Army of Priests

This will be my last badly edited, poorly formatted, and super-quickly written blog post about my experiences at Voices for Justice, 2010 (I think I shall go back and fix them once I have a better internet connection at home). I’m sitting in Canberra airport quite exhausted and severely disappointed that I can’t find anywhere where a mere economy class passenger like me can buy a coffee.

Today was a much quieter day for me. As it happened I had no appointments with politicians so I spent most my time basking in the activity around parliament house, hearing people’s stories, and helping out where I can.

Robin Hood Tax Stunt

The morning for me began with some inventive stunts campaigning for a “Robin Hood” tax. The “V-Geners” (young people taking part in World Vision’s youth program who had accompanied Micah Challenge in their campaigning) led the rather impressive display. They all dressed up in some very “brave” Robin Hood costumes and had a photo shoot in front of Parliament House. Personally, I thought the costumes looked more like Peter Pan than Robin Hood (and some were just excuses for men to wear tights – please spare the children!).

The idea behind the Robin Hood tax is to place a small tax on speculative financial transactions and use the revenue of such a tax to fund initiatives supporting climate change mitigation, poverty alleviation, health and education. They also hope that the tax would help constrain the huge amount of speculation that occurs in financial markets.

I didn’t take part in these stunts myself as I feel like I need some more time to fully make up my mind about the idea before dedicating myself to it. There are many details yet to be explained. How exactly will a “speculative financial transaction” be defined? How will it be audited? As a programmer I involuntarily scoffed when the presenters of the stunt said it would take “only a few lines of code.” Furthermore, if the goal is to make the tax so small, will it really have the effect of reigning in speculative trading as its promoters desire?

Chaos in Parliament

Inside, there was a huge volume of VFJ activity at Parliament House. I spent some time at the social networking station and in the time I was there dozens of people seemed to come in and out, running around as things had to be organised. The organisation effort behind Voices for Justice is truly huge. The main people behind it are due for a hangover after such high adrenalin levels.

I did volunteer to help carry the huge, 40 metre scroll containing signatures of people supporting the Micah call to various politicians so that they could also add their signatures. The scroll contains about 10,000 signatures of the 112,000+ people who have committed themselves to the call. In the end, my help was not needed.

I attended question time as well. The behaviour of our politicians was pretty disgraceful. After a question or statement had been made loud jeers would come seemly out of nowhere. Also, since politicians are so skilled at avoiding plain answers to questions it seems like the whole thing is a waste of time!

Parliament has been really busy today. In about 30 minutes, around the start of the final VFJ event, the clocks (which call parliamentarians to their chambers) rang 6 times! I am not sure, but one of those times may have been for a motion in the senate, mentioning Micah Challenge and reaffirming Australia’s dedication to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The motion passed without a single dissenter.

What I will bring back from VFJ

What have I learnt whilst I have been here?

I have learnt that politicians are people, and not just the nameless, faceless cogs of government I thought they were. It is true – some MPs will not make waves and do whatever is politically convenient; yet others went far beyond the call of duty, organising our security passes and encouraging other MPs to meet us.

I know now that lobbying does make a difference. To make big change I think you need public support and political support. Voices for Justice has secured a lot of political support. Rudd and Abbot described us as the nagging prophets asking for justice. I would say the description is quite apt. We should not limit our political influence to the way we vote, what maters more is how we engage the political process and how we act in-between elections.

My time in Canberra has re-enforced the need to educate the community and get the general public fired up about social justice issues. I am ashamed that the government feels that they need to sneak overseas aid into budgets. Poverty should be at the forefront of the Christian political agenda. We have failed so hugely on this front it boggles the imagination.

The huge majority of volunteers at Voices for Justice were “career Christians” – aid and charity workers. We need more people like myself; a computer programmer. We need checkout chicks and tradies and business executives and ‘working families’ aware and concerned about global poverty and what we can do.

Along these lines I have been challenged about my own commitment to social justice. I often keep the passionate, social justice sphere of my life apart from the social scene I engage in or my professional life. I don’t do much to educate my friends, family or co-workers. I don’t encourage them to engage with me on these issues through forums like this blog. I want to change this. Millions are counting on it.

