Impact of inequality

by Richard Wilkinson

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lthough many people believe inequality is socially divisive and adds to the problems associated with relative deprivation, what inequality does or does not do to us has remained largely a matter of personal opinion.  But now that we have comparable measures of the scale of income inequality in different societies we can actually see what effect it has.  The new evidence shows that inequality is much the most important explanation of why, despite their extraordinary material success, some of the most affluent societies seem to be social failures.

What greater equality brings
In societies where income differences between rich and poor are smaller, the statistics show that community life is stronger and more people feel they can trust others.  There is also less violence – including lower homicide rates; health tends to be better and life expectancy is higher.  In fact most of the problems related to relative deprivation are reduced: prison populations are smaller, teenage birth rates are lower, maths and literacy scores tend to be higher, and there is less obesity.

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To be or not to be

… educated, that is!
by Graeme Smith

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ne of my deepest concerns regarding many within The Salvation Army of the Western world is an obsession with education. Actually, it is in particular the education of Salvation Army officers that seems to be the real issue for me. My concern is that there seems to be a growing number who believe that degree-educated candidates are the only ones who will eventually make good officers.

My problem with this is that I can’t understand why!

You see, I look around The Salvation Army world and see countless uneducated officers leading corps, centres, divisions - maybe even territories - and have to ask whether their service is any less competent because of not having gained a degree. I look at some of my erstwhile colleagues in Latvia and wonder why their loving, dedicated and incredibly successful service should be discounted because they don’t hold any certificates.

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We have a dream

On January 21st, 2008,
in recognition of the 40th anniversary
of his assassination, millions of Americans
will once again honour the legacy of
Martin Luther King Jr.

An article for theRubicon by Richard Munn

“At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the
night in a dream” 1 Kings 3:5

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n April 14th, 1865, Good Friday, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Adding mythical status to the Lincoln legend was the report that Abraham Lincoln had a premonition of his death in a dream the night before.

On April 4th, 1968 Martin Luther King was assassinated. This too, brought legend to greatness. Adding a similar mythical quality is his April 3rd public speech with the immortal words: ‘I have seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I have seen the Promised Land.’ There is almost a prophetic sense of the tragedy that is to follow. Is it a premonition of his impending and untimely death?

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Click on the arrow to listen to the I Have a Dream speech
August 28, 1963 (runs: 16:29)

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That moment, as well as the earlier “I have a dream” speech, helped to elevate the vision of an entire nation to a higher moral plane. It leaves the legacy of MLK with penetrating prophetic qualities.

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Too much to handle

by Peter Lublink

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f you have spent any time either as a member of The Salvation Army or with people who have been a part of The Salvation Army, you have likely come across the following phrase: “I didn’t realize that you’re a church!” Or perhaps you have come across one of these other common reactions: “Can a government social services provider really be a church as well?” “Don’t you guys just recycle old clothes?” “Don’t you just help poor people?”

Over the years, many Salvationists have begun to doubt themselves, their essence and their place in the global church as a result of these kinds of questions. For example, the question “Is the Salvation Army a church?” has been raised in the minds of many in and outside the Army. While at times these discussions can be interesting, the reality is that we are unquestionably a “church” in the most biblical sense of the word. But we are also a social services provider on behalf of the government; we do feed and clothe the poor; and we do operate a variety of services internationally that seek to aid people and their needs. And of course, we do recycle clothing and bring new life to old furniture, but that doesn’t mean that this takes away from our number one priority: to see new life breathed into people and their families.

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From a God we hardly knew

by William Willimon

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace
[Isa. 9:6].

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robably most of us have had the experience of receiving, right out of the blue, a gift from someone we really don’t know all that well. And, perhaps, to our consternation, the gift turns out to be nice, something that we didn’t know we wanted and certainly didn’t ask for, but there it is, a good gift from someone who is not really a good friend.Now, what is the first thing we do in response?

Right. We try to come up with a gift to give in return - not out of gratitude (after all, we didn’t ask for it) or out of friendship (after all, we hardly even know this person), but because we don’t want to feel guilty.

