Martin Saunders

When good men do nothing...

2011-12-14T22:42:00.000Z

It takes a lot to make me blog. Searing, righteous anger usually does the trick.

And so it is this evening - after today I discovered the true wretchedness of a website I'd previously heard snatches of bile about. 'Little Gossip' - a US-based website that allows School and University classmates to spread rumours about one another, has been regularly criticised by the usual suspects since the Daily Mail first discovered it. Foolishly, today, after someone asked me to sign a petition against it, I took a look.

(a word of advice at this point: don't go there. Take my word for it, it's horrible, and if you make the very stupid mistake I made, you'll end up reading horrible, hateful things about people you know or even people you love. Seriously, don't open the door)

That a website like this exists at all is desperately sad; what is really tragic is that - hidden behind the anonymous veil of the Internet, young people all over the world are being utterly hideous to one another. I've spent years acting as an advocate for young people; even I have no defence for some of what takes place on this site. We're talking about the very, very serious problem of cyber-bullying here; we're talking about a horrible trend which leads many young people into utter despair, and even toward taking their own lives.

I'm not going to labour the point, or the nature of the site. Trust me: it's hideous. The world would be a far better place without it. So this evening, I'm left with that ancient quote reverberating around my head: 'all that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing'. And in the case of this site, this thing that could be sucking the life out of young people all over the world; that is empowering others to commit acts of evil through de-individuation; what is that we, good men and women, are going to do?

Here's a start. This petition only has 1,500 signatures at time of writing. That's fairly pathetic. Yes, the idea of getting the site closed down is unlikely; yes, you may feel rather apathetic about the political process right now, but at least this is a system for getting issues discussed by the people in power. It's going to take you about a minute to add your name.
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/23177

And because of course I know it's not going to be as simple as banning a website, I want to throw out the question: what can we, as a community of people who can agree that this is not ok; that young people shouldn't be subjected (or be subjecting one another) to targeted acts of spite online, do. Because if we do nothing... what then?

#LoveMonday week 4 - ironing out the issues

2011-05-23T07:15:00.000+01:00

Today is the fourth straight Monday that a number of us have been spreading a bit of love on the social networking site Twitter. #LoveMonday is a staggeringly simple idea- you encourage three of the people you follow on twitter, they feel encouraged, and then pass on the love to three more.

On the whole the concept has been very popular, and one thing everyone seems to agree on is that it is very pleasant indeed to receive one of the encouraging messages.

Some people have wisely pointed out however, that Love Monday is not without its flaws. Firstly, for those tweeps who see their friends throwing around lots of Monday love, but never seem to be on the receiving end, it can actually become a bit discouraging. Some might argue that they should simply pitch in and start encouraging others, but I would also suggest that this problem might be tempered a bit if we all thought hard about who to encourage, and made sure we chose different people each week - including some who may not have many followers or be the likely target for lots of encouragement.

The second criticism I've heard of the idea is that it is quite insincere and potentially fake. I don't agree- but it's helpful to hear that some are perceiving it in this way. For my part, as long as i'm not encouraging people based on their level of 'fame' or because they might say something nice back, then my conscience is clear.

We're getting to the point with this though where some honest evaluation is helpful. Please use the comments section below to be as honest as you like about Love Monday, how we might make better use of it, and whether it has a long-term life.

Love Monday - Week 3

2011-05-16T11:34:00.000+01:00

If you've been part of the #lovemonday movement, you may know that I've been offering little strategic ideas on this blog to encourage the thing to grow. In the first two weeks, we've seen 5-600 Love Monday tweets sent around - which is brilliant - but we're a long way from seeing the idea 'tip' to the point where Twitter users all over the world use Monday as an opportunity to encourage one another. It takes six weeks for a habit to form remember, so forgive me if you think I'm going on about this a bit too much...

Here are just a few new thoughts; if you're interested in seeing this initiative grow, you may find them helpful. If you're not, I'll assume you've already stopped reading...

You can encourage as many people as you like, but typically users seem to choose three each week (which is a manageable amount). This morning I've noticed a number of people numbering their love monday tweets, to help everyone to see that each tweet is part of something bigger.
If you put someone's name e.g. @martinsaunders - at the start of your tweet, only they (and people who follow you both) will see it. If you start with anything apart from a name (even just a .) then everyone will see it. If you remember to include the #lovemonday hashtag, this will hugely increase the visibilty of the idea to your other followers. You may decide you don't want to be so public of course - and that's fine too!
As well as sending encouraging tweets, please consider recruiting others to become encouragers themselves. Tweet your followers; message celebrities; blog about it, stealing all the words you like from this site but removing my name.

