People fighting at Chatsworth or cramming on to beaches 'are either suicidal or stupid'

Last week I wrote my thoughts on what the ‘new normal’ might be like, and in the news this week we’ve seen what some other people think the ‘new normal’ might be, with crowded beaches, a major incident declared in Bournemouth, people fighting at Chatsworth, and a carpet of litter in all these places where the crowds have been.
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We may live in a country where those at the ‘top’ think the rules don’t apply to them, but it’s hard to come to any other conclusion than that the people cramming into these spaces are either suicidal or stupid.

If they don’t care about getting Covid-19, then couldn’t they give some thought to the people they might pass it on to?

Reverend Patrick Coleman at Crooked Spire Church in Chesterfield. 
Reverend Patrick Coleman at Crooked Spire Church in Chesterfield.
Reverend Patrick Coleman at Crooked Spire Church in Chesterfield.
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There’s a difference between taking an informed risk (which we all have to take when going out of the house) and just behaving as if there were no risk at all.

Let’s just hope that when the pubs open things will be more under control.

This isn’t just a plea for sanity and common sense – it’s also a plea on behalf of all those people for whom lockdown has been a major deprivation, and those who are shielding or continue to self-isolate, because if we end up stoking the infection rate, they will be deprived for a good while longer.

One thing noticed by a young volunteer when the church building reopened for personal prayer was the way people were coming in, saying their prayer quietly, lighting a candle, and leaving with a big smile on their faces.

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It speaks volumes for those people who were excluded during the lockdown, for the importance to them of what they were missing, and for the joy they encounter in that silent space.

Most weeks on Facebook, when my article is posted, someone has shown up in the comments to express their contempt for religion.

There are even people in the Church of England who look down on those who find they need the church building in order to pray or to find peace. Why?

Is it not possible to embrace and respect those people too?

They are very often people who don’t find themselves at home anywhere else – if they shouldn’t use the church building for what it has always been there for, what are the critics going to supply in its place?

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What’s happening on the beaches and in so many public places is a reflection of what happens when people are contemptuous of each other – they just get on with what they want to do, regardless of its effect on everyone else.

The future depends on what we are able to do together, with respect for each other’s needs and our own dignity.

Without that there’s not much of a future to look forward to, unless it’s more lockdown…

Keep safe and keep well.

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