New content over at www.raggedyanngirl.com

Since I last updated here my new webpage www.raggedyanngirl.com - Raggedy Ann Girl in a Barbie Doll World has really taken shape!


This week we have a Halloween Special, my recipe for Creamy Tomato Soup, and recommendations for handcare and winter nail polishes!

If you haven't yet visited then please take a look - there's so much more over there than there is here! And don't forget to leave a comment.

See you over there!
Nicola x

NEW POST NOW UP AT WWW.RAGGEDYANNGIRL.COM

Feeling a bit down about the ever-deepening autumn? Take heart, light a candle and go to Raggedy Ann Girl in a Barbie Doll World's new home!

 Latest 'blog'  - "Time to Hunker Down Again" is now up at www.raggedyanngirl.com

See you there!

Please link to www.raggedyanngirl.com

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PAGE IS NO  LONGER BEING UPDATED.
THE ENTIRE BLOG ARCHIVE HAS BEEN COPIED OVER TO OUR NEW WEBSITE;
RAGGEDY ANN GIRL IN A BARBIE DOLL WORLD AT WWW.RAGGEDYANNGIRL.COM WHERE NEW UPDATES, MORE FEATURES, PHOTOS, REVIEWS AND BLOGS ARE BEING CONSTANTLY UPDATED.

 PLEASE GO THERE NOW AND BOOKMARK THE NEW SITE. ALSO, PLEASE LEAVE YOUR DETAILS ON THE CONTACT PAGE AND I WILL BE SURE TO LET YOU KNOW WHEN AN UPDATE APPEARS.

I'm On the Move!

For a while now I've been getting ready to move this blog to a new location. This will be the last update posted on this Blogger page. My new site, a more expanded, more varied website can now be found at www.raggedyanngirl.com.
For those of you that are regular followers, and for those who just pop by from time to time, I would like to ask you to join me over at the new site. There'll be the same regular updates as well as reviews, photo galleries and many other features.
Although this blog will remain online for the time being, I fully intend to close it down once everything, archive included, is moved to the new home.

Just Enough Religion to Make Us Hate?

I've always thought it rather ironic that religion, the one thing that should  surely bring humanity together, is so often the tool used to prise us apart.That some of the people who you would hope were preaching universal love and respect for our fellows are instead encouraging mistrust and even hate.

Jonathan Swift, the great Irish writer and satirist of the early 18th century, wrote: "We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another."  Actually, as clever a man as Swift was, I don't agree with him. The vast majority of the planet's population are good people who, when pressed into action, will go out of their way to help people - even complete strangers. There are days it doesn't seem like it, but you only have to read reports of major disasters or during crises to see that it is the case. The people who use religious belief to draw lines of division between us are much the same people who use race, or sexual orientation or even, on a much less dramatic stage, team affiliation to do it. It is not about religious hate. Indeed, it's not really to do with religion at all. It's just about hate.

And, of course, those who seek to spread religious or racial hate are well versed in using tabloid sensationalism and our natural suspicion of what we don't understand to their advantage.
The truth is that the religious extremists that choose to enlist terrorists and fire up hatred represent only the tiniest minority of the believers of any of the world's religions. So there is simply no point blaming religion, or those that practice it, for the evils that human beings do to oneanother. Surely the recent plans of the American preacher to publicly burn Korans on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks has taught even the most skeptical among us several important lessons: that any religion is open to manipulation by extremists; that no extremist who calls upon his  supposed beliefs as a reason to commit wicked acts is a true believer of any religion; that an extremist can in no way be accepted as a proper representative of the religion he or she claims to follow; and that true believers of any religion cannot be held to account for the actions of extremists.

It's always bewildered me that anyone should choose to see the differences between themselves and others, when they could look for the similarities. I grew up in a very multicultural area and as a child had friends from many different religious and cultural backgrounds. I attended a Christian Sunday School while many of my friends attended religious schools and services for their own faiths. It was something we had in common, not which divided us. When I went to senior school there were no hymns and prayers of course, but we did have compulsory RE lessons. I had three RE teachers - one of whom was an atheist and taught us about the world's different religions. Ironically, by the time our RE lessons were taught by a born-again Christian, they no longer mentioned God. Instead we discussed moral issues.

Perhaps I was fortunate because my schooling, my parents and my experience taught me to see the person not the label. But I'd like to think that I would have come to this conclusion myself. After all, it's plain common sense (something which often seems sadly lacking if you believe the tabloid headlines) isn't it? 

Whatever the reason, however, I've always been rather encouraged with the idea of coexistence.The theory that God is God no matter what we call him (or her!). That no religion is better or more important than any other. And that being a good person is not reliant on having any religious faith, just as being religious is no guarantee of being a good person  After all, those extremists manage some heinous atrocities despite their supposed religious beliefs. Surely that is something we should all remember? Because, whether we believe God is an old man with a white beard, Mother Nature herself or the figment of a fertile imagination, it's our moral compass that guides us, not a book of rules.

 

Welcome newcomers & old friends alike!

I'd like to say "Hi' to the many new people who have popped by over the last few weeks - it's all very exciting to have new folk over. Very soon I shall be moving, yes, lock, stock & barrel, over to a new home complete with its own domain name: www.raggedyanngirl.com. This will allow me a lot more scope to develop Raggedy Ann Girl in a Barbie Doll World into an even better place to visit.

Please look out for further information. I'm right in the middle of the switchover, but you should see no interruption to the regular posts until I am fully up and running at the new site. I'll keep you posted and, of course, let you know as soon as I'm ready to go. Some of the archive is already over there but raggedyanngirl.com is still very much 'under construction' so, if you do decide to take a sneak peak, don't forget to mind the dust!