The Church and the world

From Guatemalan hilltop towns to China’s social revolution, the Church is going strong.

(*Note on terminology* sometimes I talk about 'Protestants'. This is a denomination of Christianity and is within that religion, rather than being separate.)

Guatemala



Almolonga

The Economist recently published a special report on Almolonga, a town of 14,000 in Guatemala’s highlands.

Guatemala is not a prospering, peaceful country. In 2014, it was 31st of 33 Latin American/Caribbean countries on the Human Development Index. A former leader has been convicted on charges of genocide.

 

But in the 1970s there was a revival of the Christian faith in Almolonga. And that revival has changed the town. In 2003, they opened a secondary school which sends graduates to national universities; the school board talk seriously about students working at NASA.


Guatemala's in Central America

Three-quarters of the town are now members of the Church, and farmers in Almolonga earn two times more than farmers in a neighbouring town (where religion hasn’t taken off).

Down in Guatemala City, the capital, almost all of the 200 drug rehab centres are run by Christians; having a faith has been linked to a rise in earnings among male workers; the Church has had a prominent role in anti-corruption campaigns and gang ceasefires.

The Church is on the rise in Guatemala.
 It’s easy enough to shrug this off as a an accident; a small country changing amidst a struggling world. It's not all success; the Church there has been politically clumsy at times (e.g. allowing the state more power over its affairs).
But I don't buy the 'accident' story. Because it's not the only place where change is happening so fast, and with such great effects.

 

China

One of the more tightly controlled states in the world has one of the most rapidly expanding Christian populations. As people become richer, they want their modernisation to have a moral framework.



Pastor Wu Weiqing of the state church.
He believes that Jesus 'would be a member of
the Communist Party'.

An bloody attempt at suppression and destruction of Christianity in the 1960s failed, and there are now more than 80 million Christians in China.

There could be as many as 160m by 2025, which will make it the world’s most Christian country, and the number of Protestant Christians will outstrip Europe's significantly (currently standing at 100 million). 
True Christianity seems to have no problem with the fact that the state dislikes (read: 'hates') it and tries to dilute it by running a false, 'state-before-God' Church. Which is good.



One large cathedral in Wenzhou (a coastal city) being demolished

Because this persistent growth worries China’s leadership. They see Christianity as an organisation outside their all-knowing control. Its different ethics and codes could make it a problem (there's sure to be conflict in the future).

So they’ve started to clamp down on open Churches, investing into their own brand of Christianity while demolishing buildings linked with the original faith.

But the Church thrives under persecution. People are simply going 'underground'. If this new round of repression goes anything like the last one, I’m not sure it will be very successful.

The developing world...throughout history

Okay...It's a generalisation. But there's so many different examples, and data is rather hard to come by so I've thrown them all in. What is clear though, is that a Church based on Christian love remains constant in the past, present, and probably the future.

In our more science-based, ‘rational’, Western identities, religion is certainly on the decline. Yet that trend runs opposite to the worldwide shift.


The spread of people who at least identify as Christian


As Mike Davies (an activist and writer) puts it, ‘Marx has yielded the stage to Mohammed and the Holy Ghost’.

Instead of embracing Karl Marx (the founder of communism) and launching revolutions or insurgencies, people are turning to Christianity and Islam for support.

In Colombia, scene of a Church revival, where a man would spend 40% of his earnings in a bar or brothel, he now invests it into his family. This has been linked to a rise in living standards and democracy, because women are more able to speak up.

William Wilberforce, an activist, successfully lobbied the government of the biggest slave trading nation in the world (Great Britain and its Dominions) to be the first to ban the practice in 1807. He then met the King of Russia and persuaded him to pass a similar law. All this was done with other notable Christians such as John Newton and Thomas Clarkson - the Church coming together.


And my favourite example: in East Germany in 1989, a Leipzig prayer movement sparked mass protests against an oppressive and ruthless regime. 

The police let the 70,000 people who'd gone to the prayer meeting campaign for change in East Germany's first ever mass protest.
The protests snowballed, and next month the country collapsed under pressure, leading to a united Germany and the end of the Cold War.

The Church is ridiculed in the UK. It's seen as backwards, comical, and stubborn. And it's gotten things wrong in the past. Badly wrong. But if people were to see the amazing things that it does, around the world and for all people, I think we'd be amazed.

 

A Stubborn Donkey

After damaging losses last year, the Democrat Party is re-emerging and gaining ground again. 

It’s had successes in Virginia and New Jersey, and may do well in Alabama.

Virginia:

(Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Attorney-general, House of Delegates up for election)

The New York Times called the Virginia elections the “purest form of grassroots anger” at President Trump. The convincing vote for the Democrat Party suggests that the people are getting fed up with his leadership.

Ralph Northam - staying on as Governor -  beat rival Ed Gillespie by a margin of 231,715 votes; that’s an 8.9% lead. 
Northam is not a typical Democrat. He has vowed to work with President Trump, and admits to twice voting for George W. Bush. But this stance seems to have secured many swing voters, attracted by his more moderate style.

Northam (left) and Fairfax (right) celebrate

Meanwhile, Justin Fairfax became Virginia’s new Lieutenant-Governor, while Mark Herring held onto his attorney-general seat. They are both Democrats. 

Then in a vote almost too close to count, they took the House of Delegates (i.e. the House of Lords) from the Republicans, who'd previously had a 2:1 majority.

This is a big success for the Democrats. Yes, the opposition normally does well in the local elections, and yes, they were already strong in Virginia. 

