theological issues which included  supersessionism "a theological approach that it acknowledges has led to some of the worst excesses of Christian antisemitism." 

The European  Union Agency for Fundamental Rights predecessor committee  the EUMC devised a draft working defintion of "anti-Semitism" in 2004. This, for the time being, is the nearest we have to a legal definition. It makes interesting reading for Methodists. It is reproduced here in full:

EUMC: Working definition of anti-Semitism  

The purpose of this document is to provide a practical guide for identifying incidents, collecting data, and supporting the implementation and enforcement of legislation dealing with anti-Semitism.


Working definition:

“Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”


In addition, such manifestations could also target the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. Anti-Semitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for “why things go wrong.” It is expressed in speech, writing, visual forms and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits.

Contemporary examples of anti-Semitism in public life, the media, schools, the workplace and in the religious sphere could, taking into account the overall context, include, but are not limited to:

• Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.
• Making mendacious dehumanising, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the powers of Jews as collective – such as, especially, but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government, or other social institutions.
• Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by non-Jews.
• Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (eg gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide at the hands of the National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).
• Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of investing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
• Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.

Examples of the ways in which anti-Semitism manifests itself with regard to the state of Israel taking into account the overall context include:

• Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
• Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
• Using the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.
• Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
• Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the State of Israel.
 

However, criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitic.

Anti-Semitic acts are criminal when they are defined by law (for example, denial of the Holocaust or distribution of anti-Semitic materials in some countries).

Criminal acts are anti-Semitic when the targets of attacks, whether they are people or property – such as buildings, schools, places of worship and cemeteries – are selected because they are or are perceived to be Jewish or linked to Jews.

Anti – Semitic discrimination is the denial of Jews the opportunities or services to others and is illegal in many countries,

This is copied from the official pdf and may contain errors and omissions. The official pdf can be found here.

Apologies for the variation in type. This is due to html errors

A Jewess looks at the Methodist blogsphere

Our little Methodist blogsphere is all very insular. It is interesting to see what others think. Daphne Anson has recently visited and made some observations.

There is however one blog where an interesting discussion has developed. It has now got to 40 comments and you need to skip over the first ten comments and read the trialogue between a Methodist Minister and two non Methodists.

Board of Deputies response to Methodist Conference report

I have now posted the full text of the Board of Deputies response to the Methodist report on Israel and Palestine on my guest pages.
 

A short visit to Henley-on-Thames

My wife and I have just got back from an overnight stay in Henley on Thames.

We stayed at the Hotel du Vin having had a very positive experience of their hotels in Cheltenham and Brighton. The chain specialises in taking over unusual buildings and turning them into beautiful hotels. In Henley they have taken over the Brakspear brewery building and done a superb job. Once again the service, food and room were of an exceptional standard.

Yesterday afternoon we had a walk round town - nice to see somewhere that doesn't have every other shop on the high street broaded up - and then went along the tow path to the weir. It was a real joy to see so many people out on the river.

This morning we followed the regatta course on the Berkshire towpath. It was a lovely warm morning and it was the right thing to do to walk off a fantastic late, lazy  breakfast of smoked salmon and scrambled egg.

For anyone interested in the Thames and the impact of rivers on English history, the River and Rowing Museum   is a really good visit. Allow a couple of hours at least.

Who is Mrs MP?

This is just for readers on facebook. What you are getting is from my blog http://www.methodistpreacher.com/. So when I said yesterday I was going away  for an evening of luxury with Mrs MP I meant that I was going away with my wife Claire. Hope that's clear?

The end of a holiday

I'm now in the last few hours of a welcome autumn break that coincided with half term. Next week its back to the 5.30 am start to earn a crust and the university tuition fees that the Lib Dems were going to abolish. So not so much blogging.

Mrs MP and I are off for a bit of luxury this evening.

On Sunday, as usual, I will be sharing the Good News. The book of Isiaih will provide the text. If anyone in Birmingham or there abouts would like to join us at City Road Methodist Church you will be welcome.

That does include you John C.

Call for Methodists to apologise

The influential Harry's Place carries an interesting article headed
Terry Gallogly’s Dishonesty Further Damages Anti-Israel Methodist Cause

It concludes:

Still, the likes of Stephen Leah and Nichola Jones are considered experts on Israel, whereas the likes of Methodist Preacher and others are shunned as being “unbalanced” by the Methodist hierarchy. 


The question is now whether Methodist leaders will publicly apologise for the current state of affairs and web of lies surrounding those responsible for these anti-Israel measures, or whether they will continue on their colleagues’ quest to take Christianity back to the Dark Ages.

Meanwhile I see that the semi-official Methodist blog Connexions  is applying comment moderation, apparently taking exception to members of the Jewish community who have been arguing their case (another example of discrimination?)

As I said earlier today, we Methodists really do have a problem having dialogue with Jews.

Some visitors to the Methodist blogsphere

Yesterday was quite a day here in the micro Methodist blogsphere especially at the semi-official Connexions.

Richard Hall, the blog's owner is very proud of the number of comments he gets. Richard seems to spend a lot of time responding to them. He somehow thinks this signifies support for his views A typical Connexion discussion normally goes something like this:

Richard posts
12 comments:
Kim: Absolutely brilliant Richard.
Richard: I know Kim. I owe it all to you.
Kim: Oh Richard.
Richard: Oh Kim.
Dave W: Brilliant. Conference will approve
Kim:  Thank you Dave
Richard: I am with you there Kim
Bene D: Stunning analysis Kim. He is only it in for the money.
PamBG: Fantastic Richard. I'm insulted.
Richard: Absolutely Pam
Kim: Descartes came to the same conclusion.
Rachel: Despite being a white male.

For some reason yesterday the script changed for two of Richard's  posts: One accused  British Jews of seeking support from the English Defence League and a second tried to outline the Methodist case for its position on Israel. He went a little over the top.

Several Jewish people joined the conversation. First off was a very clear exposition that Jewish people in Britain had no truck with the EDL. This was anti-Jewish defamation at its worst and that lie was well and truly nailed. Richard should have undertaken a little more research before making that accusation.

Several people commented on his second post. It was interesting to read what Jewish people think of our report and resolution. Several times I have urged Richard and others to meet with Britain's Jewish community. Yesterday, they came to him.

