I have written about faith before in this blog but I feel I should readdress this issue.
I do believe faith is important in society. There are things you need to believe in despite there being no evidence or logic to the argument. We, as a collective species, cannot always rationalize everything into a simple statement. Yet you cannot always have 100% blind faith. Most of the time you need a heavy big dose of reality or logic. In my opinion there are three situations were faith can be misguided: faith in God (religion), faith in your country (patriotism) and faith in your sports team (sports fanaticism).
********
For those who know me well, I’m an Arsenal supporter first, an England football fan second and a football fan third. I will watch top quality football anywhere and take a general interest in “The Beautiful Game”. Yet if it does not involve the Gunners or the Three Lions, I am not that emotionally detached to the match or the news story.
Yet my fanaticism is pale and weak compared to the full-blooded devotion of some football supporters. I’m generally well grounded in my support for Arsenal football club. I know we haven’t won a trophy in five years. This give some supporters fuel to their claims Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, should leave the club. They believe Wenger’s policy of not spending on big money experienced players and not focusing on the team’s defensive capabilities is holding the club back.
Yet I generally believe Arsene Wenger is performing a good job. He is our most successful manager in terms of longevity and trophy-wise. He’s been in the job for more than thirteen years, longer than any other Arsenal manager and the second longest streak in the Premier League, behind Sir Alex Ferguson. He has won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups plus taken the team to the UEFA Cup final and UEFA Champions’ League final. He has broken many records, including going through a whole league campaign unbeaten. He’s always constantly linked to other managerial jobs of other teams, including Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and the French national team.
He has built a good base of young players displaying magnificent footballing skill and prowess. Apart from Barcelona, we generally the best team to watch play football. We have the likes of Fabregas, Van Persie, Song and Vermalaen, who are leaders for the team and for their country. We recently won the Premier League U18 championship and have produced young players for other teams, including Kolo Toure and David Bentley.
The club is on a good financial foundation compared to other Premier League clubs, despite having a £300 million debt having built The Emirates Stadium. We are not totally in debt to foreign owners such as Liverpool and Manchester United. We don’t really on a sugar daddy like Chelsea and Manchester City.
Yet this blog entry is about the ignorance in faith by sport fanatics. I know we haven’t won anything in the past five years but every team goes through a purple patch. Liverpool haven’t won a title in twenty years. Tottenham haven’t won a title in fifty years. I hate comparing Arsenal to other teams but this is the only way to bring perspective to yourself and other fans.
Arsenal’s defensive frailties are clearly visible - our goalkeepers look flaky, we need stronger centre-backs and a back-up to Alex Song is required. Yet I know Arsene Wenger is aware of these problems since he’s the manager. He didn’t win all those trophies and spot all those talented players simply by pot-luck. He has a vast wealth of experience, knowledge and football intelligence at his fingertips and he will be thinking of how to rectify these problems. Fans, on the other hand, think they have a divine right to manage their own team just because they have seen the team play every week for the past two years, have an emotional attachment to the team like a mother to her baby and have read every single piece of gossip regarding their team. This is what separates the professional from the fan. The professional do have a personal attachment to their profession but it comes with knowledge and perspective – unlike fans who clearly lose all logical thought whenever the focus of their blind attention comes into view.
Those Arsenal fans who bay for Arsene’s blood have clearly lost perspective. They tend to forget the dour years the team had in the mid-nineties when we weren’t winning anything PLUS playing very defensive football. It wasn’t pretty to watch.
Also if we get rid of Arsene Wenger, who would take charge? Clearly none of the backroom staff don’t have the experience or clout to become a manager, including the likes of Pat Rice, Liam Brady or Steve Bould. Anybody else who is consider decent is either tied up to another job, for example Pep Guardiola. Currently nobody is available to take over, so we might as well have to make do with Arsene Wenger.