But they’ve shown an ability to take the more moderate centre ground with well-chosen candidates. Mr Northam is polled to have won votes on healthcare and opposition to Trump. The Republican Party doesn’t have a convincing answer to either of these issues.


New Jersey:

(Governor, Senate, Assembly, Mayors)

Election map -
New York is in the top right.

In a state that traditionally bucks the trend, former President Barack Obama and native rock star Bon Jovi both supported Phil Murphy to his first political victory: the Democrat candidate soundly beat Kim Guadagno to the Governorship, enjoying a 13.3% margin.

The victory here was slightly more expected: there are 900,000 more Democrat members than Republican members, and the Democrats won here comfortably last year. 
Also, neither candidate was overly-exciting. Turnout was low, inevitably favouring the Democrats.

But any victory is welcome for the Party right now, and the success will hold off internal squabbling and divisions. They have majorities in the State Senate and Assembly, facing down Republican opposition, and giving them a secure base for the next election.







Alabama:

(Senator, State House)


After one of Alabama’s senators, Jeff Sessions, became Attorney-General to the United States, a new senator was needed. Cue a special election in this deeply Republican state.

The Republican front-runner is Roy Moore. Mr Moore is a revolver-waving, twice-suspended Chief Justice seen as a religious Conservative. His Democrat opponent is Doug Jones, a former Prosecutor from a blue-collar background. 

The Democrats are encouraged by their recent success in special elections (see above) and Moore’s odd inability to perform well in the general vote (he scraped through in 2012).
The Democratic National Committee has sent research reports and a personal profile on Moore. (Former Vice-President) Joe Biden has visited. The Party has sensed they may have a chance.

It’s an outside chance in this deeply religious, Bible-bashing territory, but it’s a chance nonetheless. A victory here would be a critical defeat for the Republican Party -  even a narrow defeat would enhearten the Democrats. 

Jones is fishing for those apathetic about Trump - maybe 37% of the electorate - but his traditional Democrat beliefs may hold him back: he’s energetic over renewable energy, education reform, and abortion. 

It’s too close to call.

Stay tuned for December 12th.

David Cameron: Clumsy Etonian or Modern Leader?

When we think about politics now, we think of Corbyn, Brexit, and Trump. 

David Cameron announces his resignation
(June 24th 2016)

We have little time to judge the UK’s 75th Prime Minister. He served for one and a fifth terms, and has been associated with huge change in healthcare, education, and welfare. 
Yet he resigned abruptly in 2016, attacked from all sides after defeat in the EU referendum vote. 

He split opinion decisively, and I believe his strengths (passion, morality, leadership) were too easily dismissed. However, he certainly rushed into things, and could seem out of touch at times.

So what were his main achievements; what were his big failures, and how do they add up?*

Achievements:

1) NCS

His flagship 'Big Society (1)' idea is the 'National Citizens Service', a youth scheme for 15-17 year olds, funded by the government and cheap to join. He wanted young people of all backgrounds to integrate, exploring different opinions and cultures, taking that experience into adulthood. 

As a recipient of the program, my experience did live up to that ideal, and certainly challenged the way I live and behave. With a financial overhaul, it could become a world leader of its kind. A big success for Cameron.

2) Aid budget

While suffering a lot of calls to stop doing so, Cameron continued sending 0.7% of our budget to developing/fragile nations - honouring commitments made by many major economies in recent years (while being the only one to keep that promise - we give more than the USA proportionally). 

The funds go to countries struggling with natural disasters or civil war, and reflect the British tradition for generosity and charity during crises like the spread of Ebola and famine in Africa.

3) The Scottish Referendum

His success in securing a ‘No’ vote over Scotland leaving the UK in 2014 has put the divisive issue to rest for a while. After concerns over a possible ‘Yes’ vote, he made a late emotional, and possibly vital, push for Scotland to stay. He made no attempt to disguise his patriotism in the campaign, and was visibly relived when it ended successfully. His passion for the country was evident and powerful.

Failures:

1) EU Referendum

His career breaker: the decision to leave the European Union. He confidently expected an easy, sensible campaign resulting in a 'Remain’ vote. What happened was a messy; controversial; tough four months, resulting in a slim, but disastrous, loss. 

He struggled to co-ordinate potential allies (Jeremy Corbyn dragged his feet throughout, and the Lib Dems had no strategy), and misread the mood of the people. The only part that he executed well was his resignation.

2) UKIP

His party never had any idea how to combat the anti-EU, anti-immigration party, preferring to ignore it until it was too late. Even though Farage struggled in the 2015 election, his mere existence kept the Conservatives talking about the EU so much that  Cameron decided to launch a referendum. UKIP also attracted many Tory voters and two of its MPs, causing damage to Cameron's reputation.

3) Education

Michael Gove - a close friend of Cameron's

His second education secretary, Michael Gove, led a huge reform of the education curriculum, emphasising exams and grades over individual-based learning. 

The result? A great increase in the burden and mental pressures on both students and teachers. No teaching body has thought well of the changes. 

Cameron certainly encouraged this, and gave Gove too free a reign in this area, so I partially attribute this failure to Cameron.

Summary:

He certainly can't deserve all the flak directed at him: he was undeniably compassionate and kind as a person, and took Britain in a much more progressive direction. Yet he was also misguided in his grasp of what the people thought, and struggled when events were moving at speed (see Libya). The choice is yours - what do you think? 

(Comment your opinion below.)

*Obviously, this is all my opinion and are the things I feel the keenest about; there are other big topics (e.g. gay marriage, Chinese relations, austerity, Libya) which all could be on here, but would make it too long. I'm also not going to refer to any scandals or tabloid stories - just policies.