I hope you agree that Love Monday is a good idea - and there really is no agenda behind it besides spreading encouragement. Already we've seen amazing testimonies of how a simple word on Twitter has radically improved someone's week. Let's change the world together... one tweet at a time!

#LoveMonday week 2: Does love need a strategy?

2011-05-06T13:03:00.000+01:00

Last week I was overwhelmed by the success of the #LoveMonday idea which launched on Twitter (see previous post). There are some people on Twitter who are truly brilliant at condensing ideas into just a few words (see how I need entire blog posts)- one person described it thus:

'Pick three people to encourage on twitter, they pay it forward to three more.' (and, er, we do it on a Monday)

That's the idea - and from what I've read since, many of us agree it's a helpful one. There is power in encouragement, even on something like Twitter, to interrupt someone's day, and shine a light into it. A few people who received one of the 500-odd messages in week one reported that getting this simple message of love and encouragement completely turned their day around.

Over the next five weeks (as apparently it takes six weeks to form a habit), I'll be posting a few ideas about how we can grow #LoveMonday. If you agree it's a good idea, please join in. If you have a blog or some other online space, please cut and paste anything that I say that you find helpful, and edit me out. I'm not suggesting you claim it's your own idea (otherwise we'll have an online version of the end of Spartacus), but I do know that ideas like this travel best when they are detached from any one individual.

It would be incredible if we could see #LoveMonday grow to the point of trending - and even becoming a companion to #FollowFriday, although that's not the aim I'm suggesting for this coming Monday (the 9th of May)! Instead, I simply think it'd be amazing if we broke the 1,000 tweet barrier on the day. So please, this week, as well as sharing the love, consider being a little bit evangelistic about the idea. Recruit anyone you think might like to get involved - and by the way, going out of your way to encourage people feels strange and amazing. Perhaps think about who you'll encourage, and how, in the days leading up to Monday; lay a little groundwork to your friends and followers over the weekend...

As ever - it's up to all of us to imagine how this might grow and develop.

Does love need a strategy? Perhaps not. If this isn't helpful, please just ignore it. Just don't ignore #LoveMonday - it could do so much good.

#LoveMonday

2011-05-01T23:47:00.000+01:00

This is really just half an idea, and may well sink like a stone, but after encouragement from a couple of Twitter friends, I shall at least propose it.

I'm very interested in ways that social media can make a difference. It generally doesn't do that - and in some cases in the Christian world, we can generate an awful lot of heat and light online without really achieving anything tangible. So I've been pondering for a while about how Twitter might be used, if only in a very small way, to do some actual good.

So here's the idea: we instigate a new weekly tradition on Twitter, called (because I could think of nothing better) Love Monday. It's like Follow Friday, but instead of being about attracting or suggesting followers, it's about encouraging people you follow. So you pick say, three people, send each a tweet telling them something about them that you like, love, respect etc... and then they 'pay if forward' and do the same. You add the hashtag: #LoveMonday at the end, and while I don't for one moment expect it to go viral, we might at least encourage a sort of community habit, which, if it grew, could only do good.

(In Christian terms, it's a practical Twitter application of 1 Thessalonians 5 v 11: 'Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.' And if you're not a Christian, then it's just good sense!)

So in the morning, you could decide to pick a few friends, and take a moment to encourage them on Twitter. You might want to do this semi-privately (by sending it as a reply), privately (as a DM), or indeed publicly, by not starting the tweet with their username. This is where the idea proves itself as half-baked: I now hand it over to the Twitter community to make of it what you will.

I have no idea if anyone will do this, but tomorrow at least, I will. A couple of people (Dave Roberts and Jonathan Bishop) were really encouraging about the idea when I first suggested it this morning, and the latter helpfully moved the idea from a Sunday (why, he asked, does it always have to be a Sunday?!). So I throw the idea out there, and we'll see what happens.

I knew I'd built this for a reason...

2011-05-01T23:30:00.000+01:00

I've decided to begin making use of this blog, as a central space for the various disparate bits of writing I do.

I do not intend (on the advice of some good friends) to blog regularly for blogging's sake. I write for work and as a hobby, so another writing project is possibly overkill! However, I'll repost articles from Youthwork and Christianity magazines, and from other sources, as they appear, and some bits from my books. Apologies if this is of no interest to you - you are of course in the majority if so.

