Friday, 26 July 2024

‽istis ponders a pause (weekending July 27th 2024)

 

‽istis ponders a pause (weekending July 27th 2024)

This weekending ‽istis is pondering a pause, after 5 years of weekly posts (aside from maybe two missed weeks out of the 260 or so, when family stuff took over)… Quite perhaps, possibly, maybe only until the end of the year in order to give fully-devoted time to another ‘project’; more, but different ‘stuff’…

And so, some pondering and wondering about other ‘pausificatory moments’ of far greater import that some people may also be contemplating this weekending, with not a few links to a few themes that seem to have cropped up in past blogs:

      ‽ A ceasefire? Many ceasefires? Peace, one day?[i]

‽ The moment before winning or losing a race; completing a jump successfully or unsuccessfully; hitting a ball over or in to a net; executing the dive to perfection or with just too much of a splash; hitting the target plumb in the middle or to the side, top or bottom, etc, etc? And the opening ceremony of the Olympic games and the games themselves probably cost an inseine[ii] amount of money.  

‽ Weekend family time at the end of a busy, busy week in UK, Venezuela and North American politics and a chance to take stock in relation to campaigns (USA and Venezuela) and delivery on a manifesto (UK)?[iii]

‽ The up-beat before the orchestra comes in, the breath before the singers, the anticipation of the audiences as the BBC Proms season begins?[iv]

The moment before a blow is struck…[v] or a hug is given…[vi] a tear falls…  or a smile lights up…

‽ The moments before a big decision or a resolution is made…

‽ The heartbeat before believing…  or disbelieving...  before speaking...  or remaining silent... 

‽ The moment before birth…  and death…  and all those pauses between the busy-ness between...[vii]

…and, as has often been the case, ‽istis invites you to ponder and maybe add your own…

So finally this weekending, time for a pause and yet another cup of tea before carrying on with an index of topics across all those blogs and a final edit of an ‘Introduction’ and an ‘End-word’. And then, a little later, ‽istis will decide whether perhaps, possibly, maybe that last hyphen will be replaced with ‘for now’…‽

 

©‽istis

NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on X/Twitter with replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders.  X/Twitter ‘follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...  



[ii] With apologies for using the misspelling of a sometime pejorative mental health/illness/diagnosis term for spurious comedic punposes!   

[iv] https://www.bbc.co.uk/proms ‘The World’s Greatest Classical Music Festival’

[v] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjqep1ew419o NB: video ‘contains upsetting scenes’. The legacy and impact (word chosen deliberately) of the ‘Euros’ 2024 https://www.bigissue.com/opinion/euro-2024-england-lose-domestic-abuse/

[vii] Today, 26.7.2024, 12:12BST Estimated births: 187,065. Estimated deaths 84, 645 already today…


Sunday, 21 July 2024

‽istis ponders questions for a Pastor (weekending July 20th 2024)

 

‽istis ponders questions for Pastor Mark Burns (weekending July 20th 2024)

This week ‽istis has been reviewing past blogs, doing a bit of indexing and pondering recurring topics and themes temporal and spiritual, sacred and profane, heavenly and earthly. ‘Stuff’ about God/god/gods/divine crops up fairly frequently:

‽ ‘God is here, Emanuel. And yet we search for now it seems so hard to tell.’ (weekending December 24th 2022)

‽ ‘the apparent direct absence of unequivocal, universally heard and understood voice of God.’ (weekending February 11th 2023)

‽ the ‘God is on our side’ of a potential colonial mindset (weekending March 3rd 2023)

‽ ‘just who or what is saved? ‘God so loved the world’, animals, people, all of us together – done and dusted, just some of us? And if it’s only some of us, then what is the criteria: our choice, God’s choice…’ (weekending August 19th 2023)

‘…a Deity who/which… just maybe: a) non-existent and a human construct; or b) not happy with how things are but can’t do anything about it; or c) not happy with how things are but won’t do anything about it; or (maybe worst of all) d) is content with how things are…’ (weekending May 13th 2023) 

