Tuesday 9 November 2010

In the Absence of God, the State becomes God



Ed West has written an excellent article on a new study that belief in God may be inversely correlated to belief in Government.

I think every generalisation is open to accusations that one is being crude, but it seems that there is a certain strand of atheist on the 'left' who replaces God's Divine Power and Sovereignty over human affairs, with the State. In the absence of God, as V.I Lenin asked, 'What is to be done?' Unfortunately, when the State has too much power over individual freedom and liberty, things usually get messy, even with the best of intentions. Above is Jonah Goldberg, whose book, 'The Rise of Liberal Fascism', Ed cites in his article, talking about why fascism is a product of progressive movements of the 'left', rather than the 'right'. Brighton is one of the most left-wing towns in the United Kingdom. It is a town well known for its 'liberalism' and yet the State rules with an iron fist over the poor. Here is Jason Evans in a direct appeal to Caroline Lucas MP. I think when he talks about 'seeing a dead body' if the Council don't house him, he is talking about his own, rather than Caroline's or mine or any other third party.



In the above video Jason Evans is wrapped up in bin bags in an attempt to keep dry while walking around Brighton at night, which is poignant given that society has largely discarded him. Just an update for readers concerned about Jason which is not entirely unrelated to this post.

He has been told that he must attend the Atos Healthcare centre to be assessed as to whether he is 'fit for work'. His doctor signed him off as 'unfit for work' a long, long time ago, because he is alcoholic and addicted to heroin thereby suffering a dual addiction. Add to this the fact that he is on an ASBO that bars him from vast swathes of Brighton until 2012 and we have what you could call a difficult employment situation on our hands.

Readers might be interested to learn that he is banned from Upper North Street, the very road where he has been asked to go and do the medical assessment at (We Don't Give) Atos Healthcare, therefore, if he attends the Employment Support Allowance (ESA) medical assessment, he'll be breaking his ASBO! You couldn't make it up, could you?! I think this is what they call 'joined up Government'. Nearly two months after his release from jail, Jason is still homeless, several weeks after release from HMP Highdown, still has access to no benefits, is still living without proper shelter, any sanitation or income and is still at risk of being sent back to prison if he begs. Jason is a perfect illustration of just how bad at being 'God-like' the State can be, since mercy, justice, forgiveness, compassion and love flow like a river not from the organs of the State, but from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

I went for lunch at the Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project (BUCFP) today. I've been asked to do an interview with the 'Secret Millionaire' who donated money to the centre for the centre magazine called Our Voice. Great! I've got the email of a millionaire! Someone at the BUCFP told me today that The Argus is running a special series of features on homelessness in Brighton. I think I'll see if they think Jason Evans is a story, but it is The Argus, so I shall not be holding my breath...

12 comments:

Catholic pragmatist said...

It's obviously the fault of those gays, swamping Brighton and taking all the jobs. If it wasn't for them, Jason could have a job and a flat. Let's blame the gays, they should be made illegal!

The Bones said...

Oh, come on! I was only really saying gays should be compassionate towards drug addicts since homosexuals know about stigma and shame.

Physiocrat said...

He could
(a) go to the ATOS place, tell them he is forbidden from being there and insist, in the politest possible way, that they call the police. OR

(b) he could go to the police, explain the situation in the politest possible way and insist that they arrest him as soon as he goes where he shouldn't.

The police seem happy to arrest people if politely requested, ie as long as it is clear they are not going to cause any trouble. It helps them meet their targets.

catholic pragmatist said...

Why the need to single out gays at all? Maybe society in general should be more sympathetic and supportive to people who are homeless but that's not what you implied. You said that because homosexuality was more immoral than begging (in your view) that it should be illegal and punished by the law rather the other way round. Homosexuality is not relevant to the topic of homelessness except that many young gay people are made homeless by there families because of their sexuality.

Nathan said...

"In the absence of God, as V.I Lenin asked, 'What is to be done?'"

As you and I both know, Lenin did not ask this question with the absent God in mind - you made that up to make your point plausible. But, off the top of my head: Absolutist France under the sun King (a Catholic-Statist political elite), Bourbon Spain under Philip (a Catholic-Statist regime), the entire history of the papacy until the Roman states were crushed in combat (yup, they were not a Church, they were a State with an army). You might not know this because you basically don't care about facts - you lie a lot to make your own views seem reasonable.

The Bones said...

Lenin despised the very notion of God.

The Bones said...

Drug addicts are now treated by authorities and society worse than homosexuals once were.

Catholic pragmatist said...

''Drug addicts are now treated by authorities and society worse than homosexuals once were.''

Don't be ridiculous! Where's your evidence to back up that sily assertion?

Catholic pragmatist said...

''Oh, come on! I was only really saying gays should be compassionate towards drug addicts since homosexuals know about stigma and shame.''

No that's not all what you said so don't come the innocent. You said homosexuality (like drug use) was an addiction which apart from being a false claim is insulting. Is heterosexuality an addiction? Is being homeless an addiction? NO! Come on now lozza, you're a big boy, so admit you made a mistake and are wrong. We're waiting.

The Bones said...

I don't believe I'm wrong about any of that.

'Objectively disordered...Intrinsic moral disorder.'

Look it up in your Catechism.

The Bones said...

Of course homelessness and heterosexuality are not addictions. Homosexual acts are addictive, I didn't mean to say that the orientation was addictive.

Catholic pragmatist said...

Homosexual 'acts' are as addictive as Heterosexual 'acts'. No more or no less. The Church does not teach that homosexual acts are an addiction, that's your personal belief unfounded on any rational or scientific evidence.

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