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In praise of iTunesU

I am now well on my way through another iTunesU course. This one, on The Hebrew Bible in Judaism and Christianity, given by professor from Harvard is five star excellent. Twenty six filmed one hour lectures that show just the professor but includes the voices of the class with some additional captioning. The extra treasure trove are the lecture notes for the whole of the course with hyperlinks to many of the extra readings.

This is not a course for the feint hearted or those who want an easy life. The lectures are best preceded and succeeded by a close reading of the paper or on line notes.
 Go to iTunesU follow links to Harvard and then to this course.

Overall, I am reminded of the day when universities were thought to be a public good. They still could be.

Homophobic bullying in schools

In my work with younger LGBT people I am saddened by the continuing high levels of emotional and psychological distress they experience - even with increasing degrees of social acceptance and legislative changes. There is still much to do. Last week's Stonewall report on gay men's health reports that 3% of those surveyed had contemplated suicide in last year. My own clinical experience, gained over 30+ years, is that those from religious backgrounds where the religion was taken seriously in the family are more likely to be at risk of emotional distress and psychological illness.

Here we have an anti-bullying in schools video which,whilst being a little schmaltzy, makes the point that there have to be big cultural changes in schools. It comes from Ireland. I wonder if the UK governments would feel able to produce their own versions and what about the many faith schools treatment of their sexual minority young people.

 There has to be a greater degree of support and openness on the part of both staff and students. What do you think?

Sheep and their minders

Readers will know my views on sheep metaphors in the scriptures. They have a value but can be limited Yesterday, I heard a convincing homily where the assumed sheep turned into the shepherd. The homilist turned the tables and spoke of his humility in the face of those to whom he is called to minister. Of the man with a wife who had a dementing condition but chose not to have treatment for his own cancer lest he be unavailable to care for his wife. Of the homilist, when he was a teacher (“a tin pot dictator”), telling off a youngster for missing his homework only to find the child was acting as carer to his sick mother and siblings. Sheep in reality being shepherds.

Being in a wheelchair

There are many adjustments that I have had to make in the last couple of years. One of them is having to use a wheelchair as my mobility is now much reduced. I have become a collector of dropped pavements, or more precisely, the lack of them. Of facilities that claim to be disabled friendly and are not. Of the still large number of places, like restaurants, out of bounds unless elaborate arrangements are made in advance. I am grateful to various departments of he city council who actually do listen to comments – for instance the problem with tree roots pushing up pavements and making my wheelchair journeys quite hazardous – and without fuss something done to smooth the my progress and that of many others with poor mobility; of high levels of disabled person support for example at Leicester Station or at the Tigers; of the sheer ease of arriving at John Lewis’ car park, getting across the glass bridge and into John Lewis’ shop itself – complete with its flat floors that are wheel chair friendly.

One of the unexpected adjustments, however, is becoming invisible, or as good as invisible. An incident: I had been away and arrived back on Eurostar at St Pancras. The crowds getting off the train were anxious to be on their way. The concourse was very busy, it was a Friday night, a man on his mobile phone walked straight into me, stood on my foot, the wheel chair paddle cracked, I yelped, He shouted out, “Never saw you mate” and was gone. Immediately, I was surrounded by a crowd of fellow travellers anxious to help. I was in tears not so much at the man, though I could have given some words of advice, but at the kindness of strangers. Although the wheelchair was repaired, it has never been the same since. Nor have I. Now I am much more wary of my relative invisibility. I have become much more willing to anticipate being not seen. I suppose I have become much more assertive at announcing my presence. Some would think this a form of  unnecessary militancy. The idea of the grateful disabled person is sort of nice, but the sound of angry one is decidedly not so nice– but I have come to see it is necessary.

It’s the small things that make so much of life harder – and easier.

Rome goes for US sisters

The news that Rome is very unhappy with religious sisters (not nuns, please) in the USA is no surprise. What is surprising is the venom barely hidden in the attack. I think the boys in black may live to regret this move. Anyone with any nouse at all knows that the objects of their wrath are held in great respect and admiration by most Catholics - lay and ordained. The sisters are the ones who not only do the donkey, and often dirty, work but they have a no-nonsense approach to the world and to the silly men in black which is grounded in common sense.

Gone, long ago, are the dragons of my childhood. The sisters of today are tough women, not demanding the best seats in the house, who get on with their charism whatever it is. The silly men in black in Rome and their apparatchiks do not wipe that many bottoms I imagine and until they do they should sit back and let sister get on with the real work of Jesus.

I imagine that the silly men in black will be arriving in the UK soon. God help them.

Spitizer says sorry

http://www.truthwinsout.org/news/2012/04/24542/ Dr. Robert Spitzer Apologizes to Gay Community for Infamous ‘Ex-Gay’ Study Posted April 25th, 2012 by John M. Becker Today, in a letter to Dr. Ken Zucker obtained exclusively by Truth Wins Out, Dr. Robert Spitzer made an unprecedented apology to the gay community — and victims of reparative therapy in particular — for his infamous, now-repudiated 2001 study that claimed some “highly motivated” homosexuals could go from gay to straight: Several months ago I told you that because of my revised view of my 2001 study of reparative therapy changing sexual orientation, I was considering writing something that would acknowledge that I now judged the major critiques of the study as largely correct. After discussing my revised view of the study with Gabriel Arana, a reporter for American Prospect, and with Malcolm Ritter, an Associated Press science writer, I decided that I had to make public my current thinking about the study. Here it is. Basic Research Question. From the beginning it was: “can some version of reparative therapy enable individuals to change their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual?” Realizing that the study design made it impossible to answer this question, I suggested that the study could be viewed as answering the question, “how do individuals undergoing reparative therapy describe changes in sexual orientation?” – a not very interesting question. The Fatal Flaw in the Study – There was no way to judge the credibility of subject reports of change in sexual orientation. I offered several (unconvincing) reasons why it was reasonable to assume that the subject’s reports of change were credible and not self-deception or outright lying. But the simple fact is that there was no way to determine if the subject’s accounts of change were valid. I believe I owe the gay community an apology for my study making unproven claims of the efficacy of reparative therapy. I also apologize to any gay person who wasted time and energy undergoing some form of reparative therapy because they believed that I had proven that reparative therapy works with some “highly motivated” individuals. Robert Spitzer. M.D. Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University Zucker, to whom Spitzer’s letter is addressed, is the editor of the Archives of Sexual Behavior, the journal in which Spitzer’s study was originally published in 2001. At that time, the study was a surprise that created a media firestorm which captured the nation’s attention. Dr. Spitzer was the last person in America one would have expected to produce a study bolstering the claims of ‘ex-gay’ activists — after all, he had previously led the charge in 1972-73 to remove homosexuality from the list of mental disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association. Earlier this month, Dr. Spitzer dealt “ex-gay” programs a fatal blow by officially renouncing his study in the American Prospect article he mentions in his letter above. That renunciation kicked out the final leg from the stool on which the proponents of ‘ex-gay’ therapy based their already shaky claims of success, or as Arana put it, removed from the ex-gay “fringe movement. . . its only shred of scientific support.” Dr. Spitzer’s apology to the victims of “pray away the gay” therapy and the greater LGBT community marks a watershed moment in the fight against the “ex-gay” myth. We commend him for it, because not only will it solidify his legacy as a respected doctor and significant historical figure, but it will help to greatly hasten the day when the scourge that is reparative therapy is eradicated forever and LGBT people can live openly, honestly, and true to themselves. -- Jack Drescher, MD President Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry

Stonewall research confirms my clinical intuitions....

