Honesty

Ethics and standards, especially in public life have been much in the news this week as Parliament debated the report on the conduct of our former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. In the United States, former President Donald Trump has legal difficulties of his own. People will form their own judgements on these individuals, but much of the concern relates to trust; how can we have faith in leaders if they allegedly lie and mislead us? There seems to be an argument that the end justifies the means; provided leaders deliver prosperity and security, does it matter if they mislead and twist the truth? Politics is the art of the possible. all leaders manipulate the news so why get worked up about it?

I am aware that we all manage information to suit our own purposes; we sometimes deal with sensitive situations where we may need to decide what is the least-bad way forward. It is not always wise to be completely transparent in these situations. But when we are in these situations, we need to recognise the difficult course we are navigating. What disturbs me is when some individuals appear to become so comfortable with ignoring the truth that they simply do not recognise they are on a very dangerous path. Not only are they dishonest with others, they become dishonest with themselves. in the Judaeo-Christian tradition there is a simple word for this lack of self-awareness ; “sin”.

Rev David Poyner

Father’s Day

This Sunday will be Father’s Day. Dad never seemed greatly concerned about this, but I always bought him a card and he was pleased, if a little surprised, to get it. Mum was never impressed with the idea of Father’s Day; for her it was just something that card makers had invented to increase their sales. She did have something of a point; does anyone remember “Grandparent’s Day”, which really was a piece of marketing by the greeting card companies. Oddly enough she did not feel the same way about Mothering Sunday, although in fairness that was a day with much more ancient roots, albeit reinvented in the 20th century both by society and, in rare piece of successful opportunism, by the church.

Despite it’s purely secular roots, many churches will be saying prayers for fathers this Sunday; thanks for past or present relationships, or where appropriate, for healing or closure on fractured relationships. I have really only good memories of my Dad and for that I am very grateful. However, I am still haunted by the words of a young man I met whilst I was training, a resident of a local YMCA and held captive by drug addiction. He had a young son but was in despair; “You try and be a good father, a good example, and you can’t”.

For what is good, we thank you loving Father; for what is not, Lord in your mercy hear our cry.

Rev David Poyner

Can Computers have souls?

I saw the film “2001, A Space Odyssey” when I was about 8; I was far too young to understand it but now I understand why many saw it as being prophetic. Amongst other things, it concerns a rogue computer, Hal, who has been programmed to ensure the success of a space mission. Hal decides the human crew may be imperilling the mission and so it follows its own logic by seeking to kill them. This week saw the announcement from the US Defence Department that a drone, equipped with artificial intelligence to strike a target, would in all probability kill its own operator if the individual sought to recall it. Computers programmed with artificial intelligence have great potential for good; I work with a colleague essentially using a simple form of this to design new drugs. However, the experts in the field are worried for a reason; how do we programme in morality and ethics? I suspect this is a problem which can be solved, at least to a degree, but if this is done, what then is the status of the computer? Would it fully replicate the way a human would behave, at least one driven by pure logic? In the film, 2001, Hal pleaded with the surviving astronauts not to switch it off, to spare its “life”.

Some years before “2001” was made, a scientist-priest, Teilhard de Chardin, also pondered what makes us human. He wrote “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience”. I wonder if it this that ultimately will seperate us from intelligent, even moral, computers?

Rev David Poyner

Doubt as Faith

A few weeks ago in a family gathering, the conversation moved to a dead relative who had been a vicar. One person wasn’t sure just how much he actually believed; when she had talked to him he apparently admitted to doubts and uncertainties. I have to say in my conversations with him I never noticed this, but perhaps that was just me. However, I wonder if the issue was that, as a vicar, my relative was expected to be confident that he knew the answers to all the hard questions in life, to have solved the mysteries of suffering and to know precisely what would happen when we die. If that was the case, then I too will disappoint many.

As a scientist, I spend my working life grasping with mysteries and things I do not understand. As I write this, I am trying to work out why an experiment I did this week did not work; I may never know but I will carry on and try and solve the problem another way. I am comfortable with doubt. So it also is in my spiritual life; the only difference is that God is the ultimate in mystery; when I conclude a service by praying that we may have the peace of God, “that passes human understanding”, that is not a cop-out, it is an admission that there is a limit to what the human mind can achieve. Over the years, I have come to recognise that my doubts are just another aspect of my faith; they remind me that I need to approach God with awe and wonder, not trusting in my own intellect.

Rev David Poyner