The wind took the leaves of the tree and they shimmered in the passing light of day.
The rich and effervescent movement of those branches, suffused with the deep green of early summer's ripening blade made me pick up and look again, look again at that ever ripening pose of beauteous nature before my very eyes.
Saturday, 2 June 2012
To be persuaded and to know. The writings of Blaise Pascal.
The God of Christians is not a God who is simply the author of mathematical truths, or of the order of the elements; that is the view of heathens and Epicureans....But the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of Christians, is a God of love and comfort, a God who fills the soul and heart of those whom he possesses."I used to read Pascal's Pensees as I was growing up and before I became a Christian. I managed to buy another copy recently and it reminded me of the power of writing. Pascal's knowledge and wisdom drew me in to consider the possibility of God's existence.This quote captures so much of what it means to be a Christian, not exhaustively but it speaks of the experience of knowing Christ; it is not just a case of being persuaded by the depth and breadth of the evidence but there is a point when you come to know He whom you have believed.
Pascal, Pensees, 8.556
Republicanism and the Queen's Jubilee celebrations; both and not one or the other!!
It must surely be possible to see a symbiosis between the republicanism of the Thomas Payne variety and a respect for certain traditions and historical continuity so that the net result is not one or the other but both. I appreciate that for Thomas Payne and his ilk this relationship was not seen as possible but I would argue that not only is it possible but it is also necessary.
For this dual approach can temper the risk of and potential for violence in our political systems. For once you advocate and make of your system that it is one rather the other you invite each party to seek the overthrow of the other at the potential for great cost in the lives of those involved.
To patronise both approaches is to stand firm against the instinctive arrogance of mankind and temptation once in receipt of power to feel and advocate his own invincibility and therefore betray (too often unbeknown to him) his arrogance self-assertiveness. A recognition of both can tether that pride and at the least soften it's hard edges.
To throw out the past and any historical continuity is to deny the rational basis for living for it is effectively portraying those in the past as without the same ability to reason, and that therefore their reason is not available to successive generations to work upon. It would be to reject reason.
So, I say long live the best of what the Queen has been and continues to be and represents and I also say long live the best of what republicanism has been and continues to be and represents. For what we want is not a political system that meets the needs of this generation. We also want one that also learns from past generations and respects too the generations to come. We want one that respects that we are a community with diverse and different needs that should want too to pull together to work together and support each other as best we can.
For this dual approach can temper the risk of and potential for violence in our political systems. For once you advocate and make of your system that it is one rather the other you invite each party to seek the overthrow of the other at the potential for great cost in the lives of those involved.
To patronise both approaches is to stand firm against the instinctive arrogance of mankind and temptation once in receipt of power to feel and advocate his own invincibility and therefore betray (too often unbeknown to him) his arrogance self-assertiveness. A recognition of both can tether that pride and at the least soften it's hard edges.
To throw out the past and any historical continuity is to deny the rational basis for living for it is effectively portraying those in the past as without the same ability to reason, and that therefore their reason is not available to successive generations to work upon. It would be to reject reason.
So, I say long live the best of what the Queen has been and continues to be and represents and I also say long live the best of what republicanism has been and continues to be and represents. For what we want is not a political system that meets the needs of this generation. We also want one that also learns from past generations and respects too the generations to come. We want one that respects that we are a community with diverse and different needs that should want too to pull together to work together and support each other as best we can.
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
The need for friendship; peace, poise and vitality to our lives.
"And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship. Acts 20, verse 36. ESV.
Many would accept (as this passage points to) that there is a deep need for friendship in all of us and this part of the history of the early Christian Church reveals the depth of the relationships Paul had with others, made more poignant I agree as he was at this time contemplating death, which is what occurred. But the point still remains, it is surely in community and not individualism alone that this one example of many in Paul's life reveals that we can be helped especially when we need that help. A need for this is a sign of health and that we are built this way. We are not talking here about a need for approval but the kinds of friendships that care for others for their sake, that take hard work, that can bring peace, poise and vitality to our lives as human beings, surely? This pre-occupation with self, with image is surely the death knell of our societies.
