Save our children from reason!

The Daily Telegraph reports;

The National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies (AHS) plans to launch a recruitment drive this summer.

It will coincide with the first atheist summer camp for children that will teach that religious belief and doctrines can prevent ethical and moral behaviour.

The federation aims to encourage students to lobby their schools and local authorities over what is taught in RE lessons and to call for daily acts of collective worship to be scrapped. It wants the societies to hold talks and educational events to persuade students not to believe in God.

Does that seem so bad?

Chloë Clifford-Frith, AHS co-founder, said that the societies would act as a direct challenge to the Christian message being taught in schools.

And that's a problem why, exactly?

She expressed concern that Christian Unions could influence vulnerable teenagers looking for a club to belong to with fundamentalist doctrine.

In particular, she claimed that some students were being told that homosexuality is a sin and to believe the Biblical account of creation.

That's true.

"We want to point out how silly some of these beliefs are and hope that these groups will help to do that," she said.

Fair enough.

Simon Calvert of the Christian Institute said: "Atheists are becoming increasingly militant in their desperate attempts to stamp out faith. It is deeply worrying that they now want to use children to attack the Christian ethos of their schools.

"Many parents will also be anxious at the thought of militant atheists targeting their children."

Now we come to the nub of it. Militant theists are concerned that children may be taught to think for themselves, to accept that homosexuality is OK, to disbelieve the creationist myth, to reject the notion of a virgin birth 2000 years ago, and to not accept that there was a flood survived by one family with a boat full of one pair of every species of animal that existed at the time just because it says so in a book written 2000 years ago by people who knew nothing of the way the world works.

Boris Johnson and his free bike initiative.

Transport for London is still working on Mayor Boris Johnson's plan to introduce a cycle hire scheme in London. Obviously they had to produce a feasibility study in order to procure finance and to decide on the best way forward.

To quote from the summary (pdf):

Levels of theft and vandalism in the existing schemes that have been reviewed have generally not been as severe as predicted. It should be noted, however, that London has high levels of bicycle theft. A deposit mechanism by users of the system is essential.

I wonder if their extensive research happened upon this from the BBC?

A popular bicycle rental scheme in Paris that has transformed travel in the city has run into problems just 18 months after its successful launch.

Over half the original fleet of 15,000 specially made bicycles have disappeared, presumed stolen.

So if you fancy a free bike, there'll be plenty of oppurtunties to nick one in Central London soon. But riding these bikes safely around London will be made more difficult because Mr Boris has ensured that the London Cycle Network (LCN+) funding has been cut by two thirds and there has been no promise that it will ever be completed.

The Force in the Force

Eight police officers serving with Scotland's largest force listed their official religion as Jedi in voluntary diversity forms, it has emerged. Strathclyde Police said the officers and two of its civilian staff claimed to follow the faith, which features in the Star Wars movies. The details were obtained in a Freedom of Information request by Jane's Police Review. Strathclyde was the only force in the UK to admit it had Jedi officers.

And about bloody time

I guess 20 years might be thought by some pedants a rather long time for a penny to drop, but I suppose we must be grateful that the penny dropped at all.

"CHINGFORD MP Iain Duncan Smith has said that he believes the Thatcher government's Right to Buy policy led to the creation of "ghettos". "

The religion of peace (1)

Just in case anyone believes that Islam inculcates peace, love and brotherhood in it's followers, The Times reports that a couple who attempted to elope to Iran were shot outside a mosque after being found 'guilty' by a council of clerics in Afghanistan.

That'll be the Sharia Law we've been hearing about.

One thing leads to another

Well, one thing does indeed lead to another, as they say.

Imagine you are one of the 72 translators of the Hebrew bible into Greek for your fellow Jews who are Greek speakers. You spend long days painstakingly translating the inviolable word of God, so that the Old Testament can be read more widely, and the result, 2,000 years later is this.

