refinding faith and recovering heart & courage in britain
- enough to re-imagine alternative futures after centuries
of a church wedded to empire (and it's new kid: globalisation).
Fit de youz think?
Walter Wink: The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium
'The' book on how 'the powers that be' work and how to unmask and redeem them in your city (*****)
Lynsey Hanley: Estates: An Intimate History
where housing estates came from and how they work -written by an 'intimate' insider (*****)
Walter Brueggemann: Texts That Linger, Words That Explode: Listening to Prophetic Voices
how empires work and how artists (prophets) can crack them (*****)
Alastair McIntosh: Soil and Soul: People Versus Corporate Power
If you want to understand the theology, economics, ecology, history and politics of scotland - 'woven into a single bright fabric' - this is it!
(*****)
Malcolm Gladwell: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
how social movements work (*****)
Marshall McLuhan: Understanding Media (Routledge Classics)
how media works (*****)
Arundhati Roy: The Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire
how empire works (*****)
E.G. Carre: Praying Hyde, Apostle of Prayer: The Life Story of John Hyde
archaic language - but this book is an old friend of mine (*****)
M. Scott Peck: People of the Lie: Hope for Healing Human Evil
how 'evil' works - personal and group evil (*****)
refinding faith and recovering heart & courage in britain
- enough to re-imagine alternative futures after centuries
of a church wedded to empire (and it's new kid: globalisation).
Fit de youz think?
01:13 PM in arts, guerilla action, projects, schemie christianity, social movements, tartan theology lab | Permalink | Comments (2)
The panel: Tom Brown, Charlie Jeffery, Hamish Macdonell and Henry McLeish - chaired by Ruth Wishart.
We setup #beyonddevolution feed in case any floating tweeters in the audience -as a quick way of aggregating any comments or quotes that stick out.
Some good quotes to set tone:
'The status Quo is not an option' - Hamish Macdonell
'Biggest challenge over next 10 years in Scotland - is for scots
to go through deep attitude change' - Tom Brown
'80-20% inequality and constitutional questions are 2 main
issues over next 10 yrs' and
we scots have more memories than dreams - Henry McLeish
Continue reading "Dreamday Scotland: can we paint a new picture of Scotland" »
01:32 AM in Dream Day, grassroots funding, guerilla action, projects, social movements, year of homecoming | Permalink | Comments (3)
The author of www.boycottscotland.com - which encourages
U.S. citizens to do everything short of haggis and
shortbread burnings on the Whitehouse lawn, in response
to the release of the convicted Lockerbie bomber
Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, may not have expected such a blistering
response. But the masked boycotter has stung something in scotland.
Well, stung enough to unleash a stream of caledonian-style 'reposte'
among it's twitter constituency anyway.
From the witty:
'aye, does that mean yer goin tae stop using yer TV's, bridges,
tarmac, phones'
to the devastating:
'ooh let me see now: US torturing =good, Scots compassion =bad'
to the playful:
'nae mair munching oan yer freedom fries and supersized burgers at
mac'donalds’
to classics such as:
‘..daft c**nts n bawbags and ...we'll boycott yer fat mamma’
(for more hilarious examples: search #boycottscotland on twitter).
The most celebrated reposte came out of Glasgow in the form
of a website www.boycottscotland.co.uk, by local web developer
Aaron Bassett. It apes the original in it's
introduction and
then skillfully
morphs parody into absurdity- and is now,
currently on a retweet roll, as I write this.
what can we learn from this I wonder?
Continue reading "Boycott Scotland? I'm McSpartacus (re-edit 2)" »
Back from Rome - I had some big questions here .. blogging results over several entries: something like...
I fell in love with John the Baptist’s severed head
A Scotsman from the land of Calvin, Knox, and Brown goes on a journey to the ground zero of the old christian empire and asks: can anything good come out of Rome?
01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Been thinking a lot about laughter - lately.
07:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Scotland in a heatwave today! Hanging out with anneleen and tom and hearing feriel's ideas for linking up projects like underground in granton at her place - tea with Tom around the corner after and met his neighbour, who with other neighbours and kids who had built a huge shared holiday campish area with BBQ, mini football field and seating and umbrellas outside in their back yard- out of scrap and wood and bits n pieces. Happy kids- Sheer joy- Brill!
