Does anyone know the contact details for this lady ?
Christina Rees of the general synod who on radio 4 blandly supported speed cameras ?
I'd like to write her a quick note...
|
Thought for the Day, 15 August 2001
Christina Rees
I'm glad there are to be more speed cameras. I appreciate there are those who are not pleased, with some valid reasons, but I think any device that can help to remind me of the speed above which I should not be going is a good thing. I'd like to think I don't need reminding, but I do, and if the primary aim of the cameras is as a deterrent, rather than for entrapment, so much the better, even though I do encounter drivers I would willingly see entrapped!
Last weekend I was driving with my husband down a motorway, going towards the top end of the speed limit, when we were overtaken by three boy racers as if we were standing still. They zoomed past us up and over the hill ahead. We got to the crest of the hill just in time to see cars swerving all over the road ahead of us, fighting to maintain control. The reckless young men had not anticipated or foreseen the group of much slower moving cars filled with families going on holiday, they would meet on the other side of the hill. It was a very close thing.
So, speed cameras can save lives. They are most effectively sited at accident black spots, places on the road where people are likely to run into danger if they're going too quickly. A moral or spiritual equivalent might be the Ten Commandments, basic rules that aim to help people not let their lives get out of control; signs that warn of potential danger.
Unfortunately, some people think that the purpose of the Commandments is more to do with entrapment than deterrence. They see God as a great big hidden speed camera in the sky, waiting to catch them out, rather than the One who has given us ways of knowing when we might be nearing danger or causing trouble for others. God may, indeed, be infinitely more all-seeing and all-knowing than a speed camera, but that needn't add up to an understanding of God as a cosmic control-freak obsessed with our faults and failings.
Christians consider that even the wise and sane Ten Commandments are meant to be read in the light of a single new commandment, given by Jesus, that makes loving God and one another the supreme rule. This new commandment encapsulates all the others, and those who follow it, I believe, are ensured, if not necessarily a safe journey through life, one that is filled with purpose and meaning. This commandment reveals a God who views us with compassion, understanding, forgiveness and love. Far from trying to freeze frame our every misdemeanour, this God wills for us not just a barely tolerable existence, a life endured within rigid limits, but a life overflowing with good things, characterised by peace, joy and true freedom.
|
|
It is difficult to fight the biggest mafia in the world ,responsibble for more deaths than all the car crashes and dictators in the world put together
|
|
|
Standard sermon formula (no insult intended). Pick a topic in the news, give a light hearted personal example, tie the topic to the bible and finish on pure religion.
She had her say on a national/international platform. And so has anyone who posts and disagrees with that (cameras etc) point of view here.
Can't see the problem.
And Alex this lady isn't dictating to you, just offering you an opinion. At the end of the day you have the choice to walk up that path on Sunday or take the car for a blast for some fun.
David
|
Hello David,
I never thought of it like that; the churches as a good place to keep those who are up early on Sunday out of our way! But one trouble is when they come out, for the rest of the week they are liable to be trying to do "good", very probably at the expense of the rest of us, in the light of their notions.
The other trouble is I do Sunday breakfast in bed for the good lady (I do breakfast every day, but not in bed, that way I get some too), and by the time that is done and I am out of my dressing gown every sort of comedian is out and about practicing Brownian motion on the roads. And the official undesirables are out too. So one has to go to the tarmaced sheep tracks - at least there still are some up here.
Never mind, had a good day out with my brother on Wednesday. He did the driving. Only trouble is we go to railways, of which he is an enthusiast, and he makes me walk about, a practice I gave up as soon as I left the RAF in 1949.
I am still more than usually knackered
Ah, well, every silver lining has a cloud.
Cheers and beers (preferably bitter), Alex
|
|
|
|
|
Indeed, it's amazing how superior and good belief in a non-existent deity can make people feel. It's just a pity that they want to impose their own arbitrary doctrines, concocted by various humans, on everyone else. So much so that the different lots fight and blow each other up.
I suppose at 74 it might be nice to think one was going to the great derestricted motorway in the sky and an F40, but I don't even believe in fairies!
I will not have my driving dictated by someone claiming supernatural authority.
Regards from Alex
|
|
suggest somebody writes to the bbc/archbishop/broadcasting standards people etc not to mention a few MP's
|
Why, do you think she's not entitled to have an opinion because it doesn't coincide with yours.
I happen to agree with her, on the whole, not the religious bit, but the sensible bit about speeding.
Robert
|
|
|
|
|
Those with any sense, and compassion, will disregard this further broadcast exposition of "The great lie". Keep to motoring matters chaps (and chappesses)
|
well i would be interested to know
if she drives
how many miles pa
what she knows about road safety other than the "speed kills" brainwashing
and she is by defintion (cos she got a slot on national radio which most of us dont get) part of the liberal chattering classes that have got the road/traffic/legal/etc systems in the state they are in
|
|
|
Sad to say John I think we've frightened them all away recently.
David
|
D J Woollard wrote:
>
> Sad to say John I think we've frightened them all away
> recently.
>
> David
Sad to say, David, I think you're right. And, do you know, I for one quite liked having them around.
And this is perhaps sad too, but I'm getting bored with all these ranting voices that are making The Back Room a place in which it might not pleasant to be. So, you know who you are: tone down a bit, will you, please?
Martyn
|
|
|
|
|
".............It was a very close thing."
"So, speed cameras can save lives............."
How?
"I think any device that can help to remind me of the speed above which I should not be going is a good thing."
"They are most effectively sited at accident black spots, places on the road where people are likely to run into danger if they're going too quickly. A moral or spiritual equivalent might be the Ten Commandments, basic rules that aim to help people not let their lives get out of control; signs that warn of potential danger."
"Unfortunately, some people think that the purpose of the Commandments is more to do with entrapment than deterrence. They see God as a great big hidden speed camera in the sky, waiting to catch them out, rather than the One who has given us ways of knowing when we might be nearing danger or causing trouble for others. God may, indeed, be infinitely more all-seeing and all-knowing than a speed camera, but that needn't add up to an understanding of God as a cosmic control-freak obsessed with our faults and failings."
So basically she is saying that speed cameras should only be at accident blackspots where speed is the danger.
They shouldn't be for entrapment.
They should be signs that warn and help and allow us to stay under control.
That is: they should be highly visible, with the speed limit clearly shown, and linked to warning sign giving your actual speed, rather that to a tax dept computer.
Can't argue with that. When are we going to see the current entrapment/control freak versions adapted?
In fact when are we going to see the churches campaigning for this??
In fact, when are we going to see a pro speed camera supporter checking to see if they are aiming at their foot before they fire off against motorists ;-)
|
|
|
What an i@#%t this woman is. If she want's a useful reminder of the speed she is travelling at, try looking at the speedo, that why god created dashboards!
And if she was travelling so slowly, how come her and her hubby crested the hill to see the cars swerving?
|
|
|
Okay, since it's Islam week on the gogglebox, here is The Sura of Praise, Thanks and Prayer, as I remember it from the Koran I read when I was a kid (just to achieve a sense of balance, you understand):-
"Praise be to God, Lord of the World, the compassionate, the merciful, King on the day of reckoning. Thee only do we worship and to thee do we cry for help. Guide thou us on the straight path, the path of those to whom thou art gracious, with whom thou art not angry and who go not astray."
Nothing about exceeding the speed limits there.
HJ
|
|
|
