Have we lost our reason?

Calton does not believe that Christians should impose their views or morality on the rest of society, however, in the supposedly progressive rejection of the Judeo-Christian basis of our laws, we are increasingly legislating on the basis of feelings. The latest example is Tony Nicklinson, who feels that his life is intolerable and who wants a change in the law so that someone can kill him without being prosecuted for murder. Other people feel that their lives are not worth living and want the law changed so that they can be assisted to commit suicide. Yet others feel attracted to someone of the same sex and want the law changed to allow them to get married. Calton feels sympathy for all of them but he doesn't think that just because someone feels a certain way, our laws, which have stood the test of time, should be altered. Legislating on the basis of feelings, rather than rational thought, is not progressive but, rather, regressive. Do we really want a society where emotions dominate over reason? Is that not a recipe for disaster?

Open season on Christians at the BBC

Libby Purves is entitled to her opinions on assisted suicide and other matters and she is entitled to air them on Radio Scotland. What she is not entitled to do is label as 'bigots' those who happen to disagree with her. Such ignorant and inflammatory language does nothing to further reasoned and rational debate and Calton is surprised that Kaye Adams let Dr Purves get away with it unchallenged. Maybe he shouldn't be, given that Kaye very quickly stepped in to shut up a caller who was making remarks which might have been offensive to homosexuals recently but let the following caller indulge in an extended rant against Christians without any attempt to curtail him. Yet another example of the open season on Christians at the Biased Broadcasting Corporation, where some are clearly more equal than others when it comes to being protected against offence.

Dawkins - deluded into believing he is God?

It seems a bit rich of Richard Dawkins to accuse the Wee Frees and their fellow Christians, on the one hand, of blind panic regarding his invite to the Faclan Hebridean Book Festival and yet, on the other hand, to turn down an invite to debate with one of them, saying that it would not look good on his CV. What is he afraid of? That his atheist beliefs will not stand up to the scrutiny of a public debate? As a defender of free speech, Calton has no problem with Dawkins being invited to the faith-themed festival but he can't expect to go and promote atheism in one of the last bastions of Scottish Presbyterianism without being challenged, any more than the Presbies can impose their brand of Calvinism on the rest of us unchallenged. That's the nature of democracy. Or has Dawkins not so much done away with God, as become a god himself?

Wild camping ruining the wild

Calton is up in the mountains this weekend and he is wondering just how much it has cost to erect the huge stone monuments which have appeared by the side of all the roads into the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park? OK, so they probably provided some out-of-work stonemason with a bob or two but, seriously, were they really needed?

On another countryside matter, Calton thinks that the access legislation governing Scotland badly needs revisiting given the proliferation of wild camping in the likes of Glen Etive. Now there is even talk on internet forums of wild caravanning! It is nice to see people enjoying our beautiful landscape on a good weekend however there comes a point when it is unsustainable. There is only so much firewood available in Glen Etive and Calton counted at least five campfires there last night. Sadly, a great number of so-called wild campers also fail to take their rubbish away with them and wild toilets are an increasing problem. Calton understands that the Scottish Government has set up a group to look at the Land Reform Act which gave us the right of access. Hopefully they will listen to the group's conclusions.

Striking a sour note

Calton does not venture south of the border very often these days and so he was surprised to hear that Scottish banknotes are still being knocked back in England. Unionist politicians must be sitting with their heads in their hands - what a gift for the Nationalists! Scottish athletes are winning gold in London and yet Londoners are turning their noses up at our money! Boris Johnson has now instructed London buses to accept Scottish notes, which is the least he could do. What about all the bars, restaurants, hotels and taxis? How would English people feel if we started refusing their Bank of England notes up here? It's high time they stopped being so parochial and realise that we have our own banknotes, otherwise we will be voting to have our own currency!

Sir Chris scoops sixth gold

Congratulations to Sir Chris Hoy on his fantastic achievement - six Olympic gold medals. He should have the freedom of Scotland, not just Edinburgh.

The perils of absolute power

Who was it who said that 'absolute power corrupts absolutely'? They might have been talking about the SNP Government. As long as the SNP was a minority administration, everything was fine, but now that they have a majority they are becoming increasingly dictatorial. The latest example is the way in which they are pushing through planning applications for windfarms against the wishes of local people and local authorities. A majority government is not a licence to ignore the electorate for 4 years. It is also not a mandate to introduce bills, such as the one on same-sex marriage, which were not in the SNP's election manifesto. Calton is increasingly hearing from people who are being turned off the idea of independence due to the SNP's attitude. They, like Calton, have no wish to live under a dictatorship. Few Scots do.

A ray of sunshine

Another dull rainy day in Scotland's capital but this time there was a ray of sunshine as Andy Murray took gold in the Olympics. Well done Andy! Calton was settling in for a five set match but Murray won it in straight sets, clinching the match with an ace. Superb. He and his fellow Scots have made a huge contribution to Team GB's medal haul however Calton does not think this is an argument for an independent Scotland - more a reason for us to continue to be part of Great Britain. Would our athletes do so well if we didn't have the resources of our larger southern neighbour to help them? In return, they put the great into Team GB. That's what teamwork is all about. At a time when Europe is tearing itself apart along a north-south divide Great Britain is winning medals. United we stand, divided we fall.

The backlash begins

The backlash against the SNP's decision to proceed with a bill for same-sex marriage has begun with the resignation of long-standing SNP activist Robert Stewart. What interests Calton is that this is not a protest by a Roman Catholic or Evangelical Christian on moral grounds - this is a protest against the undemocratic way in which the SNP hierarchy has railroaded the decision through simply because Nicola Sturgeon thinks that it is the 'right thing to do'. On what basis? Clearly the SNP's definition of 'right' differs from that of the Roman Catholic church or Islam and they can't all be right! What is also clear is that the course the SNP have embarked on is likely to cost them votes in the independence referendum and the subsequent Scottish elections and not just because they have disenfranchised Christian and Moslem voters - they are also increasingly alienating all those who, like Calton, cherish democracy, with their autocratic behaviour. Will Nicola still think it was the right thing to do when she finds herself on the opposition benches in a devolved parliament in 2015?

Think twice twits

Dorset police have been coming in for some stick over their arrest of the teenager who tweeted abuse at olympic diver Tom Daley amid concerns over freedom of speech. Calton shared those concerns however, after reading a fuller account of the twitter posts on Archbishop Cranmer's blog (warning - contains strong language), the police would have been hung out to dry if they hadn't done something. Calton is a firm believer in freedom of speech but young people need to understand that threats of violence posted on the internet will be taken seriously, even if they are only meant as a joke. Our police cannot afford to ignore them. So if you don't want the long arm of the law knocking on your door in the wee small hours, think twice before you hit the send button. And if this sorry episode highlights the issue of cyber-bullying and dissuades others from emulating the twit who was arrested, so much the better.