01:42 AM in projects | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
latest projects and wild saints encountered on my travels around edinburgh over last week:
James Picardo (jubilee scotland) and Josiah lockhart (grassmarket project) and fee thomson (picnmix media) - at elephant house sharing udeas about action on: global meltdown, debt and grassroots solidarity
Margaret and margot - at malmaison talking about their latest fundraising project
Wendy ball - at renroc cafe talking about her upcoming photo exhibit
Anneleen at the lot cafebar in grassmarket- talking film and photography
Ayley at omni centre, leith walk, on various Edinburgh stuff and her new project down south
06:19 PM in projects | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
old vested interests among the upper and middle classes in uk (the powers)- those rewarded by empire - have become colonised and in turn have taken their caste system, enclosure and the debt economy of the british empire (where clearances of people off land to increase profit as fast as possible was ultimate aim):
'landlordism'
'enclosure', and
'tenancy' - (rent, debt,)
and unfortunately applied it to the body of christ over centuries and renamed them as:
leadership,
congregation/services (the sect)
tithes
from this popping of the hood we can see how states work:
government
nation
tax economy
where does this come from? if we turn back to ancient times- we see this 'way' played out in the temple economy across ancient roman empire (which infected the temple system at jerusalem in these 3 ways):
priests (spiritual landlord)
temple
tithe/rent/offering economy
-------------
jesus put a line under all this - right in his own back yard..
in his wilderness temptation, where he came face to face with the ancient intelligence behind empire (now at work in the temple) ...right until his death and after...until now..its as if he were saying -
empire is finished!
it stops here...with my own body and all those and creation in solidarity with me -
we are the line in the sand..
07:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Continue reading "its not about what you do or say anymore, its all about: where you live! " »
I used to love seeing masel as part of the emerging church until about 4 years ago. However, three things, began to crack and slowly dislodge my identification with all things emerging - in both church and the wider uk society, and propel me back out into scotland. The resulting relationship between me, christianity and the land around me here has changed beyond all recognition.. my faith, my trust has returned again, not just in God but in my roots; the estates I grew up with, the place itself, the land, the people; its colourful mix of natives and newcomers, industries, even creation itself - lost friends regained - all of it is my church now..
the walls in my head may have broken down, broken down enough to feel trust, contentment, dignity, happiness and freedom here and a warm security in God in this land, that I've not felt for a very long time - but what about other walls: the ones that enclose housing estates and the even harder granite ones inside christian heeds ?
For me, the cracks started here:
Feature Post: In this Scotland's 'Year of homecoming' I'm using me blog to look at what's a happening around a scotland coming out of the mists of an auld world - a world where christianity was in bed with empire - into raging economic meltdown (thaw?). Can this christianity be rehabilitated in time? it has a crackin story! can it be unfrozen from its entombment to stand before world empires in its robes of comedy and humanity?
Continue reading "global meltdown: what's in 'your' urban saint survival toolkit?" »
05:48 PM in arts, comedy, credit crunch, global, guerilla action, scotland, social justice, urban saint survival guide, year of homecoming | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
06:19 PM in credit crunch, politics, social movements, twitter | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: audioboo, g20 rally, london, put people first, twitter
rewinding to 2007: christianity in Scotland: where next? part 1 and part 2- I still agree with most but not sure I would word it quite like that now... an awful lot has happened since 2007; a different feel to things now. There's much more of a movement of saints and activists busy engaging on the ground; so many good people and projects around here now- and even more now since the extreme forms of capitalism (economic form of empire) have hit the wall and are being unmasked for what they are. I'm feeling a heck of a lot more positive about stuff now - happy!
Lesley Riddoch: Jade's legacy: a society that can no longer care. best critique I've heard yet - connects a bit with the reason why 'red nose day' rakes it in more in a recesssion and why other charities lose income - why? some thinking from friends suggests that it is because 'consumption' (both popular and illicit) increases and becomes even more central to many during financial quakes - not the other way..
Continue reading "Lesley Riddoch: Jade's legacy: a society that can no longer care" »
12:41 AM in politics, social justice, tartan theology lab, urban saint survival guide | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: capitalism, consumerism, death, empire, jade, society
My wife - Fee - has been invited to volunteer her web biz skills to making a website with locals in a sumatran rainforest for 3 weeks. Local people, ecology and wildlife have suffered from years of destruction due to logging companies. Last I heard from Fee - she: 1. Got the respeck of locals because she got covered in leeches while accompanying them wading through a river
Continue reading "Fiona T with Gibbons, tigers and loggers in sumatra" »
07:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: environment, indonesia, java, social justice, sumatra
A series of ecological, economic and political shocks are rocking the world.