Working with a primary focus on gay men this survey opens minds...Mental health In the last year, three per cent of gay men and five per cent of bisexual men have attempted to take their own life. Just 0.4 per cent of men in general attempted to take their own life in the same period One in sixteen (six per cent) gay and bisexual men aged 16 to 24 have attempted to take their own life in the last year. Less than one per cent of men in general aged 16 to 24 have attempted to take their own life in the same period One in fourteen gay and bisexual men deliberately harmed themselves in the last year compared to just 1 in 33 men in general who have ever harmed themselves One in six (15 per cent) gay and bisexual men aged 16 to 24 have harmed themselves in the last year compared to seven per cent of men in general aged 16 to 24 who have ever deliberately harmed themselves

Home Office consultation on civil marriage

For those who have not yet seen or completed the Home Office consultation on civil marriage here is a link http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/consultations/equal-civil-marriage/
Please send it to others who might want to fill it in. I hear that 300,000 have signed the petition against it.

The Sixteen in Leicester

The return of the wonderfully disciplined travelling choir from The Sixteeen, under the direction of Harry Christophers. They are on tour travelling with religious music of the early modern period often linked with the new spirituality that became prevalent in what we now call the spanish netherlands. Josquin, Bommel and Lassus.

It will seem ungracious but it was difficult to share the enthusiasms for the works when they were not given much of a history by way of explanation. The programme notes were interesting, in that thy covered the ground, but in way that did not shed much understanding (to me anywhere) on the music as music

If only Harry Christophers had been able to spend two or three minutes speaking about and illustrating  what was coming next and how it linked to what had gone before.

The audience loved the sound but I was uncertain how much they understood of the context of the music - or in fact cared about it. For me, the most satisfactory part of the evening - apart from the sociability and the glass of wine - was the men of the choir singing the monody in the alternate versus of the two versions of the magnificat. The rest of the evening left me thinking about how necessary was the reform of music for the liturgy  at the reformation. The Council of Trent does not feature well in my circles but in this matter its insistence on simple, note for word, music was important even if it did not get adopted all that well.

Pink

I am starting work on a paper on the colour pink. This follows the one on yellow that I gave at the Association of Art Historians at their Warwick University conference last year. It awaits being turned into a chapter  of a book mapping the symposium of which it was a part.  This next effort, more precisely, on psychodynamic understandings of pink is full of challenge. I would be interested in blog followers letting me have an idea of their understandings of pink. Why is it such a dangerous colour for many men and yet attractive to others in a risky way? Why are men considered brave if they wear pink shirts or pullovers? Is it just because of a link with homosexuality? Why do you think pink is linked to homosexuality? How culturally specific are these pink links?

If you could take a moment to give me your thoughts on pink I would be most grateful and gladly note your contribution if it gets to print.

The Proms

What a feast? Offers of carer help welcome.

On travelling alone by train for the first time in almost a year

Today, I managed to travel to and from London by train, alone, and this feels like a personal achievement that my supporters will enjoy sharing with me. The only strangeness was the ordinariness of the day. After so much time in hospital then living a very secluded life being out in the hurly-burly of life was challenging but fine.

One or two things did strike me: how little changes with some train staff, mainly men on-board staff, who can create such a negative atmosphere so quickly it is almost a gift. The staff of East Midlands Trains at Leicester were excellent but those at St Pancras are unbelievable: scruffy, borderline rude, determined to speak a version of English which puts off not only foreigners but even the locals. The lack of communication and cooperation with the St Pancras staff is hard to understand. The St Pancras staff also need some beefing up. Today's arrival woman was simply not up to the task. It really is not good enough for a disabled person who has asked for arrival help, on being helped down to the platform, then has to feel bad about asking for a push for the length of a Eurostar train. I thought the expectation was that if you arrived on the EMT platforms and were heading to the Eurostar entrance you would be helped down there.

 The departure woman was marginally more skilful. I was still put on an empty train 45 minutes before its departure and could not see anyone else. She said she wanted me on board before she went off duty, so I was grateful for her thoughtfulness there.

Why does it have to be like this? All I had to do was move a few hundred metres from the EMT arrivals disaster area and go into Carluccio's where such a different atmosphere exists - largely created by the large number of Italian staff. The contrast with EMT and St Pan staff is marked.

St Pancras itself is starting to look shabby already. The nadir today was the lavatories on the man concourse. They are down a slight incline. The incline stops the door of the disabled wc being fully opened. The state of the facility was disgusting. I asked a person who seemed to be on duty to do something about it. He came back with a mop and tided things up somewhat. Later, I noticed the whole facility had been closed. I will spare readers detailed photographs of the evidence.

It looks as if St Pancras needs a good reviewing as to its facilities. As with airports, the shopping experience seems to have overtaken more basic needs - such as the lavatories.

Finally, the EMT staff at Leicester station seem to be working hard to make the passenger experience as good as it can be amidst the extensive work that is going on. I look forward to the new station.

You are living stones

I gather from Fr John Daly ic that over 70 people attended the YALS group sessions held at St Joseph's last Tuesday throughout the day. What a good idea to have three opportunities for people to give their views, listen to other people and BE TOGETHER? I understand that morale was high and people expressed great pleasure at being able to meet others. We need to think more deeply about this. In the New Testament the word Koinonia is often used. This is sometimes translated as fellowship and many of our Christian brothers and sisters use it very easily. Catholics less so. I think this is a pity as koinonia is precisely what many of us want/need. I often hear myself say, "But we are the Church" in an attempt to challenge us all to remember that The Church is more, much more, than the pope, bishop and priests. We are (all) Church. Events like the YALS day can be important vehicles for being together, taking responsibility as adults and getting on with building the Kingdom (as we say in the Pater Noster, Our Father....)

The next step is to keep up the momentum, deepen the koinonia/fellowship, and enjoy the process...

You can read the paper work on YALS here:
http://www.ndcys.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/YALS.pdf

One personal project I would like to push forward is to make audio/visual record of parishioners talking about "What the parish means to me..." The idea for this came to me some months back during communion at mass one Sunday. A family, I think newly arrived from another country, were together at the sanctuary. A tiny baby was lying over his/her mother's shoulder fast asleep. The man and the other children stood receiving communion around the mother/new baby. It was profoundly moving. Quiet, wordless music enveloped the congregation at communion. I thought then, what is the story here? who are these people? from where do they come? How can I get to know them and hear their story?

An idea came to me to make this audio/visual record that would be record of where we are as a parish in 2012. There are so many important things going on in the parish which reflects not just suburban Leicester but a vibrant world of many colours, ethnicities, cultures, patterns of living, coming together each weekend to celebrate the great thanksgiving, the eucharist, the mass.

