This weeks Quantum is a full one as we look at the main subject of cancel culture.
The Communists take over Hong Kong; the UK passes the no return point for the EU. Prince Harry schools us all in ‘unconscious bias’.
L’Oreal – “Once white people begin to admit that their race is the most violent and oppressive force of nature on earth – we can talk” Racism isn’t learned…it’s inherited and consciously or unconsciously passed down through privilege”
The List exists…
John Wayne is on the List…
And so is Graham Linehan…
Spend your life helping disadvantaged young people? Don’t worry…you can be fired for not being Woke enough as well.
Did you know that according to the BBC the country side is white and racist as well!
A bit of light relief from Ross Noble who now lives in Melbourne…
Congratulations to Liverpool
https://twitter.com/SkySportsNews/status/1276268312868139009?s=20
We also look at Neil Oliver, the racism of Humza Yousaf, the irrationality of Polly Toynbee https://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable/Episodes/Unbelievable-Do-faith-and-politics-mix-Tim-Farron-and-Polly-Toynbee
Farewell to Derek Prime…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
And Bob Dylan has a great new number 1 album.
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-53197834
My eye is like a shooting star
It looks at nothin’ here or there, looks at nothin’ near or far
No one ever told me, it’s just something I knew
I’ve made up my mind to give myself to youIf I had the wings of a snow white dove
I’d preach the gospel, the gospel of love
A love so real, a love so true
I’ve made up my mind to give myself to you
And this to finish…
Quantum 100 – The New Cultural Revolution
https://patron.podbean.com/theweeflea
Harry defers to Megan with claims about not doing enough to right the wrongs of the past and about racism being endemic with an “apology”, thereby showing his alignment with the narrative perpetuated by the mainstream. On the other hand there are many both black and white that are pushing back against this narrative and in the case of black being accused of being an uncle Tom of doing the work of the white man’s oppression for him.
Harry has changed since the “Megan effect” came along. It is perfectly understandable given his mothers experience why he would be concerned for similar not happening with Megan. And he is due honour for bravely sharing of his own struggles with going off the rails and influencing awareness about mental heal issues with the benefit this has had with taking away stigma. Also for his work for example with the Invictus games, and the support for the armed services community.
However I fear that what we have seen is a change in Harry and not for the good. In the light of that I think it better for him to have stepped down from his responsibilities, and therefor influence as a “senior royal”.
Whilst the horror of slavery in the pasts and the devastation of many lives must be acknowledged, in order to address slavery in all its forms in the present. A white person telling someone that they are oppressed when they are not is likely to make them feel angry and in itself is a form of racism.
When I have ask folks of Pakistani, Jamaican, Eritrean and other origins locally about racism what has been shared is that this country (Scotland) is nice, that the racism is a problem for America and that there has not been an encounter with racism here, that there are idiots that mistreat everywhere that has nothing to do with race. And when I listen to a local white woman talk of serving in a take away she claims mistreatment from black customers.
So when Harry and others claim the level of racism perpetuating throughout society, then that is not reflected in what black folks are saying where I live and it may be causing some to experience fear to speak out about being mistreated by someone who is black who might want to falsely accuse of racism. There is word that in Govanhill, the first minster Nicola Sturgeon’s constituency that white women are being raped by folks of an ethnic origin and being afraid to come forward out of fear of the same. And these not making it into mainstream media because of the prevailing narrative. Do their lives not matter?
Harry having abdicated his responsibilities, has I fear, fallen into being complicit with a narrative which while giving the appearance of compassion not only perpetuates racism but inflames racial tensions unnecessarily.
This narrative needs to stop and until it does we can expect to see more racial tension and the emergence of a far right “white lives matter” reaction to this the extreme left movement.
Only if there is an emergence of the reasonable left and the compassionate right into prevalence shall we see any relief from this. I think most people, are just trying to get along with each other and it is forces fuelled by people in positions of influence for their own gain, often unconsciously, that has a big part to play in current tensions.
This, ‘we don’t want to be ruled by books written before history’ intrigues me. Firstly, there is the obvious point that you can’t have anything written before history. More important, it implies that all that stuff about not murdering people or not stealing people is SO-outdated. All those rules about murder and stealing were written so long ago. We don’t need to pay any attention to them today.
Then there is the point that David made that the kind of people who tend to make that sort of statement themselves base what they believe on pretty old books, like J. S. Mill’s ‘On Liberty’ – written in 1859. Is the mid-nineteenth century not quite a long time ago? Who wants to base their beliefs on something written over 150 years ago? And Voltaire is even older.
As to the objection about religious people forcing their views on other people I find this somewhat selective. The same kind of people will (unjustifiably) complain about Pope Pius XII not helping the Jews during the Holocaust. (Strange one that, considering how a leading Jewish Rabbi converted to Catholicism precisely because of what the Pope and other Catholics had done to help the Jews.) Yes, the objection about religious people ‘forcing’ their views on other people is very selective. If religious people campaign on the same side of an issue as these people we don’t hear the same complaint.
