London Riots - what's to blame?

I know that every right-minded individual in this country will feel anger at the wanton destruction of the past few days. Many of those same people will also feel threatened and scared of the possibility of the events escalating into general anarchy.

Perhaps somewhat fewer people will try to analyse and rationalise what has actually occurred. As a Christian I have tried to come to terms with my own thoughts on the subject and I don’t believe this is a recession issue or even a reprisal issue.

We are not talking about massive levels of violence against the person here, although clearly the police have been targeted for the brunt of it. No, we are talking about young people, children in some cases, taking advantage of a situation as young people are prone to do.

I saw on the news a reporter walking through Clapham, bravely admonishing these kids but clearly not in mortal danger from them. He passed by a bunch of giggling girls who tried to block the camera and run away. These girls looked like young teenagers caught up in the typical gang mentality that has existed through the ages whether we glorify it as in the Gordon Riots or Swing Riots of the 18^th and 19^th century or condemn it out of hand as with the 20^th century rampages by mods, rockers, skinheads and hells angels.

It is interesting that the first thing we all do is study the scene and imagine it to be a race problem; after all the touchpaper was lit by the death of a black resident of Tottenham!.

It is easy for us to make assumptions by studying the TV pictures and concluding that many of the looters are black, but truth be known the areas of London affected have predominantly black populations. However, I clearly saw gangs of white youths acting aggressively towards police and also looting. I don’t believe this is a race issue either.

When we are young we are not fully developed emotionally and we are prone to peer pressure, acts of stupidity carried out to impress our friends and general distrust of the establishment. I have no doubt that a large proportion of these looters will be horrified at their deeds in a few years time. I believe this is a youth issue.

So do I believe our Government have acted in the correct manner? To hell no

I believe the riot act should never have been dispensed with in 1973 because if these kids knew the repercussions of their actions could end in serious harm to themselves then they would think twice about answering Twitter appeals and using their BlackBerry devices to seek out areas where there is no police presence.

I also believe that in a time when the country, indeed the world, is in such serious economic strife we cannot afford to absorb the cost which far exceeds the immediate replacement of buildings and although paid for by insurance companies in the main, inevitably adds to the burden of every household.

So I would have called in the army to maintain order on the streets with a brief to ensure no torching of buildings and no looting.

I would have gone further and used water cannons and rubber bullets and ensured a strong armed police presence as well as a strategic military showing.

I abhor violence of any kind but this sits perfectly well with my conscience as although I know young people do silly things (how did I ever make it out of my teens I’ll never know) they do have to be held responsible to some extent and are very able to understand corporal punishment, in fact sometimes it is all they can respond to as part of the growing up experience.

At the end of the day these people are law breakers and are causing worry and anxiety across the nation and do need to be kept in check. I don’t agree with the deputy mayor of London who was calling on local citizens to band together to try and reason with the perpetrators. This is not a case of locals failing to put their heads above the parapet, it is a case of locals being apathetic as they couldn’t care less about the local PC World store – why should they?

If these gangs honed in on residential areas I have no doubt we would have had many deaths on our hands by now, so please don’t misunderstand what I ‘m saying.

We simply cannot have gangs roaming the streets looting in broad daylight as the whole fabric of society will break down, but I do not believe that these people are generally more criminally-minded than the next person, although clearly there is also an element of hardened criminals that would be trying their luck irrespective of riot acts or curfews. This defiant element must be stamped on summarily. Warn them now to cease or be punished further. Warn their parents to keep them off the streets. Those that have been caught on camera must pay the price of their crimes. Those that have been fortunate today must know that tomorrow is not an option for them. The government must act now before the innocent are dragged in as they surely will as communities will only tolerate a certain amount and when local resources are drained tempers will fray.

Today must be the last day.

For God’s sake this human life can be such a struggle at the best of times and if only these youngsters knew that what they are doing will change nothing for the better in their lives or in the lives of society as a whole.

But of course one day they will know

The Tree of Life (watch it and lose the will to live)

I watched a film last night at Cineworld Crawley. On a Wednesday evening there is a concession for Orange mobile users whereby they can buy a ticket and get one free. This made for long queues not only at the cinema but in the car park and all the surrounding retail food outlets.


This somehow made the anticipation all the more special as the gauntlet of parking, then ticket purchase, and finally food, had to be run.

I paid my £8.60, entered Studio 6 and, after 40 minutes of ads, settled down to watch Tree of Life, the latest movie, starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.

