Today…
I’m a Christian, conservative (small ‘c’) non-conformist. What’s not to like about me?! Well, everything if you’re a “liberal”, “progressive”, apparatchik. Apparently my views are so dangerous they even present a safeguarding risk to children. I need to be silenced.
I had prepared a beautifully crafted post about some of the middle-England, middle-class mini-maelstroms I’ve found myself at the centre of in the past couple of years. But rather than use my minor skirmishes to explain my solidarity with today’s “Day for Freedom” event, here is one of free speech’s “special forces”. He is usually on the front-lines of the battle – or even behind the enemy lines. Here he explains why he’ll attending and “spreading the gospel of free speech, as one of the under-girding principles of our civilisation“. I’m happy to be a missionary.
Nothing illustrates our nation’s attitudes to the value of life than the events of one week in April – a life, a death and a prohibition. This article expertly joins the dots and illustrates our schizophrenic mindset.
https://www.crisismagazine.com/2018/waste-land-britains-culture-death
From his sermon “A Tough Mind and a Tender Heart”
Having hopefully learned the lesson that “regime change” doesn’t necessarily mean a “regime change for the better” – especially when the change is simply swapping one Islamic basket-case for another – it seems we’ve now decided to take on some sort of referee role in the Syrian conflict instead. Instead of picking a corner we’ll simply try and ensure a fair fight: Three factories deducted for a below-the-belt chemical weapon strike; an official drone warning for a PoW ear biting (especially if the ear-biting turns into a complete head removal in your propaganda snuff video); an official count to 8 (days) if you’re opponent is on the ropes (or hiding among civilians).
In his usual, incisive commentary Brendan O’Neill hits the bulls-eye once again…
We’ve had virtue-signalling – now we have virtue-bombing. A military strike designed not to defeat an enemy, or take territory, or achieve any kind of tangible political goal, but rather to make a showy statement about our presumed moral decency.
It isn’t surprising (but still disappointing) that shallow, vapid leaders such as May & Macron should get involved in bombing Syria on a bomb-first-ask-questions-later policy. A quick bit of military action is still the easiest way to grandstand as being a ‘strong & commanding’ leader.
What is surprising is that Trump has got the USA involved. So many of his support base are utterly opposed to such interventionism. He campaigned on non-interventionism. He has no need to grandstand his leadership. I fear that in Donald’s case it not only virtue-bombing but vanity-virtue-bombing too.
And if ever there was a case for having so much to lose and absolutely nothing to gain – either at home or in Syria – this is it. It makes no sense militarily, politically or theologically. Let’s get out of the ring.
And by “rich” we mean people who earn more than us.
