Tag Archives: england

UK Home Office provides grant for Christian police

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Apparently the Home Office in Great Britain has money to burn, as they’ve  given the Christian Police Association £10,000 (or about $16,000) to help their campaign aimed at getting the public to pray to help prevent crime. They are already claiming the program, which they’ve already initiated, is having some major success:

In one particular area, an officer was investigating an incident but he had not been able to apprehend a suspect. He encouraged a church to pray for him and within days a suspect had been arrested and charged.

In another area, an officer encouraged churches to pray about domestic burglary and over the year it came down by 30 per cent. We do not discount good police work, which is why we call it circumstantial evidence.

You have to love the faithful; any time there’s a study done that proves prayer does exactly jack-shit (and Jack left town), they completely ignore it, no matter what the evidence is. It’s plainly obvious to everyone else talking your invisible friend doesn’t do more than bring a sense of comfort for the delusional, let alone “solve crime”. Could the 30 percent reduction in domestic burglary possibly be related to the crime rate falling in the UK for the past few years (the government reports a simultaneous increase in illicit drug use; am I to assume using their logic that using drugs prevents crime?) Where did these clowns graduate from: Police Academy 5?

Is it too much to ask that governments not spend their taxpayer’s hard-earned money on nonsense?

Majority of Britons want creationism taught in schools

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I’m frustrated this morning. I just finished reading this article, and I have to admit that I’m very disappointed in our Commonwealth Big Brother. A recent poll indicates more than half of Britons support the teaching of both creationism and evolution in schools. That’s actually more than their American counterparts. You guys are officially the new retard on the block.

So feel proud that Egyptians were three times less likely to want this fucking nonsense taught in their science class. So, just what the hell is going on here? Are Brits slowly losing their minds? First, a not-so-small percentage of your population keeps trying to vote for a fascist party (The British National Party, a white only anti-immigration political disaster) and now you want creationism in schools. I’m going to say this as nicely as possible to all you British fans of the site so you don’t get too upset: Get your fucking act together, people!

Pray for me, Doc!

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I received a few emails this morning asking me to discuss this BBCNews article. Some doctors in Britain are worried spiritual issues aren’t being addressed, and care is suffering as a result. They are demanding that staff be given the right to talk about religion, as well as allow them to offer prayers to patients.

The problem here is there is always a fine line between talking about religion, and proselytizing it to people. Sure, many of these patients may actually like being offered to be prayed for (especially as the aging population find themselves increasingly in their care), but it’s impossible to distinguish between individuals who want it, and those who feel obligated for fear their care could be affected if they refuse. Besides, all of the best studies on prayer suggests patients who are told they are being prayed for have more complications than those who aren’t prayed for. Presumably it’s because they might construe prayer as an indication their conditions are more serious and life threatening (prayer is often the last tactic of the desperate).

The NHS already pays for chaplains to be on call (in fact, the cost of these preachers could hire an additional 1,300 nurses in the country), so the spiritual needs of patients can be met if they so desire. The real issue here is these people hate the fact they cannot talk about religion at all at their workplace. One nurse complained the staff would not allow her to wear her cross, but this was because of health reasons. There’s a very profound reason why we secularize public services; bringing religion into the mix causes conflict, and there is no room for ideologues in hospitals. Their priority is to heal the sick, not pray for them.

The real concern of patients is getting better; not being proselytized to. Sure, there are those who undoubtedly would find such a thing comforting, but you’ll usually find family members and friends can more easily provide spiritual guidance and needs better than a stranger can.

Just don’t pray in my hospital and I won’t try to teach medical science in your churches. That’s fair, isn’t it?

It’s hard to be a bigot these days!

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It must be a tough time for homophobes. It’s become dangerously unpopular to hold ‘controversial’ views on homosexuality these days. The aging baby boomers must be absolutely terrified we’ve all gone insane or something by allowing equal rights to gays and lesbians. Why in their day, you kept those people quiet, afraid, and repressed! If one of your family members was gay, you would keep that shit a secret. If you didn’t know how, well, you could always go learn a thing or two about keeping things suppressed from the Catholic Church.

Fast forward to today’s modern and tolerant society where it’s getting hard for homophobes to get by. Just imagine this British councilor’s surprise when he was suspended from his job for a year after saying that

…homosexuality is a demon which can be driven out. [It’s] a notorious disability and that…modern culture is [trying] to defend these people from any form of discrimination. Hurray for diversity

Pritchard must have lost his fucking mind. He did start crying and quoting the Bible, so presumably he’s not a happy camper about the state of affairs in today’s modern society. In fact, he’s not the only one flipping out about all these new found rights gays seem to be gaining. Even Ireland (where the Catholic church still has the power to suppress information that would identify child molesters in their own organization) has recently granted legal rights to same sex couples this Friday. To make matters worse for bigots, the new Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, is a secularist who is going to amend ‘hate speech’ laws in Britain to include sexual orientation, as well as evict all the Bishops from the House of Lords.

The ones really losing their minds here are conservative Christians around the world. It’s becoming increasingly hard for them to actively discriminate against gays. The UK government has already said adoption agencies are not allowed to deny homosexuals the right to adopt, and as a result, a number of Roman Catholic adoption agencies have severed their ties with the Church. And now they are further marginalizing religion’s role in government. It’s getting to be almost impossible to gay-bash these days!

