These are other reasons I haven't been here lately.  Mostly there's been too much else going on and I haven't given it much thought, likewise I haven't given theological questions much thought.  Now I need the time to write my Christmas cards.

Despite no hard evidence to prove his guilt, the execution of Troy Davis is planned for 7pm local time Georgia, tomorrow, Weds 21st September.

Amnesty are asking people to continue to petition for clemency up to the last minute  and you can do so here http://tiny.cc/6ai21 if you wish to try and help this travesty of justice.

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I'm surprised he's so old, he didn't look it when I saw him back in April http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Freddy_Mercury_Statue_Montreux.jpg

I had not realised that ex-President Mubarak and Brian Blessed had so much in common.

If Jesus were a carpenter or in the construction business he would have had to be fairly strong. If Jesus were a wandering holy man he may have been a tad unkempt and not to fresh, although maybe he dipped in the Jordan as often as he could.  If he were influenced by Greco-Roman culture he may have visited the baths daily and donned a fresh toga when he could, plus he would have kept his hair short and been clean shaven.

If he were a Jew, which I assume he was, he would have had dark hair and a swarthy complex.   We know so little about him really, but if he had medium brown hair and blue eyes his dad can't have been as Jewish as all that!

I think restorative justice is a far better idea than retributive justice.

I don't know enough between the TUC and the Labour Party to comment on that situation, but yes, I think in a democracy you would expect that the members of a political party got to vote on policies etc.

Violence may grab the headlines, but it only generates more violence. 

Immigration does seem to be a problem, but let's not forget that some of those immigrants are filling jobs we don't have enough British people qualified to do, possibly because too many have gone to US and elsewhere chasing higher wages.  Other immigrants do the jobs the rest of us think are beneath us, or we are too unfit to do.  Immigrants can also be great innovators and some will boost our economy.

Perhaps some of the unemployed already living here could do some of those jobs.  Perhaps others need to be more patriotic and put something back in to the country that gave them free education and training rather than chase higher salaries.   

Our country still has a lot going for it, but if people don't do their bit, then it will go down hill.

Treating immigrants, their children and grandchildren as second class citizens is one of the reasons we have so many problems in the inner cities.

However, if our country really can't support more immigrants our government will need to do something to reduce the number coming here.  Asylum seekers are another matter, though.  People who are genuinely at risk in their own countries should not be sent back there.

This article looks at some of the reasons for the riots/looting http://www.guardian.co.uk/public-leaders-network/blog/2011/aug/25/telling-link-riots-injustice-welfare

It is possible that the Daily Record have put their own spin on events.  The events reported suggest that police have arrested people for whom they have information strongly suggesting that they could be planning trouble.  Now it depends how good that information is.  There could also be a debate about how heavy-handed they need to be.  It is something we all need to be aware of, but in itself it doesn't suggest the police are being overly authoritarian.   After all, if someone was planning to rob you, beat you up or worse, wouldn't you be glad if the police arrested them on learning of the plan?

With both my children and their young cousins planning to go to the carnival for the first time this year I want it to be a safe place, although I wouldn't want anyone arrested or imprisoned without good reason.

Not so sure about Trade Unions; there have been rumours that the previous system was undemocratic, but I can't remember the details.  I think it gave the Union bosses too much power rather than giving an accurate picture of the views of individual Union members.

Perhaps the true revolutionary will be known by his/her home-made baggy britches a la Gandhi.  Homespun might be a bit much to expect, but home-made clothes are possible, although I'm told tailored trousers are tricky and I imagine jeans would be too.


However, we need to engage with democracy on the internet or anywhere else otherwise it is guaranteed to fail.  At the moment it is the best that we have.  Besides, I don't think democracy is the problem but rather the democratic system we have, which is not as democratic as it could be.

Let's not be defeatist.  If anyone feels they are banging their head against a brick wall, perhaps they should stand back and consider if there is any thing else they could do that would be more effective.

I heard that the government want to stop the benefits of rioters because a yougov poll resulted in an overwhelming response that they should do so.  I've just signed up to be a yougov panellist.  If this is how democracy is now working I think we all need to join in.

There are also all sorts of petitions on the e-petitions website, some in favour of the death sentence and some against, some in favour of stopping rioters' benefits and some against.  If you feel strongly about anything I suggest you sign the relevant petition, or start one if there isn't one there already.

I think it very much depends on what sort of religion: not Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist etc, but whether it is based on compassion and a holistic attitude to the world around us.

'Prosperity Gospel' Christianity is not good religion nor is religion based on superstition or on judgementalism. Once I accidentally sat in a meeting of a Buddhist sect, which was based on a kind of Buddhist 'prosperity gospel' - I wanted the Buddhist group that met upstairs and hadn't realised there were two in the Friends Meeting house that evening. 

I thought this adds an interesting perspective, http://nathanieltapley.com/2011/08/10/an-open-letter-to-david-camerons-parents/, although the fact that Mr Cameron senior died last year could make it seem a bit insensitive.


Btw, in case anyone here hasn't already seen it, this is a good take on newspaper spin, well, a certain newspaper's spin -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBT6OSr1TI

Hello again, Iftikhar . We are all citizens of our global village.  I agree it is good to speak more than one language, I speak 3 myself.  I'm not sure this is a good reason to have faith schools, though.  I think it would be a good reason for schools with enough children who are interested to offer Arabic and/or Urdu alongside the more traditional languages taught.  I learnt German at home from my father and then improved it with German lessons at school.

Tariq Jahan is indeed a good ambassador for Islam, as Gordon Wilson was a good ambassador for Christianity after his daughter was killed by an IRA bomb in Enniskillen.  Unfortunately there are too many Muslims and Christians who give their religion a bad name.  I hope people will remember Tariq Jahan as a positive example of what it means to be a Muslim.

Unfortunately corruption and greed exist in countries where religion still plays a major role.  One of the negative sides of religion is that it is often an attempt to control people by guilt and fear, but it can also be a way of showing people a better way to live.  Religion and ethics are taught in most British schools, so I don't think it's the lack of teaching about morality that is the problem.  Perhaps there is too much in films, television programmes and magazines that cancels out the moral teachings that children receive.