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Today, as I boarded the King car on Roncesvalles, on my way to St. Bart's (I go up Roncy to Dundas and then over) I passed a slew of empty seats and stood. In other words, I did just what other people do when I'm sitting down. I didn't avoid sitting because of the people beside whom I'd end up sitting...I just had a short trip and didn't need to sit. Perhaps this is what's happening when I'm the guy with the free seat. I still think it's something about me...like the skull tattoo on my forehead. Nigeria has long been a tense place for Muslim/Christian relations. Recently the violence, Muslims attacking Christians, has surged. It's a time when being a Christian in Nigeria, following a Lord who did not win victory by arms and violence, is a difficult thing. It's also when Christians are called to be their best, acting peacefully in the face of aggression. (Note to George W. Bush - read the Beatitudes.) So the Anglican Archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola (Akannoying) has threatened Nigerian Muslims, saying that they weren't the only ones who could be violent. As Stephen Bates put it in the Church of England Newspaper, Akinola "waded into the inter-religious violence in Nigeria with all the abandon of a man waving a lighted match near a pool of petrol." Shortly thereafter mobs of Christians began, again in Bates' words, "hacking people to death with machetes." You know, it makes me want to join the United Church. Has this guy read the gospel? He's so hot on Biblical literalism, maybe he ought to try taking the "bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them" bit to heart. (Romans 12:14) Yes, speak out against violence. Yes, demand that it cease. But don't go thumping your chest and rattling your sabre...at least not if you claim to follow Christ. Our Lord calls us to peace, as difficult as that is. You'd hope an archbishop might have figured that one out by now. P.S. - It's fun to do a spell check and, when Microsoft questions "Akinola" to hit "Ignore." Good advice, that. |
