Old Testament Vengeance

Good morning Pilgrims, how's your journey in search of truth and light progressing?

This morning I have a biblical style story to tell and it once again gives me a chance to report on my progress through the Kings James bible.

I have just exited Genesis and moved into Exodus passing the story of Joseph and his coat of many colours and concluding my journey at the moment that Moses is pulled from the water by Pharaohs daughter. You see if this broody spinster had let Moses float on by, the world would be a very different place.

It's quite a coincidence that the story of Joseph was in my mind as much of todays lesson came to me in a dream, perhaps whispered in my ear by some greater power...no not Mrs B. If it's good enough for the Mormons, it's good enough for me.

As I was about to retire for the night, feeling under the weather, I glanced at Facebook and I noticed a very long thread concerning an alleged break in at Willow Farm Family Park. It was claimed that someone had broken into the park and then they had stolen animals which had then been killed. The thread was a little short on fact but full of outrage and threats of vengeance. There were many comments about animal cruelty and the disgust of others, some local, who wished to distance themselves from the perpetrators.

 Again, perhaps due to the fact that my head was full of the Hebrew Bible, I imagined some awful scenario where youths had stolen a llama or a small pony which had then been sacrificed in some blood lust to satisfy the pagan gods of Shirebrook. The levels of disgust and outrage in the Facebook posts called for a scene of that magnitude to have been played out such was the outpouring of vitriol and bile.

As I read through the thread we gradually learned that two chickens had been stolen and killed by local teenagers and I was suddenly left with a series of questions.

Before I pose the questions let me first of all say that I do not condone the acts of the guilty parties, they deserve to be punished for their acts but do they really qualify for the extra burden of all the calls for vengeance? So, the questions...what makes people so angry about this story? Is it that there was animal cruelty? Is it that the theft was aimed at a children's farm? Is it because it made the area look bad? Or is it something else?

I would imagine that most of the people who were going on about animal cruelty were meat eaters and again although I don't like the idea of any animals being tortured for fun, anyone who has ever eaten a fast food burger or chicken leg has been part of an industry that treats animals with little respect. The chickens that we buy and eat from the supermarkets are often kept in circumstances that are far removed from the natural life of a chicken. I recall seeing a lorry load of pigs being taken on a long road journey to be slaughtered in a factory style slaughter house, all looking through the side of the lorry at me and blaming me for their fate.

None of the meat that goes into your burger comes from cows that decide to make the career choice of joining McDonalds you know, we drag them about the road system before again killing them in as humane a way as we can.

As a meat eater I have come to terms with this process but it has led me to change my purchasing habits with regard to the type of meat I buy but how many of those Facebook ranters even consider where the meat comes from? Outrage at animal cruelty from those who would quite happily eat cheap chicken is a little odd.

As for being angered because the theft was from children, well children are the target of crime everyday either directly or indirectly and we don't see this outrage on Facebook. So, is the real reason that this incident puts a bad light on the good folk of Shirebrook? I suppose we will only know the answer to that if we can find out how many of the commentators came from the area.

The more I think about it the more I believe that the viral response to the posting of these stories is just that, almost unstoppable. What might help calm the outburst is a dose of truth.

The original post was placed on Facebook with the very best of intentions, of that I have no doubt, but this overblown and over moralistic response from people who could not look in the mirror and see anything other than flawed human beings looking back, shows that we should all of us be careful about getting drawn into throwing that first stone (back to the bible again).


So there we go, my little dose of penicillin to treat the outbreak of VD or vengeance disorder as I like to call it.

Now I feel quite dodgy so I'm going back to bed, so have a good day and enjoy your Sunday roast.

Music, Religion and Politics

I had the urge to drop you a line or two this morning, not least to comment on the guilty verdicts in the Stephen Lawrence murder trial. Some little justice for the family but as Doreen Lawrence rather effectively stated yesterday, justice delayed is justice denied.

This morning some commentators seems to be suggesting that this is some kind of watershed moment. They suggest that by looking at this result and other matters in the public eye surrounding racism in football, Britain is a less racist and more tolerant place...I would invite them to look a little closer and they can start here in Mansfield where racism or xenophobia directed towards Eastern Europeans is rife.

We have a long way to go and I fear that we might never really get to where we think we should be, mostly because our intolerance is driven by ignorance and by differing religious beliefs.

Which reminds me, I am making nice progress through the Bible, there are a few passages which have caused me to scratch my head - like the giants mentioned in Genesis.

'There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown'

This passage comes before the story of the flood so I can only suppose that Noah decided to leave the giants to their fate which is why we don't have many giants around today. You see the Bible can make sense if you only read it and understand it.

I suppose I better start thinking about reading The Book of Mormon if Mitt Romney makes it to the White House. He is the narrow leader in the Republican race to secure the nomination to run against President Obama. The only thing I know about The Book of Mormon is that is was created by a man called Joseph Smith and the words were allegedly revealed to him on golden plates which only he was allowed to see and he dictated their contents from behind a screen to a series of scribes. The Book of Mormon is also an award winning musical written by Matt Stone and Trey Parker.

