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It gets my goat...

Belief as Accessory

There's nothing quite as irritating as when people hold opinions because they think they ought to rather than because they've actually done something so radical as to think about it (heaven forbid!). This sort of behaviour comes in two flavours – one far worse than the other in my opinion.

The first, and by far less obnoxious, of  the two groups of people are those who hold opinions because their peers do. All very well and good if you have intelligent and articulate peers, but unfortunately this isn't always the case, and false ideas can spread through groups of impressionable young people like wildfire.

A good example would be a conversation I had with a vegetarian activist friend eight or so years ago on the subject of Irradiated Food (whatever happened to that?). Now I'm just as concerned as the next woman about what I eat, and so on hearing that Emily was against Irradiated Food I jumped at the chance of finding out a little more about it. I asked her why it was worth campaigning against.

"Well, " she said, "It's radiation, innit? That's bad."

I have since found out that the process of food irradiation kills harmful bacteria and stops food going off but is not going to make your tomatoes glow in the dark, any more than having your teeth X-rayed by the dentist is going to make them radioactive.  The problem with irradiating food is that the gamma radiation breaks up the molecular structure of the food and creates  a whole new set of  chemicals including benzene,   formaldehyde and a whole bag-load of mutagens and carcinogens. What's more Irradiation destroys vitamins and enzymes and eliminates "friendly" bacteria thus making "fresh" fruit and veg about as nutritious as a pot-noodle without the noodle.

The point I'm making here is that by holding ill-informed or just plain ignorant opinions, people like my friend Emily can often do any movement they're involved in untold harm, especially if they end up as a spokesperson...

However, Emily's heart was – and still is! -  in the right place.

On the other hand it could be argued that the second group of people holding views under false pretenses don't even have hearts at all.

You must have seen them – usually making a lot of noise at political demonstrations and acting as if they think they're at a rock festival. And that's the nub of the matter, for these people holding political views is just a fashion accessory. It doesn't really matter whether they're standing on the picket line with the Liverpool Dockers or going to see Chumbawamba; the important thing is that they've done it more than so-and-so has. True political activists don't have time for dyeing their dreadlocks green, painting Celtic knotwork on the back of their jackets and posturing; they're too busy working for the cause, writing, demonstrating and fighting for their beliefs.

If you are involved in  a radical movement that has inadvertently attracted such followers, don't worry, these people don't really have that long an attention span.

Before you know it they'll be off.

Just as long as you don't irradiate them.