Great letter in The Big Issue this week, responding to an article on Richard Dawkins’ new book last week:
“I enjoy purchasing The Big Issue and chatting with the vendor, and always find something worth reading in each edition. I was interested to read your review of Richard Dawkins’ new book, The Magic of Reality ['In the beginning was the word...' October 3-9]. Once again he does not seem to have met any Christians other than those of the fundamentalist variety. I am a Christian, with scientific training and fascinated by evolutionary theory – and there are plenty of us about! Christians are not all like George W Bush: there are many for whom the fundamentalist position is quite untenable. Nor is it correct to assume that Christianity is dying out. Even in this country many still find their deepest needs being met for the first time by religion, and religious organisations have shown them love and compassion – often the way forward for the homeless and the addicted.“
Good for you Paul James from Aylsham in Norfolk!
Source: http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/rro/lowres/rron807l.jpg
I too buy The Big Issue obviously. The vendors who sell the magazine have to buy each copy for £1 before they can sell it for £2. I initially started buying it for charity’s sake. Now I’ve gotten into the habit, there’s sections of the magazine that I look forward to reading. I enjoy the little summary on page 3 of the week: “good week for/bad week for,” I enjoy the “fruit of wisdom” quote, most recently they featured one from the late Steve Jobs. I enjoy their music, film and book reviews. I particularly look forward to the “5 books everybody should read before they die” feature which they include every week. A different person chooses the 5 books each time. Some of the interviews are brilliant. There are also features on the vendors, their honesty (particularly about their habits) is refreshing. There are of course some terrific success stories of some of the vendors who manage to climb their way into a better way of life from the starting point of selling the Big Issue. The Big Issue is good stuff and well worth the money, when I think about my initial motivations for buying it they seem rather patronising in retrospect.
