Feile

One of the events in Féile an Phobail ( The West Belfast People’s Festival) was a discussion open to anyone wishing to speak.

About God. Or about No God if they so wished.

The Reason?

To get step by step to the point where people can speak their minds and be treated with courtesy at all times , in all places, about anything and everything.

And also, although people are sceptical about this, because neither those who believe God exists nor  those who believe God does not exist are using their best arguments in public discussion. But they should. A look at the books shows it, and listening to radio and television discussion about religion underlines it to the point of exasperation.

Why the fuss about best arguments? Flabby arguments do nobody any good.  There are strong – and dignified – arguments to be made for so many things but if we discuss only the flabbiest of them our  intelligence and mental work get flabby too, because we don’t  need anything better. But given a strong, dignified and able opposition or questioning , the strength and validity of our own arguments get sharper and sharper. Without  questioning and objection, we  may get away with a lot but some day when faced with a really questioning mind and someone who really wants to know what we are on about, we may have nothing to offer, whichever side we are on.

It was a mistake for political parties and churches – and even, unhappily, universities – to try to ignore or get rid of  inquiring minds. Human beings are inquiring beings, it is part of our nature , whatever is there we want to know about it, and whatever is not there we don’t want to pretend is there. Nobody in his or her senses wants to believe in something or someone that  doesn’t exist.

However, we have a problem. Every time  people get to the point of discussing real issues, in politics, economics, religion for instance, somebody else creates a diversion. it may be a parade here, a false crisis there, a diversion into a side issue or a side street, a tactic  the ancient Romans knew about and used cunningly, just enough bread and more than enough   circuses to keep  people occupied and not too serious.  We too have had  all that on an international scale. The Cold War and the War Against Terror were and still are part of that scene. We think ruefully how much intellectual vigour , how much worldly wealth , how many lives we   spent  at the behest of leaders who brought   us on such crusades. As if  wrongdoing  in one system meant an  opposing  system just had to be good, or as if like a modern Don Quixote, you  could wage war  against an Ism and make believe it was not against  people .

Maybe we  don’t like the idea of “giving a platform” to our opponents, but we may  be doing both them and ourselves a favour. One of the many good things Féile an Phobail has done is show we have nothing to be afraid of  from listening to other people’s ideas.

In this as in most things we need each othe