Ramadan...

Sadiq Khan wrote in the Guardian, yesterday, about how difficult it will be for him to observe Ramadan this year. “Because of the lunar calendar, Ramadan moves back by twelve days each year, and we’re now at the peak of long summer days. A lot of these fasts are going to be 19 hours long. It’s scary”. What, it’s scary to obey meaningless injunctions set down, many centuries ago, in some ‘holy’ book? “Anyone who knows me knows that I’m miserable during Ramadan”, he admits. So… don’t do it, Sadiq. Assert your independence of mind and spirit by doing what you think is right.

First we invent a set of rules. Then then we pretend they came from God. Then we slavishly follow them. What makes us curtail our freedom so readily? Why do we restrict our choices and hobble our creativity? Why can’t we live without our rituals and ceremonies? Why are we so keen to surrender our autonomy to authority figures that we feel impelled to invent them?…

Goole...