...And We've Lost The Plot Too

I am some-or-other sort of an economically left-wing social libertarian. Don't press me on the details. I am also an atheist: OK, I'm on on the atheistic wing of agnosticism if you want to be picky. Whatever, it seems to me a sad commentary on the present mindset of the liberal-left that I am a) pleased as punch that the "liberal" Richard Dawkins's book attacking God has been pasted by the critics for the sub sixth-form debating society rant it appears to be and that b) I find myself broadly in sympathy with biker boy former Daily Telegraph editor Martin Newland when he writes:

"I go to mass on Sundays, and I see it as one of my most important duties to bring my children up in the faith. I wear a crucifix as a symbol of my religious convictions and as protection against harm. Every night when I turn in I wander around my children's beds crossing their foreheads, invoking the Holy Family to protect them while they sleep. I am also quite sane by the way. I have worked all my life in journalism, and climbed the professional ladder with a keen eye for self-advancement. I love to laugh and swear and I drink too much as well.

It is possible to be religious and rational. To believe in the transcendent but to savour every challenge and joy thrust up by life. If God became human, it is easy to understand how the total human condition, from cleaning your teeth, to driving to work, to going to parties, is graced. But I feel a kinship with those Muslim women because the world is full of Jack Straws, who imply by their actions that religiosity entails something vaguely misguided or sinister, something that is ill at ease with public life...

Post-Christian Europe believes it has done with the 'Christian thing'. But our refusal to understand faith and Europe's faith heritage denies us an opportunity to understand why we act as we do in response to issues ranging from veils in constituency surgeries, to the European constitution, to Turkish accession. These women did not wear their veils as a sign of "separation" from society; they were rather rendered separate by Straw."

The rest of it is here.

Comments

[Francis Sedgemore]

"sub sixth-form debating society"

Dave - Dawkins' book may be crap, but "sub sixth-form blah" is worthy of a Comment is Free troll. Stop it at once! As for Dawkins, the best critique I've read so far is by Mary Midgley in last week's New Scientist (subscription required).

[Dave Hill]

"You know, Kev, sometimes I think if there was no religion there would be no wars.When you think about it, religion is at the root of all the troubles in the world. And it's supposed to be about love. Gets you thinking, doesn't it? A swift half of Old Nutbugger before we go? Don't mind if I do..."

[Littlebear]

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

He was a bit ahead of his time.

[Francis Sedgemore]

"Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can"

...wrote the man who bought a neighbouring apartment in the Dakota building just to store his and Yoko's collection of fur coats.

[Noosa Lee]

Mmm. I read the Newland piece and thought it was very reasoned. Believing in something is fairly fundamental to our human psyche - whether it's a sky-dwelling diety, the tooth fairy or just ourselves.

[Szwagier]

Well said, Francis. Alongside "All You Need Is Love", wrote the man who quite clearly also needed a bulletproof vest.

[Dave Hill]

Thanks for these comments, people. I'm trying to come up wth something new and fresh to write on this theme and will post here and/or on CiF if and when I succeed.