I'm trying to work out why Christmas Carol by Dickens was necessarily a theist or Christian thing, but it's really there in the title isn't it?
Certainly most, if not all major 19th century writers wrote from a basically Christian ethos. It was just the natural thing of the time.
It's a pity that Darwinism came to be associated with a disbelieving stance. I myself feel that both things can still be assimilated.
In any case, love is the bottom line, and whether one believes that love is a natural essence associated with life itself or some genetic product of natural selection which compensates us with a balm against the harsh dreadful realities - God bless us all and every one!
Personally, I think love is the greatest thing, which, when we feel this, makes us feel that the universe has a purpose and loves us.
Even if we are the most disbelieving or sceptical of people, it is difficult not to feel sometimes, in a very basic way, when we are touched by love for whatever reason, that love is aware of us individually and somehow makes us feel bigger and unites us with a greater sense of reality.
Nature or evolution - I adhere to the former, but each to their own.
In any case, as Tiny Tim, who had a lot to bear, but still came up cheerful (hence reminding us not to be miserable self-absorbed bastards), said: God bless us every one!
Bests to everyone,
Anthony
