‽istis re-ponders
power – exploitative and exploited (weekending July 15th 2023)
This week again, so much to
ponder and wonder about, largely in despair:
1)
Back
to the established Church of England, and the meeting of one of its most
prominent governing institutions: General Synod[i],
and some of its Bishops, clergy and lay members[ii]: safeguarding; victims, rescuers and persecutors perhaps in complex and changing
dynamic[iii];
sexuality and relationships; marriage (to charge or not to charge, to include
or exclude, to bless or not to bless); processes (standing orders, points of
orders, can we, can’t we, creative solutions so the letter of the law is
adhered to and the 'spirit' - Holy or otherwise - of the room is reflected); governance, authority, Councils and committees, working groups; sorrys (sorries?); money… Oh, and God (present, absent[iv],
elsewhere, nowhere)?
2)
A
media frenzy; just about top-of-the-food-chain if not quite national treasure; blood
in the water; an unnamed young person/young adult, a finally named presenter; tabloid
media – thriving on our prurience; distraction; 'and in other news today'?
3)
News
of perhaps the hottest June; of record sea temperatures; of ground heat under
buildings; of ‘tipping points’[v]; the Anthropocene – a final warning?
And ‽istis wonders about any links.
What seemed to ‽istis to
be a stand-out question/speech at the unusual General Synod session in York last
Sunday afternoon perhaps gives a clue as to a
potential connecting thread.
c. 3hours and 21ish minutes in
to the Sunday afternoon session - and proceedings had moved on from one aspect
of safeguarding to another: the work to develop a ‘redress’ scheme[vi], the proposed measures to redress a legacy of abuse in the Church. Lindsay Llewellyn-MacDuff
spoke and invited the gathered to ‘step back’ suggesting that:
’I don’t think this redress will necessarily
end the circle of mistrust, grievance and injury that we keep lapping…’
A possible ‘deeper problem’ was suggested and a challenge issued: to identify and respond to what may be underlying ‘cause’ rather than ‘symptomology’[vii].
‘…we will keep circling this
drain until we address it because the Church of England has a problem with
power*.’
Lindsay Llewellyn-MacDuff went
on to refer to ‘root sin’, which one cited writer calls ‘sin so deeply buried…
that a community or organisation can no longer properly see it.’
Leaving aside the personal wince
at a possible COWPAT (Constructs or Opinions Which may Present as Truths’ – see
previous blogs, primarily https://pistisrec.blogspot.com/2020/06/pistis-reclaims-cowpats-weekending-june.html
and see the *above), perhaps, possibly,
maybe it is this matter: ‘power’ and especially exploitative power
or power exploited - that could link ‽istis’
three preoccupations this week‽
In order, following the numbers
above:
1) The level, distribution and exercise of
power within the Church – or perhaps any organisation? Two possible types come
to mind:
·
Active
power: to get things done, to decide, to influence, to decree, to authorise, to
require, to expect, to direct?
· ‘Check-ing’ power: to balance, to hold to account, to question, to mitigate, to moderate and temper, to challenge?
And perhaps both are needed…?
How do we respond to what can be the suppurative, insidious working out in lives and in an institution
of power abused: position, authority, favour, coercion, control, force -
physically[viii],
sexually, psychologically and spiritually - in the claimed or implied name of God[ix]
(who perhaps can intervene but possibly doesn’t; who may be cannot intervene; who perhaps, possibly, maybe even isn’t…)?
2) The power of money: to buy photographs,
perhaps to facilitate substance use; to draw out and reward the telling of stories,
whole, half, partial or even fabricated. The power of position, status, authority, credibility. Power to possibly buy silence or induce reluctant
‘don’t rock the boat-ery’. The power, maybe, to make or break lives, prospects
and careers. The potential power of apparent reckless compulsion? The power perhaps
to influence and inform views, opinions and gossip?
3) The need for power and energy
- coal-derived, gas-derived, oil-derived, precious-metals and chemicals-derived; resources
exploited and people exploited in the extraction and processing:
·
to drive the wheels of industry, capitalism, growth
and development/over-development to the betterment of some and the detriment of
many: people, places, flora and fauna, landscape and livelihood…
· to risk ‘an existential threat to civilisation’ and the ‘biggest emergency threat mankind has ever faced.’ (see ref. v, below). Oh so easy to type, oh so appalling and terrifying to really hear and comprehend...
And
at the end of all this, this week - ‽istis is left pondering: what power do you
or I have‽ – and ‽istis is left wondering: what shall we do with it‽
©‽istis
NB: further reflections and
comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on
Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval,
sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. Twitter ‘follows’
and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
[iii]
See Karpman’s ‘drama triangle’. Many references including (perhaps inevitably?)
Wikipedia, a starting point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karpman_drama_triangle
[iv] https://www.facebook.com/100008939463938/videos/599117858760803/
1’18”+ Where is God in this? At times quite hard to see… Febrile, factious, troubling… Faith in the Church, faith in God..? What
would Jesus be thinking? What might Occam say (whilst shaving away at the
possibly unnecessary
[v]
References include: https://sahilonline.org/last-month-was-hottest-june-ever-recorded-on-earth-nasa-noaa & NASA:
June 2022 tied as Earth’s warmest June on record » Yale Climate Connections
& https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/11/climate/chicago-underground-heat.html
& https://www.ft.com/content/c283bb9c-1a67-4659-830d-98580fef2900
& https://twitter.com/abledoc/status/1678628419444281345
& https://twitter.com/i/status/1679245418234822656
[vi] https://www.churchofengland.org/safeguarding/redress-scheme/redress-project-update-december-2022
[vii]
And ‽istis recalls the ending of a previous blog from September 2019: ‘…And if, perhaps, possibly, maybe we named,
sought to identify and tackle cause rather than just symptomology - then what
might be the fresh locus of our solutions and time; our energy, effort and
commitments; our policy, practice and spending – and how different the world
might be?’ https://pistisrec.blogspot.com/2019/09/pistis-reclaims-cause-over-symptom-wc.html
[viii]
Who might dominate in the alleged wrestling bouts between charismatic pastor
and ‘acolyte’: https://julieroys.com/matt-redman-commend-survivors-speaking-uk-church-pilavachi-abuse-scandal/
[ix]
And some people may indeed be troubled by the ‘Our Father’ start of the ‘Lord’s
Prayer’ – when a father or indeed a priest-titled ‘Father’ has been the source
of abuse…. Several references including: https://www.gbnews.com/news/church-news-lords-prayer-problematic-patriarchal-stephen-cottrell#:~:text=The%20Lord%27s%20prayer%20is%20%E2%80%9Cproblematic,Church%20of%20England%27s%20ruling%20body.