‽ missing in action; absent without leave? ‘'Ubi caritas et amor Deus ibi est' (where there is charity and love, God is there)... So, perhaps, possibly, maybe where there is not charity and love, God is not there‽’ (weekending October 14th 2023)

‽ ‘wonders what could be the consequences of a deluging, climate-crisis-at-its worst flood… Of Biblical proportions – when, allegedly, there seemed to be evidence of an interventionist God, albeit one that destroyed all humanity save for one family, all animal life save for reproducing pairs of everything (but no unicorn!!)’ (weekending November 4th 2023)

‽ ‘So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven‽ (well where’s the evidence for that then?)’ (weekending December 16th 2023)

‽ #EvidenceofGod (weekending February 3rd 2024)

‽ ‘the value and role of belief/s and ideology – and the organisations, institutions and arrangements built upon them; do we want or need God/gods – or are we enough?’ (weekending July 18th 2020)

‽ ‘protecting a meaningful Christmas – are some expecting a display of divine intervention or something? #ComeonGodshowyourhand #isamiracletoomuchtoaskfor? (weekending December 19th 2020)

‽ ‘that of God in everyone’ (weekending November 12th 2022)

Evidence of existence and the capacity to intervene, or otherwise, feature heavily in the blogs – and it is these issues that have exercised ‽istis again this week, not least following the shooting and murder of a firefighter in Pennsylvania after which people said of the person who was almost certainly the actual target, and who survived with an injury to his ear: “I think he’s amazing. I think he was sent by God. I think he is the most amazing human being ever.” – and – “Well I believe that Divine providence was involved because the shooter was obviously trying to take him out. It was a clear head shot.”[i]  

In the same Times Radio programme that contained these ‘vox pops’ (July 16th) John Pienaar interviewed a guest: Pastor Mark Burns – described as ‘Donald Trump’s spiritual adviser and Congressional candidate for South Carolina’. At the time of writing, the interview can be seen and heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTESFL8s_YQ

John Pienaar’s first question cut to the heart of things: ‘Do you believe, do you truly believe that God took a hand in saving Donald Trump from that sniper’s bullet in Pennsylvania at the weekend?’ – in relation to which Pastor Burns was ‘without a shadow of doubt that the hand of God protected Donald Trump…’ (c.1’27” in to the interview) ‘We would be talking about… the assassination of Donald Trump had it not been for the hand of God or shifting that bullet or even shifting Donald Trump’s head just sheer millimetres…’ (c.1’50”)

In the 12 minute interview, Pastor Burns went on to say many things that ‽istis has pondered:

·         ‘The Bible says in Isaiah Ch 54 v 17: ‘no weapon formed against you shall prosper’ ‘ (c.2’18”)

·         ‘...that's the message I’ve given to the president, reminded him, reminded the American people, I'm reminding the world that the hand of God was upon Donald Trump and is upon your life too.’ (c. 2’20”)  

·         ‘I reminded him (the former President) that the hand of God is upon his life and to use this opportunity to lead this nation and help be a leader of the free world that we will be a nation that will honour God and do right by people...’ (c.2’44”)

·         ‘God spared his life for such a time as this, to be the one He has chosen to lead this nation to where we honour God again.’ (c.3’02”)

·         ‘This nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles (c.3’09”) and the largest voter block for the Republican Party are Christians and so this is a loud signal to all of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Messiah and to people of faith all over the world that the hand of God has chosen Donald Trump after everything they’ve thrown at him… Now they finally try to actually take his life and the bullet actually struck him and yet he has survived.’ (c.4’02”)

·         ‘…as I’ve said to him many times: if God be for you, President Trump, then who can be against you. And we believe that.’ (c.4’08”)

·         ‘I believe... God has chosen Donald Trump to be a deliverer in this time period for America. Again, God has used so many people that has flawed pasts… that has failed in their pasts, but yet used them for His glory and for His purpose’ (c.5’19”) citing Old Testament adulterer and murderer King David: ‘yet he’s same the one God gave the Psalms to…’

