Tuesday 3 October 2017

Laugh or Weep?


The 7:40 is heading for Waterloo and as it Passes Parsons Green a man stands up and begins to read from the bible and speak to the packed commuters on the train.  He mentions, so we are told repeatedly, 'homosexuality as a sin,' and 'Death is not the end.'  
At this the brave Londoners began to panic. 
A woman screamed and several began to prize open the doors and jump out onto the trackside.  The driver realising the danger called in and the power on the line, all electric on this line, was turned off ensuring the passengers (sorry 'customers') were safe and the entire line brought to a halt and hours of delays ensued.
As panic grew a man asked the preacher to stop and the guard arrived to speak to the man.  As the train continued, some power must have been returned, into Wimbledon he was spoken to calmly by the police.  No charges were brought, the guard congratulated on his approach and the many users of the railways out of the UK's busiest commuter station inconvenienced.

  
Well MR Khan I think you mistook the attitudes of those commuters hurtling in at 80 miles an hour yesterday morning.  They have not given the impression that they are 'Not broken' but have offered a glimpse of people either naive, ignorant or plain stupid!  
I accept that for most the bible is not a book they have read, nor have most been forced to attend a Sunday School of some kind when young and as such the nation is clearly bible ignorant.  However most understand the basics of Christian teaching, most in London have come across a 'preacher' in the streets, on a bus or train or in a large complex at one time or another, how come this lot failed to understand?  The pictures on offer do not show uneducated people leaving the train, a common lot of commuters only, yet they open the doors and flee!  A brief read of the good book will often force fear into people when the truth about judgement appears, many refuse to accept this and prefer the safety of the life we keep in our heads rather than allow eternity to break in however that was not happening here.  This was a confusion between the bible and the Koran.  These people could not understand that this man was not going to blow them up, his words spoke to them like ISIS had appeared in front of them!  The ignorance displayed takes some beating in my view.  

  
There is another reason for the panic and this can be traced back to Tony Blair and the deliberate attempt to increase awareness of Islamic terrorism.  During the years of the IRA Provos and their bombing campaign many bombs were left in stations and other public places yet the government propaganda never encouraged panic, indeed the opposite was the case but not now.
Blair even had 'Ferret tanks,' totally useless against terrorist attacks, placed outside Heathrow Airport just for a publicity stunt, what a waste of an army that was!  Today the fear has been raised both by government offerings and screaming headlines in the 'yellow press.'  
Of course there is a need to be wary of individual or organised ISIS type attacks at the moment but hysteria is not an answer.  This generation is not the one that either lived through a war or grew up in the years after one, no this generation has no concept of 'Getting on with it as there is no other choice' nor do they have the ability to be calm in difficult situations.  I would be far from calm in a bomb situation myself but I suggest most of us would react without panic if a preacher, even one with a koran stood up and spoke.  Two world wars, a couple of depressions and Margaret Thatcher yet let someone quote scripture and panic sets in.  What a world.



5 comments:

the fly in the web said...

A good job they don't travel on the buses in Nicaragua, then. There are very few journeys which do not feature a preacher leaping aboard at some point, to be well received by the passengers.

I think that governments are very happy to see the populace reacting like headless chickens...bodes well for controlling them while their living standards are cut and job insecurity rises...at any sign of dissent, ratchet up the terrorist alert level....

Jenny Woolf said...

To be fair to have someone you don't know jump up in a tube train and start saying ANYTHING about death is a bit alarming, I think. It's not appropriate in a confined space even if the message is actually an encouraging one, I suggest it might be better to introduce that face to face.

Lee said...

With all the nutters around these day who can blame the people for being fearful?

Must everything be blamed upon the Conservatives? For goodness sake!!!

Unknown said...

I am shocked that the authorities did not bring charges of at least disturbing the peace against the preacher. I am sure glad they did not.

On the other hand, there is a proper time and place for preaching, and during a packed commuter ride is not one of them unless it was by permission and fully known by the passengers ahead of time. Forcing such on the unwilling just makes it more difficult for them to truly listen.

As you already know, it is not the role of the church to seek and save the lost during Christ Jesus' absence. For He is still here just as much as He ever has been, and His church was established to be a shining reflection of His Light. Preaching the Gospel is certainly included, but it should be widely known and well understood that Christians are called to merely help reinforce what He has been already telling someone.

Adullamite said...

Fly, Indeed government control is behind this!

Jenny, I disagree. Such preachers are in every town, these folks were daft.

Lee, He was not dangerous as the majority knew. The Conservatives get blamed when they are wrong.

Jerry, Hmmm