Two young lads sitting behind me had been extremely loud throughout the ads but once the opening film certificate appeared on the screen they hushed immediately, as did the rest of the packed auditorium.

Twenty minutes later I found myself enthralled by the ‘Exit’ sign on the emergency door to the right of the screen. I studied the line drawing of the person depicted under the sign and tried to work out where this exit led to.

I then noticed a trickle of people, including the two chatty lads, walking out of the studio. This trickle became a torrent as good-natured laughter filled the air - the laughter stemming not from anything occurring in the film you understand but merely from the ever-increasing amount of people making a beeline for the exit.

In the ultimate irony an usher continually appeared at the entrance to escort out a handful of kids who had infiltrated Studio 6 without paying. If only she had waited a few minutes they surely would have gone of their own volition!

I was asked by a friend afterwards what the film was about and gave a rather glib reply of “it was about 130 minutes” as I couldn’t really explain (or rather I couldn’t be bothered to explain as this would have given the film some level of importance it did not deserve).

All I will say is that Tree of Life is undoubtedly the worst film I have ever seen, worse even than Gomorrah

Are You Scared of Dying?

I listened to part of the Jeremy Vine Show on Radio 2 yesterday morning and the daily topic was the growing propensity for children to be unhealthily scared of death. Parents were phoning in with tales of their children hiding under bedclothes screaming “I’m going to die”.

So what has caused this phenomenon and is it the modern scourge that it would appear to be?

There are times when each of us becomes aware of our mortality and the natural defence against this is to avert our thoughts almost instantly so although we are left with the realisation of the inevitable we do not dwell on it or let it impinge on our lives.

Sometimes this coping mechanism goes wrong and we are unable to focus on anything other than the circumstances that might lead to our ultimate demise. This usually occurs at night when idle reflective moments turn into deep introspections. I would argue that this is not necessarily a negative thing.

Although I never had this morbid sensation for myself (I was very good at diverting my thoughts and anyway it just seemed too far into the future to worry about logically) I did have an unnatural sadness at the thought that my mother and father would one day die. I would physically shake and on occasion my heart beat would go into overdrive (a symptom that has recently returned whilst racing around on my bike). I remember several occasions when after particularly bad nights when I got no sleep at all I was literally unable to raise my head from the pillow. It was almost like being trapped inside my body, able to think fairly clearly and quite aware of my surroundings but unable to physically move or speak. On several more occasions I was able to rise from bed but found it almost impossible to walk so had to take the day off school. 

I do think I was particularly sensitive but these feelings certainly made me appreciate my parents, cherish them and love them in the knowledge that one day they might not be there.  I was eventually able to rationalise my feelings and put into perspective the vagaries of being human. I still worry about my father and my four brothers and sister and indeed my close friends but it is within a certain context. I made a concerted effort to concentrate on what's important in life. I strove every day to be a kind and generous and loving person (and failed miserably of course) and any time I even thought about harbouring grudges or maintaining a ridiculous anger, I'd see death and I'd remember.

The expert in the studio informed Jeremy, and the listeners, that children brought up in Christian households (and presumably some other faiths) tend to deal with death far better than those brought up in non-Christian households. I thought this was beautiful and true and where the Richard Dawkins’ of this world fail to understand the deep magic that is Christianity.

When my mother died 20 years ago I was not a practising Christian although she was. I read her daily diaries, the last 11 years of which consisted of unerring daily entries of “attended Holy Mass”. All of us were struck, awe-struck by the perfection of my mother’s death – her dignity, the way she put her house in order, and of course her incredible life’s journey in service to our Lord. She had no idea that Christmas Day 1992 was to be her final day on Earth. She had not been ill so it was a shock to us all. On that fateful day when she said to me quite calmly “remember Trev, I love all my children” I knew what she was telling me, although as is my way I used the ability to divert my thoughts from the harshness of life’s reality. My mother was an old-school mum who brought up six children clean and tidy in a sometimes stressful household. In the home my visions of her are of being constantly stuck at the kitchen sink washing clothes and when she was able to spare a few minutes to watch Corrie she would inevitably fall asleep mouth wide open, much to our amusement. At work she was a legend. I had the good fortune to work at her hospital, Netherne, while she was a ward sister on Galsworthy ward. I had a temporary job in the admin office and Mr Stephens the hospital administrator thought my mother was a saint. She would pop in to the office on occasion and a big fuss would be made of her. She had a devilish sense of humour and a heart of 24 carat gold. I was so proud of her. The amount of times I visited her ward to see her helping patients walk or take their shopping lists reminded me of just how she liked to do that little bit more. It reminds me now of those poverty-stricken times when she could hardly make ends meet but often managed to sneak a Mars Bar into my pocket when I had a cricket match. 

