Church of Scotland Moderator to Deliver Anti-Trident Petition to MoD
The Moderator of the Church of Scotland is due to hand in an anti-Trident petition to the Ministry of Defence as part of his annual St Andrewstide visit to London.
by Maria Mackay
Posted: Monday, November 27, 2006, 10:00 (GMT)
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rt Rev Alan McDonald, will this week hand in a petition against Trident renewal together with the leader of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Most Rev Idris Jones, and Richard McCready of the Scottish Catholic Church.
Almost 20,000 signatures are contained in the petition, which will be handed over by the three churchmen to the Ministry of Defence on Friday. The petition calls for the government not to invest in a replacement for Trident and to begin the process of decommissioning these weapons with the funds spent on nuclear weaponry to be diverted to aid and development projects.
The Kirk Moderator arrives in London on Monday for his annual St Andrewstide visit. His weeklong trip includes lunch with the Queen and Prince Philip at the Caledonian Club, a private members club for Scots in London since 1891, following the opening of the club's new wing by the Queen.
The Moderator will preach at the Crypt Chapel within the Houses of Parliament where a reading will be given by the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Rt Hon Douglas Alexander, in the presence of members of the House of Commons and House of Lords.
On Advent Sunday, 3 December, Rev McDonald will preach at the two Church of Scotland churches in London, St Columba's and Crown Court.
He will attend the installation of the new Dean of Westminster, meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace, discuss issues with the Director of Christian Aid, Daleep Mukarji and attend the 341st St Andrews Festival Dinner of The Royal Scottish Corporation, a charity that helps Scots in London who are suffering hardship.
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Added: Thursday, December 7, 2006, 13:13 (GMT)
Dear Maria MacKay,
I am moved to write to you, having read your synopsis on the recent visit by the Scottish Church leaders to petition the Ministry of Defence about Trident.
I need to say that I believe it would be immensely productive of the Church and Christian Community took a greater interest in the familiar and family nature of the atomic particles. The politics and nuclear technology are beyond our immediate reach, but I find that the moment we look into the Atomic world with Christian awareness and the eyes of a Samaritan, the extraordinary social nature of the particles becomes apparent: and the enormous pain and suffering emanating from the particles that have been through the fission process (which science explains away as “radiation”) also takes on more meaning. Looking in this way, the energy that dwells in the heart of every atom - that is, before it is fissioned and hugely altered - can be clearly known for its essential spiritual nature and purpose.
Four force, says the physics, describe all behaviour of the particles. Well, three of these forces are forms of Love, the last is a form of Light.
I wrote an article along the lines of this whole insight which appeared in the October issue of Coracle, which I’m sure you know is the journal of the Iona Community.
This is not an immediately easy idea. We are so well informed and educated and persuaded by the scientific view, which observes only the physical attributes of the Atomic world. We are all beholden to a secular way of seeing and thinking about this smaller internal realm of our Universe. Beholden to a way of looking that makes no allowance for the living processes and clear depth of divinity in ourselves and in our Universe.
I would add that I’m always alarmed to hear the Church leaders developing a response to the nuclear issues that accepts in the first place the scientific account, as though that ismaria mackay the total reality of the situation we are in.
Well, I don’t know how much further to go with this discussion. I certainly want to tell you that there is a far more creative and worthy and profound view of the Atomic world waiting to be explored than the purely material account that presently has dominion over us.
If you are interested, the October issue of Coracle can be viewed.
Okay? Thanks and everything. Good luck.
Ian Turnbull, Findhorn, Scotland.
