Song Without Words… or Tune
I have become a little obsessed with the SPCK fiasco that has been trickling through blog-world. To some this is a prime example of someone using their power and money to make empty threats to individuals who do not have the power and money to stand up to them; to others, this is another nail in the coffin of a once well respected Christian bookshop that got the wrong management (unless SSG had planned for the staff to resign en masse and to lose their loyal customer base, in which case they have done very well). At the moment, I don’t think I will give my hypothesis on the situation, until I am certain that I am safe from a 6′7″ ex-rugby player called “Basher” who knocks down my door and greets me with “Mark will see you now”.
However, what I will do is regurgitate a post that Dave Walker posted a while ago. It was one of the 75 that were removed, so I probably will get to know “Basher” rather well. However, I find it too funny – and I’m always a sucker for humour.
When SSG took over SPCK they also took over their rule book (rather, they would have done had SPCK had a rule book, which I somewhat doubt – Wesley Owen did, but that’s another post for another time). SSG is orthodox, SPCK was not. So, it was important for SSG to get that authentic orthodox feel to their newly acquired bookshops. This included the way the shop was set up, the books they sold, and the music they played during ‘events’. It is the latter set of rules that I don’t think anyone can fail but scratch their head at:
My overall conclusion from this list is that they were probably better off just writing:
- No music is allowed
I should point out that I have nothing against orthodox people. One of my friends over here is Greek Orthodox, and her and her family are some of the nicest and most genuine people I have ever met (the fact that they were responsible for Heather’s wedding dress was, needless to say, a bonus). Having said that, I can’t see me converting to Greek Orthodox any time soon – it just doesn’t agree with me. Nor does Catholicism. Nor does the Baptist faith. But that doesn’t mean that I think that CofE is the only true denomination. As long as somebody is Christian, or at the least accepts that Christianity should exist, then I’m happy. I realise that someone is likely to disagree with that ethic.
Therefore, I don’t really like it if one denomination of Christianity stops the others from doing what they feel comfortable doing. This is what I think is happening with the above rules on music. SPCK was a protestant bookshop, but anyone could go into them and buy a book without raising any eyebrows from anyone. However, SSG appeared to try and turn SPCK into an Orthodox bookshop, thereby alienating all those who are not Orthodox, particularly those who worked there. It’s like a shoe shop being told to only sell sandals.
Dave Walker did a very nice cartoon about the different types of people who go to a Christian bookshop. However, that was removed along with the other parts relating to SPCK – probably because it no longer applied to the shop it was aimed at.
[These are, of course, only my opinions, and not necessarily the thoughts and intentions of SSG. In fact, I can go as far as to say these are not the thoughts or intentions of SSG at all. I should also point out that most of the members of SSG are probably very nice people, who probably make very nice cake, and who were unlikely to have been involved in the downfall of a very nice bookshop.]