Many would accept (as this passage points to) that there is a deep need for friendship in all of us and this part of the history of the early Christian Church reveals the depth of the relationships Paul had with others, made more poignant I agree as he was at this time contemplating death, which is what occurred. But the point still remains, it is surely in community and not individualism alone that this one example of many in Paul's life reveals that we can be helped especially when we need that help. A need for this is a sign of health and that we are built this way. We are not talking here about a need for approval but the kinds of friendships that care for others for their sake, that take hard work, that can bring peace, poise and vitality to our lives as human beings, surely? This pre-occupation with self, with image is surely the death knell of our societies.
Sunday, 27 May 2012
The Cameroon ship's cold chill as it lists from side to side!
There is a cold chill amongst Conservative Party MPs these days, as their ship and particularly their captain, Captain Cameroondseye badly lists from side to side, under the influence of rapidly disintegrating illusions.
The Cornish pasty bears the full barrage of their attacks, as if they care very little about what it means to be British, to have a sense of belonging to something shared. The nasty pasty party!
Then it is the turn of the elderly, many already struggling under the weight of wrecked pensions and shattered hopes, as many of those they hold dear can hardly keep their families together let alone support them in their old age; but no we will plunder them even more with a change to the tax code to make them even worse off. The vulnerable becoming more exposed!
And now we have the final finale from these Chardonnay toasting outsiders; all that matters they tell us is love, the ultimate capitulation from any concept of rational thinking; all we need is love, love, love, all we need is love, love, love! No Mr. Cameron, what we need are strong stable families, a man and a woman, united together in holy matrimony for the procreation of children for the continuation of the human race that is what marriage is legally and change it and it is no longer marriage. Just as by analogy cricket is cricket not cricket which includes hockey, for then it is something else!
The Conservative party as it stands, will not recover from this. It is finished!
The Cornish pasty bears the full barrage of their attacks, as if they care very little about what it means to be British, to have a sense of belonging to something shared. The nasty pasty party!
Then it is the turn of the elderly, many already struggling under the weight of wrecked pensions and shattered hopes, as many of those they hold dear can hardly keep their families together let alone support them in their old age; but no we will plunder them even more with a change to the tax code to make them even worse off. The vulnerable becoming more exposed!
And now we have the final finale from these Chardonnay toasting outsiders; all that matters they tell us is love, the ultimate capitulation from any concept of rational thinking; all we need is love, love, love, all we need is love, love, love! No Mr. Cameron, what we need are strong stable families, a man and a woman, united together in holy matrimony for the procreation of children for the continuation of the human race that is what marriage is legally and change it and it is no longer marriage. Just as by analogy cricket is cricket not cricket which includes hockey, for then it is something else!
The Conservative party as it stands, will not recover from this. It is finished!
Saturday, 26 May 2012
Is the UK a vulgar shallow celebrity obsessed culture?
To win the lottery, to win a reality show, is not only regarded as a serious contender for the mainline news here in the UK but you have increased your chances overnight of a degree of attention that might make you think that what you have done is important. Let me inform you briefly, it is a delusion!
There is so much of British television and news media which is vulgar and shallow and worse even celebrity obsessed, where basic instincts have found their proverbial home. To be a paragon of amoral, solipsistic ignorance is what counts! The vapid triumph of the will, of selfishness.
This too embedded a significance given to having "no consciousness of others" is sick! Superficiality, egotism are all the hallmarks of a culture that is either dead or dying, for how can it be that people are eminent without being the least bit distinguished and also somehow feeling that that is their due without anything having been done remotely connected to the word; is it just a particularly British disease?
Just pose, open your mouth, have around you the professional engineers of an image, be sure to be on a programme that must be a rating success and "boom" you have arrived! And yet mention the word intelligence, the pursuit of knowledge, the accumulated wisdom of the past and the need to cultivate them to be able to assess the present and it is as if you had announced a kind of holy war against pleasure, the pleasure dome on ice! To be famous it seems is to conform, it means to go for it, to let your personality hang out, to be given your proper rights, for then your punishment your deprivation has been wiped away.
