Saturday 28 April 2012

A 3rd Nostril, A 2nd Arse.

Note the similarities? You function perfectly well without these added extras. Might I suggest that any and all forms of religious belief also fall under this umbrella? I hear a billion voices cry out in uproar. What do I do without my faith, my deeply held beliefs, the teachings that guide and inspire and comfort me? The simple answer is that you find some other way to manage. Brutal, I know, but take pause for a minute and ask yourself why I should care about what amounts to an emotional comfort blanket, a buffer against some of natures harsher realities. We die. We're finite. This doesn't last. And for most of us this is as scary as hell. If its any consolation I'm no different. My destruction doesn't fill me with pink and fluffy feelings that radiate for all to see. But I will say that it also inspires me more than anything else. Every waking minute counts. Every second, every blink, every sense and sound. Right now you're amazing, able to do and apprehend things that beggar all belief. You have a mind and a body and at least the illusion of free will, and there's a world full of potential and enjoyment in touching distance. Reality is the ultimate thrill ride, so why do so many want to draw a veil of ignorance across it? Why do so many choose to perceive dimly when the truth is plain and wonderful? What does a mind addled with supernatural lies bring to the party? It doesn't bring intellectual honestly. It doesn't bring courage. It doesn't bring illumination. To hold a religious belief is to willingly consent to a fog of ignorance, to live in a world where the horizon is shrouded in the putrid mists of falsehood. I remember my final days as a believer. Awful, awful days. I knew I'd built my life upon bad information and huckster promises. I knew the teachings were reheated and improvised and unfit for purpose. Yet I clung on like a man to a soggy piece of ocean driftwood, fearful that if I let go I'd be adrift, bereft, robbed of all purpose and direction. Yet with time came the knowledge that I hadn't lost anything. At least nothing worth having. All I'd done was shed a mothball eaten second skin that was flea infested and scratchy. You see, if you want truth about reality then religion cannot help you. It can bring false comfort, and it can make false promises, but it can't do what it ultimately claims to do. It's not an accurate guide to history, or morality, or just about anything. At best it's a social structure providing emotional support, a refuge from life's storm tossed waters. I understand it's appeal. Life is a bit scary sometimes. The idea of not having to deal with it alone must be a tremendous draw. 

Friday 20 April 2012

The Unseen Ocean

I can’t help myself. It’s a great story. Scientists say that the notoriously dry continent of Africa is, in fact, sitting atop a vast reservoir of ground water. So much water it exceeds the amount on the surface by 100 times. Across the continent over 300 million people are said not to have access to safe drinking water, and we have all seen the horrific famines that have caused the deaths of so many for what seems forever. What are your first thoughts when you learn of this new development? I must confess, and call me mischievous, but I couldn’t help but contemplate what a perfect shit God must be to allow such a vast, life saving resource to go undetected for so long. I known, I know, I don’t believe in the vile old thug of the Bible, or any Gods for that matter, but if I did what other conclusion could I possible arrive at? On the surface, children with distended bellies curl up in foetal agony as starvation gnaws at their dishevelled bodies. Mothers beat their chests and weep tears as entire families are reduced to skin and bone. And all this time, whilst all this unfolds, beneath their very feet swills the answer.   If I were a Christian I would be scratching my head right now. What kind of a God creates the answer and yet conceals it from those most desperate for it? How many prayers have gone unanswered? How many children have gasped their last breath awaiting the mercy and succour of their God? I expect the faithful will find some absurd rationale to make sense of this. Let’s face it, they always do. Anything to convince them somewhere out there, beyond our senses, there’s an all loving father figure watching us and brimming with a depthless love. I am a father myself. I wouldn’t deny my children a life saving resource. And I wouldn’t mock humanity in the way the Christian God appears to. And if such a being does exist, the only title deserving of him is sadist.

