A Bit More Germany & Opinion

It appears that Frankfurt is still treating me rather well - the people have been nice, on the whole, and work is settling into something resembling a rhythm. I managed to spend a longish weekend in Heidelberg, met some lovely people and generally had a pretty decent time - the "Schlossbeleuchtung" and accompanying firework display being a nice surprise.

But enough of that. There's something that started off as a mild irritation but is gradually becoming more and more annoying as I become increasingly aware of it. I had a bit of a rant in one of my first ever posts last year that it was unacceptable for David Cameron to be giving such moral weight and value to Pope Ratzinger after his visit to the UK last summer, yet he appears to be (very rudely, may I add) ignoring my obviously devastatingly contstructive advice. It still astonishes me that, in a society where the House of Lords is quite rightly losing its hereditary peers and there are increasingly loud calls for further reform, the role of bishops remains unattacked. Indeed, Mr. Cameron even proposed that representatives of other religions should be allowed into the Lords to voice their opinion as well. My response to this is as it was last year: There is absolutely no room for faith in politics. Why on earth would we want to give more (admittedly non-executive) power to people who base their most important life decisions on irrationality and misconception? Like hereditary peers, who certainly have not earned their place in the Lords, the role of bishops on the red seats should come under very careful scrutiny. Moreover, giving more places to other religious leaders is simply going to make matters worse; a scenario in which, say, a piece of legislation is passed onto the Lords to decide whether to block a proposed increase in government funding for faith schools. Certain from a financial perspective, surely the people who vote on this issue within the House should be disinterested parties, so as to produce an objective decision?

I had some more things to postulate, some of them concerning Rowan Williams and the New Statesman, but they can wait I think. Besides, I get a Bank Holiday on Monday, so life's not at all bad.

Wishing you all a Merry Wednesday,

Charlie x