Life, Musings and Weblogs

David Cameron and Fath

So, David Cameron has revealed in an interview that he has 'faith'.

Here is an excerpt from the full article that can be read at http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iF3WUk5t2pfOIGBgiKTafWg824mQ 

"David Cameron on Friday revealed the importance of religion in his life, saying the teachings of Jesus were a "good guide....He was a "good, sceptical, questioning Christian" when younger and wanted to make sure it was what he really believed.

"I liked to think it through, thinking, am I really sure about this? But I don't feel I have a direct line" (to God), Cameron said.

He added: "I think that it's perfectly possible to live a good life without having faith, by which I mean a positive and altruistic life.

"But I think the teachings of Jesus just as the teachings of other religions are a good guide to help us through.

"Do unto others as you would have them do to you; don't walk on by. These are good and thoughtful ideas to bring to life."

In an interview with London's Evening Standard newspaper, the Conservative Party leader said, "I don't feel I have a direct line" to God but Christian doctrine had "good and thoughtful ideas to bring to life."

"If you are asking, do I drop to my knees and pray for guidance, no. But do I have faith and is it important, yes. My own faith is there, it's not always the rock that perhaps it should be," Cameron said."

Is David Cameron revealing a genuine faith that is brutally honest to admitting the difficulty of believing in the current world with all its pain, suffering and doubt? Or is this a very astute politician attempting to take a leaf out of President Obama's book and be all things to all people? The problem is that some of us will almost naturally lean towards the latter of the two. I admit I'm doing it myself and so this 'analysis' (I use the word loosely as this is a blog after all) will be biased in one form or another. 

So what do we do with this? Well, we've got to unpack what it is that David Cameron is saying. Here are what I consider to be the most important parts, for the sake of easily identifying which is which, all of David Cameron's comments will be in italics.

the teachings of Jesus were a "good guide".

I don't want to start of by shooting him down, but there are few alternatives. Were the teachings of Jesus meant to be a "good guide"? Certainly many of them have positive social effects and of course these should be put in practice, but are we going to reduce these to being a "good guide"? Can we reduce Jesus to being a "good guide"? Because if this is the case, I'm changing team right now. I've read the story of Jesus, been taught it for many years and have taught it as well. It doesn't change and NEVER ends well. Jesus does not win. Not even close! We all know the story, he gets arrested, charged with inciting rebellion, gets one of the worst beatings in history then nailed to a cross and left to die. If Jesus is simply a "good guide", then he should have stayed in the workshop. His "guidance" also led his disciples to pretty bad deaths as well. Not something that I'm too eager to agree to, if Jesus is merely a "good guide."

"I don't feel I have a direct line" to God but Christian doctrine had "good and thoughtful ideas to bring to life."

Here, if we're honest, we can stand beside David Cameron and admit our own inadequacies in this area as well. If you can't then I'm disrespecting you as the king of fools. Check your Bible, David had problems connecting with God. David had problems with God standing by and let people disrespect him. But this is the human condition, we are a sinful, disobedient, rebellious people. WE cut the direct line to God back in Eden and have been regretting it ever since. Thankfully, Jesus came along and repaired the line. And the simple truth is that it is us how blocks the line to God. He'll be waiting on us when we call, but 10 times out of 10 it will be something that we have done that gets in the way. Only when we sort out the blockage (i.e. repent) will the line be good for God to hear us.

To the second part of this, about Christian doctrine having "good and thoughtful ideas to bring to life". Well of course it does, any book that says you shouldn't kill people is generally going to get a positive response. The grey area comes when you start moving past the nice ideas and into a big room with the name 'Controversy' hanging over the door. I'll name a few: Fornication; Adultery; Homosexuality; Abortion. Get the picture? What does David Cameron make of the"good and thoughtful ideas" now? 

If you are asking, do I drop to my knees and pray for guidance, no. But do I have faith and is it important, yes. My own faith is there, it's not always the rock that perhaps it should be," 

My first reaction to this is, does anyone drop to their knees anymore? I'm guessing not, but only because of the lack of "Christians in need of mass knee replacement surgery" headlines. Beneath this, Cameron is revealing a recent word that I despise: spirituality. I know it's a bit odd, but I really do despise it. What qualifies as being spiritual? Do you sit with your legs crossed and hum? How can you be spiritual without it being connected to a set of beliefs? 

The answer is simple but constructed in a beautifully complex and subtle way that ultimately sees Cameron trying to appeal to as many people as possible. We've dealt with the Christians, appeased them (I know I'm a cynic) now let's move on and grab the other religious votes, including the non-religious.

"I think that it's perfectly possible to live a good life without having faith, by which I mean a positive and altruistic life.

