I woke shortly after 5am
to find the snout of a small snoring dog resting on my chin. I really
should have taken a firmer line. But all I did was leave him snoring
whilst I went and scoffed my toast while watching episodes of "Family
Guy" before setting off to work.
As I drove to work the
talk on the radio was of things spiritual; as it usually is on a
Sunday. Today the pundits were discussing the state of religious
education in schools. Apparently a religious education is vital to
ensure that children don't grow up to be ruthless amoral villains.
Various teachers, politicians and schoolchildren were interviewed on
the matter; all of whom made reasonable arguments, but all of whom
made the same logical mistake. Namely that one can have a moral and
ethical stance without it needing religious overtones.
A teacher of mathematics
or biology can impart decency to his charges every bit as well as can
a teacher of religious education. I cannot understand how ethics and
morality are seen to hand-in-hand with religion in today's society.
Forcing this connection is akin to being unable to admire the beauty
of a garden without insisting that there are magical pixies living at
the bottom of it.
One can lead a good life
*without* the threat of the imaginary wrath of an invisible friend.
Even if the Bible says differently.
There was then a church
service from a Welsh cathedral. A few days ago I heard something
about cathedral choirs being under threat from a
lack of funding. Quite frankly if today's dirge was anything to
go by, than this can only be good news. Don't get me wrong: a good
friend sings in a very good choir; and I like choral music (as
with all music) *when* it is done well. But this morning's
howling was just part of a classic example of all that is wrong with
the Church of England. A religious service should be something
beautiful and inspiring; not strangled wailing followed by inane
platitudes recited by someone who sounds as though they are even
more bored than the congregation which is sleeping through that
blather.
The morning's
news was worrying. Yesterday it seemed that the Russians were
being misunderstood and were acting in the Ukrainians best interests
and were on a peace-keeping mission. Now it would seem a full-blown
invasion is taking place. The British Government has pulled out of
the upcoming international G8 conference, and the Prime Minister has
announced that UK ministers will boycott the paralympics being hosted
in Russia.
I wonder what is going
on? I expect that whatever it is, diplomacy will (once again)
solve nothing; which is a sad indictment of human nature.
And so to work. I've said
before that I don't mind working at weekends; with a reduced staff I
feel I can get on with the job more than usual. But there's no
denying that I did have the odd stray thought about what else I might
be doing. Fifteen puzzle-geocaches went live near home yesterday. I
could have been solving those puzzles with a view to a day spent
finding them. Or I could have been in Margate where the cream of the
tupperware-hunting fraternity were gathering for the monthly meet-up.
And it didn't help that
the weather was rather good too. I don't mind being indoors when its
wet, but good weather makes me want to get out and about. I spent
much of the day glancing out of the window; and I must admit I was
rather miffed that the forecast rain didn't come until it was nearly
time for me to finish.
Last night as I drove
home I listened to a radio production of "Pride and
Prejudice"; I'd been looking forward to the second episode
of that on tonight's drive home. I was disappointed; there was no
play; instead a rather dull program about money. It turned out the
second episode had been broadcast at 3pm this afternoon (!) and the
third episode will come out next Sunday afternoon. It struck me as
rather odd scheduling; but what do I know?
I suppose I could always
download the podcast, but that always seems to be a bit like farting
about to me...
No comments:
Post a Comment