Tim Abbott

Sunday influences

Today...

This made me angry
The woman who is standing up to feral thugs

This made me sad
Niki Made Her Choice and, Apparently, So Did We

This inspired me
How to think, what to think, and thinking outside the box
(though note the story is fictional)

And this made me smile
Dave, exploring the meaning of sabbath in a whole new way (and I'm slightly jealous!)

Rounded the day off by joining with friends at Pub Church, but as this is still something of an underground movement I can't say any more than that!

Photography is not a crime

Photography is not a crime

is a new campaign from the British Journal of Photography  in response to some overzealous policing that leads to things like this  and this.

Ghurka War Memorial at Batasia Loop

Ghorka War Memorial at Batasia Loop, originally uploaded by timabbott.

Justice at last for former Ghurka service personnel

(PS - a note about spelling. 'Ghorka' is the correct spelling in northern India, in the UK the word is spelt Ghurka.)

Inspired by...

Former West Bank enemies find route to peace the Ulster way is an inspiring story of how former paramilitaries in Northern Ireland are helping combatants for peace to break a culture of violence in favour of dialogue and reconciliation in the Israel / Palestine conflict. If there's a way of peace, this is it.

And my friend Dave has been working hard at his church to develop an inspiring atmosphere for when people gather to worship (though, it seems, not everyone 'gets it'). As he says:
"It matters, the atmosphere matters, beauty matters, doing the best with what we have matters."
Absolutely!

Valentine love

My mate Jason found this.
Simple, clear, brilliantly done and very compelling.
Bit of a discussion starter, I'd say...

I am also Dave Walker

I'm away in Cambridge with Collective on a mission this week, so internet access is limited to the few occasions when I'm in a host household with Wi-Fi!

A few updates to the Dave Walker / SSG situation, though if you're already following it this is probably old news to you.

• I meant to add MadPriest to my list of useful sites on this matter. Check out this page for the original Dave Walker posts (now circulating round the web) and this page for a practical way of showing support for Dave. This suggests emailing Mark Brewer, the man behind SSG, at his publicly available email address with the message "I am also Dave Walker".
• Inevitably, SPCK/SSG: News, Notes & Info has attracted the attention of Mark Brewer, and received the standard 'cease and desist' notice. The site has full details.
• Rev Sam has compiled a useful list of links that give a bit more background to the situation.

I shall be home soon...

UPDATE: 2 August 2008

Matt Wardman has done an excellent job of compiling all 75 of Dave Walker's original blog posts into a PDF document which includes an introduction. I have saved a copy here, to give it a bit more web exposure, but encourage you to continue to check out Matt's blog for the latest news.

Dave Walker solidarity post

Got back from a few days in Wales (no internet!) and started reading blogs again. Crumbs!! I can't believe what's been going on with Dave Walker and his cartoonchurch blog regarding the SPCK saga.

In brief, the SPCK bookshop chain was taken over by an American organisation, The Society of Stephen the Great (SSG) in 2006 and Dave has been posting about the way things have developed (rather a sorry story), taking a factual approach based on information that is publicly available. Then, on the morning of 22nd July he received a 'cease and desist' notice from SSG instructing him to delete all 75 posts relating to SPCK/SSG or face legal action. Whether such legal action would have stood a chance is a moot point; the threat of legal action as a way of seeking to silence discussion is not acceptable. However, understandably, Dave complied.

For more information see the following:

• Matt Wardman has extensive coverage of the situation and his site acts as something of a centre for news and resources. Check out The Wardman Wire regularly.

• David Keen has a very readable resume of what's happened so far including some very useful links. He's done several posts as things have developed so you may need to scroll down a bit.

• A new blog, SPCK/SSG: News, Notes & Info is tracking the news

• There apear to be a number of legal issues - savvy analysis at Ministry of Truth

• USDAW, the union of shop workers has submitted a number of employment tribunal claims against the Brewers, owners of the SPCK shops.

And finally, friend and blogger Rev Sam has managed to copy many of Dave's original posts on this subject from the Google cache before they got overwritten. Sam has posted them on his own blog here, and has in turn been served with a 'cease and desist' notice himself, but has chosen to ignore it! Knowing Sam, I'm not really surprised!

I have copied Dave's posts from Sam's blog and reposted them here as a separate page. Sam suggests that other bloggers do the same. If enough people do this, Mark Brewer will have an impossible job keeping up with the truth as it leaps from blog to blog, from web site to web site, even if some of these are taken down under legal threat.

Note: If this post, and my related page with Dave's original posts, disappears, I'll leave you to read between the lines and work out why...!

This from ASBO Jesus - spot on, as usual...

 

Who's Supporting Dave Walker?