To precis, Eddie Uyesugi, who seems to have been a bit of a scholar; he was going to go to medical school to train to be a doctor. Unfortunately, he was also a believer. To be precise, a Christian believer. And it is indoctrination in bizarre, unfounded beliefs that led him to believe;

"...he could cure the teen’s autism by casting out demons through a religious ritual called an exorcism. "

The teen in question was a 14 year-old who had autism and whose mother, obviously similarly deluded, decided to invite Uyesugi into her home because;

"...her son had a dozen or more demons inside and that she wanted him to pray over the boy to make them leave."

Unfortunately, the boy struggled against the exorcism and;

"Uyesugi beat and choked her son, causing him to vomit. The boy’s face reportedly was swollen and bruised after the ritual, which police said lasted several hours."

Uyesugi, is unrepentant, however, claiming;

" the teen turned violent during the event, and that he was injured when [I] tried to restrain him."

The moral of this little tale of woe, which started 2,000 years ago, is;

If you think you are doing God's work by proselytizing your buffoonery and your fantastic fairy tales, be aware that gullible and deluded fools might just believe you and wreak untold violence in your name on innocent children who are ill and need treatment, not "exorcism."

Standing up for atheism

When it is the right thing to do to stand up for what you believe in, then standing up for what you believe in is what you should do.

If a person who has been elected to public office holds secular, atheist beliefs and these beliefs lead that person to hold that standing around huddled in groups incanting arrant nonsense to some unseen deity is of no practical use whatsoever in solving a practical problem, then there should be no embarrassment whatsoever in saying so proudly.

So I am sorry to learn that a Labour councillor in Yorkshire has felt the need to apologise a remove remarks which were on a private Facebook page regarding the offering of prayers for the safe return of Claudia Lawrence who has not been seen since March 18 in spite of a big North Yorkshire Police operation.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, lead prayers on Good Friday said that: "Coun Paul Blanchard remarked that 'of all the pointless things to do concerning Claudia Lawrence's disappearance, praying wins the prize'.

Well that seems eminently sensible. Wishing for something to come true is not much more helpful than staying at home eating frozen yoghurt.

The Yorkshire Post carries the story:

"After a series of complaints Coun Blanchard has since deleted his comments and apologised unreservedly to the Lawrence family.

But he still faces an internal investigation by his party over the remarks which said that time would be better spent looking for her. The investigation will see if he broke any rules."

Now, Councillor Blanchard's views are hardly secret or hidden. According to his own website, he is open and honest about his atheism, and so he can hardly have been expected to hold different views. And as an elected Councillor, he cannot be castigated for airing these views. How else would his constituents be appraised of his atheism.

The Yorkshire Post added this statement from Councillor Blanchard;

"Coun Blanchard said: 'I wholeheartedly and un-reservedly apologise to the Lawrence family if this matter causes them further upset.

"That was certainly not my intention. I too want her to be found safe and well as quickly as possible. My posting reaffirmed this, and indeed raised further awareness of her disappearance.

"I am an atheist and secular activist, and, regretfully, in my comments on the post I did point out that I did not believe praying would achieve anything per se'"

Looking at this story from the other side, if Councillor Blanchard had boasted of his religiosity and shouted his prayers from the rooftops would the local Labour Party feel the need to hold an investigation? I suspect not.

Frankly, I think that the York Labour party should be ashamed that they feel there needs to be an investigation into the privately expressed, legally held views of Councillor Blanchard.

Waiting for resurrection

The Washington Post carries an interesting piece perfectly illustrating what happens when people's critical faculties are removed by religious mumbo-jumbo.

In essence, a small cult, One Mind Ministries, in Baltimore was run by a woman by the name of Queen Antoinette. She has been charged with first degree murder after she ordered that achild, Javon Thomson be deprived of food after he didn't say 'amen' after a meal.

Javon's mother, Ria Ramkissoon, will be testifying against Queen Antoinette as part of a plea bargain; but only on the condition that Javon is not resurrected.

"This would need to be a Jesus-like resurrection," Margaret Burns, the spokeswoman [for the Baltimore state's attorney's office], said after the hearing. "It cannot be a reincarnation in another object or animal."

