{"id":12620,"date":"2023-11-09T11:05:26","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T11:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joebaker.me.uk\/joebaker\/?page_id=12620"},"modified":"2024-07-15T16:02:17","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T16:02:17","slug":"published-work-books-st-augustines-sin-articles-and-poetry","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/joebaker.me.uk\/joebaker\/","title":{"rendered":"Published Work \u2013 Books (St Augustine’s Sin), Articles and Poetry"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Author enlists a primary schoolteacher to explore faith school lessons<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"29<\/a><\/p>

UNSAFE RITES & RITUALS<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>
Let’s face it, believing newborn babies are sinful – in need of having their souls washed – is quaint.\u00a0 But St Augustine linked their sin to sex.\u00a0 That’s creepy.\u00a0 Is it any wonder the Church remains mired in cases of child sexual abuse?<\/span><\/h5>
The UK is a mainly secular society, yet most of us born in these islands were taught the beliefs of St Augustine of Hippo, by statute.\u00a0 We are shaped by his fourth century hair-shirt doctrines of submission and self-censure.<\/span><\/h5>
The Church of England prayer service admits sin and begs forgiveness or mercy twenty-four times. Grace and love are said twice.<\/span><\/h5>

In many faith schools today, pupils are taught to recite similarly mortifying prayers, often by a church leader.\u00a0 <\/span>Infants learn to dwell upon how sinful they are<\/span>.\u00a0 As babies they were baptised to wash the stain of sin inside them.\u00a0 They are made beholden to a saviour who was tortured and put to death for their inborn wickedness<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>

An authority figure causing a child to feel guilt and shame is a documented grooming method.<\/span><\/h5>

Clearly grooming is unintended, but drilling infants in self-deprecation seems unsafe regardless.\u00a0 <\/span>In school we learn Christian values, often contradicting British notions of decency and fair play.\u00a0 According to polls, most of us reject religion later in life, but billions of neural connections made in our infant brains are not simply freed.\u00a0 Sensitive children can be affected by negative thoughts.<\/span><\/p>

This new book examines recognised studies and official reports testifying <\/span>that<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>children are more likely to be abused in a church setting than in other environments.\u00a0 The UK Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reports 100 new sexual abuse cases by clerics each year.\u00a0 Yet nothing in literature explains this deviance credibly.<\/span><\/p>

The author reflects on his schooling, where he suffered abuse.\u00a0 He considers whether teaching on sex and sin might play a more influential role in child sexual abuse and adult mental well-being than has generally been recognised in mainstream social science.\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>

Augustine claimed that humans are naturally wicked and we are predisposed to be sinfully lustful from birth. The possible influence that his ideas might have on the sexual abuse of altar boys and the callous neglect found in Ireland\u2019s mother and baby homes, is scrutinised here.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span>Multiple research papers endorsing religiosity are reviewed, highlighting a lack of rigour. And we discover why leading academics shun this field of study.<\/span><\/p>

A schoolteacher’s lucid descriptions of Religious Education lessons in faith schools today, will stir readers who suppose Christianity is a benign influence to think again.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0Hailed by reviewers as ‘profoundly thought provoking,’<\/em> this revealing new book fills a gap in the shelf. <\/span><\/p>

With a foreword by Alastair Lichten, Head of education, National Secular Society, the author opens a compelling new front in the current wave of popular religious critiques, revitalising the \u2018God Debate\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The #1 Cause of Suffering and Misery <\/strong><\/span><\/h4>
Spoiler: It\u2019s not religion<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h5>

The complexities in this story are so profound they are a trending topic in the scientific community.\u00a0 Unless you have been a victim, as I have, or you are among that body of specialist academics and doctors focussed on medical research or after care, you are unlikely to be familiar with vital facts.<\/span><\/p>

Reams of research papers are publicly available attempting to explain the multiple paradoxes and ambiguities that have been identified.\u00a0 Despite decades of study a breakthrough is not expected any time soon, and meanwhile the number of people affected is rising.<\/span><\/p>

To be continued next month…<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Our family lived at the top of Dulwich hill overlooking London. One stormy night the wind howled menacingly outside as my Irish mother gathered us around her to tell of:<\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n

The Banshee
<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

We vassals of time have a measured score<\/span>
And the Banshee wails, when we\u2019re \u2018counted for,<\/span>
To Her Headless Coachman and his team of four<\/span>
Black stallions with head plumes, in deference to lore.<\/span><\/p>\n

They ride on the wind from out of the night,<\/span>
A fiendish dark turnout, as these lines recite.<\/span>
When they break into gallop the traces draw tight,<\/span>
The beasts\u2019 nostrils flare and their eyes glisten white.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The blustering wind, or a carriage in flight<\/em><\/span>
With coach wheels a’rumbling?”<\/em>  Though still out of sight,<\/span>
It sounds closer each hearing, as thunderclaps might,<\/span>
Calling up the one doomed \u2013 a macabre Invite.<\/span><\/p>\n

