An Obadiah Slope column
A problem with the Brand: Dominic Hewitson of the UK-based Premier Christianity notes that the comedian/film star Russell Brand, whose extreme sexual bravado and promiscuity have resulted in a #metoo campaign against him, has made Christian living look good by comparison.
He notes that their Channel Four – Sort of a mono-cultural version of SBS – gave him room to celebrate his sexual freedom:
“ Fast forward to 2023, and the same channel that gave Brand a platform are now using their own archives to highlight his bad behaviour. In a strange twist of fate, various clips of Brand presenting Big Brother’s Big Mouth on E4 (owned by Channel 4) were used in Dispatches to demonstrate Brand’s predatory and transgressive behaviour towards women.
“So the presumption is that Channel 4 thought his sexually explicit jokes were funny back then, but they don’t now? And if so, what has changed?”
Obadiah observes that the teaching of the one who is the same yesterday, today and forever has not changed.
But the social acceptance of Brand’s sort of comedy, based on humiliating women, has definitely lessened. That is a good thing.
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Brand and Jesus (update): Brand has claimed Jesus as his Lord and Saviour on TikTok, and it seems a twelve-step program has helped him move into a monogamous marriage. But has he dealt with his past? Has he sought forgiveness from those he has hurt? Glen Scrivener has a detailed look at this aspect of the Brand story in this video, suggesting that he has found something closer to the Buddhist view of enlightenment but has not come to terms with sins against others.
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Public Service Announcement: The Gospel Coalition Australia Facebook page has been hacked, and they can’t get it back from Meta. So they are starting again. The new page is here.
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Why mainstreaming won’t work for everyone living with intellectual disability: The scene, a Special Olympics basketball competition and a new participant sits down on the court. She won’t move – she is too overcome with the experience. So the game goes on around her – the athletes probably remember they were scared like that once. Try doing that in mainstream sport for teenagers or adults.
(Segregation or having special events and places for people living with disability is controversial following the release of the Royal Commission into Disability’s report this week.)
The next day, a volunteer goes on the court holding her hand, and she gradually becomes more confident, catching and throwing the ball and doing a little dribble. She’s asked her mother not to be courtside because not depending on your parent is what Special Olympics is all about, but at the end of the game, it’s “Mum, Mum, did you see me!”
Obadiah was not there; his significant other was there; he was at church that morning. But in a moment of serendipity, the preaching was on Luke 18, which includes Jesus saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Luke 18:16–17)
Some of the best Christians Obadiah knows are living with an intellectual disability. So, to misquote our saviour, “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a Special Olympics athlete shall not enter it.”
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A reader writes: We sang a hymn this morning in church that predicts the 2nd coming of Jesus when the former President is re-elected. I’ve posted the lyrics for you:
“The Trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Even so, it is well with my soul.”
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From the doorknocking round: wearing the black “yes” tee-shirt is advised when campaigning west of the “Red Rooster line” in Sydney (do other capitals have one?) This is to avoid confusion with the “yes” marriage campaign. But plenty of enthusiastic “Yes” voters wear Hijab.