As if either possibility actually exists. looks like she'll be testifying, then

Looks like Youtube have lost the plot a bit.

What's going on?

Christian Voice

Anyone who reads or watches the news will have heard or seen Christian Voice (CV) or one of its spokesmen (they usually are men, for reasons which wil become apparent).

You may have seen protests at theatres where "Jerry Springer - The Opera" was showing; that will have been CV. From Wikipedia;

• 
  

• In Plymouth, at the preview night at the Theatre Royal, a group of about 40 Christian Voice supporters turned out to sing hymns and hand out leaflets to the audience as they entered the theatre.
• In York, leaflets were handed out by small numbers of Salvation Army and Christian Voice protesters.
• In Edinburgh, one man from Christian Voice handed out leaflets on a few of the nights.
• In Brighton, two protestors arrived at several of the performances. After the Saturday matinee, Christian Voice protestors appeared.

So who are CV?

They are, like many zealous religious organisations, a homophobic(legalised pornography and homosexual acts and taught evil to our children in school), misogynistic (oestrogen is overwhelming the church), anti-abortion (abolished the death penalty but legalised the murder of children in the womb), anti EU (given away the Queen's sovereignty - owed to Almighty God alone - to the European Union) Christian protest group, it is headed by one Stephen Green, and I will undoubtedly have more to say on him in later posts.

We need another church in London because?

In Walthamstow there is a derelict cinema which the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) owns, and which they want to turn into a church. They do not have planning permission at the moment and local people have rejected this church when asked.

Now this bunch of proselytizing god-botherers are the same lot which were "helping" the parents of Victoria Climbie; you may recall that she was starved to death in order to remove "demons." In other words, nothing more than witchcraft posing as help.

This is typical of the unthinking, dogmatic drivel that flows from the mouths of the faithful the world over. They gain power over their gullible, weak, and deluded followers; remove their common sense and rational thought processes and do not allow them to escape from the grip of their nonsensical ideas.

Support the McGuffin Film and Television Society and do not allow this bunch of miscreants another foothold in London.

Hindu Human Rights?

Google News reports that a Hindi man, Davender Ghai, 70, claims that his human rights are being infringed because his dignity in death will be removed if he cannot be cremated on an open fire. Open air cremation is illegal in the UK, and has been for over 100 years.

So, presumably, none of the Hindis who have been cremated at a crematorium in that period have not had any human dignity after they have died.

I have some good news for them; after they are dead they are no longer human, and so have no human rights. It is not a breach of his human rights to dispose of his body in a legal way.

The law on cremation and the disposal of human remains exists for good reasons. The Guardian has picked this up as well.

Open-air cremations may sound idyllic but in reality they are pretty morbid. The relatives of the deceased have to stand around the burning body for hours. Sometimes they have to prod back some bodily parts that fall off the funeral pyre. At the end of the burning process, a male relative is expected to climb the pyre and crack the skull and larger bones with a club. I wonder how many Hindus in the UK would want to go back to this form of cremation.

Seems that there is good reason to prevent Hindu open air cremation.

Westboro idiots vow to go ahead with protest in Leytonstone.

As reported here, the Westboro Baptist Church, which must surely rate as one the most extreme American homophobic Christian sects has decided that it will come to the UK with the intent of shouting abuse on our streets outside a primary school in East London.

According to the local paper,

In an email to the Guardian, Mrs Phelps-Roper wrote: “Your government thinks that they can keep the Word of God OUT of your borders. They cannot! God has jurisdiction even in the goofy UK.

“God's arm is NOT shortened by the disobedient, rebellious and violent rebels that inhabit your land. We will deliver our message to the George Tomlinson School, exactly as planned.

“God hates Fags and the government of the UK CANNOT CHANGE GOD!! God hates fag enablers!!”

We will have to see if this protest goes ahead (it is planned for Friday 27th March from 2pm), although from their website, they appear to have rather a lot on on that day.

