I've just been reading Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion."
Some of it wsn't too convincing (though lots was). The bit that
struck home to me was the part that dealt with the Iraq war - something
all Lib Dems seem to agree about. Dawkins said that George Dubya
heard 'God' telling him that he should attack. He also wrote that Blair,
a committed Christian - and thus open to 'faith' without evidence -
followed Dubya to war on a similar lack of evidence.
To a degree, that's just an anecdote, but it is suggestive...
Our Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, does, thank goodness,
seem to avoid that trap. We Lib Dems respect each individual's
right to religious freedom. Nevertheless, the fact that Nick is
either an atheist, or at least an agnostic, indicates that he needs
evidence before he believes.
David Cameron - see
here - has been described as, 'doing God in a fuzzy, sort-of-Anglican,
way.' Let's be thankful for that. All religions are based
on faith - belief without solid evidence. Speaking rationally,
reasonably, and especially about political action, that's something to
regret.
In politics, 'faith' - belief without evidence - is something we
ought to reject as unacceptable.
Modern morals are way beyond those of any religious 'holy book' and can
be crudelyrepresented by: "Do no harm." We (Lib Dems and
others) believe that action ought to be based on the best evidence
available, not on prejudice or unsupported 'authority.'
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The REAL alternative
"The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a free, fair
and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental
values of liberty, equality and community and in which no-one
shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity." Preamble to the Liberal Democrat Federal Constitution, first sentence.
"Hope not hate"
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