Here is a simple case of smoke and mirrors. To accept that we can be good, means that we have to change the source from which we take our definition. The Bible is pretty clear in saying that there is no one who does good  - not one (Romans 3:12). David Cameron might think that it is possible to live a good life without having faith, and he might be right by societal standards, but if we think of our own lives: how many have never broke the speed limit? How many have jumped a light just so they didn't have to stop? I'm not going to go any further than this, but the point is the laws we might have broken might have been 'small laws' (white lies anyone?) but they're still law. And by breaking them, we become law breakers. This always creates cause and effect. Which might not have cosmic consequences but if we're arguing the semantics (which I am in this case), then it still matters. As far as God is concerned, it doesn't matter if you told a white lie, killed someone or taken God's name in vain, we are all labelled as a law-breaker and need to face the consequences.

"But I think the teachings of Jesus just as the teachings of other religions are a good guide to help us through.

Now we move on to appeasing other religions. The UK might still be considered as a 'Christian country' but there are still a lot of voters who aren't Christian, and the Conservatives will take their votes quite happily too. But also behind this is the reduction of Christianity, making it more palatable to the masses. If Jesus is seen alongside Buddha, Mohammad, Joseph Smith and Spongebob, then it is easier to dismiss him. Sure there are loads of Gods, how can you be sure you're right? This active grounding of Christ is quite subtle and not visible on first reading but can be picked up by the careful listener. Religious harmony will also help Cameron, as here he is thinking of the time when he becomes Prime Minister, and he most likely will - who in their right mind would vote for Gordon Brown after all that has been messed up? And Nick Clegg? If you're not sure who he is then you've proved my point.

I'm going to finish by mixing two quotes, the first,from the Bible asks one simple question "What do you think of the Christ?" (Matthew 22:42). 

The second, is from CS Lewis, is one of his most famous, is quite long, but justifiably so: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” 

This is the ultimate issue. What do you think of Christ? Liar, Lunatic or Lord? As CS Lewis has just shown, there is no other answer, and on my reading of the evidence, David Cameron is trying to appeal to the voter, but making a Liar out of Christ by reducing him to an item on the shelf to be selected by the consumer. Not once was the issue of salvation, or death on the cross ever mentioned. We keep Jesus as the nice pasty-faced felt cut out and everything will be OK because no one will get hurt or offended but David Cameron will get the vote that he is so desperately desiring. 

Follow up Thought to Previous Post

Having just posted I went on to the Mars Hill website and watched this video of Pastor Mark Driscoll. This guy has become my internet pastor, my driving to work pastor and kick-in-the-bum pastor because he seems to have a knack of addressing so many things that I need teaching, help, guidance, or inspiration in. 

Most interestingly, he is booked in for the next Mandate, so I may well find myself in attendance of that!

The downside of this is that it's  over hour long, but I reckon it's an hour well spent, so there we go.

Hope you enjoy!

Knowing the Path and Walking the Path

This blog has taken a while to write, partly due to time constraints (which will become ironic when you read on), but also because it has taken me a bit of time to work out. And being honest, it will take me my whole life to work out. Thankfully, I have Jesus onside to help me with it, because if I was left on my own, it just wouldn't happen.

A man once said in a film that, "there is a difference from knowing the path and walking it." The same man also said "I am here not because of the path that lies before me, but because of the path that lies behind me." These thoughts have been floating around in my head for quite a while. For several years I have known about the path, and for the last 9 years I have walked the path, but recently I have found myself looking at the path. Life can get in the way of so much, so subtly, so gradually and so honourably that by the time we realise what has happened, the end result is four or five moths down the line before you recognise what has just happened. To bring it back to the beginning, the point of the two quotes is that, through active movement we travel to our destination. Standing still leads to idleness, stagnation and ultimately death. In a way not to dissimilar from Pilgrims' Progress, we move towards our destination (maybe) slowly but surely and with an ultimate purpose.

A friend asked recently on Facebook, "What is Mans' chief end?" The first question in the Shorter Catechism. The answer is "to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." The ultimate aim in life therefore, is to glorify God and enjoy relationship with Him. This is to be worked out through our daily lives and we are taught to work in a way that praises and gives honour to God. This is to be worked out in our relationships with other people, showing them Christ-like qualities that God is developing in us. But what happens when that life moves in on centre stage, passively-aggressively laying claim to the place that should be God's?

The reality is that because it is Life, the one thing that we can't get away from, the change will be so slight that we may not realise at first but when we do, the time that we should have realised what was going on will have long passed. Ultimately, repentance is needed, as well as a re-alignment of our priorities and focus of worship.