One wild night you’ll harken her wailing once more;<\/span>
You’ll feel the hooves thunder, you’ll hear the hearse draw<\/span>
And the windows will shake with a rap at your door.<\/span>
That\u2019s the call of the Banshee, that you can’t ignore.<\/span><\/p>\n

The above poem was published in 2014 in the United Press National Poetry Anthology.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Our Garden<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>

Earth\u2019s dark hibernal curfew has succumbed to vibrant spring<\/span>
And blossom-gravid fruiting buds of life rekindled sing.<\/span>
Now, Common Sturnus sorties out for mayflies on the wing<\/span>
And grubs, his greedy starlets have demanded him to bring.<\/span><\/p>

That fount of social balm that we\u2019ve been restive for is here,<\/span>
He\u2019s warmed our pocket plot and nudged her life back into gear.<\/span>
Our living space extends to let this joie de vivre come near;<\/span>
And, sweet pea, rose and dahlia miraculously appear.<\/span><\/p>

We\u2019ve watched the seed unfurl and swell, now God unveils his store:<\/span>
Cos leaves, Savoys, Olympians, Valencias by the score<\/span>
And canes borne down with lusciousness, red, gold and black galore.<\/span>
Then, fiery Stag Horn Sumac shows and livens the d\u00e9cor!<\/span><\/p>

Luminescent emerald fades to depleted gold<\/span>
As the cool thief of fruitfulness contemptuously takes hold<\/span>
And wilful frosty fingers wrap his booty in white mould.<\/span>
Now, plucky Winter Pansies melt my eyes and scorn the cold.<\/span><\/p>

Thus the seasons spend themselves, while Time keeps silent score.<\/span>
Throughout our humble garden, with its year split into four,<\/span>
Earth flaunts her wondrous cycle to inspire us ever more<\/span>
With the miracle of life, enacted right outside our door.<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The above little rhyme started life as a silver wedding anniversary\u00a0 poem to my late wife. When she died I rewrote it in celebration of the other love of my life. It was published in the Festival of Chichester anthology 2017.\u00a0 Below is the original last verse.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

The blessing of our coupling, after five years and a score,<\/span>
Is the Sun of love between us, quietly blazing all the more.<\/span>
And the warmth from this eternal summer will ensure<\/span>
That like the dateless natural world, our love remains secure.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Birth<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>

A pinch of hair, a squashed up head<\/span>
And suddenly my world stopped dead.<\/span><\/p>

Neat hands and feet, and eyes to see,<\/span>
One finely crafted Lilliput me;<\/span><\/p>

Tiny, fresh and undefiled,<\/span>
My twin before I was a child.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Requiem<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>

Please fritter these moments in chatter, not prayer,<\/span>
For whoever’s my maker, he’s shown little care.<\/span>
I don\u2019t need recitals of hymns, to be blest <\/span>
Nor do I have want of a graveyard for rest.<\/span>
So, scatter me not over hallowed ground<\/span>
With tussocky grass and no one around.<\/span>
Nor think you I’ll rest in these rolling downs<\/span>
‘Mid frost chilled hollows and touristy towns.<\/span><\/p>

But scatter me please o\u2019er the waters that rise<\/span>
At Trewsbury Mead under sapphire skies<\/span>
And roll down thro’ Remenham to St Nicholas\u2019 path<\/span>
Where my love and I wended to chatter and laugh,<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 And here we will float in perpetual grace<\/span>
\u00a0 \u00a0 While rapt in each other\u2019s dust-spangled embrace.<\/span><\/p>