Plus it is just football. I know Bill Shankly uttered the immortal phrase, “Football is not about life and death – it’s more important than that” but really it is not. It is not as important as your health, your family and friends or your job. If football disappeared from your life, I think you could cope or find another substitute for the vacancy. That could not be said about your health, your family and friends or your job.
Clearly Arsenal fans need to keep things in perspective. After all there is always next season…
A blog into the mind of a doctor with depression. Note - includes heavy doses of sarcasm. Please be warned.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Ignorant faith - patriotism
I have written about faith before in this blog but I feel I should readdress this issue.
I do believe faith is important in society. There are things you need to believe in despite there being no evidence or logic to the argument. We, as a collective species, cannot always rationalize everything into a simple statement. Yet you cannot always have 100% blind faith. Most of the time you need a heavy big dose of reality or logic. In my opinion there are three situations were faith can be misguided: faith in God (religion), faith in your country (patriotism) and faith in your sports team (sports fanaticism).
********
Every time at dinner, I constantly hear from my father how great the Chinese are and it is starting to get tedious. I always hear statements about how this year's Nobel Physics Prize winner is Chinese or that the USA is kowtowing to China on trade negotiations. I always hear the news from my dad when another English school starts to teach Chinese in there classes.
I know China will be the dominant economic and political force in this century. Yet when I state there have been fifteen US champions in the men's 110 metres hurdles before Liu Xiang came along or that the Americans and the Russians sent people into space forty years before the Chinese did, my father tends to act like a child and blocks out my arguments by cover his ears and saying, "I can't hear you." Please not that he doesn't actually do that.
Whenever you partition people into countries you get will get skirmishes. They can range from the minor such as people arguing who has the better sporting reputation or which country has the best dish. The other extreme spectrum is war and armed conflict. War is usually perpetuated by patriotism but doesn't necessarily start it off. Instigators of war are usually economics or ideology. In years gone by, that is how we compared ourselves with other nations - by how many wars we won. Nowadays we have the Olympics for that.
We also have an affinity with our "countrymen" despite never having known them. There is always news on the TV when people from your own country are hurt or killed in a foreign land. And we are supposed to care? I know it is a tragedy but are we supposed to care more if they are citizens of our country or they live in the same area as us? People die every day but why does this particular piece of news is broadcasted on our airwaves?
Nowadays there is no need for patriotism. With the current state of media, information technology and travel, people grow up in on area of the world and migrate around to another area. I'm living proof of that. Despite being Hong Kong Chinese, I don't find myself anyway connected to China. I grew up in England and I consider myself English more than anything else in the world. But before people start calling me English or raise the question of the faults of the English, I like to strike a pre-emptive attack. I know the English can be snooty, snobby, prudish and racist. I know the English doesn't have a great cuisine culture, their football team is dire and that their political system is in upheaval. Yet every single culture, every single country has their strengths and weaknesses. I could poke holes in Chinese and Hong Kong culture but I don't, because I accept them.
That is one of the best things about living in different countries. You don't suffer from the Matrix phenomenon, that the reality you live in is the best. You accept that there are better and worse things out there.
I do believe faith is important in society. There are things you need to believe in despite there being no evidence or logic to the argument. We, as a collective species, cannot always rationalize everything into a simple statement. Yet you cannot always have 100% blind faith. Most of the time you need a heavy big dose of reality or logic. In my opinion there are three situations were faith can be misguided: faith in God (religion), faith in your country (patriotism) and faith in your sports team (sports fanaticism).
********
Every time at dinner, I constantly hear from my father how great the Chinese are and it is starting to get tedious. I always hear statements about how this year's Nobel Physics Prize winner is Chinese or that the USA is kowtowing to China on trade negotiations. I always hear the news from my dad when another English school starts to teach Chinese in there classes.
I know China will be the dominant economic and political force in this century. Yet when I state there have been fifteen US champions in the men's 110 metres hurdles before Liu Xiang came along or that the Americans and the Russians sent people into space forty years before the Chinese did, my father tends to act like a child and blocks out my arguments by cover his ears and saying, "I can't hear you." Please not that he doesn't actually do that.