1. St Aidan to Abbey Manor - David Keen - Vicar (Yeovil)
2. The Wardman Wire - Matt Wardman (audio of BBC interview from 12/2007)
3. Gentle Wisdom - Peter Kirk
4. Bishop Alan's Blog - Alan Wilson, Area Bishop of Buckingham
5. Blogula-Rasa - Ginny (detailed - worth a read)
6. Metacatholic - Doug Chaplin - Vicar (West Midlands)
7. Of course, I could be wrong - Madpriest - Priest (somewhere in England)
8. Seven whole days - Scott Gunn - Parish Priest (Rhode Island) and Lambeth Conference.
9. Thinking Anglicans - Simon Kershaw - Cambridge, England (likely to follow further press coverage)
10. The Jewish Blog Network - How to recover deleted pages. Firefox Resurrect Pages add-on.
11. Lingamish - Blogger Bludgeoned by Bozos - David Ker - Mozambique. Kudos for the cartoon above.
12. [Update: 23/07/2008] SPCK Watch - Gagging attempts by Mark Brewer - SPCK Watch. (Somewhere in Europe). Whole blog devoted to SPCK saga.
13. [Update: 23/07/2008] Elizaphanian - We are all Dave Walkers now - Sam Norton, Rector of West Mersea, Essex. Suggests that we reposts Dave's ex-posts from Google Cache
14. [Update: 23/07/2008]Mad Hare - Solidarity post - SPCK/SSG and Dave Walker (New Mexico : United States).
15. [Update:24/07/2008 AM]The Cartoon Blog - Cease and Desist Demand from Mark Brewer Dave's original post - now gone
16. [Update:24/07/2008 AM]GOD, CHRIST: QUESTIONS & FAITH - More and More on the Exploding SPCK Story & Dave Walker's Cartoon Church Blog Check out the illustration from the 1950s
17. [Update:24/07/2008 AM]Saintly Ramblings - Dave Walker Solidarity Post
18. [Update:24/07/2008 AM]SPCK/SSG: News, Notes & Info - Comments on Moderation Expect comment when owner returns from holiday
19. [Update:24/07/2008 AM]PamBG's Blog - Those Christian Bookshops
20. [Update:24/07/2008 AM]Scatter Cushions - Nothing like like having an informed debate
21. [Update:24/07/2008 AM]connexions - Cartoon blogger silenced
22. [Update:24/07/2008 AM]Turbulent Cleric - Libel law used as censorship Reflections on the Craig Murray case
23. [Update:24/07/2008 AM]Exigency In Specie - Bullying the Bloggers Southern England
24. [Update:24/07/2008 AM]Asingleblog - Brewers are challenged in court More detail on the attempt to put SPCK UK into Chapter 11 in the USA
25. [Update:24/07/2008 AM]Philip's Tree House - I'm also Dave Walker
26. [Update:24/07/2008 AM]John Inbetween - Yet another Dave Walker
27. [Update:24/07/2008 AM]Wormwood's Doxy - Because there's nothing I hate more than a bully....Standing up for Dave Walker & SPCK
28. [Update:25/07/2008 AM]Dave Cole - I’m Dave Walker
29. [Update:25/07/2008 AM]Ministry of Truth - SPCK owner seeks US bankruptcy protection for UK charity KEY POST - Digging into the Brewer "Legal Manoeuvres in the Dark"
30. [Update:25/07/2008 AM]Blogpower - Defending the Blog - Blogpower Roundup - The Civil Liberties Edition Civil Liberties Roundup - Understand the Wider Issues
31. [Update:25/07/2008 AM]Brainducks Weblog - Cartoon Church blog target of legal bullying
32. [Update:25/07/2008 AM]D-Notice - D-Notice: Religious Nuts
33. [Update:25/07/2008 AM]Back Towards The Locus - “Come Together, Raaaayt Nahahow, Over A Bullying Bookshop Chain”
34. [Update:25/07/2008 AM]Sim-O Random Thoughts - I'm Dave Walker and so's my wife
35. [Update:25/07/2008 AM]Safety Photo - Dave Walker Cease and Desist Notice
36. [Update:27/07/2008 AM]Around the Worktable - My Name is Dave Walker, and Yours Should Be, Too Text of comment made on Slashdot
37. [Update:27/07/2008 AM]ASBO Jesus - 519 Dave Walker
38. [Update:27/07/2008 AM]Rachel North - SPCK Up Shortlisted for Best Headline Award so far
39. [Update:27/07/2008 AM]Bloggerheads - I support Dave Walker
40. [Update:27/07/2008 AM]Johny Void - For God’s Sake Cease and Desist Ever so slightly satirical ;-)
41. [Update:27/07/2008 AM]42 My life, the universe and everything - Dave Walker
42. [Update:27/07/2008 AM]kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth - Paul Sibley
43. [Update:27/07/2008 AM]Supersimbo - Dave Walker we salute you
44. [Update:27/07/2008 AM]Safety Joke - Safety Joke
45. [Update:27/07/2008 AM]Decloned - William Lehman
46. [Update:27/07/2008 AM]Squiggle Jones - Silence is not always golden…
47. [Update:27/07/2008 AM]Chris Luff, discomblogulating - Legal intimidation?

The original copy of this list is on the Wardman Wire here.

IJM

Yesterday I met with a good friend, Terry, who is Executive Director of International Justice Mission (UK). IJM is a growing human rights organisation that investigates and provides legal help for victims of injustice in many parts of the world. In many places, poverty excludes people from the justice systems that are available - IJM deals with cases of slavery, abuse, land grabbing, exploitation and state injustice against its citizens.

I'm glad to have been able to put him in touch with a few people locally who have skills or experience to offer.

I've worked with Terry before on some projects he was overseeing with Churches Together in Britain and Ireland as a 'mission accompanier'. These kinds of friendships are so helpful - I admit I'd probably be at a loss to know what to do if we swapped jobs (and I'm not sure how keen Terry would be to take on schools work in Colchester!)

Our shared observation is that issues of justice, particularly on a global scale, are a major concern to young people and the rising generation of twenty-somethings who are filling our churches and are increasingly active in stirring up awareness and doing what they can to bring about change.

 

Fairtrade fashion show

    Fairtrade fashion show, originally uploaded by timabbott.

             

  On Saturday I was at the 2nd annual Colchester Fair Trade Fashion Show. Among the many models were the members of Collective who absolutely loved showing off the wedding dresses - no surprise there!

Wedding dresses by Izzi Izaiah

More photos on Flickr

Alan Johnston

Away in Wales for a couple of days, it was Wednesday morning, driving from Welshpool to Llanfair at 6:20am that I heard the amazing news that Alan Johnston had been freed.
Welcome home Alan.
Peace.