Rob Colquhoun

You are warmly invited to the next meeting of WYA London which will take place on Thursday the 29th March 7pm at 4 West House, Rosemoor St (parallel with Cadogan St). The nearest tube is South Ken/Sloane Square.

We will be holding a discussion about the life and legacy of William Wilberforce. If you do have time, do try and see the new film Amazing Grace before the meeting.

Questions to consider:

What forms of slavery are still manifest in the world today?

How can these new forms of slavery be eradicated?

What campaigning methods did Wilberforce use in his campaign to end slavery would be useful for the World Youth Alliance?

Consider a modern day issue that you feel passionately about. Devise a strategy of advocacy work and campaigning that would help get your message across to society, taking into consideration the methods used by Wilberforce himself.

Some introductory internet links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_h... (radio 4 programme to listen to on the internet).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilberforce

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/wilberforce...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/abolition_tools_gallery.shtml

Other Links:

http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC02313807&id=EiZ...

http://www.brycchancarey.com/abolition/wilberforce.htm

Books on Wilberforce:

Belmonte, Kevin. Hero for Humanity: A Biography of William Wilberforce (Navpress Publishing Group, 2002)

Tomkins, Stephen. William Wilberforce – A Biography (Oxford: Lion Hudson, 2007)

Wolffe, John. William Wilberforce in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: University Press, 2006)

Hochschild, Adam. Bury the Chains, The British Struggle to Abolish Slavery (Basingstoke: Pan Macmillan, 2005)

More Information on WYA and WYA Track A Training programme

"The World Youth Alliance is a global coalition of young people committed to promoting the dignity of the person and building solidarity among youth from developed and developing nations. We train young people to work at the regional and international levels to impact policy and culture. Through this lived experience of the dignity of the person young people are able to affirm life at all levels of society." 
  
Over the coming months young people who have come into contact with the work of WYA will be forming a Chapter of WYA in London.  This group will work through the reading materials and written questions which make up Track A of WYA Certified Member Training. The training program is used by young people around the world in preparation for internships, UN work or further involvement with WYA on the grassroots level. The themes and set questions are split into four major sections:  
1. Core Ideas - The philosophy of the human person 
2. UN Documents – International institutions and UN conferences 
3. Key issues at the international level - Global Health, Development, Solidarity 
4. Core Ideas in History - Movements and individuals who have shaped history 
 
To access the Track A training materials, go to the WYA Training zone at: http://wya.salonesvirtuales.com/ .

If you want to unsubscribe from the list please reply with unsubscribe in the subject line of the email.

Christianity in Britain faces a crisis of confidence. Many Christians are afraid of voicing their opinions and making their voices heard because they do not represent the majority opinion anymore. Christianity can be considered far from fashionable. When any controversial subject comes up it is easy to back away from speaking the truth. But our faith is not defined on the basis of controversial issues but is founded upon love, grace, truth, peace, joy and hope. The ability of Christians to articulate these issues will help to spread the sanctifying grace of Christ across the world. A faith firmly rooted on Christ will help to foster a calm and collective confidence that will build and grow to create a harvest rich in fruit.

Welcome to the W.Y.A. London discussion group. We are a group of young people committed to the charter and interested in completing the Track A training. So far in our discussion group we have looked at articles by George Weigel, Anna Halpine, Václav Havel, a collection of UN documents from the Cairo and Beijing conferences, Norman Davies and Azar Nafisi. We have also looked at a range of international issues from HIV/AIDS, the MDGs and globalization and development. We also organize regular email updates on important political and cultural news and events on issues that are relevant to the World Youth Alliance.

We are thoroughly committed to building a culture of life, the dignity of the human person and the promoting the importance of the family as an institution.

If you would like information about the next meeting of the group, to subscribe to the email list or to find out more about Track A training please contact Robert Colquhoun on Robert543@gmail.com.

Game Theory and self emptying love

Game theory in its explanation of human behaviour posits humans as narcissistic individuals merely concerned with their own interests. How far this theory is from the Christian concept of self emptying love! How sinister in comparison to the love of Christ for his Church and our attempts at the response to this love! How narrow in perspective considering the abundance of eros and agape in the world!