If you listen, like I do to Mark Driscoll, you will be familiar with the idea (originally coming from Martin Luther) that our life is a sequence of continuous worship. Driscoll believes, in following Luther's' idea that we do not have a sin problem, we have a worship problem. Originating in the idea that we (as a race) chose to do what we wanted, in disobedience to God's will and in doing so, chose to worship ourselves and not God. If we get this problem sorted (and thus keeping the first two commandments) then everything else will fall into place. Meaning then, that the rest of the commandments become redundant. By focusing our worship and attention on God, the idea of adultery, theft, murder, covetousness, etc. will not be an issue because our worship, focus and concentration will be on God. The application here then, is that if I get my worship issue sorted - life, my wife, daughter, interests, hobbies, books, mobile phones, etc. into their proper place and more importantly, put God back in His rightful position, then life will have its' natural balance righted, equilibrium restored and my worship will be directed to the only worthy recipient - Jesus.

It's important to state the almost obvious that I'm not saying that the things I have in my life are bad. They are all God-given and have blessed my life in one way or another. But when these items, people, things take the place that should belong to God then they become idols in my life and thus the focus of my worship. This battle between choosing God and selfish desire will continue until the day I meet God face to face. Like Paul I will want to say that I ran the race and fought the good fight. But the devil is in the detail and the details will make up the seconds and minutes of every day when I actively choose God and actively deny myself the place of worship that is rightfully Gods'.

Till next time folks.

Nursery Rhymes

OK, this post does sound pretty random going by the title, however it was inspired by a conversation with Helen on the way home to Ballyclare from my parents' house in Bangor. To keep Caitlin awake (so that she would fall asleep in bed when we wanted her to and not have a power nap on the way home and then stay up until the late hours - thus keeping us up as well) we have resorted to playing a CD of nursery rhymes and singing along to them so that she will have something to focus on. Granted the focus will be on two parents singing nursery rhymes very badly, not to mention quite loudly, but at least she would be awake!

 

Anyway, it was during one of these impromptu performances that we stopped and thought about the lyrics and what they meant. What we found was startling, given that we have all sung these at some point. But did we ever think about the words (another discussion for another time maybe). Here are a few that we thought were a frightening cut above the rest:

 

Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed to see such fun
And the dish ran away with the spoon!

 

Does this not come across as being a little weird, maybe like someone was on drugs and hallucinated the whole event which is now immortalised in a nursery rhyme?!My question is, "do we want our children thinking it's OK to take hallucinogenic drugs so that we too can watch cows jump over the moon? Is this the type of world we want them to think of as normal?

 

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up got Jack, and home did trot 
As fast as he could caper
He went to bed and bound his head
With vinegar and brown paper.

 

The origins of this poem comes from the French Revolution in 1973, however taken at face value, here we have Jack having a bad fall, splitting his head open and then administering his own medical treatment (which would indicate an extremely low level of intelligence on any scale) of vinegar and paper! Not since trepanning (look it up and you'll be not so pleasantly surprised at what it is, anecdotally, my first year history teacher in Bangor Grammar threatened to do this on anyone who messed about in his class) has a worse procedure been decided upon. My question is, "do we want our children thinking this is an acceptable way of dealing with injury?" OH, I've twisted my ankle! It really hurts, so I'll put some tippex over it and maybe it will go away!

 

Seesaw Margery Daw 
Johnny shall have a new master
He shall earn but a penny a day
Because he can't work any faster

 

In this one we have CHILD LABOUR! With a little exploitation thrown in for good measure! Do we want children to enjoy life up until their fifth birthday, and after they've blown out the candles, introduce them to some dodgy bloke (shifty not the modern kind of dodgy) who will work him to the bone for the next fifteen years? And on top of all this, your child will earn a measly £3.65 per annum?!

 

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

 

This one breaks my heart. We have three blind mice. BLIND mice! They've grouped together on grounds of disability and are scrounging about for some scraps of food. Danger is all around them! At any moment an unscrupulous cat could seize upon them and have a very easily caught meal, but somehow, they survive! On their travels, through no fault of their own, they get their tails cut of by the farmer's wife, who is wielding a carving knife! The woman is probably 5"9, and obviously towers over the mice. So to begin with, we have a mismatch on a never been seen before scale. Add to this the afore-mentioned blindness of the mice and we don't have even the aroma of fair play. This is going to be a massacre, on a blood-sickening scale. And is this what we want to teach our children? That animal cruelty is ok? Particularly when the animal is disabled??

 

Hush a bye baby, on the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock;
When the bow breaks, the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.

 

OK, this is the last one and probably the worst. We all know it, may have sung it at some point, but more likely than not have had it sung to us many years ago. But think about this, you're any age between 0 and 3. You're about to go to sleep and your loving parents come into your room and sing this lullaby to you. Your imagination suddenly transports you to the place they're singing about. You are now on the tree top and when the wind blows, well, you're pretty much going to fall out of the tree and fall to your death. SWEET DREAMS LITTLE ONE!!!

