Marriage: A Precious Resource

Governments and Quangos produce no end of policies and ideas for what they believe will create a better society and a stronger economy, but they may be overlooking one of the most fundamental building blocks of success. Demos, a (left leaning) think tank previously reported that the children of married parents twice as likely as those of single parents to have the most important characteristics for success. Hence, policy makers take note; an overemphasis on “family diversity” is likely to offset longer term economic strategies.

Art or Anti-Christian? ver 2.0

Currently on display at the Saatchi gallery in London is the piece below by Agathe Snow. As for the blog entry on Paul Fyer's piece, A Privilege of Dominion, I'd like to pose the question: is this art or anti-christian? And will we ever see these brave avant garde artists ever dare to draw upon Islam in creating similarly provoking pieces?

Creator vs Science debate will always fizzle out without a big bang

Ok, is it just me or are there others out there who think that the argument about the origin of the universe as it is used in the creator vs. science debate is wearing a little thin? There are really only two facts that encapsulate the whole debate. Fact One: Atheists will always say that they don’t know how the universe started, but that science is working on it and will probably figure it all out one day. Fact Two: Believers will always say that God created the universe, and that even if science figures it all out one day, then that’s exactly what God had intended anyway. So in my opinion this is why the whole creator vs science debate is fated to spiral ad infinitum, and ultimately why it will never result in a definitive conclusion – before the second coming of Christ that is..

Art or Anti-Christian?

The Age of the Marvellous is the title of an art exhibition held at the former Holy Trinity Church in Marlybone, London. Below are two pictures I took (on my mobile phone) of Paul Fryer's piece titled "A Privilege of Dominion". The piece features the effigy of a primate nailed to a cross. Art or Anti-Christian? And if it's all in the name of art, would Fryer dare to do a similar piece featuring an Islamic figure and theme?

Relativism is for the Birds

If I may philosophize for a moment and posit that we are basically a herding people. The herd could be a natural evolved mechanism for protection and survival. We’ve all heard the phrase “there’s safety in numbers.” I was once observing pigeons at Euston station in London when I had an insight into flocking behaviour: should one pigeon circle your table, others will arrive, whether you are giving out bread or not. The other pigeons arrive because seeing one pigeon around you, there’s simply a chance you are giving out bread. Thus it’s worth a shot for the other pigeons to join in, just in case you might be giving out bread. Because in the animal kingdom, you must take all chances of getting food that present themselves, as second chances are rare and wrong decisions can mean death. However, the instinct to flock can also be observed in humans – probably instilled in us from nature for similar survival reasons. In people, this herding nature is manifested in many ways: in business and economic cycles of booms and busts, in mob mentality and the formation of cliques. It is a motivating force in our efforts to keep up with the Joneses and offers an explanation for the profound effect that advertising and the mass media can have on us. It is why we only have to see things on TV and we can feel compelled to purchase, attain, desire or imitate them. To satiate the ego by following the crowds swept up in the latest cultural trends. Our flocking nature can be a catalyst for good or bad, for our benefit or our loss, depending on which packs we decide to run with. It can help us understand the insidious force modern relativism has on our society.
However, for us to be free adults there is the requirement for us to have beliefs which do not follow the waves of today's fashions or the latest novelties. In order to be mature and free, we should try to resist the dictatorship of relativism and ensure that absolute and true values are not be eroded by the torrents of cultural and moral relativism.

The Culture Renaissance begins.

The Culture of Celebrity

Did you ever wonder how we seem to have so many celebrities these days that are famous for no particular reason? Here I shall offer possible explanations for the rise in celebrity culture, and reasons why we need to be wary of its more seductive applications, and the many mixed-signals it can present.

Major reasons for the rise in celebrity culture, are the intense peddling of celebrities by the mass media and the huge increase in the use of celebrities in commercial advertising (doubling since 1995). Also, in a secular society the celebrity lifestyle has come to represent the ideal, the promised land of the holistically satiated ego.

The culture of celebrity is marketing’s most potent weapon. It is the bastion of the hard-sell, which adds rocket fuel to the flames of consumer culture. Celebrities are idolised for all they possess, and are offered by advertisers as living proof of the happiness derived from an intense materialism. We are sold the notion, that to be as content, successful, and happy as our celebrities, we must indulge in the consumer products they recommend. The celebrity lifestyle is a marketing dream, we must all be persuaded that this lifestyle is attainable, and the way to attain it is simply by some hardcore consumer spending.

In a highly secularised society, the power wielded by the culture of celebrity can be significantly weightier. This is a consequence of heightened fascinations with narcissism, material wealth, success, over indulgence and the self, all of which are embodiments of celebrity culture (as presented in the mainstream). We should be mindful that all of these values are in opposition to society strengthening values of charity, community and commitment.

Thus, the purposes of the rebellion, against the preoccupations with celebrity culture, emerge. The rebellion will attempt to reignite some of the core society-building values; to make highly secular societies more aware of the potentially deconstructing and mixed-signals coming from the pervasive peddling of celebrity ideals, and to alert us to the subtle hard-sell wielded by celebrity leveraged marketing.

The Culture Renaissance begins.

The Maverick Voyage

Stand to attention my friends, as the voyage of rebellion begins. Today the "Culture Wars" have two new insurgents, you and I. Renaissance 2.0, starts with us...