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The Derby Islamic Centre is very close to the Salvation Army in the centre of the city, and I’d been thinking of making a visit for a while. On hearing this, my colleague and friend David Howarth also expressed an interest in visiting, especially as he’d never been to a mosque before. So I emailed my friend Ibrahim Mogra in Leicester, and he facilitated contact with the centre for me.

David and I were very warmly welcomed and we sat (over tea and biscuits) and chatted for nearly an hour with three representatives of the mosque. There are prayer areas on two levels, although there were buckets in the upper area as they currently have a problem with rain getting in. Hopefully they can get this fixed soon. On the upper level there is a much smaller room for the women to pray (something my western cultural background finds difficult to accept, although I don’t mean that to be a criticism) as well as an area for teaching.

There’s much misunderstanding about Islam (especially via the media), and so I think it’s important to establish and maintain dialogue in order to understand better and build relationships. It’s about breaking down barriers and developing mutual respect. For those who may feel we were compromising our Christian faith or diluting its character, nothing could be further from the truth. We unashamedly visited as Christian leaders in our full Salvation Army uniforms and were pleased to be welcomed as such. There was no offence taken, and David and I deepened our understanding of Islam. We were also pleased to hear an unequivocal condemnation of violence done in the name of Islam.

All in all it was a very helpful visit, and I’m extremely grateful for the gracious welcome and hospitality we received. There’s a dangerous rise in far-right politics in Europe at the moment, that seeks to spread fear of Islam – not least the English Defence League. Clearly there are Islamist extremists (as there are extremists amongst those of other faiths and none), but I would encourage you to build relationships and seek understanding wherever possible – and maybe visit your local mosque. As in the words of Saint Francis: grant that I may not so much seek to be understood, as to understand.

The Resurrection of Jesus is central to the Christian faith. Christ’s death on the Cross was the culmination of his earthly mission and ministry, a moment of triumph vindicated on the first Easter Day. It’s about God offering us a fresh start and a new creation, hope for the dark times, and an everyday life enriched by the very life of God. So, this Easter, please consider the new life that God offers, and the challenge of living it in our day-to-day lives. It’s a positive message about a special quality of living, one that loves everyone unconditionally, irrespective of their race, colour, creed, sex, sexual orientation, faith or no faith etc.

There was excellent worship at Leicester Cathedral this morning, with a challenging and thoughtful message by Bishop Tim. Followed by fresh coffee, good biscuits and friendly company – plus Easter eggs for the children! The photo is of the Easter Garden in the cathedral grounds.

A law came into force in France today banning the public wearing of the Muslim veil. It seems to me that this position is flawed, and that anyone should have the freedom to wear what they like in public. If you get past the knee-jerk reactions, Islam can actually feel threatened by the West, and when any group feels under attack their culture and identity is reasserted. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m totally against women being forced to wear the veil culturally or religiously by a male patriarchy – but equally, I’m against a secular state forcing women not to wear it. Many Muslim women, including those I’ve spoken to, wear the veil to express their culture and religion, and are not forced to do so! Indeed, I’ve spoken to Muslim women who’ve had their veils torn off in racist attacks, and the perpetrators are rightly condemned by all fair-minded people. France, by bringing in this new law, are making the removal of the veil from women against their will somehow acceptable. So, putting aside all other questions for the moment, how EXACTLY is the French ban on the veil going to promote peace, love and understanding within society? My Muslim friends and leaders in Leicester fully support the right of Christians to wear crosses. So Christians who support the ban had better think long and hard, because I suspect they might be the first to cry foul if a secular government tried to ban the public wearing of crosses!

Yesterday I started a Blipfoto Journal for photos and thoughts. I already keep a private written journal in which I express my deepest thoughts, emotions and ideas, and this is certainly not for publication – for my eyes only! Keeping a journal can be very helpful and cathartic, and can be especially helpful for people (like myself) who have to deal with mental health issues in their day to day life. I’ll probably post more about this in due course. I also find the creative process of writing extremely satisfying and therapeutic, and feel I have a measure of talent in this area – us Brits should be more upfront with our talents in my humble opinion, good for overall well-being!

