{"id":1222,"date":"2025-02-02T18:31:22","date_gmt":"2025-02-02T18:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innatenonviolence.org\/wp\/?p=1222"},"modified":"2025-02-02T18:31:22","modified_gmt":"2025-02-02T18:31:22","slug":"billy-king-rites-again-326","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/innatenonviolence.org\/wp\/2025\/02\/02\/billy-king-rites-again-326\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy King: Rites Again 326"},"content":{"rendered":"

Billy King <\/b><\/span>shares his monthly thoughts –<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s gold in them thar hills…<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

…and that\u2019s where it should stay… While gold does have some practical usages in fine tech and so on it mainly considered valuable for being valued, i.e. it is valuable as a store of wealth, a bit like crypto currency but in metallic form and less volatile in value \u2013 it is also comparable to celebrities being famous because they are famous. Humanity\u2019s actual need for gold is relatively small today and could be met hundreds of times over by what is already extracted from the ground. Some of the uses of gold, such as the \u2018gold standard\u2019 or its use in dentistry (gold mining is a different kind of extraction but can be very painful) have been superseded by economic and technological advances.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So what is the point in ruining the Sperrins so Dalradi<\/span>a<\/span>n<\/span> can make a profit? None. There are always less jobs than promised, they will disappear after a decade or two, while meanwhile farming and other developments, such as in tourism, are stymied or ruined. The recent public enquiry into the proposed goldmining there was quickly halted after a technical error by the relevant Northern Ireland government department not doing what they should have done. Two of the groups involved in struggling against an unwelcome extraction that you can look up are Save Our Sperrins (SOS) https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/search\/top?q=save%20our%20sperrins<\/span><\/a> (see the entry for 15th<\/sup> January 2025 on the collapse of the public enquiry) and Friends of the Earth in the North https:\/\/friendsoftheearth.uk\/northern-ireland<\/u><\/span><\/a> I have quoted before the Saw Doctors\u2019 words (in \u2018The green and gold of Mayo\u2019) on prospective gold mining beside Croagh Patrick \u2013 \u201cDo they think our greatest asset \/ Can be mined, dug up, and sold….\u201d As with coal, oil and gas \u2013 \u2018Keep it in the ground!\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Drill for the truth, baby, drill for the truth<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018There are none so blind as those who will not see\u2019 is an aphorism about a disability, physical blindness, which does not insult those who have that condition. People who are physically unable to see usually develop other skills which compensate and many skills which sighted people are unlikely to have. The aphorism actually criticises sighted people who do not, because they refuse to, see what is in front of their eyes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I do believe there is such a category as a \u2018climate criminal\u2019. Donald Trump, the most powerful elected leader in the world, fits that description with his denial of the human-based nature of climate change and his \u201cWe will drill, baby, drill\u201d approach \u2013 which was even included in his inaugural address as president of the USA in January 2025, all happening at the time of the destruction by fire of significant bits of Los Angeles. The oil and gas industry bosses and owners are of course highly complicit in engineering cover ups and obfuscation of what is happening and why, and refusing to take the world and the vast majority of people into account due to their own selfish and destructive interests. Trump\u2019s tech billionaire buddies are also climate criminals for permitting untruths to be told. Climate heating is, and will do, untold damage to our earth and its inhabitants with the poor, of course, suffering most.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It is difficult to come up with imagery about where we are. The best I can do is that the rich and powerful are driving a train with the rest of humanity on it. They come to a junction. One direction is clearly \u2018Hell\u2019 while the other is \u2018Not hell but not quite heaven either\u2019 (we are already far down the global heating track). The powerful are choosing to travel with the rest of the world to \u2018Hell\u2019 because they are, unlike everyone else, in Super First Class Climate Protected carriages which they believe are immune to the effects of Hell, and to travel the other direction they would have to transfer to slightly less comfortable carriages and they don\u2019t want to do that because they know they are superior.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Getting the truth of climate heating across to those in denial is a subject much pondered in these pages by Larry Speight in his Eco-Awareness <\/i>column. There are no easy answers. Telling the truth in different ways is of course part of it. But using personal relationships and getting people in the public eye to use their influence are important. And we, individual and \u2018ordinary\u2019 citizens, can show by our own example what to do in our travel and consumer habits. We \u2018ordinary people\u2019 in the rich world are highly complicit in global heating too.