Monday, 9 September 2013

Nec Tamen Consumebatur - Why I chose what I did for my blog title.

Hello Folks,
I'm on a roll, two posts in one day!

You may wonder why I chose the name 'Nec Tamen' for my blog.

Well, it goes back to the fact that I hail from a Scottish Presbyterian background. In 1691, the printer to the General Assembly (governing body) of the Church of Scotland added the image of a burning bush as a logo when the printed the Acts of the General Assembly. This was an allegory to when Moses met God in this form in Exodus. However, the printer also added three words that would come to define Scottish Christianity:

Nec Tamen Consumebatur

"Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1638-1842"
Published under the authority of the Church Law Society,
Edinburgh, 1843
Three words that have come to mean so very much to myself. It is a reference to the fact that the bush Moses spoke to did not actually turn to ash, but stayed in it's original form. The NIV merely says 'It did not burn up'. However, the words that the printer used have so much more meaning to them. Consumebatur means the actual process of burning up, which the bush did not do. However it is the first two words that really stand out to me.
Cassels Latin Dictionary (published some time before 1916) translates Nec Tamen to 'And yet not'. To put it another way, nevertheless,
  • The proscription act of 1746 banned Scottish culture. Nevertheless tourism is now one of Scotland's main industries, and in September 2014 the Scottish People will vote  on whether Scotland shall be a sovereign state for the first time since the country was 'bought and sold' in 1707
  • During the Second World War, Britain was blockaded by the German U-Boats. Nevertheless Britain prevailed, with the help of the Americans.
  • In 1982 the Argentinians stormed and took the British Falkland Islands. The British had no sizeable armed forces to protect the people. International pressure was for Britain to just accept defeat. Even the Americans, our closest ally, failed to support us. Nevertheless after a successful military intervention and at the sacrifice of many lives, the Falklands returned to Britain.
  • In 2012, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban for going to school and supporting female education. Nevertheless, she survived, and continues to promote female education on an unprecedented scale for a girl of her age.
  • Throughout the ages, people of certain groups have been persecuted. Nevertheless it is my firm belief that someday, more people in this world will be actively working against persecution than for it. For doing nothing only helps the bad people of the world. You can support them by act, or by omission. Will you support violence or work against it?


The infamous first post!

Hello folks. I'm a wee seventeen year old highland laddie who is growing up in a big bad world. It is a far cry from the village I have grown up in to see the stories of Chemical Attack in Syria, the Euro plummeting, the collapse of the special relationship, and a host of other stories also.
However, though these stories may be light years away from impacting me personally, we have a duty to our fellow men and women who are affected to be able to support them. As Robert Burns wrote:
The coward slave we pass him by, we dare be poor for all that

This idea of supporting the fellow man
Robert Burns Statue, Union Terrace, Aberdeen
Taken by Colin Smith
for the sake of his humanity is not new, King Lemual (Some say this was a pen-name of Solomon) wrote the following in the book of Proverbs (King James Version):
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute."
Even in 'Les Miserables', we are challenged to
Look down, and see the beggars at your feet
Look down and show some mercy if you can
So it is for that reason that I have started this blog. Though it may never reach the minds of more than a few people, I just cannot live my life knowing that I did not even attempt to try and help my fellow man.
However I am by no means a Saint, I take interest in some other subjects - I play a bit of Minecraft (a computer game), and am fascinated by the history of the church in Scotland and also by the History of the Highlands. I will be posting a wee bit about both these topics.

I won't just be posting about politics though. . I am  a Highlander who is moving in two weeks however to Aberdeen, where I will be studying at the Robert Gordon University. This change of scene from a small fishing village to the third biggest city n Scotland is quite a big thing to me, so I shall post a wee bit about my experiences in the Granite City also..

Now then, I think that should be all for now. I'll post a wee bit later in the week, so see you then. 
Goodbye, and thanks for reading!

PS Feel free to post in the comments section!