Nor did I hear anything more than a caricature of AI's Secretary-General, Pierre Sane, who I listened to on a number of occasions during his most recent Jamaican sojourn. It is true that under his direction AI's gaze has remained strongly focused on the values of ending state injustice worldwide and on upholding of the rule of law everywhere. The explanation for the United Church's anti-AI stance may lie buried deep in questionable religious views about policing society. I once attended a talk by a police inspector at the Methodist Church in the Harlesden district of north-west London. The inspector argued that policemen are God's servants doing God's work who, therefore, deserve and require the wholehearted support of all God-fearing citizens.
Policemen are the modern successors to kings in the matter of divine right.
The thinking is that society is God's creation and those who protect it from perceived and feared internal enemies are nothing less than God's agents. On a number of occasions over the past few years I have had the pleasure of meeting and talking to one of the United Church leaders I noticed at their April 20 press conference. It may be that the media distorted the message of the United Church. Possibly its leadership really expended as much time and passion on the details of this inquiry call as they did on denouncing Amnesty International. Since that call coincides with one I made in this column some weeks ago let me take this opportunity to support them and to amplify it.