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previous bloggings :: blog

The Inevitable US08 Election Rant
I'd like to say I'm fed up now of ALL the new being focused on the coming US elections this Tuesday, but actually I'm not. Instead I'm just too worried that McCain (the disturbingly self proclaimed `Mac Daddy') will be elected. My housemate told me a month or so ago that McCain will win and I desperately want him to be proved wrong. For me, and I suspect most of the outside world, the decision is fairly straightforward - Obama. Yes he is black, well done for spotting that you racist southerners, but as it turns out that doesn't actually make a difference. It does not make him a terrorist (terrorism doesn't tend to implement a rigourous policy of rhyming slang). And for the last time being black does not make someone a terrorist.

In fact can we not just drop this whole black and white thing?? Dear America, you are the wonderful country that brought us Sesame Street - a glorious vision of society where red, yellow pink, blue, black, brown, orange, pink and even green folks can live together in harmony. For the love of God please remember that on Tuesday.

What has got me spooked is a comment by my chaplain, Yellow (oh the irony) about the nature of voting conservative compared to democrat in relation to the fabled 'undecided voter'. Firstly I can't quite believe that there is anyone left still undecided - it's really not that hard a choice - one or the other (or go wild and vote green). The thing is that if you ask an undecided swinger who's thinking democrat then there is little stopping them telling of their internal leaning. Whereas if you ask a republican leaner there is a twang of shame in publicly declaring that you're a republican/conservative. The connotations being that you're selfish.

Conservatism works with 'safety in numbers' - as long as there are others around you believing the same thing then it's easy to come out and be part of the faceless crowds and shout praises for the ideals of conservatism. Because when you boil it down, the fundamentals are essential promotion of the self - I want what's best for me. As part of the collective, however, you can freely shout "I want what's best for me" because the voice of the crowd appears to shout "we want what's best for us". Whereas standing alone you're required to pronounce that you want what's best for you and you alone, screw everyone else.

While an individual democrat can clearly and proudly shout "I want what's best for everyone" - essentially the ideals of the right. Sure there are problems with the right, we know communism doesn't exactly work, but the ideal is good - to help everyone equally.

So it's my fear that the hordes of 'undecided' voters are actually just republicans pretending to be democrats. And what's more is that I fear when it comes down to it many of those loving American Christian brothers and sisters will drive to the polling booth in their hummer, sling their rifle over their shoulder and think "Hell, I aint votin' in a black guy" as they duly scribble in the box next to MacDaddy and his pro-life-pro-killing sidekick.
[02-11-08]

Les Amusements
I had high hopes for bird flu, but it turned out to be a bit of a dead duck.
[30-10-08]

comment :: me @ nickbailey.co.uk

previous faith bloggings :: faithblog

Science and Faith

[-11-08]

The Ideals of Christian Conservatism
It was only when I came to university that I first came accross conservative Christians. I'd come accross conservatives at school - there were many from the country and I'd freqently be embroiled in arguments despite having little political insight. One particular occasion involved being the only available person to stand agains on a debate regarding fox hunting despite never having taken part in a debate. Anyway, when I got to uni I was surrpised (even a little shocked) to find that there were Christians who were outwardly conservative. I couldn't get my head round it and, to be honnest, I still can't.

After many long complex conversations I found the explanation to this conundrum. And interestingly enough Stephen Fry uncovered it in Texas during his BBC series "Stephen Fry in America" last night. It's this:

the more you earn
the more you can give

So the idea is to earn as much money as you can so that you can give it away in charity. The prime example being Bill Gates.

In an ideal world, sure, but how well does it work in practice? When have I earnt enough to give it away? If I hold off I could earn even more and then give more away... I just can't see it working. For every saint who does give millions how many other are there who hide behind the idea but give none.

What might Jesus' opinion be? Try Mark 12:41-43
[03-11-08]

A Christian Perspective on The Inevitable US08 Election Rant
From Mark 12:29-31:

Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: 'Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these."

I was musing this morning realised that this verse describes the difference between the Republican and the Democratic party. The Republicans stand proude, declaring their Christian faith (yes, not all are religious) and extolling how important it is to follow Jesus/God and that is the most important thing.

Meanwhile the democrats are busy loving their neighbours as much as each other, making sure those who need it have enough. Sure some are faithful, but that's not the important message. The focus is to love each other.

So Jesus says these are the most impotant commandment - singular. Not 'both of these are important, pick one', but together this is what you do. As you'll gather I'm on the side of the democrats. And this fits. Because while I am a follower of Christ (and currently working for the Church) and truly love God, I would far rather love and help one another as I simply feel this is more important.

I guess the argument against me that my perhaps more conservative brother and sisters would hold (and do argue), is that if everyone followed the first then naturally everyone would follow the second also. If we all became Christians then life would be heaven. Litterally.