You see, my mother’s faith saw her through. Her devotion to our Lord made everything perfect and she lived and died in a perfect human way. As Christians we embrace death as a natural part of God’s plan. I loved the recent Torchwood episode, Miracle Day, where no one was able to die and the population became unmanageable very quickly. It was thought-provoking and a very real example of the necessity for a thermostat on life.

The feeling of wellbeing from being a Christian goes unsaid very often. We tend to concentrate on Richard Dawkins’ view of us as having a life struggling to follow an unseen entity that makes huge promises but denies epicurean pleasures, thus frustrating the spirit. He just doesn’t get it.

One definition of delusion is - An idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality, typically a symptom of mental disorder. Another definition is - A false belief or opinion: laboured under the delusion that success was at hand.

Both these definitions cover the areas that Richard Dawkins finds so offensive and beyond his understanding. Can he truthfully and demonstratively deny the possibility of God and can he truthfully and demonstratively deny the power that that possibility brings and indeed deny that success was very much at hand in the lives of people like my mother. On Earth my mother will be remembered as someone who worked hard all her life, never taking time off, never receiving state hand-outs, and bringing up six children in extreme adversity but within a loving environment with Christian values. I describe a very ordinary and stereotypical existence but one that was given meaning by the manifestation of my mother’s real faith at her death. The knock on effect is immense. The wellbeing of a Christian is gauged by the deepness and sincerity of their faith. This faith gives hope to others and it is not a delusion.

There is nothing in what Richard Dawkins has ever proven that denies the possibility of God in the same way as he would argue that in a faith-based system we can neither prove the existence of God. But the unsaid and unfathomable X factor is all those myriad of hidden qualities of Christianity that make our spirits soar and make us strong and able to face life’s vicissitudes. These are real, not delusions, whichever definition you might care to use.

A clue about depth of conviction of atheists can be gleaned by the amount of converts to Christianity in the trenches. A most natural and heart-warming occurrence but would a Christian change their allegiance if they faced impending doom, which might manifest itself in illness, loss of a loved one, financial destruction etc?.   Simple answer NO

Are Christians masochists?

There must be something about Christians that embraces masochism because my last month or two have been awful and yet I feel full of joy and not in the least despondent. Perhaps that is what we crave as Christians – tests of our faith (as long as they’re not too painful). Perhaps the joy stems from the fact that we are able to rationalise events and know that misfortunes in life can be one of three things i.e. the usual roll of the dice that exists when humans are given freewill and left to their own devices, an indication that something in our lives requires changing or simply that whatever happens in our lives we know it is for the best.

My misfortune began in April when the tachycardia I suffer from (diagnosed as Supraventricular tachycardia, although I have always called it palpitations) became rampant. I’m not sure if I have ever mentioned it before in a blog but it is a condition I suffered from for the first 27 years of my life and never bothered to tell anyone as it was my normality. The attacks became less and less frequent then suddenly disappeared and became a distant memory. Initially the attacks could last up to two or three hours but eventually I learned tricks to shorten the duration. If I were in the classroom I would simply raise my hand to be excused and then go to the toilet and lie down on the cold concrete floor in the cubicle, away from prying eyes. This would invariably shock it back to its normal loop and I always had this overwhelming feeling of relief and joy when it was over. It was annoying to say the least, particularly when playing sport. Although I won the annual school cross-country on a couple of occasions I also remember having an attack while running the county and walking over the line in 168^th position. My reputation was one of winning or dropping out. And why didn’t I tell anyone – because kids do not like to be different. Actually I did tell one person, a school friend, Peter Cowley who told me once that he suffered from the same complaint so I felt safe to tell him of mine. I hope Peter is OK as I haven’t seen him for many years and he is one of few who hasn’t turned up to school reunions.

