03.02.2014
Diverse Perspectives on Justice Make for Great Discussion at Rubicon 2014
Rathmines Town Hall became a hub of stimulating discussion and exciting conversation as Rubicon 2014 took place on Saturday February 1. Now in its third year, Rubicon is an initiative of Greg Fromholz and the Revd Rob Jones of Holy Trinity, Rathmines. It aims to create a place where the big questions can be debated and talked about. It draws together people to collaborate intentionally and explore ideas about how people of faith can continue to engage in all their spheres of influence.
This year the focus was on the theme of justice and social action. Over 100 people gathered to hear Shane Claiborne, founder of the Simple Way Community in Philidelphia; the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Michael Jackson; and John Foong of Google offer their diverse perspectives on the subject. They were joined later by the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Charles Brown who took part in a good natured debate with Archbishop Jackson and Shane Claiborne.
Archbishop Michael Jackson opened the morning session and set the scene for discussion on the Church and the city. He said there had been an uneasy relationship between Christianity and the city from the earliest days. The distinction between secular and sacred was real and tangible, he stated although he added there was engagement between them.
“The ecclesiastical world is going nowhere without the secular world, most particularly because the world as Christians understand it is the gift of life by God in creation. How this understanding is received and lived out in contemporary spiritual and scientific terms is always going to be a point of critical and often conflagrational engagement. Hence there is an imperative for Christian people to engage in a spirit of service and of custodianship and of protection and generosity towards others, particularly those who are vulnerable. For such generalized reasons as these, there is need for churches and for church people to engage enthusiastically with knowledge about the world and its workings – its potentials and its pitfalls – and this we have frequently failed to do,” the Archbishop stated.
Dr Jackson also spoke of interfaith criteria in the city and said we failed to see how deeply embedded religion and culture were for those of other world faiths. He concluded that respect, ecology and integration were needed if we were to fully participate in the life of the city.
To read the full text of the Archbishop’s talk click here.
Shane Claiborne said that the world was suffering from a breakdown in relationships. He said that Churches were often known for who they had excluded rather than those who they had embraced. He said that some of the words used by non–Christian young Americans in response to a survey decribed Churches as ‘anti–gay’, ‘judgemental’ and ‘hypocritical’ rather than inclusive and loving places.
Shane suggested that walls were used to keep things out but they also locked us in. “Almost everything in the world compels us to hide behind walls and we don’t see the suffering,” he said. “It’s easier to hate people that we do not know and one of the tragedies of this world is that we don’t know people. It’s not that rich people don’t care for poor folks, it’s that they don’t know poor folks. And that’s a danger. When we build those walls, either economic or social, it is always easier to hate those we don’t know. We talk at each other rather than with each other. When we try to build friendships there’s a power and that’s when the walls start to crack.”
Part of what Jesus was trying to do, Shane contended, was to create subversive friendships, break down the barriers and tear down the trapping walls. He hoped that thanks to conversations like those happening at Rubicon, people would not see churches as anti–gay, judgemental and hypocritical a generation from now.
To learn more about Shane’s work see www.thesimpleway.org or follow him on Twitter at @ShaneClaiborne.
John Foong talked of justice and corporate responsibility. He explained the concept of triple corporate responsibility by which large corporations diverted one percent of their time, energy and profit to causes beyond their profits. However, he posed the question – What if one of the primary tools used by God in this world was profit driven companies?
He pointed out that corporations were heavily incentivised – they needed to have a great product at the right price point and suggested that by trying to make a profit they were actually doing good. Over the last 10 years there had been the greatest movement of people from absolute poverty to lesser poverty through working for corporations. This did not happen because the corporation wanted to create jobs but because they wanted to make a profit. He said there were very few true socialist states left and this was due, at least in part, to corporations and added that countries in which the majority of people were employed by corporations were better places to live.
However, he added the caveat that this model did not work in countries where there were “dumb citizens” who aren’t politically active. “Brand and reputation is so important to big companies so they have to get it right… and if you have an active public, corporations are held to account,” Mr Foong said.
During the day there were also contributions from Lauren Shaw, who formerly worked for Ruhama, on human trafficking, while Elaine and Cathy Moore of the Women’s Shelter in Rathmines spoke about justice for the women they had met. Brand consultant Cameron Stewart, spoke of random acts of kindness and simple steps to justice. Graham Jones of the Solas Project talked of people who were caught in the “victim stance” failing to realise that they had “the right to be the cause of their own solution and not that they are victims of the world around them”.
A panel discussion, chaired by Gavin Jennings of RTÉ featured Dr James Gallan of Dublin City University’s Law and Government Department, Brother Martin Bennett of the Capuchian Friary, Thywill Bankole of Fingal Ethnic Network, government advisor Daniel Ramamoorthy, and Lydia Monds of Bishops’ Appeal.
All the talks from Rubicon will be available to view at www.wearerubicon.com
Photo captions:
1. Greg Fromholz chairs a panel discussion with Shane Claiborne, activist, author and founder of the Simple Way Community in Philidelphia; the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Charles Brown; and the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Michael Jackson at Rubicon 2014 in Rathmines.
2. Cameron Stewart, brand consultant.
3. John Foong, Google.
4. Graham Jones, Solas Project.