And at the end of the day, a majority of MPs voted against euthanasia. And how many of them are “religious”? All that happened was that religious people (and non-religious people) campaigned against euthanasia and the majority of MPs were convinced by their arguments. Isn’t that the way democracy is supposed to work? Obviously not in the Toynbee world. In the Toynbee world religious people shouldn’t be allowed to campaign at all – unless they campaign for things she supports.
Incidentally Polly Toynbee has something in common with the Nazis. (Note I did not say she is a Nazi or say she supports Nazism.) She objects to religious people stopping her doing what she wants to do. And the Nazis objected to religious people trying to stop them doing what they wanted to do. Examples: Bishop von Galen (Catholic), Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Protestant), Friedrich von Bodelschwingh (Protestant), Hans and Sophie Scholl (Protestant), Count von Stauffenberg (Catholic). And four of those people were executed for ‘trying to impose their religious views’ on Germany.
David, Thankyou once again for sharing – it very helpful listening to your observations on all the lunacy that is taking place everywhere. I remember a time the world wasnt quite as bad as it is now. And so when I listen to your podcasts, I keep being reminded of the proverb “Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad.” I first came across a variation of this researching online about the second world war.. A General Martinek spoke this “Whom God would destroy, he first strikes blind”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Martinek I found it ominous…because I see parellels with today – we are seeing a similar kind of lunacy and blindness today. we have PC fascism antifa, marxism today that looks to be gaining ground, and it makes me wonder – Could it be God has given up many to madness and blindness? The tragedy is they dont know it…..
It is too simplistic to dismiss BLM as a Marxist movement. It has quickly jettisoned equality , replaced it with Black ethnocentric concerns and turned on its White liberal supporters , accusing them of racism.
This will be interesting to watch.
RE the Polly Toynbee/Tim Farron debate;
Polly Toynbee said that “Important” people are easier to get in contact with, in contrast to “ordinary” people – I’m well aware that I myself am the epitome of unimportance, but for the sake of other non-elite people, it’d be nice if a journalist in the nation’s primary Left leaning newspaper didn’t regard those less fortunate than herself to be lacking importance.
As a Christian, I’ve always struggled to understand why some Christians are so opposed to having the option to end their own lives – but I understand that there are serious concerns, including amongst the medical profession, that such changes in the law risk lethal abuse. Does Polly believe that all opposition to euthanasia is based on theism?
She claims that many views are legitimate so long as people are allowed to control their own bodies – providing abortion as a necessary freedom on this basis. But surely she knows that opponents of abortion are against it because it means that another human’s body is affected(?). Again, opposition is thus not necessarily based on theism.
It was almost insulting that she suggested that Tim’s refusal to support abortion and gay sex would have been OK if he were in the Conservative party – as though one should abandon their views on other issues if they can’t agree to their party’s stance on 2 issues that are so rarely debated in parliament. I disagree with Labour’s (and the LibDem’s) stance on abortion and LGBT issues, but if one were to suggest that I should thus vote Tory, I’d be ticked that they presume me to care so little about the many social justice issues which lead me to vote Left.
It seemed somewhat contradictory that Polly claimed that the Bible can be interpreted in any way, yet still apparently views it as being opposed to things she deems right. That Polly believes that one can be a Christian without believing in the resurrection suggests that she’s had a misleading impression – perhaps if she met more committed Christians, rather than basing her view on so called “important” people who are essentially Christian in name only, she’d have a better understanding of these issues and of what Christianity actually is.
I entirely agree with Tim’s frustration about the so called “religious Right” in the US – but I always ache to hear this labelled as Evangelicalism as it so, so often is. Anyone can call themselves Evangelical, and will do if it feels to them to be a comforting label from their upbringing – but if they aren’t committed to the Evangel, they are, by definition, not true Evangelicals. Trump and many of his supporters demonstrate that nationalism is what drives them, not the Gospel. I personally feel that we need to explain to the wider world that some people are entirely mistaken to call themselves Evangelicals, or Christians, rather than that they’ve merely been mistaken on particular issues. If I called myself a football fan, to fit in with our country’s national religion, and proceeded to do heinous things, it would be quite right for others who actually are football fans to point out that I am, by definition, not a football fan (having never willingly watched nor played it) for the sake of ameliorating the negative impact of my crimes on society’s view of football.
Trump’s choice of nationalism is evidenced by US support for Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state.
Might not that diplomatic upending of the Middle East chessboard be construed as pro – Evangelical ?
L’Oreal didn’t actually make the statement about the white race. It was made by a transgender consultant they hired and fired in 2017. They have since reached out to him/her to apologize for the way they handled the firing.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/loreal-violent-white-race/
One wonders if L’Oreal wouldn’t be happy to own the statement now.
I enjoy your show. I would like to hear more stories about true believers within the Church of England and those faithful congregations that are bravely standing for truth.
So would I! Feel free to pass them on….very impressed with the likes of St Helens and St Aldgates Oxford, Jesmond – Newcastle, and Holy Trinity Brompton.