After almost 30 years I began to suffer them again a couple of years ago. The heart specialist, Mr Sneddon, offered me an ablation operation (where they stick a wire up through a vein in the groin and zap the piece of gristle on the heart) but I didn’t fancy it as I only had attacks two or three times a month. However in April I began cycling again after a winter completing my latest book and I began to have attacks on every ride and then for the first time in my life I had more than one attack on the same day (I had convinced myself this was impossible), in fact I had four attacks whilst out on my Sunday club ride with the Crawley Wheelers, the last after winning the sprint for the line to complete the ride. The next day I had six attacks during a three hour ride and then decided enough was enough so have made another appointment to see the specialist as I realise it is not getting any better and is definitely going to have to be sorted as I do miss my cycling.

I began a pop culture book in 2004 and it has finally (well almost) been completed and for the first time I do not yet have a publisher for it. My works are usually commissioned but I went out on a limb this time as I took it for granted that my publisher would take it on. Alas, I offered it to them last week and they have not taken up the option. It was a bit of a shock to say the least as I know it is my best work to-date and they seem to agree judging by their glowing report but perhaps it merely says something about the present climate. I must admit I probably didn’t help my cause by asking for a transfer to another publisher two years ago but that move was thwarted by them as they asked too much for my backlog. One might think this was a strange move by them but to be honest I have an excellent relationship with everyone at Little, Brown and do not think for one moment their decision is a reaction to my request. My motive was only to team up again with the No 1 man in publishing, the man who gave me my first break in 1998, Alan Samson, now at Orion. I have never spoken to any other publisher (it is now on record) although now I will have to next week.

The thing is I look at these setbacks for what they are. I am fit and healthy and off the bike I do not suffer from ill health (hardly ever get the super-fast heart when walking around) and I have actually enjoyed doing other things instead of having to spend all my free time in a constant state of breathlessness through running or cycling. As for the publisher’s decision - I have never had a lack of confidence in my ability to do what I do well so I just feel sorry that someone there has made the wrong decision as I know this book will do well – and if it was never to get published so what. I know so many excellent writers who have never had the opportunity to ever be published because of someone in their ivory tower did not want to take a chance on them. How lucky have I been.

It is always the times when things are not going supremely well that defines us as human beings and as Christians doubly so. I spent most of my life feeling very undeserving of God’s love (still do if I’m honest) as I had so many vices, and it wasn’t until I realised that God loves us all and my vices were not only hurting me but also hurting Him (this is the nature of sin) that I could rationalise things and try to change them.

So now I am looking forward to a period of soul searching (and publisher searching) and it excites me. I love new challenges and putting things on the line. It is my nature to always bounce back from any misfortune (not that I consider either my job or health issue a misfortune on the grand scale of things – far from it). It shows a certain arrogance of spirit for me to even mention such trivial things but if it helps a solitary person to understand themselves better then so be it.

The World Has Gone Mad

So I read in this morning’s Telegraph that ‘Kenneth Clarke was forced to apologise yesterday after suggesting that not all rapes were serious’. The paper then goes on to say that Mr Clarke actually said that some rapes were not as serious as others.

What he actually said is something quite different and the paraphrasing used by media sources is the scourge of twenty-first-century-living.

I ask those right-minded citizens out there to read what Mr Clarke actually said and then try and understand that he was merely stating existing fact, nothing more. He doesn’t deserve being vilified for making the observation that some rapes are worse than others. That is evident by the huge sentencing differences. What is the fuss all about?

Certainly not anything Mr Clarke said. Any informed speaker on the subject would have said the same…..surely! or indeed perhaps not in this age of political correctness gone mad.

I have been on various media courses at the behest of my publisher to ensure that when I give interviews I say the right things and give the right signals. Truth doesn’t come into it anymore. The exercise is not to give the media any bait to get their fangs into.

The truth is what I read today is something I have heard and seen discussed in exactly the same way innumerable times both on television and radio. The discussion in the past though has always been about sentencing policy and the act of rape itself but now it seems that it sells more papers to shoot the messenger. I have seriously been considering not reading newspapers or watching television anymore. I am sick to death of the likes of Max Clifford pimping off people’s grief. I am sick to death of reading columns by people like Kelvin Mackenzie pontificating in their holier than thou manner when the truth is these people are media prostitutes – believe me I have had dealings with them!

And for those who don’t know me I am a socialist so have little in common with Tory politicians but am fed up with the truth being bent and twisted to evoke sensationalism. It is bullying plain and simple and until we resolve the problem we as a human race will begin to slip further and further into this dark abyss where truth means nothing and only bland statements will be declared for fear of reprisals.

Do any of you remember those very plausible insurance salesmen that used to come to your home promising they could double your money within ten years only for you to find you would have been better off placing your money under the bed. These media spin merchants are of the same ilk only far far worse - as they KNOW they are misleading you.