·         And referring to himself: ‘God has used flawed people, like Mark Burns even, I’m talking to you on an international platform but yet I have crazy chapters in my own life that God has looked beyond my faults…’ (c.6’22”)

·         ‘No, I don’t believe that God is a Republican just like I don’t believe that God is white nor black. I believe that God is a God for all races.’ (c.7’09”)

·         ‘Now let’s be clear, the Bible is God’s authority word. We believe that, as Christians and if Joe Biden is a professing, practising Christian then he too believes that, but yet he pushes policies that are contrary to God’s word… direct opposition to what God has said’ for instance: ‘marriage is between man and woman, that’s a Biblical concept’ (c/7’36”), ‘God said it is an abomination in His word for man to sleep with man and woman sleep with woman… (‘c.7’44”) and to even push the transgender agenda that they’re pushing in to the public school systems.’ (c/7’50”) ‘If Joe Biden is this so-called practising Christian then he would not be pushing – or the Democrat party as a whole would not be pushing those type of agendas… (c.7'57”)’

·         ‘There’s a reason why the atheists of America, the majority of atheists and agnostics (?) of America identify themselves as Democrats, because the policies that the Democrats push are contrary to the word of God…’ (c.8’24”)

·         ‘I can only look at some of the fruits since he’s been President (Joe Biden) and his policies don’t line up to God’s word.’ (c/8’43”)

·         (from 9’32”) ‘There is God’s will but then there is His ‘permissive will’… God’s will and man’s doing… God has a permissive will that he allows to happen because that is man’s decision…  whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but has everlasting life; that is your choice, to either believe or don’t believe, to accept or reject… So, in this case we believe because of the policies and Donald Trump’s willingness. As Isaiah says: if you are willing and obedient, you will eat good of the land…  He (Donald Trump) listens to people like myself that speaks to him about the word of God and then follows through on it, which is why he’s talking more about the Holy Spirit and the hand of God that is protecting him from that assassin's bullet.’

·         ‘President Trump was one of the few people that said that Christianity is under attack in America, when Obama and others, and the Democratic party were trying to get people to stop saying “Merry Christmas”… and trying to say things like “Happy holidays” – well that is not American culture, we say “Merry Christmas” here in America…’ (c.11’27”)

·         ‘This is a Christian nation of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…’ (11’54”) And the further we have policies like the Democrats who try to push that narrative, like Obama did when he declared that this was no longer a Christian nation, when he tried to push that narrative now, that is when I believe that America began to fall.’

·         ‘Donald Trump is a deliverer and God has chosen him, regardless of his past flaws, he is willing and obedient to listen to the voice of God, that is why he is elevated and protected like he has been.’ (c.12’14”) 

So, this weekending ‽istis is pondering questions for Pastor Mark Burns, including:

‽ If America is a Christian nation and ‘no weapons formed against you shall prosper’ why does the USA need to spend 916 billion U.S. dollars dedicated to the military in 2023, the highest in the world and constituting over 40 percent of the total military spending worldwide that year?[ii] And what else could be done with that money to fulfil the Biblical criteria (Matthew 25 v 34-36) for separating the sheep from the goats when all the nations are gathered before the Son of Man “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”?

‽ Isn’t it a bit arrogant to think that God needed you to remind the world that the hand of God was upon Donald Trump?

‽ Are people chosen? How are people chosen? Are nations or peoples chosen and how?

‽ You seem to imply that the hand of God is upon Donald Trump and upon John Pienaar too (2’20”)… is that the case for all of us, regardless, irrespective, without exception – including upon Corey Comperatore (the firefighter who died in the assassination attempt on Donald Trump)? Did the hand of God defy the usual ‘laws’ of physics for a moment and shift the trajectory of the bullet? Did the hand of God shift Donald Trump’s head just sheer millimetres?  And why did the hand of God not send the bullet harmlessly into the grass or the staging; or prevent Thomas Matthew Crooks from arriving on the roof; or prompt police officers and security agents to act sooner, to act before a shot was fired; or prevent the purchase of the gun that was used; or tighten the laws that enabled its purchase and ownership?

