Live and Let Live

My colleague spends some of his free time watching instructional videos that are produced by American religious groups to try to debunk the theory of evolution. It cannot be a lot of fun and I tend to look bemused when he tells me about them ("If evolution is true why is there no croco-duck - an animal half-way between a crocodile and a duck?"). Why bother I ask since you know what they are going to say and are just going to wind yourself up?

He's right of course that you need to know the opposing view accurately if you are going to respond as he does in his own articles. It is also a matter of extreme importance that children are educated properly and I fear there are many in the US and possibly many in this country who are being taught nonsense.

In a sense he is an aggressive atheist but he is a member of the scientific orthodoxy that is very far from the staw man the Pope attacked. Learned bodies and scientists rarely speak in absolutes because if they know anything it is how little they know. Cornerstone theories of science such as Quantum Mechanics appear almost supernatural and the standard model of particle theory remains still open to debate despite the massive amount of tunnelling we have been doing under Switzerland.

Faith and scientific endeavour should sit as well together as they have done for thousands of years. There is an ebb and flow as natural cycles progress. Once upon a time we depended on the Muslims in North Africa to preserve and develop our knowledge of science and mathematics while Europe was in the dark ages. Without them there would not have been the renaissance in the way that we knew it.

One of the great dangers of scientific work is that it exposes us to things that perhaps it would be better that we didn't know. The physics of the atom is all well and good but it will have done us no help in the end if nuclear weapons massacre billions.

I believe that everyone needs a moral compass and ultimately some sort of belief system. That system will be reasoned up to a point but really we will never get away from sometimes just feeling uneasy with something or accepting a logical paradox. The Abrahamic religions certainly can provide some of that. My favourite part of the New Testament is Jesus' command: 'let he who is without sin cast the first stone'. If that lesson could be rammed down the throats of the Iranian leaders and made to guide their behaviour it would be a better place.

That said, while I am comfortable with some people's interpretation of Catholocism I am much less keen on this Pope. The prohibition of artificial contraception is insane and while it is widely ignored in the West must condemn millions to suffering elsewhere. Population control is going to be an essential part of ensuring that the human race has a future on this planet in a recognisable form. There are other parts of his teaching too that I profoundly dislike but these have been well enough documented during this week so you can fill in the gap here yourself.

My biggest worry is that there is a new aggressive form of religious dogma that will come to dominate. We have already endured eight years of George Bush and the thought of Sarah Palin makes me shudder. Our own government, which I broadly support, is going to give more and more control over schools to fragmented groups and I do not welcome the creation of faith schools.

So coming back to the start and my despair at Richard provoking himself with his opponent's videos I admit to an immediate sympathy with those who think we should leave the Pope's visit alone. They call Dawkins, Hitchens et. al 'militant' or 'fundamentalist' atheists. But the more I have thought about it the more I see the need to speak up and speak up loudly for my own beliefs. The things that have made me smile this year such as gay marriage in Mexico, Argentina and Portugal, are fragile and could be gone in an instant. The legions who think that Jay and I should not be parents stand ready to enforce their morality.

The croco-duck is always waiting in the wings.

A Night Out In New York

After my little trip to Central Park I came back and played World of Warcraft. It was really nice to go on a Friday night raid and finish at 6pm with a whole evening ahead of me. I decided to force myself to go out on, leave room service behind and eat in a proper restaurant. I picked the East of Eight bistro that I had walked past a few times.

Completely out of character I had soup to start. Well, a crab bisque but I thought it prudent since Americans really don't do starters very well. You tend to get something of the same size as the main course and it is a bit overwhelming. The restaurant was hardly packed (most people I think had chosen the outside option) and got more and more quiet and soon there was only me and one other table with two women left. My main, duck with strawberries, was delicious but I was somewhat non-plussed when I heard the waiter humming "All By Myself".

I was ready just to slip off home but forced myself to go for one drink. I went back to the Gym bar that I had been to previously. It's a gay sports bar, which means it has lots of TV screens showing football and football news. I actually just wanted one human being to talk to me whom I hadn't paid to bring me food or drinks but it was noisy and everyone was there with friends.

So far it had been a disaster and to try to rescue it I decided I, yes I, would go to a club. I picked Splash since it seemed to be popular. It was hilarious. This is New York but seriously the place looked like it belonged in a small town in the back of beyond. The music was , well it's hard to describe - think Bon Jovi (!!) followed by Lady Gaga. It was early though and once it started to get busy the music turned to the random series of noises that people seem to like. I would have given anything to have Bon Jovi back.

The pole dancers and bar staff were a bunch of refugees from Abercrombie and Fitch, which was good but I decided that I had spent long enough reminding myself why I didn't like this kind of thing. So it was back up fifth avenue and off to bed for four hours sleep before heading out to JFK.

The View From Central Park

It's the Labor Day holiday on Monday so the office is in wind-down mode. Even our fearsome COO was in casual dress and so I sloped off to see some of the sights. Since I've never been to Central Park I decided to head uptown.

There is a little girl playing in front of me. She's a bit older than Harriet but not by much. She's running up and down the rocks in defiance of her exasperated mother. Every time she is coaxed down she runs away again. I doubt Jay would welcome the comparison with her (she's wearing a top that looks like a pub carpet and silver flip-flops) but a little bit of me is pretending that this is our family.

I hope we get to live in Manhattan. I'm not much fussed about living in Central London and the neighbours from hell notwithstanding I liked living 30 miles out in Hertfordshire. But New York is still too new and I want to be right in the thick of it.

Ah, the woman has triumphed and caught hold of the girl. After an almighty racket she's in her stroller and they're off.

This evening I will go out for a meal and try for a drink. I haven't been motivated to do much because it's not much fun on your own. The New York office is much less social than the London office and even that is nothing compared to Singapore.

Last night though so I have to make the effort. Tomorrow I get to see my family again - Harriet has learned to say Pops and though I have heard it on the phone I can't wait to hear it in person.

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