Tag: choices

A smorgasbord of faiths?

By Alan Bailey

SOME people eat very simply. Perhaps because they have no choice. Others have a great array of possible delights in front of them, especially at times of celebration. Decisions, decisions. What looks nice? What tastes good? What is actually good for me? Will this upset my diet? So the questions flood through the mind.

These days the whole of life seems like a smorgasbord. So much is available and accessible. Just look at the stock in a thousand shops. Think of the devices available to us and the maze of things on offer on the Internet. Take your pick—if you can afford it.

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The most destructive man to ever live

(Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

I recently learnt about the life of American chemical engineer Thomas Midgley, a mild-mannered inventor, who only lived 55 years and whom I had never heard of before, but whose impact was one of world-wide destruction and death. He has been dubbed the most destructive single organism on Earth!¹

Midgley was instrumental in the invention both of leaded gasoline and CFCs, two of the worst inventions ever, which continue to have untold human and environmental impacts.Continue reading

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Pro which life?

Published in 2017

A woman in my church was recently diagnosed with breast cancer around the time she was told she was pregnant with twins. She was advised to abort the babies and get immediate surgery and chemotherapy.

What a ghastly choice to face! Either kill your unborn babies and try to save your life for the sake of your husband and seven small children, or continue with the pregnancy and potentially end up dying and leaving your young family to fend for themselves.Continue reading

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Bandersnatch: choices, choices

Published in 2019

Netflix’s recent production Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is unique in that it that is the first interactive movie – allowing the viewer to make a choice at several intervals as to what the lead character will do next and how the story ends.

It cleverly questions how much control we really have over our lives and highlights how even the most banal of decisions may have unforeseen consequences. It could also be construed to be subtly underplaying our responsibility on how our lives turn out: implying that our choices are so constrained by outside forces that we are all just victims of our culture, genetics and upbringing.Continue reading

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