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8月24日 AngryI read this story today, and it just made me angry:
Aside from the utter senseless loss of life involved here, and the unbelievable grief this woman's family must be experiencing right now, we have a situation where a group of youths will be detained for a brief period of their life at her Majesty's pleasure, only to be able to carry on with their life (or commit further crimes) in the future. 8月22日 Musings whilst sipping a gin and tonicIt's been a while since I have written anyting for my blog, but I have had family from out-of-town staying for a few weeks. So what with having to keep them and the new kid entertained, this has meant time has been limited and the old blog has had to be put on the back-burner for a bit... But now that they have all left, and I have more time to devote to things (other than changing nappies, washing clothes, and cleaning up sick), I can relax with with my gin and tonic in hand - ready to begin working on the trusty old website once again  8月13日 What's the pointWhat’s the point | Over the weekend, services were held to remember Madeline McCann, the four year old girl who disappeared whilst on a family holiday in Portugal over 100 days ago, as well as other missing children (see Prayers to mark missing Madeline, BBC News). Now I have no reason to doubt the sincerity of all those involved in these services and the tremendous amount of good this must have done for her parents to know that people (and God) cares about their plight, but did anyone stop to think about the point of actually doing this... | I mean, prayers are being said at this time to a God who is believed to be capable of doing something to help the McCanns, and maybe even guide the police in finding Madeline. But if so, the question surely begs as to why God did not prevent her being taken in the first place. Bearing in mind that in the Judeo-Christian tradition this is the God who parted the Red Sea, who caused the walls of Jericho to fall down and who raised the dead on several occaisions... one wonders why this God could not have prevented one small little girl from being taken from her room... My point is this - If you believe God can do something now, then why not before? One also has to question the value of praying to a God who is traditionally believed to be all-knowing... I mean, if God saw Madeline being taken, then God surely knows where she is and who did this. Again, we are dealing here with a God who has revealed knowledge to people in the past, and who many people believe still speaks today. So the question begs again, if God knows... why is God not revealing this to people? So it seems we are left with the following: > If God could have prevented Madeline from being taken, knows where she is, but chooses not to 'get involved' - then what is the point of praying to God about all this? or... > If God cannot do anything, does not know where she is and does not know who took her - again, what is the point of praying to God about this situation? And if God does not know anything about where Madeline is, I would argue that a far more productive thing to do might be to simply write a letter of support to the McCann's - rather than simply sitting around in church telling God about it! 8月10日 Crime and compassion?There's been a lot of discussion about crime in my house these last few days. For a start, someone decided to rumage around our car yesterday morning, trying to find god knows what amongst the sweet papers and petrol receipts. It also appears that someone we know has had their email address book hacked, for we are now the unwitting recipients of numerous emails telling us daily that we have won lotteries, or are due some money, or have bought something on Ebay etc. The funny thing is that the people sending us these emails think that we are actually stupid enough to send some form of payment (or our bank details) to access these so-called funds - amazing! These emails are never opened by me, but are simply directed straight to my junk mail folder and deleted - oh, that is before I have forwarded them to the FBI or Scotland Yard for their attention. Internet crime and internet criminals are a menace! Why only yesterday someone tried to use our family IP address to do something... Good grief! That's like having someone else trying on your knickers for god's sake. There is a great line in the film Batman Begins - "Criminals feed on society's compassion". I for one am tired of living in a world where people continue to show compassion to criminals. Look, the bottom line is that some people are just pure scum-bags and as such the world would be better off without them. I am tired of people pussy-footing around these public nuisances. Listen, if someone seeks to cause mischief and harm to others then why not have them lose the privilage of having an opposable thumb (for example). If you want to live like an animal - you should go back to living like an animal! We might claim humans rights for all, but that does not incude the 'right' to treat others in any way you see it fit too. It's time for all of us to get tough on crime, and (I believe) it is time to get the social do-gooders out of positions of power, where they have gradually destroyed society's around the world in the name of human and civil rights... Yes, human rights are important, vital and good but - as someone once said long ago - "Spare the rod; spoil the child". 8月9日 The greatest challenge!Three weeks ago today our first kid was born, and life changed forever. Last week I also went to the UK to attend a wedding! I guess it is understandable then that my website and blog has been sort of been neglected a little bit - but as I said earlier, I am still here and still working on stuff!
You know, having a new-born presents all sorts of challenges, but none more so than how (and when) to educate them about religious and moral issues. Of course, one of the first questions I have been faced with as a new parent is whether I am going to get my child baptised? Well, the answer is no, and this for the simple reason that we do not have any belief in God, and also do not believe in the value and wholesomeness of organised religion. Someone compared baptising your child to that of signing them up from birth to a political party (an analogy I find helpful). I guess it is also like getting your kid circumcised - there are some things you can do as a parent which leave your kids very little choice in the future.
Of course, the decision not to baptise our kid went down like a turd pudding with the more religious members of our families, but we believe that you have to be true to your own beliefs (not those of others) and not be a hypocrite about such things. I know too many people who have gone down the baptism road due to family pressure, and I for one think it is a wicked thing for people to force new parents to do (especially when they are spiritually/emotionally manipulated into doing so).
