I have two great hopes for Sunderland AFC this season - first, that they comfortably stay in the Premier League, and secondly, that the love affair with the Italian Fascist begins to fade. Criticism of him lessened the minute Sunderland defeated Newcastle 3 - 0, but I think that as time goes by, Sunderland supporters will soon turn their backs on him.
The opening of the season, the so called 'dawn of a new era' ended being a 1-0 defeat to Fulham on our home ground. One of the best players in that match, Sessegnon, is now rumoured to be available for other clubs to sign. In the manner of Mussolini, the man whose portrait graces his tattooed back, Di Canio is obsessed with creating a 'new vision', and seems to think that shouting, bullying and raving will achieve his results.
Hopefully, some of the new players will soon settle in, and Sunderland will stay up - but Di Canio's style may soon feel grating to the good supporters of this city, and I hope that along with many brief Italian holiday love affairs - it will end sooner than expected.
My new Sunderland top which read 'Love Sunderland, Hate Fascism' was a big hit with most folk who saw it. It certainly opened up many debates. Many people do not want to talk about this issue, but until Di Canio owns up to his past, apologises for the hurt his actions have caused and denounces Fascism unconditionally, then he is unacceptable in the increasingly multicultural and diverse city of Sunderland. Turning a blind eye to Fascism never ends well!
Monday, 19 August 2013
The Trouble with Taize...
its taken me a week or two to digest my feelings since travelling to France and spending some time with the Taize community. It was a powerful experience, that did far more for me spiritually than I had bargained for.
Effectively, life is centred around 3 sets of daily worship, Morning Eucharist, Midday and evening prayer. These involve meditative chants in a number of languages, punctuated with one long period of silence, prayers and a bible reading. The singing is beautiful, and its easy to get caught up in the sound of 3-4000 people singing together in the minimalist church surroundings.
There is a lovely wooded walkway down to a lake and waterfall which is open during the day, and signs encourage all who visit to do so in silence, in fact many take up the chance to do the whole week in silence, or perhaps just the last 4 days.
The atmosphere created by the mixture of worship, silence, and the sight of so many young people from around the world playing, talking and listening to each other is totally awe inspiring, and needs to be experienced to be believed.
On the whole it offers people an authentic understanding of what Christian life can be; engaged with the world, yet offering something different, something heavenly.
It has some flaws - it feels quite Catholic for an 'ecumenical' retreat, and the division of male and female roles is questionable. However, there is a progressive feel, and problems are discussed openly an fairly.
The only trouble with Taize, is that it is hard to replicate the intensity of the experience outside of the place itself. We will all be disappointed with the pale imitations in our local churches. The radical communitarianism, the laughter, the sharing of food and tasks, the deep biblical discussion and the challenge to capitalism that Taize represents are in short supply in our normal parish life
Effectively, life is centred around 3 sets of daily worship, Morning Eucharist, Midday and evening prayer. These involve meditative chants in a number of languages, punctuated with one long period of silence, prayers and a bible reading. The singing is beautiful, and its easy to get caught up in the sound of 3-4000 people singing together in the minimalist church surroundings.
There is a lovely wooded walkway down to a lake and waterfall which is open during the day, and signs encourage all who visit to do so in silence, in fact many take up the chance to do the whole week in silence, or perhaps just the last 4 days.
The atmosphere created by the mixture of worship, silence, and the sight of so many young people from around the world playing, talking and listening to each other is totally awe inspiring, and needs to be experienced to be believed.
On the whole it offers people an authentic understanding of what Christian life can be; engaged with the world, yet offering something different, something heavenly.
It has some flaws - it feels quite Catholic for an 'ecumenical' retreat, and the division of male and female roles is questionable. However, there is a progressive feel, and problems are discussed openly an fairly.
The only trouble with Taize, is that it is hard to replicate the intensity of the experience outside of the place itself. We will all be disappointed with the pale imitations in our local churches. The radical communitarianism, the laughter, the sharing of food and tasks, the deep biblical discussion and the challenge to capitalism that Taize represents are in short supply in our normal parish life
Wednesday, 14 August 2013
Here's a thought - lets stop selling arms to Egypt!
