Athena 01

Is it not! Enlighten us all on what the 'norm' is would you.

I think that the work may have stopped at St Paul's that could be why they are not finished yet!

Not really. I'm sure that the levels of crime in the past would come close to today, the only difference is that we hear all about it now! The constant reporting of crime has scared the general public half to death and now we are all at the point were we don't trust anyone and we think that the world is an awful place. I do however agree that some types of crime may be on the increase but I can understand why. The young people of today are feeling disillusioned by our country. They have very little to aim for in many cases and very poor social role models. This didn't happen over night and there is not one isolated group of people who are responsible. We should all take some responsibility for the country in which we live and for those who reside in it.

All of the new housing developments in town I would suspect. Town is over run by these new developments and the demand is not great enough. Sooner or later the council will take them on and use them for social housing.

I think that all parks should have dog zones and no dog zones...that way at least those of us that dont like 'em otr want owt to do with them can be left in peace.... Over !! lol ! Why stop here? Lets have zones for all manner of life's annoyances. Along with zones for dogs, parks should also have zones for children, cyclists and those who want to play ball games among many others. This way we would never have to tolerate others and life we run along smoothly!

Totally agree here, except for the part about English people being fluent in the language. Have you not heard some people!

There are many children who, given the choice, would go back to a parent they have been removed from. It may seem hard to understand why but most children love their parents and will protect them even if they have been abused by them. She is not a role model in our eyes but for her children she may be. She may well be a loving mum, we don't know. Just because she did things that we can not understand dose not necessarily mean she does not love her children. She may have been abused in her life and as a result, does not have the capacity to parent a child. Does this make her a bad person? I don't have the answer to that and it's not for me to judge. I just feel that thinking beyond hatred and judgement and seeing where things started to go wrong for a family is the place to start.

Have you ever tried going to your MP about a local issue?

Doubt he can really remember, it was 10 years ago! Time to get over these things I think!

Define trendy

I really feel for you. It is never nice when people are so cruel. Just be happy in the knowledge that you are a better person and feel sorry for them! Can I also add a comment about your description of the two situations. In the first you mentioned an Asian lady but in the second you only mentioned two lads. Was there a reason that the lady's ethnicity was mentioned. I only ask because this happens a lot on the forum and I was wondering why?

Well look on the bright side, at least you've saved yourself a small fortune in coffee!

This lady has done terrible things and needs to be rehabilitated so that she is fit and safe to return into society. I have to wonder where she has come from and the childhood that she has had. The cycle of deprivation in many families is something that as society we should all be concerned about. There is a good chance that the children of people like Mrs Mathews will grow up to follow similar behaviour pattens and this will just start al over again. I think learning lessons from her and the countless other families out there like her is something for us all to be concerned about. She is not unique, I'm sure there are plenty of families out there just like hers.

WE (as in everyone contributing to the post) are not meaning oui or WE would have said!

A young girl was run over a week or so back. Very sad.

Shepard's Wheel is going to be restored but through local people raising the money themselves. I'm not sure, but I think the Lottery have put some towards it but as I understand there is still tens of thousands still left to raise.

Just to pull you up about where I have mentioned the word rubbish.......I have not taken you word for word I have read your post and looked at the tone and the way you have wrote it. You used things like "just stories" which is in effect rubbishing this view point. This is why I have used the word rubbish. If you only take small parts of posts you do not get the full meaning. I have read each of your posts in full and then been able to see from the tone, what your feelings are. You have taken my posts out of context and used then to draw your own conclusions that suit what you are trying to say.

I think that we can safely say that you think that I am one of these said 'religious people'. I have played with the idea of religion and I would call myself a Christian due to my values and ethics but I am by no means convinced about other things. I was not brought up with it and it's something as an adult I think about along with the other ideas I have from having a open and wide range of view points presented to me. The reason that religion should be and is taught in schools is for learning about culture, history and valuing others. You my well be right and the school have only taught the parts that she has said but I would be very surprised at this. What four year old can real off everything that they have been taught in one day? My suggestion to you is if you are going up to school then approach the teacher by saying that your daughter has enjoyed her lessons on Christianity and Easter and was there any plans to teach about the other religions and their festivals as it has captured her imagination. Then you could go on to ask about the teaching of atheism as this is what you practice at home and your views also want to be fairly represented. This is only a suggestion as it would the way that I would deal with something like this. I always find that approaching something with a positive spin gets my point across far more effectively.

Again, my religious beliefs don't need to come into this. The OP said that his daughter was confused after him explaining that they believed that it was all stories, I have gone from there, assuming that what he stated was true. I support teaching in schools about all religions and their origins as this, like it or not, can teach us about the world we live in today. It is about respect for others. Unfortunately the tone of the OP would suggest that he has little of this for the people who teach his child. I can not help it if this has upset him, I certainly did not mean to do so but, I do find from time to time some people think that disagreeing is a form of offensive behaviour.

I'm sorry but you were the one who suggested that your daughter was confused I simply tired to point out to you what the possible reason for that may have been. I didn't know that we were not having a civil conversation until you made me aware of this fact. Maybe it's the other way round and we have got your back up! As for me you could not be further from the truth. I'm only putting my views across like the rest of these good people. As for as my personal religious beliefs go I'm not really sure this has any baring on the discussion. I have at no point asked you about your personal beliefs, you just happened to share those in your OP.

I think you mistake people getting their backs up with people disagreeing with your statements and arguments about education. If you choose to start such a one sided post you can only expect that people to come froward with alternative ideas. These are not the posts of angry people, just those who dare to disagree with you!

That's fine we will have to agree to disagree. I just felt that in that post you did not take into account the other points that had been made, namely the fact that all religions should be taught.

Read the rest of my posts!

They have to be taught about religion and beliefs at a young age so that when they are older they can question them appropriately and with understanding. Teach them at a later stage and they are far more likely to be influenced by other, more bias parties and therefore far more unlikely to develop accepting and rounded views.

I think that fact that I have used the word 'may' in my posts suggest that I am not saying for a moment that I am cretin just opening up your eyes to the possibilities. I, like everyone else can only go on the information provided. Please elaborate if there is something that you feel has been missed.