Gaggers at Work Live and let live has long been
the guiding philosophy of woolly-minded humanists like my- self, and I propose to stick to this childlike maxim; but it's getting tougher these days. and I'm thinking at the moment not of the Com- munist menace but of resurgent Christian mili- tancy. One High Court judge (himself a pious Christian, and good luck to him) has declared that 'morality' is basic, and that it ought to have the sanction of law; which I take to mean that if I act on my moral principles, he would like to gaol me. Then I found myself recently talking to an earnest young clergyman who was ready (as a generous concession) to tolerate my own unbelief, but who assumed that of course, on principle, I would he bringing up my children as Christians. On his principle, that is. not on mine. Actually I don't, on principle, claim that Christian parents should bring their children up on scepticism, although I think scepticism is bet- ter for them. But in the frenzied emotional climate of the moment, I can see this ugly old brand of forcible Christian morality gathering new strength and confidence, and it behoves the woolly-minded in this hour of crisis to huddle together and occasionally bark.
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