Go

I attended Voices for Justice because last year I heard the story of someone else who went. I’ve been writing these posts over the last few days in the hope that the sheer volume of honest information would help others to make a decision about whether to go or not. So, If you are reading this in 2011, trying to make up your mind this is my advice to you: Go.

In order to attend Voice for Justice I had to get two days off work (and as I am at a new job it is all I had); pay a fair amount of money for plane tickets, food, and the event itself; and visit a distant city to do something I have never done before without a single person I know in sight. I do not regret it.

And tomorrow, it’s back to work…

After all was said and done yesterday we made our way over to a local church to watch the “Make it Count” political forum hosted by the Australian Christian Lobby. The goal of the forum is to raise issues that Christians care about with leaders of both major parties in order to assist when it comes to election time.

Ironically the event was hosted in Old Parliament House, right where we had been meeting politicians all day, yet we had to travel to another church to watch it over a very choppy internet stream (one of the guys staying with us did get to watch it live though).

They couldn’t get Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbot together at the same time (it is very busy in Canberra at the moment) so the format consisted of Mr Rudd doing a 20 minute opening speech followed by questions from the Christian leaders on the floor, then repeated 30 minutes later by Mr Abbot.

I guess I was mostly interested in seeing which issues would be considered part of the Christian agenda considering the Micah Challenge has been pretty heavily engaged in politics this weekend. The questions asked from the floor were about the following areas:

• Refugees
• Indigenous affairs
• Climate change
• Prayer in parliament
• Homosexual marriage
• Sexualisation of children
• Chaplains in schools

Whist I was happy that Refugees, Indigenous affairs, and climate change has made its way onto the Christian agenda I was disappointed that poverty did not make much of a mention (except in Kevin Rudd’s opening speech, where he mentioned Micah challenge). Kevin Rudd also mentioned homelessness, which was another issue that the floor did not address.

I guess this highlights that fact that poverty is still not an issue at the forefront of the popular Christian agenda, and that we have a long way to go in educating Christians about our biblical responsibility for the poor.

(I wrote this in the Queen’s Terrace Cafe whilst question time was on in the House of Representatives, I haven’t been able to publish it until now). I’ve spent most the day in Parliament House travelling between different meetings with MPs.

Voices for Justice Signature Event

This morning we had the Voice’s for Justice signature event. Once we were finally allowed out of the cold (there was a problem with security at the door). We shuffled into the great hall to see the unravelling of the Micah scroll. This scroll contained the text of the Micah call as well as the final 10,000 of over 112,000 signatures of people who have agreed to the call. The scroll was huge. The Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition (as well as several MPs) added their names to the end of the scroll.

There were several speeches including ones from Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbot, and a number of development agencies. The speeches from the politicians focused on the importance of our role in nagging them as a prophetic voice for justice.

Yvette D’Arth (Member for Petrie)

Yvette D’Arth attended the signature event which afforded an early opportunity to get photos as she signed the scroll. Yvette is a very keen supporter of Micah Challenge’s aims. She even made a speech about a month before parliament talking about Voices for Justice arrival and encouraging parliamentarians to go to our events and meet with us. She has already done almost all of what we are asking individual MPs to do.

Ms D’Arth was extremely friendly (she offered us tea and coffee when we arrived). She took us on a tour of Parliament House after the meeting which was pretty special as we got to see a lot of places that the normal person never gets to see. Hearing about parliament house from an MP also let us hear about the building from a perspective that is much more unique than the typical tour group.

Yvette encouraged us to continue our struggle for social justice. She is concerned that the community lacks education, and this therefore makes promoting aid over various other competing interests quite difficult.

Jon Sullivan (Member for Longman)

Jon Sullivan is my local member of parliament. As his secretary was sick Jon made the effort to travel down to the front security desk himself and escort us to his office. He displayed keen interest in each of us, and noted the letter that I  had sent him encouraging him to meet at Voices for Justice. It is nice to know that the letters we write are received by politicians, though he did admit that his staff often deal with a lot of things without his knowing (which is their job).

Mr Sullivan is a very honest politician. He taught us that politics is subject to popular opinion and that politicians often have to balance unpopular, long-term policies with short-term popular policies. Increasing aid is an unpopular policy. He said that whilst he felt sticking to Australia’s plan to increase aid to 0.5% of GNI was the right thing to do in light of the GFC, they had to do it without drawing any attention unless it attracted scorn.