‽ What are the hallmarks and characteristics of the nations that comprise ‘the free world’ – and which nations are in and which are out?

‽ What does a nation that ‘honours God’ look like, sound like and do?

‽ What are Judeo-Christian principles? Are both the old and new testaments necessary? Ten commandments or a new commandment?[iii]

‽ How would you answer someone who wonders whether America may also have been founded on a genocide of first nations’ people; on hegemonic cultural and religious impositionism; on land and property appropriation; on slavery; on white, male, heterosexual and exploitative financial supremacy?   

‽ Who are the ‘they’ that have thrown everything at Donald Trump and have even finally tried to take his life?

‽ If Donald Trump loses the election, does that mean that God has had a change of mind?

‽ What was actually going on in the ‘crazy chapters’ of your life?

‽ If God can use flawed people (including an adulterer and murderer, King David), then is any behaviour excusable? Is any behaviour even desirable as it may more gloriously and clearly reveal and highlight the awesome capacity and amazing grace and mercy of God – to forgive, to change and redeem (‘wretch-saving’[iv]), to intervene? Why could God not just have created us better in the first place?

‽ If you do not believe that God is a Republican and you don’t believe that God is black or white, why does He appear to be unquestionably male?

‽ Why do different Christians seem to interpret and understand teachings of the Bible (‘God’s authority word’) differently – or are the ones that take a different view to yours only ‘so-called practising Christians’?

‽ What fruits of Trump’s presidency show that the Republican policies are congruent with the word of God?

‽ So how does this ‘permissive will’ thing work? How might we know what are the decisions of man that God has permitted - and where is the line that triggers God to step in when crossed?

‽ Would Jesus have said “Merry Christmas” and what is ‘American culture’ and why does it seem to have to be singular…  are/were there other cultures; are they equally important?

‽ Do you believe that other supernatural forces and powers are at work in the world? Do you believe in angels? Do you believe in demons? Do you believe in the Devil? And how might we discern whether any action is a result of the hand of the Devil or the hand of God?

‽ When and why do so many people seem to say that God works in mysterious ways?

‽ Does God only exist if we believe that to be the case? Do we make God in our own image?

‽ And finally, if ‘Donald Trump is a deliverer and God has chosen him, regardless of his past flaws, he is willing and obedient to listen to the voice of God, that is why he is elevated and protected like he has been’ – then how will we know that the plan has worked? What should we measure, when and how? What might convince those for whom Pastor Burns’ reminders (to Donald Trump, to the American people and to the world) of God’s agency (perhaps, possibly, may be) seem just a bit unbelievable?

©‽istis

NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on X/Twitter with replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders.  X/Twitter ‘follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...  



[i] Tuesday July 16th 2024 Times Radio: ‘John Pienaar live from the Republican Convention in Milwaukee’   https://www.thetimes.com/radio/show/20240716-25859/2024-07-16

[ii] https://www.statista.com/statistics/262742/countries-with-the-highest-military-spending/#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20led%20the,to%202.4%20trillion%20U.S.%20dollars.

[iii] Bible: Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5 – and/or – John3v34.


Friday, 12 July 2024

‽istis ponders form and function (weekending July 13th 2024)

 

‽istis ponders form and function (weekending July 13th 2024)

This weekending ‽istis is pondering form and function…  

Attention and a few days of pondering was sparked by hearing the words of Lesley-Anne Ryder to the Church of England’s Synod and the discussion on safeguarding arrangements[i] at the morning session on Monday:

“Form, organisational form I’m taking about, must follow functions. Leaping straight to an organisational model before establishing exactly what the organisation must deliver is counter-productive.”

