Unparalleled revolution

Christianity has been here for 2,000 years and, yet, few stop to reflect just what an unparalleled revolution it has brought about. In pagan societies, life had no value at all, especially for the poor and the weak. Slaves had no rights whatsoever and could be used and abused by their masters at will.

Women lived in submission to fathers and husbands and the latter could repudiate them whenever they so decided. Infanticide was common if the father thus decreed.

Christianity eventually put an end to all this. Those with no hope were now being given the dignity of being children of God ‘made in His own image’. Thus, it is rightly said that Christianity took Rome by storm.

One could argue that Christians have blasphemously committed atrocities in the name of their faith. The wars of religion are a case in point. Even today, one could cite those Christians who behave abominably towards the unfortunate migrants who live among them. It should, however, be clarified that whenever Christians behave in this manner they go directly against what Christ has taught us. The Lord never asked us to commit crimes in His name. He preached love towards all and even forgiveness towards one’s enemies.

 How sad it is that today much that Christianity had abolished over the centuries is being restored: divorce, abortion, including the infanticide of full-term babies, the normalisation of homosexual behaviour etc. It is almost as if 2,000 years of Christianity have been erased and, thus, our Western world slowly descends into new forms of barbarism so reminiscent of pre-Christian societies.

The euthanising of the elderly, the infirm and ‘imperfect’ babies: where is the difference between the latter and the exposure of babies in ancient times?

Indeed, for all our posturing our societies are resembling more and more those of pagan times where the powerful used to lord it over the weak and the vulnerable.

Christ ‘the light of the world’ and His good news being set aside, the consequences can,  thus only lead to a dark night of hopelessness and nothingness. 

JACQUELINE CALLEJA – Naxxar

Brave politicians needed to tackle traffic

We have a mono-modal car-only transport system. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

On November 14, 2011, 10 years ago, the then Bicycling Advocacy Group, now the NGO ROTA, received an e-mail reply from Transport Malta asking them to attend a meeting to discuss a national cycling policy. We are still waiting for one.

Had that been written, and it does not have to be complicated or technical, which can come in other thicker tomes, we would have been better prepared for micromobility, for e-scooters, for bidirectionality and have standards we could be proud of rather than laugh at. Instead, we have built roads for cars, removed cycle lanes, added footpaths cyclists can share with pedestrian connections in the middle of nowhere.

Ten years ago, we could have bought time for petrol and diesel car drivers by building in a zero emissions buffer; managed parking space better (another buried national policy) by encouraging modes where people don’t have to fight each other for parking. Instead our ‘mono’ has gone off the rail and become a mono-modal car-only transport system, painting ourselves firmly into the corner and, now, we are too scared to budge and upset the voting public. Themselves stuck in traffic.

Too scared to admit we have failed to provide for modern urban mobility. Let’s face it, we’ve even made walking difficult. Oh it’s not the foot scooters, it’s the lack of crossings, the long waits while your bus across the road disappears into the distance or a policy of bridge crossings with lifts that seem to break down far too often. Too scared to admit we need foot scooters and bikes and, yes, pedestrians far more than we need cars in our towns and cities where all the streets, without exception, are one-way parking lots, rather than places and spaces to live and enjoy.

Someone once said you have to be brave to cycle here but it shouldn’t be that way. What Malta really needs right now is a brave politician or two.

JIM WIGHTMAN – St Julian’s