Half-Term
The Rain, it Raineth . . .
Well surprise, surprise, it's half-term week & so, of course, it's raining. Actually it was really nice yesterday, but since Sunday it's been wet/chucking it/about to/just done so, & chilly. Proper British Bank Holiday weather! Now that's why Britain had an Empire. Not cos we wanted to throw our weight around & rule the world - unlike some who, as history shows, fail - nor yet cos we were determined to protect our trade interests (& that's what a lot of Historians will tell you), but cos we were looking for somewhere with better weather. That's why so many Scots, Welsh & Irish are found all over the place. That & things like potato famine, land clearance & other evidences of Those in Charge being more interested in money than the people in their 'care'! Plus ça change?
Maybe some of them were also trying to get away from Olde Englishe Customs eg: Shin Kicking or Cheese Rolling, & that's just in Gloucestershire. Oooh aaarrh!
I used to quite enjoy school holidays when the children were young - whether they did or not is another matter, you'll have to ask them! We'd go to the local museum, the local Natural History museum, various activity projects, local art galleries (I tried to give them a 'cultured' base). When it was dry we'd visit the beach, go for walks around the edge of the island, go blackberrying up on the Downs, or maybe venture further afield by train & bus. Or we'd stay at home & have 'Crafternoons', preferably out in the yard so that it didn't matter where the paint, dye paint, glue etc went. Or they'd have the clothes horse, a sheet & an old curtain & make a tent & play in that. Then there was always the local library if they'd exhausted the books at home. It was only as adolescence struck that 'boredom' began to set in.
Now, of course, there are loads of interesting places to go & things to do over the school holidays. Trouble is you really need at least one 6-11 year old to be able to join in. Darn!
Regular readers may know that I believe in treating people as people, each of them, but I do not subscribe to Political Correctness, hence the following. A Malay woman in Malaysia became a Christian, converting from Islam. Now the Malaysian constitution guarantees "freedom of worship" but also reckons that all Malays are Muslim, & Shari'a law doesn't allow Conversions - well, I suspect, not unless they're of people of other or no religions converting to Islam! So the poor woman has been appealing to various Malaysian courts for the past six years to be recognised as a Christian rather than a Muslim, & suffering persecution from family & others. No dice! See here also. Now I know some of you think that most forms of organised religion are rubbish, & wouldn't expect any form of logic from them, but the next time I hear a Muslim protesting that Islam is a 'fair' or 'unprejudiced' faith (particularly to/for women) I, for one, shan't believe them.
After all, if you (personally) believe that there is only One God, and only One Way to Him, how can you be expected to say that any other 'way' is appropriate, particularly if you also believe in life after death. However long we may live here, Eternity is an awful long time to discover you may have gotten it wrong. So if you really care about people you'll at least try to tell them about The Way - who, BTW, is Jesus Christ - then leave it up to them to ask for more information & decide for themselves.
However if you, as a Government, guarantee 'freedom of worship' - then you need to see that it is actually permitted, don't you?
So how did we get to that from a wet half-term? Y'all have a good, & thoughtful, day now!
Well surprise, surprise, it's half-term week & so, of course, it's raining. Actually it was really nice yesterday, but since Sunday it's been wet/chucking it/about to/just done so, & chilly. Proper British Bank Holiday weather! Now that's why Britain had an Empire. Not cos we wanted to throw our weight around & rule the world - unlike some who, as history shows, fail - nor yet cos we were determined to protect our trade interests (& that's what a lot of Historians will tell you), but cos we were looking for somewhere with better weather. That's why so many Scots, Welsh & Irish are found all over the place. That & things like potato famine, land clearance & other evidences of Those in Charge being more interested in money than the people in their 'care'! Plus ça change?
Maybe some of them were also trying to get away from Olde Englishe Customs eg: Shin Kicking or Cheese Rolling, & that's just in Gloucestershire. Oooh aaarrh!
I used to quite enjoy school holidays when the children were young - whether they did or not is another matter, you'll have to ask them! We'd go to the local museum, the local Natural History museum, various activity projects, local art galleries (I tried to give them a 'cultured' base). When it was dry we'd visit the beach, go for walks around the edge of the island, go blackberrying up on the Downs, or maybe venture further afield by train & bus. Or we'd stay at home & have 'Crafternoons', preferably out in the yard so that it didn't matter where the paint, dye paint, glue etc went. Or they'd have the clothes horse, a sheet & an old curtain & make a tent & play in that. Then there was always the local library if they'd exhausted the books at home. It was only as adolescence struck that 'boredom' began to set in.
Now, of course, there are loads of interesting places to go & things to do over the school holidays. Trouble is you really need at least one 6-11 year old to be able to join in. Darn!
Regular readers may know that I believe in treating people as people, each of them, but I do not subscribe to Political Correctness, hence the following. A Malay woman in Malaysia became a Christian, converting from Islam. Now the Malaysian constitution guarantees "freedom of worship" but also reckons that all Malays are Muslim, & Shari'a law doesn't allow Conversions - well, I suspect, not unless they're of people of other or no religions converting to Islam! So the poor woman has been appealing to various Malaysian courts for the past six years to be recognised as a Christian rather than a Muslim, & suffering persecution from family & others. No dice! See here also. Now I know some of you think that most forms of organised religion are rubbish, & wouldn't expect any form of logic from them, but the next time I hear a Muslim protesting that Islam is a 'fair' or 'unprejudiced' faith (particularly to/for women) I, for one, shan't believe them.
After all, if you (personally) believe that there is only One God, and only One Way to Him, how can you be expected to say that any other 'way' is appropriate, particularly if you also believe in life after death. However long we may live here, Eternity is an awful long time to discover you may have gotten it wrong. So if you really care about people you'll at least try to tell them about The Way - who, BTW, is Jesus Christ - then leave it up to them to ask for more information & decide for themselves.
However if you, as a Government, guarantee 'freedom of worship' - then you need to see that it is actually permitted, don't you?
So how did we get to that from a wet half-term? Y'all have a good, & thoughtful, day now!