By Pastor Edi Giudetti
The sorrowful account of Jason Arday (b 9th May 1985 – d 14th August 2026) testifies to the end point of the captivity of contrition, when a man or a woman become convinced that sorrow is worse than death, when suicide becomes a more viable option in their minds than being sorry for sin, when becoming ones own executioner is preferred over the admission of any guilt, contrition has been taken captive. This is when sorrow for sin becomes imprisoned by pride.
…he would rather die than admit he lied.
Jason Arday was noted as the youngest ever black man to have received a Professorship Chair in the Oxbridge Union of Universities in England (Cambridge). These are the oldest and most prestigious of universities in the western world. He gained this chair through his graduate work and studies as would seem just and plausible. He rose to prominence among academia for his incredible achievements in many sectors of life and prevailed through many trials and struggles in life to inspire many professionals and parents, so it seemed. But he lied, and he would rather die than admit he lied!
According to his own testimony, he was an autistic child who remained mute until the age of 111. He could not read nor write until he was 18 years of age2. Yet in spite of his limitations he pressed on to an athleticism of the highest of degree. He ran 30 marathons in 35 days3, he also ran 600 km in six days4, raised 5.5 million pounds for charity, played both Snooker and football5 at professional levels. In addition to all these acts through his dutiful study of his doctoral dissertation in Educational Studies, he also managed to be suffering a brain tumour6, which was mercifully removed prior to receiving his PHD in 2015 by Liverpool John Moores University. He went on from there to eventually become the celebrated youngest black Professor in Cambridge University7 history in 2023.
This incredible achievement was followed by numerous television appearances and several honorary doctorates and finally appointed to the trusteeship and advisory roles in Civil Society.
Jason Arday’s professed achievements became an inspiration for people far and wide. Parents who themselves have non-communicative autistic Children, considered Professor Arday as a figure of hope for their own children.
The Cambridge appointment in 2023 however became the weightiest card balanced so precariously to which others were deliberately balanced until the entire house of cards came crashing down in August this year, and ended with Jason Arday taking his own life on the 14thof August. 10 days earlier, Mr Arday resigned his professorship when Cambridge University finally opened an investigation to the rising tide of plagiarism allegations against him. Arday leaves behind a wife and two children.
The Prime minister of the United Kingdom stated correctly that Jason Arday’s death is “A tragedy on so many levels8” and called the public for a “moment of reflection”.
He is right.
There Are Two Stories In the Jason Arday Saga
The house of cards was not built by Jason Arday alone.
What is discovered is the most tragic end result of organisations and institutions and people at the highest levels, who wilfully ignore the whistleblowing warnings of those who reveal the sin of the sinner, and allow the sinner to rise to his imagined height, only to let him fall when the foundation of cards inevitably come crumbling down.
This is a story of IRRESPONSIBILITY, of NEGLECT, of complicity is the captivity of contrition.
…whosoever has had a hand in pumping the helium into Jason Arrays balloon, has a responsibility in that which transpired.
While the popular left wing promote that the fault lay with those who called out Mr Arday’s plagiarism and of being a fantasist, the scapegoating to those who called out the sins of the sinner cannot abide the simplest scrutiny. Charges of “Racism” are denied by the fact that there are many black professors serving in universities around the world, therefore it was clearly not the colour of Mr Arday’s skin that led to his downfall.
An entire, institutional level of hiding the sin of the sinner is revealed today. The Universities, the media, organisation, whosoever has had a hand in pumping the helium into Jason Arrays balloon, has a responsibility in that which transpired.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt Mr Arday was aided and abetted through a combination of DEI zeitgeist and the congratulatory justifications of liberalism’s fascination with race-baited minorities. It was not only the colour of his skin that landed his applause, it was his neuro-divergence which multiplied his suitability to the DEI nonsense of the day. A nonsense they did all they could to protect.
Definitions:
“Fantasist”: An individual who escapes reality or creates elaborate, unreal stories or delusions. (Synonyms: Daydreamer, Quixotic, Delusional)
“DEI”: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion; a promoted framework employed by organisations to avoid a merit based system of employment and pander to the emotions of those who may be overlooked in a merit based system. Employed originally to combat discrimination, but functionally institutionalises reverse discrimination. (EG: We need to obtain 50% female commercial airline pilots, or employ only Black teachers, or only trans sociologists in the place of those who might be the best pilots, best teachers and best sociologists).
