Riots? What riots?

It’s only a month since the riots and looting of summer 2011 and yet they seem somehow already distant; their significance is diminishing with each day that passes. In fact, as far as Birmingham is concerned, it comes across that the only thing that is stopping us moving on is the senseless act of one idiot driver who decided to take the lives of three young men. That act brought more shame on the city than all the other events of that week put together, and it was inspirational to hear the father of one of the dead men respond in such a measured and winning way.

I think the reason I feel the significance of the riots is fading so rapidly is because of the the three events I’ve been to since: the peace rally that I’ve already blogged about, the Radio 4 debate in the Town Hall, and, today, the West Midlands Polce Authority Meeting at MAC. All three have gone a long way to calming the waters, in my mind, at least.

It was a common refrain at the Town Hall meeting that there is no moral collapse in our society, and I agree. Compared with what it felt like at the time, it’s clear that the riots only lasted for a short time and only involved relatively few people. Most young people were not engaged in criminal acts on the evenings of 8 & 9 August. And even those that were, the idea that they didn’t know that they were doing something wrong is laughable.

At the meeting we heard (on tape) Melanie Phillips blaming the 1960s and Polly Toynbee blaming the 1980s for the riotous mindset of certain people. Although Phillips is right that the western world changed considerably in the 1960s, it was almost all good. Do we really look back at film and pictures of the 1950s and wish we still lived that way? Of course not. Meanwhile, Toynbee’s view of the 1980s as ushering in an era of “greed is good” strikes me as little more than a cliche. Consumerism started a long time ago and has been increasing ever since.

No, we’re still the moral(-ish) consumerists we’ve always been, and we’ve just got to come to terms somehow with something we have lost: respect. Speaking as an adult, a parent and a teacher, sometimes I yearn quietly for the days of automatic respect for authority, but I know really that it’s something that we have to learn to live without. Society is different without it, but society can still function without it, as long as we still have democracy and the rule of law.

At today’s meeting the chief constable gave himself (and his colleagues) a long pat on the back for the brilliance of their response to the riots. It sounded a tad revisionist, but it was said with such conviction that it would be a shame to dispel the warm feeling that it gave everybody. It was pointed out that there was no trouble in Coventry or Walsall or Dudley, and that 75% of those arrested have criminal records.

Finally, the best post-riot medicine has definitely been to ignore the politicians. If you listen to the police, or to experts, or to ordinary people, you get something approaching reality. Politicians simply distort that reality – partly because they don’t know what they’re talking about, and partly because they aren’t programmed to tell the truth but to speak in a weird language of crawling, spin and rhetoric.

A Faith City

Birmingham Council of Faiths invited us to attend the event “United Birmingham: One City, One Voice for Peace” in Summerfield Park on Sunday afternoon. It wasn’t a huge event, but there were a few thousand people there, and it was a good response to the sad events of last week.

Although the event was somewhat religious in nature (sometimes explicitly religious, like when one speaker proclaimed “God is Great” – but hey, whatever rocks his boat) it tried to be inclusive and generally succeeded. The only thing that bugged me was the leader of the city council, Mike Whitby, insisting in his speech that Birmingham is “a faith city”, whatever that’s supposed to mean.

A lot of people in this city aren’t religious, and the religions won’t make a lot of headway in connecting with those people. Anyway, suggesting that the moral support that Brummies need can come best from religious groups is to imply that non-religious people are not moral and cannot be moral. And that can’t be the message that our city wants to send out!

In the weeks and months ahead we as a group need to do as much as we can to support people as they try to lead moral lives. I’m not sure that Mike Whitby will be keen on that, but luckily most other people in the city understand that we have a role.

If you’re on Facebook, you can see more photos here.

#TING

When I was a child I was a Christian; I didn’t know any better. Then I became an agnostic and a Humanist. These days I’m an atheist and a Humanist. Of course, atheism is a somewhat unreasonable position to take. In an old post, the blogger Askegg argues thusly:

“Over the past few days I have been engaged in an interesting debate with [someone called Zach] who asserts there IS no god - an accusation to which I responded to by pointing out that there is no way he could know that for certain, thereby remaining ever so slightly and technically agnostic.

