Merry Christmas One and All

The People's Republic wishes its readers a happy and holy Christmas. May you enjoy the festive period with your family and friends.

Merry Christmas 2008

ProBrum wishes all his readers a very happy Christmas. Enjoy yourselves!

Religion and IQ

I came across this rather interesting post from a member of the Blogpower collective Deeply Blasphemous, who in turn got it from some other blogs... you get the drift. It contains a graph which maps the relative IQ of Christian denominations by how "biblical based" they are, and makes interesting viewing.

Although a Christian, I am not a fan of biblical fundamentalists and have probably less time for IQ tests, the latter because I am not sure what they actually measure. However, from a Christian and biblical perspective, the most relevant verse on this subject is probably Matthew 11:25, which says (NIV):

..."I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children."

Perhaps then the Christian view is not that stupid people literally believe in the Bible, but God has chosen the humble to inherit his Kingdom.

It is this philosophy which makes me suspicious of humanist atheists, who tend to be middle-class and live relatively comfortable lives (like the Jewish establishment at the time of Jesus?). If there is any justice in the world (and there is not if evolution is the be all and end all), it would be the meek and poor, rather than those who are "wise in their own eyes" (Proverbs 3:7) who should prosper in the end. This is a central theme of true Christianity, although many strands of the religion have moved closer to the attitude of the religious establishment Jesus so reviled.

Jewish Schools

A judge ruled this week that JFS, a Jewish school in London, was not guilty of racial discrimination when it refused to admit a Jewish boy because his mother was not born a Jew (she was a born a Catholic but converted before he was born). The judge claimed that the kind of admissions policy in question was "not materially different from that which gives preference in admission to a Muslim school to those who were born Muslim, or preference in admission to a Catholic school to those who have been baptised."

I think this is questionable. There is nothing in Islam or Catholicism (or indeed many strands of Judaism) that requires the mother, father or child to be "born" into that religion on some kind of ethnic basis. After conversion, or reversion, whatever that person used to be is irrelevant and they become a fully paid up member of the religion who in theory at least cannot be discriminated against. I tend to agree with the parent position that the school admission code contained a test "not based on faith but wholly or partly on ethnic origins" - something which is surely against race discrimination legislation?

Of course, it may not be that simple. Unlike Islam and Christianity, which seek to convert all of humanity to their cause, Judaism tends to be a religion one is born into rather than converted to, and has a history based around the ethnicity and traditions of a people. If we considered the refusal to admit a person with a non-Jewish mother as unlawful racial discrimination, we would be attacking the Orthodox version of the religion itself.

My experience of Jewish schools is shaped mainly from the excellent nearby King David Primary School in Birmingham, on which Jeremy Jacobs has written an excellent article on here. My mum always used to tell me that they did not admit Catholics into this school, not for any religious reasons but simply because there were so many Catholic schools in Birmingham to serve the Catholic community, but they welcomed applications from other religions and not least Muslims who were more than happy to apply in the absence of any Islamic schools which only became available relatively recently. I remember going to this King David's on a visit from my Catholic primary in order to learn about Jewish traditions, although to be honest at that age we tended to be more interested in having running races with the pupils of that school during break time than learning the traditions of Passover. Boys will be boys.

The admissions policy of King David Primary probably put a seed in my mind that Jews and Muslims make natural allies, something I still tend to believe and promote today, a position which has become more entrenched as I learn more about the history of Europe and the Middle-East. While there is no doubt the issue of Israel has sullied relations between the two religions in recent years, and there have been periods of intolerance between the religions before then, I believe that these positions tend to be promoted by certain groups for short-term political gain, and are not an accurate reflection of the much more complicated relationship that has existed between the two religions.

Do people have any thoughts on this? Is King David the exception rather than the rule and do I have a warped understanding of the relationship between Islam and Judaism as a result. And is JFS discriminating racially by not allowing in children born to non-Jewish mothers even when they have converted. I would be interested to know what you think.

