"In that case," he said, "why have you been smiling at me every time we've walked past each other since then." I hadn't been smiling, I explained, I'd been grimacing.He apologised and asked for forgiveness, but, as I explained to him, since I've held the grudge now for three years without him knowing about it, I will have to hold the grudge against him for another three years, with his knowledge, to get the full benefit.That's not the oldest grudge I hold. When I was six, a teacher took a class at my infant school and ran a lesson along the lines, "If an alien came to Earth and you had to describe a bus to them, what words would you use?"I remember this lesson clearly because I said, quite accurately, that a bus is red (they all were at the time). "Aliens," said the teacher, "wouldn't necessarily know what red is." It was a fair point, except the next child said that buses are big, and she allowed it. Not only would aliens not necessarily know what big is either, but big, unlike red, is a relative concept.I bumped into this teacher at a wedding not so long ago Her sons were friends of the bride.
That's because today is International Forgiveness Day, as designated by the e-card website www.123greetings . I like this website, which allows you to send endless free e-cards, because it's a fine way of keeping in touch with people who you can't be bothered to actually see. I don't expect to be sending that many forgiveness cards, however, as this is an attribute that does not come easily to me. You may get to work today to find a few interesting e-mails asking for forgiveness for things you have completely forgotten about, or perhaps, if the sender is being churlish, forgiving you for something else you no longer remember. I shall not be supporting the Government's Terrorism Bill on Wednesday for one very simple reason - I do not accept that it can be justified to hold suspects for up to 90 days without trial on the say so of a district judge. I do accept that there is a problem that needs addressing. In several countries, opposition to Turkish accession is explicitly framed as opposition to Muslim membership of a Christian club.The way to respond to this growing crisis is to bring together our young leaders to find common cause in discussions about faith, identity, culture and modernity which their elders may lack the courage to explore..
In Antwerp, 35 per cent voted for the anti-migrant party, Vlaams Belang. Placards saying "Remember 1683" (when the Ottoman armies last besieged Vienna) tell the sad, inadequate story.The European landscape is disfigured by a growing intolerance of the "other". A Belgian policeman in 2005, commented of his city's ban on face-covering by Muslims: "If you put on a Mickey Mouse mask and you start walking around in Antwerp you will be stopped by the police It's that simple. It's not only women in a burka."Attacks on migrants across the continent are increasing - not only on Pakistanis and Turks but on Poles and Roma. The destruction of mosques, synagogues and libraries are all moments in cultural relations. So are the suppression of languages and the banning of national costumes.
