Seeker

Hayley Matthews, Chaplain at Media City UK, based in Salford, wrote a vivid and disturbing account of her personal experiences caught up in the Salford riots yesterday. Wearing her clerical collar, she found herself held among the rioters in a 'kettling' operation by the police. What she witnessed (and tried to challenge) is deeply shocking. She ends her eyewitness account with this reflection: "The trouble is, we do have a two tier society without a doubt, and while bankers have been allowed their bonuses having stitched us up every which way, we will continue to pay for this in more ways than one, and tonight is just one of them. With the cuts aimed primarily at the poor and the needy and the disenfranchised, things can only get worse. And what will we do? Continue to promulgate the values that have created this deadly cocktail of haves and have-nots, faithless, hopeless people who have been taught that consumerism is a recreational right and all moral and religious ed...

Yesterday, my other half and I spent the day in central London and attended the funeral of John Stott at All Souls, Langham Place at the north end of Regent Street, London. It was a day of peace, poignancy, thanksgiving, sadness and joy. I don't remember seeing any police all day. After 3 nights of riots and looting in some parts of London I assume they were all engaged elsewhere or catching up on sleep after the night before. Everything about the recent riots over the last 3 nights in UK cities is deeply worrying. One thing that has shocked me most is how quickly a small minority can create so much damage to property, people's livelhoods and sense of safety in their own community. Is there any good news coming out of this? It's encouraging to see how many volunteers have come out on the streets to help where they could in cleaning up the damage, acting together to restore faith in community. Riotscleanup Blog posted this message today. "We should start w...