Buggers Broadcasting Christianity

Readers of this blog probably know that I am not the biggest fan of the BBC, in particular the way it is funded. However, I must give credit where credit is due and praise their most recent historical drama in association with HBO, The Passion. Unlike the film of a similar name, it was not gratuitously violent and concentrated on the theology and teachings of Christianity in an accessible manner. Purists may be unhappy with some of the editing of the words and happenings, but I found two things in particular made this interpretation praiseworthy. Firstly, it highlighted the difficult line the High Priest Caiaphas had to tread in ensuring the Jewish protectorate was true to its roots while keeping the occupying Romans happy. It is easy to criticise the High Priest in hindsight, as it is to criticise the modern state of Israel who I am not a huge fan of either, but the truth is nearly all leaders of the Jews in history have found themselves in the unenviable position of having to make difficult compromises between their ancient traditions and their contemporary situation in order to keep the peace. I was also particularly moved by the way the drama portrayed the way Jesus appeared to his disciples after the resurrection, outwardly different but recognisable by his teachings and actions. There are many right-wingers who claim the BBC is biased against Christianity, and while this may be arguable in its political coverage, shows like this and Songs of Praise demonstrate that this itself is a biased view.

However, just to prove quality public service broadcasting does not have to be paid for via a license fee, Channel 4 had another excellent documentary by the Midland's own Dr Robert Beckford, this time on the 12 disciples. He explored alternative histories of Jesus's closest followers to those often expounded by the traditional church, in particular my own tradition of Catholicism. For example, it is well known that St Thomas founded a Church in India that exists to this day, but the programme looked at how the Portuguese under direction of the Pope tried to suppress this ancient version of Christianity because it was not European based. It also looked at how St James was reinvented as a Spanish patriot to become a figurehead for the Christians in their fight against the Moors, and how women may well have been treated as equals in the early church. It is a loss for the West Midlands that Dr Beckford no longer works at the University of Birmingham, nor has a show on Radio WM, as I believe his rational documentaries based on emerging historical evidence are exactly what our religion needs to stand up to the irrational faith-based fundamentalist movements that are gaining so much traction in the current climate.

World Stunned as Death Defeated

"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated"

Mark Twain Jesus Christ

Unlike the reports of His Resurrection.

Happy Easter!

Happy Christmas!

The People's Republic would like to wish all its readers a happy Christmas in true West Midlands style:

IT'S CHRIIIIIIISSSSSTTTMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSS!!!!!!

We shall never get sick of that.

Merry Christmas!

The People's Republic would like to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Be prepared for more subversive Second City blogging in the New Year...

Mad Hattersley

I've always had a lot of respect for former Birmingham MP Roy Hattersley, being as he is an unashamed proponent of left wing values and perennial thorn in the side of New Labour. However, this morning on the Heaven and Earth show he made a bit of a fool of himself. Firstly he tried to gain the moral high ground by asking someone who dared to disagree with his position on the new anti-discrimination gay rights laws if she was gay. His face was a picture when she said yes. During this argument, he quoted a statistic from a report in the 1940's which claimed that 12% of the population was gay. Another member of the panel pointed out the this report had been discredited several times since, and the figure was closer to 3% which he then claimed proved his point! Finally, he rubbished the idea that if everyone followed the Catholic churches teachings to the letter, there would be no AIDS but failed to give any indication of why that was such a stupid comment.


It must show my age when I am starting to agree with Tony Blair (yes you read that correctly) that we need to take on conservatives on both sides. Roy is an Old Labour dinosaur who would be eaten alive in the House of Commons today. I do not disagree with everything he says, but perhaps he is a ladder it is time to kick away.

Villa Rise from the Dead

Villa took bragging rights in the Second City derby on Saturday with a 3-1 win over the Blues, plunging them deep into relegation trouble. Ignore the claims of foul and offside for the first two Villa goals - Birmingham have been playing rubbish all season.

The real scandal is (as a good Catholic) the match was played at 12pm on Easter Sunday meaning I had to miss it as I went to Mass. I know that there was trouble in the 2-0 victory three years ago on a Monday night, when supporters got tanked-up after work and fights broke out all over town, but are we condemned to Second City derbies at 12pm on Sundays for evermore? We have 24 hour licensing now, and it may be the case that it is still harder to find a pub open on Sunday than Saturday, but can we not have it on Saturday even once? Churches together in Aston were afraid that their Easter services would be affected by the timing, as older people feared to venture out with the footie fans, to which West Midlands Police replied they have asked the FA not to schedule the Brum derby on the Easter weekend again. The problem is not that it is on the Easter weekend - it is that you keep switching it to Sunday at 12pm, which always clashes with Church services.