And ‽istis wondered about what maybe a dynamic process whereby form is perhaps changed either because an understanding of functions have changed (back to Lesley-Anne Ryder: “So, we have needed to refine our vision of the functions…”[ii]) or the functions have not been carried out well enough (the safeguarding arrangements of the Church failing too many, too much, for too long?[iii]) and the form has perhaps been found to be part of the problem (failures because, not failures despite, perhaps?), or the form is not now considered fully fit for purpose?  

So ‽istis has wondered some more about form and function:

‽ How form might reveal function past… the legacy of training and breeding for specific tasks can perhaps still be seen in the look and the shape and the temperament of many of the dogs met when walking around

‽ How form might hint at function present yet possibly hidden or obscured (more or less deliberately): the power structures, beliefs and meta-narratives playing out in architecture and design; the form of organisational structures and arrangements[iv] that overtly or covertly perpetuate privilege or poverty, that include or exclude, that let everyone know just how things should work and how things are

‽ How a football manager might plan the form of the team (to possibly bring it home after many years of hurt) when the opposition is Spain in the final[v], or when you are a goal down, or when it looks as though you are heading for penalties

‽ How the athletes preparing for the Olympics are seeking to optimise training so that their very physical form and their skills are honed for just the right moment whether that is a 10 second burst, or a five set match, or a 20metre dive

‽ How the form of a new government, a Cabinet, a civil service may be shaped for ‘delivery’

‽ How the form of the armed forces may or may not be fit for purpose[vi]

‽ How the form of a map and boundaries (including national or state boundaries) may be determined by the function required by the map and boundary-makers

‽ How the form of sentencing options and prison arrangements might reflect the perceived (five) functions of a criminal justice system - with prisons that may be either ‘warehouses for the incorrigible or greenhouses for the redeemable’ (what a phrase heard on the radio[vii] as this was being typed)

‽ How the form of a family may matter less to children and young people and their optimal development than the functioning of committed parents and carers in family and other arrangements that may come in many shapes and sizes

‽ What factors may play a part in shaping form in addition to function… perhaps including finances, political will, ideology, belief, etc., etc.; possibly including imposed rules and limitations - for surely 12 or more players from the England football team on the pitch at the same time on Sunday might be desirable or even necessary, but would also surely be considered bad form and, at the end of the day, just wouldn’t be cricket - both literally and figuratively‽

And as thoughts about form and function continue to swirl around (perhaps, possibly, maybe providing some fresh ways to think about how we organise our lives or have them organised for us) ‽istis is wondering whether the forthcoming dog walk in the day’s rather chilly weather requires a particular garment? It’s a frequently worn ‘Rohan’ jacket bought c. 25 years ago but which now no longer bears the original accompanying label that extolled its quality and spoke of the primary design rationale: to blend form and function perfectly…  

©‽istis

NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on X/Twitter with replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders.  X/Twitter ‘follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...  



[i] https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/12-july/news/uk/general-synod-digest-safeguarding-reform-moves-forward & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOyifAvqCOg (18’46” in)  Lesley-Ann Ryder independent co-chair of the Response Group set up following two commissioned reports earlier this year by Sarah Wilkinson (on the disbanding of the Independent Safeguarding Board), and Professor Alexis Jay (on the future of safeguarding).

 

[ii] And ‽istis wonders whether indeed the safeguarding sticking points for the Church of England are to be found in unresolved issues and differences about the function/s of the Church in relation to safeguarding. Perhaps until that is resolved

[iii] “We know we have not got this right in the past, but we can work towards getting it right in the future.”  Kashmir Garton, interim chair of the National Safeguarding Panel (see Church Times article cited above.

[iv] …including the form and arrangements of prayers and blessings: included in a service, offered in a stand-alone service, or even comprising a full and complete marriage service (another focus of Synod) https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/living-love-and-faith

[vii] To punish, to protect, to reduce crime, to reform, to rehabilitate. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0020y75 c. 18” in to the programme - Bishop James Jones


Friday, 5 July 2024

‽istis ponders 'poliminal moments' and well-spent lives… (weekending July 6th 2024)

 

‽istis ponders 'poliminal moments', change, making a difference and well-spent lives… (weekending July 6th 2024)

At this week’s ending the political landscape in the UK at the national level will have changed – even as many call for or promise change itself. ‘Portillo moments’[i] may have come and gone, some people will be preparing to adjust to new employment opportunities, others may be seeking fresh employment; Downing Street rooms may face fresh decoration; the nations once again may or may not start to find out whether things can only get better.

