Two signs have appeared of late in my local park. One invites concerned locals to join a group dedicated to the health of said park. The other (which is more of a series of signs sprayed on various paths) advises dog walkers to tidy up after their defecating pooches.

It seems to me that these signs point, socially speaking, in completely different directions. The latter denotes erosion of the kind of civic pride, an erosion that we love to bemoan. Once upon a time, you either didn’t let your dog foul the path (especially not next to the children’s playground) or, if it did, you cleaned it up pretty sharpish. No one told you to do it. You just did it. Today, we need strangers telling us, not to mention strangers watching us on CCTV, to do it.

The former denotes the spirit of civic pride, a spirit that we love to celebrate. No matter how much pleasure our local forbears took in their local amenities, they didn’t associate together in order to protect or improve them (at least not within living memory). Today we do.

It is, I imagine, possible to square the circle. Perhaps residents are getting together because of the dog mess and the litter and the teenage hooligans; i.e. there is only one story and it is of social decay.

Or perhaps, two generations ago, people simply tolerated a crap-strewn park whereas today we are more socially conscious; i.e. there is only one story, that of social improvement.

Not knowing what generated the residents’ group or having any memory of dog walking in the 1950s I cannot verify one way or the other. But my guess is that the trends, for which signs serve as ciphers, are antagonistic.

In fact, I hope they are. Simple stories are what we reserve for children. They are easy to grasp, often compelling and invariably wrong.

So, British Christians are not being persecuted. The vast majority of those who venture into the workplace are not vilified. The cross hasn’t been banned.

Nor, however, do they want a ‘privileged’ existence. Their desire to retain the current definition of marriage is not motivated by homophobia. They are not obsessed with sex.

Claiming otherwise may rally the troops but it is at best a partial depiction of reality.