 

How could this do anything but give you the worst of all night terrors!? Think about this, have you ever had a dream when you're falling and just before you "hit the ground" you wake up? Well, that is a residual memory from your childhood because of this song! THANKS MUM AND DAD!!

 

The final thought? Think about the words that come out of your mouth. Regardless of what they are and who they're to and especially how it is meant. We will never know how much our words can hurt or build up a friend. Psalm 57 talks of the tongue as a sword. It can either protect or cut someone apart.

It's up to us.

 

Summer's Gone

Ok

Summer has arrived, been and gone! The time off with Helen and Caitlin was simply great! The summer months were separated into three parts for us: 

Part One: School's finished - Let's relax!

Part Two: Camp and Holiday in France!

Part Three: Get ready for School!

It went that quickly as well! 8 weeks into three lines, but so much happened I don't really want to relive it all point by point (because that would be boring and I don't have the time) so I'll say most about the second part, because it was most hectic!

Camp was a great success for all involved, and quite a bit stressful! Helen was in charge of the camp for the first time on her own and despite the stressing, did a great job, all the kids that came went home with no broken bones or injuries. My week at camp was a different type of stress - I was looking after Caitlin (tiring but we had a great time) and this meant I could follow my own timetable and enjoy the local scenery with a very curious Caitlin! We saw a bit of the the Mournes, although I didn't get to Silent Valley as planned!

France happened two days after camp ended, which was another mad rush to get everything ready for the drive down to Rosslare. Arriving at Cherbourg, we were staying twenty minutes away from Saint-Lo. Being in Normandy meant that we were steeped in WWII history, specifically D Day events. We visited Omaha, Juno and Sword Beaches and I was personally struck by the contrasting information of the beach being used as you would expect suntans, speedos (unfortunately) and "too cool for school" french kids, while 65 years previous, the beach would have been littered with the deaths of many soldiers. The conflicting fact that we could enjoy a day at the beach, when so many had died for our freedom to be able to enjoy such a day was not lost on me. Standing at a high point where German guns had once been positioned, I saw the full extent of what was being asked at 'bloody Omaha'. The boat leaves you with around 300 yards to cover while under heavy fire from the German defences. Seeing this with my own eyes left me with a new found respect for what was achieved by those men that day. The cemetery above the beach only served to emphasise the fact that we need to never forget.

And so, a new year in school is beginning. Still looking for gainful employment which is a huge annoyance, idle hands wanting to work is a frustrating place to find yourself in. But as Gary Lightbody is singing in The Reindeer Section, "I'm doing Cartwheels."

Iphone Killer?

OK, first of all a disclaimer...

THIS IS GOING TO GENERATE SOME TYPE OF REACTION!!

Which type of reaction may depend on whether you're an Ifan of the Iphone.

I've been doing quite a bit of 'surfing' these last few months, particularly focusing on mobile phones - which I think are pretty cool. And depending on your own interests, you may or may have not noticed that competition for customers, both new or returning, has increased - given "the current economic climate" (I love these words because they seem to cover a multitude of sins: "why did you go on a rampage robbing some old lady and then crashing her nissan micra into a tree?" "Uh, well your honour, it was the current economic climate." "Oh well in that case you're free to go!"

At any rate, you couldn't have failed to notice the current blight in our society - the iphone. Many have succumbed to its' glitz and glamour, so much so, it should be considered endemic

In epidemiology, infection is said to be endemic (from Greek en- in or within + demos people) in a population when that infection is maintained in the population without the need for external inputs. For example, chickenpox is endemic (steady state) in the UK, but malaria is not. Every year, there are a few cases of malaria acquired in the UK, but these do not lead to sustained transmission in the population due to the lack of a suitable vector (mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles). 

(THANKS WIKIPEDIA)

So there we are, iphones, from the above definition can be justifiably said to be endemic within our society. Insofar as iphones are said to be endemic, so to are the antithesis of the Iphone - "the Iphone Killer". But what could be called an "iphone killer"?

Webopedia.com define an iphone killer as "A buzzword that is used to describe any mobile phone that has the potential to be a threat to the Apple iPhone consumer market dominance."

However, being brutally honest, there is no such thing as an iPhone killer yet. No other manufacturer has managed to combine software and design so, or more, successfully than Apple.

But that is not for the want of trying...

