When the conservative church was so enamoured by George W Bush, was Brian Haw, the peace campaigner who died yesterday, a modern day prophet? I have no idea whether he was even a Christian or not, but I still feel the question should stand. Indeed, maybe the question should be strengthened a little by asking, ‘Was Brian Haw a prophet raised by God to speak to our day’s conservative church about the importance of the key Kingdom values – peace and justice?’

It was a surprise to learn yesterday that he had begun his protest on Parliament Square, London, before the 9/11 terrorist atrocities in New York and therefore before the reprisals upon Afghanistan and the war crimes against Iraq. His early demonstration was about the sanctions that were in place against Saddam Hussein but was soon widened to include many other peace and justice issues that have arisen in the Middle East since then – most notably the wholly unnecessary and illegal military action against Iraq orchestrated by George W Bush and Tony Blair.

At the time, of course, Bush was the darling of many on the Christian Right. He was widely lauded as the defender of the Christian West against radical Islam. Well before 9/11 he was seen as a strong Christian leader put in place by God – this narrative being supported by stories about him leading people to Christ during his first presidential campaign. And – almost inevitably – some were even ‘prophesying’ that Bush was God’s choice, making references to ‘the burning bush from Texas’. Few – if any – of these influential voices were holding Bush to account for the disastrous policies he followed post 9/11.

Jesus once talked of rocks being raised to praise him if there was silence among the people. I wonder whether we could extend that metaphor to include the prophetic and that Brian Haw was an example of this in action?


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