1. Tracy Emin threatens to withdraw her crappy bronze sparrow from display in Liverpool. Yeah, go ahead Tracey. Do you honestly imagine that anyone give’s a sh*t? It is a well known stereotype that Scousers will nick anything that isn’t bolted down – what did you expect?
2. All the reports (many from yesterday) about the new parking regulations and repeated references to how “incensed” members of the public get when they receive parking tickets. You know what? If you don’t want to get a fine, or be “incensed”, don’t park illegally ! Find yourself a proper parking space, and pay your way like everyone else has do. If you’ve parked illegally and got fined, live with it and stop moaning. It’s your own fault.
3. ASBO OAP jury considers verdict – These ASBOs – I just cannot get my brain around the concept of a court order which commands someone not to do things that are already illegal anyway! What nonsense. Let’s lock the old bag up and be done with it.
4. Wall Street rescue talks blocked – that’s it, America. Your collective greed has brought a significant portion of the world’s financial markets to a standstill, but let’s not miss the opportunity to hold out for your own gains just a bit longer. Listen guys, Bush’s comments are not just hyperbole – this is serious stuff and the Western world’s ability to raise capital for its industry and businesses is under serious threat. Pull your finger’s out of your bottoms, close your huge mouths, just this once, and get on with fixing the problem. Thanks.
5. Another bloody bomb attack in Pakistan – Would-be terrorists: please open your eyes. The obsolete religious dogma you follow was fabricated by men who wanted to control others, and their descendants continue to control you. Murdering innocent people will not get you to paradise. It will make you and your kind the object of irreversible hatred for eternity.
6. Ecstasy Downgrade Considered – oh, for goodness sake, grow up. Drugs are bad. No one needs them. Nothing good comes of people taking drugs and no right minded parent wants their kid taking them. Let’s start winning this war on drugs that the government seems to lack the bottle to fight with any sort of vigour. Let’s make it legal – in fact, let’s make it a civil duty – that all drivers are expected to run over at least one drug dealer per year. Drivers will receive a discount off their road tax for every additional drug dealer knocked down.
]]>I was raised in an English family where basic Christian traditions were observed, including the important festivals, the Christening of babies and marriage in Church. I, myself, married in Church, and it was a wonderful experience.
But when I hear people talking about God and religion, I find that I automatically question their obvious faith in the existence of God. Irrespective of which religion they belong to, I find that I am subconsciously deeply sceptical, and wonder how anyone can talk of God as if His existence is an indisputable fact.
Over the years, I have found myself engaged in fascinating conversations over the existence of God. Sat on a balcony in Ibiza in the early 90’s, a close friend and I debated the issue through the night, and well into the next day, aided and abetted by a steady flow of inexpensive, locally produced wine. On a course at the University of East Anglia some years ago, I recall inadvertently offending a colleague by asserting that I didn’t “believe in a Father-Christmas type of God”. He was a devout Christian of some non-conformist denomination, I can’t remember which, but the experience demonstrated to me that there are certain times when religion is a subject best avoided.
I currently reside in Cape Town, South Africa, which, to the surprise of many outsiders, has an enormous Muslim population. Many of my work colleagues are Muslims and are also members of the “Cape Coloured” community. I have found that, without exception, they are devout, true believers in their faith, but at the same time are very open and always delighted to talk about their religion and help me to understand their traditions. Their outlook is deeply refreshing and contributes to the wonderful, multicultural experience that a stint in South Africa can deliver.
But my exposure to people of faith has not helped to alleviate my own doubts. My nature is to question everything, to trust nothing I am told unless some evidence is presented that I can understand. During my years of formal education I took opportunities, although never majoring in theology or religious studies, to gain exposure to the study of world religions where possible. This, and other experiences during my life, have led me to conclude that the major religions of the world have been developed over centuries as a mechanism of governance and social control. Countless leaders have relied upon their subjects’ fear of a greater power, an unseen but all-seeing God, to keep their subjects in line, for fear of a far greater punishment than earthly leaders could mete out.
Our own Prime Ministers, even in the 21st century, make a show of attending Church and making reference to God when it suits them to do so. I find it impossible, in my heart, to believe that men who have the ability to climb the greasy pole of British politics, and the mentality to want to, truly believe in the existence of God in the traditional Christian sense.
I’m sure you will have formed the opinion by now that I am, indisputably, an Atheist. But if I am, why do I pray?
Not every day. I don’t go to Church. I rarely pray to give thanks for anything and I might not pray for weeks, even months, at a time.
