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Staff Member
I suppose we’d better talk about what’s been happening in Paris - and elsewhere. Obviously, writing newspaper and magazine columns, and seldom being shy about what I say, I don’t much like the implications of the attack on those cartoonists. And being a pretty godless man, I’m nonplussed that anyone could get so agitated about such abstract matters as to go round shooting people.
On the other hand, accepting that some people feel so strongly, the cultural and racial mix in Paris is almost bound to throw up tensions. With its echo of a colonial past –where it draws French speaking migrants with different religions and some very different cultures- the ingredients were all there. Just as we’ve embraced a large immigrant population, while at the same time sending soldiers off on foreign missions which have left thousands dead, it’s no good being surprised when these things come home to roost.
Whether we can overcome the impulsive knee-jerk reaction events such as these provoke is another thing. It saddens me that one outcome will inevitably be more votes for idiot political parties with few thought-out policies, but happy to surf along on cheap headlines.
How we defuse the complex disenchantment between cultures is beyond this simple peasant.
And as for religion per se, I don’t get it. I can see the need for a practical moral code, beyond fixed laws. A guide to help you be a better human, and keep your personal behavioural swingometer in the green zone. And when you’re in great private turmoil, a kindly word and some sensible advice might be welcome. But where did all the mumbo jumbo come in? I suppose centuries ago, when we didn’t understand how things worked, it might’ve helped us hold onto our hats by filling the void with images of a benevolent all-powerful chap in the sky. And faced with angst about bereavement or our own mortality, the idea of some kind of afterlife might appeal. ‘Follow these rules, and it’ll all be OK’. I suppose that’s how it starts.
But now? In a little over a century, and at an accelerating pace, we’ve unravelled so much of the world around us, and indeed the cosmos, that the hocus pocus elements are left like so many beached whales.
For sure, we still can’t exactly understand how various amino acids start stringing together to make proteins, and how those then start weaving themselves into strands of self-replicating DNA, which hang together to make you, or me, or possibly an amoeba. But here’s the thing…by golly we’re finding out. The same is true in space, where a telescope and a bit of basic mathematic extrapolation shows up how ridiculous those ancient texts are.
You can try and deny the evidence all around us, and indeed, history is littered with religions trying to persuade you to do just that- enlightenment hardly suits their purpose. But to me, it’s even less relevant now we’ve reached a greater crossroads.
Now we can see how the world works, and what we’re doing to it, arguing about whether we can draw funny pictures of each other’s deities is so far back in the dark ages as to be the squabbling of infants.
We’re self-aware as a species now, at a level far beyond when these creeds were contrived. And we have to ask ourselves very real questions about how we’re piloting this spaceship ‘Earth’. We’re currently tearing the place apart for our immediate short term ease and gratification. At the same time, we follow our biological drive to multiply. It’s all too obvious that we can’t continue as we are, and that the longer we put off facing our responsibilities, the greater our pain will be.
The complex web of personal desires, vested financial interests and self-delusion which blinker us to this reality leave us carrying on as if the party will last forever.
Pretending a god will make everything OK if you follow the scriptures is empty logic. It’s us collectively who either will take our actions in hand, or we won’t.
The sensible central message of most beliefs, that ‘it’s nice to be nice’, is fine. But until all religions of the world agree to drop the mumbo jumbo fairy stories, and sit around a table to discuss the bigger picture, I’m afraid that I haven’t got much truck with them.
What does that leave me thinking about fanatics who shoot people over religious dogma - or don’t utterly denounce such behaviour-? Their views are so backward that I’m not sure they deserve a place among us.
About the author
Originally published in The Western Morning News, these articles are reproduced for the enjoyment of TFF members World-wide by kind permission of the author Anton Coaker and the WMN
Anton Coaker is a fifth generation farmer keeping suckler cows and flocks of hill sheep high on the Forest of Dartmoor and running a hardwood and mobile sawmill.