But back to Blipfoto (you’ll possibly have noticed I go off at tangents at times, but hopefully enlightening ones). Blipfoto is one of a number of websites that allow you to post a photo a day (a 365 project), and I chose it because it looks stylish and allows you to upload photos from the day you join. There are some restrictions (not really a problem), you can only upload one photo per day which must be assigned with the exact date it was taken, although you don’t have to physically upload them on that exact day. A review of four sites for uploading one photo a day says:

One of Blipfoto’s strengths is the fact that all uploaded photos are displayed as thumbnails on the front page, giving all members a chance to get noticed. And because of the strong community built around the site, members are constantly giving feedback.

And, as I suggested at the beginning of this post, I like the fact that you can add a long journal entry to the photo as well. Why not check it out?

Many of you know I’ve been doing more cycling in the last few months and generally getting fitter. Even though I say so myself, I’m not in bad shape for someone who’s 57 next month! Monday 30 May by the way, hint, hint! Anyway, back to my main point, I definitely feel the benefit of more exercise. But a few weeks ago I started getting mild palpitations and occasionally periods when my heart was missing every 5th or 6th beat, a little scary when it happens! So today I went for a routine ECG at Glenfield Hospital, and they let me out (to cycle home) so it can’t be too bad. Because I’m not getting any pain (or any other associated symptoms) my doctor feels probably my heart adjusting as it gets stronger, and (happily) I haven’t had any hint of it for a few days now – but better to be on the safe side! I get the full results in seven to ten days. Incidentally, Glenfield Hospital has a top class heart unit, but (ironically) the shop was full of chocolates and crisps!

It’s been a few day since I posted, so I thought I’d share some photos I took today on a beautiful spring afternoon. This is my favourite from the whole photoshoot, but you can see the whole set here! You can use any of these images in accordance with the Creative Commons licence on each photo page, and they can also be licensed through Getty Images.

This guest post comes from Sue Thomas, Professor of New Media at De Montfort University in Leicester.

In today’s networked world, many skills which we may already have but not recognise as special are coming to the fore. The Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California, have identified a skill set which they call ‘amplified’. It features qualities such as ‘Cooperation Radar’  - the ability to sense, almost intuitively, who would make the best collaborators on a particular task, and ‘High Ping Quotient’ – responsiveness to other people’s requests for engagement; propensity to reach out to others in a network. You can read all ten of them here. The language may be very Californian, but the skills are ones we would all recognise. And social media is helping us to do them even better.

In 2009 I ran a project called ‘Amplified Leicester’ which brought together 30 very different Leicester people and helped them develop their ‘amplified skills’. That project is now over but this year we’ve been hosting a series of talks and panels at Phoenix Square where we look at ‘amplified’ approaches and discuss how they can be used in specific contexts. So far we’ve looked at politics, police, and crafts (see embedded video), and this month we’re considering faith (or not) in an panel discussion convened by George Ballentyne of the Council of Faiths and called Amplified Communities of Faith or Belief.

George’s guests are a very varied group – Sughra Ahmed of the Islamic Foundation, Richard Hopper of Leicester Secular Society, and Matthew Hughes of Samworth Enterprise Academy, a Church of England school. It takes place at 7.00 pm Wednesday 23 March 2011 at Phoenix Square. Do come along to hear what they have to say and join us in the Screen Lounge afterwards to continue the discussion. It’s free and open to all. Book online here and join the Amplified Leicester community here. We look forward to seeing you! The Twitter hashtag is #ampleic for all Amplified Leicester related tweets.

