So, Cardinal Newman is made a saint. A man from a wealthy banker background in London and an academic. Doesn’t it reek of the establishment, of elevating our betters, our male betters, as an example to us all? The Times stated that he experienced severe challenges during his lifetime. That, apparently, refers to his decision whether to remain Church of England or become a Catholic. Any signs of real hardship are missing. Poverty, unemployment – forget it. Neither is he a saint for our global warming challenges. I think I would prefer a pagan!

Dreamers

Seriously, this is all evidence of navel gazing, of religions bound to principles completely remote from the modern world. I don’t doubt the man’s integrity, I just doubt his relevance. All those saints, all that praying, and here we are heading for disaster. The exploitation of the world because we have dominion over it, according to religion, was always a recipe for failure.

Womens rights

For certain, I am touching on an even more delicate subject here. It appears that Cardinal Newman was made a saint because he answered the prayer for help from a woman currently living in America. Women have a responsibility for their own emancipation. Men are not closer to god, nor are they conduits in speaking to god. Neither are men moral authorities. That is all the hype and clever marketing of most religions over millennia. Women must distance themselves from the old patriarchal ways.

A Saint for our global warming

If you must pray then direct it to mother nature, a saint for our troubled times. She is brutal but fair, destructive and yet reforming, with no toadying to mankind. If we pray to her and then default on our promises, we suffer. She has looked on, in horror, for thousands of years. During that time we have destroyed all the wildwood and sent vast numbers of creatures to their doom. Yet, each day she puts up the sun and sends the nourishing rains, but now with a touch of excess. I think she is annoyed and no male saint is going to placate her.