David Levy – Copious thoughts – Mar 25

Covid 19 has been blamed for many things, but what I have noticed is that for the risk-averse it has been a golden moment of opportunity to close down human interaction.

This became very clear to me when attending a Samaritan Open Forum recently in Bath. There I learnt that close circuit television (CCTV) is being used to oversee its Colditz-like premises, and the primary purpose of its use is to protect the volunteers from face-to-face contact with whoever may ring the Samaritan bell to speak to someone.

Chad Varah founded the Samaritan Movement in the Crypt of St Stephen’s, Walbrook, London – one of Christopher Wren’s churches known for its original dome and a the forerunner of St Paul’s Cathedral. Chad Varah was a clergyman too, and he realised that those who were waiting to speak with him found solace in the company and companionship of others who were also waiting. The idea behind the Samaritan Movement that he founded was simple, and very successful back in 1953. However, is it appropriate today? Those now running the organisation feel that their volunteer staff need protection, and maybe they are right.

I do not wish to impugn the reputations of these people, but I do wish to question from whence their thinking comes. When I look at our world I find, whatever topic I choose, that it is infected with fraud. I do not honestly believe that we are taught to think for ourselves. Instead, we now live in a society of ‘tick boxes’ and ‘guidance’ that is, in effect, a straight- jacket way of behaving. It has led to ludicrous situations where nurses are telling surgeons how to act and behave in a hospital. Hospital managers are doing the same, and this has led to them thinking that they know best. They certainly have the power, and it has and is being abused.

The world is certainly more complex nowadays. The Pandora’s Box of the media has exposed us to the worst of human behaviour, so maybe we need the level of protection and anonymity that was being discussed at the Samaritan open forum. Only, maybe that is the problem.

Not enough light is being concentrated on people’s bizarre or extreme behaviour. This is not to be judgmental, but the more a person feels that they are in the shadows then the more they can hide there. It is a free rein to act barbarically, not just in their fantasies but in real life too. That cannot be in the best interests of the person, or the victim.

The Samaritan’s phone line gives the person the anonymity to say to the volunteer whatever they wish, and the volunteer can explore and discuss these thoughts with them without judgment or condoning, and that’s positive. The next stage is to give support person to person and that, I believe, is where society has the opportunity to be a guiding influence. However, that ‘guidance’ is well outside the realms of the tick-box culture.

My fear is we have become too programmed into the media’s way of thinking and its reporting of extreme behaviour, and our exposure to it has left us unable to control or even predict the direction society should be taking. We need to think about these matters, and we need to take back control over the values behind our own thinking.

 David Levy