First of all, I would like to thank the PM and fellow Reverends for accepting me into the ranks of the Church. It is indeed an honour, and something I intend to diligently build upon.
With this in mind, I thought I would say a little about myself. Some of you will only know me from being online at mad hours (though normal to me, being in the time zone I am), and from a few postings I have made.
In the summer of 77 an Ulsterwoman and Englishman got married.....
Nah, I am joking
Seriously though, I was born on St Patrick's Day 1978, in Folkestone, England. My father being, at that time, a CSM of the Parachute Regiment, and based there.
My brother was born a few years later in Reading, my Father's home town, and we were quickly moved to Belfast, were my father was based again, and my mother came from...though she says the idea of having two boys with an English accent was more than she could bear, and that we were moving anyway
As a lot of you know, Northern Ireland was pretty much in the throes of war, and I grew up much like any other working class boy in Belfast. Bombs, killings, assassinations were par for the course, and thus it was.
One thing that our petty war did do, and this was perhaps a blessing, was that immigrants would not move here.. as Irish people we are naturally conservative, enhanced by the oppression of christian church dominance.. so not only would they not move here for fear of getting killed (which would probably not have happened tbh), but because the people would not have them, and would certainly 'put them out'.
at school, whilst not academically brilliant (imo), I was lazy, always doing the minimum asked..passing by the skin of my teeth.. much to the fury of my teachers and lecturers. By the end of the 80's. as was typical, my father and mother had split, with my father returning to England, now an RSM, and my mother, thankfully, staying in her home town. By this time I was obviously an Ulsterman, with no knowledge of England at all, and proudly identified myself as such. Any retorts of being English were responded with the oft (mis)quoted line from another Irishman '"Being born in a stable does not make one a horse".. albeit, from a reverse point of view.
My first ever direction into the political sphere was via a concert being held at the local university by a group called 'Youth against Sectarianism" - something I agreed wholeheartedly with, seeing sectarianism as a curse on our island. This group turned out to be a Youth front for a political entryist party called 'Militant Labour' - which as a 15 year old, certainly appealed to my rebellious side. I joined up, not really having a clue, but very interested in a few of the women in it.
Within a short while, I was leading the Irish section (called Youth Against Sectarianism) of 'Youth Against Racism in Europe' and at a summer camp in Germany.. this was 1994. It was an interesting time, and I learned quite a lot.. first of all, nearly everyone there was white. We also each had our own sections, and all proudly flew our flags of our Nations (and us having two Nations on the Island, had two flags, much to the annoyance of some).
It was obvious at this time, via dialogue with other National Leaders, and arguments within the Party, that I was too nationalist, and whilst naturally a socialist (or as one, now passed on, leader said, more naturally socialist than any at the AGM), my 'Nationalism' and not their 'Internationalism' was a problem.. by 1996 I was proposed to the National Committee, and had become the youngest ever candidate to stand for election in Northern Ireland, being 18 and a few days (I got 333 votes). The party had voted to change its name to 'The Socialist Party' and I resigned from the party, not happy with the general direction of the group, and the people within. Champagne Socialists is a perfect name for them all.
I messed around a bit, and in 97 went to live in the Netherlands.. I worked there for a year, and then came home to follow the House family tradition, that of joining the Army. Being the rebel I was, I joined the Southern Irish army first, but was advised to leave after being told that I had been 'marked' by Republicans, die to my family history. so leave I did, and within 2 months, was in England as a private in the Royal Military Police. I should explain, a private 1st class is pretty much a recruit in the RMP.
I'll not go into all the madness that being a soldier entails, but I had a good 10 years in it, and mostly enjoyed it.. especially my secondment to the 16th Air Assault Pathfinders.. which ironically, being a RMP, put me with the Para's and my brothers Royal Irish Regiment.
Having always been political, I knew and understood what was happening, and made decisions based on that knowledge.. I stayed in the military because I was good at it, and tbh, I enjoyed it.. although it had cost me a marriage, it was also a willing partner in most of the things I wished to do.
