Sebastian Milbank has an interesting Critic piece on the narrowness of secular Scottish culture as defined by the SNP and liberal elite.
The new Scotland
Scottish culture is narrowing and secularising under the influence of a strident liberal elite
Just over a year ago Kate Forbes was narrowly beaten in the SNP leadership election, in large part because many colleagues and commentators turned upon her following coverage of her (long established) religious conservative convictions on issues of gender and sex. With Humza Yousaf having been forced to resign following the collapse of his agreement with the Scottish Greens, Forbes seemed poised as the frontrunner in the upcoming leadership contest. But news soon broke, amidst negative reactions to her possible return in the media and party, that she would not be standing. What had happened?
The whole piece is well worth reading as a telling comment on what already seems like the inevitable failure of contrived secular cultures.
The point is hammered home at length: “Forbes represents an authentic strain of rural Scottish presbyterianism. But she cannot successfully reconcile the moral strictures of the Free Church with the values of contemporary urban Scotland in all its diversity and dynamism.”
It’s all rather impressive, just as long as you don’t think about it too hard. Why, for example, is Yousaf, a committed Muslim, seen as a good representative of liberal modernity, whilst Forbes, who belongs to the non-conformist Protestant tradition so integral to British liberalism, is considered a reactionary symbol? Humza Yousaf’s religious community is no more accepting of homosexuality than Forbes’, and though Yousaf claims to support gay marriage (an issue neither politician is likely to make policy on in future), he was mysteriously and conveniently absent when it came time to vote on it.
4 comments:
I've read similar stuff about the secularisation of Ireland. Someone was saying that the "Old Ireland" was a varied and generally appealing mixture of Catholicism, booze, repression, blarney, and imagination, but that now it was bland woke Euro-shite.
Sam - I've not seen so much stuff on the secularisation of Ireland, but plenty of hints about the creeping woke Euro-shite. It's like a virus.
For a good presentation of what the Auld Country was like, as well as a side splitting good laugh, read Puckoon. By the esteemed polymath and genius Spike Milligoon.
Reported to have sold over five million copies. Probably because, like me, they are bought as replacements for a few loaned to friends and never returned.
Doonhamer - I think my copy of Puckoon must have been loaned and never returned because I haven't seen it for decades.
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