Happy Easter

It’s Easter and the press corps are braying for a Jesus story. For 2011 the Easter bunny has uncovered possibly the least exciting tale: the discrepancy in the day of the last supper. The Guardian aren’t mistaken when they unpack the challenge to historians – harmonization of the four gospels. It’s possibly one of the least cutting-edge pieces of historical criticism, whitewashed in the genre of breaking news.

How can you be a militant atheist?

In the Guardian today there is an article titled “AC Grayling: ‘How can you be a militant atheist? It’s like sleeping furiously’.” It’s a somewhat awkward title, but one that nevertheless grabs the attention by including the term “militant atheist.”

Politics and poverty

I have been living in London for over 2 years now, enjoying the buzz of living in one of the most exciting cities of the world.

But one thing I am continually confronted with here is the extreme contrast between the haves and the have nots. On my journey to work I used to walk down Camberwell Grove, a beautiful tree-lined street where house prices exceed £1,000,000 – before catching a bus that goes through Walworth, one of the poorest areas in London. Here lies the soon-to-be-demolished Heygate estate,  a massive monument to failed 1970′s social housing schemes.

New Politics

There is no such thing as new politics, however it is a rare thing when a head of state sticks to his principles in the face of certain criticism.  America puts pride in its love of freedom.  It’s the cornerstone of being American.

So long as you’re a conservative Christian.

Woman!

The Church of England are at it again with the women thing.  If we are to believe the traditionalists, God doesn’t like breasts.  I mean it was enough to give them the vote, but this?  They want to be bishops now.  In favour are the scholars;  the rest are the conservatives who appear to live in an Enid Blyton novel.

Woman, know thy place!

While the world deals with war, famine, and flood, the Church of England asserted its grasp on relevance by announcing that it will remove several powers to woman bishops.  The rationale behind the decision was to keep the embittered organization alive through its current internal conflicts. That’s a relief — if they attempted to persuade that this was an argument based on historical terms they would find themselves on rocky ground.  There is scant evidence to corroborate their position, and plenty to refute it.

belief that liberates?

There is no doubt that our beliefs are important.

We base all of our decisions on beliefs. Our beliefs influence what we buy, where we live, who we marry, and so on. Obviously, we want our beliefs to correspond to reality and give us a cohesive world view, and the same goes for our religious beliefs. In fact if our religious faith is to have any impact on our lives, it is because we genuinely do believe certain things about it.

Determining exactly what to believe, however, is not the ultimate goal of religion.

Key sticks to his guns

A while back I posted a blog about the repeal of Section 59 – the law change in New Zealand that removed the legal defence of ‘reasonable force’ in child abuse cases. Preliminary results are now back from a controversial Citizen-Initiated Referendum that asked the question:

Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?

Over 85% of those who voted ticked ‘no’.

Unfortunately the question was so badly worded that I believe it was a pointless exercise, and it will almost certainly have no impact on the laws in New Zealand. Both the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition in NZ stated that they had no intention of voting in the referendum, with the Prime Minister, John Key, even calling the question “ridiculous.”

Why?

When we don’t understand

Case in point:

I am found lost in a slumber when Sheldon and Kayla move to squeeze past as I shuffle to make room for them in my seat. The assumption: they are both going to the office for some ‘small business’ – a Tanzanian euphemism for number ones.

Coffee, chocolate and bacon

There a things I miss. Things like coffee, chocolate and bacon. Things a man never really needs, but I do quite like.

And on my return, what does it look like to engage with the option of these things – and others, like ice cream, chips and quick curries – when my friends elsewhere, like Max and Maggie and Mama Helen, do not have such the luxury? Can I justify the three dollars, six dollars, twelve dollars? I surely have enough words and withdrawals for a good argument.