As terror continues to dominate the streets and squares of Cairo and Alexandria, our prayers are with the ordinary people of Egypt. Whatever our governments feelings about President Morsi's year in office, and the US and UK refusal to see his demise as the result of a military coup, surely there may be second thoughts about his replacement.
The army is out of control, believing it has the right to get away with murder. This power it feels it has does not come from any sense of justice and democracy - it comes from the barrel of the gun. Egypt has one of the most powerful armies in the world, and the US arms dealers have happily supplied it with all it desired, regardless of who was in charge of it. When Mubarak ruled with horrendous human rights violations - we armed him to the teeth. When the Arab Spring toppled him, we can remember Cameron and the UK arms dealers swooping in as fast as a speeding bullet. They were all happy to sell arms to Morsi, and then to even support the military coup that subsequently deposed him last month.
When will we learn? The answer is to strengthen democratic and civilian institutions, not to pour so much funding into military solutions and the sale of armaments.
So, in the upcoming DSEI arms fair to be held in London in a few weeks time - will representatives from Egypt be allowed to plan their next purchases, ready for use again against their own people?
Lets say no. Lets join in the protests outside the worlds biggest arms fair on the 8th Sept, lets say enough is enough. No more arming the generals, and watching them use the weapons on their own people. Lets stop this violence at its source - the companies who encourage the use of weapons of war regardless of the legitimacy of the regime.
The army is out of control, believing it has the right to get away with murder. This power it feels it has does not come from any sense of justice and democracy - it comes from the barrel of the gun. Egypt has one of the most powerful armies in the world, and the US arms dealers have happily supplied it with all it desired, regardless of who was in charge of it. When Mubarak ruled with horrendous human rights violations - we armed him to the teeth. When the Arab Spring toppled him, we can remember Cameron and the UK arms dealers swooping in as fast as a speeding bullet. They were all happy to sell arms to Morsi, and then to even support the military coup that subsequently deposed him last month.
When will we learn? The answer is to strengthen democratic and civilian institutions, not to pour so much funding into military solutions and the sale of armaments.
So, in the upcoming DSEI arms fair to be held in London in a few weeks time - will representatives from Egypt be allowed to plan their next purchases, ready for use again against their own people?
Lets say no. Lets join in the protests outside the worlds biggest arms fair on the 8th Sept, lets say enough is enough. No more arming the generals, and watching them use the weapons on their own people. Lets stop this violence at its source - the companies who encourage the use of weapons of war regardless of the legitimacy of the regime.
Thursday, 18 July 2013
Papiss Cisse - a North East Ramadan Hero!
When Papiss Cisse refused to wear a Newcastle shirt that brandished the 'Wonga' logo, he became my hero. Finally a professional footballer who was prepared to pay a price for his faith and his beliefs. Sunderland's Mclean had made an admirable stand against having to wear a red poppy, but never to the extent that he risked his own place on the playing field.
Cisse should not be the only one taking a stand. His two Muslim colleagues have said that they don't have a problem with it, but their faith dictates that they should be aggrieved at having to support Wonga, effectively a legal loan shark that brutally rips off the poorest folk in the country.
Why are the Christian team mates not also taking a stand? Is it because Christians have long been ignoring the Biblical condemnation of usury? The Churches are keen to make big moral statements on issues such as same sex marriage or gay bishops, yet surprisingly slow to condemn the money lenders and changers.
Not so with Jesus, who clearly would stand side by side with Cisse's brave decision, upturning the tables in the modern temple stadiums.
Three cheers for Cisse, Islam's Ramadan hero of the hour!
Cisse should not be the only one taking a stand. His two Muslim colleagues have said that they don't have a problem with it, but their faith dictates that they should be aggrieved at having to support Wonga, effectively a legal loan shark that brutally rips off the poorest folk in the country.
Why are the Christian team mates not also taking a stand? Is it because Christians have long been ignoring the Biblical condemnation of usury? The Churches are keen to make big moral statements on issues such as same sex marriage or gay bishops, yet surprisingly slow to condemn the money lenders and changers.
Not so with Jesus, who clearly would stand side by side with Cisse's brave decision, upturning the tables in the modern temple stadiums.
