Blair, God and Alice in Wonderland
Let me first say this so that there is no confusion. I think Tony Blair has put British Troops and by extension British Civilians at risk by going to war in the way that he did. I also think that the idea of an all powerful god creator be they Jewish, Christian or Islamic is laughable. I think that the Labour government of Tony Blair has betrayed the people of this country who voted for him and is over seeing the wholesale destruction of civil liberties. On the whole I think its fair to say I am no defender of his Tonyness.
Today I have just seen the headlines about his interview with Parkinson where the Prime Minister says that, 'God is my Judge'. The ITV News would have you believe that his statement was contraversial. That God had told him to invade Iraq. That this is proof that he is fruit cake of biblical proportions and that he is going to offend the entire middle east.
Given what I said above can I be the first to say what a load of bollocks.
We know that Tony Blair is a committed Christian so it would be strange if he didn't say something along the lines of:
I'm not a man of faith, but if I am correct then what i think he is saying is: he is a man of faith and when making difficult decisions eventually he has to have faith that the decision in his heart is his gods as well.
Not exactly earth shattering given his a commited christain is it?
Personally, I've had to make a couple of tough decisions in life where the answer was not crystal clear - nothing like sending people to fight a war based on dodgey dossiers mind you. Some times it comes to a gut decision as to what's the right thing to do. In those situations you have to have faith that your gut decision is correct (be it devine inspiration or years of getting burnt making you lean away from stupid decision).
Now I have always felt that Tony thinks he is doing the right thing and has effectively lied to us "for our own good." This doesn't make him right, but it doesn't make him barking mad either. Tony Blair is 100% responsible for the decisions of Tony Blair, even those he thinks are Gods.
If the Prime Ministers beliefs offends any one then the chances are they are as deluded as he is. If you are a Muslim pissed of with the west (rightly or wrongly) i'm guessing having a buch of represive governments electrocuting you into thinking the right way supported by the west or having a load of tanks on your lawn is possibly going to be a bit more upsetting. As for this twaddle put around that the Crusades are a scar on the muslim psyche. If I recall both sides went at it in equal measure and the Muslims won. And if you think there is only one true god and all unbelivers must die then to be honest your probably going to be offended by everything.
What the whole charade does do is show up the Alice in Wonderland nature of British Politics. We have a State Religion of which the Monarch is the head. America has the separation of Church and State. In Britain elected politicians 'don't do god.' Sure mention your strange fetish having sex by yourself in a bin liner with an orange in your mouth but do not mention god. In America the elected politicians can't shut up about the guy upstairs. Religion plays a central role in politics. In Britain opening a church fete is deemed risky.
Just for the record I prefer the British way, with the exception of the orange and the bin liner.
This whole thing is a bit like the fact that we are meant to be a democracy but individually you have a greater chance of winning the lottery than your vote making a difference. We have an elected dictatorship directed by a small pool of some 800,000 swing voters in a small number of consituencies.
Its like the fact that we are a monarchy, yet they are powerless. All their power and privileges reside with the prime minister acting as the crown in parliament.
Its like the fact that the government is held accountable by a legislature of which it controls the majority.
Its like the fact that the only part of the legislature that is attempting to hold the government to account is the undemocratic unelected House of Lords.
Its like the fact that the British Parliament legislates for Britain. Except for those areas that are covered by the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly so is really an English Parliament...but not.
The thing is I can't quite make my mind up. Is this the start of the closing chorus by Mr Blair or more worryingly a distraction from everything else thats going on? What ever it is it isn't the news story every one thinks its going to be.
When the spotlight is centre stage look to the wings.
Today I have just seen the headlines about his interview with Parkinson where the Prime Minister says that, 'God is my Judge'. The ITV News would have you believe that his statement was contraversial. That God had told him to invade Iraq. That this is proof that he is fruit cake of biblical proportions and that he is going to offend the entire middle east.
Given what I said above can I be the first to say what a load of bollocks.
We know that Tony Blair is a committed Christian so it would be strange if he didn't say something along the lines of:
"In the end, there is a judgment that, I think if you have faith about these things, you realise that judgment is made by other people... And if you believe in God, it's made by God as well.
When you're faced with a decision like that, some of those decisions have been very, very difficult, most of all because you know these are people's lives and, in some case, their deaths.
The only way you can take a decision like that is to do the right thing according to your conscience."
I'm not a man of faith, but if I am correct then what i think he is saying is: he is a man of faith and when making difficult decisions eventually he has to have faith that the decision in his heart is his gods as well.
Not exactly earth shattering given his a commited christain is it?
Personally, I've had to make a couple of tough decisions in life where the answer was not crystal clear - nothing like sending people to fight a war based on dodgey dossiers mind you. Some times it comes to a gut decision as to what's the right thing to do. In those situations you have to have faith that your gut decision is correct (be it devine inspiration or years of getting burnt making you lean away from stupid decision).
Now I have always felt that Tony thinks he is doing the right thing and has effectively lied to us "for our own good." This doesn't make him right, but it doesn't make him barking mad either. Tony Blair is 100% responsible for the decisions of Tony Blair, even those he thinks are Gods.
If the Prime Ministers beliefs offends any one then the chances are they are as deluded as he is. If you are a Muslim pissed of with the west (rightly or wrongly) i'm guessing having a buch of represive governments electrocuting you into thinking the right way supported by the west or having a load of tanks on your lawn is possibly going to be a bit more upsetting. As for this twaddle put around that the Crusades are a scar on the muslim psyche. If I recall both sides went at it in equal measure and the Muslims won. And if you think there is only one true god and all unbelivers must die then to be honest your probably going to be offended by everything.
What the whole charade does do is show up the Alice in Wonderland nature of British Politics. We have a State Religion of which the Monarch is the head. America has the separation of Church and State. In Britain elected politicians 'don't do god.' Sure mention your strange fetish having sex by yourself in a bin liner with an orange in your mouth but do not mention god. In America the elected politicians can't shut up about the guy upstairs. Religion plays a central role in politics. In Britain opening a church fete is deemed risky.
Just for the record I prefer the British way, with the exception of the orange and the bin liner.
This whole thing is a bit like the fact that we are meant to be a democracy but individually you have a greater chance of winning the lottery than your vote making a difference. We have an elected dictatorship directed by a small pool of some 800,000 swing voters in a small number of consituencies.
Its like the fact that we are a monarchy, yet they are powerless. All their power and privileges reside with the prime minister acting as the crown in parliament.
Its like the fact that the government is held accountable by a legislature of which it controls the majority.
Its like the fact that the only part of the legislature that is attempting to hold the government to account is the undemocratic unelected House of Lords.
Its like the fact that the British Parliament legislates for Britain. Except for those areas that are covered by the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly so is really an English Parliament...but not.
The thing is I can't quite make my mind up. Is this the start of the closing chorus by Mr Blair or more worryingly a distraction from everything else thats going on? What ever it is it isn't the news story every one thinks its going to be.
When the spotlight is centre stage look to the wings.
posted by gerbil at 10:54 pm
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