Good people, good joke

Thank you inoted for making me one of your 'good people' on what is apparently Good People Day today. I'ld like to recommend Tony Blair as my own 'Good Person' for today, and Peter Kirk agrees with me. This evening Blair is speaking at Westminster Cathedral, when he will talk about the new Tony Blair Faith Foundation to be launched next month. Our story on his speech is now online. The StoptheWar coalition will be staging a noisy protest, a 'wall of sound' around the cathedral, just as he begins speaking. They're asking protesters to bring anything, from drums through trumpets to pots and pans, to make as great a cacophany as possible. Before that, Pax Christi will be organising a silent vigil.

Meanwhile, as a slightly frivolous aside, may I recommend to readers this wonderful BBC April Fool joke.

Comments

[Rick Beekman]

What A Photo-Op!
The Ex Prime Minister and The Holy Papa. Notice Holy Papa Smiling Like A Chesire cat? Wonder What scheme he and his co-horts are dreaming up back at the Vatican?? stay tuned..more coming..

[Rowan Grigg]

I hope the walls of Westminster are stronger than those of Jericho.

[Glyn Davies]

Well, the full text of his speech has a lot of muddles and misinformation. To take three examples, one cannot just say "Faith" is true. The doctrines of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam are mutually inconsistent and therefore cannot all be true. (Interestingly the hostility between Christianity and Islam which have doctrines that are in many ways very similar is greater than that with Eastern religions which are quite different). Secondly, for the most part it is wrong to suggest that the Enlightenment was an atheistic movement. This may have been true of David Hume, who was one major Enlightenment figure, but probably the two leading Enlightenment figures were Voltaire and Edward Gibbon who, whilst rejecting Christianity, both espoused some sort of deism being quite prepared to believed in a Supreme Being whilst Sam Johnson, who is generally counted an Enlightenment figure, had a strong Christian faith by which he walked in the darkness. Thirdly, it is not really correct to say that the Arabs were in the forefront of scientific development. They had an important role but it was chiefly in preserving the mathematics of the Ancient Greek and Hellenistic Worlds which had nearly been lost with the fall of the Hellenistic World.

To go back to the point you are suggesting that we should regard Mr Blair as a religious leader, relegion does have something to do with morals. Whilst there are things about Mr Blair's morals you can praise - he doesn't drink to excess, no one has suggested he is unfairful to his wife and he works hard - there are some objects which moralists have generally accepted where he falls seriously short. Humility is enjoined. It is impo ssible to see Mr Blair as a humble man Truthfulness is enjoined. This means not just Alastair Campbell-ish factual accuracy but not hiding the truth or giving misleading impressions. "Suppressio veri" and "Implicatio falsi" is the classic rhetorical term for these serious misdemeanours. It is usually regarded as moral not to put too high a value on money and to lead a modest and frugal existence. A man who earns hugely large sums on the lecture circuit and spends it on an extravagant lifestyle can hardly be said to be compying with serious moral standards.

Your suggestion that Mr Blair should be seen as a moral leader is completely flawed. I am going to stick to my admiration for the Pope and the Dalai Lama.

Regards

Glyn Davies

[Chris Gillibrand]

Tony Blair Faith Foundation

I am speechless. Calls to mind Lancashire jokes about self-made men who worshipped the God who created them.