Fear and distrust are powerful forces, capable of making good people paralysed to act towards the good. Theories that are anthropologically flawed serve only to undermine human trust between individuals. Institutions such as the Church have come under considerable barrage of attack in the last twenty years. The fruits of individualism, consumerism and secularism combined have accentuated the power of fear to dominate the human mind.

The Christian message, when lived out in reality serves to ridicule the presumptions of game theory and fear by showing that genuine charity exists because mankind is fundamentally good. God created man in his image and desired that man should respond to him in love. The family is reliant upon the self giving love that looks after children too vulnerable to look after themselves. And all of humanity is dependent on this self giving love- otherwise we would all be dead in our cots. The family as a unit surpasses self interest because as a communion of love, one looks to another for nourishment and support.

To be able to discern and discover true humility is a brave yet difficult task. Many mistake humility for simplicity in an attempt to be pure and simple at heart. As those that are first shall be last, and the last first- we must always be looking for the good of others and to treat other people as we would like to be treated ourselves. Taking into consideration that one in six people live in poverty – a truly overwhelming statistic we should recognise that there are many millions of people more humble and in far more difficult circumstances that ourselves. Humility lets us realise that God is the author of all good, and that our ambition or pride can obstruct our relationship to God. Voluntary humility can be known as “poverty of spirit.” (CCC 2546). Those that are humble are to be exalted- this is a foundation for turning to God in prayer. In recognising our own limitations, weaknesses and vulnerability we can ever more discover the overwhelming love of the creator for his creatures. Humility provides us with a foundation stone for prayer. As we do not pray as we ought (often asking for things that are an extension of our own will) – we must recognise our humility and poverty before God who has willed all things into being and without whom nothing would exist.

To be truly humble is to live for others and for God, in confidence and love and with the gifts of self control and a healthy control of the will. The will for power, money and sex is always waiting to surprise us. Jesus Christ was so humble that he became poor for our sake in order that we might have the ability to seek salvation.

Real excellence is closely related to humility as a twin sister- to be humble to not to be humiliated. in confidence and love and with the gifts of self control and a healthy control of the will. The will for power, money and sex is always waiting to surprise us. Jesus Christ was so humble that he became poor for our sake in order that we might have the ability to seek salvation.

Real excellence is closely related to humility as a twin sister- to be humble to not to be humiliated. You are not humble when you humble yourself, but when you are humbled by others that is when it is possible to be exalted.

Come Holy Spirit, Divine Creator, true fountain and source of light and wisdom. Pour forth upon the shadows of our intellect the ray of your brightness, removing from us the double darkness of ignorance and sin, in which we may be. Grant us keenness of understanding, a capacity for remembering, method and ease in learning, subtlety in interpreting, skill in speaking. Guide the beginning of our work, direct its progress, and bring it to successful completion. This we ask through Jesus Christ, true God and true man, living and reigning with you and the Father, forever and ever, Amen.

Marathon training is a period where your mind can be particularly pensive as you train. In fact marathons are intensely theological dramas. Very good runners can complete a marathon in 3 hours- the same amount of time Jesus spent on the cross. Through suffering and pain we can accomplish good through fundraising just as Christ redeemed mankind by suffering on the cross. As Jesus became thirsty on the cross so do runners as they need to quench their thirst. St Paul calls us to run the good race- aspiring for the wreath that never fades- a suitable analogy for runners. But overall, the eschatological anticipation of aspiring to finish the race… the realisation that it will be over but not quite yet is the realised eschatology that Christians accept- that the Kingdom of God is present but it is not fully realised yet. But as Pierre de Coubertin (founder of Olympic games) famously once said, “the important thing in is not the winning but the taking part.”

This evening Fr Dermot has reflected on the wilderness and demons. How to integrate the shadow of our lives into ourself under the unifying principle of grace. Demons always exist for us and stuggle can be seen as a grace. Darkness is not the last word we experience- the desert is in fact a place where we can find the purification of our intentions and will. We would be naïve to be spared the desert altogether. Lent is a period where we can learn from fasting, penance and prayer to purify our hearts and mind.