But then something in my life goes wrong. A relative is diagnosed with a life threatening illness. I can’t contact my wife who is travelling by car on an unfamiliar route. The child of a close friend is charged with a criminal offence. A foetal scan reveals something suspicious.
These are examples of genuine experiences which have led me, without thought or deliberation, to close my eyes and ask God for help. I have prayed at night in bed, whilst driving, even whilst sitting in business meetings, that those tests will come back clear, that my loved one will get home safely, and that the wrongly accused will find justice.
But how can this be? Why do I turn to God at times of worry, times when events outside my sphere of control are of such great concern? If you asked me, I would tell you that I think it is unlikely that God exists, in any form.
But there is something deep inside my psyche that wants Him to. That is the key. I do not have faith. I do not really believe. But I do have hope. In my heart, I want there to be a God. I want to have someone, or something, that I can turn to, a force so powerful and benevolent that it will help influence events, heal the sick, protect the vulnerable. I want it to be all-seeing, to be able to hear my prayers that are only spoken inside my head. I want it to be omnipotent, omnipresent, and be able to hear my lone voice despite the millions of others directed toward it. I don’t want it to care that, at times, I don’t really believe that it exists. I don’t want to have to perform countless rituals through the course of a day like an ultra orthodox Jew must. I don’t want to have to live a perfectly pure life to accrue credit for the next one. But sometimes, when the chips are down, I want a caring, compassionate, paternal force to help me out, and to protect those I love.
So what am I? First, I doubt very much that I am unique. I am not technically an atheist – well, not all the time. But I am not strictly a “theist” either. I wondered if, perhaps, I am an Agnostic, and began to investigate what that term means.
According to various sources, an Agnostic can be someone who believes that we do not yet know whether there is a God, and if there is, what He actually is. An Agnostic might also believe that we cannot, possibly ever, know. There are then some other variations on the theme, such as an Agnostic-Theist, who believes that we don’t / can’t know, but makes the choice to believe in God anyway. Conversely, an Agnostic-Atheist doesn’t know, but doesn’t care either.
I have not yet been able to identify a tag that fits me though. I guess I am a form of Agnostic. I truly don’t know the answer to whether God exists or not. I cannot blindly believe in something I cannot touch or see and have seen no believable evidence of. But sometimes I turn to Him anyway, just on the off-chance, in the desperate hope that He might, just might, exist. Consequently, there is evidently too much doubt in my mind as to his non-existence to call myself an Atheist. I am an Agnostic, but one which has some hope, rather than faith, in the existence of God.
So I hereby declare the advent of a new belief classification (I wanted to say “new religion” then, for dramatic effect, but that would not have been accurate!)
The Hopeful Agnostic? Agnostic Hopefuls?
My thesaurus has helped me out. I will call myself an Agnostic Optimist. That will make it much easier for me to answer the question “what religion are you”?
I may even try putting it on application forms. And if explaining its meaning becomes too tiresome, I can simply direct people to this website….
]]>So why is it that the recent debate surrounding the freedom of gay couples to adopt children is troubling me? I know straight, married couples who have been the most appalling parents. I have seen lesbian couples and heard about gay male couples who appear to make excellent parents, creating a secure and loving environment in which children can thrive.
But for some reason, the idea of gay couples being freely able to adopt, worries me. Perhaps it is the fact that the debate seems to focus so much on the rights of the prospective adopters. It is their “right” to be able to adopt, despite their orientation. But what about the rights of the children? Do they have the right to choose whether to be adopted by a same-gender couple? Are they able to make an informed choice in the matter? Whilst discrimination is wrong, we know that children can, sometimes, be cruel. What would the adopted children of a gay couple have to put up with in the playground when their classmates find out. Is it fair to fight the equality battle through our children? I think perhaps not.
The future of our society depends entirely on our children. How they behave, how they work and how, in turn, they raise their own kids, will shape the way that society evolves. We know that single parents and adopters can be a fantastic example to their children and raise them superbly. But in deliberately creating an “unnatural” or unconventional arrangement, might we be unwittingly introducing an unnecessary complication into the upbringing of already vulnerable children?
These are certainly uncomfortable questions. Moreover, as a society, we fight for equality and assert that everyone is equal. Can we have it both ways, and say that gay couples are equal to straight couples, but with a few exceptions? This smacks of hypocrisy and creates more questions than it answers. The fundamental issue for me, however, is that the rights of a child to a safe and secure upbringing must override every other consideration. If there is any doubt at all in our minds, we must always err on the side of protecting the child, and the rights of adults must take second place, without exception.