Whenever you partition people into countries you get will get skirmishes. They can range from the minor such as people arguing who has the better sporting reputation or which country has the best dish. The other extreme spectrum is war and armed conflict. War is usually perpetuated by patriotism but doesn't necessarily start it off. Instigators of war are usually economics or ideology. In years gone by, that is how we compared ourselves with other nations - by how many wars we won. Nowadays we have the Olympics for that.
We also have an affinity with our "countrymen" despite never having known them. There is always news on the TV when people from your own country are hurt or killed in a foreign land. And we are supposed to care? I know it is a tragedy but are we supposed to care more if they are citizens of our country or they live in the same area as us? People die every day but why does this particular piece of news is broadcasted on our airwaves?
Nowadays there is no need for patriotism. With the current state of media, information technology and travel, people grow up in on area of the world and migrate around to another area. I'm living proof of that. Despite being Hong Kong Chinese, I don't find myself anyway connected to China. I grew up in England and I consider myself English more than anything else in the world. But before people start calling me English or raise the question of the faults of the English, I like to strike a pre-emptive attack. I know the English can be snooty, snobby, prudish and racist. I know the English doesn't have a great cuisine culture, their football team is dire and that their political system is in upheaval. Yet every single culture, every single country has their strengths and weaknesses. I could poke holes in Chinese and Hong Kong culture but I don't, because I accept them.
That is one of the best things about living in different countries. You don't suffer from the Matrix phenomenon, that the reality you live in is the best. You accept that there are better and worse things out there.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Ignorant faith - religion
I have written about faith before in this blog but I feel I should readdress this issue.
I do believe faith is important in society. There are things you need to believe in despite there being no evidence or logic to the argument. We, as a collective species, cannot always rationalize everything into a simple statement. Yet you cannot always have 100% blind faith. Most of the time you need a heavy big dose of reality or logic. In my opinion there are three situations were faith can be misguided: faith in God (religion), faith in your country (patriotism) and faith in your sports team (sports fanaticism).
********
I could write volumes of books about the misguided faith which comes about from religion but I will try to keep my opinions short and brief. I admit I'm not a very good Anglican. I haven't been to church for a long time and I do not study the Bible. However I live my life in regards to Christian teaching. That is what I believe. Yet I know there are flaws in the Christian teaching, especially regarding homosexuality and abortion. I don't believe homosexuality is a sin. Gay and lesbian couples should be allowed a civil partnership to have the same human rights as heterosexual couples. I personally believe in abortion as every life is sacred. Yet I champion the right for a mother to choose whether or not she should have an abortion. It is not my place to impose my belief on other people. The law and religion should be separate, despite what others say and believe.
Yet there are people who use the Bible as a rule book and not guidelines as they should. They live their lives strictly by the word of God. They still abhor the sins of homosexuality and abortion. Yet they choose to ignore other "rules" in the Bible. I know a number of Christians who still eat seafood and pork (Leviticus 11:9-12). A lot of doctors I know are Christian and yet they work on the day of the Sabbath (Exodus 35:2). These are the same people who think everybody should live by the Bible and points to the increase in family disharmony and decrease in social values as evidence for this. What they fail to see is that many families with atheist or other religious beliefs don't have family or social problems. What these Christian think is that there religion is better than others, which isn't the case or the issue. I believe in Christianity because I believe in God, not that He is better than Allah or the Buddha. I have maximum respect for Islam, Judaism and other religions. I am forever grateful to Mrs Sarchet-Waller, my religious education teacher in Shatin College who gave me a proper education of all the major faiths in the world.
Perhaps that what separates me from these people, the lack of ignorance. I know there are other religions in the world and they have their merits as well. At times I think followers of other religions are more faithful to their religion than Christians are. I also know there are many people who don't believe in religion and not all social arguments can be dealt with by religion alone, such as abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty and suicide. I also know that I cannot impose my religious belief on other people. Like I stated before I do not believe in abortion but I do think there should be a law allowing women to choose whether or not they want an abortion.