There appears to be at the heart of government and deeply within our society little acceptance any more that there can be such a thing as a knowledge of the past to learn from, a kind of wisdom of the ages, and so there is just the present. And when that is the case then to change change change change and change is what is left, the resort of the unintelligent, which suits too well too many of our politicians for securing their jobs well into the future, too many of them the ignorant fools of a lost generation!
There is so much of British television and news media which is vulgar and shallow and worse even celebrity obsessed, where basic instincts have found their proverbial home. To be a paragon of amoral, solipsistic ignorance is what counts! The vapid triumph of the will, of selfishness.
This too embedded a significance given to having "no consciousness of others" is sick! Superficiality, egotism are all the hallmarks of a culture that is either dead or dying, for how can it be that people are eminent without being the least bit distinguished and also somehow feeling that that is their due without anything having been done remotely connected to the word; is it just a particularly British disease?
Just pose, open your mouth, have around you the professional engineers of an image, be sure to be on a programme that must be a rating success and "boom" you have arrived! And yet mention the word intelligence, the pursuit of knowledge, the accumulated wisdom of the past and the need to cultivate them to be able to assess the present and it is as if you had announced a kind of holy war against pleasure, the pleasure dome on ice! To be famous it seems is to conform, it means to go for it, to let your personality hang out, to be given your proper rights, for then your punishment your deprivation has been wiped away.
There appears to be at the heart of government and deeply within our society little acceptance any more that there can be such a thing as a knowledge of the past to learn from, a kind of wisdom of the ages, and so there is just the present. And when that is the case then to change change change change and change is what is left, the resort of the unintelligent, which suits too well too many of our politicians for securing their jobs well into the future, too many of them the ignorant fools of a lost generation!
Friday, 25 May 2012
Relativism running amok, nothing has changed, there is another way!
Hebrews 11:23-26
English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
This piece comes from a chapter citing example after example of those who have demonstrated their faith in the living God in a substantial way, with God's approval.There is here a family; a mother and a father looking after their child from birth. There is the proven privilege of belonging to and being brought up by your real, that is genetic parents. There from they loved the child so much that they hid him so he would not be killed by the King, at great personal risk to themselves.
This was because they were not afraid of the king's edict, for they were citizens of a different land, one in which God the Almighty rules and they knew that He is more to be feared than any such King.
Is it little wonder then that their son, nourished and nurtured (in a wonderful turnaround) within that true family's crucible of true faith, should go on to show forth the same quality of faith as his parents. Moses chose another away. He too chose not to be afraid of the King's edict, but to identify himself with the people of God; in their unjust persecution and slavery, and rejecting what the other world had to offer- self-indulgence, flattery, egotism, eroticism of various kinds, an arrogant assumption of the invincibility, the inviolability of man and a detestation of the very concept of anything as true, the heart of darkness, destructive of the very unity of man, relativism running amok with hatred and murder in it's stride!
For Moses had found and we can find and for many of us we have found that in Christ, there is nothing compared to His worth and to the knowledge of Him. And one day soon He will return. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Nothing has changed!
Nothing has changed!
A democracy that seeks equality in liberty!
" Democracy and socialism have nothing in common, but one word: equality. But mark the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in servitude."
Alexis de Tocqueville.
Thursday, 24 May 2012
I sat alone in the garden!
I sat alone in the garden, my eyes unable to see, my mind wrapped up in it's own labyrinth? Where am I! Who am I? And then suddenly I caught sign of my left hand, the knuckles, the bones and skin, the first time that day that I saw a small part of me!
You pick yourself up off the chair, it is an enormous effort! You drag yourself into the next chair, you fight the call to be lost again, you want to be able to live again, to be able to see, to connect with the world around!
And eventually, you see enough to breath again!
You pick yourself up off the chair, it is an enormous effort! You drag yourself into the next chair, you fight the call to be lost again, you want to be able to live again, to be able to see, to connect with the world around!
And eventually, you see enough to breath again!
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
The European deceit, the heart of darkness! For Ukraine must do as it is told!!!
The principle that we should seek for ways for the peoples of Europe to come closer together is so important; the rich diversity of customs and ethnicity and the not all rotten and wretched history and more are compelling draws.
So why am I against the EU?