This combination of religious philosophy combined with music, even in parody, is another reason why I think religion will survive...there are some really good stories which when augmented with really good music make them seem even more powerful.

Much of the great classical canon was inspired by religion and faith and many great works were paid for by churches. In latter years we have the likes of Lloyd Webber and Rice putting Jesus Christ Superstar on stage and doing it really rather well.

Music, religion and politics, three things that people can argue about more than anything else I suppose but let me close with this song from The Book of Mormon and I do beg you to listen to all of the song and hear the words, then you too will believe!

I Believe from The Book of Mormon

New Years Message 2012

According to legend, 2012 is the year the planet fights back and we humans are in for a real bad time, thank goodness we had John Cusack to show us what to do when it all kicks off.

Until the earthquakes start what are you going to be doing with your final days?

I'm going to be reading the Bible.

I know this seems a strange thing for a Humanist to be doing but I decided that it was time I really tried to understand the power of these ancient myths, so I have downloaded all 96 hours of the talking Bible to pass the time away as I drive to and from my Humanist duties.

I won't be reading the Quran as I understand that any translation away from the original Arabic text is fraught with danger and many mistranslations have occurred over the years...and to be honest I don't want  to be in the same club as Salman Rushdie. I will also give the other religions a wide berth because as Mr Cameron did say, we are a Christian country.

So I'll stick with the good old English Bible because, as some apocryphal American politician once said, "if English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me".


I shall of course report back at regular intervals on my journey through this vast tome and I will try to be honest with what I find - but don't worry I will also be sarcastic because I know you expect that of me and I don't like to disappoint.


So what else does 2012 bring? The answer for most of us is we don't know. 366 days (it's a leap year) that are stretched before us like a clean canvas on which we can paint our future.

Go on, be the artist you always wanted to be and paint yourself a brilliant year.

Take the opportunities that come your way to make this year and each day in it something that you can be proud of.

I have been slowly working my way through a bucket list and I shall continue to tick off things I want to experience before death decides it's time to swing by again and finish of the job he started a few years ago. I hope he's kept busy elsewhere and if he wants any suggestions for places to visit I'm sure we can come up with a few.

Whether you are motivated by faith or not, I wish all of my readers the year they hope for and work for.

Now, where is that Bible...

'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth'...or did he?

That's the ticket.

Last year at this time we were up to our necks in snow, this year, as I write this message of hope and inspiration, the top of the hill is shrouded by a passing sleet storm - but have no fear my loyal band of frozen peas, we shall assail the day with vigour and fortitude.

I needed some fortitude last evening in fact I could have done with some fiftytude as my patience was tested in the extreme during a much anticipated trip to see The John Wilson Orchestra at Nottingham Concert Hall.

Before I tell you of last nights events, let me take you back in time to Thursday night when together with Mrs B, the dog-daughter and her beau, we attended the Theatre Royal to see the touring production of Legally Blonde.

I have to admit that I had never seen the film that inspired this musical so I was in the dark as to what to expect and after the opening number (very poor) I was totally underwhelmed by the prospect of two hours of a badly written, badly sung, badly danced show. Luckily, it did not take long for the humour of the script to kick in and some very talented young actors and some seasoned veterans (like Dave Willetts and Claire Sweeney) won me over. I ended up loving the show although it is not a great musical. The test of a great musical is you can hum the songs afterwards, I can't even tell you the name of the songs let alone hum any! Not a great musical just a great night of fun at the theatre.

From a show of which I knew nothing we return to last night, and a show I had actually seen most of before as it was part of the BBC Prom season this year.

John Wilson with his 70 piece orchestra, and some excellent guest singers including the incredible  Kim Criswell, Matthew Ford, Annalene Beechey and a new name for me, the tenor Noah Stewart.

The show was brilliant, however the only problem with watching a live show is that you are surrounded by an audience and they don't like it when you sing along!

It was the audience that were the real issue last night - most of them were of a certain age and social class (grey hair and loyalty cards for Waitrose) and it seemed that 97.6% of them had left their brains in their Jaguars.

I ask you, how hard is it to find a seat in a theatre?

On your ticket is printed all the information you need - for example, my ticket states quiet clearly that my seat was N44 and I would find it by going to Tier 1 and entering via Door C. How very thoughtful of the theatre staff to think of this intelligent system, they even put up big signs throughout the building so you can identify and locate the appropriate tier and door.

Even without a degree in map reading and without the aide of a guide or team of sherpas, I managed to navigate my way through the milling crowds of ageing buffoons and find my seat. For the next twenty minutes we witnessed countless befuddled old duffers staggering around the theatre asking anyone they could grab on to variations of the same question - where do I sit?

Some of them looked like they didn't know what year they were in let alone which seat they needed!

Eventually most people found somewhere to sit and we enjoyed the first half of a great show - then the next battle commenced; queuing for an ice cream.