One thing I am vehemently against is getting your child baptised 'just in case' - i.e. just in case the kid dies. I mean, who on earth would want to baptise their kid in the name of a God who would send them to 'hell', just because they had not had some water spinkled over their head - give me a break people!
However, there is more than just baptism to consider here. I mean, we live in a world where religious belief is still rife (and seemingly growing despite what Marx argued), and as such I believe it is important to educate your kids about this phenomena (just as you would want to edcaute them about all other aspects of life). One cannot simply just ignore religion, but where do you start, and at what age do you start telling your kid about these things? I have taught kids of all ages about religion in schools, but it is quite a different thing to have to think about doing when it is your own kid, and when you realise that whatever you say to them will largely form the basis of their entire outlook and attitude to life - oh, and that you only really get one chance to do this!
Changing diapers and sleepless nights... that's simple! For me, educating my own child about religion - and in a way which encourages them to think critically yet repectfully about all matters to do with faith - is probably the greatest challenge I have faced so far! 7月31日 God v SatanSomeone has worked out that the total number of people killed in the Bible by God (or whose killing was sanctioned by God) is... 2,270,369!!! However, the total number of people killed by Satan (or whose killing was sanctioned by Satan) is only ...10! What does this all mean... that we should regard Satan as a more loving being than God? This statistic certainly caused me to take a moment, especially when we consider that God is traditionally held to be an all-loving, compassionate and benevolent Being. In light of this statistic, is it any wonder that we have had so many wars in the name of religion? By the way, does anyone know if there has ever been a war in human history started in the name of Satan? 7月30日 It has been a while...... since I wrote for my blog, but I am still here - I'm just trying to survive in new-dad mode, and also trying to work out how to change diapers and write for my site at the same time! There will be some interesting updates coming to the site soon. I decided that rather than keep trotting out the same old stuff on arguments for the existence of God, evil and suffering etc. (yawn), that I would seek new and more interesting ways to approach these subjects... * I appreciate that for some people, putting the phrases 'arguments for the existence of God' and 'interesting' in the same sentence is an oxymoron - oh well! * So anyway, keep an eye out for a new posting on the problem of evil and suffering, which should be coming online soon - it's a good one, and something I don't often find people talking about in the context of this subject. 7月24日 Tales from a hospital recovery room...My loyal reader will have noted that it has been a few days since I last posted a blog entry... Well, quite a lot has been going on, and no more so than I have become a father for the first time! All I will say is that our kid is great - but the world is a very different place for me now. I will also avoid becomming a baby-bore, but no doubt over the coming weeks, months and years my son will be a regular news feature here (that is, if My Space is still around!!!). You know, seeing the whole process of birth is a very humbling experience - it also increased the respect I already had for my wife beyond measure. I mean, what she chose to go through, and what she allowed her body to do, is simply incredible. As my mum says - If men were responsible for giving birth to children, the human race would have died out generations ago! Birth is also something which draws people together - not just family, but strangers too. For instance, whilst we were in the recovery ward I wandered along to a waiting room with my son (to give the wife some rest), and sat there with the Coke and ice machines humming one evening lulling him to sleep. Then an Arab-looking gentleman walked in, and we got chatting about our new kids (his wife had just given birth to twin girls). We had a lovely and personal conversation about how fantastic our new borns were, and how much we had been emotionally involved with the experience of childbirth... Then he said the following: "I thank God for my two girls. We have been married for 14 years, and trying to have children, and God has finally blessed us!" I asked him if he was a Muslim, and he said yes. He asked me if I was a Christian, which I replied not really - more an athiest. However, we soon found ourselves discussing the similarities between Islam and Christianity, and I asked him some further questions about his beliefs... We chatted for a good half an hour before his wife wandered along wondering where he was (he had gone to get a glass of water for her - whoops!). Anyway, before we parted I made the point to him that despite our differences in religious belief, we were united by something - the fact that we were new dads! And it was this common experience which formed the basis of our discussion of other things. When we first met we began with what we had in common, and it was this that allowed us to explore, appreciate and respect the differences between us... If we had started from our differences, I think our conversation might have been very different. I do hope that you (my loyal reader) look for the things and experiences you share with others, and use these to unite you, rather than dwell on the things which do not, and use them to divide us. 7月17日 Zen, Buddha, Jesus and equalityThis morning I visited a Zen meditation center, and you can read all about my visit here:
Now on the way to the center I drove past a poster, advertising the website www.wouldjesus.org. This website has been sponsored by the Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC), and is intended challenge predjudicial attitiudes towards gay, lesbian and transgendered communities. Now I thought this was interesting, as one thing Buddha promoted social equality and as such he rejected the Hindu idea of a caste syste (which he had been raised to believe in), but he argued was the basis of all manner of social and religious discrimination:
