Me 2 You – January 2020
The theme for this month accidentally became freedom, I pulled together three pieces of content which I had no plan to link but scrolling through my notes and documents I found two uncompleted pieces of writing around that them.
The first one, The Meaning of Freedom, started out as me trying to explore what it means to be free and where the boundaries of personal freedom and what we need to give up so we can be protected. But also remind of the advantage of the liberty we have in the UK.
I also wanted to look at the beginning of the 2020s what freedom and being free is today.
Writing my what has become an annual HMD post is always challenging, you need to find the right language. I was writing this after the General Election and during the standoff between Iran and the US. It was always going to focus on how divided our world is in 2020.
I attended the civil Holocaust Memorial Day event, sitting there listing to a woman who came to Britain on the Kindertransport was an incredible reminder. Auschwitz is somewhere I will always remember as it’s a crime scene.
HMD always reminds me of why I fight for rights of everyone, it starts with a lie or bad experiences of a few can lead to fake news and disinformation which can ultimately lead to genocide. Now more than ever the lessons are important, we have ‘left’ the EU, we will ‘fully’ leave in December, but we mustn’t allow this to lead us to a less tolerant society.
Auschwitz 75 – Lessons in a divided world
I have a few articles drafted out in note form, these are for pride month in June. Last June’s Me 2 You, I mentioned that I wish I had thought of writing some articles, as for the LGBT Baptist (Working title), that is still being consulted on with a minster.
This month’s The Question examined an ever-growing topic of free speech, how do you determine what people can say without being offensive. Freedom of speech I believe is a right, but also one you must remember is privileged.
What is ahead in February? New challenges and our ‘The Question’ is What Makes A society. Also, I’m heading away for a week where I hope to have time to write.