Most days I sit down at the computer and have a look at the Farmers Weekly web site to see what is going on in the world of farming, and I often make a contribution to their various forums. For those readers who are not familiar with forums, or should it be forae? they are places where people can type in topics of interest and other people then add to the conversation. Although many people use pseudonyms, over time it becomes possible to learn quite a bit about the writers and what they are thinking.
Last month one farmer started a new topic by asking the question, “What will the farming world be like in 2040?” We all piled in with ideas and one contributor came up with a list including the thought, that the world’s financial system will be run using American technology by Indian accountants with Chinese money. He also thought that the countryside would continue to be regarded by the urban population as nice on TV, but too smelly to be comfortable in reality.
He did however, have two thoughts that were out of keeping with the rest of his list; the first was what he called, “Unity crystal therapists and other charlatans would be locked up in secure units,” and the second, that “Religion would be widely discredited being seen as a source of war and hatred.”
This latter point made me smile, because previous contributions by that writer whose non-de-plume is ‘He-himself,’ had shown that he thinks he is somewhat different from the crowd, and that in knocking religion, as he does often, he is being somehow daring and unique.
It is not the purpose of this column to lay claim to the pulpit, but ‘He-himself’ made me smile, not because he was daring and unique but because he is so conventional and unoriginal. Almost every day I hear someone say that religion is responsible for creating wars and hatred, so much so that I guess it must be the majority view. However, I also remember the saying of George Bernard Shaw that “The majority is always wrong,” and my views tend to echo his in that regard.
If people nowadays want others to think of them as original or avant-garde they will not succeed by knocking religion, but by trying to explain why it has inspired so much mental inquiry, poetry, music, art, and charitable action since the beginning of human history.
Regarding music however, a few weeks ago a tidy crowd met in St, Edward’s Church, Kempley for a local Songs of Praise organised by the Organist of Dymock. The service was shared by members of the Western Way Chapel, one of whose members briefly shared his thoughts on love in such a way as to give lie to those who trot out the old canard that religion breeds hatred. I wished that ‘He-himself’ had been there to hear this ordinary farmer give the view of the ‘real minority.’
However, back to the Farmers Weekly web site where, it must be said, the government of the day is not popular and where there is much talk of rising input costs, bad weather in the corn belt of Kansas, and Defra’s shilly-shallying over Badger TB. This cannot be good for badgers, and has led to the slaughter of 26,071 cows in 2007 up from 19,995 in 2006, but less than the 42,000 that this years figure is on course to be.
FWI, as the site is called, is run by a young lady named Isabel whose job is to keep the contributors in order, and generally make sure the whole operation runs smoothly, and that everyone is able to ask questions and put a point of view. As you would expect amongst country folk there are many views and sometimes views get exaggerated or minority views pooh-poohed. This means that Isabel has to step in now and again to chastise someone for being rude or to ask us to be careful of gossip.
Talking of gossip however, reminds me of the two ladies recently chatting over lunch in the Ms Miggins tea shop in Ledbury’s Countrywide Store. One said to the other, “You mustn’t tell anyone else what she said or that I told you. Anyway, I’d better stop now because I’ve already told you, a lot more than she told me!”
View from the Pew 