The above two verses were published in 2015 in the Chichester Writer’s Circle Annual Yearbook.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The author & wife dancing aboard 'Transvania'<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Copyright \u00a9 2022.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved.\u00a0 Privacy & Ethics Policies<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Contact the author here<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span>, or share with your friends:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Rite grooming? Author enlists a primary schoolteacher to explore faith school lessons UNSAFE RITES & RITUALS Let’s face it, believing newborn babies are sinful – in need of having their souls washed – is quaint.\u00a0 But St Augustine linked their sin to sex.\u00a0 That’s creepy.\u00a0 Is it any wonder the Church remains mired in cases of child sexual abuse? The UK is a mainly secular society, yet most of us born in these islands were taught the beliefs of St Augustine of Hippo, by statute.\u00a0 We are shaped by his fourth century hair-shirt doctrines of submission and self-censure. The Church of England prayer service admits sin and begs forgiveness or mercy twenty-four times. Grace and love are said twice. In many faith schools today, pupils are taught to recite similarly mortifying prayers, often by a church leader.\u00a0 Infants learn to dwell upon how sinful they are.\u00a0 As babies they were baptised to wash the stain of sin inside them.\u00a0 They are made beholden to a saviour who was tortured and put to death for their inborn wickedness. An authority figure causing a child to feel guilt and shame is a documented grooming method. Clearly grooming is unintended, but drilling infants in self-deprecation seems unsafe regardless.\u00a0 In school we learn Christian values, often contradicting British notions of decency and fair play.\u00a0 According to polls, most of us reject religion later in life, but billions of neural connections made in our infant brains are not simply freed.\u00a0 Sensitive children can be affected by negative thoughts. This new book examines recognised studies and official reports testifying that\u00a0children are more likely to be abused in a church setting than in other environments.\u00a0 The UK Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reports 100 new sexual abuse cases by clerics each year.\u00a0 Yet nothing in literature explains this deviance credibly. The author reflects on his schooling, where he suffered abuse.\u00a0 He considers whether teaching on sex and sin might play a more influential role in child sexual abuse and adult mental well-being than has generally been recognised in mainstream social science.\u00a0 Augustine claimed that humans are naturally wicked and we are predisposed to be sinfully lustful from birth. The possible influence that his ideas might have on the sexual abuse of altar boys and the callous neglect found in Ireland\u2019s mother and baby homes, is scrutinised here. \u00a0Multiple research papers endorsing religiosity are reviewed, highlighting a lack of rigour. And we discover why leading academics shun this field of study. A schoolteacher’s lucid descriptions of Religious Education lessons in faith schools today, will stir readers who suppose Christianity is a benign influence to think again.\u00a0 \u00a0Hailed by reviewers as ‘profoundly thought provoking,’ this revealing new book fills a gap in the shelf. With a foreword by Alastair Lichten, Head of education, National Secular Society, the author opens a compelling new front in the current wave of popular religious critiques, revitalising the \u2018God Debate\u2019. 4.4 stars  4.4\/5 Read Reviews Look inside Order Amazon The #1 Cause of Suffering and Misery Spoiler: It\u2019s not religion\u00a0 The complexities in this story are so profound they are a trending topic in the scientific community.\u00a0 Unless you have been a victim, as I have, or you are among that body of specialist academics and doctors focussed on medical research or after care, you are unlikely to be familiar with vital facts. Reams of research papers are publicly available attempting to explain the multiple paradoxes and ambiguities that have been identified.\u00a0 Despite decades of study a breakthrough is not expected any time soon, and meanwhile the number of people affected is rising. To be continued next month… Our family lived at the top of Dulwich hill overlooking London. One stormy night the wind howled menacingly outside as my Irish mother gathered us around her to tell of: The Banshee We vassals of time have a measured scoreAnd the Banshee wails, when we\u2019re \u2018counted for,To Her Headless Coachman and his team of fourBlack stallions with head plumes, in deference to lore. They ride on the wind from out of the night,A fiendish dark turnout, as these lines recite.When they break into gallop the traces draw tight,The beasts\u2019 nostrils flare and their eyes glisten white. “The blustering wind, or a carriage in flightWith coach wheels a’rumbling?”  Though still out of sight,It sounds closer each hearing, as thunderclaps might,Calling up the one doomed \u2013 a macabre Invite. One wild night you’ll harken her wailing once more;You’ll feel the hooves thunder, you’ll hear the hearse drawAnd the windows will shake with a rap at your door.That\u2019s the call of the Banshee, that you can’t ignore. The above poem was published in 2014 in the United Press National Poetry Anthology. The Dullahan (headless coachman) Our Garden Earth\u2019s dark hibernal curfew has succumbed to vibrant springAnd blossom-gravid fruiting buds of life rekindled sing.Now, Common Sturnus sorties out for mayflies on the wingAnd grubs, his greedy starlets have demanded him to bring. That fount of social balm that we\u2019ve been restive for is here,He\u2019s warmed our pocket plot and nudged her life back into gear.Our living space extends to let this joie de vivre come near;And, sweet pea, rose and dahlia miraculously appear. We\u2019ve watched the seed unfurl and swell, now God unveils his store:Cos leaves, Savoys, Olympians, Valencias by the scoreAnd canes borne down with lusciousness, red, gold and black galore.Then, fiery Stag Horn Sumac shows and livens the d\u00e9cor! Luminescent emerald fades to depleted goldAs the cool thief of fruitfulness contemptuously takes holdAnd wilful frosty fingers wrap his booty in white mould.Now, plucky Winter Pansies melt my eyes and scorn the cold. Thus the seasons spend themselves, while Time keeps silent score.Throughout our humble garden, with its year split into four,Earth flaunts her wondrous cycle to inspire us ever moreWith the miracle of life, enacted right outside our door. \u00a0 The above little rhyme started life as a silver wedding anniversary\u00a0 poem to my late wife. When she died I rewrote it in celebration of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12620","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joebaker.me.uk\/joebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joebaker.me.uk\/joebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joebaker.me.uk\/joebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joebaker.me.uk\/joebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joebaker.me.uk\/joebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12620"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/joebaker.me.uk\/joebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12726,"href":"https:\/\/joebaker.me.uk\/joebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12620\/revisions\/12726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joebaker.me.uk\/joebaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}