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, the truth of climate heating will trump denialism. But whether we arrive at the station marked \u2018Hell\u2019 before then is still a possibility.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Room for great improvement for Belfast Assembly Rooms<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There is a wonderfully historic building in central Belfast which is in a woeful condition. It is historic for a number of reasons \u2013 the rejection of slavery, its connection with the 1798 rising, and with the preservation of Irish traditional melodies, and simply for being a prime meeting place when Belfast was \u2018the Athens of the North\u2019. In fact, in relation to the preservation of Irish traditional melodies, you could say it is perhaps the culturally most important building in Ireland. But it is currently, and very sadly, unused and near derelict. However one sign of the awareness of the risks to the building comes from its inclusion recently on the World Monuments Fund 2025 Watch List and it has been on the Ulster Architectural Heritage at risk list for a couple of decades.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It is where the 1792 harp festival took place, organised by the good Presbyterian citizens of Belfast, with Edward Bunting commissioned to record the music and thus preserve it for future generations \u2013 the old harping tradition was on its death bed after their prime sponsors, the Irish aristocracy, were long defeated and gone. It is where Henry Joy McCracken was court-martialled in \u201898 following the failure of the rising before being taken to be hung nearby. It is where Thomas McCabe intervened against a move to set up a slaving company (i.e. dealing in and transporting slaves) in 1786,<\/span> a successful intervention in that Belfast continued to have no direct involvement in the slave trade though it did have trade involvement in selling salted beef and clogs to slave plantations as well as through individuals.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On a more prosaic and contemporary note the Assembly rooms are on INNATE\u2019s Belfast peace trail where the INNATE coordinator loves to gently shock participants on the walk in telling of Thomas McCabe\u2019s interjection by bellowing out his message \u201cMay God wither the hand of any man who will sign that document<\/span>!\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Used as a bank for a long time, the building then had intermittent cultural use \u2013 and it being a cultural centre is surely the appropriate course of action for the future. But it needs major work first. Belfast City Council has purchased a couple of iconic buildings, No.2 Royal Avenue and the wonderful art deco former Bank of Ireland on a corner of Royal Avenue for civic purposes. The Assembly Rooms building is currently privately owned but going to wrack and ruin. It needs urgent attention and deserves it. For more info see<\/span> https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c87d8121lj3o<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> https:\/\/sluggerotoole.com\/2025\/01\/17\/the-inclusion-of-belfasts-historic-assembly-rooms-on-world-monuments-funds-2025-watch-list-is-a-game-changer\/#respond<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A migrant story<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She came from a war torn country where she had been married young. We can call her Anna because that is certainly not her name. After her father and eldest child were killed in the strife in her home country, she sold everything she had and eventually ended up in Northern Ireland where she claimed asylum. One of her other children has a disabling medical condition. The first place she lived in the North she had to leave because it was attacked. Then in the racist riots of August 2024 she was personally assaulted and injured in the street with lasting effects, and she had to move again. During her time in the North her ex-husband, the father of her children, was killed in the strife in her home country. Thus she had the violent deaths in three generations of her immediate family.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She eventually received refugee status. Any one of the deaths mentioned above could break someone. While obviously deeply affected, she has been determined to keep moving forward and do the best possible for her children despite attacks in a place where she had escaped in order to be safe.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Not all migrants have as dramatic and traumatic stories and experiences as Anna. However we should of course be ashamed that in \u201cIreland of the welcomes\u201d the welcome (hellcome?) she received included physical attacks on her and where she lived, inhumanity when extreme humanity was called for. Where some saw an unwelcome alien there was a resilient but hugely suffering human being who had been through tribulations which her attackers could probably not even imagine, and someone who has much to contribute if allowed to do so. Meanwhile some people reached out to try to help her.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