If you want to support this project either by being interviewed, being photographed or simply with your good will that would be lovely. Your encouragement is needed. 07912 359 559 gets a warm response.

A friend writes.....

My Dear Bernard,

First a 'big thank you for having 'Pange Lingua' on your web. Really cheered me. Please find three important attachments from today's "Observer."

Just a personal experience on arriving in Britain. In the former British Colonies, the contact we have with the English is through the Civil Servants who worked and of the Europeans through the Missionary Priests in predominantly Catholic areas like we come from.

Hence, we have this pre-conceived idea that all English are well read in their literature, politics, etc, etc. As for we colonials, we have read all most all the English Classics from Dickens to Hardy, Shakespeare to Brontes. In Colombo and major cities and in the Catholic suburbs, most state assisted schools were run by Religious Orders, mainly OMI, SJ, OSB. Hence, there was upper and lower middle-class and skilled blue-collar workers children fluent in English and well read.

When products of these societies arrive in England, they have this belief that they are coming to a 'Mother Country' and they will be accepted as part of that family. At the start it is difficult to distinguish between naked racism and subtle racism. We have the advantage of being able to navigate confidently between two cultures and two languages, at the drop of a hat. We are confused, as to why the host community look at us in a different way. Why are you not accepting us as part of or an extension of your society? After all, it was Macauly who said when he designed the education system for the colonials: "we want Indians in colour but British in values and aspirations."

This how the conflict starts. On arrival, we do not meet Ratigans, Bowmans, Wisharts and Clarks. Our first experience is in the shop, in public transport, in the Church. It is later we learn and adjust ourselves to face real life in the mother country. In the Church they look at you in a strange way because you are able to recite the Sanctus, Angus, Gloria and Credo without any problems. How can he or she do that? They are not white.

I thought, these views will help you to do your project with a better understanding.

All the best,

Love

Shirley

Thine be the glory

Quite the best of tunes

You are living stones

This is a consultation process from Malcolm Bishop of Nottingham on the future shape of the diocese. It is a good opportunity to think deeply about structures and processes, authority and responsibilities in the church. Perhaps we can move on from sheep metaphors to more adult models of understanding our relations with each other?

Before we rush to the structures it is important to consider basic values.
How is the local church reflecting the catholicity, diversity if you will, of the area in which it sits? Ethnicity? Gender? Sexualities? How do the outcasts, the lepers, feel about our church? Are they welcome? Are we reaching out to the poor, the sick, the pissed off with us? If not why not? What is the point of change if we just become another version of what we are now? How do we welcome back those who have left because they felt unwanted? We have a massive job with those who walked away. Messages from those who have left to become members of other faith groups report that a major reason was the unfriendliness of Catholic churches. If you think our or your church isntt like that fine. Have you tried asking for people's opinions. Especially black people's experiences.


A number of questions or possibilities come to mind.

What is the optimum size for a parish? Do we need buildings owned or leased by ecclesial units?
Should we move to a parish model where there is an elected committee that run the practical side of things, especially money, plant, employment issues leaving the priest for sacramental work, teaching, counselling and the spiritual development of the parish?
This requires a major shift in lay and clergy mind sets (and Canon Law), training and good will.

Liturgy matters:
I prefer one mass per Sunday, and an end to two evening masses at weekends (both Saturday and Sunday), for most parishes. Surely we can devise a liturgy where all can feel welcomed. Do we really have to provide masses for half empty churches? Once Sunday morning is over surely our priests deserve some time off. Sunday second vespers is a fine parish service but does not need a priest. Is it possible to have early morning celebrations of mass during the week sometimes rather than at 10am?

More training for church musicians to animate Sunday masses and Triduum liturgies.

A total rethink of school policy Is needed with much thought being given to shifting resources to adult Christian education and training. Catholic schools are not necessarily the best way of educating Catholic children. I would like to see the evidence that they 'work'.

Greater use of Internet for adult Catholic education. See www.ktotv.com for French examples available 24/7, much use of liturgy from Notre Dame de Paris and Community of Jerusalem. A UK version of it could make more of the liturgy from Westminster Cathedral, Blackfriars Oxford, the great Benedictine monastic schools and links from the liturgies in Rome.

Need for lay ministers for baptisms funerals and marriages. If no mass is required then no priest required. Laity need training for these roles but well tried models are available in Methodist local preachers and Anglican lay readers. The wheel is already invented. If we are going to have first class expensive musical liturgies at e.g. Westminster why are they not streamed to the TV and internet? In terms of spreading the good news we have much to learn. We also need to balance this 'high' liturgy with liturgy that is much more popular (if hated by the musical snobs amongst us) and represents streams such as the Charismatics. We remember from where the word 'liturgy' comes.

There is a need to think plan and act now.

Low Sunday

thomas is a favourite of mine.

Is there a cure for homosexuality?

This is a very interesting question. it implies that homosexuality is an illness. You think it is you will want a cure, I presume. I have read much of the literature claiming treatment for homosexuality and my judgement is that it is deeply flawed and dangerous. If you want a flavour read Nicolosi's works. Some of it is embarrassingly shallow.

Do you get out much?

I find myself answering this question from friends, well acquaintances really, who do mean to be helpful. The answer is that I do get out but it is always a struggle. Just walking with crutches from the front of the house to the car or taxi is an effort. But yes I do get out. In fact, I probably get out more than my questioner. Its all to do with planning and logistics well it is also know what to do and who to go with.

Often, when I lay awake at night, I let my imagination run free and see where it takes me, Often, at this time of year I am in New York City. I used to go every year for the religion but now I cannot go so go in the imagination. Having the music sung at the easter triduum helps greatly in that it reaches parts others cannot.

Trying to be coherent about the night, having not slept, now fully wide awake at 3am.  I console myself that the monks at MSB are just rising. I bet they grumble under their cowls. I wish they streamed the night office so that those of us on night duty can hear it." Voice la nuit" the monks who were later to be killed in the film Of Gods and Men.

LE2 well Leicester South Labour Party goes out to dinner

So the great and good of Leicester South constituency gathered in the University last night for a first gala dinner and fund raiser. What a night? The starter musically was a music group from a church, ethnomusicologists to the front, to unravel the layers of influence: traditional african singing and drumming, black christian songs, hip hop, rap well not quite. Smart group.

The do was dress up in an LE2 sort of way. Jon Ashworth MP (Johnny Sparkles as was revealed by the guest speaker), Rachel Reeve MP shadow bean counter and clearly on the way up, our mayor Peter Soulsby, the movers and shakers PLUS the chamber of commerce. WHo would have thought they would turn out for such an event.

It was so much like a  church do. Great fun, Utterly Leicester.

