APPARENTLY Social Services care centres are not celebrating Christmas this year and probably never will again. The reason is surely because it could only be for the dwindling number of Christians in its care who may well be outnumbered by members of the myriad of other religions also in its care. I understand this completely because Social Services can never be seen as an agency which is influenced in any way by religion of any sort.

I can think of some other branches of government which need to be freed from similar bias. I would suggest that education urgently needs to be the first of these because of the insidious nature of indoctrinating children using information which has been discredited by the rigorous tests governing science, legal procedures, medicine and engineering to name just a few. Religion has enjoyed its favoured existence for far too long and needs to be only available to those adults who still want it and no one else.

The Scottish Festival of Hogmanay is at least rational because it celebrates the New Year, which is not merely a belief but a fact everywhere on this planet because although there is no beginning or end to the Earth’s orbit you can at least recognise any point on it as the start of a new orbit according to the Gregorian calendar, which itself has Christian roots but is still the most widely used.

So in a world where the difference between religious belief has never been more dangerous because of the hatred and divisions caused by it why not abandon all religious celebrations and use the natural events which take place during the Earth’s orbit and celebrate the safe arrival of the planet at the various points on it as marked by the discoveries of science? This would also provide us with an insight of what really goes on out there and hopefully cause everybody to ask the search engines the great ‘why’ questions about it all. Also it would cleanse all celebratory events of festivals created by frivolous belief.

A truly secular Britain would find this transition happening all by itself as a natural consequence of what is supposed to be the rationale of the West taking control of those things which have become traditions for no reason at all.

If you want to create a belief or believe in one; then make as sure it’s true.

From W K Jones

Bude