We Methodists now seem curiously afraid of dialogue with Jews. We would not allow a Jew to address our conference, preferring to discriminate in favour of a Christian who denounced the Holocaust as a "Zionist tool". Many of those commenting said that they believed the Methodist Church position was anti Semitic. That saddens me because I don't believe Methodist people are anti-Semitic, though I believe our behaviour to be discriminatory.

Last time I looked there were about 70 comments many putting a very different view to that normally expressed on Connexions. Some from the Methodist side were fairly rude about the denomination's newly appointed  bogeyman but I think I will manage. That aside take a read.

There was one comment that caught my eye:

“”Criticism of the state of Israel is not anti-semitism” (sic)

I am a Jew who has suffered for 2,000 years from Christian anti-semitism. Without the Church (generically) pathing the way for the Nazi Holocaust, Hitler would have been laughed out of his first beer-hall for attacking Jews.. But the Church had prepared Europe for the Holocaust over 2,000 years.

The only difference between the Nazis and the Church was technological - in Spain the Church burned Jews alive. Had the Spanish Inquisition knowledge of 6,000,000 Jews refusing to lose their faith, they also would have created a similar Holocaust. CAn anyone refute that?

Your theological problem now is contention with the problem of the ‘Wandering Jew’, so condemned to eternity for killing Christ. The fact that I sit here in my home in Jerusalem, Israel, typing this post, protected by a Jewish State that has a superb army, intense satellite
communications independance, and according to rumours - nuclear capability - all this is a supreme contradiction to the Christian theory of the ‘Wandering Jew’. Your theology is wonky!

So let’s not play games and deny charges of anti-semitism.

Am Yisrael Chai - the People of Israel Live!


You may comment during the course of the day but I am on half term duty.

Time for action on Wyre Forest and Cannock Chase

I know that the campaigns to protect our woodlands are still a little embryonic but if you live in the Midlands and are on facebook please sign up to What Future for Cannock Chase and support the campaign being led by Wyre Forest Labour Party. I'll post more information as it becomes available.

Any stick to beat the Jews with

I see the anti-Jewish Methodist blogger is getting desperate with a very sad "with friends like this who needs enemies" tarring British Jews with the English Defence League brush. Any stick to beat the Jews.

But the story is a little more complicated as Joseph W comments on that blog.

One of the leading lights of York Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Terry Gollogly endorsed the rigging of a Jewish Chronicle online poll.

The Jewish Chronicle question was "should Rabbis work with the EDL?" This follows the distressing news that the "English" Defence League whom I have mentioned elsewhere were to demonstrate outside the Israeli embassy and joined by an eccentric Rabbi from California.

The anti Israel lobby thought it would be a weeze to get the JC readers to vote "Yes", giving the impression that Britain's Jewish community were in favour of working with this bunch of racists - provoking exactly the sort of response that our non-too-worldly-wise anti-Jewish semi-official blogger in Methodism now proudly parades.

Terry Gallogly, secretary of York Palestine Solidarity Campaign, says: “People might like to vote in this poll if only to embarrass Hoffie [Jonathan Hoffman] and the Zionist Federation."

Now what has the rantings  and dirty tricks of the Secretary of the York Palestine Liberation Front got to do with the Methodist Church?

The Chair of the York Palestine Solidarity Campaign  is none other than Stephen Leah. He is a Methodist. No ordinary Methodist.

Stephen Leah was one of the prime movers behind the biased report on Israel which led to the disgrafeful anti-Israel resolution at the 2010 Methodist Conference.

In the report Leah is described as:
Dr Stephen Leah – Peace campaigner with contacts in UK peace and justice community and in Israel/Palestine

No mention is made of his long term connection with the York Palestine Solidarity or his association with someone who would encourage the rigging of an online poll in order to defame Britain's Jewish community. 

If Stephen Leah reads this he is welcome to set the record straight.

Did he take part in the Jewish Chronicle poll as suggested by Gollogly?

Has he distanced himself  and the Methodist Church which he represents on this issue from this defamatory stunt?

Is he still working with Terry Gollogly?

But to some this won't matter. Last week saw the humiliating failure on an anti-Israel online petiton amongst British Methodists (even though it was signed  by someone else involved in the JC rigging scandal).

Now they are scrapping the barrel.

Back to the Dark Ages

I see that the anti-Jewish semi-official Methodist blog connexions is delighted that some Roman Catholic bishops have jumped on the anti-Israel bandwagon. Having failed to generate a hate campaign against those of us who question the current Methodist stance a return to "mother church" was inevitable.

I don't see similar delighted coverage on connexions of the Catholic church's  recent pronouncements on homosexuality, the ordination of women and the failure to address child abuse!

Should we really be surprised that  sections of the Catholic Church has taken this position?

For 2,000 years various Christians have been saying that Christ "nullified" the claims of Jews to have a special place in G-d's kingdom. Sections of the Catholic church, together with some enthusiastic assistance from us Protestants, have sought to diminish the Jewish people. Too often it has ended in hatred and violence, some of it very close to home for us Methodists, a story incidentally that connexions refused point blank to carry - very interesting, given that connexions has carried comments ridiculing the Holocaust.

There is a first class response to the Catholic bishops here. It reminds us that Jews have an historic claim to live in the Holy Land.

In the present climate Europeans are running scared of the wave of militant Islam which now threatens our security. Not for the first time some Christians point to the most convenient scapegoat. We truly are returning to the Dark Ages. 

Restoring the good name of British Methodists

Regular bloggers will be interested to see that a Methodist Preacher post has been placed on the Harry's Place website which is widely read amongst our Jewish neighbours and beyond. We are gradually restoring the good name of the British Methodist Church.

Terry Wynn - Pelvic piousness

Terry Wynn, a Methodist local preacher and former MEP writes: 

When, as a former MEP, I used to chair the European Parliament’s monthly Prayer Breakfast I soon learned that it’s hard to dislike someone who you pray with. I learned to accept differences of opinion amongst friends and colleagues of other political persuasions without falling out with them. So when I recently spoke at a men’s breakfast at my own church, I stressed that what I was about to say may not be to everyone’s liking but hoped that we could discuss such issues openly. We did and the response was quite enlightening. The subject was how the Church judges homosexual people.
MORE.....

