Letters From Brian, Our previous Minister
Recent copies of the letters from our previous Minister Brian.
These are reproduced from the monthly Newsletter..
30/06/10 None of us are without fault!?
As I write this article oil is still pouring out of a fractured pipe line in the Gulf of Mexico. The Chair of BP is just about to go to the White House to face the music with the President. The US media had been in full cry for British blood and the BP share price has dropped like a stone.
Sadly eleven people died in the explosion that destroyed the drilling rig when the incident began. Since then the stuff of nightmares has befallen the area. Everyone agrees that the resulting pollution has been catastrophic. Beautiful coastline and rich fishing stocks have been devastated and lives ruined. It has been a disaster for all concerned and it is not over yet.
The rhetoric and rage that has accompanied the matter has been worthy of note. People opinion has differed remarkably. The Americans don’t think BP are doing enough; many British people think too much is being demanded and many commentators think a lot of the blame is a smoke screen to get new policy through. Anyone who has shares in BP is taking a real hammering .
I and others have noticed an unpleasant feature in all of this – hypocrisy. What has happened in America is terrible and no one should deny it is a disaster. This however is the same America that ran such a shoddy banking system that the whole world is covered in their financial pollution. I am not aware the American’s have said ‘sorry’ for what effected everyone. I don’t remember offers of compensation outside the USA being offered. I know this is gross over simplification but a point to the observation is coming.
I also remember the disaster in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Union Carbide did make payments and did some cleaning up but the American company did not leave the place as they had found it. The legacy of what happened is seen in the Bhopal community today even in new born children. Somehow rage in India did not command today’s expectations in America. In India estimates vary but many think over 15,000 deaths occurred.
In Matthew 7 Jesus says
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”
No one is perfect but if someone demands compensation for a disaster then they must be prepared to compensate those who have known disaster at their hands.
None of us are without fault and if behave as if are truly great and fault free then God himself will have something to say on the matter. God does not like hypocrisy.
Best wishes
Brian
Sadly eleven people died in the explosion that destroyed the drilling rig when the incident began. Since then the stuff of nightmares has befallen the area. Everyone agrees that the resulting pollution has been catastrophic. Beautiful coastline and rich fishing stocks have been devastated and lives ruined. It has been a disaster for all concerned and it is not over yet.
The rhetoric and rage that has accompanied the matter has been worthy of note. People opinion has differed remarkably. The Americans don’t think BP are doing enough; many British people think too much is being demanded and many commentators think a lot of the blame is a smoke screen to get new policy through. Anyone who has shares in BP is taking a real hammering .
I and others have noticed an unpleasant feature in all of this – hypocrisy. What has happened in America is terrible and no one should deny it is a disaster. This however is the same America that ran such a shoddy banking system that the whole world is covered in their financial pollution. I am not aware the American’s have said ‘sorry’ for what effected everyone. I don’t remember offers of compensation outside the USA being offered. I know this is gross over simplification but a point to the observation is coming.
I also remember the disaster in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Union Carbide did make payments and did some cleaning up but the American company did not leave the place as they had found it. The legacy of what happened is seen in the Bhopal community today even in new born children. Somehow rage in India did not command today’s expectations in America. In India estimates vary but many think over 15,000 deaths occurred.
In Matthew 7 Jesus says
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”
No one is perfect but if someone demands compensation for a disaster then they must be prepared to compensate those who have known disaster at their hands.
None of us are without fault and if behave as if are truly great and fault free then God himself will have something to say on the matter. God does not like hypocrisy.
Best wishes
Brian
From Our Previous Minister, Brian
As I write this article oil is still pouring out of a fractured pipe line in the Gulf of Mexico.