He even when so far as to say that “Australians are selfish” – a surprisingly  honest yet remarkably true assertion. Even amongst the Christian groups that I am apart of not many people care very much about social justice. We are asking politicians to commit to an unpopular policy. This makes our presence in Canberra only more important.

Overall I would say  that I was pleasantly surprised by both my meetings. I was impressed by how accessible the MPs were and my opinion of politicians has improved. The meetings however did underscore the need to increase awareness of social justice issues in the general public. Ms D’Arth is constrained by public opinion, Mr Sullivan is a follower of it. Either way we wont truly defeat poverty until there is enough public will power to force it.

Creator God,

We acknowledge that we have denied other people’s humanity –  forgotten their names, faces and stories. We have cared more about interest rates than infant and maternal mortality rates. We have exploited the earth, the poor, and each other. But today, we are sorry and choose to do justice.

We have seen the hungry, the thirsty and the naked but we have not fed, quenched or clothed them. We have loved those who are like us and ignored those who need our love the most – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, refugees, our local and global neighbours. But today, we are sorry and choose to love kindness.

We have assumed that we have the answers. We heave assumed that we are in control. We have walked in our own strength and ignored your way. We have confused ourselves, your creatures, with you, our Creator. But today, we choose to walk humbly with you, our God.

We say sorry to the people who have been hurt by the church, and people who trusted us to do something when we did nothing. We say sorry to the world’s poor for consuming more than our fair share. We say sorry to the youth, for the empty cultural values we have passed on. We say sorry to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, for the injustice inflicted and the rich cultural history we have not valued. And we say sorry to you, our God, for all your children and all your creation we have abused.

We will turn our “sorry” into action by providing relief to those in need and by relieving those who have too much stuff they don’t need. By educating the powerless, educating those in power and educating ourselves. By confronting injustice in ourselves and in the world, by working for development and by praying for transformation.

Forgive us and make us free from the past so we can change the future. Holy Spirit, work in us and through us. Help us walk in the light of your way, and walk more lightly on your earth.

Amen.

I feel mentally exhausted. The whole day has been a blur of activity as people race from one activity to another with not a minute to spare. Every session feels like it has been cramped with the teachers condensing their lessons to fit into the time available. It’s not until now, in a corner of the house I am staying at, that I feel like I can begin to let my mind process the events that have occurred. And I really do feel like I need some “quiet time.”

These are today’s notes (as with yesterday, I am just going to dumb them and process them into something more meaningful later).

Time line

To be honest, I can’t remember everything. However we visited Canberra Baptist Church in the morning. There were 3 workshops in total, a couple of large sessions, and a sermon of repentance.

Things to do when I return

1. Contact my local media, with details of my trip
2. Run an election forum
3. Participate in the offering of letters
4. Involve my church in 10/10/10

Our policy asks

Micah challenge is focused on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but rather than try to tackle all the ways in which we are failing to reach these goals Voices for Justice is focusing on 4 specific requests:

1. Make a plan to increase Australia’s aid to 0.7% of Gross National Income
2. Increase Australia’s Aid for Health related MDGs to $1.2 Billion by 2012/13 (i.e. shift the way our aid is allocated)
3. Take a leading role in a international agreement to keep global warming below 2°C
4. Give our fair share to help the poor adapt to climate change (additional to the 0.7%)

Can we afford this?

Yes, we have low debt, a growing economy, and this would only increase Australia’s total budget by less that 0.1%

Aid 201

The arguments that aid are bad include:

• Aid does not stimulate economic growth
• Aid undermines government accountability

Issues that cause “bad” Aid are:

• Fungibility (using Aid to substitute government spending from Taxes; i.e. it frees up the recipients countries money to buy weaponry)
• Corruption
• Lack of Capacity / Inept recipient government
• Donor Interest

There is a Paris donor agreement of some description that addresses these issues.