Today - a new blogging venture

Today sees the launch of the Methodist Preacher Guest Page.

This is an opportunity for those wanting to post on a blog but without a blog to start an online discussion.

The views expressed there may not represent those of the Methodist Church or those of Methodist Preacher.

If you would like to contribute an item - an article, a book review or just an opinion - contact Methodist Preacher.

First contribution is from former MEP Terry Wynn who writes about Pelvic Piousness.

The plight of Palestinians: the Methodist blind eye

Are you old enough to remember "World Refugee Year"? I do, some of my school friends had actually been refugees and we took a lot of interest in the television programmes and newspaper articles which the UN initiative inspired.

"Many refugees still remained in camps almost fifteen years after the end of the Second World War. This was seen as disgraceful by those who had suffered greatly during the war and those who were concerned about their situation.

"It was at this point that the United Nations launched a program to resolve the refugee problem once and for all. 1959-1960 was announced as World Refugee Year. The aim of this project was to 'clear the camps'. It achieved some significant results, especially in Europe. By the end of 1960, for the first time since before the war, all the refugee camps in Europe were closed".

Nearly half a century later the Methodist Church has become interested in another group of refugees, those Arabs who chose to leave Israel when the it became an independent sovereign state recognised by the United Nations but attacked by the armies of five neighbouring states.

In the 1940 and 1950s Europe saw massive movements of populations. There were many groups, German speakers throughout Eastern Europe for example, who were expelled by the new communist governments. Jewish refugees had fled to Israel, America and Britain.

By the mid 1960s all these European refugees had been absorbed into the receiving communities. Areas such as Hackney, for example, where I had been bought up had many families arrive after the Hungarian uprising. In Staffordshire many Polish refugees settled and worked the coal mines. Nottingham had a vibrant Ukrainian community.

In the 1970s there was the expulsion of Asian families from Uganda. They stayed in camps for just a few weeks and are now one of the most successful migrant groups within the UK .

The main ingredient for success seems to be to give refugees full civic and economic rights as quickly as possible. Leaving people in refugee camps simply doesn't work.

So why is it that there are still "refugee camps" that were established following the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948? Sixty years seems a long time to live in temporary accommodation.

Israel itself has absorbed successive waves of refugees, not just from Europe but from many of the historic Jewish communities throughout North Africa and the Middle East which were cleared by Arab pogroms during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.  

A reader in Canada has sent me two articles from the National Post. One asks why do Palestinian refugees still live in camps, whereas others have made a success in their host countries?

The other article points to the systematic denial of civil and economic rights of Palestinians living in refugee camps in host Arab countries.

These people are clearly being used as pawns in a wider game. It is time the rest of us, especially in the Methodist Church, were a little bit worldly wise before we so easily condemn our friends in Israel.

Our high calling

Sad news from Cheshire where a historical Methodist site has been desecrated

Now the Tories head for the woods

Those readers who heard me speak three weeks ago at the Wyre Forest Labour Party annual dinner will not be surprised to read today's front page story in the Sunday Telegraph.

I predicted then that Britain's forests were at risk from the Tory Lib Dem government. Here in the West Midlands we have two magnificent areas of woodlands mainly managed by the Forestry Commission - Wyre Forest on the Worcester-Shropshire border and Cannock Chase.

From my work as a rural affairs spokesman in the European Parliament and as a former  member of the Forestry Commission's regional advisory committee, I can see just how vulnerable this great national asset is to the slash and burn of an incoming government. A short term decision  in woodland management is one that takes thirty years to come to fruition. Hedge fund managers and the other cowboys in the finance world will simply not understand. They will look for profit.

According to the Telegraph:

Caroline Spelman, the Environment Secretary, is expected to announce plans within days to dispose of about half of the 748,000 hectares of woodland overseen by the Forestry Commission by 2020.

The controversial decision will pave the way for a huge expansion in the number of Center Parcs-style holiday villages, golf courses, adventure sites and commercial logging operations throughout Britain as land is sold to private companies. 

Legislation which currently governs the treatment of "ancient forests" such as the Forest of Dean and Sherwood Forest is likely to be changed giving private firms the right to cut down trees.


Laws governing Britain's forests were included in the Magna Carta of 1215, and some date back even earlier. 

So we now have a fight on our hands.


UPDATE: I'm delighted to see that some brave soul has set up a facebook petition. In just 7 hours it has gained over 400 signatures. I'd urge all readers on facebook to support it.

Anti-Israel petition among Methodists fails

The anti-Israel campaign  within British Methodism is clearly faltering.

An  online petition in support of the Church's recently adopted official position on Israel has closed after only ten days with just 279 signatories.

This combines with evidence from the south west to show how little enthusiasm among Methodists there is for a full scale vilification of Israel.

Methodist people are not anti-Semitic and many are horrified that the 2010 conference passed a deliberately biased report and resolution attacking Israel.

Despite a campaign on facebook, an email campaign, and the support of an external pressure group, the  number of Methodists signing the petition remained statistically insignificant, no more than 200 out of the British Methodist Church's 400,000 strong community.

Originator of the petition, Richard Hall, a Methodist Minister in Wales, a widely read and influential semi official blogger  claimed "It has served it’s purpose. 279 signatures in less than two weeks. Some will have been dodgy, but that’s the way of petitions."

Closer inspection of the petition and the signatories show just how ill conceived it was.

Hall's petition claimed that the plaintiff in a forthcoming court action had described the Methodist Church as racist and anti-Semitic. In fact the plaintiff has been very careful to say that this was not the case, but believes that the conference report, resolution and behaviour  were discriminatory under current legislation and case law.

At least two of the signatories of the ill-fated petition subsequently removed their name, several were anonymous, many were from overseas and some were from members of a tiny British based Jewish organisation critical of Israel. One signatory was actually supportive of the plaintiff. Among those signing was Ben White, author of a scrurilous book on Israel.

Several of the signatories left abusive remarks about the plaintiff.

The failure of this petition is a welcome straw in the wind that British Methodism has not got the appetite for the ill conceived anti-Israel campaign. We should look forward to restoring a healthy and friendly relationship with our Jewish neighbours. Time for a cup of tea and a celebratory Jaffa cake

Bring your Bible to work day

The Bible Society has suggested that next Monday should be "bring your Bible to work day"*. As it happens I will be starting a week's holiday so I won't be taking part.