Culture wars heat up the Guardian

Anti-gay adverts pulled from bus campaign after protests
Christian groups under fire for posters backing homosexuality ‘cure’

Labour MP Chris Bryant said the advert was cruel, particularly for teenagers

written by
Robert Booth, Hélène Mulholland, and Patrick Strudwick
The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, intervened last night to prevent a Christian advertising campaign from promoting the idea that gay people can be converted to heterosexuality.
Just days before the posters were due to appear on buses in the capital, Johnson ordered his transport chiefs to pull the adverts booked by two conservative Anglican groups following outrage among gay campaigners and politicians saying that they were homophobic. The adverts were booked on behalf of the Core Issues Trust whose leader, Mike Davidson, believes “homoerotic behaviour is sinful”.
His charity funds “reparative therapy” for gay Christians, which it claims can “develop their heterosexual potential”. The campaign was also backed by Anglican Mainstream, a worldwide orthodox Anglican group whose supporters have equated homosexuality with alcoholism. The advert was due to say: “Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it!”
Johnson, who contacted the Guardian to announce he was stopping the adverts within two hours of their contents becoming public, said: “London is one of the most tolerant cities in the world and intolerant of intolerance. It is clearly offensive to suggest that being gay is an illness that someone recovers from and I am not prepared to have that suggestion driven around London on our buses.”
His main rival in next month’s mayoral election, Ken Livingstone, said Johnson should never have allowed the adverts to be booked. “London is going backwards under a Tory leadership that should have made these advertisements impossible.”
The Christian groups insisted the advert had been cleared with Transport for London, which is chaired by the mayor. Davidson said: “I didn’t realise censorship was in place. We went through the correct channels and we were encouraged by the bus company to go through their procedures. They okayed it and now it has been pulled.”
CBS Outdoor, the media company that sells the bus advertising sites, said the ad had been passed for display by the Committee of Advertising Practice and it complied with Advertising Standards Authority guidelines. It is understood TfL was due to make around £10,000 for allowing the adverts to run on about two dozen buses across five routes.
The campaign was an explicit attempt to hit back at the gay rights group Stonewall, which as part of its lobbying for the extension of marriage to gay couples is running its own bus adverts saying: “Some people are gay. Get over it.” The Christian groups used the same black, red and white colour scheme as Stonewall and in a statement announcing the campaign accused it of promoting the “false idea that there is indisputable scientific evidence that people are born gay”.
The gay ex-vicar, Labour MP and former minister Chris Bryant, said the advert was cruel for promoting the idea that you could become “ex-gay” and he said it would particularly hurt teenagers struggling to come to terms with their sexuality.
“The emotional damage that is done to the individuals who try to suppress their sexuality, the women they marry and the children they might have is immeasurable,” he said. “Most sane Christians believe that homosexuality is not a lifestyle or a choice but is a fact to be discovered or not. The pretence that homosexuality is something you can be weaned off in some way is a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of creation.”
Ben Summerskill, the chief executive of Stonewall, said the adverts were “clearly homophobic” and added: “The only reason some gay people might want to stop being gay is because of the prejudice of the people who are publishing the ad.”
Both men said the advert should not be banned, however, because they believed in freedom of speech.
Attempts to “treat” or alter sexual orientation have been strongly condemned by leading medical organisations. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has warned that “so-called treatments of homosexuality create a setting in which prejudice and discrimination flourish” and concluded in 2010: “There is no sound evidence that sexual orientation can be changed.”
The British Medical Association has also attacked “conversion therapy”, a related field to reparation therapy, passing a motion asserting that it is “discredited and harmful to those ‘treated’ ”.
The Rev Lynda Rose, a spokesperson for the UK branch of Anglican Mainstream, said her group adhered to scripture that all fornication outside marriage is prohibited and believed that homosexuals were “not being fully the people God intended us to be”. She said therapies endorsed by Anglican Mainstream and Core Issues were not coercive and were appropriate for people who wanted to change their sexual attractions, for example if they were married and worried about the impact of a “gay lifestyle” on their children.
The decision to pull the adverts is being seen as a potential boost for conservative Christian organisations attempting to become more politically active in the UK. “Banning this is usually a fairly good way to encourage a sense that people are being marginalised and persecuted,” said Simon Barrow, co-founder of the Ekklesia thinktank which has tracked the progress of what it calls aggressive conservative Christianity. “It could be part of a developing tactic to draw attention to themselves and a way of using victimhood to galvanise sympathy and support.”

Leicester Pride or Leicester Gay Pride or Leicester Lesbian and Gay Pride

What is the best way forward? There seems to be tendency over time for Gay Pride Events to drop the word gay from their titles. It is a little unclear why. Some say it is to make the whole event more a community one and others say that it is because some people feel uncomfortable with the word gay being used. Now I have heard lesbians object to gay men muscling in on the activities and edging every one else out. Maybe. I have met many men who only have sex with men telling me they do not like the political edge at gay pride events. This usually leads to a stand off when they do not do politics. I find this odd because the very people who want politics kept out of our leadership's agenda are willing to accept the benefits of the political struggles (and some of them are real struggles) made by other lesbian and gay people.

Same sex sex would still be illegal but for the work of activists- lesbian gay and otherwise - over many years. We would not have civil partnerships even less same sex marriage nor the gender recognition act nor equalities protection. The price of our freedoms has required much effort and continues to need constant vigilance. There are many sinister forces, well funded, often behind the front of nicely nicely wholesome religious names - The XXXXX Institute, The campaign for xxxxxx, The XXXXXlegal centre. I could go on. Many of them have no doubt a gay pride event is not a good idea and they would be banned if the holders of these views had power. Remember Geneva in the 16th century. Or Iran now. Or Jamaica now.

Being gay or lesbian or transgender is being political. Those who deny this are living in cloud cuckoo land and resting on the laurels of the hard work of gay and lesbian so-called activists.

The Surreal Art of an Urban Prankster

You might enjoy this....
http://www.mutualart.com/OpenArticle/The-Surreal-Art-of-an-Urban-Prankster/CA0366BD6282B4FC?utm_source=newsletter_b&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_artfocus

Michael Tanner in The Spectator goes to Birmingham Opera Company

April 2012 | by: MICHAEL TANNER |Comments (0)

Standing room only

Of all the operatic ventures that have sprung up in England in the past 20 years, Birmingham Opera Company may well be the most remarkable. Its artistic director is Graham Vick, who is well acquainted with opera at its most elitist — he was artistic director of Glyndebourne from 1994 to 2000. BOC is at the other extreme, in that productions now regularly take place in a disused steel foundry on the outskirts of the centre of Birmingham, and the aim is to involve as many local inhabitants as possible. Over the past few years there have been impressive performances of Verdi’s Otello (it was televised, and survived the scrutiny extremely well), Idomeneo and, most movingly to me, Ulysses Comes Home, a wonderful version of Monteverdi’s greatest opera.

This year, however, BOC is breaking new ground. Not only has it scored a coup in putting on the world première of Stockhausen’s Mittwoch aus Licht (Wednesday from Light), which will be given four performances in August (it lasts six hours); but it has just staged the première of Jonathan Dove’s new opera Life is a Dream, adapted by Alasdair Middleton from the play by Calderón.

