What was once holy…
Photo by Kristina Tripkovic on Unsplash

There were once things, not long ago, that appeared infallible and immune from corruption. Liberties which were inalienable and universally enjoyed in society, such liberties as the freedom of movement and speech, the freedom to gather with friends, loved ones and compatriots without fear of retribution. This most arduous of years though, has seen the systematic removal of these fundamental rights; movement has been restricted, business has been halted, speech censored and, perhaps most disastrously, our ability to meet our loved ones prohibited. As if this sombre state of affairs wasn’t enough for us to bare, we now have been instructed by our ‘leaders’ (masters or overseers I believe to be a more apt title) that the most cherished holiday of all in conventional western culture is to be infringed upon also.

Yes, Christmas is the latest target of government Cromwell-esque policy. What was once deemed holy and totally unassailable has fallen victim to the seemingly insatiable appetite of our rulers who seek to consume all that we once cherished in life. Christmas is celebrated by theists and atheists alike, it is-or rather was- above all, a time for families to retreat from the humdrum of their everyday lives to reconvene, connect and love one another . It has become, like so many other things this year, hijacked and restricted by the powerful.

We are told not to go and see family this year, not to embrace our loved ones, not to go out for meals or meet friends. Instead, we are asked to sit in lonely isolation for the fear of propagating this pseudo-pandemic so many of us are terrified of. Statistics do indicate an epidemic in late March-April but that episode is all but over as the ONS weekly death statistics show, there is no significant rise in weekly deaths compared to the five year average https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=%2fpeoplepopulationandcommunity%2fbirthsdeathsandmarriages%2fdeaths%2fdatasets%2fweeklyprovisionalfiguresondeathsregisteredinenglandandwales%2f2020/publishedweek492020.xlsx . Is the government not underestimating the detriment to health that will result from yet more state-enforced loneliness? Could this be the catalyst for the deaths of thousands of elderly people who have been so deprived of contact this year ? Could it also lead to an even steeper increase in suicide levels (which are on track to be the highest in years) only time will tell…

https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=%2fpeoplepopulationandcommunity%2fbirthsdeathsandmarriages%2fdeaths%2fdatasets%2fstandardofproofsuicidedata%2f1981to2020/standardofproofreferencetables.xlsx
['O.T. Paynter-Wells']
['Politics', 'Loneliness', 'Christmas', 'Mental Health', 'Christianity']