Three cheers for Cisse, Islam's Ramadan hero of the hour!
Thursday, 4 July 2013
Spend Independence day at Menwith Hill
Never before in history has the extent of global intelligence gathering been under so much scrutiny. Thanks to the bravery of Edward Snowden, what has long been known amongst the activist community is now common knowledge.
The NSA's Prism programme has been exposed. The scale of surveillance conducted by the US and UK governments on domestic, commercial and diplomatic 'targets' is almost beyond comprehension. There is no such thing as privacy, and every aspect of our lives is under the watchful eye of secretive state agencies.
In my book 'A Just Church' I told the story of being under surveillance by those working at Menwith Hill, monitoring even church emails for clues as to involvement in peace activities. Some disbelieved whether this had actually taken place, but recent revelations have shown that actually, the situation is much worse than imagined.
This is fine if you are naïve enough to believe that the state always acts in the interests of the common good. It clearly does not, it operates in the interests of big business and those with power. If you happen to, say, believe that nuclear weapons are wrong, or that war in Iraq/Afghanistan was wrong, then you are a legitimate target of the state.
Even if you are worried about the impact of a company like McDonalds on the environment, and are actually prepared to do something about it, the state may spy on you, even have sex with you, even fabricate stories about you.
Even if your son is killed in a horrific racist attack, and you are trying to seek justice, the state may spy on you and try to discredit you and your supporters.
I do not believe that the US and UK governments have the right to bug, sleep and spy their way across the globe to perpetuate their blinkered understanding of what the world is about.
Menwith Hill, near Harrogate, one of the worlds largest intelligence gathering posts for the US, supposedly an RAF base, is at the heart of the problem. That is why hundreds of us will be gathering at it's gates at 5pm tonight to call for an 'Independence from America Day'.
When Wendell Phillipps, the renowned abolitionist said in 1852 that 'Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty', he did not mean vigilance by a secret state - he meant by us, the people. So if you value your freedom, now is the time to get active in the civil liberty movements.
The people at Menwith Hill need to be held to account for a start.
The NSA's Prism programme has been exposed. The scale of surveillance conducted by the US and UK governments on domestic, commercial and diplomatic 'targets' is almost beyond comprehension. There is no such thing as privacy, and every aspect of our lives is under the watchful eye of secretive state agencies.
In my book 'A Just Church' I told the story of being under surveillance by those working at Menwith Hill, monitoring even church emails for clues as to involvement in peace activities. Some disbelieved whether this had actually taken place, but recent revelations have shown that actually, the situation is much worse than imagined.
This is fine if you are naïve enough to believe that the state always acts in the interests of the common good. It clearly does not, it operates in the interests of big business and those with power. If you happen to, say, believe that nuclear weapons are wrong, or that war in Iraq/Afghanistan was wrong, then you are a legitimate target of the state.
Even if you are worried about the impact of a company like McDonalds on the environment, and are actually prepared to do something about it, the state may spy on you, even have sex with you, even fabricate stories about you.
Even if your son is killed in a horrific racist attack, and you are trying to seek justice, the state may spy on you and try to discredit you and your supporters.
I do not believe that the US and UK governments have the right to bug, sleep and spy their way across the globe to perpetuate their blinkered understanding of what the world is about.
Menwith Hill, near Harrogate, one of the worlds largest intelligence gathering posts for the US, supposedly an RAF base, is at the heart of the problem. That is why hundreds of us will be gathering at it's gates at 5pm tonight to call for an 'Independence from America Day'.
When Wendell Phillipps, the renowned abolitionist said in 1852 that 'Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty', he did not mean vigilance by a secret state - he meant by us, the people. So if you value your freedom, now is the time to get active in the civil liberty movements.
The people at Menwith Hill need to be held to account for a start.
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Occupy Turkey!
A dear friend has been keeping me posted on the latest developments in and around Gesi Park in Istanbul, and today the news has been horrific. The government and the media staged a 'violent' protest between 30 people at hundreds of police, to create the impression that the protestors at the park are a violent mob. This could not be further from the truth, and the 'occupygesi' activists have held on to the great principles of non-violence used by the occupy movements throughout the world.
