Da Vinci Code copyright infringement?

I confess that when I started to read this I was surprised and suspicious of the litgants' motives. Now, you will recall that I think the DaVinci code is unfair and misleading, but I think that there is something odd about the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail suing Dan Brown for copyright infringement:

The case is also likely to clarify existing copyright laws over the extent to which an author can use other people's research. The non-fiction work deals with theories that Jesus and Mary Magdalene married, had a child, and that the blood line continues to this day - with the Catholic Church trying suppress the discovery. It is similar to the theme explored in The Da Vinci Code,

The oddness about this is that the authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh are claiming that the American novelist Dan Brown appropriated themes and ideas they explored in their 1982 book. Now I understood that they were offering their ideas as facts. Can facts be copyrighted? Or theories? Or even beliefs? I would have thought that the only way they could be successful would be to admit that their work was fiction... I must be missing something. This may be an interesting story to watch.
Guardian Unlimited Books | News | Da Vinci Code author begins copyright battle
Filed in: DaVinci_Code, copyright, book

post charismatics?

Jonny Baker reports an interesting reflection on what is being termed "post-Charismatic". This is what he quotes from the new Post-Charismatic website.

this phrase should not to be confused with being NON-charismatic, and certainly not as being ANTI-charismatic. The process of separating what is truly of the Holy Spirit and what is needless -- and often harmful -- baggage is the whole idea behind developing a post-charismatic understanding of how a supernatural God works supernaturally amongst and through the mystical gathering called the Body. In other words, post-charismatic, but not post-Spirit.

Now, this articulates my feelings quite well. I still believe in [and practice, actually] spiritual gifts and an experiential thing in faith, but I can't identify with the kinds of authoritarian and excess and tendencies to 'name it and claim it' that seems to mark too much of what goes under the label "charismatic" nowadays. I really liked the vibe of the early charismatic thing where it was associated with a renaissance in folk arts [okay, a bit twee now but in principle the imaging of God's creativity is no bad thing] and there were people like Post Green Community doing a fairly radical discipleship thing [David Watson too].

However, like with "post evangelical" the 'post' prefix tends to connote something left behind. I want a term that still somehow keeps faith with the fact that I 'practice' faith with 'supernatural gifts' [however we understand that] but don't necessarily hold with the fleshly-emo hype [so 'amen' to post-hype] or the naive theologies [heck, I'm a glossolalist and a trained linguist: I have a more sophisticated ur-understanding of what might be going on in many cases...]. So I recognise the term but hold back from claiming it. ... contemplative charismatic ... ? ....

Actually, taking my cue from the late John Wimber, I'm inclined to label myself 'non-religious Charismatic'. In a meeting in Sheffield towards the end of the '80's John Wimber damped down some Pentecostal style emotional hype that was beginning in one part of the hall by saying words to the effect of' "Now don't get all religious on me". Which to me lays bare a lot of the real issue of the matter: it is enthusiasm [literal, etymological, meaning: 'enGodding'] which is channelled through a human nervous system in culturally conditioned ways. That's not to say we can ever have a pure experience of God untouched by our neuro-cultural a prioris: it may be possible to have it, but we can't 'know' it without processing it and that processing will pull in our neuro-cultural formation thus far. So there's no reason why we should not seek to express our enthusiasm in more religionless ways: "Yes!", "Hooray!" and so on are surely as okay as "Alleluia", perhaps in some circumstances better? We don't need to hype up the emotional temperature for God to act through us. I don't see Jesus working up a 'high' in order to expell demons or to cleanse leprosy; he just does it.
That's not to say that gratitude, excitement or amazement are trivial in Christian experience. It is to say that the way they are expressed is optional.

Take tongue-speaking. On the whole it is not an actual language being spoken [sorry if that's a 'there is no Santa Claus' moment for you; take a moment and breathe through it. Ready now? Let's go on ...]. What is probably happening is that the centres of the brain responsible for the production of speech sounds are being activated without being linked to the parts that deal with semantics and syntax. So what we get are strings of phonemes in vaguely speech-like patterns. It is an activation of part of the verbal capability. It can be used to praise God and to be a kind of mantra; an activation of part of the brain enabling other things to go on more easily. It can also be used detached from a relationship with God in Christ. It as a latent capability of probably most human beings that somehow becomes activated in relating to God and analogous situations. It can therefore be used by God as a kind of mediating point, almost sacramentally, perhaps, an opening of ourselves to God that may not happen otherwise. It is a human bodily mediated response to being touched by the spiritual-beyond.
That's how it looks from here at the moment, anyway.
jonnybaker: post charismatic:
Filed in: Christian, Holy_Spirit, charismatic, Pentecostal, critique

DIY Palm Crosses

In the last two churches I was vicar of we used to make palm crosses as part of the service on Palm Sunday. Often I would use the making process as a way of talking about the significance of the celebration. If you fancy making your own, the site linked to the title of this post will tell you with photos to guide the interpretation of the words. As for the teaching points: I usually made the following; good creation, humans twist and bend what God makes good into [a sign of] sin and death. But God has a way of changing things ....
Palm Crosses

Bad law: Enabling tyranny -be very afraid.

A note to UK readers, please lobby your MP on this especially if they are Labour. Why am I so agitatedly anxious? Well, it appears that in order to speed up legislative process, our government is about to try to enact a law that would pass significant powers to the executive from parliament, to amend or make law on the hoof, without real redress by elected process. In fact the kind of thing that Nazism did in 1930's Germany. Beneath innocuous seeming words, it hands unlimited powers to ministers because its small-enough-already safeguards can be amended by its own provisions:

The Bill is also subject to its own provisions. In other words, once passed by Parliament, Ministers will be able to amend it, which includes removing the already pitiful limitations about two-year sentences and taxation. ... In yesterday's Times, LibDem MP David Howarth described the Bill as ‘an astonishing proposal’, noting that ‘some constitutional experts are already calling [it] "the Abolition of Parliament Bill"’ (David Howarth, ‘Who wants the Abolition of Parliament Bill?’ in The Times February 21, 2006) while Daniel Finklestein has described how ‘[t]he House of Lords Constitution Committee says the Bill is "of first-class constitutional significance" and fears that it could "markedly alter the respective and long standing roles of minister and Parliament in the legislative process"’ (Daniel Finklestein, ‘How I woke up to a nightmare plot to steal centuries of law and liberty’ in The Times, February 15 2006). In a letter to the FT, Tony Wright, the Chairman of the Commons’ Public Administration Select Committee described the Bill (rather limply) as potentially a ‘significant transfer of constitutional power from parliament to the executive.’ (Tony Wright, ‘Regulation bill's aims are admirable but the transfer of power must be questioned,’ Letters to the Editor, in the Financial Times, February 15, 2006).

In case this isn't sufficiently alarming, another source of mine points out another set of potential consequences; the Act would make it possible to

cast aside the five-year limit on a parliamentary term allowing the Prime Minister to remain in Downing Street for as long as he wanted. Mr Clarke, chairman of the Conservatives' Democracy Taskforce, said the law would sideline democracy and debate on an 'astonishing scale'.
Under the 1911 Parliament Act, the Government must call a General Election within five years of winning office. But the little-publicised Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill would give Tony Blair and his ministers the power to change any law without scrutiny or approval by Parliament. Ministers would be able to change divorce laws, introduce house arrest, curtail or
abolish jury trial and give police powers to detain individuals, with no vote or discussion by the House of Commons.

