I’m feeling somewhat introspective after a Martini Rosso or two (or three), and saw one of these ‘30 day challenge things’. I’d get ridiculously bored and so would everyone else if I was to do it every day, so I’ve bastardised the questions and will answer a few at my leisure.

Do you believe in God?/What religion are you?

I believe in Jesus. Not the crappy, washed-up, sleep-inducing version peddled by the Christian religion, but the Jesus that told the religious leaders that they were idiots and rejected their stupid talk about rules and regulations; the Jesus that turned water into wine and the Jesus that still today remains radical in his pacifist, all-embracing life.

Do you believe in an afterlife? What do you believe happens when you die?

I don’t know, and I’m not too concerned. I’m pretty sure that God in his wisdom knows a bit more about it than me.

People often say that it’s wrong that criminals and pedophiles can go to heaven in their dying throes by uttering a few words but good people won’t just because of their religious beliefs, but I don’t actually think that’s true. I think the God that I believe in will be fair.. Justice will be done, and it’s not really something that I have any control or authority on – I’m content to live and put my faith in the God that says the first will be last and the last first.

Are you proud to be from whatever country you are from?

‘Proud’ is the wrong word. Why would I be proud? It’s a bizarre concept to take pride in the actions of those that have come from the same place you have.

I love Glasgow, and Scotland, but I wouldn’t say I’m ‘proud’.

What is your view on gay marriage?

My view on ‘gay marriage’ is that there should be no such thing. It should just be marriage – regardless of the sex of those involved.

Do you think sex before marriage is okay?

I’ve heard that sex before marriage is more than okay – especially if it’s with me.

Being serious though, as this stance stems from the Christian perspective, I’ll respond with that particular focus in mind.

Instead of just talking about sex, the bigger issue is actually the concentration on certain moral choices by what is predominantly the middle class church; parents who want to protect their children from what they perceive as being bad choices place more emphasis on these parts of the Bible than others, and interpret them accordingly.

It becomes more important to who you are to not take drugs, or drink, or swear, or have sex, or god forbid.. be gay, than it does to love or care for other people. Verses like Matthew 19v21 – to give all you have to the poor and follow Jesus – become less important than whether you kiss boys or not.

Without descending into complete relativism, I’ve come to believe that these moral choices that we’re faced and told are black and white are actually far from clear cut. What matters is your deep-rooted faith and being. If what you believe is so part of who you are that it defines you, then things are never entered into lightly. It’s about whether or not a choice or situation compromises your soul or not – that’s the real test. It’s not some wishy-washy Buddhist idea of intention making everything okay.

So to answer the question.. there is no one fit-all answer that applies to every situation and person. In a world so complex and diverse as God created, there’s also a million shades of grey – black and white isn’t all that common.. and even if it is, it’d tough to know when it’s really there.

If sex before marriage isn’t okay, then neither is having tattoos (Leviticus 19v28) or having a beard (Leviticus 19v27) – we all pick and choose and view things through our own skewed cultural lens – the difference is who is honest about that and who isn’t.

What are your views on love? Do you think it’s real?

We all know that in Greek there are different words for different kinds of love. ‘Love’ is just a human creation to try and describe the deepest of feelings that obsess and infatuate and take over our whole selves. Of course it exists – but can it be explained…? No. I wouldn’t want it to be either.

Do you think any drugs should be legalized?[sic] Do you think there should be an age for drinking?

There are plenty of legalised drugs already. I’m not sure if they should be legalised, but I definitely think that the massive prison sentences we impose on people for carrying a drug such as ecstasy is ridiculous when we consider the similar terms given for assault. Drugs screw people up, but putting someone in jail for years for having a few pills is definitely out of kilter.

Do you believe in regrets?

It’s a common pop-culture answer to respond that people have no regrets because their ‘life journey defines who they are’. Whilst the latter is true, the former is not necessarily.

If people wish that they had never done anything differently, then that means that they don’t regret the things they have done that have hurt other people or damaged relationships beyond repair.

Your life journey may well define who you are, but you can still want to be a better and fuller person than who you have become.

What do you think about the death penalty?

Everything about the death penalty is wrong.

Article 1 of the Sixth Protocol to the Human Rights Act 1998 abolishes the death penalty in the UK by virtue of the European Convention on Human Rights.

This is the very act that this Tory-fuelled Government want to get rid of.

What do you want to happen to your body when you die?

The philosopher Diogenes was asked this very question, and he responded that it should just be thrown outside of the city walls so that wild animals would feast on it. People were shocked, and asked how this could be acceptable.

In reply, he said they should give him a stick to defend himself. This caused much hilarity, with people pointing out that the weapon would be pointless given that he would be dead, lack awareness and be unable to do anything.

‘Exactly’ was the wise riposte. If I lack awareness, then why should I care what happens to my body?

I’m in the same boat. I am not concerned in which way I return from ashes to ashes.