Symon Hill is a bisexual, left-wing,

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

activist and writer. He has worked as campaigns manager at the

Peace Pledge Union The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) is a non-governmental organisation that promotes pacifism, based in the United Kingdom. Its members are signatories to the following pledge: "War is a crime against humanity. I renounce war, and am therefore determine ...

since 2016. He also teaches history for the

Workers' Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...

. His most recent book is "The Upside-down Bible: What Jesus really said about money, sex and violence", published in 2015.

Biography

He was one of a group of Christian pacifists, supported by the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who were arrested at the DSEI arms fair in London in 2013. He was one of the organisers of the Christian "Ring of Prayer" at the eviction of Occupy London Stock Exchange in 2012. He was associate director of the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

Christian think tank Ekklesia until 2013 and continues as an Ekklesia associate. In the summer of 2011 Hill went on a pilgrimage of repentance for homophobia, walking from Birmingham to London, attracting widespread media attention. Hill read

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Westminster College, Oxford Westminster College was a teacher training college and college of higher education in England. The college was founded in London in 1851 as a training institute for teachers for Wesleyan Methodist schools, but moved to Oxford in 1959. Before t ...

. Hill was formerly media spokesperson for the

Campaign Against Arms Trade Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) is a UK-based campaigning organisation working towards the abolition of the international arms trade. It was founded in 1974 by a coalition of peace groups. It has been involved in several high-profile campaig ...

(CAAT). He represented CAAT in the media when they took the British Government to court in 2007–08 over the cancellation of a Serious Fraud Office investigation into

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

arms deals with Saudi Arabia. As a result, comedian

Mark Thomas Mark Clifford Thomas (born 11 April 1963) is an English comedian, presenter, political satirist, and journalist. He first became known as a guest comic on the BBC Radio 1 comedy show ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' in the late 1980s. He is ...

nominated him as a Hero of 2007 in ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

Hill writes mainly on the issues of

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as n ...

, public activism, sexuality, and the role of religion in society. His comment pieces have appeared in newspapers as diverse as the ''

Sunday Herald The ''Sunday Herald'' was a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published between 7 February 1999 and 2 September 2018. Originally a broadsheet, it was published in compact format from 20 November 2005. The paper was known for having combined a centre- ...

'', the '' Morning Star'' and the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

''. He contributes regularly to Guardian

Comment is Free TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and ''Guardian Unlimited'', is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', ...

, The Friend and Movement. In addition to "The Upside-Down Bible", he has written two other books. ''The No-Nonsense Guide to Religion'' was published by ''

New Internationalist ''New Internationalist'' (''NI'') is an international publisher and left-wing magazine based in Oxford, England, owned and run by a worker-run co-operative with a non-hierarchical structure. Known for its strict editorial and environmental pol ...

'' magazine in March 2010 as part of its No-Nonsense Guides series. A book on on-line activism called ''Digital Revolutions: Activism in the age of the internet'' published by New Internationalist in April 2013. Hill garnered media attention when, in the wake of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, he was arrested in Oxford for making anti-monarchist remarks.

References

External links

Symon Hill's blog
Living people English Quakers English Christian pacifists English people of Welsh descent LGBT Protestants English Christian socialists Quaker socialists Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-activist-stub