Daniel Swan

Well I’m sat around now on the bed surrounded by my Christmas presents.  For my cycling life I now have a cycling computer (yes!) and a set of tools (sorely needed) and now all I need is some clothes to go with it.  I finally have the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD which I’m really looking forward to watching again.  Most of the presents fell into the book category – 2 new Murakami’s (Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World & South of the Border, West of the Sun), Thomas Fink’s “The Man’s Book” which is a chappish, blokey look (with a side of geek) at facts for the modern gentleman.  The Ultimate History of Video Games looks like it’s going to provide plenty of nostalgia.  Some more non-fiction comes in the form of “The Edible Container Garden” by  Michael Guerra, which hopefully will give me the impetus to clear my kitchen windowsill of pointless plants and turn it into a herb garden and empty out my ‘experimental pond bucket’ which generally doesn’t serve much more purpose than a breeding ground for mosquitoes and grow some salad stuff in it.  Work has not been neglected, I’ve been leafing through “Data Analysis Tools for DNA Microarrays’ today which seems to be a step up from the basic guides I bought 3 years ago.  The DS too has been shown some love in the form of Metroid Prime Hunters, a game I have coveted since buying my DS – and to be honest that has taken up most of the days fiddling time.  I have a Moleskin notebook (yay!) to um replace my PDA ;) and a new whizzy electric toothbrush too.  So 2008 then – cleaner teeth, better stylus/hand coordination and a garden full of edible shrubberies.  Can’t wait!

Christmas lunch was just great, but I’ve been functionally unable to eat anything since the last spoonful of pudding crossed my lips!  Beer on the other hand is going down just fine ;)

This is an accurate representation of what I have been doing since I have been away.  From the always awesome site xkcd of course.

So according to the BBC today, the Archbishop of Wales trots out the usual Christmas bollocks about how the atheists are ruining Christmas for the masses.

Choice quotage:

The archbishop said “atheistic fundamentalism” was a new phenomenon.

He said it advocated that religion in general and Christianity in particular have no substance, and that some view the faith as “superstitious nonsense”.

As well as leading to Christmas being called “Winterval,” the archbishop said “virulent, almost irrational” attacks on Christianity led to hospitals removing all Christian symbols from their chapels, and schools refusing to allow children to send Christmas cards with a Christian message.”

What is particularly annoying about this is that Church leaders whining about Christmas being ruined is not a new phenomenon at all, it happens every year without fail, for as long as I can remember. It’s also patent rubbish. This business about Winterval, the banning of nativity plays etc. etc. etc. just isn’t true. The last time I checked 25% of primary schools were still Anglican, presumably therefore allowed to peddle whatever message of Christmas they like to their indoctrinated ‘consumers’.

The whole ‘Winterval’ thing is laughable – in 1997 Birmingham City Council decided to use this term to incorporate all the multi-faith (and secular!) celebrations over the winter period with an umbrella term. It was never in any way meant to denigrate, sideline or replace Christmas (or Eid, or Diwali or Guy Fawkes Night). Only the Daily Mail brigade took it that way, and 10 years later senior Church members are still lying about it.

Chapels in hospital are removing Christian symbology? Well I’m aware that some hospitals have multi-faith ‘prayer areas’ where presumably Christians, Muslims and atheists who want a bit of peace and quiet can go and think/pray/whatever, but surely Christian trappings would be inappropriate in this context? I’ve worked in plenty of hospitals with chapels and mosques, so where, pray tell, is the Bishop getting these crazy ideas from?

Atheistic fundamentalism is only getting fundamentalist because we’re now angry with the propagation of the same old lies, half truths and cries of ‘political correctness gone mad’ that we’re no longer prepared to humor them. These people must be held up, pilloried and harrassed with facts and logic until the stupid, banal and untrue statements are finally laid to rest.

I love Christmas, I do, I really do, but I no longer associate it with any Christian message. That’s for me to decide to do and practice. If you want to go to Church, think about the baby Jesus that’s all fine, but don’t lie about how atheistic observation of Christmas is ‘ruining it for the rest of you’.