Movement_158_Digital

eing vegan. Noel Moules who ran Workshop had a great
phrase, he talked about a commitment to live gently, and I
think it’s a lovely phrase.
done about ten albums of original music and we also got to
number two on the Amazon Blues Chart with a single we
did not so long ago.
I think there is a Christian case on several levels, most
particularly regarding animal welfare. You know, stewardship
is such an abused phrase, that phrase of dominion in
Genesis has been so misused historically by the churches
to impose domination, which is wrong. It’s about service,
cultivation and stewardship, and about animal welfare and
about everything flourishing. And there is the imperative
around climate change too. We know what a massive toll
meat eating and the meat industry, and farming practises
in the dairy industry, have on the environment and C02
emissions. There is a strong argument that the biggest
thing that anyone could do if they had to do one thing in
their lives to change their environmental impact and their
carbon footprint, it wouldn’t be to do more recycling but
would be to give up meat and go vegan. We need to take
that seriously.
It’s taken me a long time to get there though! My idea
of a balanced meal was a burger in each hand, I was a
real carnivore! I’m excited about it and encourage others
to go vegan too, but won’t stand in judgement of others.
I’m passionate about it and I’m loving cooking, and really
suddenly I’ve got a new interest in cooking and using spices
and things.
Do you have a signature dish?
Nothing posh, three bean chili. I’ve been experimenting
with the spices and doing something different each time.
In the Green Party we’ve been organising these refugee
dinners in local communities, where people can come and
hear the stories of refugees. I hosted one and made my
best chili yet, and I’m still trying to recreate it!
You somehow manage to find the time to be the
drummer in a blues-rock group, The Mustangs. Are
you and the band working on anything new musically
at the moment?
Yes, we might even be playing at the Green Party
conference in October. We’re doing a lot of festivals, and
we did Glastonbury last year which was great fun. We’ve
We’re constantly writing and, in the summers, doing
festivals. Much less than we used to though, we used to do
about 50 a year but now it’s more like ten!
Do you have a favourite piece of scripture or book of
the Bible?
I think probably Mark’s Gospel is my favourite book. I love
Ched Myers’ commentary on Mark, Binding the Strong
Man, and really recommend it. It’s very radical and brings
the political dimension out so well, and it made me see
Mark in a whole new way.
What was your university experience like? What advice
would you give to today’s students?
I was involved in the Christian Union and had all sorts of run
ins with UCCF. I introduced a rotating chair, so three of us
did it in one year, which was too progressive I think! I don’t
think I lived my student days to the fullest and embraced
them. You don’t miss them until they are gone, and they
just fly by. So, my advice would be to enjoy them, and live
your student days to the full.
If there was a book or a film about your life, what
would it be called?
I Could Have Done That Better. I’m quite a perfectionist,
and I’m always looking back and thinking, ‘that’s what I
should have done.’. I think the reason I’m telling people not
to beat themselves up about things is that I do it to myself
quite a lot!
JESUS THE
PROVOCATIVE
TEACHER
David McLoughlin, a founder member of the Movement of Christian
Workers, reflects on Jesus as a provocative teacher, re-reading Jesus’
teaching in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Mt 20:1-16) in
it’s original context.
In this parable we have different groups of
workers vying with each other for limited work.
There are day-labourers, some of whom would
have been smallholders trying to supplement
their subsistence living, some landless and
destitute, no longer with the support of extended
family or local community, and some who would
be wandering, strangers to the locals. Any sense
of solidarity and common identity has long gone.
Normally a steward would hire the workers,
as the land-owners tended to live in the new
cities and had little to do with the day to day
running of the estates. But Jesus deliberately
includes the landowner here to make the link
between those at the top of society and those
at the base. The normally invisible elite are here
made present and, as such, accountable. Jesus
heightens the conflict.
16 MOVEMENT Issue 158 MOVEMENT Issue 158
17