I'm not a regular reader of any newspaper or magazine, either on or off line, and I rarely watch television. Yep. That's right. I'm a fully paid up member of the get-my-news-via-the-internet club, and that's how I got to hear about Cristina Odone writing in her blog, at The Telegraph, about the Clive Bone/NSS court action against Bideford council (for starting council sessions with prayers, which they claim is illegal). I won't recommend clicking the link to her blog, but that's probably because I am biased. Having read some of her output previously, I think of her as Cringe-ina Odious.
Be that as it may, although it's not clear if she is partly quoting Aidan O’Neill QC, who is, I think, representing Bideford council, or whether all the words are her own, the following sentences appear in her piece.
Christians have special requirements, just like the disabled, women, the elderly or ethnic minorities. Courts must accommodate their beliefs, not ignore them. I hope that this will prove a winning argument.
The emphasis is mine. Why? Because it's a line of reasoning I've come across several times, in various forms, but always equating religious belief with other 'states of being'. In case it hasn't already struck you, people who adhere to Christianity (or any religion for that matter) are not just like the disabled, women, the elderly or ethnic minorities. There is a crucial difference.
- A disabled person cannot simply decide to cease being a disabled person.
- A woman cannot simply decide to cease being a woman.
- An elderly person cannot simply decide to cease being an elderly person.
- A member of an ethnic minority cannot simply decide to cease being a member of an ethnic minority.
Christians have a choice about being a Christian. They can decide to stop being one at any time.
The thing is that I am not the first person to point this out. People much more prominent than I have pointed this out many times. And, after all, it's not really that difficult to see it for yourself.
All things considered, perhaps there is a similarity between Christians, or to be fair, Cristina Odone, and disabled people. The disabled people I'm thinking of, though, are not those who are permanently disabled (who, I imagine, would dearly love to be in the position of Christians who can exit that 'state of being', any old time they choose). I'm thinking of the temporarily disabled. People who have, say, broken a leg. The difference is, of course, that it's likely that people with broken legs will be restored to normal in about six weeks
Yes...it's Sunday, again.
For those of you who read my previous two Sunday posts, who are also curious to know what my phone's music player randomly selected for me, while I sat in the church car park this morning, there was not a hint of Joan or Bette. However, is there some irony in the fact that the first song was Save Me?
Probably not, if you listen to Aimee Mann's lyrics, which begin thus:
You look like
a perfect fit
For a girl in need
of a tourniquet
Then again, I've no doubt Cristina Odone would be able to equate Christians with girls in need of a tourniquet and ... no ... I can't bring myself to finish it off. I'll leave it to your imagination who the perfect fit would be while I indulge in a bit of face-palming.
Save Me was written for the film Magnolia. More about Aimee Mann at her website
The leg in a splint image is from HealthArticle24 (no copyright info given) and the original injured eye image is by Tim Morris from Leicester, UK (Shit Pirate) CC-BY-2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The baby face palming image is from MoneySavingExpert.com (no copyright info found).
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