Baby P

I have struggled whether or not to Blog about this or not. We have all seen the stories in the news about the tragic events that led to the death of that seventeen month old boy, and the torture and pain he endured before it all finaly got too much.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7706598.stm

I have been supprised by the level of feeling this has provoked within me, whilst not an uncompassionate person, I usually can feel detached from a news story. But in this case I find myself feeling absolute revultion at what that baby endured, mixed with a great pity and sadness, much stronger than I would have expected!

This has made me think o na number of issues. Not least importantly, why has this story provoked such strong feeling, and why do other, similar stories not have the same effect. After all we hear on an almost daily basis story of child abuse and exploitation around the world. I believe the media has a lot to do with that. I think we get, rightly or wrongly, used to the sound bite news reports we see every day, giving just enough detail to get the message accross but not much more. When seeing these news stories our own sense of justice kicks in and provokes what may be called a mind reaction. In the case of baby P we were privy to every detail, for extended periods with edtailed pictures, this led to a personalisation of the story and thus provoked a much stronger gut reaction. As Christians we are obliged to help the downtrodden and abused, and we need to remember to look beond the news casts sometimes to personalise the stories and make them connect.

As a Christian I also believe this is when we need to practice grace. As a human I have the urge to string the abusers up by the balls and beat them with a bat much like a bloody pinata! Yet we are called to Love them as God does - that is bloody hard sometimes. I will continue to try and pray for them.

The last thing that bothers me is how easy it is to get caught up in the witch hunt that has follwed. Whilst I definately think investigations should be made and people who failed in their, especially in this case, life or death decisions should not be allowed to make the same mistakes again, I find the mob mentality that ensues a little disturbing, yet all too easy to get caught up in.

There is plenty to pray about here, and plenty that need our prayers. The only comfort I get here is that a little boy that should still be with us is suffering no longer and is the house of our Father, one that loves rather than inflicting pain.

God Bless