Reclaiming Christ the Reject, Part 1

I used to amuse myself at the names I might give to a radical church. “The Church of Jesus Christ the Rebel” was one such name I came up with, but lately I’ve wondered whether perhaps “Jesus Christ the Reject” would be a more accurate term to be using. Obviously this is all theoretical, no church is planned, but what does this term offer us in terms of identifying a Christ who isn’t part of the establishment.

Can drug warfare in Mexico be controlled?

The Mexican government is to offer rewards of $2million for information about drug chiefs. In a country ravaged by the effects of the drugs trade, tough action is certainly required, but will this type of policy really work? The BBC wants people “to have their say” about this, but as my thoughts are probably too detailed to fit in a post to their site, I thought I’d lay them out here.

Sabotage to blame for Wind Turbine damage?

Just realised I never wrote about this here. Remember the tale of mystery surrounding some Wind Turbines getting damaged? The conspiracy theories all seemed to point to the least plausible reason: an extra terrestrial incident. I came up with my own idea about how this happened…

No peace, even in death

I’ve had this on my list of news stories to pass comment on for about 4 months now, and every time I’ve had a clear out I’ve said I still want to write about it, and then not gotten round to it. Planners in Jerusalem have allowed a centre for religious tolerance to be built on top of a Muslim cemetery that is hundreds of years old.

On Climate Change and Borders

I’ve been mulling this one for some time, parlty through reflecting on a recent trip abroad, and so (finally) here it is. I hope it is a good enough explanation for why I’m so concerned that No Borders-type issues are on the agenda, at least for the protesters, during Copenhagen.

I forgot Women’s day

Yes, I’d meant to do some kind of International Women’s Day post, and I forgot. What does that say about how important the event is? The Daily Mail are even reporting that 1 in 5 think its OK to abuse your girlfriend or wife. I got about the worst set of answers I’ve ever had to a feminism question at a Union hustings last week, too. The reality is, women just still aren’t equal.

Open and Secret Voting

These days Facebook status’s abound during Union election time stating which way people voted. Someone commented on a friend’s status, in which he’d declared 4 of his votes, that she wondered where private voting had gone to. I slightly snapped back, which wasn’t necessary, but it got me thinking about the potential complexities of this issue.

The Real IRA: Can we blame the downturn?

It seems people want to blame everything on the downturn right now, and indeed, some of that might be a bit far fetched, but since hearing of the attacks at an army base in Northern Ireland by the Real IRA, I’m struggling to avoid a possible conclussion: that the downturn has something to do with it.

Why Direct Action?

I’ve been asked to write this for a magazine, so I’m writing it here first. The questions being asked went along the lines of “should Christians take Direct Action, or should they keep politics and spirituality separate?” and “(how) does your faith motivate you to take Direct Action?”.

Taking Justice to Heart

Sorry for the silence during last week. I have a fair bit to write about, so this should be matched with a full compliment of posts this week, even if this is currently 27 hours late. The week culminated in a very successful demonstration on Campus here in York to end the University’s investment in the arms trade. The passion of many of the students involved was stunning, and their ability to mix political argument with real emotional engagement was inspiring.