Pride and Prejudice, an Excellent Pamphlet

I was honoured to be asked to write a foreword for, and take part in, the launch of a publication called Pride and Prejudice, an excellent pamphlet written by a group of young Muslim women in response to last years events known now as 7/7. After those tragic days this group of women realised they had a choice. they could retreat into their community and hide from the world. Or they could stand up and say, "this is who we are, come, talk with us and let us learn about you and you about us". Click here for Evening News article. The booklet is a description, from their prospective, about what it is to be a Muslim, including a shattering of many of the myths about Islam, especially about women.

Post removed due to legal implications.

City’s Annual Fanfare Concert

I was delighted to be a guest at the City’s annual fanfare concert last week. This showcases the incredible musical talent of our pupils. We were treated to classical, jazz, clarsach, rock, gospel, and much more. The best moment was when the leader of the gospel choir persuaded us to stand and move to the sound of the gospel songs. Never has the Usher Hall, usually such a sedate venue, seen such a sight! Normally reserved Edinburgh letting its hair down and going for it. As ever, it is the talents of the young that ask questions of us who think we should know better!

Skatepark at Inverleith Park

I was seriously skunnered by the decision last week of the planning committee to reject the application for a skatepark at Inverleith park. Whilst I accept that that is why we have a planning committee and that one of the good things about democracy is you don’t always get what you want, I do feel that young people, especially skateboarders, have been sold down the river by this whole saga. I was stunned to hear that some of the protesters were suggesting that there should be no skatepark in Edinburgh. Which planet do these people live on! Skate boarding far from being a magnet for antisocial behaviour etc., is one of the few effectively teenage peer policed activities around and it keeps it's participants fit. I am not a skate boarder. I would be far too scared to attempt what these guys attempt. Sadly, they will have less chance to do so in Edinburgh. The forces of reaction have asserted themselves and Edinburgh is the poorer for it

Scottish Langoustine Being Flown to Thailand

The story about the Scottish langoustine being flown to Thailand for hand peeling and back because its cheaper than doing in with Scottish workers was for me also a parable about the challenge of climate change. There is no doubt that in pure accounting terms the decision to fly these outsize prawns half way across the world and back makes sense though not to the 70 Scots whose jobs are lost in the jet stream. But the very act has lost that firm and its product brand value because customers are now saying "I want to pay for a low carbon footprint as well as decent langoustine".Or are they? Once those little seafood critters hit the shelves at a price much less than they would had they never seen the light of a Bangkok dawn will the customers care? There is an opportunity here for people to be really demanding. How about printing of a products carbon footprint as well as it's calorie count? That might mean a very different set of decisions at the checkout. It won’t save jobs but could this be the tipping point for the green consumer to take control of just what choice there is. But, what choices really make business sense back at the accountants desk?

Racist Attack

I found myself running from my usual Sunday morning service to the local Sikh Gurdwara this week. There was to be a vigil following a terrible and heinous crime against a young Sikh in Edinburgh last week where four racist thugs not only beat him up but cut his hair http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1692782006 To cut a Sikhs hair is to attack his very soul, one speaker at the event suggested it was like "murder". Edinburgh is proud of its tradition as a diverse and welcoming city and this attack is an attack on us all. I attended to express the solidarity of all of Edinburgh's citizens with our Sikh community in their time of pain and suffering. I was honoured to be asked to say a few words amongst many speakers. I spoke of our commitment to bringing these hooligans to justice but I called for peace amongst the Sikh community, urging them and all of us to rise above the pain of the attack and instead to use our anger to further the cause of peace. Otherwise, the racists win again.

School League Tables

I never thought I would type the words “I agree with Jeremy Clarkson” but there, I have, and I do, well at least on school league tables. His article in the Sunday Times is an outstanding assessment of why league tables not simply unhelpful but actually pointless. Clarkson puts it succinctly when he says “Printing a list of “best schools” purely on the grounds of academic achievement is as idiotic as printing a list of “best foods” purely on the grounds of calorie content. It tells you nothing”. The full article can be read at times online.
Of course I think the Petrol headed one and I would part company on the private public thing as he does seem to be suggesting his children will not be in the state system, but the principle remians the same, we need to know which schools are doing well and which aren’t but to find that out means doing a whole lot more than counting exam passes, as Clarkson himself might say, its not the number of miles driven but the quality of the journey that makes the difference.

A wonderful result

I met a woman this morning at the bus stop whose wedding I conducted some years ago. She told me with great delight that she and her husband were now expecting a baby. She went on to say that it was the result of IVF treatment, a journey that had been very tough emotionally but what a wonderful result.

I am in awe of those who get up in the morning and think to themselves; “ Why don’t we try to help childless couples have the chance of being parents?”, and then go on and make it happen. What wonderful creativity.

Its achievements of that kind that I want to support and celebrate by obtaining Science City status for Edinburgh where 53% of all science research grants in Britain now come. Yet somehow we seem to be struggling to get pupils to study science or be science teachers because it’s seen (unfairly) as “boring” or only for “geeks”.
Maybe if I could bottle that womans smile when she told me her joyful news we would be able to inspire more folk to taking the science journey. Who knows what else might be achieved for individuals and for our nation?

New Teacher of the Year Award

It was great news that an Edinburgh Teacher, Susan Ward, won the coveted ‘New Teacher of the Year Award’ in London recently.
What was very sad was that immediately some sad wee souls started bitching about her and the idea of wards on teacher online blogs. These folk need to get a life. Why is it that we seem so unwilling to celebrate success and recognise achievement? Is it the Scottish Cringe? Is it our Presbyterian roots? Is it our lack of confidence as a nation?
I don’t know but whatever it is, it is eating away at our collective soul. The sooner we learn that we all benefit when one of us does well the better it will be for our lives as a nation and our identity as a people.

the Tom Hunter foundation

The money announced this week from the Tom Hunter foundation for three schools in Edinburgh was great news. That cash (£1.5m) will really help those kids who at present end up as NETSs, (not in employment, education or training).
A couple of issues came out of the news. Firstly the question of private cash for public schools. The thing about Tom Hunter is that he is a philanthropist not a private investor. There is a real difference. He doesn’t want to influence the curriculum, he wants to see those young lives changed.
The other issue was that the schools objected to the use of the words ‘poor’ and ‘disadvantaged’. The trouble is, these are not pejorative statements, they are simply statements of fact; the three schools, Castlebrae, Craigroyston and Westerhailes all serve areas where those with least income live and many also struggle with many other issues. That doesn’t make them bad people. It just means they need more support.
Maybe we’ve taken political correctness in our language so far that we aren’t ever able to describe the real world for fear of offending some-one

The need for forgiveness

I returned briefly to my previous life last Sunday when I preached the sermon at the Academic Service held in St Giles Cathedral. This is one of about a dozen civic services held each year in St Giles. In this case it was to celebrate the world of academia.
I spoke about the need for forgiveness as being a central part of the Christian life. It was, in some ways, quite odd to be asked to preach as Council Leader, to be speaking as a minister and as a Christian rather than as a politician. There was, and is, a tension between these two aspects of my life and it was at times hard to make sure I kept some clarity between them.
Th central message was that, no matter how awful someone is, we must never give up on the idea that they are forgivable, even if we can’t see just how we could forgive them. That’s the only way peace and reconciliation can begin. Otherwise we become consumed by hate and a desire for revenge, neither of which are good emotions upon which to build either a life or a society.