It is because it's concept of democracy is rotten to the core and far from becoming an ever increasing beacon of democratic light, it has become an isolated and seemingly impregnable fortress of technocratic elites who come across as regarding it as beneath them that they should consult let alone take account of the wishes of the peoples of Europe.
The people are not to be trusted and what do they think they know anyway?
To blame Germany for their desire to stop the profligate spending of the various southern partners is ridiculous and potentially panders to the worst instincts of humankind. Germany pays it's way and helps out other nations!
The heart of darkness is the spent dogma of relativism, which has lost any true hallmark of a relativist ethic (as damaging as that doctrine is anyway) for the Brussels experiment is not about respecting difference and diversity. It is about extending it's tentacles to the economic subjugation of countries like Greece and Ireland and now like an ever growing leviathan also to the cultural subjugation of Hungary and lately Ukraine. They are expecting and insisting on a wholesale revamp of the institutions of Ukraine so it can come up to scratch with their totalitarian concepts of reality.
Wow to you, you modern day elites; we no longer want to be relegated to boot camps. We demand that you turn from your errant ways and restore to us the right to our democracies, to be trusted for who we are, your fellow human beings!
So why am I against the EU?
It is because it's concept of democracy is rotten to the core and far from becoming an ever increasing beacon of democratic light, it has become an isolated and seemingly impregnable fortress of technocratic elites who come across as regarding it as beneath them that they should consult let alone take account of the wishes of the peoples of Europe.
The people are not to be trusted and what do they think they know anyway?
To blame Germany for their desire to stop the profligate spending of the various southern partners is ridiculous and potentially panders to the worst instincts of humankind. Germany pays it's way and helps out other nations!
The heart of darkness is the spent dogma of relativism, which has lost any true hallmark of a relativist ethic (as damaging as that doctrine is anyway) for the Brussels experiment is not about respecting difference and diversity. It is about extending it's tentacles to the economic subjugation of countries like Greece and Ireland and now like an ever growing leviathan also to the cultural subjugation of Hungary and lately Ukraine. They are expecting and insisting on a wholesale revamp of the institutions of Ukraine so it can come up to scratch with their totalitarian concepts of reality.
Wow to you, you modern day elites; we no longer want to be relegated to boot camps. We demand that you turn from your errant ways and restore to us the right to our democracies, to be trusted for who we are, your fellow human beings!
The Law Society of England and Wales refuses access!
The body that represents solicitors (a species of lawyer) in England and Wales and the Government of England Wales and Northern Ireland through one of it's agencies who run the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre have it would appear unilaterally refused to allow a conference to be run by Christian Concern on the subject of marriage, both at the eleventh hour.
Just reflect on the implications of this for a short while.
Just reflect on the implications of this for a short while.
Europe at the abyss- Frantz Fanon in the Wretched of the Earth, 1961
"Come, then comrades, the European game has finally ended; we must find something different. We today can do everything, so long as we do not imitate Europe, so long as we are not obsessed by the desire to catch up with Europe.
Europe now lives at such a mad, reckless pace that she has shaken off all guidance and all reason, and she is running headlong into the abyss; we would do well to avoid it with all possible speed...
It is a question of the Third World starting a new history of Man, a history which will have regard to the sometimes prodigeous theses which Europe has put forward, but which will also forget Europe's crimes, of which the most horrible was committed in the heart of man, and consisted of a pathological tearing apart of his functions and the crumbling away of his unity. And in the framework of the collectivity there were the differentiations, the stratification and the bloodthirsty tensions fed by classes; and finally, on the immense scale of humanity, there were racial hatreds, slavery, exploitation and above all the bloodless genocide which consisted in the setting aside of fifteen thousand millions of men."
Frantz Fanon, 1961 from The Wretched of the Earth. Sourced from Les damnes de la terre by Francois Maspero editeur in 1961, first published in Great Britain by Macgibbon and Kee in 1965, transcribed by Dominic Tweedie.
Europe now lives at such a mad, reckless pace that she has shaken off all guidance and all reason, and she is running headlong into the abyss; we would do well to avoid it with all possible speed...
