The week's retweets

Rioters and looters were outnumbered by commentators online, if not police on the streets. Here were some I found interesting:
  • How budget cuts to youth services may have contributed, one written a few days before the trouble 'began', and another describing how deep-rooted it is.
  • Churches have been at the forefront of the response, online and on the streets. Tope Koleoso of Jubilee Church Enfield was simple and clear, Phil Moore of Queens Road Church in Wimbledon reminded Christians of the cosmic perspective, Lex Loizides recalled the service of the Salvation Army to an earlier generation in similarly dark times, and Nicholas Ferguson of King's Church London highlighted the contrast between what happened in the riots and what happened at Newday (which itself made it on to the local news), along with making suggestions in his usual careful and helpful manner.

In other news:
  • There was quite a bit of chat about the death penalty before the riots even began, so George Orwell's classic account of a hanging was worth reading.
  • The Guardian recommended the top ten literary haunts in Edinburgh, complete with identikit photos of the middle classes looking eager.
  • The New Statesmen allowed plenty of believers and non-believers to make their cases for why they think God exists, or not.
  • Abigail Malortie wrote a nice piece about the Latitude festival.
  • Matt Blick contested the notion that Christians should be the most creative people around.
  • Martin Charlesworth started a series challenging how we live with 'stuff', the summary of which I include here because it's great and seems even more relevant after the complexities of the past week:

  • Simplicity is more about an attitude of heart.
  • Simplicity is the willingness to ask the hard questions about what we own.
  • Simplicity is the willingness to be thankful for what we have, rather than restless for what we hope to acquire.
  • Simplicity is about choosing not to define ourselves by what we own.
  • Simplicity is about staring out materialism.
  • Simplicity is about the exciting risk of faith in giving away as much as possible.
  • Simplicity is about being deeply thankful for the things we possess and then finding joy in living for people.
  • Simplicity is about remembering the poor every day and thinking about the rich only about once a month.
  • Simplicity is about travelling lightly through this world.
  • Simplicity is about following Jesus – the master of simplicity.