My problem with this argument is reality itself - not everyone will become a Christian, and not all Christians are nice people! And while we still live in this real world we have to sort out and love everyone else, especially those who can't do it for themselves. "What ever you did for the least of my brothers...", "...and the last will be first", "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners".
[02-11-08]

Truth vs. Faith
Many months this issue of truth and faith came up in a conversation with my brother. I'm still mulling it over and have not coaleced my thoughts in to a coherent understanding. But its something that continues to come up in my new role as Chaplauncy Assistant.

Here are some thinking points:

  • Jesus declared himself the 'truth'
  • is there just one truth?
  • what is truth?
  • is truth personal or global?
  • with so many differences just within the belief of Christianity, how can we claim we have the truth.
  • is truth simple or complex - what should it cover?
  • Why do we need truth - is it not simply a construct to control and include/exclude.
  • How can we have faith if we know our faith is true

I keep coming back to this undersanding that God is simply beyond understanding. Sure Jesus came as a way to God, and Jesus was God, but that does not mean God was Jesus.

Yikes, what I'm saying there is that God is not entirly contained within Jesus, i.e. God is bigger than Jesus and thus God can not be constricted to the confines of the Human. I think we frequently try to do this as we focus simply on Jesus and leave God behind. Jesus is after all far more tangable than God and so this attitude is totally understandable.

Yes I believe Jesus is the way. Jesus is awesome and his message is revolutionary (why I am Christian). But he was around for only a finite period of time and as such could not have explained the entirety of God's awsomeness. It's silly to believe that Jesus would have had the time, in the same way that it would have been silly for God to sit Moses down and try to explain evolution. God understands humans, he made us after all. So he understands how to reach us. And if that's the case then I can accept that he can reach us through Jesus and in other ways.

I'm not saying that all faiths are equal or lead to God (though I'll not exclude that), but I don't want to be so arrogant to assume that I possess the truth of God.

Isn't it such a wonderfully human trait to be arrogant enough to believe that we own the truth. Come as Children, with simple faith.
[17-10-08]

Jewish Christian Muslim Interfaith Conference
I'm on my way back from a conference in Brighton bringing together Chaplaincies from all over the south coast to talk about interfaith dialogue in the context of Chaplaincy and higher/further education. Brighton gave a great report on how their Chaplaincy has been developing inter-faith relationships over the past six years to the point where they have joint services with many different faiths.

A lady from St Ethelburgers gave us a good talk on how to encourage and facilitate dialogue within multi-faith groups. Following lunch we had a great talk from a lady from Gender Trust about the challenges of trans-gender people. We used this as a basis for developing a dialogue around gender and identity.

I think that the chance to meet chaplains from different universities together as a group was excellent. I was there representing both Southampton and SCM, and what struck me most was the openness of the attendees to maintain dialogue and the sad but frequent comment that their main trouble came from the various Christian Unions who oppose inter-faith or actively seek to target those of other faiths for conversion. One chaplain who considered himself as an evangelical Christian lamented how he is not invited to speak at CU simply due to his association with inter-faith activities.

While I am not passing judgement on CU or UCCF, I was deeply proud to be there representing SCM. I am also deeply proud of the Southampton SCM group which I believe, while not perfect, is really acting on its principle of inclusively.

Inter-faith does not mean to loose ones faith, nor to pollute it or water it down. Dialogue is about listening, learning and growing in faith while sharing with those of other faith (or religion if the word 'faith' is not appropriate) traditions. The outcome should be in breaking down the barriers of ignorance and fear that get built so easily when we think that we own the 'truth'.
[17-10-08]

Sharing Faith cont.
Later in that same week I had a quite inspiring conversation with a new mature student nurse. We talked about church, about faith, about being environmentally conscious, about harvest festival, and experiences. At no point did we discuss the nature of Jesus' death, not his divine/human nature. It simply didn't come up, it didn't need to come up. We had different opinions but that didn't seem to matter. We shared our faith and I believe it was worship.

Neither of these conversations do I believe was right or wrong. It doesn't work like that. I feel the second brought about growth in both parties whereas the first resulted in the conclusion that he would and could not worship God if I were present. This I find deeply saddening about conservative viewpoints - that simple the presence of people with other views and experiences threatens their faith to the point where they believe that only in isolation can they achieve the purity to worship God without compromise.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to a UCCF staff worker and she remarked how she is so excited with her job because she gets to talk to students about Jesus every day. This challenged me. It made me worry that as I don't find myself talking about Jesus all the time I must be missing the point. But then I realised that I am talking about him, but I'm talking about God and about faith, experience of church and spirituality and all the other things as well as Jesus. He is important. No one is more challenging then him. But I don't find myself hitting people with Jesus as soon as I start a conversation.
[13-10-08]