It is a question of the Third World starting a new history of Man, a history which will have regard to the sometimes prodigeous theses which Europe has put forward, but which will also forget Europe's crimes, of which the most horrible was committed in the heart of man, and consisted of a pathological tearing apart of his functions and the crumbling away of his unity. And in the framework of the collectivity there were the differentiations, the stratification and the bloodthirsty tensions fed by classes; and finally, on the immense scale of humanity, there were racial hatreds, slavery, exploitation and above all the bloodless genocide which consisted in the setting aside of fifteen thousand millions of men."
Frantz Fanon, 1961 from The Wretched of the Earth. Sourced from Les damnes de la terre by Francois Maspero editeur in 1961, first published in Great Britain by Macgibbon and Kee in 1965, transcribed by Dominic Tweedie.
Saturday, 19 May 2012
Is Russia on a more hopeful road than the USA?
If you take any time to reflect on the world as it is let alone your own country, you cannot but see how divided it all is. We all have to face the here and now and until the macro world situation fundamentally changes so will a number of future generations. So, what hope is there, what panacea to cure all ills is here present just waiting to be untapped to release the creative and cohesive energies of our peoples, common old humanity?
There have been and there are many threats to a peaceful co-existence amongst neighbours peoples and nations and often no easy answers. But probably one of the greatest threats currently to mankind, certainly here in the West has been and still is that rejection of the concept that there is any meaningful ability to relate with or appreciate and criticise the world around us. There is no level of thought combined with experience in our subjective senses which permits us to so engage with any degree of reality, there is no such thing as traditional standards, or meaning.
There can be a tendency to think (if your world view will permit such a term as "thought") that those who posit such a thing as "meaning that can be grasped through ideas and experience" are inevitably religious in their overtone or at least will end up there. But I do not necessarily think so and it is clear that very many across the board can and do subscribe to something of such tenets. And this is all terribly important for, depending upon where you stand in this division, we see utterly different conceptions of humanity. My contention is that one route is more likely to lead to harmony and produce curative effects for our divisions than the other.
The hallmark of the kind of subjectivism and relativism of the one camp is it's tendency to increasing social and political division and ultimately has proven disastrous time and time again; disaster that is if you care about all of humanity and treasure their best and not their worst aspects. This conclusion derives from the seeming rejection by those who share such views of any uniting, universal message about humanity and from there in their political positions. And yet out of it's very own anti universal message those who subscribe to it soon reach the limits of their own propositions when they come up against those who do not share those views and the results are too apparent. They then have to ask themselves even if unconsciously, that if they cannot impose my views on others what meaning do they have anyway but surely the views themselves cannot be right if they do not do so? Human nature being as it is, craving for meaning, usually requires of them that they should force them on others.
So in this relativist camp what you are left with is a constant emphasise on "identity" or "diversity" politics, an inability to even offer a critique that distinguishes; there can never be a committee of experts in other words even at the level of literature or any artistic evaluatory out-workings. For to enter into such a cauldron you would need to be able to explore a universal theme, that is that there are such things as universal values, connections, call it what you will that as humans we can all aspire to.
Let me perhaps give a simple illustration nowhere near any extreme spectrum.When I was in my twenties a fellow professional said to me, who happened to be and incidentally from an Asian background, although it could have been from any such
"In our community..."
Now, whilst I understand what he was saying, at the time I found it quite shocking. It was not
"We as human beings......",
it was I and our community.
Too much of the cultural diversity, ethnicity centred, identity callings, and more we see are a by product of a rejection of any universalism within and through mankind. There can be no such thing as excellence! But if that is the case is there anything left apart from a docile limp spectator movement, full of boredom and division.
But why the division accusation? It is because you are not even left with any prospect that there is anything that we can all unite behind that causes us to set aside our differences and learn to be patient and respectful of our disagreements, there is no kind of transcendence of any locality or any particular community.
There are many religious and non-religious people throughout history and today who do not share this energy sapping nihilistic vision of the democratic concept. A concept where traditional standards no longer exist, losing all of us any concept of importance, significance and which relegates the questioning of any issue to the level of the gutter. Such an approach makes worse the sense of people's difference and isolation and ratchets up the resentment at any difference that does not equate with any other difference.