I was with Max Clifford the day Fulham legend Johnny Haynes died and his phone didn’t stop ringing. He was telling all and sundry that he was a life-long fan of the great man. In between calls over a sticky bun and a cuppa I questioned him a little about Johnny and it was clear he didn’t have a scooby doo. He deals in illusion you see.

Kelvin Mackenzie jumps on every bandwagon that passes him and yet he is someone known within closed circles to be the most politically incorrect person imaginable. I once did a job for his radio station but my payment did not arrive and when I rang up, and bear in mind I had never spoken to the man before, I was more than a little shocked to have him enter into a one-sided tirade of verbal abuse like you could not possibly imagine. I did not utter a word but was told to “go f--- myself” among other pleasantries. This is the common currency of Mr Mackenzie and yet he is employed like so many of his ilk to act as paragons of virtue when it suits them and to incite the masses when sales need boosting. Truth means nothing nowadays.

Mr Clarke was most eloquent in his words. It is such a terribly difficult crime to legislate against. How many times have we been frustrated when watching television programmes on the subject of rape where justice didn’t appear to be done because the police either advised victims a conviction would be difficult or else at trial a judge found insufficient evidence. How many times too have we heard in our own small lives of people being raped. I know several people who have told me about their rapes and none of them went to the law. The whole subject of rape needs looking at closely. Most men do not understand the intricate nature of rape because they find it too abhorent to contemplate. We understand the violence of course and in fact we always tend to cry out for maximum sentences because of the physical violence aspect - but we cannot comprehend the mental turmoil, the fear, the actual violation. Only another woman can really understand that, which is probably why when someone cries rape falsely women tend to be much less tolerant and forgiving towards a false litigant as they do a disservice to real claimants.

Consent itself has always been the sticking point in so many cases. I sat and watched a case once where I felt sure the defendant was guilty but it turned out to be his word against hers and no conviction followed because of the strict code the jury was instructed to adhere to. To try and simplify rape as acrosss the board rape too is dangerous. Mr Clarke gave the example of a 17 year old sleeping with a 15 year old. Now I don’t think for one moment he gave this as an example rather than say a 30-year-old man or whatever, he was surely making the point that two immature children do immature irresponsible things. I know several schoolfriends of mine that slept with girls before they were 16. Although I wouldn’t say it was the norm I have to say it happened even in the 1960s and 1970s. I know one close friend of mine that was caught in bed by the mother of a 15-year-old and although she read him the riot act he was not convicted of anything, and yes he was 17 (and no it wasn’t me, I did not lose my virginity until many years later).

It is rightly an emotive subject. Most right-minded people feel that convicted rapists beyond a shadow of a doubt, of the type that Kenneth Clarke describes as those that merely choose their victim from the street, deserve some sort of castration, while perhaps those that come under the heading of statutory rape deserve a lesser sentence dependent on the circumstances.

I have no political sympathy for Kenneth Clarke but I do believe that if we condone his sacking for merely giving his expert analysis as a lawyer and politician, then we will find ourselves up a very sticky gum tree where we will be the castrated ones as a nation. Policy will be impossible to be formed as we will always be upsetting some minority with a voice. To give you a final example of the sort of thing that can happen. Two years ago I asked to be removed from the emailing list of my local Labour Party as I was very upset to be called homophobic by one of the other group. What had happened was that our local chairman asked us to picket a meeting of the BNP in Crawley and I replied rather irritatingly that I feel that we should concentrate on our own party and not be drawn into slagging off others. Well all hell broke loose and several members of the group sent me private email telling me how the BNP had made it personal by ringing them up anonymously and heavy breathing and all sorts of skulduggery. My thoughts were how could this possibly happen unless you continue to incite conflict but I understood their feelings. What I didn’t understand was the one chap who replied to the group that he was so upset because I was clearly condoning the BNP who were anti-gay and so I must be homophobic!! What the poor chap didn’t know was that I lobbied for a dear gay friend of mine to become my local Bewbush Councillor only a month prior to this and indeed he got in after I broke custom by speaking on his behalf before the vote.

You see it should always be about the best man for the job irrespective of nepotism.