Social Movements

Bill Moyer’s model of social movements includes these steps:

1. Business as usual
2. Normal channels fail
3. Conditions ripen
4. Take off
5. Activist failure
6. Win public majority
7. Success
8. Moving on

Participants in social movements:

• Citizen
• Reformer
• Rebel
• Change Agent

Preparations for meeting MPs

We spent some time preparing for our group to meet our MPs. It is going to be interesting. In a group like this everyone has their own particular angle they wish to talk about. I spent some time just before wrapping some presents that we are going to give to the MPs. It contains a document detailing our policy asks, a list of actions we want the MPs to take, a solar charged lamp, and a pair of 3D glasses (an invite to an event at the end of day 4).

The Prime Minister recorded a 2 minute video to be shown at Voices for Justice. He explained that participants of VFJ come to ministers with a very different agenda than most people who see MPs, and because of this MPs are very eager about their visits. Both the PM and the leader of the opposition have told their parties that if they can see a VFJ group, they should.

Service of repentance

We had a service of repentance on the front lawns of parliament house. Powerful stuff. Night time in winter in Canberra is pretty cold though. We read a communal prayer, and committed ourselves to acts of repentance.

Random Thoughts

The guy we are staying with works in Aus Aid. His enthusiasm for Aid programs has been tempered by his experience with administration. It is quite educational talking to him.

Just finished my first day at Voices for Justice. There is a lot to process, so I am just going to dump my notes here and translate them into more meaningful posts later.

Order of Events

6AM: Woke up

8:35 AM – 10:40 AM: Plane to Canberra

10:40 AM – 12:30 PM: Was picked up by one of the guys I am staying with. We had lunch near the school where the day’s events were held at.

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM: Registration, and met my lobbying group. There was only the group leader and myself for much of the day.

1:30 PM – 2:45 PM: Introductions and various speakers

2:45 PM – 3:15 PM: Afternoon Tea

3:15 PM – 5:00 PM: More speakers

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM: Workshops (I went to a Theology and Justice one)

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Tea

7:00 PM – 9:00 PM: More speakers, including trying to compose a communal prayer of repentance

9:00 PM – 9:30 PM: Find the place we are staying at

Politicians I will be seeing

Yvette D’Arth – Member for Petrie, and on record as being very interested in Voices for Justice

Jon Sullivan – Member for Longman

Repentance

It’s often hard for people to work towards repentance because they know that they will have to face their guilt and they don’t truly believe God will forgive them.

People find it hard to repent because they fear change.

Theology of Social Justice

Theological Obstacles to Social Justice:

1. We are “not under law but grace”
2. We are “fattening for the slaughter” – all that matters is eternity
3. Faith is personal
4. We should respect authority
5. All things work together for good
6. “The poor will always be with you” (Tony Abbot quoted this)

Covenant Ground Rules:

• Distribute resources evenly
• Redistribute resources, and cancel debts
• Don’t monopolise resources
• No interest on debt, don’t profit from misfortune
• Pay people fairly
• Build inefficiencies into businesses
• Limits to production (Sabbath rest)
• Provide special care for widows, orphans, the poor, and people seeking asylum

Idolatry and injustice go hand in hand.

Inequality always involves injustice.

Stories are important (smoking and climate change studies have shown that when people invest themself in a story they change).

What we can do

Based on the example of Jesus:

1. Relief
2. Education
3. Confrontation
4. Development
5. Transformation

Random Quotes / Thoughts

Description of Micah Challenge: Organised, Persistent, Respectful, Genuine

Lots of little people doing lots of little things = big changes

“Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it is me!”

The vast majority of attendees are “occupational Christians”. And the social justice scene has its own language.

If everyone lived like Australian’s do, we would need 7 Earths. In the early 1980s it was only 1 Earth. So we don’t need to live all that badly. [But what was the global population at that time?]

Apparently people have taken non-Christians to Voices for Justice and they’ve converted whilst they have been there (and the event does not intend to be evangelical)

“Between black and white are shades of grace”

Some people I have talked to have asked for a bit more clarification on what I will be doing whilst freezing in Canberra this weekend, so I have taken some time in this post to flesh it out.

Micah Challenge & The Millennium Development Goals

Micah Challenge is a loose affiliation of organisations, churches, and individuals dedicated to encouraging the Australian government to meet its previously stated commitments to fight global poverty.

