ADAT YESHUA: PREACHING LOVE IN THE FACE OF HATE

Posted on June 4, 2021 by Norwich Radical in Community, Perspectives and tagged Adat Yeshua Synagogue, antisemitism, breakfast club, Christianity, featured, food bank, graffiti, hermeneutics, jesus, Judaism, love, Messianic Judaism, norwich, NR2 Skills Share, religion, respect, scripture, Synagogue, tolerance, vandalism, Yeshua.

By Rabbi Binyamin Sheldrake, of the Adat Yeshua Messianic Synagogue, Norwich

CW: Antisemitism

In many ways we could be forgiven for feeling that the world is in a constant state of flux right now — not just with the pandemic and how that has deeply affected us all, but also in terms of our economy, politics and, in a lesser-known arena possibly, the religious world too. While Messianic Judaism is not a direct by-product of the recent turbulence in the world today, the interest shown in it most certainly is. During the lockdown, the huge numbers of texts, calls and emails we received bore testimony to the exponential growth in interest in this modern (and not so modern) form of Judaism. Some fourteen years ago now, Time Magazine ran an article about an emerging idea that they suggested would go on to fundamentally change the world: that Yeshua was a Jew and nothing else.

DECOLONISE WALES: I

Posted on April 6, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged #decolonisewales, 1847 Royal Commission on Welsh Education, Barwyg, Benedictine, Catwg, Christianity, church, collective denial, colonise, colony, cooperative, cymru, decolonise, division, Ecclesiastical Appeals Act, Elementary Education Act, england, Englishries, exports, featured, Henry VIII, Illtud, imperialism, Index of Negrescence, John Beddoe, language, merthyr rising, Meuthin, miners strike, monasticism, Newport Rising, oppression, picket line, Rebecca Riots, settlements, St David, Tonypandy miners strike, Wales, Welsh, Welsh Chartist Movement, Welsh language, Welsh Not, Welshries, William Lamb, Winston Churchill, working class, Y Brad y Llyfrau Gleision.

by Jonathan Lee

Content warning: this article mentions racism, discrimination, oppression, and racial / cultural slurs.

“If the Welsh are striking over hunger, we must fill their bellies with lead” are the famous words Winston Churchill never spoke, about sending in the Lancashire Fusiliers to put a swift end to the 1910 Tonypandy miners’ strike.

Though he never advocated firing on the miners, he did send the soldiers to the picket line, and was definitely still an imperialist, eugenically-minded war criminal. The only reason the quote is mistakenly attributed to him so commonly is because it is so utterly believable. It typifies the contemptuous colonial attitudes held by the man himself, and the English parliament, for the Welsh and the working class.

Wales was England’s first colony – the template for later British imperialism. Many of its basic strategies were forged here in England’s closest and very first colonial asset, before being exported all over the world.Continue Reading

CHRISTIANITY, QUEERNESS & ME

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged antisemitism, Bayard Rustin, Christian, Christianity, Church of Wales, dialectic, faith, homophobia, identity, islamophobia, Jew, lesbian, LGBT+, lgbtQ+, LGBTQIA+, Muslim, Nye Bevan, Perspectives, queer, religion, sexuality, sugar rush, the l word, Wales.

by Tara Gulwell

I was nine years old when I first learnt what lesbian meant. It was a word thrown at me as a measurement of depravity to which I should never want to sink. Little sweetheart notes I was trying to send to another girl were found and I was not-so-kindly made aware that that wasn’t natural. Up until that point, I had assumed, like every child does, that my way of experiencing the world was like everyone else’s. Lesbian, that dirty word tossed about on my playground, brought me out of the naivety that blinded me from realising I was different from my peers, and overshadowed my childhood at my Anglican, Church of Wales, primary school.

HOW THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT IS REBRANDING ITSELF

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged abortion, activists, Americans, anti abortion, Christianity, death penalty, democrats, feminism, feminists, Feminists for Life, gun violence, lives matter, Loyola Students for Life, Loyola University, LSFL, New Orleans, New Wave Feminists, planned parenhood, pro choice, pro life, pro women, religious, republicans, Roe v Wade, Secular Pro-Life, senate seats, Students for Life, The Vagina Monologues, tolerance, Trump, unborn lives matter, universal healthcare, USA.

by Tara Gulwell

Article mentions pro-life rhetoric, and abortion

The American Catholic college I attend, Loyola University New Orleans, has been experiencing a fierce debate on campus recently. After fierce backlash against the controversial moves of the pro-life group Loyola Students For Life (LSFL), which you can read about here, the group had to concede in a public statement that The Vagina Monologues was “an empowering work of feminist art meant to bring awareness to discrimination, sexual abuse, and other important issues affecting women.”