So for example, the bill allows for ministers to legislate by fiat penalties up to 2 year imprisonment. But they could change that provision by using the powers the Act would grant them to alter any legislation, including the Act itself.
I've already mesnioned in this blog how sloppy the legislation the government keeps bringing to parliament is: constantly they say that the intention is not to .... whatever .... but the clear provisions do not state intentions and we know that once on the statute books, laws take on a life of their own and intentions may count for little.
Sleepwalking to a police state indeed. Because, of course;

The Government announced that it accepts the House of Lords concerns about making Identity Registration compulsory, and removed from the Identity Cards Bill the powers to order people to register and to force them to produce ID to access basic services. New legislation would be needed, it has said.
However, such new legislation is ALREADY before parliament. The Legislative and Regulatory Reform
Bill, scheduled to pass shortly after the Identity Cards Bill, would enable ministers (with very limited safeguards) to modify any Act of parliament by order - and this could include putting making ID compulsory.

It only needs another terrorist incident and you can bet that such powers would be used quickly while the public were still shocked and before 'we' could think about consequences.

Write now. You can find how here.
Many Angry Gerbils: Enabling tyranny:
Filed in: UK, government, legislation, constitution

Through the front window ...

This was a serendipity and I rushed out of the house to snap the west end of Durham Cathedral caught in a spotlight of sunlight.




The moment didn't last, even a few seconds later the sunlight started to fade as I zoomed in for the next photo or was it simply that the contrast from a closer apparent distance was reduced. I'm still learning but I'm quite pleased with that first photo...

church sudoku

I quite like sudoku but I know people for whom arithmophobia puts them off when actually its not a mathematical game, rather a logic puzzle: no adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing or any other mathematical operations; just work out what is missing. So this picture based version might [a] show you how non-mathematical it really is and [b] that it may actually be easier to do the one based on numbers!
church sudoku
Filed in: sudoku, game, online, pictures

The Unplugged - A Speculative Fiction

This looks very attractive and I especially commend it to new monastics ...

we Unpluggers found a new way to unplug: an independent life-support infrastructure and financial archtecture - a society within society - which allowed anybody who wanted to "buy out" to "buy out at the bottom" rather than "buying out at the top."
If you are willing to live as an Unplugger does, your cost to buy out is only around three months of wages for a factory worker, the price of a used car. You never need to "work" again, although there are plenty of life support activities to keep you busy, and a lot of basic research and science to do. Unplugging is not an off-the-shelf solution, it's a research career!

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: The Unplugged - A Speculative Fiction:
Filed in: unplugging, environment, lifestyle

The power of the poop

Sunset Scavenger will place biodegradable bags and what are tastefully called dog-waste carts in a popular San Francisco dog park. The dog poo will then be put into a methane digester, where bacteria will eat away at it for two weeks before it turns into methane gas. The gas can then be used to power appliances such as cookers and heaters that currently run on natural gas. It can also be used to generate electricity.

Guardian Unlimited | World dispatch | The power of the poop:
Filed in: environment, waste, recycling, urban, dogs

mutant algae save the world

It looks like there are reasons to be cheerful: if this is as it seems, they may have 'cracked' cheap hydrogen production.
Wired News::

Mutant Algae Is Hydrogen Factory

Filed in: hydrogen, algae, energy, economy

Quite right too

Reciprocity -- allowing Christian minorities the same rights as Muslims generally have in Western countries, such as building houses of worship or practicing religion freely -- is at the heart of Vatican diplomacy toward Muslim states. Vatican diplomats argue that limits on Christians in some Islamic countries are far harsher than restrictions in the West that Muslims decry, such as France's ban on headscarves in state schools. Saudi Arabia bans all public expression of any non-Muslim religion and sometimes arrests Christians even for worshipping privately. Pakistan allows churches to operate but its Islamic laws effectively deprive Christians of many rights. Both countries are often criticized at the United Nations Human Rights Commission for violating religious freedoms.

The meek will inherit the earth... ?
My Way News:
Filed in: Christian, Islam, Vatican, rights

Why I don't trust Cameron's left shift

David Cameron keeps saying things that I like the sound of. On environment and social justice, he keeps making the right noises and I compare the current Labour regime and think; "Hmmm, are they switching politics?" But I can't quite get a sense of how the Rt Hon Mr Cameron actually means to achieve his stated aims or, more importantly, how he thinks he can carry the Tories in the field with him. I know a few Conservative voters and I can't see them adopting Cameron's cuddly version without a lot of persuasion. So it was interesting to read this and have my suspicions somewhat confirmed.

Robin Harris, a former speechwriter to Mrs Thatcher ... argues that alienating the party's electoral base is potentially disastrous, adding: "There are good reasons why every Tory leader since Margaret Thatcher has started by proclaiming the party's transformation into something kinder, gentler and more leftwing - and then conducted a sharp rightward turn."

Yep; the membership consists of a lot of 'flog 'em and hang 'em' types who think dealing with causes of crime is pandering to social evils and that the less fortunate are actually the less competant and deserve their lack of opportunity. They also believe that a rising tide lifts all boats. Of course we now know that a rising tide only lifts the boats that have already had money spent on them and that haven't been filled with boulders and concrete ... .
Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Senior Tories voice fears at shift to left
You might want to look also at this.

Most Britons willing to pay green taxes to save the environment

Some 63% said they approved of a green tax to discourage behaviour that harms the environment, while 34% said they would not accept such price rises.

Encouraging. Let's see if it emboldens the government to do the right things ...
Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Most Britons willing to pay green taxes to save the environment:
Filed in: UK, environment, poll, tax

Plans to build housing estate from tyres

This is encouraging in the UK

Plans were unveiled today to build an ultra-green housing estate in Brighton using 15,000 old car tyres. The 16-home development would be constructed as a series of so called Earthships -

The things not only recycle material that otherwise gets burnt but tend to be more energy efficient. So I hope these really do act as a kind of pilot project.

A successful development in Brighton could pave the way for dozens of Earthship colonies around the UK. It's a very powerful, iconic building concept that has the potential to revolutionise the way we live.

SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Communities | Plans to build housing estate from tyres:
Filed in: UK, environment, building, earthships

Britain is world's best "National Brand"

Can you believe it? I guarantee a lot of Brites won't. But it looks on the level.

Great Britain proved best in an annual worldwide survey to find the best "national brand". The UK was ranked number one for investment and is also ranked strongly for sports and cultural heritage. As a brand, our nation's greatest asset is its people and how they are perceived - with the UK coming fourth for highly skilled citizens.

Of course it depends on the survey, but then again some comfort from this one...

based on a survey by Anholt Nation Brands Index (NBI). The fourth global NBI survey polled 25,907 people in 35 countries asking how they see a country’s culture, people, and appeal as a place to visit, invest in or migrate to.

Agenda Inc. Live Feed - Britain is world's best "National Brand":
Filed in: UK, poll

Big Brother's PC will be watching you

I suspect that one of the things that George got right in 1984 was the poverty of state; having to pay all those people to surveille all the rest would have been a major drain on the economy. The biggest defence of liberty in the era of human mental workers was cost. However, current technology could change all of that, bringing the cost of surveillance right down by digitising it.

In this article, George Monbiot outlines a very believable set of scenarios leading to a normalisation of surveillance. Believable because based on tech that is already 'out there' and the human reactions to the first steps have been muted [an image of a frog boiling to death in water only gradually heated, comes to mind]. So I feel vindicated in my opposition to a national ID database by this.

if the muted response to the ID card is anything to go by, we will gradually submit, in the name of our own protection, to the demands of the machine. And it will not then require a tyrannical new government to deprive us of our freedom. Step by voluntary step, we will have given it up already.

George Monbiot � Children of the Machine:
Filed in: ID_cards, biometric, RFID, technology

Trickle down economics is a myth

Neo conservative economics are betrayed by the figures and shown up for the ideological smokescreen they are.

the notion that global economic growth is the only way of reducing poverty for the world's poorest people is the self-serving rhetoric of those who already enjoy the greatest share of world income. Based on the global distribution of income in 1993, even if the benefits of global growth were distributed evenly, it would benefit someone in the richest 1 per cent of the world's population 120 as much as someone in the poorest 10 per cent.