Writing this on the general election voting day, ‽istis has decided to follow the tradition of limited domestic political comment whilst the polling stations are open – ‘poliminal’ moments?

We could look overseas, and there is much to draw attention: the national and international failures and utterly devastating impact on so many children, young people, adults, families and friends in Gaza, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Sudan, Myanmar, Ethiopia, The Sahel, Haiti, Armenia-Azerbaijan, etc.; the Unites States and whether the Presidential candidates are fit for the job or the best that a nation can offer; France and a possible contest for the heart and soul of a country, for the liberty, fraternity and equality of all its citizens…

We could look to sport: to European football, and a trophy that may or may not be ‘coming home’[ii] - or to Wimbledon. Undoubtedly skilful sports people nevertheless ‘playing’ - hitting balls with boots or heads or with stringed bats, many earning eyewatering sums of money for it as those imposters of triumph or disaster are far from treated the same[iii]

But ‽istis is appreciating a day when material that may not otherwise have been broadcast across the airwaves has a chance to reach us. Change, making a difference and well-spent lives have long been themes of these blog posts, and so it is perhaps no wonder that a chanced-upon interview on a radio station has made a great impression. The BBC Radio 4 ‘Today’ programme aired a chat between presenter Emma Barnett and guest Simon Boas – remarkable, poignant, utterly life-enhancing somehow in the midst of illness and imminent death[iv]

‽istis invites you to ponder and wonder these selected sections from the encounter between Emma Barnet (EB) and Simon Boas (SB):

SB: ‘…we all write chapters. All our lives are little books, but they are not someone else’s complete book. You’re a chapter or a page or a footnote in someone else’s life and they’re going to keep writing beautiful chapters when you’re gone. And these sort of green shoots can kind of grow around grief and put it into perspective…. (my) story – just because it’s over it does not mean it’s gone.’

EB: quoting a passage cited in SB’s book – from ‘Middlemarch’ by George Eliot:

‘The effects of her being was incalculably diffusive. For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts and, that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who live faithfully a hidden life and rest in unvisited tombs.’

EB: ‘It’s such a beautiful choice by you, if you don’t mind me saying… I thought about what a good way it is of illustrating the value of all our lives.’

SB: ‘That’s so right. I love that quote and it’s so true, you don’t need to have been a politician or a mover and shaker or an aid worker or anything; all of us make a huge difference.

I love the idea… that most films about time travel revolve around someone changing one tiny thing in the past and then of course they come back to the present and everything is different. But, if you project that forward, you change one tiny thing now, you can change huge amounts in the future.

And all our tombs will be unvisited in a few short years and all our actions and things will mostly be unremembered. But the smile you gave the checkout lady…  the kind words you said to some stranger in the street could still be rippling forward. And we all have that opportunity…  and it’s a huge power and I want everyone to realise how special and precious they are.’

EB: ‘I was wondering if I could ask you a question, I don’t think I’ve ever asked anyone this… how are you going to be spending your final day?

SB: ‘I’m sort of - not looking forward to it – of course that’s the wrong way, but I’m kind of curious about it and I’m happy and I’m ready.’

EB: ‘So, I wish you much peace and joy as possible and I’m thinking of you and your family.’

SB: ‘Oh thank you. As Julian of Norwich said: ‘All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.’

And now from the 'gleeful love for the wonder of life' to something that may or may not be completely different (‽istis will let you decide): the UK general election 2024...

©‽istis

NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on X/Twitter with replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders.  X/Twitter ‘follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...  


