Blair becomes a Roman Catholic ...

... why is this news? It's certainly not much of a surprise.

The Roman Catholic Church is no worse than any other church within the Christian community of faiths or other religion or belief system based upon myth and most major religions are full of deeply flawed individuals. I expect that I am offending a lot of people by writing as I do, but frankly I really don't care. I've had to listen to so much nonsense spoken by Catholics, Anglicans, Moslems, Jews, Baptists, Mormons, Revivalists, Jehovahs Witnesses, etc., etc., that to expect me to take them seriously is far beyond what is reasonable. So some Catholics don't think it appropriate that he be accepted into their faith? It's no real surprise - they are all so wacky that a Widdecombe or a Winning (the luckily 'late') would be doing no more than providing reassuring confirmation of their general strangeness. The awful Ruth Kelly we are told tried to inflict her weird prejudices on the nation last year; we must at least be thankful that Blair did not let what may be his own personal beliefs influence the policies of his government unduly. The awful Cormac Murphy O'Connor has presumably felt that the media-value of a high-profile convert such as Blair to his faith outweighs the flaws in Blair's law-making record from an orthodox Catholic viewpoint (age of consent equalistation, Civil Partnerships, gays in the military, etc). Nothing illustrates more clearly the cynicism of the Catholic Church, and ultimately its moral bankruptcy (if that were needed after the scandals in many countries over many years involving priestly paedophilia and the cover-ups, until secular law caught up with it and forced it to make monetary recompense) than the acceptance into its 'loving fold' of a man such as Blair whose actions when he was in power so flagrantly breached the Church's teachings.

For those who are exercised on this subject, Fraser Nelson in the Spectator had an interesting article last month - some of the comments are variously illuminating or bizarre. What else would one expect from many of these people?

For those who notice my current greeting in this blog wishing visitors a 'Merry Christmas', it should be noted that this sentiment is purely secular in nature - I have no religiously-based intention in mind, but I enjoy a holiday as much as anyone so if Christmas provides an excuse for one then I'm quite happy to play along for the sake of an easy and pleasant life. Go in Peace ...