So let's not take any more guff about the benefits of growth filtering down to the poor and 'a rising tide lifts all boats' -comforting but merely feelgood talk; it's just not true. For it to be halfway true, different systems of trade and finance would have to be in place. And consider the minimal cost meaningful redistributive policies would have...

poverty could be reduced without growth by more effectively distributing what we already have: For example:
* redistributing just one per cent of the income of the richest 20 per cent of the world's population would have the same benefit as world growth of 20 per cent without redistribution. This is over ten times the average per capita growth rate of global GDP since 1981;
* the rate of poverty reduction achieved between 1981 and 2001 could have been achieved through the redistribution annually of just one tenth of one per cent of the income of the richest 10 per cent of the world's population.

What needs to happen?

...a shift in power relations, both globally and nationally, to move power from developed countries, elites and commercial interests to the majority of the world's population, the poor.

Global democracy instead of the current oligarchy, no -plutarchy, no -kleptarchy.
world economy giving less to poorest in spite of global poverty campaign says new research:
See also http://nouslife.blogspot.com/2006/12/why-its-bad-for-rich-to-get-richer.html

True cost accounting 'makes oil profit vanish'

This shows what a difference true cost economics could make to the way that, in this case, environmental factors could be made to bear down on bottom line decision making:

The huge profits reported by oil and gas companies would turn into losses if the social costs of their greenhouse gas emissions were taken into account.That is the conclusion of research by the New Economics Foundation (Nef). Nef found that the £10bn-plus profits just reported by Shell and BP are dwarfed by costs of emissions associated with their products.

This is part of the argument about making sure that such externalities are made internal to the financial decisions of industry. In other words, they can be made to stop freeloading off the rest of us and the environment and pay their way. If these costs were borne by the oil companies, you can bet they would be making different decisions about what kinds of energy to invest in and the rest of us would make different decisions about where we live and how we travel...

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Climate 'makes oil profit vanish':
Filed in: environment, oil, corporations, accounting, NEF, profits

How is this democratic?

This is a shocking set of figures indicating that if Labour were to gain the second biggest share of the vote in a general election, they could still end up with a majority of parliamentary seats.

The Tories would need a swing of around 7% to win the next election outright. The 3% swing they have enjoyed since last May would probably be enough to deprive Labour of its overall majority, but would still leave it as the largest party.

Now, I'm no Tory supporter, but that is manifestly unfair and plays into the appalling current arrogance of the current Labour parliamentary leadership [and in the 80's ditto the Tory regime]. We desperately need a fairer electoral system to keep them on their toes and away from ramming through misguided legislation such as the current raft.

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Lib Dems recover from leadership crisis:
Filed in: UK, politics, voting, PR, 2006

Okay, now it's time to get worried

EEMA is running this week’s European e-ID Card Conference in Brussels – an event which, it says, “really should offer comfort to the sceptics”. But any e-sceptic wanting to know a little more about EEMA will hit a snag. Their site www.eema.org helpfully includes an “About Us” link (the one in red in the middle of their home page). Clicking it brings up an error message which cites “invalid ID”. The problem, it seems, is “caused by either broken links, or security attacks”.

I really can't see this being a good advert for identity cards and ID database ...
NO2ID NewsBlog� Blog Archive � EEMA’s invalid ID

Narratives of conversion and identification

There is a tendency for Christian basics courses to be arenas where people learn the basic narrative structures of conversion and how to identify things in their life that can be pulled out and conform to that structure. I’ve observed this in confirmation and baptism preparation where people are encouraged to write a ‘testimony’. When they have pretty much grown up “in the fear and nurture of the Lord”, they are often/sometimes coached into traditional before-and-after conversion narratives which are partial and gave significance to aspects of their lives and fail to value other ‘less fitting’ things which probably would have been seen differently in a larger narrative arc.

If you would like to read more you will need to click on the title of this post. It's a partial cross-posting because I recently started up a blog experimentally on Wordpress, Pneumaculturist, in which I want to focus on personal and spiritual growth issues. I have managed to intrigue myself with the above and I'm soliciting any suggestions to follow up the theme of narratives, 'given' storylines, personal appropriation, conversion and personal growth ...
Pneumaculture � Narratives of conversion and identification:
Filed in: Christian, spidir, narrative, mission, culture, spirituality

Banks -legal challenge over penalties on overdrafts

The UK has one Islamic bank and the issue of taking interest on loans is something we should grapple with in view of the international debt issue. The Muslim solution of no interest has the virtue of simplicity and it was the Christendom solution up until the middle ages. Now this is not so much interest as fees for unauthorised overdrafts but it may involve the same issues. The absolute prohibition on interest tends to leave a lender with no recompense for the deprivation of their money during the period of the loan, interest allows the 'fee' for the 'compensation' to be related to the length of time the money is borrowed. Usury has changed meaning in the west to the charging of excessive interest, basically the lender leveraging their power to screw the borrower is seen rightly as unjust. If I understand it aright, the church allowed the charging of moderate interest on condition that it was seen as a just compensation for the service offered and the deprivation of the money to the lender.

I'm less sure whether the fact that financial institutions lend out tenfold the deposits they receive was in the purview but I do think that banking needs monitoring carefully in view of the virtual licence to print money that this gives them. Morally, it leaves them nary a leg to stand on when it comes to charges.

I personally came face to face with the issue a few years ago when the account I used for fees and work-related purchases, through my own oversight, went marginally and unauthorisedly overdrawn. About eleven pounds I think it was. I looked at my statement and discovered a fee of at least twice the overdraft had been immediately charged and then interest on the whole amount charged and despite further deposits that would have put things in the black were it not for the bank charges, a further fee charged for the next charging period. I was not impressed. As it happened the bank concerned were persuaded that there was an injustice involved and, on a goodwill basis [of course, they didn't want precedents] retracted the interest and compounded charges on the original fee [which I thought was fair, it was my oversight after all]. But it was shocking to see how all of a sudden a few pounds of debt escalated towards a hundred within a few weeks. I have subsequently been involved with a bit of debt counselling and seen the same sort of story retold and small debts become relatively huge by the compounding of charges just when people are most financially vulnerable. That is usury in the post-medieval sense.

It seems to me that God's concern in a society with little by way of regulatory mechanisms, inflation or even monetary exchange, the banning of interest-taking was a way to protect the most vulnerable from exploitation [of the kind that still goes on in rural societies like India's]. It could otherwise become a way to penurise and so enslave many of the rural population. So I support this guy...

"Customers have taken banks to the small claims court over penalties, generally winning because the banks settle on the courtroom steps," he said. "Instead, rather than all these piecemeal actions, I want the courts to settle the legal basis of this once and for all. This case is in the public interest."
The legal argument will revolve around whether banks can charge more than the real costs incurred when a customer passes an overdraft limit. One bank has told the Guardian that the charges are needed to "discipline customers who would otherwise have free rein".
Mr Hone realises he is taking on the combined firepower of the major banks. "This could be the biggest legal case the banks have ever faced and I am aware of the difficulties if I lose. But I have no assets, am willing to go bankrupt and I shall be legally aided. I already have a solicitor and barrister ready."

Whatever we do about usury, the point is to protect the weak from the wealthy.
A bit of history on the matter of the church and usury here and here.