Whatever I write in critique of the work or the enterprise, it is still an outstanding achievement, though perhaps not primarily an artistic one. Having located the theatre — visitors would be well advised to go by taxi — one passes through the entrance area into a large tent-like room, where, not to my pleasure, a PE instructor who would have been more at home at Butlins in the 1950s tried to put us through our paces. Then through a narrow passage to the vast barn-like space where the opera is performed. There is no indication, at first, as to where the action will be, but stewards urge people in various directions, and depending on where you are sent you witness a funeral procession, a wedding party, a family Christmas, a birth.

The orchestra is in the centre, circularly walled in: an expert body of professionals (I take it) with the unflappable William Lacey in command. Many locals are on the move among the audience, some with pillows on their head, wearing pyjamas or a good deal less; some straining behind glass; some shouting. A woman starts singing from a high balcony, and breaks a window, while a bride and bridegroom prepare themselves elsewhere, and an imprisoned young man protests, movingly, that he is not a beast.

Lots of things happen all the time, so that wherever you are standing in the vast space something, though not necessarily the most important thing, is going on near you. The singers are a magnificent team, and enunciate with the maximum possible clarity. It isn’t their fault if they are defeated by the immense distances and the resonant acoustic of the building. The main trouble is that it is very difficult to know what is going on — which might confirm people’s prejudices about opera in general. The programme offers only a couple of cryptic sentences. So it’s a bit like being in an operatic supermarket, where you take your pick of the various simultaneous events.

I had taken the precaution of reading the play on which it is based the evening before, but that could have been more of a hindrance than a help, since I kept trying to link the play and the opera, and failing almost always. Still, on its own terms it is a lively evening. Dove’s music is, as usual, highly eclectic, and in this case more than in the other operas of his I’ve been to it seems to be reaching out to the world of the musical. There are echoes, or more, of plenty of classical composers: at one point the tremendous Paul Nilon, who plays the King trying to ensure that his son doesn’t wreak havoc, as has been foretold, is accompanied by a beautiful passage closely related to Das Lied von der Erde, and there is some Britten, the choral singing is often Stravinskian, and the huge swelling climaxes pay tribute to the Korngold of the greatmovie scores. But Bernstein is more present than any of those, and the solo singing idiom in particular is in that fluent tradition. Besides Nilon, whose lovely tenor voice seems to be ageless, there are great performances from the intimidating Keel Watson, who made such a superb Iago for BOC; from Eric Greene, as Segismondo, the captive son who is treated like a beast and so often behaves like one; and from Joseph Guyton, as the bridegroom. It is virtually miraculous that the singers, solo and choral, kept such perfect time with the orchestra, and the whole effect is far more polished than one might expect. But, given that the peregrinatory nature of the production involves many more bit players than a single-staged effort would do, couldn’t we now have a show where we can be less restive, and above all where we can sit down?

In praise of iTunes U

One of the treats of the internet is the little known, or at least talked about, is iTunes U (where U stands for university). I am currently following a course from Harvard on the Hebrew bible taught by a member of the religious studies faculty. He is at the top of his game, is clearly speaking out of a rabbinic tradition but is, first and foremost, a serious student of the subject. Apart from the 26 hours of classes there is a huge amount of downloadable and clickable extra material. The only element missing is the assessment - i.e. the exam. I cannot speak highly enough of this generous benefaction and encourage other universities to follow suit.

It is about time universities started getting back to the basic idea that they are not just economic units but also for the public good.

Easter Sunday 2012, just an ordinary Catholic parish in Leicester (really?)

Sunday morning mass at St Joseph's, Leicester is scheduled to start at 10.30. It doesn't really get going until about ten or even more minutes later. The colour of the congregation shifts from white (pink really) at 10.30 to all a much more multi hewed rainbow by the time the entrance hymn starts. Almost immediately after the incensing of the altar and the first greeting, the children are gathered on the sanctuary being sent off to their liturgy with a blessing. My sense is that no matter what number set out MORE come back. Which they do after the adults have heard the lessons and listened to the homily. The celebrant's homilies are models of crafted, scholarship digested, arresting moments, sometimes heart stopping always challenging. Then come we call the 'bidding' prayers which puts me in mind of www.paddypower.com doing the odds on the next pope. Anyway, the prayers are jewels. The final petition is always to Our Lady, sometimes she is addressed as "a Jewish woman" which, of course, she is.

The Children return with the fruits of their work - objects, music, words. On Palm Sunday they came into Elizabeth Poston's 'Jesus Christ, the apple tree'. Two Zimbabwean boys solemnly carrying a large cross with  post-it notes from the children. It can be heart stopping as the children and their teachers re-renter the children and make their way to the sanctuary. It seems as if twice as many return as set off. It can be hard to stay dry eyed as they straggle in.

The current project to build a holiday structure for some of the children at the Mother of Peace home for children with HIV in Zimbabwe is well under way. To have such a concrete link with other children in Zimbabwe is a fine way to learn that we are all part of the human race and that the human race has HIV and needs to deal with it.

The mass continues. The acolytes, male and female, are models of how they should be. We are incensed as we should be. The moment of the peace is always slightly held back by the celebrant bringing to mind a place where there is no peace, or not yet, or what we can do to bring peace: Peace be with you! The greeting between the people is not too much over the top. This is Leicester, after all!

The communion is heart stopping, as it should be. The people of God gathered around the altar table with their priest in a moment of great thanksgiving. It is solemn, human, divine, deeply deeply moving, ordered but not over ordered.

There is no rush to escape at the dismissal.  Ite, missa est. Go, the mass is ended. We go. Usually, the angelus bell is chiming as it is midday.

The music goes from strength to strength. The choir and organist are much closer to the heavens than the rest of the people of God. The combo of the grand organ and the keyboard work well. For me it would be best for the musicians to be next to the sanctuary and facing the congregation. Also if we had an animateur for music discreetly encouraging would help. My fave are the Easter bells! We knew that Jesus was risen today as we sang our hearts out. The bells are such a joy. But when are our Zimbabwean friends going to sing drum and dance the offertory again?

Music, for me, makes the liturgy alive and especially the Eucharist the great thanksgiving that it is.

Afterwards, some gather to talk, some sit, some talk to the priest, some drink coffee, some go home alone, some meet with their compatriots from their home lands to talk talk talk of course.

Just an ordinary Sunday mass in a suburban Leicester parish? Well yes, but also a glimpse of what it means to be a Catholic Christian in 2012 here in the UK. We are part of a huge family of people gathered together in our differences in the big house where the A47 crosses the Ring Road. We do not all agree on everything, in fact some of us disagree pretty strongly with other of us, but we recognise that we are more alike than we are different even if we look a bit different. We are united in human solidarity that points to the presence of the divine in our lives. That is what it is to be a Catholic Christian in St Joseph's, Leicester on Easter Sunday in the year of our Lord 2012. Thanks be to God.

Christians should wear a cross says Cardinal

The Cardinal Archbishop of Edinburgh and St Andrews feels marginalised as a Catholic Christian and urges his fellow believers to wear a cross. Oh dear, poor man. I would rather that Christians be recognised not by what they wear but by their deeds and actions. If I have to wear a badge to tell others of my beliefs then that is sad. Walk cheerfully over the world seeking that of God in every one seems to be a better injunction that to wear to a cross.