However I do take my Bible to work every working day. I've got a small one that fits easily into my briefcase. I don't show it off at work, just read a psalm or the lectionary passage as I sit on the train.

My experience of the workplace is that overt displays of Christian affiliation are very much frowned upon. A couple of times in the last twenty years I have been "taken aside" and told that I should not discuss my religious beliefs during coffee break or whatever.

One massive change has been in what recruitment consultants tell Methodist local preachers. In the 1950s it would have been seen as a plus by a potential employer. Now it is best left off. Apparently the wider world sees Methodist preachers as nut cases.

By all means take the Bible to work. But our most effective witness is to clearly have the Bible written within out hearts and let that be seen in our behaviour. The nature of my work means that I see many work places and I note what a difference a committed Christian can make to a workplace. And it is more than displaying a Bible on the work bench or desk.

*  This is on the front page of the Methodist Recorder but the only link that I could find this morning was from 2008

Thousands of people sacked...and they cheered

Yesterday's spending reviewed show Tory Britain for what it really is. Forgive me for being nieve but I don't think sacking nearly half a million people, slashing welfare payments for the poorest, damaging community services and risking an economic recovery is a cause for rejoicing.

But just note how the Tory benches and their Lib Dem poodles cheered this savage package to the rafters when it  was announced in the Commons yesterday.

Strange isn't it? Every times we have a Tory government they always claim there's an economic crisis that can only be handled by sacking people, reducing wages and deflating the economy. That's because for all their charm they work for the bosses not for working people.

After the church council meeting

A young man called in at church last night just as we were wrapping up the church council meeting. Earlier in the evening he had turned up at our community choir.

He was Russian, lived in one of the many bedsits that surround our church and struck us as being desperately lonely. There are many Eastern Europeans living in our community and we only seem to have occasional contact.

Do any readers know of any outreach or befriending schemes being run by churches from which we could get some ideas?

Wow a petition! How cool is that?

The full time blogger and spare time Methodist minister who runs the  Connexions  website has launched a petition protesting at the imminent writ against the Methodist Church for discrimination (Richard's preamble by the way is inaccurate as the case is about discrimination not Antisemitism and he hasn't yet seen the detailed  terms of the case).

The petition  has already attracted a staggering 113 signatures. Some are anonymous, many start "I am not a Methodist/Christian" etc, several are from abroad and there's a smattering of doubles.   We have 400,000 Methodists in the UK, so far about 1 in 5000 have signed. Its all very underwhelming.

But who is it addressed to? Now my understanding is that petitions are by definition addressed to some one (the Queen) or  some body (the council). You have to present them. Petitions don't exist in thin air.

Presumably at some point the petition will be delivered  by Richard to the plaintiff. That's me!

Well let me warn Richard, here and now, I am ready for him.

If he dares to  come anywhere  near my house to present  his petition I'll set the goldfish on him and give him a cup of tea and a jaffa cake (which I expect him to boycott).

Britain 2010 : we have an "anti-slavery day"

Today is Britain's first anti-slavery day. But didn't we abolish slavery in 1807?

Our local massage parlour has an iron gate across its entrance. It could be to keep people out. Or it could be to keep women in.

A few years back it was busted. Out of the building came a string of young women trafficked from Eastern Europe.

It now has a new name and a new owner. This morning as we made our way to church we saw two young, pinched faced women, waiting in the cold outside. They may not be slaves but to us they looked like prisoners.

Church of England "fascist and vindictive"

What is it about Christianity that whilst it often brings the best out in people, sometimes it can bring out the worse?

The Right Reverend John Broadhurst, Bishop of Fulham, one of the original "flying bishops" to CoE congregations refusing to take women priests has defected to Rome with a broadside in the Telegraph.

He claims  "The General Synod has become vindictive and vicious. It has been fascist in its behaviour, marginalising those who have been opposed to women's ordination. We have not been given any space."

Given that the Anglican church has been a past master at the art of the compromise and fudge this outburst is extraordinary.

Thank goodness we don't have any of this behaviour in Methodism. We wouldn't dream of marginalising anyone or any view.

One concrete example, we haven't excluded anyone from the Faith and Order resources groups or the working party on Zionism, simply because they may be well qualified to express a view that didn't fit the predetermined consensus. Perish the thought!

Let's be smug as we read the Bishop's words.

Trade unionists off to Israel and Palestine.

A group of British trade unionists are off to Israel and Palestine today. They will be keeping a blog. Take a look.

Two way relationship

Sadly there seem to be fewer and fewer Methodists in employment. Frankly in many churches sermons about the workplace are largely theoreticel as most congregations consist of people who are retired.

However at the end of the working week many Methodists start on their church work. For me this means preparing a service (OK I know that I shouldn't leave it to Saturday morning) and getting the paperwork ready for a church council meeting.

Over the years I have thought about getting more involved in the denomination. Perhaps getting onto the circuit committee, then district synod, then conference. But actually I find the day to day work of supporting a church in one of Britain's poorest communities is more than enough and is where I am called.

Then there's the preaching. Tomorrow there are expectations that I shall  "preach nothing at variance with our doctrines" (CDP 563 (2) (ii)). I don't have a problem with that. I am a Methodist. I am proud (as far a Christian can take pride) to be a Methodist Preacher. Doctrinally I have no problem with the Methodist Church.

I do however think there is a two way relationship. I am obliged to preach to certain standards. I am pleased to do so.

Conversely I have expectations about the way in which the denomination expresses itself on my behalf.

When the leadership of our denomination produce bigoted reports attaching the Jewish people in their quest for peace and security in their homeland, I know that something is seriously wrong.

For an entire Christian denomination to act in a discriminatory manner, especially when wrapped up in the sort of mystical hocus pocus that in previous generations lead to pograms and death camps, it  becomes dangerous. 

Praise God, we now have a legal framework that protects minorities from this sort of sanctified abuse. It is a real condemnation of Methodism that a Methodist is about to appeal to that legal framework to protect his Jewish neighbour from the Methodist Church.
And thanks John for your kind words.

