The Hump of the Camel

My piece on the recent invention of teenage rebellion set me thinking about the related question of inheriting a traditional faith, versus the modern smörgåsbord of spiritual choices from satanism to shamanism, via the Salvation Army. Even a generation after Ginger Lawson, essentially my own teenage choice was whether to accept Christianity in some form, or not. Only a few years later did Eastern religion become a thing, and even considering Islam would have been absurd at that time. How different things are now!

I heard an interview with the Battle of Britain fighter ace Ginger Lacey the other day. Since it was recorded in the enlightened 1970s, the interviewer felt it mandatory to ask if Lacey had ever had doubts about the justness of the war, and consequently whether he had been troubled by strong emotions of hatred, or alternatively guilt, about shooting down and killing German airmen.

Not long ago I did a piece on the Shroud of Turin as an anomaly, both to science (as it appears to defy naturalistic explanations) and to faith (since, though potentially evidential, it is not mentioned in the documents or traditions of Christian faith).

As nearly everybody, even starry-eyed Christians, begins to get a sense of the dire situation into which British and Western culture has sunk, I’ve heard a number of people say stuff along the lines of “Politicians and scientists won’t save us – only Jesus is the answer.” And I don’t disagree… subject, though, to a number of serious qualifications.