The C of E acknowledged on Tuesday that £100m was a large sum in a time of “significant financial challenges”. The amount may be generous but it is likely to spread thinly across educational and other projects in west Africa and the Caribbean, where the fund’s activities are expected to be focused.
1) Why compensate the places that sold the slaves?
2) Given that those in the Caribbean are better off than those in West Africa what compensation for what wrong – to those alive today – is there to reparate for?
Someone’s not thinking logically here and it ain’t me.
I read this story with dismay. The CofE is run by cretins. But then it probably always has been.
Oh how I miss those days when life was simpler and we could just throw another Catholic on the fire.
“Someone’s not thinking logically here and it ain’t me”
David Olusoga was pontificating in favour of this on Today this morning…
Why? Because they stopped worshipping God a long time ago.
This is what they worship now.
Perhaps if the costs (in today’s terms) of the destroyed ships, and the deaths of British sailors, marines, and soldiers, who fought other countries slave trade, were taken into account, perhaps it’s this country who should be receiving reparations?
Tim
The Bible tells us to do good to those who hate us.
Archbishop Welby is doctrinally correct
“The amount may be generous but it is likely to spread thinly across educational and other projects in west Africa and the Caribbean, where the fund’s activities are expected to be focused”
Sadly, that’s true. Any finite amount will be spread thinly in a bottomless pit.
‘This is what they worship now.’
True Steve. But I naturally feel that Otto has the right attitude.
Of course this inevitably reminded me of Cromwell’s ‘every 10th man was killed and the rest sent to the Barbados’.
Entertainingly I see that the whites of Barbados are despised as redlegs (instead of rednecks, which I understand is the US custom.) Some of them live in absolute poverty according to wiki – isolated, unassimilated and uneducated.
One does wonder whether those C of E heros’ll be doling out their dosh to them?
Bboy – have they thought about a career in piracy?
Boganboy: maybe they should receive reparations from republicans….?
Redlegs, yes, met a few. Weird, white guy with v strong Caribb accent.
The C of E falls over itself to pander to race baiters and throw money at reparations grifters, yet stepped over two better and browner men than Welby (Nazir-Ali and Sentamu) to give this establishment weed the top job. Of course both of those men are Christians so somewhat out of place in the modern Anglican hierarchy.
And when trainee vicar Calvin Robertson defended the C of E and said it wasn’t racist, the Church immediately repudiated his claim, declared that it was racist and then proved it by chucking him off his course.
Richard Dawkins would be a less destructive Archbishop of Canterbury than Welby.
When Tony Cozier was commentating on Test Match Special, a hobby of mine was asking people what colour they thought he was. For an example of him speaking, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t179-xxkls0
MC – I went to an Anglican friend’s “Christmas carol” service in December.
It was a PowerPoint about Climate Change with a few crappy modern songs thrown in. The place was nearly empty, and freezing.
Sadly, we were surrounded by artifacts left behind by previous generations who actually believed in God. Some beautiful stained glass, tapestries and memorials to parishioners who died – heartbreakingly young – in the world wars. I expect it’ll close down soon and be turned into luxury flats, most of the accumulated memorabilia of the community that used to worship there will be thrown away or sold on eBay. The Victorian baptismal font will make a nice piece of period furniture for whichever childless couple buys it.
We can’t deny God and expect His hand to still be on our shoulder. I’m a bad man, but even I know better than to swap the promise of Eternity for some (un-)reheated pish about turning down your central heating. Fuck these people and their jealous little woke gods.
reheated pish about turning down your central heating
Sorry to keep banging on this one, but the wise sayings of Lady Whiteadder spring to mind.
Otto – I’m afraid I still can’t resist the Devil’s Dumplings ( . )Y( . )
I’m pretty sure God told us to get shagging in Genesis anyway (the book, possibly also the band with Phil Collins) so the “the flesh is wicked! Wicked, I tell thee!” kind of puritanical ethos never made any sense to me. We used to burn Cathars for that type of heresy.
But at least it’s an ethos, Dude.
“we could just throw another Catholic on the fire.” You’ve got that arse about face. It was Catholics who burnt heretics. Protestants, at least in England, tended to expel Catholics or, occasionally, chop them up.
Mind you, that means that Bloody Mary should have been called Ashy Mary.
Anglican has not been enthusiastic about actual worship for a long time.
Orthodox FTW.
As someone who is married to an Anglican priest, we would both like to know where this money is coming from. The Church Commissioners have repeatedly refused to release money to provide a priest for English parishes which are too impoverished to support one. Moulscombe in Brighton is a glaring example. The people there – a big social housing estate with serious deprivation – simply cannot pay enough on a weekly basis to cover the costs of a priest of their own. They won’t travel to another parish. So sod ’em, eh, Welby, while you play to the woke gallery.
I don’t think that events that happened after slavery are relevant. Suppose someone steals your car one night and as a result you are late getting to the airport and miss your flight. The thief is liable for damages to pay for the car (or return it), and possibly for the cost of the missed flight. You would have a very hard time convincing a court that the thief was responsible for losses arising out of you failing to meet someone at your destination. And if it turns out that the plane crashes, killing all on board, the damages would not be adjusted on the grounds that the theft saved your life. Only consequences which are sufficiently closely related to the crime are relevant.
This doesn’t hold here.
I’m fine with compensation to slaves for slavery. Not that there are any ex-slaves to compensate. But the entire reparations claim is about the end state, now, a century and more after the death of slavery. Therefore, it must be the state now, a century and more after the death of slavery, that is considered when deciding upon reparations. Being the child now, of ex-slaves then, has been beneficial. What reparations?
@ Sam Vara
You ought to know that decisions on whether to allocate a vicar/rector/curate to a parish is decided on a diocesan basis and not by the Church Commissioners.
john77
True, but without the funding, it can’t be done. The Church Commissioners have been asked whether they would allow funds to be released to dioceses for that purpose.
It’s Oilwelby (pox be upon him) once again:
Revd Marcus Walker, founder of the Save The Parish (STP) campaign group
@ Sam Vara
The Investment Funds run by the Church Commissioners are primarily to fund clergy pensions and other “legacy” costs and it is quite likely (I don’t actually know as I don’t have the relevant information) that it would be ultra vires for them to fund Moulscoomb. Anyhow Chichester is hardly a poor area: it should be able to find the money within the diocese.
FYI I am not in favour of the £100m gesture (1% of the Church Commissioner’s investment funds so presumably about one-third (at best one-quarter) of a year’s income as it will do little to help Africa and the West Indies while perpetuating the woke myth that Britain, which did more than any other country to abolish it, was responsible for slavery.
@Tim – “the entire reparations claim is about the end state”
We don’t take end state into account in other cases, so why should we here – especially considering how remote we now are from the problem?