Tuesday, 2 July 2024

‽istis takes the temperature of the UK General Election debates (weekending June 29th 2024)

 

‽istis takes the temperature of the UK General Election debates (weekending June 29th 2024)

This week ‽istis has listened to hours of coverage of the General Election campaign, to leaders, deputies, spokespeople, the general public and commentators galore – the soundbites are up and running; the main lines of ‘attack’, ‘defence’ or offence are rehearsed, sometimes even when they relate to the question asked…

But ‽istis has been wondering about the things that are left unsaid; that don’t seem to get the airtime; that may cost a fortune: such as the crumbling not-fit-for-purposeness of Westminster itself (c.£22billon?)[i]; social care (already costing c.£20.5billion with the current level of provision in 2022/2023)[ii]; the cost of compensation in the infected blood scandal (c.£10billion?)[iii]; the compensation cost of pension underpayment for ‘WASPI women’ (c.£3.5 - £10.5billion)[iv]; the suggested extra c.£38billion per year to ‘revive the National Health Service’[v]

…and then there is the climate…

‘The final head to head debate between Starmer and Sunak didn’t have a single question on climate or nature.’ Josiah Mortimer in ‘Byline Times’[vi]

This week, ‽istis has revisited previous blogs[vii] and many reports, publications and websites[viii] relating to what almost ubiquitously is called the ‘climate crisis’.

One summary of the three IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Sixth Assessment Reports (published as a single synthesised report in March 2023 and ‘drawing on the findings of 234 scientists on the physical science of climate change, 270 scientists on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change, and 278 scientists on climate change mitigation’) suggests:

‘It (also) makes for grim reading. Across nearly 8,000 pages, the AR6 details the devastating consequences of rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions around the world — the destruction of homes, the loss of livelihoods and the fragmentation of communities, for example — as well as the increasingly dangerous and irreversible risks should we fail to change course.’[ix]

‘The science is clear: to avert the worst impacts of climate change and preserve a liveable planet, global warming needs to be limited as much as possible and as a matter of urgency. (IPCC). Under the Paris Agreement, countries agreed to substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to enable the long-term global average surface temperature increase to be kept well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C’[x]

The World Resources Institute suggests that the impact of climate changes ‘on people and ecosystems are more widespread and severe than expected’ and that ‘future risks will escalate rapidly with every fraction of a degree of warming’. Currently according to the UK Climate Change Committee, 'global average air surface air temperature has risen 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels and is now exceeding the range of temperatures seen over the last 10,000 years.'   

Right now:

·         c.50% of the world's population currently contends with severe water scarcity for at least 1 month a year

·         there is an increase in vector-bone diseases such as malaria, West Nile virus and Lyme disease because of higher temperatures

·         agricultural productivity has slowed in middle and low latitude countries – with crop production shrinking by a 1/3rd in Africa since 1961

·         since 2008, extreme floods and storms have forced over 20million people from their homes – every year.

According to the UK Climate Change Committee, 2023 was ‘the warmest year on record globally, reaching very close to 1.5C for the first time across multiple global datasets. 77 countries set new monthly average records - with large parts of America, Europe and South America experiencing record warm temperatures. Even if a 1.5C temperature rise can be held to, it is reported that this is likely to mean:

·         14% of land species at high risk of extinction

·         950 million people exposed to water stress, heat stress and desertification

·         40-54% increase in fire-burnt areas across Mediterranean Europe

·         45-58 more days per year with temperatures above 35C

·         The share of the global population exposed to flooding to rise by 24%

·         70=90% further decline in coral reefs.

But perhaps for too many of us it is all too much ‘not here and not now’, too much not a ‘clear and present danger’, too much ‘the fault of others’…

Yet according to the UK Climate Change Committee[xi] 2023 was the warmest year on record globally, reaching closet to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for the first time across multiple global datasets. In the UK, the first ever recorded day with temperatures reaching more than 40C was seen in July 2022. ‘The heatwaves across the 2022 summer led to over 4,500 excess deaths in England and Wales, alongside unexpected wild fires and droughts in E.Anglia, impacting food production and stressing ecosystems.’

