Do as I say, not as I do...

There are few things more frustrating than seeing hypocrisy in action. While everyone is guilty of it from time to time, there are some instances where it really should be avoided.

Parents should at least attempt to lead by example, rather than issuing strict dictats which they then proceed to ignore.

When managers criticise a team for failing to adhere to departmental procedures, they should make damn sure that they themselves are sticking to those procedures...

*sigh*

Any other hypocrisies that should be avoided?!

Thanks for nothing

I am one of those British people who is terribly, terribly polite. Even to people who don't deserve it.

Imagine this situation: 

I had arrived back in Basingstoke, off the train from London.  It had been snowing in Basingstoke, but there were cars on the roads. I needed to get a bus home, so I headed to the bus-station.

No buses.  One woman had been waiting for 2 hours.  Apparently the roads were too unsafe for the route out to where I live.

I waited a while, chatted with some other people waiting.  Then I went over to some drivers who were loitering at the other end of the station.

'Excuse me,' I said 'do you know if there will be a number 2 any time soon?'

'No love, too dangerous.' replied a man clutching a clipboard.

'Oh I quite understand.  Its very difficult for you to ask drivers to go out in these conditions.  But is there any chance of letting us know if there are any developments?'

'Yeah, all right.'

'Thank you so much, I really appreciate it.'

30 minutes later, nothing.  no information, no buses.  I wandered over again.

'I'm sorry to bother you again, but have the condition s got any better?'

'No.'

'I don't suppose you've got any indication of when or if they'll get better?'

'No.'

'Ok, well thanks for your help.'

Thanks for your help?!  What's wrong with me?  He couldn't have been less helpful unless he'd thrown a snowball at me.  And I always do this.

Someone walks into me when I'm standing at the station.  What do I say?  'Sorry!'

Someone wheels their large suitcase over my foot. 'Sorry!'

Someone pushes their trolley into my shin at the supermarket. 'Sorry!' I say as I hobble out of their way.

It is a very British condition, but I think I'm a particularly bad case.  Perhaps I have to be more assertive:

Someone walks into me when I'm standing at the station.  What do I say?  'Sorry for standing in your way.  open your eyes next time.'

Someone wheels their large suitcase over my foot. 'Was my foot inconveniently positioned?  Perhaps I should cut it off...?'

Someone pushes their trolley into my shin at the supermarket. 'Oh forgive me for so inconsiderately queuing here.  Next time I should lie down in front of your trolley to facilitate your movement over me...'

This little piggy went to market…

Those of you who know me probably already know my views on pigs. Intelligent creatures for the most part (both my friends and the pigs. No, my friends are not pigs), pigs are also pretty cute. Well, piglets anyway.

I am by no stretch of the imagination vegetarian, but I don’t eat much pig. Or pork. Mainly I don’t like the taste of ham and bacon. But I like sausages. But I’m very fussy about what type of sausages I eat. I will only eat British reared pig. Not because of the taste (although it tends to be delicious), but because in Britain we have far higher pig rearing standards than in the rest of Europe.

In Europe, pigs are kept in terrible conditions. Intensively ‘factory’ farmed, with the sows locked in sowing stalls and farrowing pens, the pigs are often kept in darkness and on concrete floors. I would recommend reading Jon Henley’s article in the Guardian for further details.

In Britain it’s a slightly different story. We do have higher welfare standards for our pigs. Most pigs in Britain have access to the outdoors, straw in their pens and greater freedom of movement. But it still isn’t great. Often piglets born outside are fattened for slaughter indoors. Some British (Organic) farms are, of course, pretty good. Piglets gambolling about the open fields, out in the fresh air. All of that. But it comes at a price:

Tim Finney, managing director of Eastbrook's organic meats business, reckons that amounts to an extra 30 or 40p a kilo just to keep the system running, plus another 70p a kilo for the organic feed. "Overall," he says, "it probably costs us about double what it costs to produce a conventional pig. Although if we weren't organic, we could run the farm the same way and produce meat that was maybe 25% more expensive. That would still be a huge step forwards in welfare terms."

Jon Henley 'Welfare doesn’t come into it'

Jamie Oliver is starting a campaign. Not to improve standards necessarily, but to educate the public. He believes (as I do) that to be a meat eater (and we were bred to be), you have to fully understand where your meat comes from. With no apologies. If you eat meat, then yes, you are causing cute little piggies, curly-lashed calves and woolly, bleating lambs to be slaughtered. If you eat fish, then you are causing fish to be ‘drowned’. Get over it.

Oh, and if you’re a vegetarian, then please stop wearing or carrying leather. It just makes you a hypocrite. And justifying it by saying ‘well they’re dead anyway’ is ridiculous.

