The non-violent wargamer

A few weeks ago I took the plunge and became a Mennonite - the culmination of a six-month novice process where I was coached by my mentor (Kathy Thiessen) in "The Ways of the Mennonite". Basically this means I am now a member of tiny Wood Green Mennonite Church for whom my wife works part-time.

As part of my novice process I had to think very carefully about my attitudes to peace and war - the Mennonites are a historic peace church - and I came to the conclusion that a firm commitment to non-violence is required of anyone who claims to follow Jesus.

But wait a minute! What about all those wargames on your games shelf Peter?! And all those war movies on your DVD shelf? And all that military history on your bookshelf?

Well, I admit I am still more than a little in love with war and its mythology: Spitfires scrambling to fend off the Luftwaffe....Monty at Alamein....the squares at Waterloo....the English longbows at Agincourt.... I admire the military virtues: courage, comradeship, perseverance. And I am fascinated by the intellectual challenges of generalship, and the qualities of the great commanders of history.

And I love wargames. There is something viscerally compelling about playing a really great wargame (Breakout Normandy, Paths of Glory, War of the Ring, Up Front, to name a few) face-to-face with a genial but competitive opponent. Not sure I want to give that up, no matter how committed to non-violence I am.

"To depict is not to advocate" - that's one way I think I can square this circle. To enter imaginatively into the experience of other humans, even in extreme or violent circumstances, whether through books, movies, or games, may be to sympathize with their predicament, but does not necessarily involve condoning their actions. It would be fine (in my view), more than that, useful and constructive, for a pacifist to take a course in War Studies for example.

And so, with my copy of Twilight Struggle in one hand, and a CND newsletter in the other, bravely ignoring all internal contradictions, I proceed....

Homage to Surrey

One more day to go, then it's goodbye to Surrey and off to North London to marry Sue and live in "the smoke" for the forseeable future.

When I moved to Farnham, it felt like a big wrench saying goodbye to my little terraced house in Salisbury. I felt especially sad to be leaving behind long tramps through the Wiltshire countryside, long gaming sessions with my Salisbury group, and a long history with my local church. I didn't really see how Surrey could match this.

Three years later I can say that Farnham was a very pleasant surprise. A bit of exploration revealed lots of wonderful countryside on the doorstep - heathland walks nearby, hills and hangars in East Hampshire, and walking back to Farnham along the North Downs Way after a bus-ride to Guildford.

Then I was very fortunate to be introduced by Dave Farquhar to a great local gaming group - I've had so many fun sessions with Les, Keith and Trevor over the last 3 years. Thanks guys!

And my decision to worship at my local parish church turned out very well. Anglicanism was very new to me after decades of non-conformist churchmanship, but I found that I relished the liturgy and music at St Thomas, and made some good friends in my new church community.

So it's another wrench saying goodbye to all this, and I'm wondering how Wood Green can ever match it. But who knows? I may be in for another nice surprise.

A rashly public Lent commitment

Following Maggi Dawn's suggestion, I intend to give up buying toys over Lent. You know the sort of things: CDs, DVDs, computer games, books, and (gasp!) boardgames. It's gonna be tough.....

OK then - in response to popular demand: I wasn't there, but apparently Sue used a small selection of NanoFictionary cards, some of which were slightly modified to fit the characters and settings of the Ruth story in the Bible. E.g. "A distant City" was a perfect fit already. She prepped 3 creative people from the congregation, gave them a handful of cards, and asked them to prepare a little story. They told their stories in church, and everyone else voted for their favourite.

Sue then preached on the way that the stories we tell as a church community affect the way we think of ourselves and the way we serve God together. She meditated on the Ruth story and some of the alternative outcomes that could have come of those characters, settings, and problems. And on the way the Ruth story has been important to Jews and Christians ever since.

Hope that helps.

My amazing girlfriend Sue works for a small (and rather unusual) church in North London. She's not a gamer in the (slightly obsessive) way that we use the word around here, but she actually used Nanofictionary (slightly modified to fit the Book of Ruth) as the basis for the interactive bit of her sermon last Sunday!

Music, Mud and Muesli

Greenbelt was good again. I didn't see so much music this year - I think the real strength of Greenbelt lies in its talks and seminars. However I did spend an hour on stage with a full-on rock band! This was on Saturday morning when I was helping to lead a worship service with The Burn Band - don't worry, I didn't sing, I was just doing a few readings. But with the lights and the mikes and the music - I felt like a star!

Many highlights this year: Andrew Motion doing a reading; sessions from Steve Turner on the Beatles and Johnny Cash; Vic Thiessen on the myth of redemptive violence in film; Jon McGregor ("If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things") on the process of writing; Jim Wallis on God's politics; Juliet Turner singing to an audience of twenty in the Sticky Music tent, with as much commitment as if we were thousands.

No gaming was done, unless you count noodling with an Icehouse solitaire game in a little coffee tent - as always the coloured pyramids drew questions from curious onlookers.

Tag: greenbelt