“Neuro-Divergent”: While DEI is one goal, it is multiplied exponentially if the subject has multiple conditions that would naturally add to his deficit in the real world. Employing an individual who is both Black, autistic, previously mute, medically challenged etc, all bring additional “points” to the employers.
“Zeitgeist” (German): Refers to the Spirit of the Time, a general ‘madness of crowds’ that motivates a culture and identifies a moral climate specific to the time. (Zeight = Time. Geist = ghost or spirit).
When the first salvo named “Plagiarism” was cast against this paper castle, the organisation that rewarded him for his sin doubled down9 on justifying him. Cambridge University knew of a certainty that such an attack against Arday would also have its shards embedded in some of the solid walls that once built this great institution.
Naturally therefore, in justifying Arday’s right to the Chair to protect their own self interest, a doubling of efforts would be undertaken to highlight the charges of plagiarism if they were not taken as seriously as they ought. And so they did.
Revealing the sin of the sinner is not cruel, to the contrary, it gives opportunity for correction.
Those who discovered his plagiarism and discovered the complete lack of any account of the many fantastic stories he had told, would press the allegations far and wide. Such an exponential growth and publication of the claims would find the fall of Arday more and more unlikely to survive. When the institution who have both the responsibility and the authority to investigate such matter, plug their ears that they may not hear and blind their eyes that they may not see, any opportunity for a soft landing for Arday is taken away.
Revealing the sin of the sinner is not cruel, to the contrary, it gives opportunity for correction. Hiding the sin however, has an exponential increase in its destructive effect. “…the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel” (Pr 12:10b). We claim gentleness by rejecting punishment and thereby guarantee the looming overcorrection.
The same is witnessed in many areas today, drugs which take people to higher highs ALWAYS overcorrect to the downside. Inflation does so with money. So too does the lack of just judgement destroy a civilisation.
Had Cambridge investigated the charges carefully, the rocks Arday ultimately fell upon may have been substituted for cushions, his career may not have been saved, but his life may have been. In the attempt to hide the sin of Arday, Cambridge attempted to hide its own culpability and compromise, the end cost was the life of Arday.
A short fall with little fanfare may have preserved him to endure the shame, but Cambridge University suffered Arday to be taken to the height of world wide humiliation before they investigated his sin. What followed became “a tragedy on so many levels”.
The Lesson To Learn
What is wrong with the world?
Dear sirs, I am.
The university is the institution which justified Arday, naturally they bear the responsibility for both his elevation and his demise, though it is a stretch to place the blame on anyone other than Arday for his own death at his own hand.
The story however is far greater and far deeper than this fall from grace of a delusional professor, it extends throughout a society that, by nature, does not want to be held accountable for its sins.
We naturally hate being corrected, we like to think nice things about ourselves, and we never wish that our sins may find us out (Num 32:23). We refuse to confess our faults one to another (Ja 5:16). We hold onto our guilt and are encouraged to lock them all away and tuck them into the deepest recesses of our conscience in the hope it never sees the light of day, we keep contrition captive.
We need the courage to confess our sin. We at the least need the courage to search them out and acknowledge them.
In August 1905 a question was posited by the Daily Mail promising a reward for the best answer to the question “What is Wrong with the world”. Once answer stood out to be both the shortest and the most honest and profound of all. The answer was submitted by the theologian GK Chesterton, and to the question “What is wrong with the world” came the simple answer, “Dear Sirs, I am”.
We are so far removed from that response, not only in time and season, but in mind and heart. Few people dare admit guilt to anything today. The Jason Arday story teaches us that death is preferred by some rather than any admission of guilt. Some three centuries ago, theologian Jonathan Edwards wrote of unacknowledged sin in man to grow so great as for one to become his own executioner.
Jason Arday sought relief from the guilt of his sin, but rather than humbly take it to the cross of Christ, he paid the wages of his sin by his own hand.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham called for a “moment of reflection”, perhaps each of us individually need to reflect upon our own sin and what it is that prevents us from both acknowledging and dealing with it. Pride?
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Ps 139:23-24)
To be continued.. How did we get here? & Humility is The Key
4 https://web.archive.org/web/20230409123105/https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbSX50Wfz6c
6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxhxHU44lGY
7 https://news.educ.cam.ac.uk/230223-jason-arday
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