He has irked some environmentalists by espousing a direct carbon tax on fuel use. Some see that as a distraction from rallying support in Congress for cap-and-trade legislation that is on the table.

He is scathing of that approach. “This is analagous to the indulgences that the Catholic church sold in the middle ages. The bishops collected lots of money and the sinners got redemption. Both parties liked that arrangement despite its absurdity. That is exactly what’s happening,” he said. “We’ve got the developed countries who want to continue more or less business as usual and then these developing countries who want money and that is what they can get through offsets [sold through the carbon markets].”

[From Copenhagen climate change talks must fail, says top scientist | Environment | The Guardian ]

blah|blether
on church, mission, worship + culture with Jonny Baker (CMS)
Friday 27th November – 5pm
The Crypt, Wellington Church, University Avenue, Glasgow

Jonny Baker is one of the best known Christian bloggers in the English speaking world. He brings a wealth of experience in Youth Work, Worship Leading/Curating, and Mission Support.

A prolific networker, over the years his blog has become a point of connection for many thousands of people involved in debates around emerging church, alternative worship and mission in the contemporary West.
This one-off blah/blether (named after similar events Jonny runs in England) begins with chat over curry + beer/irn bru, after which Jonny will speak and there will be time for responses and discussion.

All welcome, but booking essential by 26th Nov.
Cost £3 (£1 unwaged, £2 student) includes food – BYOB
Contact douggay@mac.com

This event is also on Facebook

I have it on good authority that the curry will be exquisite..! Hopefully see you there..!

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David Bazan (previously playing with Pedro the Lion) has released a new album.. it’s on repeat in our house at the moment keeping me thinking.
Listen here on Spotify (or three bonus acoustic mp3s: Hard to Be | Curse Your Branches | Bless this Mess)

Hear our prayer…

May the road rise to meet you….. May the wind be ever at your back. ….May all your journeying be joyous. …. And until we meet again ….may God hold you…. and your bicycles….. in the palm of God’s hand.

Go in peace and safety.
Amen.

Read more here..

Every year a few little words appear in a Glasgow University stairwell, the first time I noticed it was the summer of 2005 (photo bottom right), and when I was walking around the uni a few weeks ago it noticed it back again (top photo). Here’s someone else’s story:

On the landing of the steps up to the quadrangle when I was sitting my finals someone had written ‘Hope lies’, in chalk on the wall of that dark corner. I couldn’t bear it for some reason, and when no one was around I tried to rub off the word ‘lies’. I made a hole in the cuff of my jacket trying to get it off, and yet it was still stubbornly legible.

The next time I went up, someone, infinitely more clever than me, had simply added to it. It now read ‘Hope lies in the darkest places’.

I thought it was beautiful.
(eilidh)

It’s interesting to watch the little trend of liturgical calendar + social media that seems to be developing. @twitturgies and @twiturgy make good use of twitter for this purpose and I think there’s plenty more creative mashups from where these came from: old/new, ancient/modern, ritual/technological In particular I’m looking forward to see what happens with the mainstream adoption of location technologies.. when hyperlinks aren’t just about screen based text links, and the connectivity and real world hyperlinking and networking heads out onto the street- pilgramage taking a digital turn.

A pint of your choice for the first person to come up with a creative ancient/future use for a QR code and implement it

Any other technologies up for liturgical grabs?

Following on from the previous post on microblogging and monasticism… discovered twitturgies today.. (ht jonny baker)

or if you’re feeling seasonally confused – advent or new year

Just finished watching “Trouble in Amish Paradise” a BBC2 documentary about two families on the edge of the Amish religious establishment. An interesting insight into hermeneutics, culture, instituitionalism and all that jazz – Foucault could have a field day. (apologies for agricultural pun..)
Well worth a watch (available on iplayer for only two more days..)

From the BBC Site:

An extraordinary insight into the secretive world of the Old Order Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
When two radical Amish men, Ephraim and Jesse Stoltzfus, start to question some of the most fundamental aspects of their Amish culture, they face excommunication from their church and total rejection by their friends and family.