I've been watching, on NEON, a British/US comedy series named BREEDERS which is excellent.
It features Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard and is created by Freeman, Chris Addison and Simon Blackwell. It's about Freeman and Haggard as parents struggling with parenthood and their working lives.
Unlike many of these situational comedies, BREEDERS isn't glib or twee and doesn't rely on puerile one-liners. The settings are realistic and the dialogue is terse, raw and often obscene as the pressures mount.
In one episode in the second series Ava, the pre-teen daughter is showing signs of adopting religion. The family are lapsed catholics and professed atheists so this is a surprise to the parents. After some initial scoffing and disbelief, the father (Freeman) accepts and shows support for his daughter's interest in catholicism.
One section of the dialogue interested me though. Ava, in conversation with her father said that she became interested when she noticed her grandfather praying when her brother was seriously ill in hospital. The brother recovered and she attributed this to the power of prayer. On reflection, while talking it through she suggested (she is a very bright kid) that even though it probably wasn't a miracle, the act of praying strengthened the family's resolve to support her brother and put pressure on the medical authorities to do everything they could to save the boy. They signed the right forms for induced coma and for serious medication which proved to be the saviour. I believe in this myself - religion not being something miraculous but often a necessary crutch to help people get through difficult times.
OK, so where is this going? Watching this episode made me think of Robert who has strong religious beliefs. No, I'll restate that as Robert scorns all religion except for one - the catholic church. Robert has strong catholic church beliefs and doesn't let science, history or common sense get in the way of the myths and fabrications that he believes in. But these are his beliefs right? I shouldn't make fun of these and, like the father in BREEDERS be accepting of them.
Or not.
No. I've thought about it and have decided that Robert, as a 65 year old man should know better.
I was coming home in a taxi last night with Shelley and my violin. The taxi driver was a very nice young chap and we chatted all the way from Petone to Nuova Lazio. He asked me what my instrument was and I told him. He said that he'd like to play the drums but said he probably would be no good. I disagreed. He said that people who play music have a gift from god. I disagreed again. I talked about practice, perseverance and learning from good teachers. He seemed to get my point. He was a bright young chap and was finishing off a masters degree. He was born in India so I guess the god he was talking about was probably not the Christian one. Now there's a problem when you thank god - which one are you talking about? It often depends where you were born. Nothing new there, but worth remembering. I'm sure he believes his god is the right one and has some pretty convincing justifications. Who knows, he might become the Hindi version of Trent Horn.
ReplyDeleteProve it.
DeleteRobert doesn't do proof. Nor does Trent.
DeleteYes, that figures. It's impossible to defend the indefensible.
DeleteOops, I'm talking about Hinduism. Hindi is the language.
ReplyDeleteWhat does Robert have for dinner on a Sunday? Oxtail and chips? Burger King? Pig scrotum with pasta? Bully beef and baked potatoes? God (the Indian one) I'm missing his posts!
ReplyDeleteTwo meat dishes then. You need to add a bit of vegetable to your diet.
DeleteI thought that atheism is an absence of belief.
ReplyDeleteIf you read Robert's comment really fast, it sounds just like Trent Horn.
ReplyDeleteCome on Rob, give us some proof. I bet you won't even try.
ReplyDelete