What is in Kelvin's Head?

Dear St George – here’s 3 dragons I’d like slaying

23/04/2015

Today is St George’s Day. Cue articles about how we know almost nothing about St George and bewilderment as to how he became patron saint of England.

Instead of that, here’s a few dragons that I like to see expertly slayed in our own day.

1 – Foodbanks in the UK.

When I went to the USA a few years ago on sabbatical I was filled with both admiration and horror at the amount of food that the churches were giving away in foodbank operations. Wonder at the sheer commitment and horror at the need. I proudly said that this kind of thing would never become a reality in the UK as we had a good social security system in place and if anyone ever tried to change that then the population would rise up against whoever was being so foolish. Sadly I was wrong – I came back to foodbank Britain not the Britain I’d left some months before. It isn’t nationalism or unionism that will stop foodbanks either. To kill this dragon we need a St George to rise up in the political world and bring an end to benefit sanctions and and ensure the timely processing of benefit claims.

2 – Xenophobia, anglophobia, islamophobia, anti-Semitism etc

The dragon of racism is stalking us again. Oh for a St George who could kill it once and for all instead of merely maiming it. People are just people.

It is difficult to believe that we are now having to tackle a real threat from the political right to the progress that we had made in freeing Europe from the tyranny of war. It is equally hard to believe that Jewish communities in the UK complain about insecurity. It grieves me greatly that my Muslim neighbours are often presumed to be complicit in terror.

3 – Same-sex marriage

This was a baby dragon that we adopted as a pet but the truth is, it has now grown up and become a little frightening. Whereas once same-sex marriage was a rallying cry for the cause, now the very words are being used against those who want equality, particularly in the church. We don’t want same-sex marriage in church, we want marriage to be open to straight couples and same-sex couples alike. One institution, one blessing, one God, one sacrament. It is time for same-sex marriage to die.

7 responses to “10 Discussion Points about the Church and Virtual Reality”

Tim

30/03/2012

Hear here. (Especially the evolutionary point.)

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chris

30/03/2012

…or even “hear hear”! Very pertinent in my neck of the woods, where the cyber-poor and the cyber-dinosaurs have their abode (and the second category is not necessarily related to the first other than in outcome).

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Pam Smith

30/03/2012

Excellent points.

I’ve been working in online Christian communities quite a while, and I’ve observed a couple of things that I think replicate mistakes in offline evangelism:

1) ‘Success’ is equated with numbers of followers not the quality of the interactions. So a lot of energy can be put into building up a following regardless of who the followers are. This often means attracting Christians who aren’t normally very interested in being online to your online project, rather than trying to make your online Christian project appealing to people who spend a lot of time online.

2) Events that are geared towards using the online media for evangelism and outreach almost always end up being evangelistic about online media not about Christianity

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Steve Murray

30/03/2012

I canâ€™t access the blog to post comments â€“ does this mean cyberpoverty may also stem from corporate repression? [These comments posted by Kelvin by request via email]

My â€˜cyberpovertyâ€™ is a deliberate choice â€“ I sit in front of a computer all day so have deliberately chosen not to be online at home. Is this really a societal evil … ?

The web is already beset by megaphones and proverbial empty vessels can make the most noise â€“ how do we distinguish between volume and quality â€“ I can follow thousands of religious twitterings but who filters out the distortion? â€“ c.f. The Guardian which is in the process of shedding journalists and filling its pages with â€˜comment is freeâ€™ â€“ aye, and you get what you pay for . . .

You do already provide ministries for the cyberpoor â€“ theyâ€™re called churches â€“ they have gravitas, space for quiet reflection, sanctuary from information overload, and a community â€“ long may they continue.

Will there be a paywall to fund the virtual church â€“ or will it be forced to rely on commercial sponsorship? A reading from the book of Numbers, brought to you in association with Lehman Brothers.

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Kimberly

30/03/2012

[…] Kelvin is asking good questions again about the theology and praxis of The Church and Virtual Reality.Â He sets out questions enough for several doctoral thesis, but it was this that caught my eye.Â […]

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Eric Stoddart

30/03/2012

Two important aspects that I suggest need to be added to your list, Kelvin.
(a) the monetarisation of cyberspace, especially of social networking (making money out of ‘friendship’ is a big business), and
(b) the effects of social networking as a means of surveillance (that’s lateral, between friends, as well as by mega-corporations); how is our behaviour being modified by the collection of, and categorisation by, our personal data?

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kelvin

30/03/2012

Thanks, Eric, yes.

And important to recognise that the church is in the business of calling on people in relationship with it to cough up money too. It isn’t just big business.

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