.
.
Thanks to Paul Barford – “A Boxing Day Hunt” …..
_______________________________________________________________
More Heritage Action views on metal detecting and artefact collecting
_______________________________________________________________
The Heritage Journal 
13 comments
Comments feed for this article
27/12/2013 at 12:54
mark
Sorry but that’s offensive. You may not agree with metal detecting but that is going too far. You may think you and your sidekick barford are hilarious but you’ve overstepped this time. In a season of goodwill to all men you’ve shown yourself as the classless idiot that you are. Congratulations …..
27/12/2013 at 13:01
heritageaction
Sorry, I disagree. It’s perfectly valid to point out that “in a season of goodwill” there are anti-society, intellectually and morally challenged oiks out there, exploiting the public’s resource for personal benefit, both on horses and legs. If the juxtaposition makes you feel guilty, good.
27/12/2013 at 13:14
calmgrove
I, me, mine as opposed to we, us, ours — what the whole heritage philosophy that’s developed over a century and more is about. A democratic society’s heritage, not an individualistic autocratic elite’s.
27/12/2013 at 13:20
heritageaction
….. and yet, in one of the countries that played a leading role in the development and spread of both heritage philosophy and democracy….
27/12/2013 at 13:21
calmgrove
Yes, it’s sad.
27/12/2013 at 13:24
calmgrove
Mind you, can’t help wondering if photo taken out of context like that infamous Mandela memorial selfie — the redcoat might only have searching for a lost monogrammed cufflink…
27/12/2013 at 13:44
mark
Censored again!! Well done – you must feel really proud when you approve the posts that conform to your views. Democracy in action ( as you just mentioned in your last post!) oh the irony cannot be lost on such an intellectually superior being as your good self!!
27/12/2013 at 14:20
heritageaction
We’re unaware of having had any other Comment from you on this thread. However, this is a conservation website and unless you are unconditionally in favour of statutory regulation of both artefact and wild mammal exploitation in order to maximise public benefit you won’t get a soapbox here. It’s called the Heritage Journal not the Selfishness Journal.
27/12/2013 at 15:52
Jeps
We live in a democratic society and despite people differing opinions, the democratic process has ruled that metal detecting is accepted by our society. It might not be liked by certain sectors of society (the minority) but the majority have decided that it is acceptable whether the minority like it or not.
As for selfishness, it is a minority of our society that take this view.
28/12/2013 at 09:26
heritageaction
Until recently our democratic society ruled that tearing a living animal limb from limb using three dozen hounds, for personal gratification, was legal. No longer. Things change as the public become better educated, which is proof that legality (“it’s legal innit?”) is not a sound defence. Morality matters more.
28/12/2013 at 18:22
heritageaction
“Mark”, re- the abusive message you’ve just sent, please note our previous two statements.
28/12/2013 at 20:29
Jeps
Things do change over time, agreed, and that change is generally driven by our morality that we place on the topic and in turn, laws are made around the morals that society adopts as being right. An example would be that in Austria, the legal age of sexual consent is 14 between 2 people of the opposite sex. This may seem abhorrent to us in the UK but to Austrian morals and hence laws, this is socially and morally acceptable. The world is full of differing moralities and hence differing laws.
Legality is a sound defence and to argue otherwise simple goes against the collective moralities of the land since the democratic process has deemed that the populous find this acceptable because the populous accept it within the collective moral psyche.
In the case of fox hunting, the moral compass changed and hence it became illegal but not so long ago in our living history it was morally acceptable and hence legal.
Until the collective morality of the UK majority changes in terms of its views on heritage protection, certain acts will still be legal and acceptable, despite this going against the personal moralities of the minority. It might be hard to stomach by the minority but the national morality is based on majority.
Let us not forget that Homosexuality was a criminal offense in the UK up until 1967 so are we to say that when it was illegal it was in retrospect morally the right thing to do?
29/12/2013 at 00:31
heritageaction
“Let us not forget that Homosexuality was a criminal offense in the UK up until 1967 so are we to say that when it was illegal it was in retrospect morally the right thing to do?”
Why not? Legality and morality are not the same thing. That’s the whole point.
A majority of metal detectorists think it’s OK not to report their finds because “it’s legal” not to. But of course it’s not OK at all, as all archaeologists and educated people would concur.