Last year the same man was up as the Labour Party candidate to fight the general election and I actually voted against him this time as I felt there was a better candidate for the job. My friend rang me and we had a frank discussion about it and he totally understood. It was the hardest thing I have done for years but I simply could not vote for him merely because he was a friend, and his boyfriend was a friend and the son of a special friend of mine. I’d rather feel guilty of upsetting a friend than standing accused of nepotism.

No I am not trying to be holier than thou. I too have my moments which is why I understand the danger of nepotism and not making rational decisions. I used to quite like Chris Tarrant but immediately went off him when I felt he stitched me up like a kipper on WWTBAM. Now quite illogically when I hear him on the radio I find myself not well disposed towards him. I say illogically because I have never been one to either harbour grudges or understand why grudges are harboured. Words said in anger are often masking deep rooted feelings of love and should never cause terminal rifts - but sadly so often do.

It is hard enough being a fickle human being anyway but to put more temptations in our path, more reasons to show our gang mentality, more reason for us to become institutionalised neutered bullies, never giving anyone the benefit of the doubt.

Once I became a Christian I lost a certain amount of my ego. I no longer felt I needed to be loved by human beings. I did feel I wanted to understand them and I certainly still hated it when I was misunderstood but I no longer felt inadequate, rather I was resigned to the fact that we are all fickle and liable to make irrational decisions from time to time. Few people deserve hate per se. Comment, of course, pity even but serious hate should only be reserved for those that cannot rise above personal tragedy - for instance many of the victims of rape I discussed above. I know that hate destroys the soul and essence of a human being. How many of us know people who have been totally devastated by grief. But even within a Christian community it would be difficult to get across an argument for forgiving the perpetrator of a heinous crime like rape and yet many who have been able to do so have lived much fuller lives. Closure is often easier when you are in control.

These are the sort of questions I would like to concentrate on, the wellbeing of the victims, not a politician who was merely stating the obvious.

Nepotism - the scourge of the ruling classes!

I hereby call for the resignations of both David Cameron and Nick Clegg on the grounds of nepotism, the scourge of human frailty and my own particular bête noire.

By coming out in defence of David Laws, who was found guilty of using taxpayers’ money to pay his boyfriend more than £100,000, our two chief politicians have shown they cannot be trusted to adhere to consistent logical procedures implemented to ensure the public can have total faith in our elected Members of Parliament.

And before anyone accuses me of being biased, I can declare that I resigned from the Labout Party earlier this year in protest at the nepotism shown last year when electing our Labour Party candidate to fight the General Election.

I understand this human frailty only too well. We are all guilty of it. As soon as we first speak to a total stranger on a bus we are more prone to favour that person over any other passenger – It is the way humans are wired and may appear quite harmless but in actual fact this tendency is responsible for more of the world’s ills than any plague we have ever dealt with.

It might seem good to place people that one can trust in positions of authority. The problem is that vested interests creep in and ‘blind eyes’ are turned often resulting in tragedy. I do not jest when I say that none of the world’s dictators would have existed but for nepotism. What was the first thing that Stalin did before implementing his own will on the Russian people? He launched a massive purge against his native enemies and either had them executed or imprisoned in Siberian gulags. How did Hitler manage to persuade the German people that cultural hegemony was a sound and worthy cause? His first action was to have a massive purge against his native enemies (the original one in 1934 known as ‘The Night of the Long Knives’). And what of Trujillo – massive purge of native enemies by systematic killings and expanded this to indiscriminate killing of Haitians that shared the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. This was known as the Parsley Massacre. And Chairman Mao – massive purge of native enemies and had them horrifically tortured in very graphic circumstances; Saddam Hussein (massive purge of native enemies, mainly Kurds, in the so-called Al-Anfal campaign of genocide). In every case these purges were supplemented by the dictators strategically placing their own choices in the top government positions.

Even with the apparently good regimes such as Kennedy’s ‘Camelot’ the nepotism almost plunged the world into nuclear war because in truth many of JFK’s advisors were not worthy of the positions held.

A form of nepotism got OJ Simpson a reprieve from murder and his current 33 year sentence for armed robbery probably vindicates that assessment. The old pal’s act, money buys anything, if your face fit – call it what you will, but unless the general public has faith in government then we will always be in recession! 

David Laws might be a most affable good-hearted chap but he clearly cannot be allowed to serve in Government because he is tarnished. He might well be totally trustworthy but it is the perception that is all important here and unfortunately he should have thought about the bigger picture. Normally I would love the idea of loyalty to a friend but in asking for clemency for David Laws both David Cameron and Nick Clegg don’t seem to understand that rules are made for a reason and cannot be compromised on a whim or else the fabric of society breaks down. David Laws is an intelligent quick-witted man and will do well in any job he takes on but unfortunately he has burnt his bridges in politics for me.

