Sunday, March 27, 2005
A Question Of Easter Eggs
The clocks going forward an hour to bring us into line with BST did little to hamper my sleep and I was up as early as I expected to be. My parent's house is always warm at night; too warm in actual fact, and it can make it hard to stay in bed too long.
After several cups of coffee and toast we headed back through to Edinburgh to get Laura and count her mountain of chocolate Easter eggs.
I have to admit to not getting the point of Easter any longer. It seems even worse a cock-up than Christmas. I remember saying three months ago that Christmas had become too much about spending money, receiving presents and getting fat on thy turkey. Easter isn't that far behind.
In Scotland alone, the number of people attending Church on a Sunday has dwindled to the point the Church as a business, is a skinny, bone-wracked feeble old man, where before it was plump and full of life. There are many reasons for this, but the point is nobody gives a toss about religion much in this country unless they happen to be extremist bigots who walk the streets with sash and flute-in-hand or to celebrate some ancient and irrelevant war fought by terrorists under the "freedom" banner in the name of Erin Go Brath.
What we are left with is poisonous vitriol, wich tarnishes the nation, keeps the blood flowing down our gutters and those who would benefit from war in the comfortable zone.
Who are we to continue celebrating religious holiday's, when no one goes a damn to begin with? Cadbury's and all the rest (who make damn fine chocolate I have to admit), put together fancy packaging with crappy chocolate eggs inside and rip off all the people who think it is a just cause to waste cash on empty chocolate eggs. Wouldn't they be better off celebrating Easter some other way, like oh - I don't know - actually going to an Easter Sunday sermon?
I know there are holes in this argument and I know the kids love Easter so it cannot be denied them, but there is no religious message going with it. None of them know what the egg stands for. So - should we scrap the religious message altogether? Or should we leave well alone?
I may sound like a hypocrite and a sour mouthed old fart, but I think if we are to enjoy these celebrations, then no matter what we do or spend our money on, we should always take a step back and remember WHY we are doing it. This is what is lost and this is why the Church suffers.
Despite me telling Gail I didn't want money wasted on it, she bought me an Easter egg. We halved it and now it's gone. I thought about the Jesus' resurrection and wondered who the hell was I to eat a religious symbol when I don't even go to Church. In fact, I ended up questioning myself; do I believe in God?
I find myself increasingly of the opinion, that when it's over, it's over! Time up, bring yer boats back in. When I was in Sunday School, then the Boy's Brigade we were taught about the Bible and of the story of Jesus. There are a lot of good messages to take from this, but as I got older I found myself questioning this more and more. My cynicism towards the Church grew and I think it was because we were TOLD to believe.
Why did we have to have it shoved down our throats as opposed to being left to make up our own minds? Why should we take what we were told to be The Truth, when there were no conflicting opinions or evidence to the contrary to test it? Why did I always get the feeling the Church was a support mechanism for the old, the empty and the dying? Why did I get the suspicion the entire set up was nothing but some strange way of manipluating the population? Why were there so many wars on the television brought on as a result of religion? Why did terrorists bomb our country in the name of God? My God? Why do millions of people die unfairly every year? Why, if there is a god, did we as a human race have to suffer Hillsborough, the Bradford fire, 9/11, The Asian Tsunami, Heysel, the Nazis, the Ethiopian famine, Apartheid, Stairway 13, Lockerbie, World War 1, World War 2, Vietnam, the Falkland conflict, cot deaths, child labour, Pop Idol, Fame Academy, house buying/selling programmes, the list goes on and on.
The question I'll be asked most now is, why have you so little faith? I mourn when someone close to me dies but I see it also a celebration of life. It is such a precious and carefully balanced gift, it is a shame when it is wasted. We are fortunate to be alive at this exciting time of development of the human race, but is there a deity responsible for our being or are we merely the product of chance? Are we but the lucky ones to have developed so far and so fast, that we are arrogant enough (or insecure) to think we are part of something larger and that there is a reason we are here? Or is it just that without Faith we feel more close to the reality that we are as insignificant in the grand scheme of things than we like to believe.
If these disasters can teach us anything, natural or not, one thing is for certain; the human race will die out one-way or another. Whether it be from global warming or a religious-based war, to some massive natural anomaly destroying us outright.
Dust to dust.
I suggest we make the best of what we have, stop fighting and get on with making everyone full-bellied and happy. They're only fucking Easter eggs.
I respect those who choose to follow and committ to a Faith - any Faith - I just don't think I am 100% convinced. After all I have said here in this post, you may fall off your chair if I also told you I guard my leather-bound copy of The Bible with pride, and sometimes, in my weakest and darkest hour, I find peace when I pray to God.
Further Reading: http://www.sundayherald.com/48552
That was My Two Cents, and my name is Kent Brockman.
I couldn't resist making a delicious Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner. It was a new sauce than my usual Indian and had bags more onion in it. Nice and thick and subtly stronger. I'd got some Nan bread last shopping trip too, which just topped it off beautifully.
I polished up issue 63 and tried to work on 64. It needs some work to get it ready as a lot of it sounds more like a reading of events rather than a description of someone's life.
Show, don't tell, Colin!
After several cups of coffee and toast we headed back through to Edinburgh to get Laura and count her mountain of chocolate Easter eggs.
