Enduring values, progress and hope. Opinion piece Newham Recorder 22.4.20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Londoner Samuel Pepys chronicles the terrifying \u2018Great Plague\u2019 of 1665-6 in his celebrated diaries. They help put the hardship and tragedy we face today in perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepys\u2019s zest for life and endless curiosity are key to his lasting appeal. His London was already a city of great diversity. On 14 October 1663 Pepys describes a visit to a synagogue. At Easter 1666, having failed to get into a crowded Anglican church, Pepys tried a Catholic service. He describes being pleasantly surprised, given what had been said about them. He also frequented Turkish coffee shops in the City and later reports being impressed by a mosque he visited in Tangiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepys\u2019s interest in exploring other beliefs is remarkable for a time when religious dogma and strife were rampant and heresy a capital offence. Pepys himself was a sceptic. This helps explain his curiosity about alternative world views. He attended church, more or less a must then for someone in his position. But he was scathing of the hypocrisy he witnessed and describes falling asleep in sermons. What would he make of today\u2019s London?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepys was fascinated by discoveries, inventions and ideas.\u00a0 He would have been bowled over by advances in science. Not least genetics, evolution and microbiology, and their natural explanation for the cause and spread of bubonic plague then and Coronavirus now. He could only marvel at the man-made medical advances that have transformed our life-chances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
An estimated quarter of Londoners died of bubonic plague. \u00a0In 1666, in a double whammy, the \u2019Great Fire\u2019 gutted the medieval City and destroyed over 13000 homes. Yet out of this misery and mayhem today\u2019s glorious city eventually emerged.\u00a0 Cars, mobile phones and TV would be completely alien to Pepys. But he would easily recognize in today\u2019s Londoners the enduring human qualities which, at our best, enable us to rub along together, overcome disaster and thrive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s good to note that just three years later, on 20 April 1669, Pepys records a pleasant afternoon trip to Stratford by carriage, then a short hop for Londoners wishing to enjoy the countryside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul Kaufman
Chair East London Humanists<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Enduring values, progress and hope. Opinion piece Newham Recorder 22.4.20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9c4oP-yI","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2153,"href":"http:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152\/revisions\/2153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eastlondon.humanist.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}