Guardian Unlimited Money | Saving and banks | Banks face legal challenge over �3bn penalties on overdrafts:
Filed in: banks, UK, money, interest, usury

My news: Religious Education at the University of Newcastle

I recently applied to and just over the weekend, accepted the offer of a place to learn to teach Religious Education at secondary level starting in September. Unless a really overpowering offer comes along, I will take it up in mid September. Part of me is very excited, part of me is puzzled that I should be in this position. I am not leaving ordained ministry though. I am making a journey that I have seen a few people make from ministering in a secular context to doing so in a church-based setting except I'm doing it in reverse. However, that trajectory is developmental for me rather than a radical new departure. Significant steps in it have been as follows.
I did wonder aged about 20 whether to go into teaching RE but felt at that time I was not mature enough to handle classroom management.
I did wonder when going through the selection proceedures leading to training for ordination whether I should be what was then called a "non stipendiary minister" because my call came very much in the personal context of valuing lay vocations and secular work, and it was only when I was able to see how 'ministerial priesthood' fitted within the baptismal priesthood of all God's people that I felt able to proceed. So this is a return to my roots in making sure that I am able to carry out a secular role.
In the last few years, being involved in university chaplaincy, I became reconnected with my roots at the level of valuing again the whole 'widening participation' venture in UK education. I came from a background where the expectations of me were low and I was taught accordingly. Through that and the valuing of human beings that comes from my faith, I have been keen to make sure that opportunity is given to all, and the systemic and personal disadvantages that confront many in our society are dealt with. As a teacher I can be part of that, I think.
I also became aware of the real issues of peace and justice making in a religiously plural society. In RE teaching I would have an influence well beyond a few Christians as well as dealing with a curriculum which encourages examination of things like fair trade and environmental responsibility.
I have also been taking stock for a while now of the financial difficulties that the CofE has, and I am not confident of the resiliance of the institution. I need to plan, I think, for a future where my serving of God's people is bivocational. I actually warm to this idea as it brings me back to where I started, more or less, vocationally and I feel liberated by the prospect.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty ...
Since my wife will be serving her first 4 years of curacy [that's a kind of apprenticed ministry the CofE require of the newly ordained] near to Newcastle, I am glad that it is Newcastle who have offered me this opportunity. I just need now to tie up the financial details, but anticipate tha burseries should be available...

Newcastle is home to a rich mix of people from different faith traditions and learning to teach RE in Newcastle also offers the opportunity to visit sites significant in the early development of Christianity in England such as Lindisfarne and Bede's Church at Jarrow.

Religious Education - Education, Communication and Language Sciences - University of Newcastle:

prayer project: Peace Basque

Something that you may pick up if you are an attentive reader of this blog is that I have an interest in the Basque region and language [Euskadi and Euskara respectively, in their own language]. This goes back to a time when I was living in San Sebastian /Donostia studying for a BA in Linguistics and learning Euskara in order to write my major third year dissertation on Basque syntax and morphology. In turn this came out of an interesti in linguistic minorities probably related to an appreciative awareness of a great deal of Welsh ancestry in my heritage. So I would invite you to consider joining me in praying for peace in the Basque country. "Peace Basque" is my own bilingual pun on the French name for Euskadi; Pays Basque or the Castillian Pais Vasca. The referenced article gives you the flavour of the current impasse where ETA refuse to even go down the IRA route, though the constitutional framework of the Spanish State is arguably more severe than the situation faced by the IRA in projecting the possibility of independence...
Basque News and Information Channel eitb24

Pillow fight club

This looks like a lot of fun. They say its safe, but there must be some minor injuries down to knuckles catching or whiplash, still much better than a bar brawl. I wouldn't mind a go myself.

Here is how it works. Join the Pillow Fight Club, find out about the pre arranged venue, bring your pillow and at the exact moment everyone launches into a massive pillow fight. It's a great way to vent frustration, and no one gets hurt. The most recent Pillow Fight Club experience saw 1000 people fight it out in San Francisco and in London, the pillow fight lasted over an hour. The one golden rule is nothing but feathers can be hidden in the pillow slip.

the cool hunter - PILLOW FIGHT CLUB

Ash Wednesday -do what for Lent?

Well, the occasion of this posting is the news that:

This pledge has been successful!

ie 20 people have signed up [a couple with odd names, it must be said] to join me in slowing down for Lent. But don't let that put you off signing up for:

You can still add your name to it, because the deadline hasn't been reached yet.

In days when there was pretty much a set way to work through Lent; set by Church authorities, preparation for Ash Wednesday was minimal because you would know what was expected. Nowadays we have more awareness of the cultural and historical relativities of the matter (This article is a useful history of the traditions of Ash Wednesday in the west) and there is more possibility of taking responsible decisions in the light of our own circumstances and particular challenges in our own spiritual life and growth. What this means is that it may be time to start encouraging people to think about their Lenten disciplines in good time before the day itself. I had in the last ministry I exercised begun to do so on the Sunday before Lent. There would be a time to explain the purposes of Lent and to give ideas for disciplines. In turn this meant that Ash Wednesday itself also became a day for dedicating our disciplines to God, and some liturgical expression of that needed to be devised, preferably combined with the ashing.

Of course another disadvantage of keeping Lent in a way that was where everyone is conforming to a prescribed set of rules and disciplines is that those rules and practices would work well for some people in terms of engendering spiritual growth, while for others they would be indifferent or even retrograde. This has the capability of making some who are genetically, temperamentally or culturally disposed look better and gain status while those who aren't have a further stumbling block thrown in their way. A more individual approach can help to remove the privilege of some 'playing to their strengths' by directing them to shore up their weaknesses along with the rest of us.

Just to help things along, and to take us off some beaten paths of giving up chocolate or praying more, here's an edited version of something I wrote a handful of years back to help us to think about Lent in terms of justice and environment.

What could we do for Lent ?
There's loads of things to say about this topic and this site only says some of them, there are a few pointers to other resources and I'd be happy to know of others to be included when the next revisions happen. I do hope that this stuff helps you to observe Lent in a really helpful, growing and spiritually uplifting way.

Background
Lent began as a season of preparation for Easter, firstly for those who were becoming Christians to receive instruction before their baptisms at Easter and secondly for the rest of the church to make some solidarity with them. This gives Lent the traditional characteristics of penitence and abstinence. Penitence as people reflected on the events on Holy week and why they happened and then the sense of getting things right with Go. Abstinence as an outward sign of penitence and preparation and as an act of solidarity with the sufferings of Christ [archetypally in the temptations in the wilderness].

Traditionally Lenten fasting was to give up meat and dairy produce [in effect to become vegan]. This would have been in addition to the regular weekly fasting from any food on Wednesdays and Fridays. Apart from the practical use that such a restricted diet would be in an agrarian economy at the end of winter, it also meant that the resumption of normal diet was felt as celebratory. Perhaps this deferred gratification is something we can learn from and emulate in today's consumer, 'instant hit' society.

Fasting is often a fasting from something in particular, be it from food or certain kinds of food or drink, or from activities [such as watching TV or going to the cinema]. Also often included in Lenten discipline is the idea of undertaking study or particular courses of action [as people would do as part of their preparation for Baptism]; hence many churches hold special Lent study groups and many Christians undertake special activities to help them grow in faith or understanding - reading the whole of a particular part of the Bible or going on a pilgrimage or having a special regular prayer time they wouldn't normally have, for example.

Be careful though...
So what about our own keeping of Lent today? Of course we should start by remembering that it isn't for show [See Jesus' teaching in Mat.6.16-24], and that it won't make God love us any more to be very strict with ourselves not make God love us less if we don't do anything. The main point is to do what will help us to draw closer to God and to express more fully God's agenda and values in our lives. In this sense it may mean it is more useful to ask ourselves what we should take up as well as give up. It is also worth looking at Isaiah 58 as a guide to God's view of fasting and how to do it -keeping the common good and welfare of
humanity firmly in mind is part of it.

In all of this it is well to take stock of what we believe God is calling us to do in our life and use Lent to help take those callings forward or to prepare us in some way.

