I really should write a new post...

But I don't have time at the moment.  So instead, an advert.  Come and see The Sorcerer, University of York Central Hall, 25th-27th February.  More info here.  Go on.  You'll like it.  Even if I am playing a main character. Go on.  Please.

What if Starbucks was like a church?

I saw a reference to this video on Twitter.  It's quite funny but the further you get into the video the more you realise there's actually quite a point there.  What if Starbucks was marketed like a church, using the methods shown in the video?  I can't imagine anyone coming back to the coffee shop in the video for a second visit!  They'd probably have a coffee phobia for life!

It struck me that the coffee shop in the video had got things round the wrong way.  Instead of being greeted as they came in the door the customers were ignored, or got funny looks from other coffee drinkers.  Once they were inside, instead of being allowed to just enjoy what they'd come for (coffee in this case, a service if it's a church) they were pressured into giving contact information and into things they're not comfortable with.  Unfortunately that can be all too common in churches- where people can be so determined to make sure people come back that in fact their efforts backfire, they can seem 'intense' without actually being interested.  Making people feel comfortable and welcomed with interest (but not pressure) is surely the best way to make people feel they can return.  Unfortunately some Christians don't seem to be able to judge when people are feeling uncomfortable.

And the way the coffee hosts talked about 'conversion' and money was probably enough in itself to scare away any potential customers!  Language is another minefield for visitors to church- jargon can sometimes seem like another language (and sometimes it is...when you get into the more charismatic churches no wonder some people feel like they're with a bunch of very weird people!).

How to get long-term church goers to understand that what seems perfectly normal to them can seem odd and pushy to non-church goers is something I've long wondered about.  If you've always been to church it's hard to see that other people could very easily be put off by some of the language used, or might just not know what to do at certain points in the service.

I think this video could help a few people get their heads round this problem.  Whether it can help them do anything to make visiting a church less 'odd' for people who don't regularly go, I don't know.  I hope so!

Thinly-veiled fear of 'difference'?

The French government are debating whether to ban veils that cover the face, worn by some Muslim women, in public buildings.  As someone who's both a woman and person of faith (and a faith that isn't innocent when it comes to oppressing women) this is something I feel uncomfortable with.  I know that covering the face (head covering is a different issue, albeit one the French have already dabbled in, and something I suspect they'll go eventually further with if they carry the day on face covering) has roots in culture as much as in religion.  But I don't think that matters.

Women who wear the niquab (veil covering the face but not the eyes) and burka (which covers the whole face and body) in the West tend to do so out of choice.  Perhaps that choice is the result of the culture they grew up in, perhaps it is a genuine religious belief.  I don't feel I've got a right to tell them what to wear.  Especially I don't feel I have a right to tell them they can't wear something they believe they should.  I'm more inclined to defend their right to wear what they like.  Why should covering their face offend someone?

I understand the argument that wearing the veil limits and oppresses women.  But many, or most, women choose to wear it, not forced.  And even if some women are forced, how does banning them from facilities where they can get help help them?  Is it fair that these people are to be unable to claim benefits or get healthcare- doesn't that make them oppressed by the state?  If they feel they can't go outside because they can't cover up, I imagine some women will feel trapped in their homes.  How does that help them?

I don't like the idea that anyone can be deprived of services because of their beliefs (cultural or religious).  Majority may think it's ok, but for those who believe it's not, that's unfair.  I can't think offhand of a specific item of clothing or behaviour that is analogous with the veil or headscarf for Christians.  But if there was something I believed I should wear and the government were going to bring in a law forcing me not to wear it...I think I'd consider breaking the law.  I imagine that will happen with some French women too.

The French recommendations seem to fail to recognise that wearing the veil is for some women (I don't say all) a genuine religious choice, something which they feel they should do.  Perhaps it's partly fear of something different, something the older French generation don't understand.  Another commentator suggests they are lashing out against Muslims- and more generally, immigrants- in fear of terrorism.  If so, they're probably going to find it only makes things worse.