The alternative is the ability to offer a group of ideas and goals that can enable us to think and act together as human beings and seek ways to share interests and aspirations and work towards them together. Universalistic goals that can bind not divide.
There have been and there are many threats to a peaceful co-existence amongst neighbours peoples and nations and often no easy answers. But probably one of the greatest threats currently to mankind, certainly here in the West has been and still is that rejection of the concept that there is any meaningful ability to relate with or appreciate and criticise the world around us. There is no level of thought combined with experience in our subjective senses which permits us to so engage with any degree of reality, there is no such thing as traditional standards, or meaning.
There can be a tendency to think (if your world view will permit such a term as "thought") that those who posit such a thing as "meaning that can be grasped through ideas and experience" are inevitably religious in their overtone or at least will end up there. But I do not necessarily think so and it is clear that very many across the board can and do subscribe to something of such tenets. And this is all terribly important for, depending upon where you stand in this division, we see utterly different conceptions of humanity. My contention is that one route is more likely to lead to harmony and produce curative effects for our divisions than the other.
The hallmark of the kind of subjectivism and relativism of the one camp is it's tendency to increasing social and political division and ultimately has proven disastrous time and time again; disaster that is if you care about all of humanity and treasure their best and not their worst aspects. This conclusion derives from the seeming rejection by those who share such views of any uniting, universal message about humanity and from there in their political positions. And yet out of it's very own anti universal message those who subscribe to it soon reach the limits of their own propositions when they come up against those who do not share those views and the results are too apparent. They then have to ask themselves even if unconsciously, that if they cannot impose my views on others what meaning do they have anyway but surely the views themselves cannot be right if they do not do so? Human nature being as it is, craving for meaning, usually requires of them that they should force them on others.
So in this relativist camp what you are left with is a constant emphasise on "identity" or "diversity" politics, an inability to even offer a critique that distinguishes; there can never be a committee of experts in other words even at the level of literature or any artistic evaluatory out-workings. For to enter into such a cauldron you would need to be able to explore a universal theme, that is that there are such things as universal values, connections, call it what you will that as humans we can all aspire to.
Let me perhaps give a simple illustration nowhere near any extreme spectrum.When I was in my twenties a fellow professional said to me, who happened to be and incidentally from an Asian background, although it could have been from any such
"In our community..."
Now, whilst I understand what he was saying, at the time I found it quite shocking. It was not
"We as human beings......",
it was I and our community.
Too much of the cultural diversity, ethnicity centred, identity callings, and more we see are a by product of a rejection of any universalism within and through mankind. There can be no such thing as excellence! But if that is the case is there anything left apart from a docile limp spectator movement, full of boredom and division.
But why the division accusation? It is because you are not even left with any prospect that there is anything that we can all unite behind that causes us to set aside our differences and learn to be patient and respectful of our disagreements, there is no kind of transcendence of any locality or any particular community.
There are many religious and non-religious people throughout history and today who do not share this energy sapping nihilistic vision of the democratic concept. A concept where traditional standards no longer exist, losing all of us any concept of importance, significance and which relegates the questioning of any issue to the level of the gutter. Such an approach makes worse the sense of people's difference and isolation and ratchets up the resentment at any difference that does not equate with any other difference.
The alternative is the ability to offer a group of ideas and goals that can enable us to think and act together as human beings and seek ways to share interests and aspirations and work towards them together. Universalistic goals that can bind not divide.
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Bigot, the cache of all caches! Riposte away, you cachites, truth will prevail.
So here we go!
"Marriage should only be between a man and a woman."
"What you bigot, no, you nasty bigot!"
This exchange and many like them have a rhythm about them that has become almost like an old friend. I have kind of got used to it; it is as if the sender of the riposte has stored it in his or her cache and so all you have to do is to request it, to say marriage should be between a man and a woman. In fact you can often read the cache straight away because it is as if it is imprinted on their very lips, such that too often you think to yourself,
" Here come the cachites!"
The speed of the riposte seems to make the riposter feel a sense of legitimacy, a kind of suavity of technocratism; save that the only thing is that you feel underneath it all the deep sadness of the social divisiveness it can bring. The use of language to try to convey superiority, to trash the reason, to gut the fish before you!