Mazeltov Martin

It was very pleasant and humbling to go to the St John's Wood Synagogue last night for the launch of Martin Sugarman's book Fighting Back, reviewed here on Friday.

The community hall was packed with a good smatterring of old soldiers. Hearing about the exploits of Jewish servicemen reminded me how much the Jewish community have contributed since being allowed to return home here by Cromwell.

One speaker reminded us of the part played by Jewish Palestinians in the Middle East. Out of a population of 600,000 nearly 30,000 men joined the British armed forces. I suppose these days we in the Methodist Church would be dismissing them as Zionists, not realising how intrinsic some form of Zionism is to every expression of the Jewish faith.

Martin has done a superb job and congratulations are due to an impressive work that will do much to set the record straght. My thanks to the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicement (AJEX) for supporting such a suberb and memorable event.

The plight of Christians in Palestine : the Methodist blind eye.

I've been sent an interesting article  on the plight of Palestine's Christians. It makes grim reading. Perhaps someone who was involved in framing the anti-Israel motion to confernece - you are all reading this blog now - would like to give us the official Methodist version?

Read it yourself and ask why this sort of document  and the issues it raises were not brought to our Methodist attention by the working party  that drew up the  poisonous report on Palestine.
.

Decency fights back

Interesting post from Melanie Phillips in the Spectator. The last few paragraphs are especially pertinent to Methodists !

Making Christmas 2010 count

The Methodist Church is encouraging people to give a free gift to their friends and neighbours this Christmas.

‘A Gift of Christmas’ is a brand new booklet from the Methodist Church that celebrates and reflects on the story of Christmas. It includes Bible passages, stunning images from the Methodist Collection of Modern Art, prayers and reflections from a variety of authors, including John Byrom, Valerie Collinson and Graham Kendrick.

‘A Gift of Christmas’ is designed for churches and individuals to give away and is also ideal for small-group and personal reflection. It can be purchased from http://www.methodistpublishing.org.uk/ at the price of £5 for 50 copies. A free nativity play script, written by Revd Howard Mellor, and a PowerPoint presentation of the booklet will both soon be available to download for free from www.methodist.org.uk/gift.

Discrimination case : international interest grows

There is growing interest in the discrimination case soon to be launched to rescue the reputation of  Britain's Methodist Church for fairness and openness.

The case will be based on the premise that the preparation, motivation and outcome for a resolution on Israel and Palestine at the denomination's conference in Portsmouth this year was discriminatory.

A carefully selected working party compiled a  report which was said to have distressed Britain's Chief Rabbi  Lord Sacks. One Jewish witness at the conference complained "I felt like the accused in a Nazi show trial."

Chair of the Methodist working party, Graham Carter, dismissed accusations of discrimination  by telling the conference “I want to state quite clearly and categorically that there is no hint of anti-Semitism in what we have said or in what we intend.  If other people want to do things like that, that is their problem. It is not our problem as a Methodist church.”

Many British Methodists seem unaware of the international concern at the Church's decision. The West Briton newspaper  in Cornwall, which has a large Methodist community, reported that few Methodist leaders were prepared to support the denomination's stance.

However the story made the front page of The Jerusalem Post with strong backing to the bringing of the case from readers on their online edition. It also featured prominently in Britain's  weekly Jewish Chronicle newspaper, though Methodism's own British weekly, the Methodist Recorder, has ignored the story.

Concern has also been raised by members of the US United Methodist Church who have set up a discussion board on their facebook portal. Prominent Israeli blogger Daphne Anson has also carried the story.

Meanwhile I continue to get emails of support from around the world. Thanks for your prayers and numerous offers of assistance.

Written 10/10/10. Scheduled 10.00 am 11/10/10

Suddenly the congregation changed

This morning I really didn't feel like preaching. I was planned at the smallest church in our circuit. It is run by three or four ladies who keep the flame burning. Not all of them are in the best of health. They have no musician so use a karaoke hymnal machine.

The starting congregation was three women, one youngish man who had arrived in from Bulgaria at 2.00 am this morning and me.

Halfway through the prayers of adoration and confession the door opened and the congregation doubled. Three ladies came from a local carehome two were blind and one has special needs and occasionally disruptive behaviour. Two young women carers came with them.

During the preparation for intercessory prayer I asked members of the congregation for topics: that is one advantage of a small congregation, it can be very open to participation.

The youngish man told of his work in an orphanage in Bulgaria. He works closely with a team of sisters from Mother Theressa's order. We prayed for one family where the mother is dying of cancer and will leave four young children.

The service was transformed. My text was taken from Psalm 111 verse 10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom". This I set against today's New Testament reading Luke 17:11-19.

Ten lepers saw their life changed after they had met Jesus. "One when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him". Just one out of ten.

I feel this is like the contemporary church and our Christian peoples. Our lives can be transformed, we can be endowed with buildings, we have complex administrative structures, we are fed and housed.

Yet so few of us live lives which clearly can be seen to praise God. Much of what we do as a Methodist Church and as individual believers is far from mission and witness. Nor do we  seem to lead lives that are full of wisdom nor full of thanks.

The words fell into place as the Holy Spirit moved. Wonderful time.

The small print

It's always interesting to read "the small print". It often tells you what a business most fears a customer asking or claiming. It is the "get out clause" to avoid otherwise legitimate  claims.

There's a bit of "small print" that has found itself onto the Methodist Church website following the catastrophic debacle over the Isreal/Palestine issue at the Portsmouth Conference.

Question 6 of a Questions and Answers on the "Methodist boycott of  goods from the illegal Israeli settlements" (that in itself a gross simplification of what was said and enacted at the Portsmouth Conference) has a very handy answer:

Q. Do all the things said during the Conference debate represent the Church’s views?

A. Not necessarily. The section 7.4.1 which was adopted by the Conference is an agreed position of the Methodist Church. The report to the Conference and speeches made are there to stimulate debate following which the Conference votes. The resolutions are not binding on Methodist Church members but are there to give guidance for informed action.

So now I understand. However inflammatory and discriminatory the speeches from the floor, however biased the report, however "stitched up" the working party writing the report, however dubious the offered Further Resources in Appendix 8, however outrageous the comments from carefully selected guest speakers, however, however.....