Continue reading "global meltdown: abyss opening or heaven coming down?" »
07:16 PM in credit crunch, global, guerilla action, politics, scotland, social justice, tartan theology lab, urban saint survival guide, year of homecoming | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: christianity, credit crunch, domination system, empire, scotland, year of homecoming
Continue reading "happy new year - new music & saints urban survival guide" »
07:31 AM in music studio | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Technorati Tags: ableton live, christmas, sampling, vaughan williams
- arranging 4 (mince -hah) meet ups at 4 venues at 4 times of the day around edinburgh on December 10th
- inviting a spectrum of wild saints, muddy activists and big-hearted artists to hear from each other about how their new funded and unfunded projects are getting on - over a laugh and some mince pies
- hit n run- marvellous
07:04 PM in guerilla action, politics, urban saint survival guide | Permalink | Comments (0)
01:31 AM in politics, tartan theology lab, urban saint survival guide | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: british empire, ghandi, Jesus, poetry, post-colonialism, rebel, YHWH
Ok then - on with the blogging. Here's me up ben ledi - translated as 'mountain of God' - the cold summer of 2008 has turned autumn into a thousand colours of red brown and gold - and sun setting over this mountain range was so stunning many of us couldn't bring ourselves to leave until it set turning mountains and lochs in every direction dark pink and burnt orange waiting till sunset not recommended usually- but I had my trusty headtorch.
10:37 PM in hillwalking | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Breakthrough? Could this crisis - apart from scaring the heck out of everyone- also stir up and empower a new level of movement - where more activists, artists and saints - instead of shutting down (no money) get even more released, more project supporters and angels start taking pity on their cities - being enraged and alarmed enough to get out of their comfort zones and work together across denominational, industrial, cultural and political lines to take on some of its giants.
Continue reading "global economic breakdown or breaththrough? " »
Things have been mad busy here in edinburgh since spring. So many things have been launched, social justice projects, innovative stuff in arts, music, film/media, health, politics and thinking and action - I'm not sure whether this site is the best place for news & comment about all these goings on; this blog started off as a personal croak on all kinds political theological - all kinds o icals in a changing scotland- not sure if many people are reading this blog now anyway - bloomin facebook dagnabit! So I'll leave it tae you... fit should I dae?
A. Carry on this as more o a personal journey or
B. start a new site with news and articles, views and comments from around edinburgh/scotland. what do you think? phone lines are open now...
08:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
The Manifesto is a website just launched - which Anna Bryon was speaking to me about recently:
Creating a future scotland that is healed o its colonial sickness is definitely my bag.. this sounds really promising.. I like their 2 projects - 'africa & identity' and 'transforming scotland'
I like that they recognised the importance of critiquing power and economic relations of our tartan scottish colonialism in the past (and present) AND struggling to create a new haggisland that disnae play these same auld games in the future...
in their ane words...
07:58 PM in arts, politics, scotland | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: africa, identity, politics, post-colonialism, scotland
08:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Just watched - 'the doctor who hears voices' on channel 4 - an approach to mental illness that regards existing medicating/hospitalising practices - as harmful - perhaps even making the illness worse.
This non-medicating approach to mental illness, explored here - is, to my eyes anyway, a kind of brave-hearted loving attempt at slightly higher-voltage 'exorcising' (higher voltage than much of the current mix of medicating/speaking cures anyway) of the destructive effects of these obsessive/accusing/demanding voices without referring to or without resources of religion/God.
Continue reading "mad psychiatry: the doctor who hears voices" »
edinburgh tartan peacepipe video part 1 -password: peacepipe or for all 3 videos - go here
Interview with the prophet haggis, wha bides on a wee abandoned island near the forth road bridge in edinburgh - the 3 giants that stalk scotland today, he says he thinks are:
sectarianism, masochism and addiction.
the poorest parts & cities suffer most still, he says-
average death-age of males in glasgow: 59
can we fix her?, yes we can- by turning these 3 enemies into 3 friends - haggis argues.
What is causing this old land pain..? he asks
do we have an accurate diagnosis for her yet -so we can at least know where to aim at ? he continues, and not just put a plaster over the wound? he adds with a wee grin..
Continue reading "It is finished; scotland's empire is over: time tae detox, time tae shine!" »
03:09 AM in politics, tartan theology lab | Permalink | Comments (7)
Technorati Tags: addiction, capacity, inventiveness, masochism, resistance, scotland, sectarianism


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