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Richard Littledale

Richard Littledale's
Views on the News: February 2007

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Hands off my nimby!
Hunt the nimby! Hunt the nimby! Hunt the nimby!
Flanimals are © Ricky Gervais see www.flanimals.com

Hunt the nimby hiding among the flanimals!

When Ricky Gervais published his latest book of flanimals (see www.flanimals.com), I wonder whether he considered including a nimby in its weird and wonderful menagerie? In amongst the mernimblers and pudoflajes, surely he could have slipped in a nimby? If he did, I wonder what it would look like? [Views readers are invited to send in their suggestions].

At our church recently we hosted a public meeting to discuss the expansion of a local police facility. The meeting attracted more interest than any religious event, more than any quiz night or concert, more than an election hustings. In fact, it attracted somewhere between 500 and 700 people. They were concerned, interested, and some of them downright angry. Like any such proposal in any such neighbourhood, it brought out people's worst fears regarding security, crime, and the effect on the local atmosphere. Is it possible that a free-range nimby was there too, scurrying up and down the ranks and feeding on people's fears?.

The word NIMBY can be explained in different ways:

Not In My Back Yard

Not If My Budget Yields

Never In My Born Years

Of course it is not only an Englishman's home that is his castle, and every human being has an instinct to protect their own property and their own family from harm. This instinct can easily come to the fore whether the perceived threat comes from a police facility, a waste reprocessing plant, or even a new school. However, as Christians we recognise that we owe a duty not only to ourselves but also to our neighbours. If we asked Jesus today 'who is my neighbour' - what would he answer, and would he tell us to let our nimbys go?

Sometimes neighbour-love means that I must accept something on my doorstep rather than it appearing on his. His gain will be my loss and that's the way it must be. In doing this we administer a sharp slap to the nimby's nose, and as often as not send it scurrying off into a dark corner. In an age of increasing (and welcome) global awareness, my neighbour may as easily be in the next continent as the next street. Those on the look out for a nimby must keep their eyes well and truly peeled!

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