Isaiah [Isaiah ch 58.6-14] encourages people to fast in a way that leads to greater justice. In God's world human beings are making some decisions that are making things worse for everyone and particualrly our children and grandchaildrena and we in the palnetary north are living at unsustainably high levels of consumption. One way to help us understand this is to calculate our ecological footprint. The responses we could make to learning what our ecological footprint is could vary from recycling things that we don't normally, cutting down our consumption especially of meat, power, fossil fuels etc. So giving up the car for at least some kinds of journey might be appropriate.

Since a lot of our ecological footprint is made larger by consuming more goods than we need perhaps fasting from 'retail therapy' might be a good discipline: only shopping for food and absolute necessities during Lent.

Give up meat, become vegetarian or even vegan for Lent. Or if that's too great a step cut down to once or twice a week. There are lots of good reasons for doing this. Meat is in world terms a luxury and giving it up is an act of soldarity with the world's poor. The resources given to raising meat for the high consumption in the planetary north would be better used in raising crops for human food, and may help slow deforestation in the planetary south.

Fasting from things that may have gained an undue prominence in your life: shopping [perhaps we should learn to take our sense of worth from God rather than retail therapy?], watching television, alcohol, caffeine, certain activities may be reviewed perhaps. Giving the time saved to activities that help us to grow closer to God [whether that's taking a walk. praying, reading scripture, meditating, spending time with a spiritual mentor or whatever].

Another area to consider is taking up the Fair Trade cause. Fair trade aims to make sure that the producers of our tea, coffee and other foods and goods are able to gain a fair deal from the transactions. Find out more by visiting the fairtrade site. There are an increasing range of products of good quality;. Why not give it a go? Why not take it beyond Lent?

It is helpful to take stock of how we often best spend time with God and what helps us grow or feel close to God and planing to spend more time in doing that. It could be taking a walk. Praying, reading scripture, meditating, spending time with a spiritual mentor or whatever. Be practical but also aim to stretch yourself a bit. Taking stock is also a good thing to do over Lent. How about drawing yourself up a 'rule of life' or a set of spiritual guidelines/rules of thumb to live by. You can find a very helpful set of headings and comments at the site of the community of Aidan and Hilda. There are ten guideline areas, five weeks in Lent -look at two a week, perhaps. It's often good to talk these over with a mature Christian or a church leader.

'I will Slow something down for Lent 2006' - PledgeBank:
Filed in: Lent, pledge, slow, Christian, personal

Businesses' energy certificates

Paul Browne of the British Retail Consortium said: "These kinds of certificate are useful for things like white goods. But I can't see how shoppers will decide to shop somewhere just because they have a good energy-efficiency certificate."

I'm sympathetic to the issue of businessed being overregulated, though I'm also concerned that they are safe and good value and, as in this case, they are aware of their environmental impacts and are able to help their customers to make decisions relating to environment when using their premises or products. So while this is not the answer to everything it could be a help to us in that. It may be true that a lot of people won't change their shopping habits on the basis of a cerificate, however, some of us might just do so or at least ask questions or make suggestions. Of course what would be better is ways to help them to become more efficient; it would cut their overheads...
Independent Online Edition > Business News:
Filed in: environment, UK, EU, efficiency, energy, business

Liberty and authoritarianism

Chris Huhne just got my respect and attention by putting into words something I have have begun to feel about the state of British politics at the moment given what appears to me to be the illiberal turn of the Labour party.

"One of the crucial divisions of opinion in Britain in the future will be between the party of civil liberties and the party of authoritarianism. The Prime Minister tells us that we must lay down our freedoms for our lives, but perhaps he should remember all those people in past generations who laid down their lives for our freedoms."

See also letters to the Indy which put why I think that.
Independent Online Edition > UK Politics:
Filed in: Huhne, LibDems, liberty, authoritarianism

ADHD cure in prospect?

Children with ADHD are thought to have problems with the cerebellum, a part of the brain that controls the organisation and direction of thought and behaviour. Mr Dore's new theory gives rise to hopes that stimulating the dormant parts of the cerebellum, using a series of balance and eye exercises, could expand it and encourage it to work better without needing to use chemical treatment

I'm really interested to note that a non-chemical way may be found to deal with a brain disorder. Could this be a paradigm-shifting event as influential as the discovery that Troy was not a 'fairy tale' city but was historical with all that led to in terms of archaeologists taking 'myths' seriously as potential history [and a few wild cards like Erich Von Daniken, too]? Let's see, but if I were to go on my gut feeling, this is significant.
Independent Online Edition > Science & Technology:

table fellewship's psychospiritual dynamics

For a number of years now, I have idly reflected on the kind of intimacy that is created when people share a meal together. I suspect that it is part of the dynamic that makes the Alpha course good at helping people to consider important questions together. So I found it helpful to read this from Henri Nouwen.

We all need to eat and drink to stay alive. But having a meal is more than eating and drinking. It is celebrating the gifts of life we share. A meal together is one of the most intimate and sacred human events. Around the table we become vulnerable, filling one another's plates and cups and encouraging one another to eat and drink. Much more happens at a meal than satisfying hunger and quenching thirst. Around the table we become family, friends, community, yes, a body.
That is why it is so important to "set" the table. Flowers, candles, colorful napkins all help us to say to one another, "This is a very special time for us, let's enjoy it!"

It's no surprise that Christian faith was nurtured in a meal the fossil of which we still have. However, I can't help thinking that we ought to be doing more with it. I feel that, for example, the Essence course would do well to have a meal as a regular part of it.

The point is well made about vulnerability, mutual aid, the give and take that awakens community, sharing and relating at depth. Though not always, it's not automatic. We can create the conditions but people still have to go through the process and be prepared to let the setting work its 'magic'. It must be about the way that God has made us: we are made for community; we grow on one another when we share activities; we grow deeper when those activities are to do with bodily pleasures and when there is the opportunity [actually, to avoid awkward silences, there is a bit of a push to communicate] to share things that are on our hearts and minds. The sharing in something tends to create a non-adversarial dynamic so that eating together and co-operative conversation tend towards creating or 'feeding' community. It is in eating together that we actually show forth more fully our createdness-in-the- image of God.

Wired News: New Microchips Shun Transistors

It looks like the way to continue making computer processing devices smaller and smaller past the point of physical impossibility based on the current microchip manufacturing paradigm has been discovered: change the paradigm and use nanomagnets. This has a number of advantages besides making ever smalling processing devices.

the chip has no wires, its device density and processing power may eventually be much higher than transistor-based devices. And it won't be nearly as power-hungry, which will translate to less heat emission and a cooler future for portable hardware like laptops. Computers using the magnetic chips would boot up almost instantly. The magnetic chip's memory is non-volatile, making it impervious to power interruptions, and it retains its data when the device is switched off.

What I still would like to know is what the environmental implications are and what kind of time frames are we looking out before we have these things in our hands and on our desktops and what kind of costs are likely to be involved?
Wired News: New Microchips Shun Transistors:
Filed in: technology, microchips, Moore's_law, magnetic

An ugly side of capitalism

Last week [Qinetiq] flogged over half its shares. Its chairman, who paid £129,000 for his stake in the company, is now worth £27 million, and its chief executive £22m... it is hard to see what they did to deserve it. As Lord Drayson’s Labour predecessor, Lord Gilbert, pointed out, “All the value was built up by public servants using public money. I consider it a complete outrage . . . a scandal.” In a letter to the Telegraph on Saturday, the former managing director of the Defence Research Agency – the government body that was split up and turned into Qinetiq – described the profits as “greed of the highest order”: the two men, he said, had captured the benefits of decades of work by the company’s scientists and engineers

So next time we're tempted to salute the free enterprise system let's remember such things and recall that the market always has to have regulation to make sure that Adam Smith's invisible hand really does work for the common good and not simply for private greed and general exploitation.
George Monbiot � A Good Model for a Mugging:
Filed in: Monbiot, capitalism, greed, shares, Qinetiq, privatisation

text prayers and WiFi Phones

What will happen to the mobile network carriers when we don't need their networks? ... Nokia have announced the launch of their UMA network solution that allows ... their phones to operate on WiFi and WiLan networks.
Gizmag says:
UMA technology enables the use of broadband and unlicensed access technologies, such as WLAN (WiFi) to offer and expand mobility to users of voice and data services.

