LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO CHANGE THE WORLD

There is of course some advantage in finding out that you only have a short time to live, you can reflect on life and plan your demise. The advantage of the internet is that you could leave a message in cyberspace lasting into eternity or at least when the site (Blogger) goes down.

I was fortunate to be born in England just after the second World War, because never again would our people and friends in Europe have to suffer the horror of war or fear invasion from fascists and racists. The Welfare State, the homes for heroes the end of class war and poverty did not come quickly. The dark past of Victoriana was still hidden from view, the private was not to become public so easily, the Englishman's home remained that castle of abuse along with the childrens homes provided for the excluded and orphaned children of our nation.

The tri-partite education system failed mainly because the quality of teaching staff was so poor, the attitudes of teachers were truly appalling and their sadistic behaviour and neglect inconceivable in today's world.

I have lived mainly in West Country villages and cities and love my country. I am very proud to be English and of my heritage.  I would describe Englishness as being a person who would defend any other human being as if they were his own kin. Never to look the other way in the face of injustice, always to act to defend and preserve the peace. Extremes of religion and politics, those that censure debate or criticism are the enemies and oppressors of the free people of our world.

We need order, but have a responsibility to ensure that order is just, not corrupt or discriminatory.

My short time on Earth has been marked by some major historical and political events, particularly by the never ending Middle East Crisis and the Cold War. Little wonder that we teenagers went a little wild in the 1960's.

My father, who sadly died on a Triumph Speed Twin when I was a baby, had been stationed in Palestine to keep the peace. I think we grew up in England believing that we had failed to defend the Arabs in Jerusalem, probably because it was so hard to believe that the relatives and victims of the Holocaust could forget the evils of racism and inhumanity that they had suffered in Europe.

I never heard of a God worth dying for, I never heard of a God that anyone had seen, I never heard of a God who wrote a book.

The Totem pole is the most original place of worship, the forerunner of the mosque or the church. The ancient Egyptians worshipped many gods but realised the advantage in power and control of reducing this to one god the Pharaoh (part human/part god). After this Monarchs the world over claimed to be Divine and chosen by god, next came the prophets these were preachers and monks who somehow became claimed after there deaths, as either appointed or related to god. Oh!!what nonsense all of this religion has been, how many millions have died in the argument. Identifying with a religion in recent times (eg: Protestant or Catholic in Northern Ireland) had more parallels with gang membership or football team support, than spreading the good word for mankind!

Spirituality and superstition are basic human instincts, they are a part of survival behaviour. There is nothing wrong with saying a prayer, wishing someone well or goodbye, there is nothing wrong with a memorial to a departed loved one, there is nothing wrong with a community of people gathering in a place to show that they care about others and want a safe world. I have learned to respect the right of all people to be free to believe what they choose about life, that is freedom.

As for the Cold War, I worked for a short period in a Marxist African state, this was my first real culture shock. A country ravaged by war and its people so hungry and poor, yet like so much of Africa it is the greed of the powerful and the corrupt that causes the suffering of millions in our unjust world.

Life is also about having fun, falling in love, having children, perhaps the only real meaning of life is to reproduce, such a wonder of nature. With the human brain and intelligence we seek to protect our children. It is for this purpose that civil society becomes the construct of the human animal. The children inherit the world created by the people who controlled their parents world, the rules, the wealth, the property or lack of it. There is nothing fair or equal about human birth, all that is needed is security, shelter, food and most importantly happiness. Sadly greed and dishonesty have always seemed to be the traits of the most successful of humans.

I have always tried to see good in all people surely most would prefer friendship and sharing, to fighting and stealing. Perhaps the terrorist, the criminal or the sociopath without the ability to empathise, is the stronger person they have realised that life really is too short to be concerned about others.

I feel sad to leave a world so wasted, I love the history and have witnessed what those ancient civilisations created. Every time they were overwhelmed by the power of nature they wanted to control it, they seemed to miss the whole point, that no one ever would rule the world. We are but the product of nature and science, our purpose is to survive on the planet and to reproduce, that means that the only saviour for human intelligent life and of our planet is man and therefore man should recognise that God is humanity and humanity should be Godly. Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All.