It was a long queue but we got there in the end, purchased our little tubs of joy and returned to our seats only to find numerous old folk had actually forgotten where they had been sitting and the whole process of looking for their seat started again! They'd only been out of the damn seat for ten minutes and they were lost again! I felt like standing up and shouting 'Will someone please send for Matron!"

Act Two came and went and then the next major exercise, escaping from the building.  I'll be honest here, I went ahead and left Mrs B to manage with Mrs B Senior, as she needed the lift. It took them almost twenty minutes to get out of the building and I joked that if there had been a real emergency there would have been many ancient corpses strewn across the mezzanine of the theatre.

It was a great show and I look forward to next year when I hope the orchestra tour again but in the meantime I have two pantomimes to look forward to next weekend and then in January we go to The Crucible in Sheffield to see Company with Daniel Evans, Samantha Spiro, Damien Humbley and Francesca Annis - that will be a real treat.

I just hope that the weather is quite cold and that the old folks stay at home and watch Songs of Praise, drink sweet sherry, pee themselves and then go to bed. Problem is half of them probably won't be able to find their beds!

The sleet is still passing over head and I have some soup that needs making and sitting here chatting with you is not getting those carrots pureed!

Take care, keep warm and if your over 70 please don't ever go to the theatre without getting my permission.


Official Website for Noah Stewart




John Wilson Orchestra - Put On Your Sunday Clothes

There are more questions than answers...

How are you? Keeping well? Getting ready for Christmas? Have you started your shopping? Are you doing anything nice this weekend? Are you watching I'm A Celebrity? Any idea why Gary Speed killed himself?

I don't mean to be glib about the death of Gary Speed, it is not a matter for humour and his family must be devastated.

Over the course of the last few years I have carried out the funerals for many who have chosen to take their own lives for a variety of reasons and some for reasons that are still unknown. For a family, having an answer to the 'why' question is very important but I do not believe that it is the business of anyone outside the family (other than in exceptional circumstances) and certainly not an area that the press and media should spend time on.

The internet is awash with speculation about Gary Speed and as someone once said, the rumour mongers are generating a lot of heat without a great deal of light!

Anyway, let's move on shall we?

My birthday week has come and gone, I enjoyed some time away and then time with family and friends and all has been well. The celebratory events culminated with my appearance on the BBC Radio  Nottingham Morning Show hosted by Mark Dennison and produced by the very efficient James Brindle.

Along with the very charming and supremely interesting Dr. Sue Pryce, we dissected the big news stories of the week including the forthcoming public sector strike and the number of obese women in the UK.

Of course we did touch on the Gary Speed story but we concentrated on depression as a cause of suicide.

Surprisingly both myself and Sue Pryce decided to unburden ourselves and reveal that we both had suffered from depression in the past and I think that in talking about it openly we were hoping that others would feel able to do the same.

I am not ashamed that I once fell into the black pit of depression, I know it was more than likely a chemical imbalance in my brain perhaps linked to some aspects of my work life at the time - but with great support from Mrs B, the medical profession (including a first rate psychologist) and some Prozac - I resurfaced into the world of light.

Men are not always very good at acknowledging what some might see as a weakness, but I have some very close friends who are also affected by depression and I know one of them is very open about how it affects his life; it is an illness not a weakness.

Dr Pryce is an expert on politics, I am not - but we did both agree that these strikes on Wednesday will change very little. The Government will not be budging and in a way I don't think they should.

The pensions issue should have been gripped years ago - and I know the unions are asking for fairness and equality in the settlements for their pensions but who decides on fairness and equality? Who judges which job deserves more or less?

When I worked in the public service I saw 11% of my wages taken each month to fund my pension, I'm not sure what the current figure is. If I was to invest 11% of my current earnings into a pension it would get me very little in return in fact it's nearer 20% that I have to set aside for pension contributions.

My pension contributions were well worth it and they offer me some real financial security but if someone had said to me that I might have to work a couple of years longer and the final return might be less I can understand that I might feel upset - but then if I was told I had at least eleven years to get ready for that change I might think that gave me time to reconfigure my plans a little.

Having read through the details of the proposals I see that those on low wages will be affected very little by the changes and that any benefits already accrued will be ring fenced and not affected - it looks quite fair. So what do the unions want?

I can't answer that question because they don't seem to have told us.

I understand how the withdrawal of labour is a tool which can be used to help draw the attention of issues to a wider audience but there is not overwhelming support for this strike - the biggest number I have seen is 61% of the public survey by the BBC thought the strike was a good thing but the breakdown of the figures shows that the main support comes from the under 25's who perhaps could be forgiven for not wanting to contemplate a longer working life...but we are all living longer and staying healthier for longer so why not work a bit longer?

I'm running out of steam now and can't be bothered to talk about obesity statistics other than to say what I said on the radio - let people be people!

Anyway, off with you all now, get about your business and remember to eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we have to pay extra pension contributions!