I have to admit to not getting the point of Easter any longer. It seems even worse a cock-up than Christmas. I remember saying three months ago that Christmas had become too much about spending money, receiving presents and getting fat on thy turkey. Easter isn't that far behind.
In Scotland alone, the number of people attending Church on a Sunday has dwindled to the point the Church as a business, is a skinny, bone-wracked feeble old man, where before it was plump and full of life. There are many reasons for this, but the point is nobody gives a toss about religion much in this country unless they happen to be extremist bigots who walk the streets with sash and flute-in-hand or to celebrate some ancient and irrelevant war fought by terrorists under the "freedom" banner in the name of Erin Go Brath.
What we are left with is poisonous vitriol, wich tarnishes the nation, keeps the blood flowing down our gutters and those who would benefit from war in the comfortable zone.
Who are we to continue celebrating religious holiday's, when no one goes a damn to begin with? Cadbury's and all the rest (who make damn fine chocolate I have to admit), put together fancy packaging with crappy chocolate eggs inside and rip off all the people who think it is a just cause to waste cash on empty chocolate eggs. Wouldn't they be better off celebrating Easter some other way, like oh - I don't know - actually going to an Easter Sunday sermon?
I know there are holes in this argument and I know the kids love Easter so it cannot be denied them, but there is no religious message going with it. None of them know what the egg stands for. So - should we scrap the religious message altogether? Or should we leave well alone?
I may sound like a hypocrite and a sour mouthed old fart, but I think if we are to enjoy these celebrations, then no matter what we do or spend our money on, we should always take a step back and remember WHY we are doing it. This is what is lost and this is why the Church suffers.
Despite me telling Gail I didn't want money wasted on it, she bought me an Easter egg. We halved it and now it's gone. I thought about the Jesus' resurrection and wondered who the hell was I to eat a religious symbol when I don't even go to Church. In fact, I ended up questioning myself; do I believe in God?
I find myself increasingly of the opinion, that when it's over, it's over! Time up, bring yer boats back in. When I was in Sunday School, then the Boy's Brigade we were taught about the Bible and of the story of Jesus. There are a lot of good messages to take from this, but as I got older I found myself questioning this more and more. My cynicism towards the Church grew and I think it was because we were TOLD to believe.
Why did we have to have it shoved down our throats as opposed to being left to make up our own minds? Why should we take what we were told to be The Truth, when there were no conflicting opinions or evidence to the contrary to test it? Why did I always get the feeling the Church was a support mechanism for the old, the empty and the dying? Why did I get the suspicion the entire set up was nothing but some strange way of manipluating the population? Why were there so many wars on the television brought on as a result of religion? Why did terrorists bomb our country in the name of God? My God? Why do millions of people die unfairly every year? Why, if there is a god, did we as a human race have to suffer Hillsborough, the Bradford fire, 9/11, The Asian Tsunami, Heysel, the Nazis, the Ethiopian famine, Apartheid, Stairway 13, Lockerbie, World War 1, World War 2, Vietnam, the Falkland conflict, cot deaths, child labour, Pop Idol, Fame Academy, house buying/selling programmes, the list goes on and on.
The question I'll be asked most now is, why have you so little faith? I mourn when someone close to me dies but I see it also a celebration of life. It is such a precious and carefully balanced gift, it is a shame when it is wasted. We are fortunate to be alive at this exciting time of development of the human race, but is there a deity responsible for our being or are we merely the product of chance? Are we but the lucky ones to have developed so far and so fast, that we are arrogant enough (or insecure) to think we are part of something larger and that there is a reason we are here? Or is it just that without Faith we feel more close to the reality that we are as insignificant in the grand scheme of things than we like to believe.
If these disasters can teach us anything, natural or not, one thing is for certain; the human race will die out one-way or another. Whether it be from global warming or a religious-based war, to some massive natural anomaly destroying us outright.
Dust to dust.
I suggest we make the best of what we have, stop fighting and get on with making everyone full-bellied and happy. They're only fucking Easter eggs.
I respect those who choose to follow and committ to a Faith - any Faith - I just don't think I am 100% convinced. After all I have said here in this post, you may fall off your chair if I also told you I guard my leather-bound copy of The Bible with pride, and sometimes, in my weakest and darkest hour, I find peace when I pray to God.
Further Reading: http://www.sundayherald.com/48552
That was My Two Cents, and my name is Kent Brockman.
I couldn't resist making a delicious Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner. It was a new sauce than my usual Indian and had bags more onion in it. Nice and thick and subtly stronger. I'd got some Nan bread last shopping trip too, which just topped it off beautifully.
I polished up issue 63 and tried to work on 64. It needs some work to get it ready as a lot of it sounds more like a reading of events rather than a description of someone's life.
Show, don't tell, Colin!
Colin 12:16 pm
1 Comments:
Mr G.
You are the only person I have ever met who can go from questioning the religous beliefs of a billion catholics and the other Christian faiths too and then almost in the same breath change the subject and say that you made a nice Chicken Tikka Masala!
A pleasure to read as always.
Regards,
Bobby Mackerel.
You are the only person I have ever met who can go from questioning the religous beliefs of a billion catholics and the other Christian faiths too and then almost in the same breath change the subject and say that you made a nice Chicken Tikka Masala!
A pleasure to read as always.
Regards,
Bobby Mackerel.
