Given that the Pope has been visiting Westminster, speaking yesterday in Westminster Hall, I thought it appropriate for this week’s quiz to have a religious theme. There are peers drawn from a wide range of religions and of none (there is an active humanist group in the House). As usual, the first two readers to supply the correct answers will be the winners.
1. Of the 26 Lords Spiritual, five sit ex officio rather than by reason of length of service. Of the five, who is the longest serving?
2. Which senior Liberal Democrat peer is a Buddhist?
3. The Chief Rabbi (Lord Sacks) sits in the House of Lords as a crossbencher. There is also a rabbi who sits on the Liberal Democrat benches. Who is it?
4. One crossbench peer is a Parsi Zoroastrian. Who is it?
I don’t usually answer the Quizzes, but have to ask this. Why do we think of the Humanist as nonreligious? Its not like Atheism makes one not Religious, is it? A Religion is not belief in and about gods and supernatural powers, rather, Religion is, and always has been defined as , our beliefs about the nature of our existence and its fundamental meaning. In this way, any Philosophical outlook on the nature of our life, and existence as a whole, will be a Religion. Humanism is specifically a Philosophy that covers exactly the same ground as Religion and, in the minds of its devotees, actually serves the same function in providing them an intellectual framework from which they can understand the world around them, and supplies them a means of interpreting the event sin their life and to give them some meaningful way to understand it and relate to it. So I have to wonder why Humanism is not a Religion. Not all Religions have a god, nor do all have Supernatural powers. In fact, some Religions have gods but not the Supernatural, which is a relatively late concept anyway. So, simply not believing in God, or any god, or the Supernatural surly isn’t enough to preclude you from being a Religion.
While it is true that Humanists tend to say they aren’t Religious, and many even grow quiet angry if you say they are, I don’t really see the Viable distinction between Humanism and Religion.
Oh and Dr Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, has sat the longest. Not sure who the Buddhist LibDem is though.
Oh dear Winchester perhaps?
Avebury
Neuberger
Bilimoria
I also forgot that Lord Karan Bilimora is the Zoroastrian. His maiden speech was to disuses the importance of Trade with India.
1) The Bishop of Winchester
2) Lord Avebury
3) Lady Neuberger
4) Lord Bilimoria
Hmmm, I do admit that I had to have a sneaky check on google for a couple of questions this week… and I’m still not 100%
1. The Bishop of London
2. Lord Avebury
3. Baroness Neuberger
4. Lord Billimoria
1. Lord Bishop of London
2. Lord Avebury
3. Baroness Neuberger
4. Lord Bilimoria
1. The Bishop of Winchester
2. Lord Avebury
3. Baroness Neuberger
4. Lord Bilimoria
The first question was clearly the one that posed the greatest challenge. The Bishops of London and Winchester were introduced into the House of Lords in 1996, having taekn up their bishoprics in 1995. There were only a few days separating their introductions. Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, was introduced on 22 January 1996 and Richard Scott-Joynt, the Bishop of Winchester, on 12 February 1996.
The answers are thus the Bishop of London, Lord Avebury (formerly Eric Lubbock), Baroness Neuberger, and Lord Bilimoria. Congratulations therefore to Emmy and Jonathan, who were the first two readers to supply the correct answers, getting in just ahead of Rob. Zarove was the first to identify the Bishop of London as the answer to question one.
Lord Norton.
Should I advise you to avoid getting on Lord Bilmoria’s bad side? Doubtless not subtle enought to be funny if one really knows the creed, but I am sort of smiling.
A ‘Quaker’ elder once opined that
1) Spirituality tends to mean God’s direct connectivity with the individual human being and vice versa;
Whilst
2) Religion is the inter-positioning of group-human-experience and mind-functioning between God and Humankind.
Summarised:
Spirituality is essentially God connecting direct to the individual human being and vice versa;
Religion is Dogma about God decided and imposed by organised groups of human-beings.
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0138Sn19Sep
“Spirituality is essentially God connecting direct to the individual human being and vice versa;” Yes and any old God!
Seems Gareth Howell has long known of some new God or other, but isn’t able to tell us all about that herein.
1519T21
A whiteboard “Web” is a very good basic way to circumspectly but very simply “map” an Issue, Topic, Matter, or Question.
Have any of the Lords of the Blog thought about Posting two contrasting blogs every week, to “Construct a Strategic Web”, one to surround issues posted by Peers of the Blog, and the other to be limited to “webbing” issues submitted by People or the public ?
Such might well help to form a stronger and better-working ‘rapport’ and channel between Public and Parliament and vice versa*,
or between Parliament and Public and vice versa* ?
We would simply have to “imagine” a whiteboard array of circles around a central topic, each circle-filler being progressively submitted, succinctly as a head-word or short descriptive title-phrase no longer than one line of 15 words.
I believe even classroom children below the “Ten Year Old” level are quite familiar with and capable of working with the simple Web graphic, as distinct from successively more detailed “Mind-Maps” and even more complicated “Flow Charts” (?)
Both ‘graphics’ should be not only quite possible to run on a Lords of the Blog e-site as “one-line-of-words-maximum = one proposed component-circle”.
Depending upon the expected total of participants, Lords could set a limit to the number of circles per participant, per posting and per participant-total:
30 expected participants, one circle each per posting, individual limit 3 circles total.
10 expected, two circles each at one posting, limit 5 circles per participant.
The Posting peer could surely flex the rules according to participation Quantity and Quality ?
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*(the vice versa caveat spelled out here is necessary because of behind-the-scenes “Agenda-cornering power-plays” politicking habits, and other democracy-undermining dangers; and because the submissor both believes and reasons that circumspection and an all-inclusive-holism should be basic rules at the outset of any democratic-advance, and be primary guidelines ever thereafter).
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1409Sn19Sep
Lord Norton,
I will say that the State Visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI was more of a sign of hope than I could have expected. Quite a contrast with the fact that John Cardinal Newman lived a life more strictly straightened than one can believe ever happened in Western Europe to a Cardinal. I never have hoped for a peaceful sentiment towards the British Establishment for long without having qucikly had reason to abandon it and see that a truce is all I personally can hope for spiritually (in the broadest sense). However, this weekend was something on the deposits column to balance the seemingly endless liabilities in reaching some sense of mutuality…
Lord Norton, your quiz blog topic gives rise to an Idea, both about naming & “Mind-ing” and about potential democratic People-advancement; for one does need to tread carefully and appropriately, through topics, and issues, that here are essentially about all sorts of real-life and governance situations and predicaments; doesn’t one ?
((((( One could communicate this kind of matter with good initial Clarity, Charity, and potential Self-Correction, possibly in less than 250 words. Cable-wise (Americanese for ‘telegram’) the ouevre below is less than 25 words )))))
“How many domains-of-knowledge/human-activity could the House be grouped under ? ‘peers of humanism’,’peers of philosophy’,’peers of Science’ ?”
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jsdm0833922 (103 words)