]]>I was talking to another pal the other evening and we got on to the subject of weddings and specifically, how much they cost. We started to think about how much we have spent not just on our own weddings, but on attending those of our friends, wives' friends, extended family and work colleagues.
It seems that it’s not unusual to spend £1000 - yes, a whole grand - on just going to a wedding. Think that sounds like an exaggeration? Maybe that I'm really rich and generous and attend some really posh weddings? We'll I'm not rich and I'm definitely not generous, and although we've been to some really lovely weddings, we are not talking ultra high-brow stuff here.
Think about it. The stag do is never just a night out in town anymore, is it? It is usually a weekend away, often abroad. So you're talking two or three hundred quid before you have even started. Then the wife might attend the hen party. Similar story there but to a lesser degree - call it a hundred.
Then there is a new outfit for the missus (£100? I'll wear a work suit) and so often the weddings we go to seem to be far away - and staying one night is never going to work out. The weddings start anytime from 12 to 2 so its too risky to travel on the day so that's two nights in a hotel (I've paid between £50 and £150 per night), plus drinks out on the first night. Then there's the petrol to get you there. And of course there is the inevitable wedding gift. £50 to £100 seems to be about the going rate.
I don't begrudge the money at all - sharing someone's special day, if you're close to them, is a privilege. But it's worth remembering when you're planning a wedding that the costs to your esteemed guests don't half mount up!
]]>Naturally I believe that everyone has the right to go about his or her business free from threat and that all humans are equal. No one should suffer as a result of a differentiating characteristic that they cannot help. Gender, race, skin colour and orientation are some obvious examples but of course, there are others.
But a democratic, diverse and changing society depends upon lively and honest debate. A free society depends on the right to free speech, the liberty to express an opinion however distasteful it may appear to some people. Individuals who choose a specific way of life (religious practice is a good example) must recognise that there are others who do not share their unquestioning acceptance of a belief system, possibly judging instead that religions are man-made structures used by men who seek the power to govern others.
Rather than “taking offence” or responding to criticism with vitriolic rhetoric, I would love to hear religious leaders and followers explain why they feel that their way of life is the definitively “right” path, why they believe that their religion is “true”, and perhaps even offer some tangible evidence.
In fact, many religious people are content to pursue their way of life with quiet dignity, satisfied that their way is the right way and that it is outsiders who are missing out. Even those who proselytise will often do so in a persuasive but gentle way. True religious extremists are few and far between and their passion is often associated with other political, social or personal factors. These are the individuals that react so vehemently to any comment that they can construe as a slur against them, how ever distorted their interpretation might be.
As a fair and equal society, we cannot run and hide when bigots of any persuasion try to stop us from speaking our minds. As the ordinary people who helped to defeat Oswald Mosley’s fascists at Cable Street some 70 years ago were prepared to stand up for freedom, we must respond to the need for free discussion by refusing to be bullied into silence. If we feel that a particular practice or tradition is detrimental to our community or society as a whole then we must say so, sensibly and calmly.
One of our biggest challenges is that people have literally lost touch with what constitutes abuse or offensive behaviour nowadays. The term “racism” is banded around so freely that people just don’t know what it means anymore and, for safety’s sake, are inclined to avoid talking about racial issues at all. How on earth can this be good for society, when we can only become closer through understanding each others’ issues and feelings?
We must learn that it is right to question and criticise the behaviour of anyone we want to, and they have a full right to reply and to justify their actions should they wish to – and we must listen. We can learn from each other this way. Minorities should not be too thin-skinned, and should be ready to stand up for their way of life by helping others to understand it, not just by demanding this thing called “respect”.
]]>Although not a dog owner myself, I do like them and feel they have a place in our society. Dogs can be extremely worthy companions for the elderly and the work of guide and hearing dogs I find astonishing, and quite touching. It is therefore deeply unfortunate that, increasingly it seems, so many dog owners refuse to dispose of dog waste in a socially responsible manner. So often I see dogs being allowed to foul our parks, walkways and nature reserves. Children in our neighbourhood cannot safely play in our local national trust reserve without stepping or sitting in excrement. It is just unacceptable and I am perplexed at the complete failure of local authorities to take any action. Dog mess is packed full of bacteria and smells horrible. Allowing a dog to foul a public place should be treated as a serious offence. Dog owners should regard it as completely normal to have to scoop-up and remove any accidental poos, whilst the animals should be encouraged to go in the owners own garden before being allowed out for its daily walks. It infuriates me to think that owners leave us (society) to cope with their animal's output, whilst keeping their own gardens nice and clean and poo-free.
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