Mary Kenny“some of us are thankful that we remember rather more optimistic times”, writes Mary Kenny
“I fear,” said my niece in Dublin, “that our whole way of life is changing radically – things won’t ever be the same again.”
She was considering the situation of high alerts all over Europe, with Belgium in ‘lockdown’, and France more apt to embrace the slogan of “liberty, fraternity, SECURITY”. What price liberty now?
And although I still believe that Ireland is one of the safest countries on the planet, as I wrote, it is probably quite true that the way of life we have known in decades past is probably changing irrevocably.
I sometimes reflect that many of us born in the 1940s have been fortunate indeed in the arc of our lives. Yes, times were quite austere in Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s, but for many of us – not for all of us – it was a reasonably healthy austerity.
We were enjoined to put up with minor inconveniences for the sake of economy, or, indeed, for the good of our characters. Central heating was rare, and if you were chilly, you put on another jumper, or took a hot water bottle to bed.
There wasn’t ‘a pill for every ill’ – yet medical care was constantly getting better all the time. Penicillin was a fantastic breakthrough, saving families from the heartbreak of TB, and ever more wonder-drugs burst upon the scene through the 1950s. Travel was expanding, especially from the 1960s onwards and the world seemed our oyster.
People worried about the atom bomb, justifiably, but the great powers held a kind of balance so that no single power had the incentive to use it. It often seemed everything was getting better – and developments in religion like Vatican II served to underline it.
Is the world as optimistic now as it appeared for our generation? Many younger people don’t think so. Globalisation has brought benefits, but also many more anxieties – fulfilling the Book of Ecclesiastes’ words: “In greater knowledge is greater sorrow.”
The internet is a great invention, but the ‘Dark Web’ is indeed a dark place, and web specialists tell me that the Jihadi activists have access to high-order internet expertise.
Air travel has become an ordeal: even great engineering feats like the Channel Tunnel are subject to threats and perils.
Medical progress has been impressive – and yet the over-use of antibiotics is now threatening to return medical care to Victorian conditions: terrifying new strains of bacteria are proving immune to all drugs.
Christians are enjoined to be optimistic: hope is a necessary virtue. But as we draw near to the end of 2015, some of us are thankful that we remember rather more optimistic times.
Cinemas often show ‘offensive’ adverts
The Church of England has made a short video advertisement featuring the Lord’s Prayer and designed to alert people to the spiritual nature of Christmas. Only to find that it has been banned by British cinema chains for fear it might ‘offend’ non-Christians.
The ruling was made by the Digital Media Chain which controls the advertising for all the big Odeon, Vue and Cineworld cinemas in Britain.
They have no objection to adverts which glamorise alcohol, or induce young people to grow obese on junk food, or to admire cars going at 120mph. But a Christian-themed advert? That’s ‘offensive’.
Paedophilia is not just an Irish problem
In his recently-published book 1916: The Mornings After – From the Courts Martial to the Tribunals, the noted author Tim Pat Coogan has written that “paedophilia is unfortunately one of the areas in which the Irish demonstrably punch above their weight”.
Tim Pat is a person I much esteem – and his words carry a certain authority – but I do wonder if there is any demonstrable evidence for this statement? Are the Irish more inclined to paedophile crimes than other peoples? I’d like to see some properly-sourced comparable statistics on this issue.
For example, in Britain, currently, more than 300 prominent people are facing allegations of historic sex abuse, according to Simon Bailey, the chief constable of Norfolk, who is drawing up new guidelines for investigating officers of this crime. Mr Bailey says that of 2,156 people identified by the police as suspects, 302 were “in positions of public prominence”.
He also stated that he was holding allegations of sexual abuse in 753 British institutions.
On Tuesday of this week, the BBC reported that it’s been estimated by police sources that 450,000 children in Britain have been abused since 2012.
I do not know if comparable figures and statistics have been done with reference to Ireland: but I find it difficult to believe that even in terms of percentages, Ireland would be found to have “punched above its weight” in this doleful situation.
But we must have evidence, and comparable studies, to assess whether Tim Pat’s allegation bears the weight it claims.