Conference was actually offered the equivalent of a balloon dabate. It was all just a bit of fun really after which conference was free to make up its mind.

Expense

Let's start with the star speaker, Naim Ateek. I'm curious about how he came to be in Portsmouth. Did he pop into conference because he was visiting his brother-in-law in nearby Fareham? Was he asked to step in at the last minute because lunch had been delayed and they had a spare half hour?

Or was Mr Ateek, especially invited? Did the Methodist Church pay his airfare from Palestine? Did he stay in a hotel at the expense of our charitable funds?

And what sort of debate was he intended to "stimulate" when he dismissed the Holocaust as "a Zionist tool",  making the grotesque statement that there was "Holocaust industry" from which the Jews made money, and expressing his "appreciation" of Hamas. Who actually was responsible for this invitation? And is the mealy mouth "answer" above the nearest our Methodist leaders will ever get to distancing themselves from such shameful statements? Or are these views shared by most, if not all Methodists?

I just wish I could say that at least one delegate walked out in protest or that someone lodged a complaint about the tone of this speech. Not so, some Methodist bloggers were even promoting the speech online.

Stitch up

Then there's the working party which drew up the report. Earlier this week I got my ear clipped because I dared to suggest that the proposed  working party on Christian Zionism would be a "stitch-up". The working party that drew up the report to the Conference actually was a stitch-up, so we have form.

Read the small print: Methodist Coumcil document MC 09/80 says:  Requests have been received that the group should be “balanced” and contain members who are not in agreement with Conference statements. This is not believed to be a constructive approach given the remit of the group.

So before the working group put pen to paper  those Methodists who had a view counter to that of the proposer and seconder of the motion to the previous conference  The Revd Nichola G Jones, and Seconder, Dr Stephen Leah were excluded. It was a "stitch up".

Nicola Jones  believes that the Jews have broken their covenant with God. In a bizarre speech she told conference:  Who are they and what are they chosen for? Genesis tells us again and again that God choose Abraham and makes a covenant with Abraham and his heirs. A covenant being a two-sided agreement with obligations on both parties, like marriage. God’s covenant with the Children of Israel, Abraham’s heirs, is that he will be their God and they will be his people if they walk humbly before God, obey God’s laws and are a light to the nations.

So the people of Israel are to be dispossessed of their land because Niclola Jones believes they no longer walk humbly before God, obey God's laws and are dimmed as a light to the nations? On that basis no nation on earth would be entitled to sovereign territory. Every nation would be under the same judgement. But of course we are talking about Jews, and some Christians believe that Jews are subject to different judgments than the rest of humankind. Why the discrimination?

Lunch

Nicola Jones was not a random delegate speaking after a good lunch. She was the instigator of the whole project. Her words and attitudes matter.

Stephen Leah must have been disappointed with the eventual outcome of conference. He wanted to go much further saying, but not to Conference:   "I personally would like to have divestment going a little bit further into the full boycott of Israel, but I know how much I can get away with in the churches sometimes. [...] Churches are paranoid about being critical of Israel sometimes, they want to be balanced all the time, we must put pressure on church leaders."

So  Stephen Leah was pushing the Church as far as he thought the Methodist Church would go. In recent days Church spokespeople have fallen over themselves to point out that the boycott is only of goods from "illegal Israeli settlements". It seems to be a sensitive matter. Stephen Leah would have preferred a boycott of all Israeli products. Why not? After all his colleague Nicola Jones told conference that Jews no longer obeyed God's laws.

Bibliographies and "further resources" are always a welcome appendix to any document. Each informs the reader of the material used in the production of a report and where the authors would like to go next.

Dubious

Appendix 8 of the conference report makes such an offering. The resources are all from just one direction. Where resources are offered from Jews they are carefully screened to ensure that they continue the general discriminatory narrative of the main report.

One author caught my eye: Stephen Sizer. Now I've heard that name somewhere before. Hasn't he got a few dubious friends? He does seem to have some controversial views. Its worth following a few links here. Why were these "further resources" so one sided? Surely they should "stimulate" debate, not smother it?

Is it any wonder that many Jewish friends feel that the Methodist Church is now exhibiting the same anti-semitism that has been the curse of Christianity for centuries?

Let us hope in the next few months we can rescue Methodism's well deserved reputation for fairness, generosity and openess.

Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!

A message left in one of the comment boxes.

I am clearly an unpopular Methodist preacher in some quarters:

"I'm glad not all methodists are not small minded like you."

Book Review: Fighting Back - British Jewry's military contribution to the Second War War.

Martin Sugarman and I attended the same school in Hackney. He was the year above me. I'm delighted to have read his newly published book  Fighting Back: British Jewry's Contribution to the Second World War.

After school Martin went to Israel and served as an artillery officer in the Israeli Army. He is now the archivist of  the Jewish Military Museum in London.

Fighting Back details the considerable contribution that the British Jewish community, including the many Jews who lived in the Palestinian Mandate, made to the British war effort.

The motivation for the book was, in part, a response to the myth that British Jewry lacked a fighting spirit and did not play their full part in the Second World War. Martin's carefully constructed case shows that Jews easily contributed well out of proportion to the rest of the population.

The book was written just in time to get verbal recollections from those who served. It is humbling to read the stories of ordinary people doing extra-ordinary things.

Many British Jews fought in the same units as everyone else. There were Jews in the Battle of Britain, the North African desert and all other theatres of war.

Some of the most fascinating sections of Martin's book cover the contribution British and Palestinian Jews made to various special operations. Their language skills were particularly useful at places like Bletchley Park -  I was astonished to find that one of my near neighbours in Hackney had worked there carefully interpreting German signals.

Many Jewish men and women were parachuted into occupied Europe. Several were shot or eventually executed in concentration camps including the women.

The contribution becomes mind blowing when  Martin describes "SIG" a special unit composed of German speaking Jews who spoke, trained, drilled, ate, and dressed  as Nazis in order to penetrate German lines for reconnaissance and sabotage.  They even recruited German NCO POWs to run a special German speaking camp in the desert. This would make a brilliant film.