I suspect that among other things this will enable the use of mobiles reasonably easily to text messages with prayer requests within a church service which could then be displayed as part of the prayer of the church ...
PSFK: Nokia Makes Network Play With WiFi Phone:
Filed in: technology, IT, wife, telephony

Airborne Cruise Ships

"The Aeroscraft will revolutionize leisure travel. Our designs for airborne travelers will rival the luxury cabins of the world's greatest ocean liners and will feature all the latest technological amenities."

I've been wondering for some time how feasible this kind of idea would be. Apparently they could fly coast to coast in the USA in about 18 hours. So transatlantic would be about a day? That's good if their fuel consumption is remarkably less than a jet airliner. I would be willing to even travel a couple of days to make good savings on CO2 in journeys to USA and Canada [or even further].

I hope to find out more in due course. Especially if there turn out to be more budget versions eventually, a youth hostel version, for example!

Worldwide Aeros Selects WATG for Interior Design of Airborne Cruise Ships | Dexigner:
Filed in: travel, airships

The Secret Cause of Flame Wars

According to recent research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, I've only a 50-50 chance of ascertaining the tone of any e-mail message. The study also shows that people think they've correctly interpreted the tone of e-mails they receive 90 percent of the time.

In other words we are very bad at accurately reading the emotional tone of written communication. Or, put it another way, we are very bad at writing in such a way as to accurately convey our emotional tone. Actually, this is no surprise: good novellists are good because, often, they are able to use words and only words on a page and punctuation to convey well moods and emotional atmospheres. Most of us are not so gifted, but we think we are.

Do an experiment. Look back at some of your written stuff from, say, six months ago. What emotional tone does it convey? Is that what you intended? Try it again with several items, same test. I bet there's at least some stuff that either you are not sure about what emotional tone was in your mind, let alone intended or that shocks you because it seems well awry of what you know of your own attitudes and reactions.

Scary, eh?

Which leads us into a (Christian?) ethics of communication. Recognising both our own frailty [ie naffness in communicating especially in print] and the likelihood that other people are, on average, as naff as we are at it, what are the rules of thumb we should put in place to make practical policy of that troublesome saying of Jesus about specks and beams in eyes, and of the golden rule of "do as you'd be done by"?
I suggest:
Always assume that you may be misinterpreted and so on sensitive matters be extra careful, re-read and try to head off potential misunderstandings.
Make use of the preview button [do my eyes see what my fingers type here?]
If possible come back later to look at things with fresher eyes.
Always assume that other people don't actually mean to be nasty. If you are wrong, at least you will have the moral high ground by appearing to be gracious and generous! [Like Paul's burning coals thing]
Give gracious feed back and ask for clarification before "letting them have it with both barrels". That is, tell them "When you wrote 'blah...', it came over to me as 'ouch...', is that what you intended?"
I've fallen foul of nearly all of those things, so it is advice born in the crucible of heated tempers and frayed respect, however I do hope that I have been learning.

Wired News: The Secret Cause of Flame Wars:
Filed in: flame, email, psychology, tone

Kenya, roses and trade

This interesting article tells the difference fairtrade can make but also how it may not be a panacea.

At the Oserian farm, where 5,000 workers labour in a sprawl of greenhouses from where daily shipments head straight to Tesco's, Sainsbury, Marks & Spencer and other outlets, the Fairtrade brand is seen as a way to polish the industry's tarnished image and balance the competing interests of business and Lake Naivasha's ecosystem.

While it is good that fairtrade roses mean a better deal for the workers and the communties that are involved in production, the longer term ecosystem issues are worrying. And that's befor we address the issue of air miles and the CO2 impact.
That latter also has me asking questions about my coffee which although fairly traded is still shipped [but not flown, mecifully] from half way across the world...
Guardian Unlimited Shopping | Shopping | How Kenya is caught on the thorns of Britain's love affair with the rose:
Filed in: shopping, fairtrade, flowers, trade, ecosystem, Africa

Big doubts re. safety of ID cards

A major security expert has said that he would refuse to join the UK government's compulsory ID card scheme because it is not good enough and too expensive to boot. He says further:

"it is shameful that those who are less well-off will be forced to put themselves at serious risk for a system that serves no purpose that cannot be achieved in other, more effective and less costly ways".

I hope that wavering Labour MPs will read this and vote accordingly in today's vote.
Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Defence expert undermines Blair on safety of ID cards
Filed in: ID_cards, UK, security

Inculturation or sell-out?

I think that this obituary for Han Wenzao infers that the guy was a collaborator with the Chinese Communist party and government. And there is a lot to support that contention.

For decades the Protestant organisations allowed to exist in China have been run by a tight-knit handful of Communist Party loyalists, whose grip is only now starting to loosen. Han Wenzao - though not as formidable a government enforcer as his colleague Ding Guangxun, or as prolific an author - did his bit to defend the bending of Protestant theology to Communist beliefs in Bishop Ding's controversial "theological reconstruction".
Never ordained, Han was a vocal advocate within the TSPM of the importance of lay leadership. He was also highly visible as head of the Amity Foundation, in effect a business allowed by the government to produce bibles and other literature for the TSPM. The foundation - set up in 1985 and also involved in charity work - partnered with the United Bible Societies and other international Christian agencies.

I think that I would like to support a sympathetic line of interpretation as well. These were difficult times, the only way that the churches could exist with something like a degree of freedom was to enroll in the government controlled Three-Self Patriotic movement. Now, I haven't done nearly enough reasearch to back this up, so this is really a hypothesis that would require more evidence. However, I can see on the basis of what is said how he might have seen this as the right and godly way to go. The TSPM was about the church standing on its own feet without foreign aid. That might be seen as a government 'push' to do what should be done anyway. The emphasis on lay leadership has good theological bono fides for protestants and he may have been glad to see that made into a 'given'. He may also have been keen to make sure that bibles were available legitimately [and it is no bad thing to try to head of the suffering of others who might be endangered by being found with contraband literature, what would you do if you had the opportunity to get it into people's hands legitimately?]. Before we cast stones, we might [some of us any how] take a note of the glass wall in our own houses. He took a course that empowered the laity, so might many of us in the west wish to do so! He took a course that made sure that the churches were able to look after themselves, this is considered normal in many countries and increasingly so in the historic-resources subsidised CofE. He made it a national church; this is normal Anglican polity and the ecclesiology of the Tudor and Stuart Church of England. He made it so that people could own Bibles without being jailed -or worse- for doing so. We might interpret his actions as a move to inculturation and as engaging in the art of the possible. Only when we have analysed the positive should we be critical.
Independent Online Edition > Obituaries:
Filed in: Christian China, three-self, protestant, inculturation, collaboration

FON: sharing broadband

Just a couple of weeks ago someone was asking me whether it was possible for people to share their spare broadband capacity and whether it was done. I answered that it was certainly done commercially by people like Starbucks [and non commercially by some universities in some places] but I hadn't come across any scheme that made it possible for private individuals to share their surplus capacity and that one of the issues about doing so would be security. Well it looks like someone has come up with a way of dealing with it all ... at the moment the difficulty is that it will only work with a restricted number of routers. However, it could expand. The other issue is the legal one of whether one would invalidate ones broadband contract ... but they're working on that too.
What is FON? | FON
Filed in: wifi, sharing, routers, social, broadband

Evangelical coalition demands White House acts on environment

Eighty-six prominent figures in the movement, among them leading pastors, the heads of evangelical colleges and the Salvation Army, released a statement yesterday warning that "millions of people could die this century" because of global warming - most of them in the earth's poorest regions

It's good to see US evo's getting hold of this one. It could just make a difference.It is also shaping up to be of significance more widely:
>

The trend has seen the religious right make common cause with liberal Episcopalians and others on the "religious left", joined by some Orthodox, Catholic and Jewish groups.

