I would like to think that my survival instincts are quite finely tuned; somewhere between cowardice and neurosis.
I’m normally the first out of a building when the fire-alarm goes off. I happily abandon my shopping and proceed at speed to the nearest exit. Yes, I know they normally go off by themselves but I’d rather not take that chance. I’m always surprised to see everyone else blithely carry on filling their trolleys. Continue reading “Instincts of self preservation.”
There as been a great deal of discussion recently concerning faith. Numerous members here have expressed their scorn for those who adhere to any religious beliefs or hold some sort of faith in there being a supernatural entity and a purpose to life that extends beyond the laws of nature. I often think the critics are being too harsh in their judgements. Faith is not an object that can be selected from the shelf like a grocery item to place in a shopping trolley. You cannot choose faith; faith chooses you, just as you cannot choose to love or choose to hope. They are all as much a part of human nature as is the desire for life itself. Continue reading “Love, Hope and Faith”
Some weeks ago I booked three tickets to see /hear Richard Dawkins at the Woodstock Literary Festival, not knowing the day would be complicated by illness. That’s the way things are, I guess at the start of a new term: exposure to new bugs after weeks of holiday. Continue reading “The Greatest Show on Earth?”
The case against the notion of historical objectivity is like the case against international law, or international morality; that it does not exist.
Sir Isaiah Berlin
Berlin was a philosopher and a political theorist.
I have a very vague recollection of some of his ideas, but from memory, the most interesting one was his dismissal of the idea that there was only one sort of right answer, or universally “correct” system of ethics. He was not talking about the physical world we inhabit, which can to some extent be defined by science or mathematics, but rather the inter-reaction of human beings which cannot be determined, or categorised using the same “rules”.
His work was naturally influenced by events at the time; the fight against Communism and Fascism, but one does wonder what he would have made of the present battle of ideologies.
It would also be interesting to see how future historians view these present conflicts, and which ethical values will they use to do so, but I doubt any of us will be around to find out.
On my way back from Bucharest to Moscow I had to transit through Munich. Since it was a short trip, I was travelling with hand-carried luggage only. In my washing kit I had a bottle of moisturiser. (After 25 years of running around in the open, the first seven in a semi-permanent haze of diesel smoke, if I don’t moisturise regularly I turn into a remarkably good stand-in for the amazing Lizard Man.)
There is a part of the game of cricket that many foreigners don’t get, even people from other cricket mad countries. When I lived in America, Indians would try to taunt me about the latest defeat for England, but for me cricket always meant sitting in a deckchair at a village game, slightly disorientated from the alcohol and unable to get out of the chair except by slowly toppling over sideways and collapsing in a heap on the grass. Sometimes something would happen on the field and an uncertain applause would trickle around the edge of the green as the spectators tried to figure out what had transpired.
Continue reading “Sport”
Islam and democracy
The practice—and the theory
Can rule by the people be reconciled with the sovereignty of Allah?
“TURKEY sets a fantastic example for nations around the world to see where it’s possible to have a democracy coexist with a great religion like Islam.” Those were George Bush’s words of welcome, this week, to Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul.
This was in 2008, but is this still valid?
These days I am up before dawn so I can get out on the bike at first light. There are several reasons for this. For one thing the temperature is beginning to creep up; we generally only get one week of spring in this neck of the woods. Last week I was still wearing thermals and a waterproof. Today I set off in t-shirt and shorts and the sweat was pouring off almost immediately.
Continue reading “Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble”
Part Three: Strangers from afar
One sunny day in early spring
Monty heard his mobile ring.
Half asleep and still abed,
He answered, and a small voice said:
“Have you room for any more?
They’ve just arrived and very poor.
They came ashore not long ago;
They seem quite lost and spirits low: beware, you have been warned->
I used to be a huge fan of Richard Dawkins. His masterpiece, The Selfish Gene, was massively significant in my life. When I read it in 1986 I recognised a man who was able to express in clear, concise and scientific terms, beliefs that I had nurtured for some years. Almost everything he wrote thereafter was eagerly consumed by me. He struck me as being a brilliant, gentle and humourous man who simply wanted to tell the truth without pushing any personal cause. So strong was my admiration for him that I would sometimes say in conversations about him, “Dawkins is wrong to say there is no God. Dawkins is God!” Childish perhaps; designed to provoke, probably; sincere, certainly. So when a friend of mine who had met him described him as a self-satisfied prick, I felt personally insulted. Continue reading “Richard Dawkins loses the plot”
Boadicea's Chariot 
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