The Grace Pages

Weekend waffle

Stephen Green's appearance on the Beeb's Question Time last night did not really justify the uproar I witnessed on some gay forums. There was outrage that the BBC were giving him a platform, but he only ended up making himself look utterly ridiculous, which I'm sure the Beeb knew very well when they asked him to come on the show.

He was quiet for most of the programme, actually, and when he did open his mouth he only made a fool of himself. The rest of the programme was unusually flat by QT standards, I thought.

Onto other things: Despite the overblown title, this is an interesting film about hysterical overreaction to alleged "discrimination" on a few American university campuses; its main virtue is that the tone of the documentary itself is generally not overblown, and it contains some enlightening interviews.

If you're too sore from the last time a Republican whupped your ass to appreciate the documentary, here's some lighter fare: a sneak preview of The Shining (QuickTime required); proof that you probably shouldn't trust movie trailers.

Oh, and here's some parting advice: Think young.

Stephen Green and Christian Voice

Brett Lock of the Gay and Lesbian Humanists blog writes a fascinating profile of Stephen Green, leader of the notorious UK fundamentalist campaign group Christian Voice.

Browsing through the Christian Voice website, I couldn't help but be amused at this curious promise of action, should the Racial and Religious  Hatred Bill be passed (which it already has):

[We shall] report Islamic Bookshops for selling the Quran and Hadith, which, if they aren’t hate speech, nothing is.

Dear, dear. Go back and read your Holy Bible, Mr Green, and then tell me if you still can't see the irony.

Stephen Green will be one of the panellists tonight on BBC's Question Time. The programme will be available online free for a week afterwards, but alas, I suspect, in the UK only.

Cringeworthy

I pity this poor preacher.

Hat-tip to Adam.

PS. For what it's worth, "pitch" sounded more like "pinch" to me.

New or renewed? Fed up with a cultural obsession

I hate this obsession with "new". My city is preparing to be the Capital of Culture in 2008 and everything's just got to be new, new, new. There are huge long roads leading into town that are nothing but row after row of boarded-up shops and abandoned buildings, but no one's doing anything with those -- it's all got to be new, new, new. I look at those places and I see cafes, bars, music venues and community centres; I see a whole part of town coming alive again.

Ironically, one of the first things they did when we won the Capital of Culture bid was decide to demolish Quiggins, a thriving cultural centre in the city. Why? Well, so they could build something, um, new. State-of-the-art, no doubt.

Now the city promises to create a new "gay quarter". I'll be generous and not suggest that it's just a cynical attempt to cash in on the so-called "pink pound" rather than create real community; aside from that, why are they not doing something with the gay quarter that already exists? Can they not clean up the existing gay part of town, breathing new life into it? Nah, it has to be new.

Meanwhile, in my borough the plan is to demolish all the high schools and replace them with something -- you guessed it -- new.

I love this prophecy of Isaiah's:

And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks.

This speaks of regeneration and renewal, not replacements. The philosophy of government at the moment, certainly in Britain, seems to be to replace everything with something new, bigger, better; not making fresh and alive again what already exists, but demolition and replacement. I think it's going to be down to people themselves to start taking back their communities , because the government sure isn't going to help. They'll tear down and they'll put up something new, but they don't have the faith to make something out of the beauty that's already there.

The George Fox Six on trial

A group of Lancaster University students known as the 'George Fox Six' are going on trial today. Their university is taking them to court for 'aggravated trespassing' after what appears to have been a peaceful demonstration at a conference. They face a maximum of three months in jail.

Is it just me or is this totally f*cked?

Official supporters website is here.

Someone's daughters done got baptized

Tall Skinny Kiwi has made a beautiful short film of his daughters' baptism.

School-run observations

Nothing much was happening at the office. I'd been abandoned by my colleagues, and I hate working in an office anyway, so I decided to get an early bus home. As usual with the buses in England, you wait half an hour for one, and then three show up at once. Thought I'd manage to avoid the school run, but by the time the bus got there, the kids were just getting out.

It was interesting to see a new generation of schoolchildren from my alma mater; putting myself in their shoes brought back memories of when I used to make the same trip home wearing that same uniform.

One lad, who seemed to be in his own little dreamworld, was strolling up the aisle of the bus when the driver turned round and called after him. "Oi," he grunted rather rudely. Then more loudly: "Oi!" The driver wasn't sure the kid's ticket was valid. So he shouted after him like he was a common criminal caught in the act. If it had been an adult, what are the chances the request would have been something more like a polite, "Excuse me, sir"?

Everyone says that "kids these days don't have any respect for adults". But how about this one: "Adults these days don't have any respect for kids"?

You are the weakest link!

I'll be glued to the TV at 5:10 tonight, as an online acquaintance takes on the evil Anne Robinson in a battle of the wits on The Weakest Link. She'll find it hard to take the piss out of him, since he already takes the piss out of himself -- daily -- and drinks it. He calls it his "golden brew" and claims great health benefits from it.

UPDATE: He won, by the way. He attributed his success to the urine, adding that "I deserve and expect to be adored. As I walk through the streets of Hull, they will be bowing down and throwing rose petals in front of my feet."

Queers, Quakers and the Queen: Peterson Toscano comes to town

Peterson Toscano will be coming to town with his one-man show, Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House. He'll be in Oxfordshire, Birmingham, Brighton and Southampton next week. Visit his website for details.

Got screaming kids? Bring 'em on!

Some folk get really uppity when kids start making noises in church. I don't even have to look around to see the reactions, 'cause I can feel the slight shift in the atmosphere as twenty or thirty pairs of elderly eyeballs all roll at once.

Yesterday during the intercessions at church, a kid -- little more than a baby, really -- started getting a bit restless. In between querying, "Mommy?" (Grandma was looking after her in Mommy's absence), she kept barking like a seal. It was enough to provide the choirgirls with some amusement.

I must admit, my reaction whenever I hear kids squeaking and squealing in church is usually the same: I beam from ear to ear. To me it's a sign of life; and even when it's a massive interruption, it's a sign of the messiness of being 'church'. It's a reminder that we're not supposed to be a company of shining talents pulling off a sparkling performance for God each week, but a community of diverse people.

We're something of a motley crew, in fact, and our only qualification for participation does not lie in ourselves, but in the grace of God that reconciles us as one community.