Reflection as Calais Jungle church and mosque are cleared

Congregation of Saint Michael's Oriental Orthodox Church at last service before church is destroyed. Image: Refugee Info Bus)

And so it ends on a Friday. Or at least some things end. Specifically, a church, a school and a mosque were destroyed* today.

On this Friday, nearly 2000 years after some other Friday, Jesus has been crucified again for your sins. You were greedy, wrathful, petty. You were hypocritically sticking to rules you would find inhumane if they applied to anybody you knew. And so he had to die. Again. Not before the police objected... oh they objected alright, just like Pilate did. Then they got the job done. Their work will be in vain though. The paintings will go to the Eritrean church in Paris. The songs and dances and the rituals will not stop, will not be forgotten. The church is the people, and the people will thrive, wherever they are, because they have faith, and because they have each other. But their survival does not diminish the crime that was committed today.

On this Friday, some 1300 years after some other Friday, Mohammed preached again. He warned you that you had to change your ways. You're valuing money over community, valuing your own life over that of your brothers and sisters. You forget that this world and this life are but a gift, a loan, to all of us. He insisted that all of humanity must come together and be one. For his insolence you have banished him from the city. His call to piety and unity remains, and you can answer it or refuse it as you wish.

And on this Friday, some 2400 years after some other day that might as well have been a Friday, Socrates drank the hemlock again. He asked you "what is justice?" "what is mercy?" "what is a human being?" You were embarrassed by how confused his questions made you, and so you condemned him to die to hide your embarrassment. He could have left, as people told him to leave for his own safety. But he made a stand, as he would not lose his humanity to save his life. But even with him gone, his questions are still in your head.

So that was today, Friday. Grieve, and repent. The day after tomorrow is Sunday. Let's believe that we may rise again.

* Note - As on Monday morning, the Eritrean church and mosque have not been destroyed yet - but they have been emptied. The icons have been removed from the church for safekeeping and it is hoped they will be placed in another church for the refugees soon.