Tuesday 17 April 2012

The Creature In The Mirror

Many people feel like they don't fit in.  Some people really don't. I know this because I'm one of them. It's an admission many years in the making, and one that I've had to come to terms with. It's not that I don't form connections, or have close friends. It's just I'm a person who will never occupy the centre ground because I know I'm at my best around the fringes. The late Christopher Hitchens said that one should seek out dispute for its own sake, warning that the grave provides plenty of time for silence. It's a statement that resonates, and a motivation not to settle in the calm waters of convention. Conventional bores me. Bores me wildly, insanely, beyond any adequate description. It ranks alongside polite conversation on my list of no go areas. For me, my overwhelming desire is to be genuine and authentic, to identify my strengths and weaknesses and root out behaviour that makes me less of a man. One area I feel I've slipped is how I talk about others when they are not around. I always prided myself that I would never say something to a third party that I wouldn't say to the person themselves. Ive failed to achieve this and found myself doing the opposite, and I want to challenge myself to do better, to be a better man. I knew it was an issue when I bumped into somebody the other day, and instead of enjoying the interaction I felt a guilt about things I'd said about them to others. This isn't good enough, and I didn't like the feeling that I was being deceitful. Which is why I'm working on it. The realist in me of course understands that's it impossible not to have opinions, but I do need to monitor when and how I share them. I want to be able to look others in the eye and for them to be able to trust my integrity. I've let myself down and I'm going to do better. You see, to do otherwise would be so hypocritical, all the more so because trust and authenticity are qualities I love in others. So not to have these qualities myself would be a bit rich. Anyway, I was rambling on about convention before I lost the plot and became all introspective and self loathing. I'm actually self effacing rather than self loathing, which is a completely different thing.  I wonder, throwing this outward for a minute, what aspects about yourself would you change? And how would you going about doing so? I'm assuming that nobody who reads this is claiming to be perfect, which means there's bound to be something you wish to could either do better or not do at all? Come on? I've fessed up to some of my failings. Where are you at? How real are you being about yourself. Any area in your life where the blinkers are on? Things you find hard to face? Or plain don't want to?

Sunday 15 April 2012

The Cult Of Bearded Goons

When considering what should be done with the body of Osama Bin Laden, I once suggested we should dress him up as Lady Gaga and parachute his corpse in over Mecca.  I should like to apologise unreservedly for this remark  .  .  .  .  . to Lady Gaga. It was unfair of me to sully this artists image by associating her with perhaps the greatest bearded goon ever to buckle on sandals. Talking of bearded goons, I can't say I was surprised by today's news of a Taliban offensive in Afghanistan. Between you and me I find everything about this religiously inspired cult offensive, but then we should expect no less from a sect that believes throwing battery acid in the face of women is an appropriate punishment for females who are seeking an education. I might as well speak plainly; these people are dangerous to everything good and decent in society. If we consent to their ideals the world in which we live will be a duller and dumber place. All our laws will come courtesy of the Koran, and our democratic society will become a theocratic one. Females can look forward to a life of 2nd class status, wholly subservient to their male superiors. I've always liked dominant women so I'm particularly bothered by this. Ok, so looking beyond my sexual inclinations I hope we can all recognise what a vile world a Taliban inspired one would look like. Ancient mythology and morality preferred over reason and evidence and science. That's a lethal cocktail of stupidity that all people should be active in the fight against. In fact the war against magical thinking can and should be waged on multiple fronts. I'm not one for extending respect to religion and I'm always delighted to challenge those who make absurd claims about the nature of reality. Granted, the middle class Christians of England are mostly a benign bunch, largely due to them having culled most of their morality from secular enlightenment thinkers, but it's still ok to put them on the spot and get them asking themselves some tough questions about reality. I don't pretend that a world without religion would be a perfect one, but there's nothing to suggest it would be any worse. If you doubt this consider nations such as Sweden and Denmark, both of whom rank incredibly low on scales of religiosity, but nonetheless report high levels of social cohesion, tolerance, and fairness. I think it's high time we spared a long look as these nations, and perhaps learn from them. Above all, we need to accept that, as Sam Harris once observed, no society ever destroyed itself by being too reasonable.

