What News the Eagle Brought...
"Nay, sister," answered Jewel, "all worlds draw to an end; except Aslan's own country."
How the dwarfs refused to be taken in...
"You see," said Aslan. "They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they can not be taken out."
Night Falls on Narnia...
"...as they came right up to Aslan one or the other of two things happened to them. They all looked straight in his face; I don't think they had any choice about that. And when some looked, the expression of their faces changed terribly-it was fear and hatred; except that on the faces of Talking Beasts, the fear and hatred lasted only for a fraction of a second. You could see that they suddenly ceased to be Talking Beasts. They were just ordinary animals. And all the creatures who looked at Aslan in that way swerved to their right, his left, and disappeared into his huge black shadow...but the others looked in the face of Aslan and loved him though some of them were very frightened at the same time. And all these came in at the Door, in on Aslan's right."
Further up, Further in...
"...that was not the real Narnia. That had a beginning and an end. It was only a shadow or a copy of the real Narnia which had always been here and always will be here: just as their own world, England and all, is only a shadow or copy of something in Aslan's real world."
"I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it until now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this!"
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Sri Lanka's War
James Traub, a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and director of policy for the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, wrote an excellent article about the conflict in Sri Lanka (see below). Its a complicated conflict and he articulates the nuances well. One point he didn't raise, which I see as being essential to any discussion about Sri Lanka, is the growing religious persecution which is part of the bigger conflict taking place and will remain even after the current skirmishes are over.
Religious persecution has been a constant undercurrent in Sri Lanka, this combined with the current ethnic conflict has greatly curtailed the full functioning of civil society and has the potential to further destabilize the country. Thus far, the Sri Lankan government has, to their credit, taken care to protect the constitutional right to freedom of religious choice by not enacting proposed laws subjecting religious conversion to criminal scrutiny. However, various parties within the government and religious extremists outside the government are continueing to pressure lawmakers to pass several pieces of draconian legislation. For example, several months ago an anti-conversion bill was pushed by the Buddhist Commission on Unethical Conversions. The bill would declare Buddhism the State religion and require government approval for a Sri Lankan citizen to change his or her religion from Buddhism. The bill also contained draconian punishments for the concept of "alluring" one away from his or her religion, but the definition of "alluring" and "religion" are vague and unclear, leaving room for abuse. The bill didn't pass, but how long will the Parliment have the political will to stand against such ideas?
Religious diversity is a lynch-pin of a free "full functioning" civil society, as shown throughout the world. A great example in Sri Lanka is despite persecution (churches being burnt, threats are made to the personal well-being of pastors and their families, etc) the Christian Church in Sri Lanka, representing all ethnic communities, is making every effort to care for and meet the humanitarian needs of all religious and ethnic groups. The Sri Lankan government needs to guard itself against fanatical groups which are looking to undermine society and limit its citizen's fundamental freedoms.
At Risk in Sri Lanka's War
James Traub
April 22, 2009
At this moment, at least 60,000 civilians trapped in a tiny strip of land along the northern coast of Sri Lanka are being deployed as human shields by the insurgent force known as the Tamil Tigers -- while artillery shells fired by the Sri Lankan army land indiscriminately among rebels and noncombatants alike. The United Nations asserts that at least 4,500 civilians have been killed since January as the government has sought to decisively end a bloody rebellion that has lasted for a quarter-century. The army is said to be preparing a final assault that, according to U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, could produce a "bloodbath." Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has spoken of "tens of thousands" of lives at risk. Yet the conflict has barely been reported, and the international community has barely stirred.
The fighting threatens to produce exactly the kind of cataclysm that states vowed to prevent when they adopted "the responsibility to protect" at the 2005 U.N. World Summit. This doctrine stipulates that states have a responsibility to protect peoples within their borders from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. When states are found to be "manifestly failing" to protect citizens from such mass violence, that responsibility shifts to the international community, acting through the United Nations. At the core of this norm is the obligation to act preventively rather than waiting until atrocities have occurred, as has happened too often...(read more)
Religious persecution has been a constant undercurrent in Sri Lanka, this combined with the current ethnic conflict has greatly curtailed the full functioning of civil society and has the potential to further destabilize the country. Thus far, the Sri Lankan government has, to their credit, taken care to protect the constitutional right to freedom of religious choice by not enacting proposed laws subjecting religious conversion to criminal scrutiny. However, various parties within the government and religious extremists outside the government are continueing to pressure lawmakers to pass several pieces of draconian legislation. For example, several months ago an anti-conversion bill was pushed by the Buddhist Commission on Unethical Conversions. The bill would declare Buddhism the State religion and require government approval for a Sri Lankan citizen to change his or her religion from Buddhism. The bill also contained draconian punishments for the concept of "alluring" one away from his or her religion, but the definition of "alluring" and "religion" are vague and unclear, leaving room for abuse. The bill didn't pass, but how long will the Parliment have the political will to stand against such ideas?
Religious diversity is a lynch-pin of a free "full functioning" civil society, as shown throughout the world. A great example in Sri Lanka is despite persecution (churches being burnt, threats are made to the personal well-being of pastors and their families, etc) the Christian Church in Sri Lanka, representing all ethnic communities, is making every effort to care for and meet the humanitarian needs of all religious and ethnic groups. The Sri Lankan government needs to guard itself against fanatical groups which are looking to undermine society and limit its citizen's fundamental freedoms.
At Risk in Sri Lanka's War
James Traub
April 22, 2009
At this moment, at least 60,000 civilians trapped in a tiny strip of land along the northern coast of Sri Lanka are being deployed as human shields by the insurgent force known as the Tamil Tigers -- while artillery shells fired by the Sri Lankan army land indiscriminately among rebels and noncombatants alike. The United Nations asserts that at least 4,500 civilians have been killed since January as the government has sought to decisively end a bloody rebellion that has lasted for a quarter-century. The army is said to be preparing a final assault that, according to U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, could produce a "bloodbath." Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has spoken of "tens of thousands" of lives at risk. Yet the conflict has barely been reported, and the international community has barely stirred.
The fighting threatens to produce exactly the kind of cataclysm that states vowed to prevent when they adopted "the responsibility to protect" at the 2005 U.N. World Summit. This doctrine stipulates that states have a responsibility to protect peoples within their borders from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. When states are found to be "manifestly failing" to protect citizens from such mass violence, that responsibility shifts to the international community, acting through the United Nations. At the core of this norm is the obligation to act preventively rather than waiting until atrocities have occurred, as has happened too often...(read more)
Monday, April 20, 2009
S. African military to deploy to Sudan
Please pray for the South African military, who leave for Sudan this month.
Several groups worked together to distribute about 1700 bibles to both Christians and Muslims soldiers who have been deployed to Sudan. The Senior staffs of the Military Camp have requested Complete Bibles
Please Pray as we believe these bibles will be of use to the soldiers but also an opportunity to reach out to the Sudanese.
Several groups worked together to distribute about 1700 bibles to both Christians and Muslims soldiers who have been deployed to Sudan. The Senior staffs of the Military Camp have requested Complete Bibles
Please Pray as we believe these bibles will be of use to the soldiers but also an opportunity to reach out to the Sudanese.
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