So recently there have been many things on the news and etc which I have views on, but a couple of conversations have forced me to think more deeply about what my full and rounded argument is towards them, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t know. For that reason, and for the first time in ages, I’m going to share this post with the world of the Facebooks, and I’m hoping some people will share their views to help me with mine.

Thing 1.

Ashers Bakery. I’m assured by my Irish friend that they do nice baking, but apparently they are a bit homophobic, so that’s an issue.

They’ve recently been in the news for refusing to fulfill an order which would depict the ever-lovable Bert and Ernie supporting gay marriage. Their grounds for this: they are a Christian bakery and they felt fulfilling the order would go against their beliefs and against the bible.

So why am I not sure? Well, as far as I’m concerned, homophobia is generally not nice and I don’t generally support the people who do it. However, they are a private company, and they really do have a right to their beliefs as well. They went about it the right way, offering a full refund and as far as I can glean, being perfectly polite. I don’t get the impression that they were unwilling to serve the customer – just not make that particular cake. They mention in the article that they have refused cakes before with pornographic images on, and rightly so. I’m not sure this situation is different.

Thing 2.

Israel and Palestine. This is a big one, I know. Having done a degree in Arabic, I’ve naturally come into contact with the subject both socially and academically. Socially, I get somewhat biased information, because my friends are mostly pro-Palestine (many vehemently so). Academically my appreciation of the subject is well balanced, but that doesn’t really help.

Why I don’t know. Well, where do I start? I think my fundamental issue here is that this isn’t a war that should be happening, but it is thanks to some poor decisions made by rich colonialists with nothing better to amuse themselves. The history of the conflict is absolutely deplorable, and makes me feel that everyone outside of the disputed territories should probably back off, because look how well it turned out the last time we joined in.

That being said, the killing is seemingly endless, and I understand the desire of people around the world to help. The issue is that if you really believe in just saving lives, you shouldn’t take sides, yet people do. I have another issue, which is that I feel the Israeli government need to behave better. It is acknowledged that they are working against terrorists, and a modern government should be embarrassed to lower themselves to the same tactics being used by the terrorists.

Thing 3.

The NHS accepting more bariatric surgery in order to combat the rise of type 2 diabetes. Previously the NHS had been offering surgery such as gastric bands to patients with a BMI of 35+ (the average being 20-25). The proposed change will drop this to 30+, and with each operation costing in the region of £15,000, could make a significant dent in NHS finances.

I strongly believe that  the NHS should exist to help all people, regardless of the background of their case, but I have to admit that this one is a bit of a stumbling block for me. Diabetes can be debilitating, but a lot of obese people could work harder to help themselves. I’m not in the fat-shaming game here, and I love the surge in general body-acceptance that has come over the last few years, but acceptance of yourself should not be an excuse for laziness and I do think that sometimes the availability of a so-called “easy way out” like surgery just perpetuates the issue.

Now. I am done with my things, but as you can see, there are two sides to every story and at the moment I’m either torn between them, or on the fence. I’d love any input which people can share as to which way they think I should go – don’t forget to keep it civil though!