We don’t want to be indebted. The gift seems to lay a claim upon us, especially since it has come from someone we barely know. This is uncomfortable; it’s hard to look the person in the face until we have reciprocated. By giving us a gift, this person has power over us.

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Going Public: Elijah

Jeff Lucas book excerpt

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t’s one of my favourite worship songs, and one that has niggled away at me too. Delirious’ History Maker has in turn inspired and bothered me.

I’m gonna be a history maker in this land
I’m gonna be a speaker of truth to all mankind

It sounds great - but is it realistic? Is living a prophetic life that changes the world really a reachable goal - or just another piece of worshipful rhetoric? I wonder.

Elijah - a man whom the Bible insists was just like us - really did change history. Born 2,900 years ago in a hole-in-road town, Gilead, he was raised in a place from where tough, serious shepherds hailed. They were distinctive because of their broad accents and camel hair cloaks, rough, no-nonsense working men. Elijah found himself growing up in a nation that was a serious mess.

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Sermon of the word

… or words of a sermon by Sergei Zhuravlyov

2 Timothy 4:1-4

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t was a usual Sunday service common for a Salvation Army corps. I had just finished my part called worship and was sitting in the hall listening to the preacher. I won’t pretend that I was touched by the words from the stage. Instead, I wanted it to be over - the sooner the better. Some of the few parishioners were nodding off to sleep. They would probably disagree with me that the sermon was bad; they likely considered it to be fairly good, and perhaps even excellent, because it didn’t disturb their sleep. So it could have been a useful sermon because it allowed people to enjoy their Sunday morning dreams.

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Confessions of an aging radical

by Phil Wall

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am 44 years of age, ever so slightly plump around the middle, with an emerging solar panel on the top of my head and wafts of hair growing out of my ears. I have three great kids, a brilliant wife of 23 years, a manageable mortgage and a decent job. I go to church on a Sunday, most of my closest friends are fellow Christians, I drive a people-carrier with airbags front and back, and I have an HSA dental plan.

I think I am a decent bloke. I am a faithful and loving husband, with occasional moments of romantic brilliance. I do my best to be a committed and consistent dad (despite teenage tantrums), do my bit for charity and my only vice is coffee (well, that’s the only one I am going to confess to in this article). All round, I have a solid, mature, secure and seemingly successful existence, that in truth many would be jealous of.

What’s wrong with this picture? Nothing. Nothing at all (apart from the fact that on occasion I willingly visit garden centres and can walk through the menswear department of Marks & Spencer’s and not be truly offended by any garment that I see - it all looks OK!).

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the simple life

St. Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis is perhaps one of the most influential church leaders to walk the face of the earth since the Apostolic Age. And yet, unlike so many other church leaders, it was neither his prolific writings nor his extensive traveling that made him influential, but his intense desire to live a simple life of poverty—a life modeled in every way after Jesus Christ Himself (Torchia, 1993, p. 13). In order to best understand this influence, both on the contemporary Catholic Church and the modern church, the following major areas of interest will be discussed: first, a historical review of the church as it developed over the first millennium since Jesus Christ; second, a review of the historio-political circumstances surrounding Francis—internationally as well as locally. Once these two tasks have been accomplished, a specific examination of the person of Francis can be undertaken. Through these three initial steps, it will be possible to demonstrate that Francis was a person of massive influence—not simply on his contemporary church, but of continued influence of the church of today. › Continue reading

150,000 reasons

Why we should care about climate change
by Lucy AitkenRead

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few weeks ago at a Salvation Army meeting, we prayed for the brave people of Burma, the victims of human trafficking and the local fish. It was in a prayer time set aside for current issues, and in the previous week some bleach had spilt into the river, killing several tons of river life and damaging the local environment significantly. It didn’t feel obscure that we were praying for fish at the time, but in hindsight I realised this was probably the first occasion I had ever corporately prayed for anything non-human. This is strange, as being the chief stewards of the beautiful earth entrusted to us gives us reason to pray about the issues it involves. Praying for the restoration of this earth and for guidance in caring for it is as valid prayer as any. But… fish?

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