Hi everyone – I’m back from Eton! Which I will blog about a lot later – I’ve just got soooo many emails and things to do right now as you’d expect. So this post is only about one thing – the London Attacks on Thursday which have dominated the news ever since.
Like everyone, my first thought was for family and friends. I was shocked, yes, after the euphoria of winning the Olympic bid but not surprised that something had happened. London was always going to be a major target, it was a question of when, and how we would respond. My deepest condolences to the familes of those murdered and everyone who was caught up in the savage attack.
But London is a strong city. It lived through the Blitz, and the IRA bombings. We’d shown only the day before how proud we were of everything London had to offer the world. Nothing can defeat the spirit of democracy, it’s something the bombers could never understand.
We need to reflect, and consider how it feels to live in a part of the world where this happens on a regular basis. But we also need to pull together and carry on with our lives. It’s what we did at Eton, and it’s how we will win.
Many thanks to everyone who sent emails of support from abroad as well. Democracy, together.
Today is a day to celebrate. We have a third-term Labour government, something which has never been achieved before in the entire history of the party.
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The new Pope has been announced… and it’s Michael Grade!
No, not really. It’s Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, or Ratty to his friends. At 78, he’ll be sure to project a fresh young face for the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI was once a member of the Hitler Youth, but luckily not an ‘enthusiastic’ one. He also bravely deserted the German army (towards the end of the war – along with everyone else.)
Like most people alive during the exciting era of the 1960s, Ratzinger has many fascinating stories and anecdotes to tell. For example, some student protesters once disrupted one of his lectures. Well known for his patience and intelligence, he good naturedly responded by joking that they were “tyrannical, brutal and cruel”.
A reasoned and “scientific” man, he has denounced homosexuality as evil and other religions as “deficient”. He also upholds the Church’s sensible practice of banning all contraception and abortions, views that seem to have been spectacularly proven right in this AIDS free, happy smiling world. The last recorded case of sex before marriage was in 1969.
However, Pope Benedict XVI will have a lot in his in-tray. One of the most pressing problems in recent years, as you’ll all be aware, is of course – women. Radical demands are now being made from a small minority that women actually be granted similar, if not equal, rights to men. It may sound crazy, but putting down these determined terrorists will be no easy task. Luckily, Ratty comes well prepared. He’s already declared ordaining women was ‘an infallible teaching’ – putting that minority back in their rightful place.
It’s great to have a new Pope – and thank goodness he has his priorities sorted out.
I’ve joined Election 2005 – from the people that brought you Babbleblog – and will be acting as a pro-Labourish voice up to May 5th. This has the added advantage that readers of this blog will not have to put up with so much nonsense during the campaign!
So for all the thrills and spills, plus an exclusive chance to see BigBroMan and I actually agree on a few things (it could happen!), check out Election 2005.
The world has lost a religious leader who was revered across people of all faiths and none. I don’t exist? He was an inspiration, yes, the message that one day, you too could father 300 children a man of extraordinary blind faith, dignity and courage. Even the courage to tell homosexuals they were evil – standing up to that massive majority.
Throughout a hard and often difficult life as opposed to everyone else, he stood for social justice (unless you’re gay, want an abortion or have HIV \ AIDs) and on the side of the oppressed apart from the choir boys, whether as a young man facing the Nazi occupation in Poland or later in challenging the communist regime. Both of which he single handedly defeated, and never claiming any of the vacated power for himself. He never wavered, metaphorically speaking, never flinched, never admitted he was wrong, in the struggle for what he thought was good and right.
Yet whatever his own hardship and experience of what was wrong in human nature (those bloody gays again), he never lost faith in the human spirit and its ultimate capacity to do good. Unless you’re handing out contraception – that’s a wicked act – for which you will burn in hell for all eternity.
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Bloody hell, I bet I’m gonna get flamed for that one…
Beth E . Dubowe-Lawrence on China, Part 3: Chongqing & Chengdu: “Again an awesome adventure to share this with you” Apr 21, 19:13