“The error Zach is making is taking the entirety of his experiences, which do not indicate the presence of any divine entity (indeed, no one I have ever meet has any verifiable evidence of a god), and extrapolating it to the entire universe.  By stating that not only the things he knows do not qualify as a “god”, but that nothing in the universe could ever qualify is a magnificent error.  The non existence of a god is a claim he cannot make for he does not know what the remainder of the universe contains.”

I have to say that even though I understand his point, I don’t care any more. I have no idea what the concept of god could possibly mean. When I’m told that there could be a god, I’m left wondering how we would know if we found it/him? There are lots of things we don’t know about, but which one of them, when we discover it, will be worthy of the name “god”?

It is a truism that god is a human concept, a human invention, a figment of the human imagination. If we do discover metaforces at work in the universe they won’t be “god”, they’ll just be what they are.

Equality and the veil

Maryam Namazie is our speaker next week. I saw Maryam speak in Birmingham last year and she’s such a good speaker I wanted to get her back as soon as I could. When I say that she’s a good speaker I don’t mean that I agree with everything she says. I don’t, for example, agree that we should do what the French have done, and ban the niqab. It does still freak me out a bit when I see a woman wearing one, but that is, as they say, my problem. I do object to the veil being worn in certain circumstances but otherwise we should live and let live. But although I disagree with a ban, and respect everyone’s decision to dress how they want, I do find it odd that a woman in Britain would want to wear one. Certainly, the religious justification seems very thin: it’s perfectly possible to be a good Muslim without wearing one.

Friends of mine who’ve been to Egypt tell me the men are disgusting, so it’s no wonder in such a society that women would want to cover themselves up. But in advanced Western societies, although there is still a risk of molestation, we have moved on. By and large, there is equality of the sexes and men don’t regard women with flesh on display as loose. (The exception proves the rule.) So I tend to agree with Maryam’s thesis that the veil is a form of oppression. Can a woman look back gladly on a life behind the veil? Or only with regret?

Maryam Namazie: “One Law For All”, Moseley Exchange, Tuesday 17 May, 7.30 pm

Join us

Harry Stopes-Roe

From our latest newsletter:

PARTY FOR HARRY : FRIDAY 25TH MARCH 1.30 TO 4.00pm

As many members will know 2010 was a tough year for our President, Dr Harry Stopes-Roe, who underwent a major operation, the recovery from which is taking a long time, with the after-effects still restricting his ability to enjoy all his former interests. The committee felt that 2011 might be a good time to organise a special day for him, to help keep his spirits high and to thank him for all the time, energy and devotion he has given to the Humanist cause in general and Birmingham Humanists in particular. Accordingly Highbury Hall in Moseley has been booked for the afternoon of Friday 25th March for an afternoon that will hopefully feature short talks on Science, Philosophy, Humanism and Harry’s life, interspersed with live musical interludes and afternoon tea or coffee. If you want to be there, at what promises to be a unique occasion, please let Victoria Denning know how many tickets you would like. There is no charge to attend but a donation towards two of Harry’s nominated charities would be appreciated during the afternoon. All Humanists and friends of Harry, wherever you are in the UK, are invited!

Myths and Scams

God Discussion and Friendly Atheist (among others) are discussing American Atheists’ recent billboards:

“You know it’s a myth. This season, celebrate reason!”

and

“You know they’re all scams.”

I have to say I find the first one less controversial than the second. For although they both appear to be preaching to the converted, the second one is a pointed criticism of all religion, rather than just of one religion’s midwinter fairytale. Although I tend to agree that religions are indeed scams in the sense that they take advantage of people, we are in danger of attempting to bite off more than we can chew by launching such a fundamental attack. 

Not surprisingly, the “Scams” billboard is causing disquiet among some atheists. Many of us aren’t interested in riling or converting the religious, but in getting on with the job of supporting and improving the rights of the non-religious.

Adrian

Darrel Ray: The God Virus

Dr Ray is our guest this weekend, and tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon he will be speaking at Moseley CDT, 149 Alcester Road, Moseley, B13 8JP. He’s been in England for a week, and last weekend spoke at Conway Hall in London. As you might expect, Dr Ray’s book has provoked a variety of responses so we’re looking forward to a lively discussion.

*Strictly speaking, the guest of South Staffordshire Humanists