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Tuesday 2 December 2008

Shared Opinion

Gordon Brown’s moral compass is more like a dodgy satnav

Actually, the authors seem a bit irate that this ‘moral compass’ business is getting all the headlines. That’s just a snappy headline, and a dig at Gordon Brown. In truth, from reports about the report (do you need to have read a report to report on a report? Can reporters report on reports of reports? Must consult my own moral compass) it appears to be about social welfare. And can you guess the answer to sorting out social welfare? Go on, try. No, it’s not nightclubs. Mosques? Well, you’re close. Yes, that’s right, have a biscuit.

There is bad blood here, and maybe it gets in the way. Despite the personal protestations of Blair and Brown, the government view seems basically to be that worshipping anything that isn’t the Labour party is tantamount to worshipping a wooden spoon you found in the back of your kitchen drawer, or a three-headed goatman from Pluto. This should be frowned upon, they reckon, and discouraged, unless a particular batch of three-headed-goatman and/or spoon worshippers decides to start blowing themselves up. Then one needs to start being very nice to them, in the hope that the spoon and/or the big three-headed-goatman himself will notice this and, perhaps from Pluto, tell them to stop.

The emerging Tory view seems to be crucially different. As with Lyra and her altheiometer, I took a while to twig. It’s all this third-sector business, isn’t it? The spoons and three-headed goatmen from Pluto are a little embarrassing, sure enough, but Cameron and his chums have noticed that these people also run pretty decent schools, scout groups and nursing homes. The important thing is that old people get cared for, and that children grow up being able to read, write, run, and have civil conversations about their garden hedges without stabbing each other to death. If, along the way, some of them also start worshipping a three-headed goatman from Pluto or a wooden spoon, well, shit happens. It’s a small price to pay.

This makes a lot of sense. I’m a heathen sort for the most part, but it’s not from want of exposure. You don’t need to see much of churches, synagogues, temples and mosques to be aware of what they can do. The best defence of religion is community; the stuff people do when they stop harping on about God. Godless groups do this sort of stuff too, of course, but the Goddites tend to do it better. Full marks for Tory pragmatism.

More articles from: Hugo Rifkind | this section

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