Happy Easter to you all

The young bomb disposal expert Captain Lisa Head recently killed in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan has prompted me to re-evaluate my thoughts about the military.


When we think of all those soldiers that have lost their lives in the course of their duty we often attempt to rationalise it with all manner of inadequate cliches: ‘Liberty’, ‘Queen and country’, ‘democracy’, ‘good over evil’, ‘a necessary evil’, ‘fair play’, ‘honour’, ‘future peace’, ‘stability’ and even ‘they knew the risk’. To the families left behind, all these reasons are but crumbs of comfort as despair, emptiness, confusion and anger embroil their very being. And yet many of the left behind find joy in the knowledge that their loved ones did not die in vain.



A Christian’s life is very similar – On this Good Friday we reflect on the anniversary of Jesus’ death and we attempt to rationalise it albeit in a typically human way. We know that Jesus suffered a truly painful death and we also know He did this for us, so that we might be saved – and yet because we learn that the story has a happy ending in which Jesus rises again our fickle brains make light of the sacrifice Jesus made.



I remember the parable of the labourers in the vineyard whereby the householder hired various workers in the morning for a penny a day. As the day went on he hired more workers at the third hour, the sixth hour and finally at the eleventh hour. He told these latecomers that he would pay them what is right. When the day was done and the steward paid each man a penny, those that had worked all day felt cheated. The steward had paid the last recruited first and it was too much for them to bear to see these people receive a full penny. They imagined the goodman of the house would pay them more when it came to their turn – but alas no. Perhaps if the steward had only paid the latecomers half a penny the early workers would still be satisfied!

There are several points here: Jesus offered this parable as an example of a description of the kingdom of heaven. One of the morals of the story is that the last shall be first and the first last. I had a real example of this in practice today when I turned up late for church and the car park was full. I drove around the block and found the one free parking space at the back of the church next to the presbytery. As the church was full I was ushered in to the presbytery where I and some other latecomers were given a full-screen video-link of the service complete with a fantastic audio system. We didn’t even have to queue to take communion as one of the priests came to us first. It isn’t a great analogy perhaps but truth is I arrived at church at 2.50 for a 3 o’clock service so was not really late and I was not bothered about parking as I knew there was a pay-and-display just up the road. In a similar way in the parable those that were employed first thing required no faith. They entered into a contract and were paid their full due. Those that were employed later in the day were only told they would be paid “whatever is right”. They required faith that they would be paid a fair amount. Clearly the good householder had done no wrong. He entered into a contract with each worker and they were happy. What changed? Absolutely nothing – except the ridiculous non-christian sense of fair play that humans have developed since man’s first disobedience. It is this same fallacy that permeates all human reasoning and why we struggle to do the right thing without recourse to God. How many times have I heard non-christians tell me they do not sin? Well clearly most so-called ‘right-minded citizens’ would feel a little peeved if someone who worked only one hour received the same wages for their graft as they themselves who worked a full twelve hours. They simply cannot rationalise things correctly in their human brains. It is a sin to covet someone else’s property and that is what this parable describes – among several other things.



Most people cannot comprehend any other way.



I read in this morning’s Telegraph that Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury has suggested that the rich and powerful should be required by law to spend time each year helping the poor and needy. He is right in my opinion. It is not so much wrong that we elevate the rich and famous but all Christians know that all such people have received their reward on Earth and human wealth and position trucks no status in the kingdom of heaven. I wrote to every person who took part in the Secret Millionaire series. I was touched by the crumbs they threw at those in need. I was not interested in their motives as it was of no consequence. Their reward is of this Earth but God in His kingdom expects far more of us.



In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (chapters 6 and 7) he lays out a template for the perfect Christian life for all those born again. The template is as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago and yet even the truest of Christians struggle with its content. I myself am guilty of customising my faith to accommodate my shortcomings.



