In the Absence of God, the State becomes God

Ed West has written an excellent article on a new study that belief in God may be inversely correlated to belief in Government.

I think every generalisation is open to accusations that one is being crude, but it seems that there is a certain strand of atheist on the 'left' who replaces God's Divine Power and Sovereignty over human affairs, with the State. In the absence of God, as V.I Lenin asked, 'What is to be done?' Unfortunately, when the State has too much power over individual freedom and liberty, things usually get messy, even with the best of intentions. Above is Jonah Goldberg, whose book, 'The Rise of Liberal Fascism', Ed cites in his article, talking about why fascism is a product of progressive movements of the 'left', rather than the 'right'. Brighton is one of the most left-wing towns in the United Kingdom. It is a town well known for its 'liberalism' and yet the State rules with an iron fist over the poor. Here is Jason Evans in a direct appeal to Caroline Lucas MP. I think when he talks about 'seeing a dead body' if the Council don't house him, he is talking about his own, rather than Caroline's or mine or any other third party.



In the above video Jason Evans is wrapped up in bin bags in an attempt to keep dry while walking around Brighton at night, which is poignant given that society has largely discarded him. Just an update for readers concerned about Jason which is not entirely unrelated to this post.

He has been told that he must attend the Atos Healthcare centre to be assessed as to whether he is 'fit for work'. His doctor signed him off as 'unfit for work' a long, long time ago, because he is alcoholic and addicted to heroin thereby suffering a dual addiction. Add to this the fact that he is on an ASBO that bars him from vast swathes of Brighton until 2012 and we have what you could call a difficult employment situation on our hands.

Readers might be interested to learn that he is banned from Upper North Street, the very road where he has been asked to go and do the medical assessment at (We Don't Give) Atos Healthcare, therefore, if he attends the Employment Support Allowance (ESA) medical assessment, he'll be breaking his ASBO! You couldn't make it up, could you?! I think this is what they call 'joined up Government'. Nearly two months after his release from jail, Jason is still homeless, several weeks after release from HMP Highdown, still has access to no benefits, is still living without proper shelter, any sanitation or income and is still at risk of being sent back to prison if he begs. Jason is a perfect illustration of just how bad at being 'God-like' the State can be, since mercy, justice, forgiveness, compassion and love flow like a river not from the organs of the State, but from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

I went for lunch at the Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project (BUCFP) today. I've been asked to do an interview with the 'Secret Millionaire' who donated money to the centre for the centre magazine called Our Voice. Great! I've got the email of a millionaire! Someone at the BUCFP told me today that The Argus is running a special series of features on homelessness in Brighton. I think I'll see if they think Jason Evans is a story, but it is The Argus, so I shall not be holding my breath...