BBC Scotland has been super-spreading this story:
The Bishop of Paisley has called for a 24-hour “circuit breaker” to be put in place on Christmas Day, amid warnings of a “digital Christmas”. In the Sunday Times, John Keenan compared the idea to the Christmas Day truce during World War One.
Before I could get my act together, regular Tuskerer stewartb spotted the flaw in the Bishop’s thinking:
Just heard about the cleric from Paisley who is arguing that the Scottish Government should remove Covid-19 restrictions for Christmas Day. This headlined BBC Scotland’s TV news tonight. To support his argument, he draws the analogy with the World War 1 Christmas Day truce when enemy soldiers played a game of football.
Was the key thing about this WW1 Christmas Day not the agreement, the certainty, that NO weapons would be fired?
Does this cleric intend to call on his god to negotiate a ‘cease-fire’ to ensure all Coronavirus transmission stops for a day? And if he believes he can do this successfully, perhaps while he’s at it, he could ask for this virus ‘cease-fire’ to last a lot longer than a day!
Hmmm…..maybe the plague is a punishment? Because we are too tolerant of something not allowed in the Old Testament?
I know, it’s the 20% who vote Tory! Where’s my flaming torch and pitchfork?
Paradise in heaven for a day of Christmas. For some. Christianity.
Christmas will be a circuit breaker. Less activity. If it does not come too late for some.
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World War 1. Caused by British Royal family conflicts. Victoria’s children and grandchildren. Cousins married cousins. ‘Divine right to rule’ from God. The Church used as a form of control. Behave and go to heaven. Or else hell. The Royals Head of the Church. Created hell on earth. It led to their demise. Millions died. The 1918 flu pandemic killed millions more. Universal Suffrage 1928. Use the vote. Don’t lose it.
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On the Welsh and Irish sites there are reports of clergy in these places making statements of what they hope of aspects of Christmas that can be retained in the circumstances. Christmas is important to Christians and, extending the principle of charity to them, as the sincere would to us, then I think it is reasonable for them to express the desire that as many of the celebratory and hopeful aspects of Christmas can be retained.
As a humanist, I hope that every day, the circumstances will still permit me to practice as much humanism as I can – even in the face of wilfully baleful innuendo.
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Subsequently, I have heard an interview with the Bishop and, as I had expected he would be, he was circumspect, nuanced, sympathetic and constructive.
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‘circumspect, nuanced, sympathetic and constructive.’
Just like the RepScot staff!
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