I have been getting steadily more annoyed over the past week or so with the media and Westminster. When we should have been focussing on the economic situation, or announcements about jobs in hospitals we have heard very little except about Gordon Brown's seeming reluctance to say sorry over the email smear fiasco.

The media said that any announcement the government made would be sidelined, even go unheard, because of the lack of the use of the word 'sorry' from the PM. Well, in Glasgow yesterday he said 'sorry'. And in today's papers we have had a shift from him refusing to say sorry to the way he apparantly said sorry far too late into the affair and only because the media called for it! It got me thinking can people really be... (there's more to this blog, click below to read it.)

It got me thinking can people really be ...  expected to apologise for things that happen that they really have no, or very little, real control over? Can those in positions of authority be held accountable for things that happen in departments or organisations way, way, way, down the food chain?

In church we have spent the past few weeks thinking about Jesus' ministry on earth - his healings, his miracles, his pointing to God - and in the past week we have thought about his last week on earth - his getting angry in the temple, his spending time with his friends, his pointing to God.

As I reflect on all of this I am reminded of that part of the Jesus story where he is being questioned by Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate invites him to say he is the King of the Jews, acknowledge publicly what the religious leaders were claiming. And all Jesus would say was 'You say that I am', not 'Of course, have you not been following my career' or 'yup, that's me ... why'. 

It is not that Jesus wants ot avoid taking the blame for the charge, it is simply he never said that he was. As I read that passage, and the whole trial of Jesus, it makes me think of the blame culture we have in society now. What if Jesus had said, 'yes, I am the King of the Jews'? What if, when he was asked, he had apologised for saying that he forgave sins in the name of the Father, acknowledging that he really shouldn't have done that and it was a wee bit wrong?  What if he had stood up and said, 'listen, I am sorry for all the times I have challenged what has gone on. That time in the temple when I turned the tables over ...  listen I was upset, but I am sorry for that ... I know I shouldn't have upset you, or ruined your stock like that'?

Is it necessary to always apportion blame to someone? Is it necessary to always have someone apologise for things? Is it human nature to call for the resignation of someone because they didn't do something we thought they should have or they didn't have the same ideology as we did?

Jesus did challenge situations, and didn't say sorry, and refused to accept the blame people placed at his door. despite the mounting pressure and the world is a better place for it .. or at least it could be if we did the same! Perhaps we need to move away from a culture of blame and accept that things happen, good and bad, and that we will not always get the apology we think we should hear. But perhaps we also need to accept that we need to be bold enough to stand up for what we believe and attempt to change the world and not stop changing it because we are waiting for someone to backtrack or say sorry.

Not that I am suggesting in any way that email sleaze is the way to go ...

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