The Golden Cross thread
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1853 announced the closure of the Golden Cross Public House. The conversation on that thread rapidly broadened out and diversified, as it inevitably does on a lot of thread topics.
In my last post to the Golden Cross thread I implied that ingratitude is an indicator as to why Britain is in the mess it is; I also stated that the root cause of our problems is primarily spiritual, and not political, nor are they economic. I shall postpone explaining my reasons for holding the beliefs I do while referring to some recent news reports; reports that I suggest support my understanding that politics does not have the answer to our deepest problems.
The modern political class, including the CONservative Party, have all been heavily influenced by the political theory that human beings are basically good, and it is our environment that influences our behaviour towards being bad.
What does this next news report of one set of humans burning alive another human being tell us about the intrinsic goodness of humans?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... pilot.html Quote:
The chilling footage, entitled 'Healing the Believers' Chests', shows the captured airman wearing an orange jumpsuit and seemingly doused in fuel as a trail of petrol leading up to the iron bars of the cage is seen being set alight.
Flames are seen quickly spreading across the dirt to the cage, where they completely engulf the helpless pilot in images that are far too distressing to publish.
Before we get too excited over Islamic extremists having been radicalised before committing such acts of barbarism, consider the horror stories that came out of Nazi death camps; and the Japanese cruelty towards POWs. Communist Russia and China have been responsible for some extremely unpleasant reports of barbarity towards fellow humans and for millions of deaths. The Roman Catholic Church has also committed some dreadful crimes against humanity in the past. If we look closely at Britain we will find examples of official brutality towards human beings, including members of the British public; and there are some examples of recent official activity that don't stand up too well to close examination.
Is it still possible to believe in the political dogma of the intrinsic goodness of humans; or should we be looking for a more realistic understanding that we are not intrinsically good, but we have an inbuilt nature that readily engages in evil? The willingness with which large sections of society go out of their way to pay for, and watch violent entertainment, some of which can be described as Satanic, I suggest also poses questions over the inbuilt goodness of humans. The apparently insatiable demand for extreme pornographic material also raises serious questions as to our goodness.
Here is another news report that raises more questions:
Zero Tolerance for 5 to 7 year old children:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... hools.html Quote:
Children should be kicked out of school if they call each other “gay” in the playground, Labour says, as it is “damaging the life chances” of Britain's youth.
The shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt announced that Labour would enforce “zero tolerance” of homophobic bullying in “every classroom, dinner hall and playground”...
...It is understood that these could begin at key stage one, when pupils are aged between five and seven.
What on earth is going on in Tristram Hunt's head; what motivates him to make such an announcement; what version of morality is he subscribing to? Why would any responsible adult want to sexualise young children and destroy their childhood innocence? Judging by the very large number of readers' comments to this newspaper report who totally disagree with Hunt, and Labour, over this proposal, suggests that Hunt and Labour are light years away from the electorate they wish to represent. Are we seeing here another example of a political policy being created by less than 'good' human beings? Put it this way; are we witnessing intrinsically bad humans making plans to corrupt innocent children in order to prepare children for exploitation?
Can we really believe in the intrinsic goodness of humans?