This changed in 2008.. My current partner wrote to me, whilst on Op Herrick, that she was pregnant. I still had a few months to do, but there and then, i decided that, should I get home, I was leaving.
By December my papers were in, and the following Feb my beautiful son was born, holding him in my arms mere seconds after his entrance, I knew I made the right choice.
I still had to work my time off, and so was based in the NI HQ in Lisburn, with the remnant of 2 RMP. Op Banner was coming to an end, and NI was in the middle of a peaceful (mostly) era.
As a boy and man, I have always enjoyed learning about other cultures, and how they compared to my own.. indeed my Primary school, being close to the University, had many children from abroad in it. We would teach them English, they would explain their ways to us.. such are children.
Now that I was back home, I noticed that people were changing.. in our quickness to learn to love the other side of our divided community, niggers etc were coming.. though they still made people stop and stare, they were becoming too common.
I hit the books.
Now, I had a honours degree already, from my time in the military (in Biology), and had a keen interest in Religion.. I found that even the least religious of us suddenly hoped for something more when pinned down by enemy fire. This set me on a journey of exploration, through all the various branches of the christian church, I acquired a few qualifications in theology in my studies, but ultimately came to the same conclusion every time.
This is a lie, and alien to us.
I actually tried to suppress that thought.. but the more I studied, the more I knew it to be true. Every book, every apologetic, was written on the premise of something that had never justified it's acquired position - enforced faith.
I had always been racially aware, but unlike most, we had no reason to proclaim or acknowledge a problem.. it was never an issue here, and until very recently, would just have been taken as normal.
Whilst in my second hand bookshop, I chanced across NER. I had a quick look, but put it back, and dismissed it as nonsense. Whilst at home I logged on to the various websites that would support our kind of thinking, and searched the Church out.. reading opinions etc. I decided that, after going through the usual posts of denigration, that I had been a bit unfair in my assessment, indeed, I spent the whole night reading NER online, and found myself agreeing with it.. it was like the circuit had become complete, and the bulb burned brightly!
I went back to the shop to get the book, but have never found it again (it has hundreds of thousands of books in little order).. but in short order, I joined here (having looked at alternatives), and here I am.
With this in mind, I thought I would say a little about myself. Some of you will only know me from being online at mad hours (though normal to me, being in the time zone I am), and from a few postings I have made.
In the summer of 77 an Ulsterwoman and Englishman got married.....
Nah, I am joking
Seriously though, I was born on St Patrick's Day 1978, in Folkestone, England. My father being, at that time, a CSM of the Parachute Regiment, and based there.
My brother was born a few years later in Reading, my Father's home town, and we were quickly moved to Belfast, were my father was based again, and my mother came from...though she says the idea of having two boys with an English accent was more than she could bear, and that we were moving anyway
As a lot of you know, Northern Ireland was pretty much in the throes of war, and I grew up much like any other working class boy in Belfast. Bombs, killings, assassinations were par for the course, and thus it was.
One thing that our petty war did do, and this was perhaps a blessing, was that immigrants would not move here.. as Irish people we are naturally conservative, enhanced by the oppression of christian church dominance.. so not only would they not move here for fear of getting killed (which would probably not have happened tbh), but because the people would not have them, and would certainly 'put them out'.
at school, whilst not academically brilliant (imo), I was lazy, always doing the minimum asked..passing by the skin of my teeth.. much to the fury of my teachers and lecturers. By the end of the 80's. as was typical, my father and mother had split, with my father returning to England, now an RSM, and my mother, thankfully, staying in her home town. By this time I was obviously an Ulsterman, with no knowledge of England at all, and proudly identified myself as such. Any retorts of being English were responded with the oft (mis)quoted line from another Irishman '"Being born in a stable does not make one a horse".. albeit, from a reverse point of view.
My first ever direction into the political sphere was via a concert being held at the local university by a group called 'Youth against Sectarianism" - something I agreed wholeheartedly with, seeing sectarianism as a curse on our island. This group turned out to be a Youth front for a political entryist party called 'Militant Labour' - which as a 15 year old, certainly appealed to my rebellious side. I joined up, not really having a clue, but very interested in a few of the women in it.