Let us stop this discrimination against Brummie Christian footie fans.

Mixed-Race Couples Still Face Racism

During the week the murderers of young black Christian Anthony Walker were sentenced to around 20 years each. His girlfriend, Louise Thompson understandably finds it difficult to forgive her killers and blames herself for his death.

Racism tends to be less common nowadays but one thing guaranteed to bring it out is a mixed-race couple simply walking together in the wrong area in front of the wrong people. Forget what the police and the "community leaders" say - I am sure in parts of Liverpool, as in parts of Birmingham there are racist individuals and this I doubt this is an exceptional individual. I myself have been beaten up in Birmingham City Centre for no other reason than I was walking with a white girl (who wasn't even my girlfriend) when I was just 19, yet many people would claim this City is racially tolerant (not least the politicians who can make much political capital out of diversity). I was set upon by two Asian youths but before that was given a dirty look by a white male. It is not the only time I have received dirty looks in a similar situation either.

The worst thing about this is that it is like a cancer, changing the way you think. You start getting worried whenever you are in that situation. As Louise Thompson said, ironically nothing would have happened if she had walked home alone but by walking home with her to make sure she got home ok Anthony actually made the situation more dangerous.

Even worse than that, you start looking at other mixed race couples together and start getting jealous. Why aren't they being attacked? Only my intellect keeps me tolerant, but most people act on their feelings and become intolerant.

I've realised over the years that jealousy is the reason for these attacks. These people are thinking along the lines "I don't have a girlfriend so why does he - at least I'm the same colour".

I don't always understand why God allows these things to happen, but in the case of Anthony Walker two good things came out -the parents of Anthony forgiving the killers and apparently one of the killers is going to write a letter of apology to Anthony's mother.

I think there may be some lessons for us in there somewhere.

Farewell Bishop Sentamu

The former Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Rev John Sentamu, has taken up his post as the first black Archbishop of York, the second most powerful post in the Church of England. Now while the People's Republic considers this a demotion, we accept it is not universally regarded as such. Archbishop Sentamu fully deserves his new role after his fantastic service to the city of Birmingham, during which he offered his personal mobile number to anyone who had any information over the Aston shootings.

We wish him all the best.

Tornado batters Brum

There are some days which stick out in the mind of Brummies. Where were you when the large tremor hit Dudley in 2003? Or how did you get home on that notorious day in 2004 when the roads re-froze after being gritted, bringing gridlock to the entire region? We can now add to this the day the Mid-West came to the West Midlands.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) I was at work when the tornado hit so didn't have any first-hand experience. While at work, we heard reports of many roads in south Birmingham being closed due to fallen trees. Then reports appeared on the internet claiming a tornado had hit south Birmingham, with pictures showing the area where I live with roofs ripped off. Fearing the worst, I rushed home and remember feeling the incredible humidity that followed the freak storm.

The tornado seemed to be centred on Kings Heath, the spiritual (and some would say physical) home of the People's Republic (although there was heavy damage in other areas as well including Sparkbrook an Moseley). The High Street suffered the most with the roof being ripped off Greggs and surrounding shops. A hut used as a booth at a carpark near my former school was lifted up into the air and smashed into the front of Iceland, injuring the man inside. Two people were also seriously injured at the bus stop where I catch my bus to work every morning due to branches falling in the All Saints Church compound. Many of its trees were uprooted, and damage was done to its 19th century roof and a stained glass window. The Catholic Church opposite where I worship however remained untouched.

I suppose God looks after his own!

A Warm Welcome to our Baptist Brothers

The largest Christian conference in Britain for decades takes place over the next five days at various locations around Birmingham including the NIA and the ICC. Among the delegates are the former President of the United States (and peanut farmer) Jimmy Carter, and the wife of the most famous footballer ever, Pele.

We give our Baptist friend a warm welcome, and hope they will enjoy their time in our humble city.