Tuesday 10 April 2012

The Thing About Kids

I had never really thought much about having kids. They seemed awfully time consuming. I'd have to lose a lot of my freedom and energy to raise them, and the whole thing just never really flickered on my radar.  And then I met Joy, and Joy loved kids and was astonishingly gifted around them. And part of being with Joy meant accepting that at some point along life's highway children would be on the agenda. On reflection, staring back and having been a father for over ten years, whenever somebody asks me how I find the experience I provide a two word answer that is often greeted with a blank expression. "Inexplicably worthwhile," I tell them. It takes a few seconds to get the measure of that statement, but when it sinks in people usually venture a smile.  It's true. For all the work (and there's lots of it), and for all the time they consume (which is, if you intend to do it properly, a lot) the raising of kids can be a quite beautiful, albeit chaotic experience. From the moment your darling wife propels the new arrival from her uterus into the bright glare of reality, your life has to, and indeed should change. Your world will both contract and expand at the same time. Contract because you've less time, and expand because you will experience things that turn you into a different person than the one you were before. The thing with kids is that they are purpose built to suck every last ounce of selfishness from your mortal soul, which of course is a really good thing. Not that it always feels like it. Heck no, often there are days when you just want breathing space, the  chance to step back from it all, do something for yourself without having to think about someone else.  But here's the rub. If you've ever held your own newborn you know, at the very core of your being, that you've done something utterly incredible. Whatever else you fail or succeed at in life, you have given another life their shot. This blank canvas that you hold, if cared for and encouraged, has the capacity to do things that can turn the world on its head. If you doubt this think of the most famous, most capable person you know. Imagine them in all their brilliance, and then remind yourself that once upon a time their mother held them to their breast, did everything for them. You want to talk about privilege? Then know that you may one day, if you have not already done so, have the privilege of giving another human being a platform. With your guidance they can grow, and if we just refrain from dumping too much of our foibles on them and give them the room to develop you will, I assure you, see and learn things that will blow you away. My girls are aged 7 and 10 years respectively, and I say without hesitation that I learn from them daily. More than that, for all my personal faults (God where to begin?) I know that I can go to my grave having achieved something wonderful, perhaps even transcendent. It's not for everyone, but for those of like mind, enjoy the ride, and do hold on to your hats.

Saturday 7 April 2012

No Free Lunch

I read a sensational article in a local newspaper today. It was from a member of the public who had endured no less than eight anti social neighbours over the course of several years. The poor guy had run the gamut of abusive behaviour, ranging from verbal abuse to thefts from his property, as well as other staples such as excessive noise and the dumping of rubbish in his front garden. All the various occupants, the variety of which were evicted after a painful and debilitating process, appeared to be from similar stock. Unemployed, living on benefits, often caught up in a spiral of addiction and chaotic behaviour. If we're being honest we all know people like this. They rely on our taxes and our collective goodwill to survive. I think that this alone entitles us to an honest say as to how to tackle the problems they create and the misery they cause. At the risk of being labelled a bit too militant I do happen to think that people should be expected to make a contribution to society if they wish to live off it. I'm open to what form this could take, but manual work of some kind would seem a perfectly reasonable expectation, even if it may appear a bit menial. It's not my intent to demean or humiliate, but what we see right now are people lazing around in the day and then often operating in what is tactfully called the night economy when the lights dim.  These same people are often involved in a variety of criminal activity, often to fund whatever addiction that has befallen them. And what we see is a cycle of destructive behaviour, a cyclone of chaos that often sucks in those living close to them. That's people like you and me, the honest taxpayer who takes a certain pride in supporting themselves and their families. It's our lives that are soiled by the lifestyles of these disenfranchised few, us who have to lock our doors, leave nothing to chance. I don't see how this can ever be right, and only a cultural sea change is going to improve the problem. I long to see a society where everybody cherishes their children and raises them to be decent and keen to contribute to the greater good. Kids with self respect and a respect for others, along with a clear understanding that success in life has to be engineered, earned, laboured for. I fear that all too often some sections of society have come to expect a free bail out at every turn. It genuinely seems that some even expect that we will fund them indefinitely. This is a destructive expectation and something that needs usurping root and branch. All members of society, wherever good health allows, should be expected and encouraged to work hard and play fair, and to understand that nothing comes easy or free. It's the mindset we have to change, we have to cultivate in everyone a clear understanding that it's not acceptable to sit with outstretched hands and await service. That's not how any successful society functions. Heck, it's a recipe for societal disaster. No, the days of easy handouts and unrealistic expectations need to be swept away, otherwise we're going to become lethargic, immobile, and unfit to call ourselves Great Britain any more.