Not quite the opinion you’d expect from a bunch of religious pro-life students, right?Continue Reading

REVIEW – AN EVENING WITH AN IMMIGRANT, BY INUA ELLAMS

Posted on December 17, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged Anglo-Irish-Nigerian, art, belonging, black communities, Buckingham Palace, CCT, Christianity, divestment movement, english speakers, gender, Home Office, immigrants, interview wth an immigrant, inua ellams, Islam, italian speakers, Italy, Kevin Spacey, language, literature, litscape, Margarita T. Pouso, masculinity, migration, Muslim, Nigeria, non masculine, original poetry, poems, PokemonGO, prato, Rabid Puppoes, racism, review, See City, stories, teenage mutant hero nerds, theresa may, vagina monologues, voice.

by Alex Valente

I moved back to Prato, Italy, last March. I thought I’d left behind the UK poetry scene, so very different in Italy in so many ways. Then, my own hometown organises a whole series of free events, including poetry nights – and invites Inua Ellams to perform his An Evening with an Immigrant show. Did you really think I wouldn’t attend, notebook in hand?Continue Reading

RODRIGO DUTERTE: PRO LGBT, PROLETARIAT DICTATORSHIP

Posted on May 17, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged asia, authoritarian, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, Bangsamoro Basic Law, Cebu, Christianity, crime, Davoa, death penalty, decentralisation, dictatorship, elections, federalism, Islam, leadership, LGBT+, liberal, Luzon, Manila, Mindanao, multicultural, multiculturalism, National People's Army in Mindanao, Philippines, President, religion, Rodrigo Duterte, socialism, Visayas.

by Julian Ignacio Canlas

‘I don’t care if I go to hell as long as the people I serve will live in paradise.’
–Rodrigo Duterte

Disclaimer: mentions rape

Rodrigo Duterte’s personal politics is defined by a confusing blend of liberal and authoritarian beliefs. His politics have certainly elicited a wide variety of reactions, capturing the imagination of even the Western media outlets through racist depictions of international politics — or not. Even more varied and stranger are his supporters, ranging from religious leaders to the LGBT community, to sex workers and farmers. So how exactly did the new president of the Philippines, dubbed ‘The Punisher’, manage to enthrall the masses?

REVIEW – THE BOOK OF MORMON

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Norwich Radical in Arts and tagged Africa, Avenue Q, Book of Mormon, cancer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Christianity, comedy, discomfort, Elad Ben Elul, emotions, gender-based violence, humour, Matt Stone, music, musical, Nabulungi, neo-colonialism, offensive, racism, religion, review, Robert Lopez, Sara Pascoe, satire, Sayantani DasGupta, sex, South Park, stereotypes, theatre, Trey Parker, Uganda.

by Carmina Masoliver

“You’re not going to like that,” my partner said, when I told him I was going to see The Book of Mormon. Made by the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, I was aware it was a controversial production. I had also seen Avenue Q, which shared the same musical composer/lyricist, Robert Lopez. I knew there might be “offensive jokes”, despite South Park always being on after my bedtime when I was at primary school; I was relatively unfamiliar with the programme beyond 10-year-olds singing about chocolate salty balls in the playground… But I had heard good things, so I asked my Gran for us to see it as my Christmas present.Continue Reading

WE DON’T NEED TO TALK ABOUT ISLAM, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT HUMANITY

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Norwich Radical in Inter|national and tagged #ParisAttacks, 9/11, Ann Coulter, Beirut, china, Christianity, daesh, EU, extremism, foreign policy, homosexuality, humanity, immigration, ISIS, Islam, Jurgen Todenhofer, Liberia, Lydia Wilson, media, media coverage, middle east, migrant, migration, MSF, MSM, Muslim, Nigeria, obama, paris, petition, racism, republicans, Saudi Arabia, terrorism, uk, US, war, West, Western privilege.

by Gunnar Eigener

The terrorist attacks in Paris have brought back a feeling of despair, that no matter where we live, there is always someone who wants to hurt us. The shaky camera footage of police storming a building, the bangs of smoke grenades, the echoes of gunfire, have sent a shockwave through France, Europe and the world. In the aftermath, a reaction is already beginning and anger will turn on Muslim individuals, communities, businesses and places of worship. Already a petition to “Stop all immigration and close UK borders until ISIS is defeated” is circulating and has got over 383,000 signatures so far. This will not solve anything, nor will blaming Islam.

THE PROBLEM OF EXTREMISM

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Norwich Radical in Perspectives and tagged charlie hebdo, Christianity, Europe, extremism, extremist, free speech, God, in theory, Islam, Islamaphobia, linguistics, media, middle east, monarchy, Muslim, politics, popular media, racism, radicalism, religion, social media, uk, West, words.

by Jonathan Lee

Prime Minister Erdoğan was speaking in reaction to the Obama administration identifying Turkey as a moderate Islamic country. The blunt statement challenges much of the narrative coming from Western governments, and forces the West to question the validity of the term as well as another of its favourite loaded words: ‘Extremism’.

In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shootings and the heavily sidelined Boko Haram massacre at Baga, the media’s use of choice words like ‘extremism’, ‘radicalism’, ‘fundamentalism’, and ‘Islamism’ has once once again been unleashed in a daily barrage on our television and computer screens. The corresponding rise of Islamophobia, which was already latent in the West, has reached even higher levels, resulting in liberals, apologists, and leftists having to try and stem the tide of what is sometimes wanton bigotry and racism. An oft deployed tool of argument is the careful labelling and distinction between ‘moderate Islam’ and ‘extremism’, usually in the vein of ‘moderate Muslims are not to blame, extremism is’.

Christianity

DECOLONISE WALES: I

CHRISTIANITY, QUEERNESS & ME

HOW THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT IS REBRANDING ITSELF

REVIEW – AN EVENING WITH AN IMMIGRANT, BY INUA ELLAMS

RODRIGO DUTERTE: PRO LGBT, PROLETARIAT DICTATORSHIP

REVIEW – THE BOOK OF MORMON

WE DON’T NEED TO TALK ABOUT ISLAM, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT HUMANITY

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By Rabbi Binyamin Sheldrake, of the Adat Yeshua Messianic Synagogue, Norwich

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