In the year 2000 all 192 United Nations member states (including Australia) agreed to achieve, by 2015, a set of targets that has become known as the Millennium Development Goals. These goals are:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
   1. Half the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day
   2. Achieve decent employment for women, men, and young people
   3. Halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
   1. By 2015, all children can complete a full course of primary schooling, girls and boys
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
   1. Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015
4. Reduce Child Mortality Rate
   1. Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
5. Improve maternal health
   1. Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
   2. Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
   1. Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
   2. Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it
   3. Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
   1. Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources
   2. Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss
   3. Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation
   4. By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers
8. Develop a global partnership for development
   1. Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system
   2. Address the Special Needs of the Least Developed Countries
   3. Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small island developing States
   4. Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long-term

10 years on, it is now painfully clear that we (the citizens of earth) will fail to achieve these goals. Though we have made significant progress on a number of issues:

As part of reaching these goals the rich nations of the world promised to donate 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2015. Australia, despite its excellent economic position, has so far provided a plan to donate only 0.5% of GNI.

The difference to get us to 0.7% – $12.1 billion dollars by 2015 – equates to:

• Directly preventing the deaths of 130,000 children
• Directly preventing the deaths of 6,000 mothers
• Saving 85,000 people from AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria
• 4 million more children receiving basic education, and 25 million receiving vastly improved education
• Water and sanitation for an additional 510,000 people each year

To put things in perspective, Australia’s defence budget often increases by more than the entire Australian’ aid commitment in any given year.

Voices for Justice

Voices for Justice is an annual event organised by the Micah Challenge designed to hold the Australian government to its own commitments.

This involves concerned volunteers from across Australia travelling to Canberra for 4 days in the freezing winter. The first two days are mainly conferences and workshops for attendees. The final two days are primarily visits with local members of parliament and senators (in the bowels of Parliament House). Events highlighting poverty and our commitments occur throughout; such as a service of repentance.

This will be my first time at Voices for Justice. I must admit that it is a bit daunting as there will be no one in Canberra that I know and I have never done anything like this before. However, I am looking forward to it and know that it will be eye-opening whatever happens.

Notes:

• Both graphs in this report come from “The world we want to see”, 2010. A report that we will be giving to politicians during meetings at Voices for Justice.

Next week I am going to Voices for Justice in Canberra, an event organised to encourage Australia’s politicians to act to end global poverty.

As the Micah Challenge describes it:

2010 is the year to call for change for the global poor. As a federal election nears, and with just five years to go to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, will out leaders turn their promises to the poor into real action?

Join with hundreds of ordinary prophets from all over the country – beginners and experienced campaigners, Christians of all ages and backgrounds – as we call for the world we want to see… A world of justice and compassion. Come and be inspired, informed, equipped, and turn your convictions into action! Meet other like-minded advocates and meet your MP too.

Micah Challenge supporters are calling for more aid, better aid, and for our leaders to tackle climate change and the devastating effects it is having on the most vulnerable communities around the world. It’s time to do our fair share.

Voices for justice 2010: Micah Challenge National Gathering, 19-22 June 2010.

Four action packed days, featuring…

• Advocacy Training
• Theological Teaching
• Worship
• Prayer
• Lobbying
• Events at Parliament House
• Workshops
• Community
• Political Forums
• Youth Program
• Presentation of over 100,000 signatures to politicians

This year will be my first year at Voices for Justice.

I am usually cynical about politics and its ability to make a positive difference in the world. I tend to believe that even the most well-intentioned politician is a slave to popular opinion. As such I think that if you want the government to give more money to the poor, you are better off changing the opinion of the public than politicians.

Yet this year is an election year. And I am willing to try the political approach and see what I learn. I am looking forward to it.

I’ll try to keep this blog and my twitter up to date during the event.

I don’t post things anywhere near often enough. I wonder if I just don’t have anything more to say. Oh well. 

Sometimes I read this blog though and are amazed. I’m rather good at challenging myself. Perhaps this blog keeps me honest.

So I guess this is one of those posts-that-appologises-for-not-enough-posts. If I still have people who are interested in what I have to say, I am sorry. Perhaps you want to ask me something?

I don’t know if anyone from Victoria is likely to read this blog. But if you do a few of us Christians up in Brisbane would love to help in more particle ways than giving money. We’ve been looking at a few options but haven’t found too many options.

So if you have any urgent needs that we can help with, please post and let me know.

Thanks,

Adam