Put an "iphone killer" search into Google and you'll come up with results for the following phones that fit the bill:(the following links all open a new window) Nokia n97; SonyEricsson Xperia X1; SonyEricsson Satio; the Palm Pre; HTC Diamond 2; Samsung i8910 HD; HTC G1; Blackberry Storm...and the list could go on for a while but the one I want to focus on is due for release at the beginning of July and has come like a bat out of hell, but from nowhere. I know that doesn't really make sense but trust me it does.

The Phone I speak of? Is a phone that a man can be proud of, and that a woman needs in her life. The phone is called the HTC HERO. And here it is.

And again...

And once more for fun in a different colour...

But why all the fuss?

Well, lets take a look at a few facts...

1. HTC have been making CLASS phones on the sly for many years.

2. It uses the Google Android software, which at the minute is one of the few operating systems that can compete with Apple.

3. Similar to, but better than the Iphone, you can customise this phone to a level not yet seen on the market.

4. When checking what your friends are up to, you don't have to go to a different place (facebook, twitter, myspace, bebo etc) all your interactions are in one place - the contact list.

5. Using the phone facility (oh yeah) you can dial by entering the name or the initials of the contact.

6. Get weather automatically.

7. Multi-touch facility - yes the iphone can do this, but this is the first competitor (I think) to replicate this function.

8. It has the HTC Sense UI (but more on that later)

9. The mobile phone comes with flash capacity (how many other phones have this? The answer is not many, if any and CERTAINLY NOT the iphone).

10. 5 megapixel camera - no not your puny 2.0 or slightly less pathetic 3.2 (compare that with the SonyEricsson Satio which has an amazing 12.0! Yes 12! megapixels worth of camera - just under 4 times better than what Apple give you.

11. Micro SD expansion slot - so not limited to what apple tells you to have!

12. Digital compass - OK this is a negative on both counts - because how often do you find yourself just dying to know which direction north is?

So there are a few reasons why we might have a contender on our hands. The android OS has been growing steadily with a lot more phones to be released with it, so we may have another iphone killer on the way.

My opinion? I think this phone has the goods to challenge were others have not. But time shall tell.

Updates to Life, Parenthood and God

So Helen has returned to work after her maternity leave and unfortunately for her she feels as if she never left. The good news is that there is two weeks of term left then we're all off again and life is sweet and breezy.

This of course has meant that I am home with Caitlin - a challenge in itself, as dads are usually characterised of simply being aware of tiny people living in the house, whereas mums know their child's blood type, their height in centimetres (and the imperial equivalents), who their best friends are, what the latest fashion is, and generally everything else about the child. 

But not me! This time with Caitlin has so far been amazing. We are entering the phase of syllabic speech. Everything nearly makes sense but not quite. There are some exceptions, like tonight when I was feeding Caitlin and asked her if she wanted some more and clearly replied with "NO!" I knew this time would arrive someday but I didn't think caitlin would have defied me at such an early age! Oh well.

So life is going well, parenthood has its' challenges but is stable, which leads us to God.

God has been doing some weird things lately. Being honest, of late, God has not registered highly on my priority list, and so God acted accordingly. But recently I fired up the ipod, got into some good Mark Driscoll teaching and slowly but surely the fire rekindled. Then the prayer life picked up (nearly good enough to come of the life support machine - we're getting there) and the Bible was opened! Helen and I have decided to read together again as we did before Caitlin arrived and are currently reading through Isaiah and have already uncovered some life changing stuff! 

Isaiah 2 talks of how every idol that man has put up will be destroyed. The whole chapter looks at the second commandment, how it is broken and the effect it has one us. It's real simple: worship idols, God will destroy them, man will quake in fear at the wrath of God.

And the wrath of God is something not really discussed in churches today. It's not nice, God is a God of love, He wouldn't do that to anyone, etc etc. But that's not what the Bible says. In this chapter, God is kicking the ass of anyone who has put an idol in God's rightful place. And Mark Driscoll has helped me see that idol worship is not some guy bowing down to some carved image of a deity. Idol worship is of anything - your new car (or just your car), your boy/girlfriend/partner/spouse, your twitter list, your facebook comments, tv shows, celebrity magazines, books, video games etc etc. You get the picture. 

And this is what God has been teaching me recently, that when we put something in God's place, He doesn't like it, actually it makes Him very mad. And that's what I've been doing. It hasn't been one thing, it's been a lot of things and I've got to bring them down one by one and give the space back to God. Then I need his forgiveness and then I can stand fully justified before Him.  

But it's not easy, there was a song that accompanied the film Trainspotting that told us to "choose life". This life is not a one time decision like buying a cd, or something. It's a daily choice that is painful and an uphill battle. I have to choose every moment of every day to ignore the sinful old man and choose every second to keep the new man and follow the path before me. The path that says, not what I want God, but what you want in my family, with my friends, with my thoughts and words, with my attitude to others and so on. This struggle will ultimately go on until we are released from our mortal bodies into immortality which is a little frustrating because we want to win and win quickly but sometimes the battle merges into the war and when it's over we'll realise that it's all over. Then there'll be a cool opportunity to kick back and enjoy the breeze with the Master.