Forget About Reality, It's Easter!!

I often wonder what is required to cling on to religious belief when all the evidence indicates there’s no truth to it. Perhaps I have a unique perspective on this; I continue to know a lot of Christians and am very aware of how their worldview informs their lives. One of the observations that most troubles me is the active denial of facts, or rather a willingness to ignore them in favour of pre-existing belief. Take, by way of example the uncontroversial historical truth that the Gospels contain a bucket load of additional material not found in the original manuscripts. Famous versus such as “Let he whom is without sin cast the first stone” are recognised to be later additions, yet such wisdom is regularly quoted as though it passed from the lips of Jesus. In fact, I suppose more troubling is how little and how infrequently people of faith are inclined to audit themselves? It seems that when new information, information that challenges faith is presented it has all the stick-ability of water off glass. Surely this amounts to a wilful rejection of facts, in which case this sadly erodes my respect. I mean, what kind of a world do we wish to live in? One where facts matter? Where evidence and reason is esteemed and used as a light to guide the way? Or one where we hang our coats to a set of religious convictions which vary depending on the particular faith tradition you were born into? Would you fly in an aircraft that the pilot claimed to fly by faith? Or by a surgeon claiming to heal you by evoking the name of Jesus? Would you employ a plumber asserting they can fix your boiler using prayer alone? No, of course not; you’d want assurances that those making the claim have something tangible to back it up. Yet we continue to regard faith as something virtuous, as some kind of marker to good standing and moral fibre. Tell me, is it moral to reject a truthful claim because it makes you uneasy, and may require you to think another way, or give up a cherished conviction? Because to me that’s sounds an awful lot like lying to yourself, and if you can lie to yourself what’s to stop you lying to others? For my part, I don’t for a second think that Christian’s are habitual liars, but I do suggest that they have distrust and contempt for truth that should cause us to be wary. Perhaps you think me harsh? I don’t see what’s harsh about wanting to have honest dealings with other people? I don’t see the harshness in bringing self defeating behaviour into the open so people can take a closer look at themselves. Thing is, I am by no means certain that truth is very important to many Christians, which given that they make the outrageous claim that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, is quite something. It cannot be said loud enough or often enough that truth doesn’t care how we feel about it. It is what it is, and thank goodness for it. It’s such a tragedy to see it treated with such shallow disregard.

Thursday 5 April 2012

Real?

Many people feel like they don't fit in.  Some people really don't. I know this because I'm one of them. It's an admission many years in the making, and one that I've had to come to terms with. It's not that I don't form connections, or have close friends. It's just I'm a person who will never occupy the centre ground because I know I'm at my best around the fringes. The late Christopher Hitchens said that one should seek out dispute for its own sake, warning that the grave provides plenty of time for silence. It's a statement that resonates, and a motivation not to settle in the calm waters of convention. Conventional bores me. Bores me wildly, insanely, beyond any adequate description. It ranks alongside polite conversation on my list of no go areas. For me, my overwhelming desire is to be genuine and authentic, to identify my strengths and weaknesses and root out behaviour that makes me less of a man. One area I feel I've slipped is how I talk about others when they are not around. I always prided myself that I would never say something to a third party that I wouldn't say to the person themselves. Ive failed to achieve this and found myself doing the opposite, and I want to challenge myself to do better, to be a better man. I knew it was an issue when I bumped into somebody the other day, and instead of enjoying the interaction I felt a guilt about things I'd said about them to others. This isn't good enough, and I didn't like the feeling that I was being deceitful. Which is why I'm working on it. The realist in me of course understands that's it impossible not to have opinions, but I do need to monitor when and how I share them. I want to be able to look others in the eye and for them to be able to trust my integrity. I've let myself down and I'm going to do better. You see, to do otherwise would be so hypocritical, all the more so because trust and authenticity are qualities I love in others. So not to have these qualities myself would be a bit rich. Anyway, I was rambling on about convention before I lost the plot and became all introspective and self loathing. I'm actually self effacing rather than self loathing, which is a completely different thing.  I wonder, throwing this outward for a minute, what aspects about yourself would you change? And how would you going about doing so? I'm assuming that nobody who reads this is claiming to be perfect, which means there's bound to be something you wish to could either do better or not do at all? Come on? I've fessed up to some of my failings. Where are you at? How real are you being about yourself. Any area in your life where the blinkers are on? Things you find hard to face? Or plain don't want to?