So someone who doesn't exist hates a country full of people he supposedly created; interesting philosophy, isn't it?

Update 31/01/09

It seems that they couldn't be bothered, after all, to some disappointment, it seems;

A group of local anti-fascist activists, students and parents did gather to counter them.
Student Harry Griffiths, 19, who organised the protest through social networking site Facebook, said: “I wanted to battle them. When I heard they were coming I had to get my university involved.”

Mr Griffiths, who studies political journalism at Roehampton University, added that he has been researching the church for years and that he wanted to go into journalism to expose groups like them.

Good for you, Harry. I wish you well.

George W's Big Adventure

George W Bush, leader of the free world is in China. While there, he went to church. And afterwards he said:-

"You know, it just goes to show that God is universal, and God is love, and no state, man or woman should fear the influence of loving religion."

Indeed! I hope that all the men and women in Iraq have no fear of deluded fundementalist religious nutters, because there is nothing to fear, but religion itself!

We are not normal

First of all, a hat-tip to Freindly Atheist for picking this drivel up.

Have you ever been the loser?

That goofy kid who never ties his shoes? The dork with the brown-bag healthy lunch? The kid with asthma? The kid who can play the trumpet but couldn’t score a goal if his life depended on it? That’s a tough position in the social rank, and let me tell you, I have been all of those things at one time or another. It’s tough to be the loser, and depending on the reason you’re the loser it can be better or worse.

What I’m about to say I would be crucified for saying in polite public circles, but I’m afraid from my own limited experience it’s true. Every Atheist I’ve ever known has been some sort of loser. They may have used drugs. They may have been really overweight. They may have been whiney or sketchy. Whatever the case, I’ve never known an Atheist I could exactly qualify as “normal.” It doesn’t mean they were mean or overly negative, on the contrary many of them were very nice. But they weren’t the kids who scored the goals, who got the grades, played the “cool”
instruments, or got the girls and boys. They were those lovely social outcasts, and I think because of this, even though I disagreed with their theological views, I felt a certain kinship with all of them. This led to many of my first interesting religion discussions.

There are those who consider belief in supernatural, invisible freinds as normal, I'm sure. Just as there are probably no christians who suffer from asthma, who ate healthy food (however that is defined) when they were young, and who are overweight. I'm sure dswerling believes all of this, and I don't mind at all that he enjoys his delusion; he seems to be a reasonable person, after all. I didn't have to read his blog. He doesn't (as far as I can tell) ram his beliefs down unwilling passers by's throats on street corners, but I just have to share the end of his concluding sentence to show the futlity of being a christian:-

...we continue the cycle of violence and destruction created by our original sin, the very cycle that Jesus Christ died for us to break.

It must be particularly galling to subscribe to a belief that someone died 2,000 years ago so that we would no longer suffer from violence and destruction. Unless we live in Iraq, Afghanistan, South Ossetia, or in so many, many other places.

WBC Loonies Head North

You may not have heard of Tim McLean Jr, and you may not have heard of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), but as it is probably the most notorious christian fundamentalist church in the world, the likelihood is that you have.

Tim McLean was savagely murdered on a Greyhound bus in Canada on 30-06-08, and one Vince Weiguang Li, 40 has been charged with his murder.

WBC can fairly be considered the raving loony wing of Christianity, they being the folk who picket the funerals of US soldiers because they believe that their deaths are god's way of punishing the US for accepting homosexuality. That's why even most Christians think they're as mad as a box of frogs.

So why would they feel a connection with Canada? Well, their most famous quote is the delightful 'God hates fags'; and they seem to assume that this tragic murder was orchestrated by their 'merciful' god in order to punish Canada because gay people are allowed to live there.

Members of WBC are in Canada now and are expected to picket the funeral of Tim McLean Jr today. There will also be a counter demo by Manitobans who are rightfully appalled by these foreigners crossing the border illegally and surreptitiously. Feelings will be running high, no doubt, and I hope it all passes off peacefully.