Stop Protesting and Start Collecting

Dr Rowan Williams thinks they’re wrong. Samantha Morton thinks they’re wrong. More than 50 MPs think they are wrong. The thing is – they’re not.

It might be hard to hear but the BBC is right in this issue. They need to maintain journalistic distance. But they’re damned if they do and they damned if they don’t. If they don’t, the current hurricane of abuse comes their way. If they do show the commercial, they will be accused of political bias and further complaints will no doubt flood through their door. Sky News know this as well, which is why they’re not going to broadcast it.

The time has come to stop wasting time by protesting about the BBC and to concentrate on what is actually important. If a fraction of the energy that is being put into attacking the BBC was used to collect money for the DEC, the charities involved would be miles ahead of where they are now. So I ask everyone who is boycotting and balloting and organising on facebook to attack the Beeb to stop, put their hands in their pockets and donate. And then start fundraising yourselves. If you really care so much about this issue, they are a million ways to get off your arse and do something productive. I’m not going to be happy until there’s at least as many fundraising events on facebook as there are members of groups against the BBC.

Update: There’s a cracking article from Emily Bell at the Guardian on this

Atheism makes you uncomfortable? Well, tough.

I think Ariane Sherine knew that once they started the atheist bus campaign there would be people who wouldn’t like it. And I’m sure they probably would have expected the associated hypocracy that has come along with some of the complaints that people have made. I mean, its not like religious belief and hypocracy are two concepts that have never met each other before. But the direction of some of the complaints really, to borrow a phrase, beggers belief.

Third Sector today reports that fours MPs have signed an early day motion to call for the removal of the bus ads – Original story is here.

I have no doubt that being a practising Muslim or Christian means that it is potentially hurtful when your views are challenged. But the idea that it makes you embarrassed and uncomfortable to sit on a bus where this is an advert on the side is probably going a bit far. Firstly, if you are a believer of any faith it would be nice to think that your views are so solidly held that one statement will not totally affect your confidence and belief. You should have the strength of mind and the presence of character to be able to challenge this statement – not through asking for its removal but through intelligent debate. Its not like the forums aren’t out there – news sites and blogs are buzzing with this stuff.

Secondly, and more flippantly, there are far more embarrassing adverts that appear on the side of buses. I came to work on a bus that had an advert for the film Sex Drive on the side. Its not a massive step to think of it as a bus full of perverts driving off to commit some sordid activities.

Oh, that’s right. It is. Because actually as people we have the ability to separate a message on public transport from the people contained inside it and not tar them with that brush, nor seek to believe that they embody that advert. 

Saying that God maybe doesn’t exist is not religiously offensive. It’s a perfectly reasonable view to hold and to promote. 

To my mind, the atheist bus campaign is no different to adverts for the Alpha course or to adverts promoting religion that scream from the outside of churches and synagogues. What if I don’t believe in God and I see these adverts? I am allowed to be offended, complain of being uncomfortable and embarrassed?

I could be but I’m not. And the reason that I’m not is that I believe in the right of those people who do believe to freely express themselves. I might disagree. Strongly. But I would never attempt to stop the dialogue. 

So far so humdrum and normal, but it was the section at the very bottom of the page that really made me smile. Apparently the campaign group Christian Voice previously complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that the adverts should be removed because, get this, “the slogan could not be substantiated”. Pot, kettle? Because the existence of God has been so thoroughly well proven in the last 2000 years right? 

You might disagree with it and you might not like it but going out of your way to ban it is oppression of faith (or the lack of if you want to get into a philosophical debate about it). And that has historically worked out well hasn’t it? So, stop complaining and start putting the contrary view. The article at Third Sector also talks about another early day motion to run a campaign on buses saying, “But What If There Is?”. I love the idea that you could end up with an ongoing circular debate which there can be no active conclusion to running in public through the media of transport. 

Or at least no conclusion until He comes and smites us all for being so bloody stupid….

Rags should fund Action groups

If Student Unions are serious about making a positive impact on the local communities in which they are involved, they must have volunteering projects that are based around actual community need. 

This sounds like a blindingly obvious statement doesn’t it? Why then do we run projects on the basis of tradition? Why do we struggle to get children for certain projects? If the need was there, the kids would be there. Right??

Its strange but sometimes the most obvious thing is right in front of you and you’re not already doing it. To wit: Rag groups should be actively raising money and donating it to their local student community action groups. That way, the local community would feel the full benefit of students working on their behalf.

Whilst this sounds obvious, how many Rag groups actually do this right now? I know here at Leeds that our Rag group has supported occasional projects in a very ad hoc kind of a way. There’s no ongoing commitment to that form of fundraising – although there are yearly projects that run that support certain overseas charities.

I’m not saying that Rag groups shouldn’t raise money for national or international charities – there should be a balance. Their giving strategy should outline how they will split their fundraising efforts to ensure that all areas receive a goodly slice of the pie and are not forgotten when people do fundraising. Because we mustn’t forget that there is an educational benefit from people fundraising. If they’re doing it properly they will often learn more about the charity they are associating themselves with, take an active interest in them and continue to align themselves with that charity for a time to come.

Placing this emphasis back on our local groups that involve students working hard to make a difference to the people in their local community we can engender more of a spirit of community cohesion. And a brighter future for everyone. Amen.