Inspiring Sport
I'm not a big sport fan, but Mark Barrett's sermon today at Bethesda Methodist Church in Cheltenham was quite inspiring. The main point was to finish the race - which is quite apt for me considering my current state of finishing my PhD, which has seemed like a marathon effort. His sermon was illustrated with stories of sporting un-heroes, those who did not win, came last even, but for them it was the completion of the race that counted above all. While I'm not big on sports I do enjoy the Olympics, but what I find fascinating about sports - which are so often focused on the winning - is those odd stories it creates where unexpected people overcome amazing odds to achieve so little, yet so much.
[12-10-08]

Sharing Faith
Yesterday I bumped into an old friend from my CU days and we had a long discussion about the principles of faith. Well, the principles of his faith. Basically it boiled down to a discussion about the doctrine of atonement, in particular 'penile substitution'. This is the understanding that Jesus literally took on every sin, in particular my sin (being as I am totally sinful in the sight of God) and died from God's wrath. I kind of hold this belief, but not to the point where I'd want to shout about it. Whereas my friend was very convinced that this is the very crux of Christian faith, and must be accepted to be saved. I'm not wanting to comment on this theology, but it was an enjoyable conversation that made me think.
[30-09-08]

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previous photo bloggings :: photoblog

Kitchener Community Garden in September
This month really saw the garden bloom, in particular the new raised beds with their stunning sunflowers, sweet peas, rudbeckia and cosmos. This is the first time I've grown sunflowers larger than a person and I'm so pleased!

Suyeon with the Sunflowers - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
Sueyon overlooked up the impressive sunflowers

Kitchener Community Garden  - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
a couple of sunflowers

Kitchener Community Garden  - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
close up on a side flower

Kitchener Community Garden  - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
the developing seeds - gerbil food

Kitchener Community Garden  - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
food for the local bees

Kitchener Community Garden  - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
the new raised bed

Kitchener Community Garden  - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
rised bed with guard rabbit - Blackberry
[20-09-08]

Painting the Kitchen
Like I needed something else to occupy me, but our kitchen has been frustrating me for a while now. I've been wanting to paint it as it was looking drab, but all the colours I'd tried clashed with the lower pale yellow plastic panelling. Then, while thinking of my sunflowers and the blue sky, I realised that light blue is the opposite and would work. So I got the paint and Suyeon and I painted the kitchen with a little help from Christian. I also took the opportunity to give the shelving a lick in a deep berry red.

Looking north - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
Beginning the blue conversion (not conservative blue)

Suyeon, painting culprit - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
Su and I listened to BBC Radio 4 while we painted

 - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
a shot before for comparison
[15-09-08]

Coffee Bean Roasting
Taking it one step further than simply grinding beans Luke has now taken to roasting his own green beans. Heating gradually in a pan turns the little green chewy gems into fully fledged brown nuggets of coffee joy. 24 hours later the flavour has fully developed to its optimum and coffee is enjoyed.

Luke the coffee meister - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
Luke is our coffee connoisseur (sp?)

Roasting - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
Keep the beans moving over a gentle heat

Cooling - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
Cool rapidly to seal in the flavour

 - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
Today I made the most of Waitrose's Ecover offer

 - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
Mount Blackberry

 - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
She uses this vantage to reach the raised veg patch
[07-09-08]

Su's Birthday
For Suyeon's birthday, as it was a totally georgeous day, we cycled out to the (stupidly expensive) Hiller Gardens near Romsey. I've not got the photos we took from there, but it was splendid and we both wondered the gardens barefoot. In the evening we had a pancake & bonfire party. Lots of friends, loads of fire and a full mixing bowl of pancake mix. We also fired up Bertha and Su had her first outside bath.

 - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
On friday night she dirfted off with Blackberry in her arms

 - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
A raging bonfire - the perfect birthday celebration.

 - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
Su firing up Bertha to charge the bathwater
[30-08-08]

Raised Bed Council Soil
After completion of the raised bed structure, I called in the council to deliver 3 cubic metres of their composted soil. If you live in Southampton you can contact Andy Joyce from the council. He makes and sells a mix of compost and top soil for about £17 a cubic metre delivered. Not free, but great value.

Raised beds - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
The completed and painted raised beds

Revolutionary Triangles - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
We went triangular on Luke's reccomendation, not because of Gardeners' World

Soil delivery - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
The soil was delivered direct to the driveway

3 cubic metres of soil - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
3 cubic meters of earthy goodness
[05-07-08]

Kitchener Garden in 'Summer'
So the summer has been rubbish, but this is how the Kitchener Community garden looked when I got back from Korea. The folks here had done a superb job looking after the place, including new tubs of patunias around the garden table. I was particulary excited about the sunflowers as they were totally massive - far taller than I've ever managed before. Three glorious yellow crowns looking splendid.

 - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
the original vegetable patch

 - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
the new raised bed - just taking hold

 - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
Suyeon's cosmos still flowering

 - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
actual fresias grown at home (smelling beautiful)

 - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
rudbeckia for the first time, just emerging

 - Photo credit: Nick Bailey
the king sunflowers
[17-08-08]

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