tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post6840411244367772748..comments2024-03-17T11:05:22.464+00:00Comments on The Life And Opinions of Andrew Rilstone: PREACHERUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-91178757942272237672011-03-21T12:17:17.997+00:002011-03-21T12:17:17.997+00:00Sorry, the headline was 'most offensive image....Sorry, the headline was 'most offensive <i>image</i>.'SKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09102522819364312684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-87170583868153663552011-03-21T12:16:09.369+00:002011-03-21T12:16:09.369+00:00But -- as I'm sure you've discovered -- to...But -- as I'm sure you've discovered -- to say what you think, in a way that's clear and witty, takes a lot of time and effort. And even then people will misunderstand you, whether innocently or vexatiously. I simply don't have the time (and even if I did I might be too lazy -- but I won't find out as I don't have the time). <br /><br />In this case, what I was taking issue with was the idea that things like prayers in schools or the House of commons are simply 'window dressing'. I know you're countering hyperbole with hyperbole -- arguing against the idea that simply ceasing to pray will make Faction Paradox swallow us all or something -- but I thought it worthwhile to point out that the truth lies somewhere in the middle: that though stopping prayer in the hypothetical school won't cause the physical foundations to crumble, it <i>will</i> mean that it is no longer quite the same school. <br /><br />Some people might see it as a change for the better, of course, arguing that religion has no place in education (except as a safely killed and dissected thing, mounted for study in Religious Studies lessons but kept behind glass so as to avoid any risk of it infecting the pupils) or that to have prayers for one specific religion will make those of other religious feel uncomfortable. <br /><br />Others might see it as the first step down a slippery slope that leads to shirt-tails hanging out, smoking behind the bike-sheds and severed boars' heads mounted on poles in the middle of the rugby field. <br /><br />But it <i>would</i> be a change; and similarly, removing the religious paraphernalia from government <i>would</i> change the nature of the country. Having bishops in the House of Lords -- having the monarch, who is nominally in charge of Parliament itself (provided they don't actually try to influence it), crowned by the Archbishop -- all symbolise the point that 'right' and 'wrong' transcend the political process; that the aim of our laws is to come close to approximating some real moral order to the universe. <br /><br />Lose those symbols and the country shifts a little more towards the secular idea of laws being entirely things that we make up for the smooth running of society: so restricting the right to murder, for example, is no longer a different type of law than the one which prevents me from driving on the right-hand-side of the road. <br /><br />Now, that may be a good thing -- people might feel more invested in laws they feel proceed from their will as the governed. Or it may be another small step towards anarchy -- people might think that as the laws are merely expressions of human opinion, they can ignore ones where their opinion doesn't agree with the law. <br /><br />But it would be a <i>significant</i> thing, and therefore your counter-hyperbole of 'these things could be changed, and all would proceed as before' is just as inaccurate as 'if these things are changed, all will collapse.' The truth is in the middle. I quote: 'the business of law-making could carry on quite happily without them.' Well, yes, it could carry on and it might be happy; but it would no longer be quite the same process, seen in quite the same way, as before. <br /><br />I certainly wouldn't consider myself the Mail's advocate, for the reason that I find it incredibly distasteful when those who are not themselves Christians attempt to hijack some Christian symbol as cover for their own arguments while at the same time stripping it of its actual meaning (I agreed completely with your article on the 'Is this the most offensive issue in Britain?' headline, for example).SKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09102522819364312684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-87494332139127339752011-03-21T11:41:39.849+00:002011-03-21T11:41:39.849+00:00SK - You will find that a lot more attention is pa...SK - You will find that a lot more attention is paid to you around here if you say what you actually think (I can't tell if think that being The Gay is badwrong or if you are just playing Mail's advocate) and if you actually say what you think is wrong with my argument, rather than just trying to score debating points and being sarcastic.Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16934052271846235431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-44284412763160267882011-03-21T11:37:55.358+00:002011-03-21T11:37:55.358+00:00Oh, I thought this was the internet. Sorry.Oh, I thought this was the internet. Sorry.SKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09102522819364312684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-51216098688318221852011-03-21T10:14:22.102+00:002011-03-21T10:14:22.102+00:00Do let me know if you have a point, at all.Do let me know if you have a point, at all.Andrew Rilstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16934052271846235431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-69565007032694017602011-03-21T09:57:12.349+00:002011-03-21T09:57:12.349+00:00Someone once wrote an essay on how though traditio...Someone once wrote an essay on how though traditions might only be symbols, nevertheless they are symbols; and that while you might be able to change the symbols, you would have to replace them with something else, and the very nature of the thing would be (subtly or not so subtly) altered. I remember the example of how no longer dressing up in gowns to be presented with degrees would change the very nature of what we meant by 'learning' (presumably because, say, having the end goal of one's education a ceremony where one wears a business suit would reinforce the idea that education is there only to prepare you for the world of work). <br /><br />Might you have read it? Might you remember the author?SKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09102522819364312684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9987513.post-78445249616244415762011-03-20T18:46:52.180+00:002011-03-20T18:46:52.180+00:00Er, thanks for the good work? Theocrats are milkin...Er, thanks for the good work? Theocrats are milking homophobia, & getting away with it.I. Dallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427385974208305067noreply@blogger.com