Within a short while, I was leading the Irish section (called Youth Against Sectarianism) of 'Youth Against Racism in Europe' and at a summer camp in Germany.. this was 1994. It was an interesting time, and I learned quite a lot.. first of all, nearly everyone there was white. We also each had our own sections, and all proudly flew our flags of our Nations (and us having two Nations on the Island, had two flags, much to the annoyance of some).
It was obvious at this time, via dialogue with other National Leaders, and arguments within the Party, that I was too nationalist, and whilst naturally a socialist (or as one, now passed on, leader said, more naturally socialist than any at the AGM), my 'Nationalism' and not their 'Internationalism' was a problem.. by 1996 I was proposed to the National Committee, and had become the youngest ever candidate to stand for election in Northern Ireland, being 18 and a few days (I got 333 votes). The party had voted to change its name to 'The Socialist Party' and I resigned from the party, not happy with the general direction of the group, and the people within. Champagne Socialists is a perfect name for them all.
I messed around a bit, and in 97 went to live in the Netherlands.. I worked there for a year, and then came home to follow the House family tradition, that of joining the Army. Being the rebel I was, I joined the Southern Irish army first, but was advised to leave after being told that I had been 'marked' by Republicans, die to my family history. so leave I did, and within 2 months, was in England as a private in the Royal Military Police. I should explain, a private 1st class is pretty much a recruit in the RMP.
I'll not go into all the madness that being a soldier entails, but I had a good 10 years in it, and mostly enjoyed it.. especially my secondment to the 16th Air Assault Pathfinders.. which ironically, being a RMP, put me with the Para's and my brothers Royal Irish Regiment.
Having always been political, I knew and understood what was happening, and made decisions based on that knowledge.. I stayed in the military because I was good at it, and tbh, I enjoyed it.. although it had cost me a marriage, it was also a willing partner in most of the things I wished to do.
This changed in 2008.. My current partner wrote to me, whilst on Op Herrick, that she was pregnant. I still had a few months to do, but there and then, i decided that, should I get home, I was leaving.
By December my papers were in, and the following Feb my beautiful son was born, holding him in my arms mere seconds after his entrance, I knew I made the right choice.
I still had to work my time off, and so was based in the NI HQ in Lisburn, with the remnant of 2 RMP. Op Banner was coming to an end, and NI was in the middle of a peaceful (mostly) era.
As a boy and man, I have always enjoyed learning about other cultures, and how they compared to my own.. indeed my Primary school, being close to the University, had many children from abroad in it. We would teach them English, they would explain their ways to us.. such are children.
Now that I was back home, I noticed that people were changing.. in our quickness to learn to love the other side of our divided community, niggers etc were coming.. though they still made people stop and stare, they were becoming too common.
I hit the books.
Now, I had a honours degree already, from my time in the military (in Biology), and had a keen interest in Religion.. I found that even the least religious of us suddenly hoped for something more when pinned down by enemy fire. This set me on a journey of exploration, through all the various branches of the christian church, I acquired a few qualifications in theology in my studies, but ultimately came to the same conclusion every time.
This is a lie, and alien to us.
I actually tried to suppress that thought.. but the more I studied, the more I knew it to be true. Every book, every apologetic, was written on the premise of something that had never justified it's acquired position - enforced faith.
I had always been racially aware, but unlike most, we had no reason to proclaim or acknowledge a problem.. it was never an issue here, and until very recently, would just have been taken as normal.
Whilst in my second hand bookshop, I chanced across NER. I had a quick look, but put it back, and dismissed it as nonsense. Whilst at home I logged on to the various websites that would support our kind of thinking, and searched the Church out.. reading opinions etc. I decided that, after going through the usual posts of denigration, that I had been a bit unfair in my assessment, indeed, I spent the whole night reading NER online, and found myself agreeing with it.. it was like the circuit had become complete, and the bulb burned brightly!
I went back to the shop to get the book, but have never found it again (it has hundreds of thousands of books in little order).. but in short order, I joined here (having looked at alternatives), and here I am.