On a completely different topic, I've been reading a book on Josef Stalin by Robert Service (as you can see from the reading list) and some of the things this guy achieved was amazing. Of course, he was a bit of a bad boy tyrant who was more than a little trigger happy (pretty much at anyone for trivial reasons), but he changed Russia in ways that almost seem super-human. Embarking on a journey from cave dwelling stick fighting tribes into a huge war beast that rolled over the German Wehrmacht like they weren't there (the Russians stopped the Germans at the height of their ability, confidence and power) and straight after that took on the Americans in the Cold War. I'm only about half way through and have not even reached the good stuff yet (by "good stuff, I'm irreverently referring to the Second World War, but no offence was meant) but while his surname was actually Dzhughashvili, Stalin - which translates as "man of steel" couldn't be more apt for a description of the character needed to do what he did. Also, it's been very interesting to find out what Stalin did before he became leader of the USSR, who was the great man of Russian history, before he was the great man of Russian history?

Anyway, thanks for reading. I appreciate everyone who reads this. And I appreciate those who keep coming back even more. Sorry but it's true.

Peace and Love

Five Minutes with The Eminent Dr Richard Dawkins

So! I was on the Beeb's website when I stumbled across a five minute interview with Dr Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion and very much the unofficial leader of 'New Atheism' in the world today. The interview was a general Q&A session which would end after five minutes.

For those not too familiar with the inner workings of my brain, I have a high interest in the Atheist debate. I read The God Delusion while in hospital for chemotherapy and at the time struggled with a lot of what he said he made until one day I discovered the loose thread of his arguments and like the proverbial sweater, it all unravelled the more I pulled. Since then I have been involved in an on-line debate about the book and atheism in general through the Facebook Visual Bookshelf application. I'm not going to cover myself in glory by saying that I'm kicking as left, right and centre, but it is pretty much myself alone taking on all comers. It's a spirited debate, but one that will not convince either side of swapping colours. But that says more about the individual's belief that they have come to the right conclusion and that 'the other side' is wrong, than it does about the strengths or weaknesses of any argument used.

In the five minute interview here are a few sound bytes that stood out from the rest...

Dawkins is a 9 out of 10 atheist.

Most of us are agnostic about a lot of things (Thor, pink elephants etc. We haven't seen them so how can we disprove their existence?).

Dawkins considers himself to be spiritual in the sense of enjoying poetry, looking at the beauty of the  milky way and looking down a microscope.

What matters is what is true, not who is right.

Question: Death=Death or heaven exists? Answer: "eternity would be awful"

Follow-up question: Heaven AND Hell exists - "it's such a silly question" amongst an answer which saw him also say that he would be against a Hell that is intended to scare little children into being good.

What does death mean? "The end, like a general anaesthetic and never waking up...it doesn't scare me."

What motivates Richard to be good - Empathy the thought of what it feels like to do something bad to other people, from their point of view. 

Like I said, this was a general Q&A session, but it reveals a lot of his thought process without being too serious. And we can learn a lot from that.

Quite simply, his picture of Hell is a caricature. It does not exist. Probably never has, just like the pink elephants and flying spaghetti monsters that most atheists will patronisingly create to try and show how silly the idea of God is (that really pushes the red button!). I side with Dawkins in his reaction to this vision of hell that it should be ridiculed, similarly with the given reason for its' existence. I mean let's be honest, what type of parent would say to their child: "If you don't behave, God is going to send you to Hell with the Devil!?" I mean really! 

The Hell that does exist however, should scare people. It should scare your intestine clean. It wasn't created for that purpose, but if it has that effect, then I'd prefer that than having to experience it.

The simple truth also, is that people don't talk about hell anymore. By people, I'm mostly thinking of Christian circles, but even more specifically I'm thinking of Christian pastors. Jesus talked about it more than anything else and for the church to avoid it (for whatever reason) is slipping down a dangerous path. 

I should temper this by saying I don't want hell-fire and condemnation. The topic of Hell is difficult and should be handled with sensitivity. But handled nonetheless.

I know this is also not true of all Christian pastors. Some do address the issue and so kudos and respect for that. But we need to remain true to the whole message. Not just the parts that are cool, fashionable, safe, unoffensive etc. People my leave, but others will join. It's a faith issue, but maybe we're lacking there also? I know I come up short.

God help us in our unbelief.