If we are to take the idea seriously then I have long argued for Christians to wear white alb type clothing, somewhat like Muslims, to point to the resurrection. It has not caught on yet.

Leaving on one side for a moment the clear commandment not to make images we are left with the question as to whether we should wear a cross (as in plain) or a crucifix (cross with dead Jesus). I have long taken the view that the cross points to the resurrection whilst the crucifix feels like the permanent Good Friday. Perhaps this is where the cardinal is in reality?

I do have one area of agreement with Cardinal O'Brien: get rid of Trident.

Maundy Thursday

Maundy derives from mandatum Latin for command as in mandate. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you. Roughly translates the passage in John where Jesus is at meal before he died. The message is not so much in the words, great as they are, but in the liturgical action when the president of the eucharist washes the feet of some or all of those present. Kings of England did this until the reformation when the action got translated into money given to as many men and women as matches the age of the sovereign. Quite a lot today in York. Foot washing is rather more symbolically powerful.

NYC St Francis Xavier's the congregation wash the feet of those around them.

Leicester Bach Choir

Eve of Palm Sunday 2012 and we are in the acoustically splendid St James the Greater overlooking Victoria Park, Leicester. LBC are singing a mixed programme of mainly baroque liturgical music (plus a trumpet concerto).  Splendid evening, well sung and played, with wine.

Jennifer Clegg's written welcome was warm but I struggled to hear her verbal welcome from the pulpit. I just wanted the audience told a little more about the origins of some of the music. I know liturgy means a lot to me and that this is not so for all people. However, I think a little more would have lead to a large increase in the pleasure to be derived from the evening.

First in the running order was a Salve Regina, Hail Queen of Heaven. Liturgically, this antiphon to the BVM is sung at the end of Compline on most of the time between Trinity and Advent (the long run of green sundays). Most Catholics used to have it off by heart both in the vernacular and in the original Latin.
In monastic settings it is usually sung in the dark save for a single light/ candle illuminating a statute of Our Lady. Kind of motherly good night song for the Children of Eve.

This was followed by a Stabat Mater. This piece of medieval doggerel also has an important place in Catholic liturgy, or did once upon a time. It is the Tract Hymn at the Mass of the seven sorrows of the BVM. Those that know about these things believe it to be a fine piece of Latin. The key to understanding it  is that it is part of the devotion to the seven sorrows of the BVM. What Mary was put through for being the  mother of Jesus, therefore in Catholic belief, and of God. We are invited to empathises with Mary on her journey to her son's death.

The last piece of the concert was a Gloria. The words of this Latin hymn of praise is derived from the  Hebrew of the First Testament or from the early Christian Latin. The placing of the hymn during the mass has floated between near the start (after the penitential rite and Kyries) and after communion as a great hymn of thanksgiving for the eucharist (which is a great hymn of thanksgiving.) Either way it is a great slam of praise and thanksgiving.

Anything else? I think not. Great evening out and thanks to LBC.

No need to go into Latin

Once upon a time medical and clerical textbooks moved into Latin when discussing sex and especially what has been called homosexuality. I guess the idea was to protect the innocent faithful laity from picking up ideas.

The practise has more or less disappeared but some versions of it, where euphemisms appear instead of plain speaking, linger on. In this week's Tablet there is a sad little story about a 26 year old gay man in a civil partnership getting elected to a parish council somewhere outside Vienna. The Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna, Dominican, clever and once considered a possible pope, had his spokesman tell us that active homosexuality is a grave sin.

I just want to think for a moment on what means "active homosexuality". Are we talking sex here, in who does what to whom? or are we talking "lifestyle" in the current patois? If we are talking sex is this a reference to anal sex? I think we should be told. If it is that  ano-receptive sex deemed to be less of a grave sin. I think we should know. If it is the case that anal sex is always and everywhere out of court do we need to get on and tell heterosexual couples this as well. One final forensic point: does there have to be oral, anal, vaginal penetration for it to be deemed sex (as in the Clinton get out?).

Even though the Archbishop of Vienna is probably a nice man he really does need to spell out what he means by having words like "grave" sin used without clarity as to the meaning. To repeat if he is talking about sex then I think he should say so. Otherwise, we are left with vagaries like "lifestyle" which usually ends of meaning shopping at Waitrose and living in a minimalist house and having copies of gay novels, DVDs and newspapers actually visible in front of visitors,

Third sunny day in a row

Just a few days of unseasonal sunlight and warmth seems to change the national psyche. I know the very idea of there being a national psyche is fictive but who cares on a day like this? People suddenly look different, not just burned, but more outgoing. Even strangers start talking to each other. brrrrr
I wonder what it would be like if we had a reliable 6 months of this weather every year?

Gay Lesbian films at Phoenix

Check out this coming weekend's offerings at Pheonix.

benedict in Cuba

benedict 16th looks very unwell. I wonder how much lomger he will survive?

From the door step

It is surprising what a few warm days do to people's mood and habits. Suddenly, the national mood is raised and I take to sitting out side of the house by the front door. People walking stop to talk, those driving sometimes wave and the value of the houses in the street do not fall by that much money.

The local version of the evening walk is quite swift but people do seem to like to stop and chat as well.

Two cities, two days, two operas

People ask sometimes, usually meaning to be sympathetic, "Do you get out much?" I try and be cheerful and tell them I do as much as I can. Friday, I was at Royal Opera in Covent Garden to see their new piece Miss Fortune. Well, notwithstanding a slating from the critics, it was not that bad. The singing was good, the sets were excellent, the orchestra as ever. Paul Daniels was in control, Emma Bell was the lead and the new rising star in the higher tenor range is Noah Stewart. NS is from Harlem, trained at the Julliard, loves his mother, gets lots of air time in the UK. Sang the best number in the show. Pity his kebab trailer goes up last summer's rioting flames. For me the only real problem was the break dancers. Oh what fun when the posh let their hair down (tip: don't). We had a meal afterwards at Les amis near by. Never again. Food mediocre, bill far too high. We ware joined by the delightful Noah. He is such good fun to be with.  suspect we will be seeing a lot more of him Europe.

Saturday night, to Birmingam Community Opera doing a new Joanathan Dove Life is Dream. This really was opera perhaps because of it being done in a large, disused fo factory that stands as a monument to industrial britain now gone. This is the first visit to BCO although I have heard much of previous shows - especially Monteverdi.

I think last night was the best night at the opera I can ever remember. I kept getting reminded that the very word OPERA means 'the works' so here we were at a works having the works done before here eyes, Graham Vick directs. It is sometimes hard to know who is performer and who audience. Surreal surely but not to  be missed,

Early warning, The same team are doing Stockhausen's unperformed six hour Mittwoch aus Licht (Wednesdsay from Light). This is the Olympic show piece by BCO but there are lots of events.

After all this a rest is indicated.

