The shocking murders of the prostitutes in England by a serial murderer hit the headlines all over the world.....the good news is that they appear to have caught the killer.....the bad news is that, just like my opening sentence, the victims are still being referred to as 'prostitutes'. They should be refered to as women. The way the media constantly called them by their 'profession' is an insult to them and to let it pass is to be a part of the offence. It is too easy to brand people by what they do, their ethnicity, their sexuality, their income, their vocation etc. This can lead to a number of things which in this case include;

1. the value we place on them (I am sure that some felt the prostitutes almost deserved it or at least were in some part to blame due to their profession),
2. the severity we place on what happens to them (I am sure that some would see it as a lot worse if the victims were 'nice' middle class women),
3. who we blame ( I am sure there are those who think this type wouldn't happen if we banned prostitutes).
4. and many more that I do not have the time here to explain.

I am convicted by the fact that Jesus, whose birth we celebrated a couple of days ago, hung with prostitutes, loved them, esteemed them as people and wants to be a part of their life...including their life on the streets. He is the one who we should look to for a way of viewing the victims of the murderer.

In the USA a man sentenced to death took more than 25 mins to die in Florida. The lethal injection did not work and they had to repeat the process. The witnesses said that he was groaning and gasping. The officials said he was peaceful and sleeping! This whole thing horrifies me for a number of reasons but the overriding one is that it is the Christian right who are the main supporters of this evil. Who are these people that want death and when it goes wrong don't seem to take responsibility for it? If anyone else tortured and killed someone in this way they themselves would be sentenced to death (Currently not in every state but if the Christian right get their way it would be). When its the state however they are exempt...especially as they are doing Gods will.
What amazes me even more is that the same group of people are strongly anti abortion. Killing of an innocent life is wrong...except when you are poor and facing the death penalty. There are numerous stories of innocent men on death row being released because of new DNA evidence etc and others who were clearly innocent but executed. Again I ask...who is responsible for these innocent deaths or near deaths?
Its scary being a Jesus person when the publicity we get is that we all support war on Arabs (in oil rich countries) and we support killing people in the name of the state. It also scary that while the USA Christian right are very strong and vocal in this type of christianity (?) it is growing in NZ and Australia...in fact everywhere. The scariest part is that is usually marketed as pro family lobby groups and political parties.....I say keep them away from my family as they are dangerous!

A number of people have commented on my last post...thanks. To follow on there are a number of thoughts that come to my mind but the first is that we have to unpack what we mean by the words we use. Most are a reflection of our own values and behaviours that we project into the meaning of the words. Worship is a classic. Usually in the west it means something we enjoy. I can't help but think it should be asked does God enjoy it (In asmuch as God enjoys as we understand the term!). Therefore when a church has a worship service who is it aimed at? I would contend it is usually aimed at making the people that attend feel good and is often nothing more than a marketing excercise!
Like wise Triumphalism. We in the self centred, self focused west see it winning so we are on top...be it financially, relationships, stuff etc. I would contend that in part the triumph of the resurrection is focused on the rights of the poor and oppressed to be fed, housed and free and we as the people of the resurrection are to work towards this which will ultimately be found in heaven.
There are many examples of how we misuse words for our words and I think that many of the large churches and christian movements reinforce this...often overtly and often subtly as the medium really is the message.