Education For Mutual Understanding - Rest In Peace

I was in school on Friday, for a nice day that was funded by EMU. The school I was with were taking part in a cross-community activity with a Catholic School nearby. 

For the Uninitiated, EMU, as in the title stands for Education for Mutual Understanding and has been a staple diet of Northern Irish Schools since 1983 as an umbrella term to describe these events. From September 2009 (the next school year) EMU will be no more. It will be put into the new melting pot that is called Citizenship. 

The basic idea behind EMU is this:

Northern Ireland is a divided society.

Protestants (read Unionists) don't really like Catholics (read also Nationalists).

Catholics (read Nationalists) don't really like Protestants (read also Unionists).

Put said Protestants and Catholics together in one room.

Pair them of.

Hey Presto! Everybody is friends with each other.

No one bombs/maims/blows up/beats up/etc etc. anyone from the "other side" and Northern Ireland is no longer a divided society, but one in which we all get along with peace and love and lots of acceptance of cultural differences regardless of the fact that the religious differences started way back with Martin Luther, and the political differences all started back in the 1920's.

Am I sceptical of EMU's aims? Not really. It's admirable to at least make an effort to answer the problems our society has.

Am I cynical of how realistic these aims are? Kind of. The problem is that when you are put in a pairing with someone you have never met before, who you instantly know is a Catholic/Protestant you are instantly aware of difference. When you are told in no uncertain terms that you are going to get along with this person regardless of any real differences ("he's a bit of a twat to be honest sir") it doesn't matter if the person saying this is your mother or your teacher. You're going to ignore both of them, as well as the twat who just happens to be a Protestant/Catholic.

And I guess this is the real failing of EMU. It doesn't allow you to make a decent friend. It forces them upon you, and as such you're going to fight it. 

The problem doesn't stop there.

They inflict it upon you at university as well. Well that is in Stranmillis/St. Marys they do. The truth here is, that a the ripe old age of 18 (give or take) you are no longer dressed by your parents. Therefore you have already have decided who you are, what you like, don't like etc. Include in this your friends and include in this the pretty firm decision that I'm not going to sit in some bloody room with a rather gormless looking guy in his early twenties wearing a tracksuit. And it doesn't matter that we'll probably end up being colleagues at some school, "WE'VE GOT TO BE FRIENDS NOW!" Cue rather awkward conversation with people called Siobhan, who you mistakenly fail to recognise as being the Gaelic spelling of the name and hesitatingly call her "sy-oh-bann" (really loose phonetic spelling but you get the drift) and bring about hateful catholic stares. Catholic know how to hate incidentally, I don't think they ever signed up for that "turn the other cheek business" that Jesus said was a good idea.

But I digress into opinion and footnotes. The simple truth was that on Friday, not much had changed. Pupils were still told rather forcefully that they would work in pairs with someone from "the other school" because that is the way it had to be. At this point I'd like to note that if our society is ever undivided, I hope that this is the reason they give. Because only then will you fully understand the blank look on the pupils' faces (it will also be on about 1.7 million peoples' faces when they give the reason). 

Thankfully, like so many things in life, the aims of EMU seem to have been achieved despite its' best efforts, perhaps in spite of. Children in Northern Ireland today, in my experience don't really care about such things as politics. They care about games consoles, football and High School Musical. I know that this is not true across the whole of Northern Ireland, but in the last several years there is a slow but definite cultural change in how things are. 

And as someone who has recently entered parenthood, I sincerely hope this continues to the finish line. I sincerely hope that the world of 'the troubles' is truly consigned to the history books. Granted I missed the most of it, having been born in 1981, but I still remember enough to know that I don't want to go back there. I don't want to live in a world where we check under our cars for bombs, or check clothes thoroughly for incendiary devices before we buy them, or where we worry about friends, family and loved ones when they go out in case they are involved in another terrorist bombing. I remember watching Bono on TV with David Trimble and John Hume in the Waterfront urging the people of Northern Ireland to have courage in their politicians to vote to bring about a future that would not involve sectarian violence.

And I've grown to like the world of Northern Ireland that has grown from that day. Maybe EMU has had a greater influence that what I've realised. Maybe every little thing from an innocuous comment to a future-changing vote has led us all to this point. And every little comment and every future-changing vote will take us to another future were we teach children the history of Northern Ireland, but were that history has a definite end date for the existence of sectarian violence in this beautiful little country.

If we agree that EMU has played its' role in that picture, then I think you'll agree that it should resit in the same peace that we all hope to enjoy.

Could It Be The Best Job in the World?