A prodigious writer and regular correspondent for The Western Morning News, NFU and The Farming Forum, Anton’s second book “The Complete Bullocks” is available from www.anton-coaker.co.uk
News: Riggit Galloway semen available internationally from Sherberton's bull Clifton Red Pride
On the other hand, accepting that some people feel so strongly, the cultural and racial mix in Paris is almost bound to throw up tensions. With its echo of a colonial past –where it draws French speaking migrants with different religions and some very different cultures- the ingredients were all there. Just as we’ve embraced a large immigrant population, while at the same time sending soldiers off on foreign missions which have left thousands dead, it’s no good being surprised when these things come home to roost.
Whether we can overcome the impulsive knee-jerk reaction events such as these provoke is another thing. It saddens me that one outcome will inevitably be more votes for idiot political parties with few thought-out policies, but happy to surf along on cheap headlines.
How we defuse the complex disenchantment between cultures is beyond this simple peasant.
And as for religion per se, I don’t get it. I can see the need for a practical moral code, beyond fixed laws. A guide to help you be a better human, and keep your personal behavioural swingometer in the green zone. And when you’re in great private turmoil, a kindly word and some sensible advice might be welcome. But where did all the mumbo jumbo come in? I suppose centuries ago, when we didn’t understand how things worked, it might’ve helped us hold onto our hats by filling the void with images of a benevolent all-powerful chap in the sky. And faced with angst about bereavement or our own mortality, the idea of some kind of afterlife might appeal. ‘Follow these rules, and it’ll all be OK’. I suppose that’s how it starts.
But now? In a little over a century, and at an accelerating pace, we’ve unravelled so much of the world around us, and indeed the cosmos, that the hocus pocus elements are left like so many beached whales.
For sure, we still can’t exactly understand how various amino acids start stringing together to make proteins, and how those then start weaving themselves into strands of self-replicating DNA, which hang together to make you, or me, or possibly an amoeba. But here’s the thing…by golly we’re finding out. The same is true in space, where a telescope and a bit of basic mathematic extrapolation shows up how ridiculous those ancient texts are.
You can try and deny the evidence all around us, and indeed, history is littered with religions trying to persuade you to do just that- enlightenment hardly suits their purpose. But to me, it’s even less relevant now we’ve reached a greater crossroads.
Now we can see how the world works, and what we’re doing to it, arguing about whether we can draw funny pictures of each other’s deities is so far back in the dark ages as to be the squabbling of infants.
We’re self-aware as a species now, at a level far beyond when these creeds were contrived. And we have to ask ourselves very real questions about how we’re piloting this spaceship ‘Earth’. We’re currently tearing the place apart for our immediate short term ease and gratification. At the same time, we follow our biological drive to multiply. It’s all too obvious that we can’t continue as we are, and that the longer we put off facing our responsibilities, the greater our pain will be.
The complex web of personal desires, vested financial interests and self-delusion which blinker us to this reality leave us carrying on as if the party will last forever.
Pretending a god will make everything OK if you follow the scriptures is empty logic. It’s us collectively who either will take our actions in hand, or we won’t.
The sensible central message of most beliefs, that ‘it’s nice to be nice’, is fine. But until all religions of the world agree to drop the mumbo jumbo fairy stories, and sit around a table to discuss the bigger picture, I’m afraid that I haven’t got much truck with them.
What does that leave me thinking about fanatics who shoot people over religious dogma - or don’t utterly denounce such behaviour-? Their views are so backward that I’m not sure they deserve a place among us.
About the author
Originally published in The Western Morning News, these articles are reproduced for the enjoyment of TFF members World-wide by kind permission of the author Anton Coaker and the WMN
Anton Coaker is a fifth generation farmer keeping suckler cows and flocks of hill sheep high on the Forest of Dartmoor and running a hardwood and mobile sawmill.
A prodigious writer and regular correspondent for The Western Morning News, NFU and The Farming Forum, Anton’s second book “The Complete Bullocks” is available from www.anton-coaker.co.uk
News: Riggit Galloway semen available internationally from Sherberton's bull Clifton Red Pride
