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  • Walter's Blog.
  • Home
  • Introduction
  • About Walter
    • 1980 Joining Up - Grafton Street >
      • Arrival and First Impressions
      • First Week
      • Training
      • Passing Out
    • Yaumati Cowboy >
      • Getting on the Streets
      • Tempo of the City
      • Jumpers, pill poppers and the indoor BBQ
      • Into a Minefield.
    • Why Tango in Paris, when you can Foxtrot in Kowloon? >
      • Baptism By Fire
      • Kai Tak with Mrs Thatcher.
      • Home; The Boy Returns
  • 1984 - 1986
    • PTU Instructor & Getting Hitched
    • Having a go: SDU
    • Starting a Chernobyl family
    • EOD - Don't touch anything
    • Semen Stains and the rules
  • 1987 to 1992 - Should I Stay or Go?
    • Blue Lights, Sirens & Grenades
    • Drugs, Broken Kids & A Plane Crash
    • 600 Happy Meals Please!
    • Hong Kong's Best Insurance
    • Riding the Iron Horse
  • Crime in Hong Kong
    • Falling Crime Rates - Why?
    • Triads
  • History of Hong Kong Policing
    • History 1841 to 1941
    • History 1945 to 1967
    • Anatomy of the 50 cent Riot - 1966
    • The Fall of a Commissioner.
    • History 1967 to 1980
    • Three Wise Men from the West
    • The Blue Berets.
    • The African Korps and other tribes.
    • Getting About - Transport.
    • A Pub in every station
    • Bullshit Bingo & Meetings
    • Godber - The one who nearly got away.
    • Uncle Ho
  • Top 20 Films
    • 2001 - A Space Odyssey.
    • The Godfather.
    • Blade Runner
    • Kes
    • Star Wars
    • Aliens
    • Ferris Bueller's Day Off
    • The Life of Brian
    • Dr Strangelove.
    • Infernal Affairs
    • Bridge on the River Kwai.
    • This Is Spinal Tap.
    • Chung King Express
    • An Officer and a Gentleman
    • PTU
    • Contact
    • Saving Private Ryan
    • Family Guy Star Wars
    • Zulu
    • Hard Day's Night
  • The Long Read
    • How The Walls Come Down
    • War in Ukraine - the narrative and other stuff.
    • The Hidden Leader
    • The Big Game
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Walter's Blog

"But how can you live and have no story to tell?" Fyodor Dostoevsky
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Reflections on recent events, plus the occasional fact free rant unfiltered by rational argument. 

"If you want to read a blog to get a sense of what is going on in Hong Kong these days or a blog that would tell you wh at life was like living in colonial Hong Kong, this blog, WALTER'S BLOG, fits the bill."  Hong Kong Blog Review

24/5/2017 0 Comments

Manchester - Suffer the Children.

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Another terrorist atrocity. This time Manchester, England. A stoic northern English city. It gave us Oasis, Davy Jones of the Monkeys and former Prime Minister David Lloyd-Jones. Home to the mighty Manchester United, home to great seats of learning. Home to innovation and industry. A city with a diverse culture, and not without its problems. Yet, a city that reinvigorated itself in recent decades to gain a certain cogency.

Now it's the site of an evil attack. Targeted by a religious nut job filled with hate. An attack aimed at children and young people enjoying themselves. It’s a cliche I know … an attack on our very culture and way of life. The origins of this attack germinated in the tenets and incantations of religion.  On this occasion, it's an Islamic religion.  In the past, Christianity bore similar fruit. Campaigns against nonbelievers, wars and whole community destroyed.

We have to recognise that all religions assert their supremacy. They are the chosen ones, the right path. Which in extreme cases leads to the slaughter of those who are opposite. Granted, not all religions are at equal fault.  Although, each has the possibility of fostering hatred of those outside the fold. 

We must recognise that “religion poisons everything” to quote Christopher Hitchens. Anthropogenic fantasies formed in antiquity morphed into the religions we see today. These twist minds by providing simplistic solutions, the easy fix. Especially if that mind is already traumatised by events. With a morality based on ideas developed centuries ago, you will struggle in the modern world. If you draw upon a world-view formed by ancient illiterates, things will look out of kilter. One would hope that since the enlightenment we'd moved forward. The evidence suggests not. 

No one should deny that religion can provide comfort and solace. No humane person would deny a grieving parent or partner that opportunity. Moreover, religious gatherings can lift up the spirits, bounding people and communities. Religion gives propose to some. Yet, I can say the same of the Caravan Club or the Boy Scouts. God, whoever he is, doesn't always have to enter the equation. 

If we are to defeat terrorism we need to finally put to bed silly notions of Gods.  The associated hubris that surrounds religion distorts the human in us. As sentient beings, we already know right from wrong.  We don’t need religious texts ladened with threats to recognise the correct course of action. Likewise, we don’t need to set 'man-against-man' because each holds a different opinion. 

Religion is in many ways an easy option. It offers certainty, answers and solutions. The snake oil salesman makes the same claims. We’ve learnt not to buy the snake oil. Standing on the shoulders of Newton, Darwin, Einstein and Dawkins, we can cast aside the fantasies of the past.  Embrace a rational humanists approach. Then we will stop blowing up eight-year-old girls attending pop concerts. 
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    Walter De Havilland was one of the last of the colonial coppers. He served 35 years in the Royal Hong Kong Police and Hong Kong Police Force. He's long retired. 

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