Another scorching hot day down on our little allotment in South Gloucestershire in the good old Dis-United Kingdom.
So, after checking over our rapidly growing plants and pronouncing ourselves satisfied, it wasn't long before Nosher and me were comfortably ensconced in our old deckchairs on the shady side of Nosher's shed, with a glass of chilled fruit juice in hand.
Nosher exerted the privilege of age to begin the proceedings.
'I hear that cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor has exhorted all Catholics to hold atheists in high esteem' he said, with a hint of irony in his voice.
'It's a bit rich coming out with that this far into history, isn't it?' I said 'The Roman Church only stopped torturing and killing people for heresy in the nineteenth century when secular laws made it illegal.'
Nosher permitted himself a wry smile.
'They claim they never killed anyone' he said 'they tortured them to extract a confession (that much can't be denied) condemned them to death, and then handed them over to the civil authorities for execution.'
'All the same, with modern Catholics claiming they're such nice people, they probably want us to believe nothing like that could ever happen again.'
Nosher's smile grew even broader.
'Well, since the Catholic Church hasn't given an inch on its claim to absolute truth and moral probity' he said 'if they ever achieved supreme political power I find it hard to believe that there wouldn't be someone amongst their ranks wanting to punish people for not conforming to the dictates of the Church. And once that step had been taken, before long there'd be others very willing to do the torturing and killing. That's the lesson that so many innocent and vulnerable people have learned the hard way throughout the course of human history. Organised religions become oppressive and cruel sooner or later when they get the chance to impose themselves on others.'
'Maybe you're right' I said 'perhaps it's unwise to accord religion any special privileges in a secular liberal state.'
'All I know is that my plants worship the sun' said Nosher ' and they believe I'm the sun's high priest, so I have absolute power over them. Isn't that a great way to go through life?'
More from www.overthegardenfence.blogspot.com soon.
Find out more at www.paulsturdee.co.uk
and www.PGSBooks.co.uk
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