Prime Minister Erdogan is desperate to portray those trying to resist neo-liberal Islamism as terrorists and foreign 'infiltrators', an obvious lie to those in the country, but a lie foreign media is often happy to perpetuate.
Worse still today, was the arrest of over 50 lawyers who were defending the rights of the activists, another flagrant abuse of power by the government.
Erdogan's government is fast losing it's credibility with its own people. The lurch to the right, exemplified by the attempt to commercialise one of Istanbul's remaining 'people's green space, has forced ordinary people to take to the streets. As the G8 meets, its leaders need to withdraw support from the Turkish Prime Minister while he needlessly drags his country into a horrific period of civil unrest.
Long may the progressive forces in Turkey survive! Show your solidarity outside the Turkish Embassy!
Prime Minister Erdogan is desperate to portray those trying to resist neo-liberal Islamism as terrorists and foreign 'infiltrators', an obvious lie to those in the country, but a lie foreign media is often happy to perpetuate.
Worse still today, was the arrest of over 50 lawyers who were defending the rights of the activists, another flagrant abuse of power by the government.
Erdogan's government is fast losing it's credibility with its own people. The lurch to the right, exemplified by the attempt to commercialise one of Istanbul's remaining 'people's green space, has forced ordinary people to take to the streets. As the G8 meets, its leaders need to withdraw support from the Turkish Prime Minister while he needlessly drags his country into a horrific period of civil unrest.
Long may the progressive forces in Turkey survive! Show your solidarity outside the Turkish Embassy!
Save the National Media Museum!
It's no surprise that this government is reaching new depths of cultural suicide, yet even I am shocked by this latest round of bedevilment. The budget for the science museum is to be cut again, and it is the Northern outposts which are to bear the brunt.
The 'Science Museum Group' runs three museums outside of London, Bradford's National Media Museum, The National Railway Museum in York and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. SMG director Ian Blatchford has warned that a further cut of 10% from the government will mean that one has to close. He has also indicated that the National Media Museum is the weakest link, and some have suggested that the museum ought to be located in London.
London is not England, the South East is not the United Kingdom, and this government should not continue to rule as if the North of this country can quietly go to ruin. Cities like Bradford need cultural centres and hubs, as they do huge amounts for local commerce, education and confidence.
When I left the South East to look at where to study, it was the National Media Museum that stood out for me on my visit to the University of Bradford. I loved film, and here on my doorstep was an amazing cinema, an Imax screen, and a wide range of exhibitions relating to media, news and photography. I thought it was marvellous, and was one of the pulls (along with the curries!) that kept me in the city for 20 years after my studies had finished.
Central government needs to invest more in the sciences throughout the land, and regional museums in Manchester, York and Bradford are vital to the prosperity of these cities. Today, a parliamentary enquiry has been announced into the threat of closure hanging over these museums, and let us hope that sense is seen, and our government returns to a long-term view of our education and our economy. Now is the time to show your support for these institutional bedrocks of culture and civilisation.
The 'Science Museum Group' runs three museums outside of London, Bradford's National Media Museum, The National Railway Museum in York and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. SMG director Ian Blatchford has warned that a further cut of 10% from the government will mean that one has to close. He has also indicated that the National Media Museum is the weakest link, and some have suggested that the museum ought to be located in London.
London is not England, the South East is not the United Kingdom, and this government should not continue to rule as if the North of this country can quietly go to ruin. Cities like Bradford need cultural centres and hubs, as they do huge amounts for local commerce, education and confidence.
When I left the South East to look at where to study, it was the National Media Museum that stood out for me on my visit to the University of Bradford. I loved film, and here on my doorstep was an amazing cinema, an Imax screen, and a wide range of exhibitions relating to media, news and photography. I thought it was marvellous, and was one of the pulls (along with the curries!) that kept me in the city for 20 years after my studies had finished.
Central government needs to invest more in the sciences throughout the land, and regional museums in Manchester, York and Bradford are vital to the prosperity of these cities. Today, a parliamentary enquiry has been announced into the threat of closure hanging over these museums, and let us hope that sense is seen, and our government returns to a long-term view of our education and our economy. Now is the time to show your support for these institutional bedrocks of culture and civilisation.
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