Lets Hear No More From The Bishops

In 2011 we saw the Church of England divided about the issue of Occupy protestors on church land at St Pauls Cathedral. We have also seen the Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury criticise the excesses of the City and bankers.

Let us hear no more from these hypocrites in 2012, and let us loudly denounce those gullible fools, from Occupy to Terry Eagleton, who would include sky pilots in the struggle for a better world. Lets us consider yesterday's Evening Standard, and its excellent City Spy column which talks of:

...the Church Commissioner's investment strategy of an "acceptable level of risk" to achieve "the best possible total return for the shares" they own which are worth £3.2 billion. They hold another £1.6 billion in commerical property.

As with any good capitalist institution though, the Church of England now concentrates its investment abroad (those English workers want too much money!)

In recent years they have scaled down their holdings in UK company shares and invested more in global company shares and private equity.

With assests of £4.8 billion, the Church of England could wipe out poverty in Britain at a stroke. They don't - because they don't want to. Having a rich and a poor, having 'good' works to do, is for the religious actor as natural as day and night. And as such, it is high time we realised they are not part of the solution - they are part of the problem.

 

 

 

Comments

[Ray]

Spot on Paul. You don't post as often as you used to (it's them twins) but this blog remains as pertinent as ever.

[Internationalist]

If you think it is possible to wipe out poverty with £4.8 billion then think again. The UK's annual social security budget alone is £200 billion.

Why are anarchists such economic illiterates?

So remove your filching hands from the Church of England's collection plate and find a more suitable target for your anger.

Or if you do criticize the Church then keep it at the ideological level. Their role is to make people think that the world could be better if only those bankers could have a change of heart and become good Christians.

This helps deflect any attacks on capitalism as a system.

Your friends at the "centre-left" Harrys Place do much the same thing, arguing that capitalism is just wunnerful if we can only get rid of [muslim] extremism, though of course their own religion is above criticism.

Well not quite true. Some brave souls risk having a pop:

http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/islamophobic-harrys-place-thanks-its-jewish-anti-zionist-col.html#entry14400280

[rasta]

fair play to paul stott, he may be full of shit a lot of the time i.m.o. but that post was on point, fuck the church of england fuh real. As for international wank-o-matic... Speaking as someone who wishes a painful death to all zionists and their sympathisers, i still fail to see what the fuck the scumbags at harry's shithole have to do with this post.

[Internationalist]

"i still fail to see what the fuck the scumbags at harry's shithole have to do with this post."

Thank you for your polite enquiry, Mr Rasta.

Here is my answer:

Like the Bishops of the Church of England, centre-leftists such as the contributors at Harrys Place criticize aspects of capitalism while endorsing it (or at least not condemning it) as a system.

I wouldn't necessarily call this hypocrisy though. That's just the way they think.

Best regards Mr Rasta and Happy New Year.

[Internationalist]

BTW be careful what you wish for, Mr Rasta.

I would not wish a painful death on anyone.

I even felt sorry for Christopher Hitchens.

[rasta]

lol why not join the church of england then you self-righteous twit. I'm a nice guy, ask any of my friends, but there are plenty of people who i wish a violent death to. Those who wish violent death to me and to people i care about for example, and especially those with the power to actually act on those wishes, which i don't have. I would actually venture to say that if you *don't* wish violent death on (egs.) the people who murdered stephen lawrence, the israeli f-16 pilots who deliberately dropped bombs on kids, the janjaweed massacring and raping people in sudan, and still more so the powerful people who orchestrate and/or benefit from the suffering and slaughter whilst keeping their own hands clean, then there must be something wrong with you. I don't care how much of a meditating buddhist pacifist you may be; if your sense of injustice does not push you to wish death on such people for at least a second or two before you unite with nirvana and forgive everyone, then you must not be a complete human being.