The train journey

I don’t often travel by train, but a recent short trip from Birmingham to Coventry got me thinking. Staring out of the window for much of the journey, it occurred to me just how depressing and dispiriting urban life is. True, there is a bit of countryside, but it was the urban decadence that struck me.

What could I see? Old industrial sites, once the symbol of Birmingham’s might, now dilapidated. Some are now used as scrap yards. Deprived estates, burnout cars, graffiti, open spaces filled with litter. Disused warehouses, once bustling with activity, now the lair of drug users and others society has forgotten about. The canals look a ghastly green and have trolleys and sofas thrown into them. For the thinking, it’s enough to make them despair.

I have read many times that depression and other affective disorders are widespread in modern Britain. There are, no doubt, many complex reasons for this, but surely the soullessness of urban life is one of them.

God and the Tsunami

The South Asian Tsunami, which claimed more than 180,000 lives, sparked a debate about the existence and nature of God. Why, the question goes, would a benevolent and merciful God allow such destruction. War and conflict can be explained away as the actions free, moral agents. But this argument does not apply to the Tsunami.

I do not know what the answers are in this complex debate. Belief in God depends, to a large extent, on strength of personal belief and not intellectual reasoning.

What does irk me, however, is the view expressed by some clerics that the Tsunami is a punishment from God. These same people insist that God is merciful and kind. How do they reconcile this with the view that the destructive Tsunami, which killed innocent men, women and children, is a punishment? Why was South Asia selected for punishment? Is it more ‘sinful’ than other regions of the world?

Sexual freedom: piety v. frustration

Muslims countries, such as Pakistan, are some of the biggest consumers of Internet pornography. Given that web access is no way near as widespread as in Europe and the US, that amounts to a lot of dodgy bytes downloaded via the limited web access they do have. In fairness, pornography is a major web activity everywhere, but I do think it is worth asking why it is more widespread in some countries.

In my opinion, strictly enforced segregation of the sexes, based on puritanical cultural and religious norms, leads to a feeling of frustration, which finds an outlet in graphic sexual imagery. Piety, self-control and sexual forbearance cannot be enforced. These are qualities that have to be cultivated. Repression does not get rid of problems; it merely brushes them under the carpet. If you have the right contacts, you can get hold of anything. The Internet provides an easy route to many things.

On my visits to Mirpur, while sitting in the bazaar sipping sweet tea, I have noticed that sex is never far away as a topic of conversation among young men. Often it is in graphic detail and quite vulgar. Another thing I have observed is that whenever a young woman passes through the bazaar, she inevitably attracts the amorous glances of young men. That is why women rather take a long detour than walk through the bazaar. Very rarely, there is an exchange of smiles, messages are subconsciously conveyed by the eyes and a secret liaison ensues. There is no way of knowing how widespread secret relationships are. Often they are the subject of village gossip.