Mr Wordly-Wise

O God, you have searched us out

and known us, and all that we are is

open to you. We confess that we

have sinned: we have used our

power to dominate and our

weakness to manipulate; we have

evaded responsibility and failed to

confront evil; we have denied

dignity to ourselves and to each

other, and fallen into despair.

We turn to you O God; we renounce

evil; we claim your love; we choose

to be made whole.

The Bailiff has weighed into the Jersey situation by saying that "ISLANDERS are not guilty of some unspecified, collective crime of child abuse". But what does he not say? That the Island authorities set up Haut de La Garenne. That by neglect, by ignorance, and by deliberate action the abuse went on concealed for so long and the home was not properly monitored. That is surely enough for a "collective crime" by the States of Jersey, at any rate. And what of those who voted them in, for whom Haut De La Garenne was a bogeyman, something to be scared of as children, and who did not look into the situation when adults?

"We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done" says the Book of Common Prayer, echoed in the modern liturgy above - "we have evaded responsibility and failed to confront evil". If the Bailiff can not say these words, if he thinks he has no need to say them, then I hope he does the decent thing and says so, rather than hypocritically attend church services and mouth them. A confession, like a faith, that does not apply to the whole of life, is like a man building his house on sand rather than rock.

If the Bailiff can say "the Island was doing all in its collective power to ensure that the truth came out and that wrongdoers were punished" and speak in this way - collectively - on behalf of the Island, then should it also be noted that "the Island did little all in its collective power to ensure that the truth came out and that wrongdoers were punished", whether by neglect, ignorance, or deliberately?

What are we to make of the fact that the Baillif presents himself as a religious figure on formal occasions, speaking for the Island, but seemingly unable outside of that context to make a confession of sin on behalf of the Island's authorities? Is his religion (and his confession) something tucked away neatly in a box, that never emerges into the light of day?

Soren Kierkegaard wrote "Is this then Christian worship, or is it treating God as a fool, treating Him as a fool by such an official worship, perhaps with the notion that, if only we call this Christianity, we can get away with it, by preacherfying this at Him every Sunday we can make Him believe that this is Christianity?"

Complacency like this taints us all.

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http://www.thisisjersey.com/news/shownewsarticle.pl?ArticleID=101416

ISLANDERS are not guilty of some unspecified, collective crime of child abuse and need not hang their heads in shame, the Bailiff has said.

Speaking to the JEP about the police investigation into alleged child abuse at Haut de la Garenne and the way in which the Island has been portrayed by the national media, Sir Philip Bailhache said that the Island was doing all in its collective power to ensure that the truth came out and that wrongdoers were punished.

He described phrases used about Jersey by some of the national media like 'culture of concealment' and 'Island of Secrets' as scurrilous.

'Lines like that taint us all and smear us all with the grime of suspicion,' he said.