Note: In the video, David says “anti-feminist” at one point when he clearly means “anti-sexist”, he’s not being allowed to live it down! (John)

The start of International Women’s Week was marked by the University of Leicester Feminist Group, who gathered on a bridge in Abbey Park on a damp Saturday afternoon. It was part of Women for Women’s Join Me on the Bridge campaign, in which men and women stand together on bridges all over the world in order to show support for women in war-torn areas. They met up at the University and walked to Abbey Park with banners publicising the cause, they read out a statement on the bridge, and urged people to sign a petition to Foreign Secretary William Hague calling for the involvement of women in the Afghanistan peace negotiations in order to assure they have ‘an equal voice in determining their future, and the future of their country’.

Women for Women International provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies. Their aim is to change the world one woman at a time. This year marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day on 8 March 2011.

100 years ago brave women stood up and changed the world for so many of us. Today, there are equally brave women standing up for equality in Afghanistan. Now is our chance to get behind them and help bring peace and greater security to these women. Women in Afghanistan must be fully included in the peace negotiations. Peace without women doesn’t stand a chance, and the time to build peace is now – before the troops start withdrawing in June 2011. We’re not asking for any new policies or laws. They already exist. We have UN Resolution 1325, and we have the Millennium Development Goals. It’s time to act, and we’re calling for everyone who wants to make a stand against the brutalities inflicted on women in Afghanistan (and in areas of conflict around the world) to join us on a bridge on the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. Kate Nustedt, Executive Director of Women for Women UK.

One of my current responsibilities is being part of the Chaplaincy Team at the University of Leicester. The following is taken from our publicity material, and I thought it would be helpful to share it here.

The Chaplaincy team is drawn from a wide range of Christian traditions, although we’re here for everyone – for groups and societies, for individuals, of all faiths and none. We hope to be able to meet you around the campus to offer support and encouragement, positively contributing to the life of the University, and enhancing the experience of both staff and students.

When needed, a Chaplain can be a friendly and independent listening ear – someone to confide in. Our Chaplaincy building provides a space to think, somewhere to worship or pray, a listening ear, or just a relaxed opportunity for a cuppa and chat. In addition we have work spaces, discussion groups and much, much more! Our team has a wide variety of expertise and may also be able to help in other ways. Please have a chat to one of the Chaplains and you may be surprised at our backgrounds and experience!

The picture links to our site, and you can also find us on Twitter: @UoLChaplaincy

I attended a meeting of the University of Leicester Feminists Group this evening, partly in my capacity as a University Chaplain and partly because I believe women’s rights are human rights. But, before I go any further, please banish any preconceived ideas you may have about feminists! This was a group of normal men (yes, men) and women who are concerned with fairness, justice and equality: a group with whom I can identify. I’m also quite happy to describe myself as a feminist, because they are (ultimately) concerned with human rights!

The main issue this evening was pornography and its effect on society. I came away feeling quite dirty having seen some extreme images of hard-core, and (what can only be described as) violent and abusive pornography – which I had to look away from at some points! This was, of course, being inflicted by powerful men upon women who were certainly not enjoying the experience! And that’s not to mention the pornography featuring girls of legal age who were made to appear under-age, with sinister echoes of child pornography!

Yes, this is the extreme end, but the effects of pornography are being felt right throughout society – whether you actually watch it yourself or not. We are becoming a pornified society, starting with the lyrics of songs (some of which are not immediately obvious, but which refer to acts in porn films), through sex in adverts, objectification of women, airbrushing images, music-videos, sexualized images in lad’s mags, and to easily accessible porn (of all varieties) on the Internet! This is affecting men and women’s self-image of themselves, as well as changing what is considered normal within relationships and sexual lives. Men, especially, expecting their partners to go along with what they have seen in porn films, and women feeling pressured to accept it as ‘normal’ rather than the abuse it actually is! There’s also a strong pressure on women to look like those in porn (I’ll spare you the details).

We are all being exploited by part of the music industry and by the sex industry, men and women alike! Pornography manipulates men and degrades women, it takes away our freedom and we should all get very ANGRY about it! What are you going to do?

See also: Why Feminism?