Whitton Weekly 26 December 2014 Number 11 The Independent voice of Whitton and Heathfield. UNEASE AT GLASGOW RELIGIOUS CEREMONY We are all human: we all understand the grief felt by family and friends of those who died so tragically at Glasgow’s Queen St on Monday 22nd. What we don’t understand is the Mass at a Roman Catholic cathedral. It is common knowledge that many of us who go shopping at Christmas are not remotely religious. Christmas is the time when traders make the most profit; consumers spend the most money; and children are best behaved and dream of Santa. Which have little to do with religion. It is also a time when families and friends get together. So to suffer 6 heart-breaking deaths at this time is even more poignant. Effective decision making is impaired when you have lost a close relative. Which makes the Archbishop’s call to Mass somewhat questionable Were the victims Roman Catholic? Where they church going Christians? Were they even Religious? The only religious activity in Glasgow of any note is the sectarian violence between Celtic (Roman Catholic) and Rangers (Protestant) football club supporters The Lord Provost of Glasgow holds no religious brief. Not one of the 79 elected members of Glasgow City Council (GCC) was elected on a religious ticket. 45 Labour members, with a smattering of Green, Liberal, SNP, Independent and Conservative. And this paper, which flies no flag for any religious or political persuasion, feels uneasy about this intrusion. Why is this a matter of any importance to the residents of Whitton and Heathfield (Population 20,000)? No man is an island. What happened in Glasgow (pop 2.3 million) and other UK towns and cities sets a precedent and could occur here. If you hold a religious belief, you would not want your grief to be hijacked by an alternative religion, and face an impossible decision whether to attend or not. And if you, like many in this country, avoid any contact with religion, its sectarian squabbles and bloody wars, how would you react ? Was this a PR exercise by the Archbishop to sidestep debate on the disgraced Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brian? Tell us what you think Support Local Shops campaign In the absence of much additional shopping in Whitton we made a trip on Christmas Eve to the London Borough of Richcake and took some photos for you. These were turned into a video which you can see at youtu.be/vr9V4tUB1xg Alone at Christmas We wish to thank our local Member of Parliament, Dr Vince Cable for supporting our campaign for somebody to offer a meal to a person who would be on their own on Christmas day. And special thanks to Abbeyfield in Kew for providing it Editorial Resisting Tradition in a Modern World This is the last issue of Whitton Weekly for 2014. We have gone from strength to strength. Starting with Streetlife and then Facebook we have readers and contributors at all levels of society. Thank you for your comments and encouragement. We wish our readers in Whitton and around the world, all the best for the coming year Letters to the Editor I happened to be doing my Christmas shopping on Small Business Saturday and well over 50% of the presents purchased came from small independent retailers. Nigel H *********** Happy Christmas to you and thanks for producing Whitton Weekly Mrs L ************* VACANCIES Sports writer – there must be some sport in Whitton Our Finance Editor, Hamish McGlumm (If it doesn’t make dollars, it doesn’t make sense) is looking for an assistant STOP PRESS Have a lovely Whitton week Whitton Weekly is a free e-magazine produced by Whitton and Heathfield Independent Publishing © 2014 Maps of Whitton and Heathfield wards openlylocal/wards/556-Whitton openlylocal/wards/546-Heathfield
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 09:48:28 +0000
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