So the Cross of Christ is "just a bit of bling", eh ???

by johnofgwent

Hat tip to "Bill.P" for a comment on one of my earlier posts which led me to to this story.

Before I start this one off, let's get one thing straight. I no longer profess belief in the Christian Faith. Long Story, which is a conversation we might have another day, but not today, for on this second day of what by Britain's calendar anyway is supposed to be Holy Week, I have bigger fish to fry. Because I may not believe the story any more, but I'm buggered if I am going to let some jumped up tosser take the piss out of it whilst at the same time professing themselves to be a believer. And if that means I have to out-evangelise Charles Wesley, well so be it someone pass me a soap box and a megaphone.

I refer to this story taken from the Daily Mail of Saturday 4th April.

A Government-funded charity was at the centre of a row last night after a magazine it publishes for children appeared to depict Christians as Islamaphobes who regard Muslims as terrorists. In a cartoon strip, a boy wearing a large cross around his neck is shown telling a friend that a smiling Muslim girl in a veil looks like a terrorist.He later confronts her and shouts: ‘Hey, whatever your name is, what are you hiding under your turban?’. She replies that the garment is called a hijab and it is part of her religion, ‘like that cross you wear’.The girl is then shown standing up for another boy, who is being bullied, and her behaviour is contrasted with that of the boy wearing the cross.

You can read the rest of the Daily Mail's take on this by clicking the link I provide. I will come back later to quote one more line from the story.

It seems the organisation behind this publication, the "Who Cares? Trust", received £100,000 from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, headed by Ed Balls, in both 2007 and 2008, and £80,000 this year. Two Tory MP's are less than impressed with this caricature and have said so.

But Who Cares? Trust chief executive Natasha Finlayson said she had no intention of withdrawing it, describing the cross as ‘bling’ rather than a religious symbol. Commenting on a complaint received, she is quoted as saying:-

‘I am a Christian myself, so when a woman called us, I went back and looked at the comic strip from her point of view. I am sorry that she is upset but I don’t share her view. When I saw the cartoon, I didn’t think of that character being a Christian because I saw the cross as ‘bling’, as jewellery.

Now then. Ask yourself what would happen if the faces on that pamphlet were reversed and the document was delivered to schools for handing out to children of islamic families in the week before Eid. Yes exactly. riots in the streets.

So now I need a volunteer. Who amongst those reading this calls themselves a Christian? And no this time I do not mean cucumber sandwiches and tea on the vicarage lawn this time I mean someone out there who can stand in front of me look me in the eyes and MEAN IT if they utter the Nicene Creed.

ANYONE reading this who says "The What" in response to the above can move along now there's nothing more to see.

Righty-Ho then. Those of you left reading this should know the words go something like this, and NOT just because you remember mouthing something similar as the choir sang the last verse of "Hark The Herald" the Sunday before you helped open the fancy holly wrapping on the kid's Wii Fit last December.

"We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made;

But it gets worse, ladies and gentlemen. I don't just need someone for whom those words mean something, someone for whom those words send a shiver down the spine. No, I need someone who can look me in the eye and tell me the next bit is as real to them as the keyboard and monitor they used to get to read this blog this morning.

The bit of which I speak, of course, goes like this :-

"he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;"

Right then. Is there just one amongst those reading my words here today who can, while being pushed into an corner for believeing it, still stand fast and tell me those words above mean something real to them personally.

No ? OK GA we lost, pack up the server and let's go have a quiet retirement.

Come On, There must be one amongst us who can stand there and say they believe in Jesus Christ As Their Personal Saviour. Or are you telling me the only people who do that sort of thing go sit in the sort of congregations preached to by James Brown ?

Right then. Do I have a volunteer ? Yes You Sir, And You Madam.

Good. I need you to ask yourself one question.

DO YOU believe the cross on which your saviour died, whose death the Christian Church that runs on OUR calendar will recognise in four days time, is an object to be worn "as a bit of bling" ? Or is it something deeply meaningful, an attack on which causes you deep hurt ?

Those who can't look me in the face and tell me they care can move on to the next blog entry now.

Right then the rest of you still here - I have a job for each one of you. I want to you pick up your mouse and click "Open New Tab" on your browser. Do it Now. And now I want you to go to www.writetothem.com and enter your postcode. Come on people, do it while there is still fire in your belly and righteous anger in your mind.

NOW I want all of you to find out from the profile page what faith, if any, your Member of Parliament purports to believe in. Not that it will make any difference, they are obliged to act on your reasonable requests, but wouldnlt it be fun to make a muslim do what comes next ....

You know what Iam going to say, don't you.

I want every one of you to spend ten minutes writing to your Member of Parliament, especially if he or she professes to a belief in the Christian faith, and even more especially if they profess a belief in islam.

I want you to tell them in your own words (without swearing, please) what you think of a woman who professes belief in christianity and yet tells the public the most sacred symbol of that faith, the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified to redeem the sins of man, is nothing more than a "bit of bling"

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. You may consider my Monday Rant Over. I shall now remove the dog collar and get down from the soap box.