And yet still: ‘The final head to head debate between Starmer and Sunak (one of whom is likely to be the UK’s new Prime Minister next week) didn’t have a single question on climate or nature.’

Not only may it be too much ‘not here and not now’ or a ‘clear and present danger’ for me, but some doubt the unequivocal assertions of scientist after scientist, report after report that ‘climate change is real and human activities are the main cause’ (IPCC 6th Report), that ‘people living in poverty – those who had little role in creating the climate crisis – are least able to respond, but most likely to bear the brunt of its effects’, that ‘the world continues to destroy natural ecosystems and consume fossil fuels at unsustainable rates, further fuelling climate change’… 

So, what might ‽istis have asked Mr Sunak and Mr Starmer, given the chance‽ 

Well here are some proposed questions:

·         Have you read and can you summarise the key points from the IPCC’s most recent (6th) Assessment Synthesis Report or the ‘Summary for Policymakers’[xii]?

·         Do you believe that the climate is changing, that Earth, our home, is warming?

·         If the answer is ‘no’, from where have you got your information and what gives you confidence that it is more correct than the IPCC report’s conclusions?  

·         If the answer is ‘yes’, do you believe that human activities are the main cause of global warming?

·         If you do not believe that human activities are the main cause of global warming, from where have you got your information and what gives you confidence that it is more correct than the IPCC report’s conclusions?   

·         If you believe that human activities are the main cause of global warming, do you believe that the polluters/contributors to global warming should pay – and that this should take into account total and aggregated activity that has contributed to global warming over the past 250 years[xiii]  What and how will you compensate or pay – and to whom?

·         If you believe that the globe is warming (perhaps irrespective of whether you believe that human activity is the main cause or not) with consequences for biodiversity, water and food provision and security, for migration, for sea levels, for extreme weather events, for peak temperatures, etc. what do you consider to be the potential consequences for the UK and the people that live within it over the next five years, ten years, twenty years (if we are saved…)?

And what is the plan…? 

Followed by perhaps that most challenging of questions: 

·     Could you be more specific, please?

And then:

·         Could you be even more specific, please?

©‽istis

NB: further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on X/Twitter with replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders.  X/Twitter ‘follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...  



[i] https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/palace-of-westminster-restoration-could-take-over-half-a-century-and-cost-22bn-24-02-2022/

[iv] ‘WASPI’: Women Against State Pension Inequality & https://www.theactuary.com/2024/03/28/ombudsman-demands-compensation-waspi-women

[vii] Most significant ones:

·         Pistis feels the heat (weekending July 31st 2021): https://pistisrec.blogspot.com/2021/07/pistis-feels-heat-weekending-july-31st.html

·         Pistis ponders no small change (weekending November 6th 2021): https://pistisrec.blogspot.com/2021/11/pistis-ponders-no-small-change.html

·         Pistis wonders how clear and present a danger (weekending October 16th 2021): https://pistisrec.blogspot.com/2021/10/pistis-wonders-how-clear-and-present.html

·         Pistis ponders whether there is anything more important (weekending March 25th 2023): https://pistisrec.blogspot.com/2023/03/pistis-ponders-whether-there-is.html

[viii] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/ & UN Research Guide: ‘Climate Change A Global Issue’ https://research.un.org/en/climate-change & The Royal Society ‘Climate change in the critical decade’ https://royalsociety.org/news-resources/publications/2022/ipcc-ar6-summary/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIstPUm5-IhwMVrpNQBh2XUg6AEAAYASAAEgJT7PD_BwE & The World Resources Institute ‘10 Big Findings from the 2023 IPCC Report on Climate Change’ https://www.wri.org/insights/2023-ipcc-ar6-synthesis-report-climate-change-findings#:~:text=Even%20if%20countries%20achieved%20their,C%20(2.7%20degrees%20F).

[xii] https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/summary-for-policymakers/

[xiii] See https://ourworldindata.org/contributed-most-global-co2  Article by Hannah Ritchie   


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