May she now live in peace and be able to establish the life she wants for herself and her children.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Contrast<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The names \u2018Donald Trump\u2019 and \u2018Gustavo Guti\u00e9rrez\u2019 are seldom uttered in the same sentence, I would imagine. Donald Trump is the president of the USA and aged 78. Gustavo Guti\u00e9rrez was a Dominican priest from Lima who died in October 2024, aged 96.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

INNATE is a secular organisation which is happy to carry material or organise events in relation to connections between humanism and nonviolence or particular religions and nonviolence, and respect people of whatever secular or religious beliefs while being critical of the practices associated with any of these which are contrary to building peace and justice. In terms of parity of esteem I usually avoid sharing on my own religious beliefs and background which would be a variety of Christian. However, in moving some books recently I came across the Guti\u00e9rrez book, from the 1970s, \u201cA Theology of Liberation\u201d \u2013 he was one of the founders of the \u2018theology of liberation\u2019 movement in Latin America at that time, even called the \u201cFather of Liberation Theology\u201d, and I thought of the contrast with Trump.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Donald Trump has monetised the Christian bible, as well as made it nation-specific, in his Trump Bible; the bible is clearly a book he has little knowledge about, effectively thinking of it as a MAGA-manual. Monetising the Christian bible sounds rather like being moneychangers in the Temple, i.e. turning religion into a commercial enterprise. JC drove the moneychangers from the Temple in what to me seems like a good example of determined nonviolent action (though one conservative Christian once told me Jesus shouldn\u2019t have done that as it gave Christians a bad name!). One joke about Trump and his desire to cut things (taxes, environmental regulations etc) is that he has already got the Ten Commandments down to six, and is working on the rest. He uses the bible and Christianity as a political prop and tool.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He also accused an Episcopalian bishop of being nasty in a presidential inaugural service when she called for him to exercise mercy in relation of migrants and people who are LGBT; mercy is usually considered a Christian virtue but Trump made it sound like a dirty word. Making the bible nation-specific, as the Trump bible seemingly does in relation to the USA, seems contrary to the \u2018neither Jew nor Gentile\u2019 part of the Christian New Testament. Trump was surrounded by billionaires at his January 2025 presidential inauguration whereas Jesus had plenty to say about those who loved riches. It was the German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg who stated that the early Christian church was communist in consumption if not in production.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Gustavo Guti\u00e9rrez was an important and founding figure in liberation theology which opts for solidarity with the poor, something which seems totally in accord with Christianity and the \u2018Sermon on the Mount\u2019, while for Trump \u2013 where money is usually the bottom line \u2013 his beliefs seem to be more in relation to the \u2018Sermon on the (Financial) Count\u2019. Guti\u00e9rrez\u2019 book, mentioned above, is overflowing with biblical references. He states clearly that \u201cIn the Bible poverty is a scandalous condition inimical to human dignity and therefore contrary to the will of God.\u201d and that \u201cPoverty is not caused by fate: it is caused by the actions of whose whom the prophet condemns….\u201d (and then quotes Amos 2:6-7).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I stand with Guti\u00e9rrez.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Youphemisms<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We all use euphemisms but sometimes there are ones we dislike or refuse to use, and what you use may not be something I would use. Language is always evolving so this is all a natural human process. The US English \u2018restroom\u2019 for what is commonly here called a toilet seems an unnecessary and inaccurate euphemism \u2013 and yet I might quite happily use \u2018loo\u2019 or even the southern terms \u2018jacks\u2019 (which may be medieval English in origin and also relate to the US English term \u2018the john\u2019, although the latter may also be connected with one of the inventors of the flushing toilet).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One US euphemism I refuse to use however is that someone has \u2018passed\u2019 when they have died. Passed what? Their final exams? To glory in heaven? From this earthly coil? No, not a term I find acceptable. And yet if referring to someone\u2019s status in relation to being living or dead, e.g. on a letter coming for someone who is \u2018no longer with us\u2019 (another euphemism), i.e. dead, putting \u2018Now dead\u2019 seems too bald a statement and I might write \u2018Deceased\u2019 \u2013 which is simply another way of saying \u2018no longer with us\u2019. Death is kind of final and it is difficult not to be euphemistic. But, it is clear, I find some euphemisms a load of crap.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

–<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s me for now and the bold, bad January is over, I hope you weren\u2019t badly affected by Storm \u00c9owyn if you live in what was its path….unfortunately with global heating there is much more of that to come. But always look on the bright side, the snowdrops are well out, the daffodils are coming, some out, and we live in hope, so until next time, Billy.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Billy King shares his monthly thoughts – There\u2019s gold in them thar hills… …and that\u2019s where it should stay… While gold does have some practical usages in fine tech and so on it mainly considered valuable for being valued, i.e. it is valuable as a store of wealth, a bit like crypto currency but in … Continue reading Billy King: Rites Again 326<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[505,16,33,313],"class_list":["post-1222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-billy-king","category-nonviolent-news","tag-505","tag-billy-king","tag-ireland","tag-peace-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/innatenonviolence.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/innatenonviolence.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/innatenonviolence.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innatenonviolence.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innatenonviolence.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/innatenonviolence.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1223,"href":"https:\/\/innatenonviolence.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1222\/revisions\/1223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/innatenonviolence.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innatenonviolence.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innatenonviolence.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}