I was looking through a dictionary recently, a very respectable one of course, and I thought, yes go on look up the word "bigot"! I was shocked, and that says something for a working class lad like me for it said this.
" An often used term to convey that someone is thoughtful, well ordered in their thoughts, kind and seeking the good of the other."
I just could not believe it, but then I realised, so much of language has been re-ordered and engineered these days, but at least in this instance I was pleased that truth had prevailed. So, when someone next calls you a bigot, be warned, you are thoughtful, well-ordered in your thoughts, kind and seeking the good of the other.
"Marriage should only be between a man and a woman."
"What you bigot, no, you nasty bigot!"
This exchange and many like them have a rhythm about them that has become almost like an old friend. I have kind of got used to it; it is as if the sender of the riposte has stored it in his or her cache and so all you have to do is to request it, to say marriage should be between a man and a woman. In fact you can often read the cache straight away because it is as if it is imprinted on their very lips, such that too often you think to yourself,
" Here come the cachites!"
The speed of the riposte seems to make the riposter feel a sense of legitimacy, a kind of suavity of technocratism; save that the only thing is that you feel underneath it all the deep sadness of the social divisiveness it can bring. The use of language to try to convey superiority, to trash the reason, to gut the fish before you!
I was looking through a dictionary recently, a very respectable one of course, and I thought, yes go on look up the word "bigot"! I was shocked, and that says something for a working class lad like me for it said this.
" An often used term to convey that someone is thoughtful, well ordered in their thoughts, kind and seeking the good of the other."
I just could not believe it, but then I realised, so much of language has been re-ordered and engineered these days, but at least in this instance I was pleased that truth had prevailed. So, when someone next calls you a bigot, be warned, you are thoughtful, well-ordered in your thoughts, kind and seeking the good of the other.
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
The death of family, recovery?
I listened at length today to someone who is suffering both physically and emotionally. A key reason is that neither of her two grown up children are talking to her, their communications have gone dead. I cannot go into the detail.
A friend of ours heard recently that his brother had committed suicide leaving a wife and children. I cannot go into the detail.
A mother and a brother suffering the dreadful emotional distress of separation, in life and in death. What can you say to either? Listening, yes, to relieve the pressure of the isolation and shattered dreams, and speaking, yes, to comfort, to offer hope of a kind! Giving your time, sending something practical to cheer, a card even.
To bring into that situation a concern that at the very least tells that person that they do not have to bear these things alone, there are others around to try to support and care. It is not difficult to do or to find the words to say if you really care!
A friend of ours heard recently that his brother had committed suicide leaving a wife and children. I cannot go into the detail.
A mother and a brother suffering the dreadful emotional distress of separation, in life and in death. What can you say to either? Listening, yes, to relieve the pressure of the isolation and shattered dreams, and speaking, yes, to comfort, to offer hope of a kind! Giving your time, sending something practical to cheer, a card even.
To bring into that situation a concern that at the very least tells that person that they do not have to bear these things alone, there are others around to try to support and care. It is not difficult to do or to find the words to say if you really care!
Monday, 14 May 2012
Obama’s Choice — and Ours by William Kristol
Obama’s Choice — and Ours
"...All one can ask is the chance to make one’s case. All the American people can ask is the chance to decide, rather than having an answer imposed on them by social or judicial elites. Thanks to Vice President Joe Biden, who spurred President Obama to stop “evolving” and to come forward and state his views like a man, there will be a clear choice this November between the candidates and the parties on the issue of marriage. Defenders of traditional marriage need to speak now, or forever hold their peace."
"...All one can ask is the chance to make one’s case. All the American people can ask is the chance to decide, rather than having an answer imposed on them by social or judicial elites. Thanks to Vice President Joe Biden, who spurred President Obama to stop “evolving” and to come forward and state his views like a man, there will be a clear choice this November between the candidates and the parties on the issue of marriage. Defenders of traditional marriage need to speak now, or forever hold their peace."
Gay marriage: redrawing the American political map | Frank Furedi | spiked
Gay marriage: redrawing the American political map | Frank Furedi | spiked
"..to annihilate morally people they despise..."
"..to annihilate morally people they despise..."
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