A
Slice of Life in Britain
in
early 2010
In
the early chapters of this book we have argued about Biblical and
non-Biblical world views and touched, at various times, on the difficulty,
if not impossibility, of having established ethical standards for
a nation once you have rejected God.
The
following are quotes that have appeared in the first week of February
2010 in Britain. They reinforce that which has been said in the chapters
of this book: take away a foundation for ethical standards and you
are left with a society that has lost its ethical rudder. These quotes
make that point very clearly and for that reason we include this Appendix
to reinforce what has been said earlier.
a)
The struggle over the basis for ethics
Hugo
Rifkind, The Times Feb 5th
“Annoyingly,
though, and as my philosophy degree taught me in week one, it's only
Cherie's lot that make conceptual sense. There's no such thing as
abstract morality. It doesn't even make any sense. If God isn't the
ultimate answer, what is? This is precisely why secularists are always
even more annoying that religious people. It's because they're insincere.
Sooner or later, I always think, secularists are going to have to
bite the bullet, ditch “morality” and “fairness” and all that Goddish
guff, and start talking about convenience. Crimes are wrong, because
they are inconvenient. Value systems are good, because they make life
nicer. Murder is a hassle. It'll never be stirring stuff, but at least
it's honest.”
COMMENT:
This quote was in response
to Cherie Booth giving a six month suspended sentence to a man because
he was a devout Muslim. The reference to “Cherie's lot” is a reference
to faith communities, I believe. What is interesting about it, is
the rare recognition by a non-believer, that without God there is
no base upon which to establish “morals” and “fairness”. In a world
of pure chance such things have no place, and we are left to utilitarianism
to establish values - but of course they can never be fixed for there
is no way of genuinely measuring ‘convenience'.
b)
The struggle for ethical (good) behaviour
The
Times Feb. 1st Hero's Adultery
Fabio
Capello may wait until next month before deciding on whether to strip
John Terry of the England
captaincy,
in the wake of allegations of an affair with the partner of one of
his former team-mates.
COMMENT:
Of course before the week was out John Terry was demoted as England
's football captain. The debate raged in the media and among fans
whether behaviour off the field should affect his position on it.
Whereas the argument for him being a role model is strong, it is interesting
to note that over the years MP's have expressly denied such a link
for their own lives. Hypocrisy reigns in Parliament obviously!
The
Times Feb. 1st Child Abuse
Almost
four children a week died or suffered a serious injury at home last
year through neglect or abuse despite tougher child protection rules
after the death of Baby P. The figures, a 23 per cent rise on 2008,
suggest that social workers are still failing to spot some of the
most serious cases of child abuse, despite taking far more children
into care.
COMMENT:
Britain
seems utterly incapable to establishing
a foundation for good family behaviour in the minds of its citizens
and thus violence continues to bring nightmares to social workers.
Although it did not reach the headlines this week, there are echoes
from the past reverberating in my mind that wonders how long we will,
as a society, ignore the very common practice of children being allowed
to watch ‘18' rated videos or regularly play ‘18' rated video games
which, I would suggest, can be just another form of child abuse.
The
Times Feb. 4th MP's & Bankers
Headline:
MP's braced for criminal charges over expenses
This
is all well and good, but where are the bankers
that need to put in the dock pending a life sentence? The …
total sum involved here is one twenty thousandth of the
figure lost by the British banking industry (through whatever incompetent
and corrupt actions we have yet to discover).
Accompanying
letter writer
COMMENT:
The ensuing debate
over MP's and their expenses was, at the end of the week, exacerbated
by the news that several of them were going to claim “Parliamentary
Privilege” to avoid being charged for what the media has portrayed
(assuming they are accurate) as criminal fraud. It was a blog writer
who added the comment to include the ‘guilt' of bankers who seem to
have got away with behaviour that has scandalised most of the population.
Self-serving reigns OK!
The
Times Feb. 2nd Controlling Employment Rights
“The
Vatican
condemned
Britain
's proposed
equality law yesterday, complaining that legislation to give homosexual
equal rights “violates natural law”.”
The
Times Feb. 3rd Back down
Harriet
Harman has backed away from a confrontation with religious leaders
over who they can employ, making clear that she will not force contentious
amendments to the Equality Bill through Parliament.
COMMENT:
Some modern atheists pillory the Inquisition saying it was seeking
to force people to believe according to the party line. The modern
Labour Party seeks to do the same thing. From reports in the media,
the police force appear, in places, to be in fear of political correctness
with resulting heavy handedness. Requiring the whole population to
believe according to the party (or pressure group) line speaks more
of Orwell's 1984 than anything else.
c)
The anxiety of a rudderless younger generation
Song:
The Fear by Lily Allen
Chorus
I don't know what's right and what's real anymore
I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore
When we think it will all become clear
‘Cuz I'm being taken over by The Fear
COMMENT:
A quick glimpse at
modern culture reveals a younger confused generation. This confusion
is seen in many forms in modern society.
d)
The struggle for meaning
Book:
The Age of Absurdity
Why
modern life makes it hard to be happy
by
Michael Foley – just published
“modern
life.. a world that demands conspicuous consumption, high octane relationships
and perpetual youth … tormented by dissatisfaction and anxiety, fearful
that everyone is having a better time than we are.”
“who
has not felt entitled to more and aggrieved when more is not forthcoming?”
Concludes
with a chapter headed, “The happiness of absurdity” and referring
to Sisyphus who in Greek mythology, was a king cursed to
roll a huge boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back
down, and to repeat this throughout eternity. You cannot escape
eternal drudgery is the message – the best you can do it defy it or
simply accept it!
COMMENT:
This recently published
book highlights quite well the mess and confusion of our modern Western
society. It is a scathing denunciation of modern liberal Britain
.
CONCLUDING
THOUGHTS
These
were all quotes from one paper in one week in Britain
at the beginning of 2010, plus
two illustrations from modern culture. As someone has commented, they
are quite depressing. They do however reveal a little of the state
of the nation and its confusion over ethical standards or, should
we say, they reveal the absence of ethical standards in this largely
godless society.