I was driving along with a Christian friend the other day and they asked me out of the blue to describe my relationship with God using a motoring analogy. I didn’t even think momentarily as I had no idea what I was going to say but my mouth spoke anyway. I saw myself driving down the highway alone with God driving beside me on the inside lane watching me. I was aware of Him and acutely aware of my sin also. I felt guilty but safe all the while He was watching over me. I felt panic too that He might disappear in exasperation at my stubborness. You see I do not do enough as a Christian, in fact, although I love the Lord with all my heart, I do nothing. I wondered why God did not pull over and invite me into His car. And then my mind wandered to God’s car on my inside. He was driven by His angels and He was pained. He said to them “Why doesn’t he pull over and ask Me for a lift”. You see the problem is there is a divide. I feel I have separated myself so inevitably communication breaks down. God does not hear unrepentant sinners and does not speak to those who will not listen. Although I pray that He makes me listen, the truth is He would rather I used my own freewill.

Please don’t misunderstand, I do nothing outrageously wrong. I have always felt not quite good enough anyway. It is my nature. I am one of six children and I never felt quite deserving of five siblings and never felt quite good enough to be a member of my own family. I was always on the fringes looking in but never participating fruitfully. It was the same with friendships. Why would anyone want to befriend me? – a sinner. So that said, it is inevitable that I feel I am a long way short of what a Christian should be. I say the right things of course but the truth is I am fickle. I am opinionated for one. I have always been anti-war and anti-fighting period – and yet I read the story of Captain Head and my human brain cannot compute. I don’t know her motives for joining the military but the job she undertook was brave to a point that few can imagine and I certainly can’t. She killed no one, rather she put herself on the front line to protect others. I hope that she is awarded a posthumous VC so that people will remember her bravery and her memory will live on on this Earth. I also pray that God evaluates her life and deeds and by His grace and mercy finds her to be someone worthy of His kingdom.



What is my sin you might ask? Where shall I begin. I am a fickle human being. I am supposed to try to emulate Jesus’ life and yet I lie over the most stupid things and try to justify my lies by imagining it is ‘for the best’! I am an occasional gambler who again justifies it by imagining that it is moderate and never happens during the 40 days of lent! I have too much money in the bank but justify that by throwing crumbs and imagining that I have responsibilities – and of course the rainy day syndrome! Where is my faith?

And of course I am very aware of my human frailty every time I am a victim of bad driving or bad manners. Need I go on. And yet I call myself Christian. Is it any wonder that we as a race are in the state we are in. Why we revere the likes of Richard Dawkins as some sort of revelationary guru instead of pity the simple-minded non-entity that I feel him to be. Ah well I suppose he does make a lot of money so in the world he describes this one to be perhaps my evaluation of him is a little harsh. I myself am fed up being a hypocrite. My faith is constant and eternal and yet am I the light I should be – NO WAY. I know of at least one person I had a relationship with in the past who would not think of me as any sort of light. For myself on this Blessed day I know time is running out. I must get things right in God’s eyes. I want my car to stop - to run out of petrol if that is the only way.



So to all those out there who also feel not quite good enough, please don’t despair. God is a patient God. Repent with a true heart and know that whether your sin is greater or less than mine is of no consequence to God. The Holy Spirit will help all those who have a true wish to purify their soul and although you will inevitably fall short of the perfection of Jesus you will find that if you do all that is humanly possible to know God then He will be there for you, not in an airy-fairy way but in a real way. And why then do I still bumble along having to continually confess my sins? Because I am human, better than some at being human and a whole heap worse than others. I cannot trust myself to refrain from nepotism and all those seemingly innocuous skewed decisions we make every day. Just look at those politicians we place in the ivory towers. They are no worse than any workers in any industry. Their mind sets are merely human and fallible. Unfortunately until we change the hearts of man we will all just bumble along making self-seeking decisions. But the good news is we can start looking at ourselves and make changes to ourselves. Not be influenced by what society (quite often the media today) deems as acceptable but take our lead from a higher source of command. Do not worry about being used and abused. Do not worry about being duped. And certainly do not worry if our fellow workers are paid more than us for doing the same job, or paid the same for doing less. So what – we can all work out our budget to live at an acceptable level. It is not difficult. I myself had a perfectly good existence when I lived on the streets for three weeks so there is not a millionaire alive who needs more. I find it obscene that Portugal requires nine billion to bail themselves out and yet over the years I have met individuals who have that kind of wealth themselves. Why can’t they give it up and be blessed both on this Earth but more importantly in the kingdom of heaven. Personally, and controversially perhaps, I would take it from them in taxation as I do not feel most people are capable of making such decisions themselves. Humans tend to justify things to themselves - even when they know something is for their own good they resist.



Happy Easter – isn’t it warm? God bless all those in pain – don’t worry, it doesn’t last