I do believe faith is important in society. There are things you need to believe in despite there being no evidence or logic to the argument. We, as a collective species, cannot always rationalize everything into a simple statement. Yet you cannot always have 100% blind faith. Most of the time you need a heavy big dose of reality or logic. In my opinion there are three situations were faith can be misguided: faith in God (religion), faith in your country (patriotism) and faith in your sports team (sports fanaticism).
********
I could write volumes of books about the misguided faith which comes about from religion but I will try to keep my opinions short and brief. I admit I'm not a very good Anglican. I haven't been to church for a long time and I do not study the Bible. However I live my life in regards to Christian teaching. That is what I believe. Yet I know there are flaws in the Christian teaching, especially regarding homosexuality and abortion. I don't believe homosexuality is a sin. Gay and lesbian couples should be allowed a civil partnership to have the same human rights as heterosexual couples. I personally believe in abortion as every life is sacred. Yet I champion the right for a mother to choose whether or not she should have an abortion. It is not my place to impose my belief on other people. The law and religion should be separate, despite what others say and believe.
Yet there are people who use the Bible as a rule book and not guidelines as they should. They live their lives strictly by the word of God. They still abhor the sins of homosexuality and abortion. Yet they choose to ignore other "rules" in the Bible. I know a number of Christians who still eat seafood and pork (Leviticus 11:9-12). A lot of doctors I know are Christian and yet they work on the day of the Sabbath (Exodus 35:2). These are the same people who think everybody should live by the Bible and points to the increase in family disharmony and decrease in social values as evidence for this. What they fail to see is that many families with atheist or other religious beliefs don't have family or social problems. What these Christian think is that there religion is better than others, which isn't the case or the issue. I believe in Christianity because I believe in God, not that He is better than Allah or the Buddha. I have maximum respect for Islam, Judaism and other religions. I am forever grateful to Mrs Sarchet-Waller, my religious education teacher in Shatin College who gave me a proper education of all the major faiths in the world.
Perhaps that what separates me from these people, the lack of ignorance. I know there are other religions in the world and they have their merits as well. At times I think followers of other religions are more faithful to their religion than Christians are. I also know there are many people who don't believe in religion and not all social arguments can be dealt with by religion alone, such as abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty and suicide. I also know that I cannot impose my religious belief on other people. Like I stated before I do not believe in abortion but I do think there should be a law allowing women to choose whether or not they want an abortion.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Natural law
First things first, I am not letting my dad drive my car again. He didn't do anything heinous such as scratch the new paint job or get a speeding ticket. He just ruined my fuel economy.
I had been working so hard to get my fuel economy up. I pushed up my driving range from 900 km to 1050 km. That means on a single tank, I'm getting 150 km more if I drove to in a 'normal' style. What does my dad do? In round trip from home to his office, which is about 12 km, he knocks my driving range back down to 900 km. That is an extra 150 km gone.
Just proves to show that not all scientists are environmental.
*********
When I hear conservatives or Roman Catholic bishops harp on about how people should obey 'natural law', I really question whether or not they have thought their statement through.
Natural law isn't what people really think it is. If we are defining it, the simplest way interpretation of natural law is the law or order of nature. That is what birds, animals and insects would do in their ecosystem. That should be all fine and dandy. In reality it is not that concrete.
In one aspect, there has been well documented cases of homosexuality in the animals world. This ranges from rabbits to giraffes. Therefore if anybody should say that homosexuality is against nature, please refer them to Roy and Silo - two male penguins that successfully hatched an egg.
Talking about sexual relationships, I'm rather glad with first hand experience we are not animals. My female dog is in heat at the moment, which is driving my male dog crazy with sexual frustration. Firstly we separate them to avoid them having sex all the time but the male dog can smell the pheromones being given off by the female dog. So he is still has the sex drive but no way to ease it. Secondly despite several attempts they cannot do the business, furthering the sexual frustration.