Remember, love does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth ...
Independent Online Edition > Americas:
Filed in: global_warming, Christian, Evangelical, USA

Global warming tipping point reached

We may not have any time left to avoid serious effects. The scary thing -not in this article- is to read the USA military projection of the present as a sober assessment that there is trouble ahead and attempting now to position themselves to avoid the worst effects of migration, food production losses, water shortages etc etc. There's a frightening world scenario building. Dark ages ahead.
Independent Online Edition > Environment
Filed in: global_warming, tipping_point, environment, CO2

Work, age and 'uselessness'

Richard Sennett has some interesting reflections on aging, skills, global labour markets and welfare. Painting a downbeat view of prospects for older people in the global north-west [which is particularly poignant for me as all too much of it seems to chime with my felt experience in the last two years], he suggest that the challenge for western governments is to rethink how work is organised and financed:

the task ahead of the welfare state is to finance and to organise usefulness. Many tasks that provide care and mentoring are either poorly paid or unpaid; unrecognised as work. As the private economy sheds workers, we ought to invent ways to use the skills and experience of these workers as carers - which is to say that we need to expand the welfare state, rather than shrink it or convert it into a private, profitable enterprise.
I don't offer this as a total panacea for uselessness, but rather as the kind of experiment we need to make, socially, to countervail against the economy's ever stronger tendency to do more with less. Usefulness is the political project of our times.

The point is that there will be the work, there always is, the real issue is how we value, organise and monetise it [or not]. The simple example is child care which, despite the expansion in nursery care, still is hugely valuable to the economy and yet is provided free or nearly free by the volunteer labour of parents, grandparents and other carers. If we had to pay for that labour ... externalities again. For me it raises the issue of a social wage again.
Guardian Unlimited Money | Work | Out with the old:
Filed in: work, UK, global, economy, education, age, underemployment

Sail of the century

"In five years, the skylines of cities across the country are going to change. Micro wind turbines are going to be as common a sight as satellite dishes."

I really hope so, but the comments on this article are not encouraging reading, though the one that points out the potential of micro versus nuke generation is well worth noting at policy level.
BBC NEWS | Magazine | Sail of the century:
Filed in: micro-generation, windpower, city, distributed, grid, generation, environment

Stop drinking botteld waters!

...they're bad for the environment. As Bob Geldof said in his imitable way:

"Bottled water is bollocks. It is the great irony of the 21st century that the most basic things in the supermarket, such as water and bread, are among the most expensive. Getting water from the other side of the world and transporting it to sell here is ridiculous. It is all to do with lifestyle."

I have always maintained that for the most part still bottled waters are daft and that the only water worth bottling for most of us in the west would be the carbonated varieties otherwise the tap is your best bet [though staying in Hertfordshire nearly had me eating -sorry- drinking my words; truly horrible tap water].
Anyway, read the article and give up bottled water. You know it makes sense.
Independent Online Edition > Environment:
Filed in: water, bottled, environment, waste

The The trouble with the Prayer of Jabez ...

Dave Batstone comments on the disengagement of Bruce Wilkinson, author of the Prayer of Jabez, from his projects in Africa. By all accounts it was not an exit covered in glory. Dave Batstone reflects on how the approach of PoJ falls short of the realities of life outside of the global North-West.

Wilkinson's doctrine in fact implies that social structures are immaterial. An individual reciting the right prayer can transcend an AIDS epidemic in his or her village or escape being bought and sold into slavery (like 27 million people on this planet yet today). Perhaps now that Wilkinson has immersed himself in Africa, he better understands that the curse of poverty is not a spiritual punishment, or an indication of a lack of faith. To bring blessings to the orphans and widows of Africa, a dramatic shift in values - political, economic, and personal - will be required. And that challenge cannot be owned by Africans alone; it falls squarely on the shoulders of us in rich nations, who enjoy such great material "blessings."

I entirely agree and in fact it is an issue I wrote about in Praying the Pattern when dealing with the issue of praying for our daily bread in conjunction with 'your kingdom come'. Permit me to excerpt the relevant bit from the book.

I am concerned that we are careful with this aspect of prayer. It would be a tragedy if we allowed it to be co-opted by the prosperity teaching that goes on in some Christian circles and in various parts of the world. By this I mean the kind of teaching that has at various times been characterised as 'name it and claim it' or 'God wants you rich'. As with most bad ideas and like successful lies, there is enough truth in it to carry conviction for those who take it on board. In this case the truths it picks up and uses are that it is God's will that we should be provided for, and that God's world reflects God's will for provision to be be made and God's love and care for humanity. The difficulty is that these true observations are then made out to be inflexible laws, wrested from their context and end up serving human pride and veniality quite apart from the actual will of God. So let's pay some attention to the clause in context.

This clause of the prayer seems to reflect the context of the sermon on the mount in that it follows on from praying for God's will to be done, in this way echoing the teaching about seeking God's priorities first and letting God provide the things we need. But we should also place this in the contexts firstly of scripture where voluntary giving has a big place and a major theme of the gospels is warnings against wealth and accumulation of riches. The second context is one of a world where many faithful Christians have starved to death in famines and have not seen God's provision of food. I would argue that this is because, at least in part (no claims to solve the perennial questions about evil and a God of love here), the promise of provision is set within a context of an ecosystem and social systems that have largely worked in a providing way. However, if corporately we flout too much the will of God in areas touching on environment and social justice, we will find that this will have impacts on provision which will fall disproportionately in the most vulnerable in the world.

So it may seem to certain groups of Christians in affluent societies, that God provides all they need and many of their wants, but the reality is often that they (we) are working the system to our advantage: diverting God's provision meant for answering the prayers of the poor for daily bread to our own use. The fact that 'we' can name it and claim it may be saying more about a privileged position in the global web of trade and power than supernatural aid. We should see this petition in the context of gospel calls to redistribute to the poor. In our global context, praying 'your will be done' in conjunction with 'give us our daily bread' means praying and working for a world where the global systems of production and distribution are fair and sustainable. And it means being prepared to act with restraint with regard to our own desires. Prosperity gospellers should take note of their ecological footprints, and take in the fact that for everyone in the world to live at their level, it would take three to five planet earths. Then they might explain to the rest of us whether they really have faith that God is going to multiply the whole planet like the bread at the feeding of the five thousand.

Sojourners : SojoMail : Back Issues:
Filed in: Christian prayer justice wealth

Wired News: Nano Coatings Paint Green Future

New spray-on, nanotech coatings could keep iPod screens from scratching, make paper products waterproof and perform other minor modern miracles. And because they are cheaper, easier to apply and more environmentally friendly than substances currently in use, nanotechnology-based coatings could replace many of today's industrial paints and coatings.

Wired News: Nano Coatings Paint Green Future
Filed in: environment, paint, nanotech

Demolishing Strongholds: Evangelism and strategic-level spiritual warfare

Grove books have redesigned their website, meaning that my book[let] now has its own page!

What's it about? The blurb on the site says, "Spiritual warfare applied to evangelism, with reference to Peter Wagner, Walter Wink, and 'Marches of Jesus'." I think I might ask them to alter that a bit because its more a critique of the concept of corporate exorcism and territorial spirits as a means and preliminary to evangelism, recommending instead an understanding and use of 'spiritual warfare' which is more true to the actual New Testament witness. Walter Wink's work on the Powers is used as a resource for a better understanding of the NT language of principalities and powers.
Christian resources from Grove Books - Ev 21 Demolishing Strongholds: Evangelism and strategic-level spiritual warfare
Filed in: Christian, evangelism, spiritual-warfare, Walter_Wink, Peter_Wagner

Word cloud of a webpage

This website produces a word cloud from whichever website you type in.