From a contemporary point of view Martin's description of the fighting around Palestine reminds us that inter-communal violence  against  Palestinian Jews was incited by the pro-Nazi Mufti of Jerusalem. It was sad to read that a British officer refused to intervene to prevent  the massacre of Baghdad's historic Jewish community. It is easy to gloss over the events before Israel emerged as a fully fledged sovereign state recognised by the United Nations.

One of the saddest themes throughout the book seems to be the casual Antisemitism which littered British attitudes at the time.However when  Jews joined up it soon evaporated after basic training as units pulled together, reminding us that the war was a great period of social change.

At a time when Antisemitism is again rearing its ugly head in these islands, often in unexpected places, this book is a stark reminder of the strong bonds amongst the British people - Jew and non-Jew.

Fighting Back: British Jewry's Contribution in the Second World War; Martin Sugarman, Valletine Mitchell, 2010 ISBN 978 0 85303 910 5.

Methodist Church to rescind charitable status and set up political fund?

One Methodist blogger Minister David Warnock is bursting with excitement and asking why no one is taking legal action against the TUC and the Labour Party.

I'm a member of both the Labour Party and a trades union.

Neither the Labour Party nor the trades unions have charitable status. Unlike the Methodist Church they are unable to claim up to a fifth of their regular income from fellow taxpayers. Nor are they able to benefit from generous tax breaks on legacies, endowments, land sales and investments. All these benefits are funded by taxpayers, who have little say in how those funds are used.

The Labour Party is specifically a political organisation with political objectives.

After a long battle the trades unions have to hold contributions for political activities in a separate, carefully audited, voluntary "politcal fund".

In the last few days  David Warnock has been harranging me on other blogs saying that its all very simple - just put a "memorial" to Methodist Conference and all will be well with the world.

So at next year's Methodist Conference we can expect a Memorial proposed by the Reverend David Warnock calling for the Methodist Church to cease trading as a charitable organisation, refuse to take another penny of taxpayers' money and ask every member to cough up an extra pound a week for a seperate auditable polical fund.

Perhaps someone will move an admendament suggesting  we no longer take government grants to run playgroups, training schemes and the like? We would also refuse to take any money from bodies like English Heritage.

Many of our 4500 churches would financially collapse within weeks. Our buildings would continue to decay. We'd have to lay off staff, possibly including David Warnock.

Conference will clearly vote for that on the same basis that turkeys regularly vote for an early Christmas.
 
Personally I've never been wholeheartedly in favour of churches having taxpayer's funding. For example as an MEP I refused to support campaigns to get work on church buildings exempt from VAT.  My late brother's church in Leicester never took a penny from public funds. Many smaller independent churches take that line precisely so they are free to work as they believe God leads.

And in the current economic climate with a government anxious to seek cuts in public expenditure it may not be the wisest course of action to compare the Methodist Church with organisations that have no taxpayer funding and are entirely funded from their membership.

Lots of love

Those who have been following this blog in recent days will know that I've come in for a lot of stick.

This follows the news that I am preparing to make a public stand  and legal challenge against the discriminatory campaign now being waged through the Methodist Church by a small number of well connected individuals.

Last night I mentioned some of the more offensive notes and blog comments that have been made in recent days.

Today has been completely different. I've been in bed most of the day with a heavy cold. When I finally checked my email box and telephone calls this afternoon I discovered a flood of very positive and supportive messages. A great many people are holding this issue in prayer.

I've been delighted with the growing volume of messages of support from all over the Connexion. There is a deep unease within the Church and the wider Christian community at the stance being taken by Conference. I am surprised how many members feel that they are disenfranchised and disconnected from the decision making process. I thought it was just me, that I was alone.

To all those who have been in contact I'd like to say a big "thank you". Like every other believer I have feet of clay and have felt a little wobbly. Your prayers are much appreciated.

From the Methodist morning hate mail.....

Sunday's story about the Methodist preacher who is mounting a legal action against the Methodist churches' discriminatory campaign against the Jewish community in Israel has provoked a torrent of hatred within Methodism on blog sites and personal email.

Regretfully I have to say we Methodists are not as nice as we claim. A non-Christian journalist visited another Methodist blog  and mentioned to me how she found many of the comments offensive. In fact one of the comments was so offensive and defamatory that the blog publisher was forced to removed it.

Several people have whinged that the resolution passed at the Portsmouth conference is no big deal really as it only refers to "illegal settlements on the West Bank". This is the line pushed in the "Questions and Answers" now posted on the Methodist Church website.

Report

However,  few people seem to have read the very first line of the resolution passed at conference. It says:
"The Methodist Conference receives the report Justice for Palestine and Israel".

The conference didn't pass a nice pink and fluffy resolution about a few extremists building settlements where they shouldn't be.  The report actively questions the right of the Jewish people to settle in Israel at all with a half baked analysis of nineteenth century Zionism.

If the military occupation of parts of the West Bank  and illegal settlements were the only blockage to peace there would be no need to re-write  history and conclude that Jews should not be settled there in the first place. Weasel words about Israel's "right to exist within secure borders" will not ameliorate the general tenor of  the report.

Faith and order

The Faith and Order Committee of the Methodist Church has been instructed to "to undertake further work on the theological issues, including Christian Zionism". This will be a stitch up. Only those who can be trusted to draw the pre-ordained conclusion will be allowed anywhere near it's preparation. It will conclude that the Jews have no Biblical authority to live in Israel.

Imagine, a mainstream denomination concluding that the people of Israel have no place in the Holy Land. That is the trajectory that we are now on as a denomination.

When challenged, members of the working party  will doubtless say "we were just obeying orders", sorry....slip of the tongue.... "we were doing conference's bidding".

Hijack

We have allowed a small group of people to hijack Methodism's good name for tolerance and open mindedness to run a discriminatory campaign against Jewish people. My strong advice to anyone assuming that this resolution is simply about "justice" and illegal settlements is to read the report.

Also among the hate mail was a comment from someone signing themselves as "Tom". He actually did make an interesting point and one worth pursuing .Of Palestinian Christians he says:  "They do live under occupation and they are being heavily squeezed by both the settlers and radical Islamic groups."

Now that's an interesting point. Palestinian Christians that I have spoken too (not in the last ten years by way of clarification) explained to me that they feared the creation of an Islamic state.They expected, as Tom points out, to be "squeezed". To a large extent this has been borne out by the massive emigration of Palestinian Christians during the 1980s and 1990s.