In the first instance though, I've restarted the blog so that I can suggest the idea in the next post...

Review of the final delirious gig

2009-12-11T10:47:00.000Z

Been wanting to post this since I wrote it, but had to wait for the new issue of Youthwork (in which this appears) to arrive. It now has - so here's my review: Delirious bow out with sell-out... let me know what you think - especially if you were there!

DELIRIOUS BOW OUT WITH SELL-OUT

British Christian band Delirious called time on their 17-year career with a sell-out farewell tour in November. The Littlehampton rockers, who once enjoyed chart success with songs such as ‘Deeper’ and ‘White Ribbon Day,’ played six dates around the UK in the final leg of their ‘History Makers Farewell Tour’, finishing at London’s 4,500-capacity Hammersmith Apollo.

Delirious have played to millions of people worldwide over the last two decades, and the final gig was a suitably epic affair, with the band playing as their own support act, albeit in the guise of their former incarnation, The Cutting Edge band. This opening set, which featured subtle references to their early-90s look, included performances of early worship songs including ‘I Could Sing of Your Love Forever’ and ‘The Happy Song.’

After a brief break, and costume (and in one case hairpiece) change, the band returned to play a two-hour set including many of their best-loved and most memorable songs. An early highlight was King of Fools track ‘Sanctify,’ in which the band donned the same football shirts they wore during their 1997 Wembley Stadium appearance at Noel Richards’ ‘Champion of the World’ event. Singer Martin Smith brilliantly mimicked the movements of the original performance, which was relayed onto a giant backdrop behind the stage; and throughout the evening this screen displayed a number of vintage images and video clips from the band’s career.

The relentless set featured songs from all seven of their studio albums, including ‘Bliss’ (Mezzamorphis), ‘Jesus’ Blood’ (Glo) and ‘Love is the Compass’ (Audio Lessonover). ‘Obsession’, the bass-heavy Cutting Edge song which graduated into the heart of the 90s Delirious live show, was also present, backed with moody red lighting and impassioned vocal.

Perhaps the most moving moment of the show came when former drummer Stew Smith (brother of Martin) rejoined the band for ‘Investigate’. However, rather than having Stew step behind replacement Paul Evans’ kit, roadies brought a second drum kit onto the stage, allowing the band to very briefly become a six-piece. The appearance of Smith was a surprise to many, as he had not played with band since his departure from the line-up in 2008.

Songs were interspersed with stories, thanks and prayers from the frontman, whose energy and appetite for props and costume changes were as great as ever. Towards the end he even donated his trademark white megaphone to a delighted audience member, who Smith had spotted crowd-surfing moments earlier.

After two encores, the gig finally drew to a close with the soaring ‘My Soul Sings’, at which point the band’s wives and children (we counted 18) took to the stage to embrace them and share in the long and warm crowd ovation. Among his closing words of thanks, Smith turned missional troop-rallyer, telling the crowd ‘this is not the end, it’s the beginning, and now it’s over to you.’ From the start, the focus was on Delirious fans picking up the gauntlet to be ‘History Makers’ – radical disciples living to make a change in their culture. ‘This was never really about us,’ said Smith finally, ‘it was always about you.’

Ugandan anti-homosexuality legislation

2009-11-14T00:04:00.000Z

I almost never stick my neck out to comment on controversy which is beyond my remit as editor of Youthwork magazine, but since receiving an email this afternoon from the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, I've been unable to focus on anything else - so I think I just need to get this out.

It is not okay that legislation is being proposed in Uganda right now that will further criminalise all homosexual people in that country. It is not okay that the same legislation advocates the death penalty for certain consensual homosexual activity. The same bill would criminalise anyone who learns about homosexual activity and doesn't report it within 24 hours - including confidential professionals such as doctors and ministers. That really isn't okay either.

Moreover - it is not okay that Christians stay silent on this. Especially the leaders.

Rick Warren - who has links with the lobby that is proposing the legislation - has been proactive in distancing himself from that view, and has been highly critical of the proposals.

Simply, we need more leaders to follow Warren's lead. This isn't a question of the rights or wrongs of homosexuality - this is an issue of human rights. It shouldn't compromise any Christian leader at all to come forward and declare this as rank injustice. Homosexual people are as loved by God as the next Christian leader, city banker or charity worker.

Christians cannot stand behind those who perpetrate persecution.

More info on this story:

BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8308912.stm

Guardian comment piece: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/nov/10/uganda-homosexuality-bill-anglican

Ekklesia: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/10601