What if this applied to people? I dread to think the anarchy that would occur if men were able to detect when women are fertile. Chastity belts would become all too fashionable. Plus this proves that animals are usually (but not always) polygamous. It is their natural drive to spread their seed to ensure the survival of their species. Humans have gone the other way by reverting to monogamy in the concept of marriage. And since marriage is the concept most bashed on about by the church and is apparently against natural law, it seems contradictory.
Natural law states there should be "survival of the fittest". Christians may not believe in evolution but in nature only letting the strong survive seems to be paramount. Female praying mantises kill the male after copulation to provide food for the young once they are born, seeing that the males are useless after giving their seed. So if spouting natural law, wives are allowed to kill their husbands to ensure a trust fund for their children - or at least can't kill the husbands until the men have worked their socks off providing enough money. It only stands to reason. Also would we let so many poor, hungry, disease ridden people live, as we so clearly do with charities? If we were enforcing natural law, we would allow these people to die, leaving on the rich and wealthy to live. So why do we help impoverished people?
Because we don't followed natural law or natural instinct. We transcended just being apes who bashed rocks together. We are human beings or people. We have set our own moral standards 0r human standards, which is to help the needy and accept people for what they are. That is what being a person is all about.
I had been working so hard to get my fuel economy up. I pushed up my driving range from 900 km to 1050 km. That means on a single tank, I'm getting 150 km more if I drove to in a 'normal' style. What does my dad do? In round trip from home to his office, which is about 12 km, he knocks my driving range back down to 900 km. That is an extra 150 km gone.
Just proves to show that not all scientists are environmental.
*********
When I hear conservatives or Roman Catholic bishops harp on about how people should obey 'natural law', I really question whether or not they have thought their statement through.
Natural law isn't what people really think it is. If we are defining it, the simplest way interpretation of natural law is the law or order of nature. That is what birds, animals and insects would do in their ecosystem. That should be all fine and dandy. In reality it is not that concrete.
In one aspect, there has been well documented cases of homosexuality in the animals world. This ranges from rabbits to giraffes. Therefore if anybody should say that homosexuality is against nature, please refer them to Roy and Silo - two male penguins that successfully hatched an egg.
Talking about sexual relationships, I'm rather glad with first hand experience we are not animals. My female dog is in heat at the moment, which is driving my male dog crazy with sexual frustration. Firstly we separate them to avoid them having sex all the time but the male dog can smell the pheromones being given off by the female dog. So he is still has the sex drive but no way to ease it. Secondly despite several attempts they cannot do the business, furthering the sexual frustration.
What if this applied to people? I dread to think the anarchy that would occur if men were able to detect when women are fertile. Chastity belts would become all too fashionable. Plus this proves that animals are usually (but not always) polygamous. It is their natural drive to spread their seed to ensure the survival of their species. Humans have gone the other way by reverting to monogamy in the concept of marriage. And since marriage is the concept most bashed on about by the church and is apparently against natural law, it seems contradictory.
Natural law states there should be "survival of the fittest". Christians may not believe in evolution but in nature only letting the strong survive seems to be paramount. Female praying mantises kill the male after copulation to provide food for the young once they are born, seeing that the males are useless after giving their seed. So if spouting natural law, wives are allowed to kill their husbands to ensure a trust fund for their children - or at least can't kill the husbands until the men have worked their socks off providing enough money. It only stands to reason. Also would we let so many poor, hungry, disease ridden people live, as we so clearly do with charities? If we were enforcing natural law, we would allow these people to die, leaving on the rich and wealthy to live. So why do we help impoverished people?
Because we don't followed natural law or natural instinct. We transcended just being apes who bashed rocks together. We are human beings or people. We have set our own moral standards 0r human standards, which is to help the needy and accept people for what they are. That is what being a person is all about.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)