An Anglican Compendium of Thoughts and Prayers: Defying Extremism

Once again, today our nation will come to a standstill. Cars and buses will stop. Heathrow and Gatwick Airport will turn off its jet engines. Thousands will either gather in churches and synagogues, or stop on the streets, and stand in tribute to those who lost their loved ones ten years ago in the July 7 bombings.

It is a small yet powerful way to show that our grief is shared, and at some level, everyone is hurting. It also serves as an act of defiance, a powerful message that we reject the ways of terror and the values of extremists who wish to use this insidious method as a tool of communication. Yet still, the families bereaved by the bombers will bear those wounds for a lifetime.

Indeed the very term ‘extremist’ has become one of the most damaging insults you can now hurl at a person, as new measures are sought to keep out or send home those described as ‘extremists from abroad.’

Leaders of Britain's Muslim and Christian communities have insisted that these atrocities lack any religious justification. It's a verdict extremists reject... which is why anybody who's not one will understandably want to keep a safe distance. No one with a basic humanity, still less a living relationship with a God who is loving and merciful, will want to risk guilt by association.

And yet I have a nagging feeling that when extremism is left to the extremists, we've all lost. Not, of course, the evil perversion which foments hatred and sets off bombs as part of some divine mission... rather the kind of passionate single- mindedness for what God requires, which is at the heart of all true faith.

I've never forgotten what a minister in America once told me about a girl who'd been attending his church since she was a very young child. In her early teens, her mother stopped her from attending and refused to change her position. The woman had no complaints about the church or the services, but she said, ‘I don't want her taking all that religion stuff too seriously.’

The woman wasn't alone, by any means, in regards to being serious about religion as somewhat suspect: a mild, Sunday School inoculation, maybe, but nothing that would get in the way of her daughter doing what she wanted with her life. Not a million miles, this thought, from the polite, moderate, ever-so-sensible approach to faith which never propels the believer out of a personal comfort zone and certainly never implies a challenge to anyone else.

In comparison with such milk-and-water inoffensiveness, some of those who’ve most inspired my own spiritual journey would almost certainly be reckoned as extremist. They've stood up to people abusing power, and dared to go on telling them that their actions were an outrage before God.

They’ve put themselves at risk, as they affirmed the value of the most reviled outcasts in their communities. They’ve coped with incredulity and hostility as they’ve given up careers, comfort, and security, in order to be of use in places of squalor and danger. Extremists - all of them! However, the notion of enlisting violence to their cause would have appalled them. The very thought of hurting someone, whether by hand or word, would have been repugnant and degrading to their ethos.

Jesus talked about being ready to love enemies, to do more than your fair share and to forgive until you lose count. He urged His listeners to live in simple trust, to pursue God's way before every other loyalty.

In stark contrast to the extremism, which expresses itself in hatred, this is a passionate extremism fired by love.

Of this kind, I feel we need a lot more.

Loving God, Receive into Your loving arms the victims of violence and terrorism. Comfort their families and all who grieve for them. Help us in our fear and uncertainty, And bless us with the knowledge that we are always secure in Your love. Strengthen all those who work for peace, And may the peace the world cannot give, continue to reign in our hearts. Amen

Britain Pays Tribute Ten Years On