Hear Our Silence

Just spent a useful two days researching the Chesterton archives at St Paul’s School. GK’s closest school friend was Bentley (no Christian names allowed in his day - too shy-making) who had a maverick sense of humour and an original gift for rhyme.

In fact, while still a schoolboy, he coined an entirely new style of humorous verse, which soon came to be known as the Clerihew.

Sir Humphrey Davy

Was not fond of gravy

He lived in the odium

Of having discovered sodium

or

St Francis of Assisi

Was all nasty and greasy;

But in spite of that

He wore a halo round his hat

(more…)

In his day, GK was a household name; his encounters with George Bernard Shaw and H.G.Wells were classic debates on religion and morality. But who reads him now? Devon County Library service holds most of his books; but they merely retain single copies in ‘the stacks’, that is no longer on the public shelves.

(more…)

That which we most fear!

Ruth had already replied to me directly in her blog -

Hi John, good to hear from you and thanks for writing in. Things have changed a lot since you left. Blogging is not news reporting, it is a new medium, we are all still feeling our way and I welcome constructive criticism from all sides, especially if it helps me do my job better. Danny Finkelsteing makes the position clear in this blog, above.

Hope you and the family are well, see you in church in a couple of weeks, Ruth.

Thanks Ruth for that: it still doesn’t satisfy my worry about balanced, trustworthy journalism. To blog is to explode your credentials to the outside world. I may meet you over the dinner table (not at church, you’ve got the wrong JS) and probe your inner thoughts. But journalism can only stand up and be bought at the newstands - I say News Stands - if we do not know who you are and which way you tick and vote.

You stand on Greenland, a melting ice-cap of credibility, before you go under and flood the world, do let us know you are still telling us the facts - not your mindset of the data you process.

JS

Caterpillar blog: Apologia Pro Ecclesia Sua

Ruth Gledhill, The Times Religious correspondent, raises a hue and cry in her on-line Times blog deploring the Church of England’s decision in Synod to withdraw investment from the US global giant Caterpillar. Caterpillar provide the US army with those giant machines that are used to knock down Palestinian homes and the occasional -oops sorry, we didn’t spot you standing there in your yellow jacket - peace protester.

In my day as a journalist, we had to keep our own views to ourselves. Our job was to set out the facts of any situation and report them without prejudice or comment.

How the times have changed. But at least we know whose side Ruth’s on and can still make up our own minds.

I posted her a similar comment for her to publish: I wonder if she will . . .