I am an ex-cyclist. I quit
when it was me calling for my children to wait up, rather than the other way
around. They were mid-teens at that point, I think. Now they're late twenties.
When I finally dispensed with my unloved and neglected bike, I didn't even
accord it the dignity of flogging it on Ebay. The lime green Raleigh roadster
was deposited without ceremony at Warminster recycling centre. Destined for a
new life in India, apparently.
I wasn’t much of a cyclist anyway. I don't think I've ever knowingly worn Lycra. My top speed was probably achieved as a paper boy. A dog I regularly encountered in Tredegar Street, Rhidwerin would snap at my pedals until the road went downhill on entering my home village of Bassaleg near Newport. Eat your heart out, Geraint Thomas.
With apologies to Orwell's Animal Farm, for me, it's a case of "two legs good, two wheels bad." Cyclists may object. Oh, well. For their sakes, my wife and I must repeatedly stop holding hands to let them whizz past when we're strolling along the Kennet & Avon towpath.
And my point is? Oddly, that freedom is a precious thing. Cyclists are free to get on their bikes, while I'm free never to get in the saddle again. Old married couples and two wheelers may groan at the sight of each other on the K&A, but neither party owns the towpath. We just have to give each other a bit of space to do our own thing.
Now, freedom has limits. I'm not at liberty to push cyclists into the canal as they pedal past. Cyclists aren't free to run into us if we’re a bit tardy getting out of the way. Similarly, the law does not give us liberty to incite violence against others. As keyboard warriors who made incendiary comments during the summer riots have found to their cost.
But with all the necessary qualifications in place, in a democratic society, we need to be able to say stuff that other people may find objectionable or even offensive. Christians shouldn't have a problem with that, as we don't believe people can be coerced into the kingdom of God. We demand no aid from the state when it comes to advancing or defending our beliefs. Our God requires no blasphemy laws to protect the honour of his name.
The truth is best served by making space for an honest and forthright exchange of views, even when some of those views are despised by fashionable opinion. Otherwise, you end up with a vicious cycle of intolerance and repression. Freedom withers, truth is sacrificed. As Jesus himself once said, 'You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.'
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