Loss of Respect

 

I was born in 1944. Respect for those who suffered and gave their lives so that we could be free was a matter of giving honour where honour was due. This we still do and annually commemorate their sacrifices. I am old enough to recall other ways in which respect was given. An age when youth were subject to their parents. You were not entertained and distraction via media was not on tap. You were taught that your elders were to be respected at every level. You did not make demands. There was order in society. You knew right from wrong, natural from unnatural, you listened and learned and waited for your turn. Growing up was a process that took a long time. Choices and freedoms such as those set before young children today would have been seen as child abuse. There was a largely accepted rule based order that was understood and only rarely challenged. Punishment was expected for doing wrong, breaking rules, being impolite and challenging those in authority. You knew your place and waited for the day when you became an adult in the eyes of those around you. For the great majority whether you came from a poor or more privileged background you knew without being aware of it what it was to be a member of society. You had a place and in most cases this was accepted by those around you. It was a modest, slow, disciplined entrance into the adult world. There were of course those who did not conform. Some of these would do well, others not so well. The non-conforming eccentric was either celebrated or tolerated. There was a place for rule benders and breakers. This was British society as I experienced it while growing up. And I had an unhappy unsuccessful school career and never really found my place at home. A person who did not quite fit. Consequently my description of this period, between 1944 and 1964 is not based on a comfortable life. It was safe in many ways but in others far from secure.

Now, I look back and fear for the life that is being prepared for modern children and adolescents. In all probability there has never been a generation so cherished and provided for in some areas and so lost in others. My generation experienced few choices, this one has choices beyond imagination. Some of them so dangerous to their well-being it is difficult to comprehend what may result. As a child growing up I experienced a life of very little choice, thinking more would have been wonderful. But now, seeing the choices on offer, the open access to the world of adults through technology being put into the hands of near infants, I fear for them and for our future society. The present is scary enough, the future I do not like to contemplate. Natural and normal have lost their classic dictionary meanings. The most fundamental of these is gender recognition. To take that certainty away by casting doubt over the entire subject is to shake the foundations of society. To my generation an unfathomable error. It used to be the rule that to base laws on hard cases made bad law. At present this is exactly what is happening right across the spectrum. Movements advocating change are driven by very small but vociferous and relentless pressure groups. And the State capitulates before them on almost every occasion. This has had the effect of maximising their influence. Many of these are backed by loud, colourful celebrities whose influence is remarkable, particularly on the young and impressionable. To stand against highly politicised  issues being used as levers to change society and its laws is becoming dangerous. It is not just that minority views are getting great coverage and being received by legislators as worthy of support. They are being included as protected characteristics, giving them top billing when it comes to law enforcement.

British Values are now replete with laws reinforced by positive propaganda. Opponents can be both vilified and brought to a court of law accused of phobic reactions to cherished sexual or social innovations. A further effect of this change to our society is that free speech is being eroded. Formerly respected sections of the population are now being cowered or silenced.  To publicly stand in opposition, even when done politely is to risk becoming a pariah, an outcast. There are many straws in the wind, people pulled down from high office, some of whom are mentioned in these articles. they are I think set up as warnings to others. Even people at the bottom of the scale feel the pressure. I feel it while writing these articles. In a free society that anxiety would not exist.

It seems there are two groups of extremists that hate the sacrifices of our military forces recalled by our nation on Remembrance Day. Extreme left wing activists and Marxists, and Muslim extremists who may well have always supported ISIS. This video is one of the most horrific I have seen. But having taken a interest in the Christian woman Asia Bibi held in Pakistan for years on a charge of blasphemy, and following her acquittal to watch the hatred of huge mobs directed not just towards the woman to be released, but also against their own judiciary and government makes you wonder about these countries. Is this a hate that can never be lessened by any kind of conciliation process or appeals to mercy and kindness? Where is forgiveness? Where is love? Above all on such a day as Remembrance Day, where is respect.

Here is some history which puts the second video in context. Islam is not a religion of peace.

 

The video below really shocked me.

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