Apparently, a previously unknown Ben Southall has just been named the new caretaker of the Australian tropical island, Hamilton Island.The job will see him earn $70,000 over a six month period (no doubt Alistair Darling's ears have just picked up). He will now live in a three-bedroom villa on Hamilton Island – complete with a private plunge pool, endless ocean views and a golf buggy to go exploring, and, between fishing, hiking, sailing and snorkeling, will be responsible for a weekly blog, video and photo diaries to promote the island worldwide.

Of course this particular job makes most others seem relatively boring. Stuck in an office? I'm on a tropical island, sailing AND getting paid for the fun of it! Stuck in traffic? I'm whizzing up a hill on my own golf buggy to watch the sunset!

So this got me thinking, is this the best job in the world or is there another? Interestingly, a quick Google search of "amazing jobs" brought up a website shockingly entitled www.amazingjobs.net (I KNOW!)In the first section I clicked on (Adventure) I could look up jobs in rescue, sky diving, racing, security, Animals and training, safari, Eco tours, sailing and rock and caves. These of course were dotted across the globe from Las Vegas to Athens. I could also apply to work with the United Nations.

But would any of these jobs qualify as "the best job in the world"? Of course they will have exciting aspects to them - exploring rocks and caves would surely be a lot of fun, as would working on the Serengeti National Park. But again do they qualify as "the best job in the world"?

What criteria would we need to set in order to find this job? Well, I'm going to list (in no particular order) location, salary, bonuses, length of contract, additional bonuses and potential to meet new people.

I'm going to say at this point that parenting might not be "the best job in the world." It definitely has so much going for it and I'm loving it, but it might not be "the best job in the world." Location is wherever you are; bonuses - (this is controversial) only if your child grows up to not be a disappointment. And before anyone gets on their high horse about that one - I'm talking about children who grow up to become criminals, serial killers, Hitler or someone who thinks appearing on the Jeremy Kyle Show is a good idea. Length of Contract - forever. Additional bonuses - your child may one day put you in a nursing home (thanks for that - I raise you, scrimp and save mercilessly to send you on a school trips, mind your children and then after I'm exhausted and old, you put me in the slow-death hotel because YOU'RE too busy).

Teaching is probably not "the best job in the world" either. Yeah it has a lot going for it as well: great holidays (teachers only work 190 days out of 365 - that's 175 off); the 'working' day is roughly 8.30 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. (I'm ignoring the directed time plus preparation time that could be used). The obvious disadvantage - children. I'm going to clarify that not all children are a pain, some are amazing and the event of unplanned learning is a great one when it happens. But if you're not cut out for teaching - children are the devil. The potential for meeting new people is pretty big given the number of people in a school.

Politicians - pretty good job if your good at it. The location will most likely be nice - Westminster or Stormont. Granted, Westminster is a far more attractive option but both are extremely picturesque in their way. Salary is currently £63,291 plus extensive expenses and a second home allowance - a system which quite a few have abused (but financially beneficial if you ignore the morality of the issue). The length of contract is about four years - give or take a few months - more if re-elected. The potential for meeting new people is vast depending on the constituency you have been voted into. The downside? Little privacy because of the public nature of your job. This usually translates into getting caught doing something horrendous you shouldn't be doing anyway - gay sex in a park? Why not do what EVERYONE else does and do it in a hotel, OR HOW ABOUT YOUR OWN HOME LIKE A NORMAL PERSON? Similarly, the expense allowances is seeing a lot of people getting caught out. Hopefully Jacqui Smith will fall on her sword (I'm sorry, but charging a plug - amongst other things - to the tax payer is greedy and tight-fisted). But these people are hopefully the minority and most MPs do their job.

Medical Services - varying amounts of pay, varying hours - usually a full working week but the ability to help people get better must be an amazing feeling when it happens. The downside of this is that not everyone does and that must be hard to take. Similarly, I have full respect for surgeons because the idea of having my hand in someone else's body  - near their hear and other vital organs - is pretty scary to be honest.

Of course, the list can go on and on, but this is a blog not Encyclopedia Britannica. If I've missed out a job, or your job then I'm afraid you're gonna have to get over it, that's life. But to return to the original point, do any of these jobs qualify as "the best job in the world"? Is there a job that we'd rather be doing? Or do we think our current job is "the best job in the world"? Personally I'm almost happy with my current job - one that I'm going to officially describe as "freelance teaching". Inventive and wordy like some Human Resources Executive Committee would come up with. Almost because I can choose when to work. Almost because it does not carry the same stresses or workload of full-time teaching. Almost because I get to work six our days. Almost because I want more than what I've got at the minute. I want the choice of when to work taken away from me. I want the stress and workload of full-time teaching. I want to forcibly remove myself from my desk to push myself homewards.

What your dream job is, is up to you. It could be the one you're doing now. It might be one you want or have applied for. Whatever it is, it's most likely a question whose answer will depend on the person answering.