Data clouds of website

Leader halves his own pay

Hat tip to Dr Moose for this brave and salutary example of putting money where mouth is.

The Bolivian new left-wing President, Evo Morales, has cut his salary by more than a half to a little over $1,800 (£1,012) per month. The decision means that the salaries of all Bolivian public sector employees will be reviewed, as no official can earn more than the president.
Mr Morales said the money saved would be used to increase the numbers of doctors and teachers.

This man now becomes one of my heroes.
It put me in mind of my own call for our bishops to do likewise, which I now and hereby renew.
BBC NEWS | Americas | Bolivia leader halves his own pay:
Filed in: Bolivia, Morales, pay, wealth

'Coca is a way of life'

Yet further evidence that things are rarely simple 'good vs evil' matters. The growing of coca is not necessarily a prelude to narcotics trafficking:

"You have to realise that, for us, the coca leaf is not cocaine and as such growing coca is not narco-trafficking," he says. "Neither is chewing coca nor making products from it that are separate from narcotics. The coca leaf has had an important role to play in our culture for thousands of years. It is used in many rituals. If, for example, you want to ask someone to marry you, you carry a coca leaf to them. It plays an important role in many aspects of life."
Unlike other coca-producing countries, such as Colombia, there is here a genuine history and tradition associated with coca use. To the Amerindians, Mama Coca is the daughter of Pachamama, the earth mother. "Before you go to work, especially in agriculture, you will chew some coca leaf," Morales continues. "After lunch, after a nap, you might have some. If you drive long distances for your work, you will chew it to help you stay awake. During the night, you will see police officers on patrol with their cheeks full of coca leaves.

That's why the move to decriminalise coca production was so popular in Bolivia. 6million of its 9m inhabitants are of Amerindian descent and coca is part of their culture. The global north-west really needs to think harder about the so-called war on drugs and the place it may have taken up in global politics. And the intractability to simple analysis goes deeper as the article tells; the production is much higher than the relatively innocent usage of the leaf would warrent ... if we want to eliminate this surplus production, then ways will have to be found to replace or improve on the incomes that farmers can draw from it. It's all the problems of single commodity cropping that we see with tea and coffee production but with a crop which has been demonised and so is not amenable even to a voluntarist fair trade approach. You should read about the living conditions of the producers before engaging the moral outrage module of your brain ...
President Morales is, apparently a good guy, he says;

"I want to industrialise the production of coca and we will be asking the United Nations to remove coca leaf as a banned substance for export. That way, we can create markets in legal products such as tea, medicines and herbal treatments. There has even been research in Germany which shows that toothpaste made from coca is good for the teeth. That will then enable us to be tougher on the narco-traffickers. As I said, no to zero coca, yes to zero cocaine."

Perhaps he deserves our support.
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | 'Coca is a way of life':
Filed in: coca, drugs, Bolivia, Morales, culture

fresh expressions - an investigation

my name is Phil and I'm an Anglican ordinand (that means I'm training to be a vicar). As part of my training I'm investigating what has come to be known as 'fresh expressions' of church or 'emerging church'

And one way that Phil has been investigating is to ask people what they think about various things via a questionnaire. As I was filling in mine, it occured to me that others might be interested in the questions and I would certainly like to keep a copy of my answers, who knows? You might even find bits of my answers useful yourself? So here goes.

The Church of England, at an official level at least, is now supportive and encouraging of Fresh Expressions of church (eg General Synod vote on Mission Shaped Church, Fresh Expressions initiatives etc.). Why do you think this is?
Two contradictory yet related reasons: negatively; concern over the loss of active membership and failure to recruit younger members. Positively; those who have been urging and pioneering and reflecting are being heard.

Should the Church of England be supporting and encouraging fresh expressions of church? Yes
Please give a reason for your answer ...
The cultural movements being experienced in the global North-West are likely to leave inherited expressions of church increasingly isolated from their cultural milieu and while a level of participation can and will be maintained in such expressions, they can never as such reach the mass of British peoples.

When does a fresh expression become a church and is this and important distinction?
Depends on definitions of 'church'. For me, I think something significant happens or would happen around the transition to 'self-governing' and 'self-financing' (cf Chinese '3-self' movement) or the nearest equivalent in their sponsoring set-ups. In Anglican /CofE terms that would probably mean paying share and having a PCC equivalent. Theologically I tend to feel that a degree of 'covenanting together' and the Eucharist make a church.

What would make a fresh expression of church specifically Anglican?
Structurally -see previous answer. Theologically is harder: commitment to serving the wider community, using 'language' (and I include semiotics in that) understanded of the people. An approach to formation consonant with 'lex orandi, lex credendi'. My test case would be multi-media worship: to make sure that definitions can include that.

Looking to the future, how do you think the current development of Fresh Expressions will affect the future of the Church of England?
Challenge to formally incorporate 'mixed economy' into church government and polity. Challenge to think about liturgy more comprehensively. Money will become a more vexed issue and the resolution of tensions currently showing up around ordained local ministers will need to be worked at. Tremendous anxieties and arguments about appropriate discipling and formation. Question about whether the CofE con hold onto fresh expressions or whether they split.

What are the greatest obstacles for the development of Fresh Expressions?
Vested interests and lack of imagination on the par of leadership hierarchically. Legalities being used by insecure clergy and churches to throttle back initiatives.

What do Fresh Expressions imply for the 'inherited church'?
A move away formally and structurally from presumption of geographical community. Challenges to methods of church government to allow flexibility, smallness, less hierarchy and yet accountability.

freshexpressions - an investigation:
Filed in: Christian, church, post-modern, mission, emerging

Friends of the Earth: Campaign Express: Press for change: Protect your right to energy-saving information: Thank you for taking part in this action

For Brits, it's time to put the pressure on new build housing regs. The standard form email is this:

Response to consultation papers: The Code for Sustainable Homes and Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3).

The Government has claimed to be committed to tackling climate change. Yet the recent announcements on the Code for Sustainable Homes and Planning Policy Statement 3 (Housing), throw away the opportunity to ensure that new communities are energy efficient.

The proposed draft of the Code for Sustainable Homes is no good;
the Code's minimum standard on energy use is no higher than the latest building regulations - and yet higher standards are technically feasible.
The scope of the code only new domestic dwellings
The code would be merely voluntary in respect of private sector housing. It's unlikely the many now homes hoped for from PPS3 will be built to good environmental standards because it calls only for voluntary use of the Code.

As things are under this code, nte policies run counter to effective action on climate change. Please ensure that the highest building standards are used and made mandatory for all buildings.

Please take the points raised in this letter as my response to the public consultation. I look forward to your reply. Thank you.

But it's always better if you can personalise these to try to make it less likely that they will be sidelined.

Muslim hacks of cartoon websites

Only found this in Spanish so far: basically, hundreds of Danish websites have been hacked and pages replaced with islamic slogans. Could touch off a hacking war, I fear. And that could mean all of us at risk.
Cientos de 'webs' occidentales son atacadas por la publicaci�n de las caricaturas de Mahoma - ELPAIS.es - Tecnolog�a
Filed in: Islam, web, hacking, blasphemy

Sweden plans to be world's first oil-free economy

Sweden is to take the biggest energy step of any advanced western economy by trying to wean itself off oil completely within 15 years - without building a new generation of nuclear power stations.

I thought 'what about Iceland?' apparently their aim is oil free by 2050, while Sweden aim for 2020.
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Sweden plans to be world's first oil-free economy:
Filed in: environment oil nuclear economy Sweden