End of season of Thursday lunchtime concerts in Leicester

Those who think that first-rate high culture stops at the M25 or, worse, is confined to single digit London post codes zone one on the Tube, it must come as a terrible shock to learn that for under a tenner the very best of chamber music is available in Leicester. Leicester is just over an hour from St Pancras with four trains an hour. The Queen came visiting last week to start her Jubilee tour and saying yes to this multi racial reasonably harmonious city, by going to Church for a multi faith service, by visiting the increasingly impressive De Montfort University and by meeting the (elected) major, Sir Peter Soulsby, with the citizens and denizens gathered in the streets to greet her.

To return to music. The Leicester International Music Festival provides us with the Thursday lunchtime concerts, summer celeb recitals and every September a long weekend of non-stop chamber music. Nicholas Daniels, recently honoured by the Queen, directs the whole and brings the best of the rising generation up here.

One of the special treats of the concerts are the intelligent programme notes (Mr Wheeler, step forward and thanks for the extended internet version) and the pithy intros by Mr Mike Baker.

Many concerts now sell out and the queues are to behold. Hint: get the value season tickets. The season ended today with the triumphant return of the Sitkovetsky trio playing Haydn's piano trio in C major Hob. XV: 27 and Beethoven's Archduke trio Op.97. I thought the speed of the last movement of the Haydn was possibly reckless but all worked out well in the end. The Archduke was, er, er, archducal. Very moving and authoritatively played. I thought I knew both trios well but this so gifted group of musicians brought altogether new insights to me.

One suggestion for improvement: in a city with such a rich cultural heritage as Leicester it really is a pity that some efforts are not made by the organisers to include at least some of Indian classical music. All it needs is the same bravery shown by them in including contemporary western classical music. The other sad lack is jazz. Yet when one recent performer shifted from the classical canon into jazz the audience seem to love it. This audience is up for stretching I think. As Alex Ross shows in his ground breaking book 'The rest is noise' the categories (of classical, jazz, folk, popular) that used to separate increasingly fall to bits in one's hands when examined carefully. Pragmatically, although I do not know if the Festival gets City Council funding, but if it does, it really does need to think about the wisdom of not including some classical music from the non western traditions. This is not just to appease those who check the demographics of any publicly funded event (old, bourgeois and white mainly) but a wish to widen the audience for nonwestern classical music. I realise we are someway from having a Leicester Gamelan but if we can have a Fazioli piano up at the DMH, why not think big.

Gripes apart this is written by a punter who is deeply grateful for what we get. Special thanks to Catherine and Tim Watt for the care they provide for the disabled. Much appreciated.

The man in the red hoodie with a yellow chaise roulant says thanks.

Quite the best so far

Robert Shrimsley in last weekend's FT on how the Catholic is ruining his marriage:

My marriage is under threat; its very existence is being undermined. I know this because the Catholic Church says so. I’m not Catholic myself, you understand, but if there’s one thing those priests know about, it’s marriage. Similar warnings are coming from other faith-leaders and the rightwing commentators.

And it’s all because of those pesky gays.

It turns out that the very foundations of our union will be irrevocably eroded if gays are allowed to marry. No less an authority than Rick Santorum, currently running second for the Republican presidential nomination, says redefining wedlock to include gays could “cheapen marriage… make it something less valuable, special”. Scotland’s leading Catholic bishop appears to argue that if gay marriage is legalised, the clamour will start for polygamy to be similarly blessed. But it’s not just marriage at stake. The Pope says that allowing gays to call themselves married is one of a number of threats to “the future of humanity itself”. Yikes.

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ROBERT SHRIMSLEY

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Marriage, according to our religious leaders is less a robust, timeless institution than a precious, delicate thing – a dandelion in the wind, easily blown away by others you’ve never met enjoying the same benefits. It’s like being a member of an elite club and then finding out that Katie Price has joined. You wonder if you still belong.

I understand where they are coming from. I recently bought an espresso machine to which I was hugely attached until I noticed Whittard was selling the same model to gays. Suddenly my macchiato seemed cheapened; and questioned my commitment to the morning shot. Now the Illy languishes untouched and I have begun dallying with an old jar of Maxwell House I was once close to. We’d fallen out of touch after I’d committed to proper coffee but recently reconnected via Facebook. So I’m wise to the dangers of gay marriage. We all saw what happened when homosexuality was legalised. Crime rates soared, obviously because people felt their previous law-abiding status had been devalued by the decision to stop treating gays as criminals.

My wife and I are resigned to our fate if the government presses ahead with reform and have already begun discussing custody arrangements. It’s a pity; because we’ve been happy together. But it’s clear that at the first glimpse of Boy George at the altar I’ll abandon my family and move out to small flat above a Pizza Hut. Across the nation, young couples will cancel their engagements, put off by the weddings of other adults who love each other and increased competition for wedding venues from gays and polygamists.

When otherwise intelligent people rely on such specious arguments, you have to wonder whether it isn’t because they daren’t say what they truly believe – that gays are lesser human beings who should be denied the same rights as others. It would be wrong to tar everyone in this way, but it is striking how many of the most vociferous objections come from those with a less-than-stellar record on gay rights.

Where opponents of gay marriage have a point is in noting that there seem to be few benefits not already secured by civil partnerships. But like any excluded minority, it is natural for gays to rail against exclusion. It is hard to believe that all those Jews who used to campaign against their exclusion from elite golf clubs actually wanted to join them. I don’t think there’s ever been a great Jewish golfer and it’s a long walk to the club house if you get hungry. But when someone takes the trouble to bar you, well, a chap can take that kind of thing personally.

One of the most striking (and heartwarming) social developments of the past decade is just how quickly civil partnerships have become entirely unremarkable. It is hard to believe the same would not be true of gay marriage. But maybe this easy acceptance is what is really driving the increasingly apocalyptic warnings. Perhaps, what worries opponents is not that marriage and society will be disastrously undermined by this reform, but that they won’t.

robert.shrimsley@ft.com

Tablet comes out for Soho masses throughout UK

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/blogs/266/17

Campaign for marriage

If you want to know more about our friends in the Campaign for Marriage please see

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/03/05/comment-the-coalition-for-marriage-a-creeping-rhizome-of-religious-extremism/

Rowan goes back to Cambridge

Mixed news. we knew that Rowan was about to leave Lambeth and for Cambridge but not when. Now we know he starts next year as President of Magdalen following Eamon Duffy, esteemed historian of the reformation. Rowan could not stay any longer without risking his mental health surely? His attempt to keep the Anglican Church together was over ambitious and allowed some to think they actually run the church with their opinions which are borderline hate crimes in my opinion. I just wish he had been able to put aside his idea of communio and manage to speak truth to power. In a small way he made me think of Pius 12 during the second world war when he thought he could save the German church by not condemning the massacre of the Jews. Perhaps not a good example but a pointer.

I still think Rowan one of the greats of contemporary thinking not just religious either. Learned, witty, eyebrowed, a good man. He deserves the mastership of a Cambridge college. I last saw him at Kings Place the Guardian HQ by St Pancras. He was in discussion with the economics editor, a sociology of work and Susie Orbach. Rowan just swept all before him with his scholarship but more so with his wit and good humour.

