About Me

Family Man

Married in 1970. 6 kids - 3 boys, 3 girls - 5 grandchildren, 1 step-grandchild

Ex Science Teacher

A retired science teacher so I believe in using logic, reasoning and truth to understand the world and I like to fact check sources of information.

Reader

I read about 50 books most years. A mix of fiction and non-fiction. Non-fiction interests: Science, maths, politics, faith/philosophy, biography

Faith & Belief

I went through  various stages of Christian belief and was involved as a local leader in one of the new churches. I realised I was sweeping too many issues under the carpet and decided to face them head on. I found I could no longer accept some of the main foundations of Christian theology. I still believe in the basic teachings of Jesus and try to follow them, but fail repeatedly.

Human Nature - Selfish/Unselfish - Physical/Spiritual(?)

Everyone has two sides to their nature, the selfish and the unselfish. I think of these as the physical and the spiritual. The first is the realm of science, evolution and equations, the second is ultimately a mystery but involves our moral being (conscience), our care for others and the feeling some of us have that part of the jigsaw is missing. 

Science would say: 

• We are intelligent, biological machines and that's all we are. 
• Free Will is a delusion.

I understand the logic of this but do not fully agree.

We do not see things as they are but see things as we are (Talmud)

Everyone of us chooses who or what to believe. Our own brain does the deciding whether it's political opinion, religious belief or which contestant we want to win Strictly. 

Our brain is more in charge of us than we are in charge of it, and it has been programed and re-programed throughout our lives.

Opinions

For serious news I read, the Guardian, & The Times and Ground News - a news site that gives the Left-Centre-Right bias behind each story. (click the image for the website) I also try to fact check controversal stories. 

I only very rarely watch TV news or politics programs. 

Politics

My basic Chrsitian background means I believe in the politics that puts humanity first and tries to create a fairer more peaceful world to hand on to our children. BUT I recognise that this is a minority point of view and unlikely to succeed. I'm not sure how democracies can survive in the confrontation with authoritarian regimes that are unrestrained by the rule of law.

My basic beliefs make me a socialist but I joined and campaigned for the Liberal Democrats because I want a fair voting system in the UK. The unfairness of the 2019 UK election is shown in this image but the 2024 election result was even worse in giving Labour a majority out of all propotion to its votes.

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