Anyway. If you can accept those things, good for you. I can accept them and so I eat meat. But that doesn’t mean that we’re so much better than animals. That we have the right to do what we want to them. We have the obligation to farm them as humanely as possible.

Ideally, of course we’d all raise our own animals like Alex Renton and send them to local slaughterhouses/butchers at the end of their happy, outdoor, organic lives.

Or stop eating meat.

What makes you more right than me?

It’s a question I’ve often been asked. Most frequently when ‘passive leafleting’ for my university Pagan Society. ‘Do you honestly believe you’re right?’
Well, duh? Yes, I honestly believe that paganism is right. Some of my friends may not realise how strongly, how passionately I believe that, mainly because I tend to keep it to myself. I’m a quiet religious-nut (and no, that’s not a contradiction in terms).
But the difference between me believing I’m right and, say, a stereotypical, fundamentalist Christian or Muslim believing that they are right, is that I don’t believe that I’m exclusively right.
Yes. That’s what I said. We can ALL be right.

How can I think this? Surprisingly easily… It helps that, as a Pagan, the idea of multiple deities is not a problem. But it also links to what deities are and what they do.
In my opinion, there is a celestial force. Something greater, wiser and more powerful than us (note that I’m not saying all-powerful, all-knowing etc – who says the gods are infallible?). We don’t know what it is. A pagan creation-myth I particularly like just calls it ‘TheOne’. I don’t know if it’s male, or female, or either. It just is.
And all deities are parts, or avatars, of TheOne.

Why do we have different religions then? Well, we have different music, we have different styles of art. We all see colour slightly differently. If we can approach these rather mundane things from completely different perspectives, why not religion? Why can’t one person feel more drawn to one belief without it being ‘better’ or ‘right’? It just feels better or more right for them. And that’s fine. Nothing wrong with that. It would also mean that all religions are a valid path to The One, as a part of the whole. All religions are incomplete, imperfect ways of understanding something that is so much bigger and greater than us – something that we can never even hope to understand, let alone really conceive of completely.

But if we accept that no human can ever fully understand that powerful thing, then who has the right, who can honestly look inside themselves and say that their way is the ONLY right way?

And if you can…. Good for you. Just don’t try and persuade me.

Fried cupcakes anyone?

I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea. I'm not anti-American. I have some American friends who I love dearly. Some of them are my age, some my parents' age. Admittedly, all of them have one thing in common - they come from 'coastal' America and they've travelled the world.
The problem I have is with the stereotypical 'redneck', and having read this article, my fears seem to have been completely justified. The author, Joe Bageant, seems particularly proud of his redneck tradition/heritage/outlook.
In particular the influences on the American ethos:

• Belief that no law is above God's law, not even the US Constitution.
• Hyper patriotism. A fighting defence of native land, home and heart, even when it is not actually threatened: ie, Iraq, Panama, Grenada, Somalia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Vietnam, Haiti and dozens more with righteous operations titles such as Enduring Freedom, Restore Hope, and Just Cause.
• A love of guns and tremendous respect for the warrior ideal. Along with this comes a strong sense of fealty and loyalty.
• Fealty to wartime leaders, whether it be FDR or George Bush.
• Self effacement, humility. We are usually the butt of our own jokes, in an effort not to appear aloof among one another.
• Belief that most things outside our own community and nation are inferior and threatening, that the world is jealous of the American lifestyle.
• Personal pride in equality. No man, however rich or powerful, is better than me.
• Perseverance and belief in hard work. If a man or a family is poor, it is because they did not work hard enough. God rewards those who work hard enough. So does the American system.
• The only free country in the world is the United States, and the only reason we ever go to war is to protect that freedom.

All this has become so deeply instilled as to now be reflexive. It represents many of the worst traits in American culture and a few of the best.
And that has every thinking person here in the US, except perhaps John McCain and Sarah Palin, worried.
Very worried.

BBC 'Today' website

Yes. I'm worried. Shouldn't we all be?

EDIT: I would like to point out that self effacement, humility, personal pride in equality and perseverance and belief in hard work are very noble attributes and to be applauded. The rest of them, however...

Half the world's Christians can't be wrong?

The 'Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans' apparently represents half of the world's 77 million Christians. While I'm very open to other faiths and respect their views, it does rather concern me that this new organisation is so fundamentalist.

With their (admitted) conservative views on women priests, their homophobia and desire to proselytise, are we seeing the 'new Christianity'? And if we are, should we be worried?
Could a possible schism lead to further tensions between Christians and other 'world faiths', notably Islam?

And what would it mean for smaller religions? Will we be subjected to even more evangelists stopping us in the streets (one of my pet hates)?

*Some useful information from the BBC website on the debate about women bishops.