If something is accepted as a given norm, then it takes considerable effort to change what is presumed to correct. Catholic theology has the wonderful basis of relying on natural law to be able to justify its positions. Because God inscribed his law on human hearts we are able to know innately his laws and decrees. The great advantage in law or tax if something is a certain position at first without negotiation is that you are already one step ahead. So for the congestion charge or inheritance tax is it expected as an assumption that you do not question the system. However, when the philosophy of Descartes and Kant began to challenge the presumptions of the basic building blocks of thinking we began to question the very certainties that provide us with some model of understanding for the universe. When faith is asked for a sign it should not provide one. The Church has existed for 2,000 years and yet many can happily forget status quo positions of faith that have existed for hundreds of years without really thinking about them. Religion is the subject at the heart of what it truly means to be human. To be able to contemplate the divine and transcendent mysteries of the universe is far more overwhelming and fascinating than to challenge the status quo questions which we must assume to be correct. In doubting the existence of God we really are attempting to rebel against reality.

Religious Questionnaire

Do you believe in God? Y/N

Do you believe that the world was created? Y/N

Do you believe in the victory of good over evil? Y/N

Do you believe in the existence of a soul? Y/N

Do you believe in heaven and hell? Y/N

Do you believe in forces beyond what is materially present? Y/N

Do you believe in life after death? Y/N

Do you believe that life has meaning and purpose that can be realised supernaturally? Y/N

Do you believe in miracles? Y/N

Do you believe in evil? Y/N

Do you believe there is any substantial difference between good and evil? Y/N

Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Y/N

Do you believe in eternity? Y/N

Do you believe that moral actions can create culpability? Y/N

Do you believe that love can overcome death? Y/N

Do you believe in the resurrection of the body? Y/N

Do you believe in free will? Y/N

Do you believe in original sin? Y/N

Do you believe in the forgiveness of sins? Y/N

The problem with accepting only some of the questions is it leaves you in a frightful pickle. If you answer no to all these questions you are probably a psychopath with no knowledge between good and evil. But only being able to say yes to some of them leaves one in a position of dithering agnosticism, unsure of the origin of good and without a roadmap for life. With the gift of faith and the grace of the holy spirit we can learn to nurture and mature in our faith.

On the forefront of the cultural debate of sexual ethics is the manner in which children are taught sexual education. A truly Christian education would include Christ’s commandments that those who even looked lustfully were guilty of adultery. As Christians we need to affirm a positive identity beyond what the secular world proposes to show the true gift of chaste living that enhances relationships. Muslims have successfully had very low teenage pregnancy rates in the United Kingdom. But Christians are poor at being the salt of the earth in Western Europe, having too long taken the Christian status quo to be the automated position (when in reality this is radically diminishing).

Chastity is so unfashionable that in fact- now it is ready to be fashionable by the in group- those who determine fashion. In fact- not only is the only guaranteed 100% fool proof method of preventing STD infection. Purity of heart is fairly cool too- ensuring love that is genuine and true. Christ called us to be pure of heart in order to radiate holiness. Being chaste ensures that you do not have a repressed sexuality constantly needing to be fed, with feelings that are out of control. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit to have such considerable self control to know oneself and control the passions. If we cannot control our own feelings how can we imitate the fidelity of God and the correct behaviour of others?

The fruits of the culture of death are broken hearts, abortion, sterility, sexually transmitted diseases, self hatred, poor self esteem, materialistic compulsion and an infatuation with self. Overall it brings a mentality that does not help to bring couples to live together in love and happiness, but in fact quite the opposite- death, misery and lies.

The culture of life, in union with the holy spirit, bring the union of life, love, happiness, the family, joy, peace, self control, perseverance, 100% safe sex and the ability to give oneself to another totally to permeate love and life. What would you choose?

Ultimately contraceptive sex is oxymoronic. One’s body speaks the language of love to the beloved in sex- “I give myself to you totally” – when in reality one is holding back fertility and the gift of life from the act- afraid of an intruder in the act. By holding a physical and psychological barrier between man and woman- hearts are hardened and love cannot be deepened. As Billy Graham said correctly,  “pre marital sex blunts love” (and turns it into use).

Fundamentally, we need to tell teenagers this message and proclaim to them the meaning and purpose of sexuality as God intended before they are perverted by those who intend to use and manipulate youngsters for the sake of profit or ideology. May the mouldy fruits of the sexual revolution rot in hell!