Virtual Methodist

Recently I've been invited to attend a number of protests concerning the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, asked to sign different petitions and encouraged to share different articles about the situation. I've done the latter a couple of times depending on the content of the article, but I have done neither of the former two, because I have not yet been entirely comfortable with the tone or origin of the protest or petition.  I don't know enough about the conflict to know how to effectively register my concerns, but I know enough to know which petitions I am not going to sign, and am reluctant to let my name on a petition or presence at a protest be held to indirectly add support to causes I would never support in a million years. I am not going to stand side by side with someone comparing the IDF to the Nazis, extolling the virtues of Hamas, or on the other hand sign a petition that equates criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. As a result I have felt somewhat powe...

I was sitting minding my own business this morning when an email arrived asking "Have you considered taking a group to Israel?" Given the events of the past 2 weeks, especially the attempt by the Irish ship MV Rachel Corrie to break the Gaza blockade, I thought it was a joke... but it wasn't. It was another of the invitations I (and every other cleric in world) receives regularly inviting me to a subsidised trip to the "Holy Land" to "walk in the footsteps of Jesus" or "experience the Bible come to life" in the hope that I will then round up another pilgrim band to go back for seconds, thus making the travel company (and the Israeli economy) more money. I have often considered taking advantage of one of these offers, but have never found the appropriate time... And this is certainly not the appropriate time... Not unless the tour is substantially more than a pseudo-spiritual package holiday... Whilst I would love to see the historic remains ...