Monday 2 April 2012

Line Of Fire

Another day and we have another shooting at an American High School. I’d use the term tedious if it wasn’t for the human cost.
I confess I’m perplexed by this American fixation with the “right” to bear arms. I know something of the cultural back story but it seems to me that this “right” has long since passed its sell by date? It’s always struck me as horribly obvious that when you allow weapons to pass relatively freely within a human population things can go awry. True, we all need to protect ourselves from time to time, but when we flood the streets with guns I fear that we just increase the danger. When humans get scared quite often the animal bares its teeth; we revert to brute violence and betray our humble, poorly evolved origins. This propensity to violence is thankfully latent in many, but don’t kid yourself into thinking it’s gone for good. You put a person in enough fear for their own wellbeing and you’ll learn quickly they may do things that under normal conditions they wouldn't dream of.
Perhaps I’m not the best person to speak on this issue and perhaps I’m missing some nuances. But people who don’t have guns can’t shoot others with them, which I think is a good thing.
On a slightly different note there’s also plenty we can do to reduce the chances of being a victim that don’t require us to produce a firearm. Common sense is your friend here, make no mistake. Don’t wander into places you’re unsure about. Don’t put yourself in the way of harm. And if a confrontation flares then walk away if you are able. It might sting your pride but not much else, and more importantly you live to fight another day. Of course there will always be scenario’s that defy our efforts to manage, but the general principles remain sound. There’s a lot we can do to avoid being the victim, and conversely to ensure that we don’t make others the victim of our own impulsive fears.

Sunday 1 April 2012

In Group, Out Group

In group, out group. You can probably blame most of the worlds problems on our propensity to segregate ourselves in this way. We seem to have evolved an intrinsic mistrust of people and cultures that think and act differently to us.
I'm a repeat offender in this respect, and it's not a quality I like about myself. I don't even draw consolation from being just like almost everyone else in this regard; I feel I should know better, think smarter.
Thing is, if you subscribe, as you should, to the idea that every single living thing derives from a common ancestor, and if you accept also that the biological differences between even the most diverse humans are negligible, it should put to bed any qualms about race or colour. Humans are genetically so alike that to think of ourselves as different is just plain daft. Yet we do just that; we organise ourselves into groups, tribes, cultures, creating countless human tributaries that seem to have forgotten that we're actually still part of the same great river of life. We often mistrust outsiders, devaluing them before we ever really know a great deal. And we all do it, and it's been the cause of a lot of angst down the years. I wonder what it's going to take for us to truly accept diversity without fear? I wonder if we're even capable, if I'm capable of achieving this noble goal? What would it take for me to live and let live and genuinely mean it? To be accepting of people's differences rather than wary?
As I reflect, the best I can do is to try living my life without doing so at the expense of other people. Impossible I know, but I figure that if I at least have a go I'll make some inroads. I have strong opinions and I don't want to be so insipid that I never speak out, but perhaps there's a more sensible balance to be struck as to how this plays out? It's a funny thing being an individual yet also part of some greater entity. We shouldn't be sheep and we all have to operate in the marketplace of ideas. For my part, so long as your worldview or actions don't impinge on my liberty then you can live as you please. And as long as your actions don't cause harm, either directly or indirectly to your fellow creatures, you should be free to express yourself. Its when we seek to cross that line where problems begin; when we try to impose ourselves with undue aggression that we start to bump and grate against each other.
I want people to have rich and satisfying lives. I want to see the highest good for the greatest number. In order to achieve anything even remotely close perhaps we all have to admit that as much as we might like to, we can't have it all our own way?