This is further encouragement to persevere with the Brothers Karamozov before reading Rowan's book on the subject.

The marriage equality debate moves on

We are exhausted. My civil partner and I have worked hard this last week or two. We have attended a number of meetings in Leicester and managed to ask questions of various heirarchs about their views on marriage equality and/or civil partnerships. We have been aghast at some of the examples of homonegativity and/or hate we have encountered. We managed to get questions to the Archbishop of Westminster when he spoke at Leicester University on Tuesday. It was such a pity that his talk was derivative and unimpressive. Afterwards, he was personally warm with us having just recorded an interview with Radio Leicester. The interview had him telling the world that there was a huge difference between a heterosexually married couple and a same sex couple. Although his (and Peter Smith) were more eirenical than Cardinal O'Brien the message is the same. It feels as if there has been a rowing back from the position on marriage that has evolved over the last 4o years that gives equality to the procreative and the affectional ends of marriage. We are back with Darwin and making babies. What an opportunity has been lost? I, along with many other Catholics, feel deeply disturbed by this reactionary position and hope that it will encourage fellow Catholics to speak out (I am not holding my breath).

It used to be said that celibacy was the summit of human achievement for catholics with marriage coming much lower in the pecking order.

Marriage? Civil Partnership? a week in LE2

Well, the letter from archbishops Vincent Nicholls and Peter Smith, has come and gone. It was meant to be read out this weekend. The church I attend did not benefit from the oral version, Thank God, and the existence of the paper version was pointed out by the priest at the end of mass. The homily was largely about the ten commandments with a link to the NT about the primacy of love. I never knew that the commandment about nor stealing referred to kidnap (stealing people) or so a hebrew bible scholar has argued.

This week in Leicester. Theme of the week seems to be outsiders.

Monday sees anti gypsy and traveller permanent site demonstration. DMU production of The Laramie Project starts on Monday also at Curve. This was sparked by the murder of gay teenager Matthew Shephard in Wyoming.

Tuesday archbishop Vincent at the university.

Station Mass at Holy Cross Wednesday 7.30. Philharmonia at DMH Wednesday.

Thursday first night of Gypsy at Curve. 7pm.

Saturday 17th St Patrick's day mass at St Patrick's with the bishop.
Canvassing in Queens Road against the NHS bill in the morning and rally at the Adult Education College in Wellington Street at 2pm.

Spot the outsider theme, eh?

Coull Quartet in Leicester

The Coull Quarted played Haydn, Shostakovitch and Beethoven to a packed audience at the University of Leicester Embrace Arts centre last night. They were excellent and much helped by the programme note and brief introductions by the second violinist. My concert partner and  I were treated to seats so close to the players that we could see the notes on their copies of the music.This gave an impression of what it is like to play in a string quartet especially the intimacy and closeness of the other players.

Background reading: Vikram Seth An Equal Music

Iain McGilchrist's The Master and his Emissary

I have had this book now for a couple of years and not read it until recently. I was reluctant at first because because because...and now I am glad I have. To get a taste of it there is a You Tube 30 minute lecture by McGilchrist at the RSA which is accessible. As are many of the other links on You Tube.

If you have any comments before, during or after reading the book please let me know.

Stephen Hough on the culture wars, from Daily Telegraph

Gay marriage and Catholics

By Stephen Hough Lifestyle Last updated: March 6th, 2012

333 Comments Comment on this article

As a gay Catholic I suppose I should be in the perfect position to comment on the recent flurry of news stories in the media about the Church's opposition to gay marriage. Actually being in the middle of the debate enables me perhaps to see both sides and thus to have less of a fixed opinion that might be expected.

I am embarrassed by Cardinal O'Brien's outbursts last weekend, in print and on air. He seems to me to have closed ears and hearts, to have advanced the cause he was opposing, and to have allowed his determination to be seen as someone defending Christian values to trump the values themselves. He makes it much harder for saner and wiser Christian voices to be heard.

Fr. Timothy Radcliffe O.P.

I am heartened by Father Timothy Radcliffe's article in The Tablet which tries to place marriage and partnerships from a Catholic viewpoint in a clearer perspective. As the former head of the Dominican Order worldwide, he is the most senior churchman to offer a revisionist view on this issue.

But what about the man in the middle, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, andthe upcoming campaign to halt the change in the law? One problem is that the argument about the meaning and ends of marriage has changed. The Church altered its teaching from the mid-20th century onwards away from the traditional 'procreation first, relationship second' to an equal billing for the two. Pope John Paul II was a key thinker in this shift of official opinion when he was still a mere priest teaching in Poland – a hundred years ago he would have been considered a heretic for his views. But people now, at least in the West, primarily choose their partners based on love, companionship and compatibility. That is not going to change.

Then there's social science (a.k.a. the understanding of how God's creation works) which has changed the way we think of same-sex attraction. A hundred years ago the very word 'homosexuality' was newly minted and any act of intimacy between two men a criminal offense. Research has been published with regularity over the past years which gives force to our understanding that being gay is something out of our control. Even if you don't accept the mounting genetic evidence, no onechooses to be attracted to one gender or the other. The awareness of our own preference is presented to us at around the same time as the awakening of love itself – significantly, before we connect it with procreation. In fact, affective attraction arrives before its genital counterpart – a further pointer that homosexuality is simply something in nature, thus 'natural'.

Then there's the fact that more straight people divorce than remain married these days – an 'unfortunate' statistic for those who would suggest that traditional marriage is an unassailable force for social cohesion. I know of straight couples whose relationships have been strengthened by their same-sex friends or neighbours: "If they can make it work, why can't we?" The argument that gay marriage will damage straight marriage is patently untrue. It may actually be the opposite. But, I'm sad to say, those who want to demonize gay relationships hate to see them working well.

AIDS changed many things, not least the awareness that, long after sexual attraction had disappeared into hacking coughs and festering sores, heroic love and deep commitment were gracing hospital wards across the globe. This was not a question of one-night stands, but of nightly sitting at the bedsides of loved-ones.

If Fr. Radcliffe's lone voice were a united choir from the bishops worldwide the Church might be in a better position to discuss this issue and make a valuable contribution. But I'm afraid the secular world knows that, left to itself, the Church will tell the gay 13 year-old (whether Christian or not) that the only option for him or her for the rest of life is celibacy … 'till death do us part. Offering no alternative to that position brings the discussion screeching to a halt; and until just one gay bishop (they exist) is willing to stand up and say, "I'm gay and celibate" there is no role model to support the official teaching, thus no honesty, and thus no way forward.

The closets are collapsing and the theologians don't know what to do about it. There are actually only two honest possibilities: if homosexuality is as immoral as Cardinal O'Brien suggested then the Church should be trying to make it illegal again; if it isn't then the Church should be trying to help gay relationships be holy, stable and celebrated.

Until this week I was loosely on the side of the 'civil partnerships, yes; marriage, no' side of the fence. But do I hear music? It seems to be in C major, to be bright and rousing. Yes, and the composer is Felix Mendelssohn.