Squeeze

But it is curious that our own Methodist report barely mentions this issue. Much of the report is based on work undertaken by the Friends of Sabeel. and the Palestine Kairos document  neither of whom acknowledge this squeeze on their respective websites.

However an acknowledgment of this issue did sneak into the reports from the Portsmouth Methodist Conference

The Reverend Doctor Naim Ateek blurted out that Palestinian Christians depended on Hamas for protection from "Muslim fanatics". Clearly an issue and a concern, but one that is not addressed in the Methodist report grandly  entitled "Justice for Palestine and Israel".

Why not? Because the authors wanted to conclude that all the problems in the Holy Land are down to the Jews. Christians have been blaming the Jews for 2,000 years. It is time we stopped.

Risk

Meanwhile one bitter irony of  "Justice for Palestine and Israel"  is that it contained a risk assessment (page 177) of its impact - no kidding- a standard practice in many large corporations and public bodies. The assessment? " Risk: None".

If the authors can't even make an accurate risk assessment of their work how can we trust the accuracy of the rest of the report.........?

Methodist church launches ebook

Good to see that the Methodist Church is busy promoting  one of the denominations distinctive features and one that drew me into the Methodist family. A press release from Connexional headquarters  reports:

The Methodist Church has launched its first ebook as its renewed emphasis on discipleship continues to gather momentum. The book, Discipleship and the People Called Methodists, will be available to download for free from www.methodist.org.uk in both the epub format that can be used on many ebook readers and the mobi format for the Amazon Kindle.  

At the same time, the printed version of the book has just been reprinted again and now has over 19,000 copies in circulation.

The book’s author, the Revd Dr Martyn Atkins, General Secretary of the Methodist Church, says “Discipleship is about transforming the world as well as ourselves, and I’m delighted that the Methodist people are really taking this emphasis on discipleship to heart. The demand for this book in its print version shows that as a Church we are really keen to explore what discipleship means and how we can become better disciples together, and the ebook version will enable more people to join in.”

                                                                                                             

The Methodist Church has already designated 2011 as Year of the Bible as part of the discipleship programme, and is enthusiastically backing the ecumenical BibleFresh campaign. 

This will run throughout 2011 as churches across Britain celebrate 400 years of the King James Bible, and so far over a dozen Methodist districts have signed up to put on BibleFresh festivals across the country, with more still at the planning stage.

Says Martyn: “There are many different ways to ‘do discipleship’. This book is one way to get started, and we also have the Inspire network that is reenergising discipleship amongst local church leaders. 

I’m so excited that Methodists are looking to the opportunities offered by BibleFresh in 2011 to deepen our biblical discipleship, and also that we’re part of the More Than Gold initiative that will offer many ways to practice our discipleship during the Olympic and Paralympics Games in 2012.

Methodist Church faces legal challenge over discrimination

The Methodist Church is to face a legal challenge over its discriminatory campaign against Israel.

The Sunday Telegraph reports that lawyer Paul  Diamond will argue that the Methodist resolution passed in the summer is in breach of European human rights law and a wide-ranging European Union directive on racism. 

By singling out Israel, rather than other countries with often worse human rights records, Mr Diamond will claim the church is being deliberately prejudiced against the Jewish state.

Update: there has been a predicable reaction to this story on another blog. I have taken the opportunity to give more detail there. Please go here. 

Calm before the storm

The Tory conference opens just down the road tomorrow. Can't say that I'm pleased to have the place crawling with triumphant members of the "coalition".

We decided to get out of town for the afternoon and went for a walk over Kinver Edge. It was a lovely day with even some sunshine for a few minutes.

Whilst in Kinver we bumped into Dino who have very bravely opened the Bella Luna in Bearwood way back in 2008. Dino has now opened up in Kinver High Street. We popped in for lunch and it was, as ever superb. More information on his website.

No pressure, no not much

Last year I was described  as an "arse" because I dared to question whether climate change was down to human activity (this sentence has been updated, see footnote* see footnote **). At the time I expressed my concern that this theory seems to generate so much abuse.

Now I have many friends who believe that the alledged climate change is down to human activity. They have their views, I have mine. It is perfectly possible to respect other people's right to have a view.

However I've always felt that within some sections of the "green" movement there is a nasty undercurrent of intolerance against those who dispute their view.

One organisation that has popped up is called 10:10. They apparently think that this video they commissioned is hilarious:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDXQsnkuBCM&feature=player_embedded

Well, much to their surprise it back-fired. Many people were offended. Now its been withdrawn. But it serves to make the point that there is an intolerance among some of those promoting the global warning issue actually relish their intolerance, even thinking that blowing people up was funny. I can't understand why firms like Sony and O2 are funding this nonsense.

* My friend Richard has written to point out that my memory is playing tricks. He writes:
I got another email this morning drawing my attention to your 'No pressure' post. I'm sure you didn't do it on purpose, but I think the opening sentence contains 2 inaccuracies and one false implication.
"Last year I was described on a Methodist minister's blog as an "arse" because I dared..."

1. To me, this implies that it was the Methodist minister who referred to you in that way. He (ie, I) didn't
2. In any case, you weren't called an arse. A commenter said you 'had your head in your ass'.
3. It wasn't at connexions, but here at mp.com
Thanks Richard, happy to put the record straight.

** Richard wasn;t happy with my rewording so I have changed this sentence substantially.  My point remains that even within a Christian context there is a great deal of intolerance on this issue.

There goes my chance to win £82m

Anyone who has braved the rain and popped into a newspaper shop today will know that for someone Friday 1 October 2010 is going to be a special day.

Just in front of me this morning, in one of Smethwick's poorer area, were a small queue of people buying a Euro lottery ticket."If you are not in, you can't win" said one. Another wished her "luck". I did not have the heart to point out that both of them had more chance of being dead by this evening than winning the lottery.

The newsagent asked me if I wanted to take part on the lottery and have my chance of winning £82 in the lottery draw. 

I pointed out that I was a Methodist and we did not gamble. Methodism may have our problems but one advantage is that we don't waste our money on this nonsense.

Incidentally if you do win £82m please don't hesitate to send a cheque for about £250,000 to our church.