In other words, the type of person you are is seen more by what you do, than anything else. This reminded me of something Jesus is reported to have said:
All this makes me wonder... Is the truth and goodness of a person's faith seen not so much in what they believe, but in what they do? And if so, does this mean that people who practice and believe in forms of discrimination, are not very close to the truth!? 7月16日 Latter Days Saints (Mormons): Key factsI added a new 'key fact' article here on the LDS:
I have a very dear friend who is a member of the LDS, and this page is dedicated to her and her mum. I hope you enjoy reading it! Hate CrimeI have just posted a review of the film Hate Crime:
It is incredible that this sort of thing has (and does) go on... I mean, I cannot think of any instance where a hetrosexual person has been beaten up or attacked by a group of homosexuals, simply because they are hetrosexual. I cannot imagine that sort of thing happening, and if it has, it certainly has not been done on a regular basis. Can you also imagine a group of homosexuals protesting outside a church because a man and a woman are getting married, or outside adoption agencies because (again) a man and a woman want to adopt a child. Put this way, it seem odd that anyone would do that. Yet certain people of a certain religious persuation believe it their God-given right and duty to do this, and this is what causes them to protest gay marriages, gay adoption, gay anything... All this reminds me of a slogan I often see around... 'What would Jesus do?' What would Jesus do if he saw two men walking along holding hands, or walking into a place of worship to get married, or looking into adopting a child? Jesus was famously silent on the matter of homosexuality (either because he was never asked about it, or did not have anything to say about it), but many who speak in his name are quite vocal... often violently! A strange state of affairs really... What do you think? Discuss this blog entry in our forum. 7月13日 Having a larf!You have to laugh So I was driving my wife to work today (yes, she is still working despite the immanent arrival of Child A), when we pulled up at some stop lights. We were chattind, waiting for the lights to change, when all of a sudden we heard someone shouting 'Come on'... We looked at each and then looked around - surely that comment was not aimed at us, because the lights were still red! No... It was actually aimed at the lights themself by a guy in a truck next to us. I ask you, what possible effect can yelling at a set of traffic lights have? Are they suddenly going to go, 'Oh shit, that guy's yelling at me - I'd better change'? Errr... no... All yelling at traffic lights does is to make you look like a dick head, and also give the people around you a bloody good laugh in the process. |
Talking of which... We also had a laugh at someone woman driving a huge SUV - not because it was a woman driving an SUV, but because those huge vehicles were once seen as a status symbol whereas now, in the midst of rising gas prices and global warming, they are seen as a symbol of folly. I mean, who the hell wants to be driving round in a huge gas-guzzler these days - and who wants to be laughed at for doing so? Not me - I'll stick with my mini-van any day!!!  7月12日 Virtue ethicsWhile it is all quiet on the western front, I thought I would update and add a new page to the site... > Virtue ethics: A very brief introduction God I hate all this wating around...  Indiana Jones IVI am very excited that Indiana Jones IV is finally being filmed... I have been following the development (hell) of this film for years now, and thought the project would be permenently aborted when Lucas rejected Frank Darabont's script in 2004. But it was not to be - it just needed a re-write by David Koepp and we were off - and we are! Check out some behind the scenes clips of Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas on the set on Indy IV on the official Indiana Jones website. It looks great, and I for one cannot wait for May 2008 to come round! 7月11日 Today...I am on the verge of becomming a new parent - and also model-making! The wife's starting to have contractions, and I've got the kitchen table covered in bits of card, paper and glue... Whatever gets you through I guess!!! 7月10日 A little quiet?My loyal reader (you know who you are) will have realised that there has not been much activity recently in terms of new articles being added to the site... That's because I'm currently working hard on a brand new feature. 7月9日 Small pleaIt's nice to receive 'friend's requests' now and again (the few that I get), but I AM going to check your profile before I accept you, and if I see that I need to go 'off site' to view your pics, I am simply not going to add you... if I wanted porn, I would only need to ask a friend of mine who works in the business to send me some! 7月6日 1408It's movie week this week! Yesterday I took the plunge and saw 1408... 1408... 1408... Don't go in room 1408! How many times can that be said in a movie? Anyway, the bottom line is that (for me) the movie sucked! Bored and disillusioned hack-writer insists on staying in a room of death, and ends up *** spoiler *** surviving the experience *** end spoiler ***. I mean come on... There was not an original moment in the film, and John Cusack looked like he was just there for the pay check. Dull, dull, dull... I wish I'd gone and seen Transformers again now!  When are people going to start doing something original in this genre? Maybe I should start writing that screenplay I have sitting on the back-burner??? Musings on the 4thYesturday was the 4th July - Independence Day - in the USA, and boy, am I glad our kid was not born then! I would never have lived that one down. I mean, I have enough trouble trying to keep a smile on my face whilst an entire country celebrates stiffing the Brits (of which I am proudly one of them) in 1776. I remember last year how I wanted to smack some guy who was running around yelling 'Happy Birthday America!!!", but thought better of it as I would (no doubt) have been subject to a multi-million dollar physical and emotional disability lawsuit as a result!
Still, one good thing did come out of yesterday - Transformers... Oh man, now that is a great film! Two and half hours of eye-popping non-stop action... I guess maybe some good did come out of the events of 1776 afterall!!! |
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