New Name

The name of this blog has been changed to "PostNoan". Let me explain why this is so and the significance of the name change. For over six years I have listened to "The Nolan Show" on Radio Ulster. I listened because I wanted to hear what ordinary people were saying about current affairs in Northern Ireland. This show provided a show case for the ordinary person to have their say. I was aware that the presenter had a style which is typically Northern Ireland: we like to insult each other,it's a sign that we like you if we insult you-sometimes he presents a caring face and can even deal with things in a sensitive manner. A few years ago, for example, there was a fire in the town of Omagh in County Tyrone, in which a whole family were killed. This was a situation which really touched him. at one point he issued an invitation to anyone who could tell him where God was in the situation. on the back of that I did write and suggest that I would talk to him, off the air, but the silence was as palatable as the silence he creates when a institution fails to respond to his overtures to make a comment on something they are charged with doing or overlooking.

Over those years I was prepared to overlook the way he treated people at other times and the delight he takes to sneer at Christians or at anyone who might take an alternative view on the Gay debate. But now I am no longer ready to make allowances, now the time has come to withdraw-I have never been a fan and yet my listening will have added to his number of listeners and encouraged him to brag about being the "Biggest Show in The Country". If there are people out there like me, who leave the radio on all the time then they too are not fans even though they are, technically listening. At this time in our history I want someone to help us to create a better society and the questions I want to ask are positive questions. I want us to talk positively about how knowing God informs the way we live without that making us superior or patronising. Most of the time I have ended my listening with great frustration. this show simply gives a platform for complaining and the blame culture and it encourages people to come on to the radio without thinking through what they really want to say and that means some Christians say things that lack wisdom, yet I still need to respect them and not insult them and treat them as fools-there are times when Nolan simple unplugs the people he disagrees with especially when it is dealing with the homosexual issues-while I do not agree with every Christian I will not listen to people who malign and twist their words.