This whole affair just goes to show how slow and painful change is when you allow religion to be heavily involved in society. Whether it’s a new development in science that they want to suppress or destroy (stem cells, anyone?), or a minority who wants to be treated the same as everyone else, religion is always there to actively discourage progress and change. Are we done with these clowns yet?

Two thirds of UK teens don’t believe in God

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It’s becoming increasingly obvious that religious traditions are fading rapidly. The Telegraph reports over two thirds of teenagers in the UK don’t believe in God, and 59% of them think religion has a negative influence on the world.

In a time where kids are exposed to a huge array of information, ideas and opinions, religion is now seen as antiquated, outdated, and incompatible with our modern values. These religious institutions are sometimes hundreds, if not thousands of years old. The fact they no longer represent our social mores in today’s society should surprise no one;  Bronze Age platitudes are ill equipped to help guide us in the Age of Science and Reason.

I think it’s interesting how many kids have a negative opinion of religion these days. It seems like they are rejecting the old values of their parents. It’s become quite clear modern homophobia, bigotry, and xenophobia is largely the result of the divisive nature of religion. In a world as interconnected as ours, there is no place for these sorts of primitive beliefs anymore.

Now, if only the ‘colonies’ can catch up to this irreligious trend, then we’d be in business…

Faith schools in Britain try to defend their existence

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When I was a young child, I was sent to a Catholic primary school. It was the only way my parents could ensure that I went to an English institution. The trade off was every day, the teachers would force us to say a morning prayer, and class time was occasionally devoted to learning about Jesus. It was insanely boring and annoying, but I got over it. I already knew how to read and write before I got to class, as my parents had taken it upon themselves to feed my endless curiosity. It may have been part of the reason their indoctrination had little impact; I had by then already made up my mind about the issue of God, and found it wanting.

There are over 7,000 faith schools in Britain, a huge number for an otherwise secular country. Unlike in the US where private schools aren’t publicly funded, these faith institutions receive 85% of their money from the government, something a full two thirds of their population now opposes. Seeing the writing on the wall, they’ve fought back, telling everyone they are a necessary part of a diverse society. Here is a quote from an article that appeared in The Christian Institute:

Most people would accept that parents have a right to educate their children in an ethos of their choosing, however wrong it may seem to others, as long as the law is observed.

I normally don’t take any serious issue with privately funded religious schools. Parents who want to insulate and mentally stifle their children will do so regardless of whether or not these schools actually exist. At least if there is some government involvement, it means we can establish education criteria for them to follow.

But I’m not buying their stupid notion that schools promote diversity. If you’re incapable of sustaining so many schools without government funding, it demonstrates there really aren’t enough ‘diversified’ individuals willing to pay for it. Why should anyone be forced to give their hard earned tax money to religious institutions? These people already get tax breaks. They don’t need our money too.

MI5 tries to force Muslims to become informants

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A few weeks ago I wrote an article about how poorly Muslims in England have integrated within their society, especially when compared to other European countries like France and Germany. Although I’m not in any position to speculate as to why that is, a recent story about MI5 and their campaign of harassment is telling me that relations are not about to improve anytime soon.

It seems that the desperate intelligence organization has been blackmailing some British Muslims, threatening to put them on terrorist lists if they do not become informants. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out these types of tactics are not impressing the Muslim community, and I can’t blame them; although I will admit terrorism is a serious issue, forcing people to become informants under threat seems to me like a pretty piss-poor way of getting reliable information. Why would anyone tell you the truth when you’re demanding answers at the end of a bayonet?

The real problem here is Britain’s paranoia. I think the reason their Muslim population is so poorly integrated in their society has to do with the fact their government is one of the major nations to have participated in the whole ‘War on Terror’ offensive. Naturally, this will result in being targeted by extremist groups, and because they are living in constant fear of an attack, their intelligence community treat their Muslim immigrant population as potential enemies. This negative and combative attitude actually works contrary to everyone’s interest; by antagonizing the community, they as a whole are less likely to provide information that might actually be helpful in preventing further incidents.

Here’s a pretty basic idea that might work wonders for MI5: don’t be a bunch of dicks. Don’t force people to become informants. Don’t mistreat your citizens just because they believe in a religion you feel uncomfortable about. Sounds pretty simple to me…

NHS tries to deal with female circumcision

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Human beings are capable of some gruesome acts, and one of the more disturbing practices that is still commonly done is ‘female circumcision’. In case you’ve never heard of it, it’s basically the mutilation of the vagina in an effort to permanently scar a woman’s genitalia in order to prevent her from having any sexual desires.

There are some cultures that cut off the clitoris thinking it grows into a gigantic tail (read the book Infidel if you really want the gruesome details of how it feels). Most of these procedures are done without anesthesia, antiseptic and even without proper tools. Sometimes just a sharp miscellaneous object is used.

It’s a huge problem in Britain too, where they estimate over 500 young women get circumcised every year. Add that to the already 66,000 previously circumcised women who live in Britain, and you have a health crisis on your hands. It’s why the National Health Service has offered free operations to reverse the damage.

It’s part of a new campaign to help these women, since no one has ever been prosecuted for the procedure, which is illegal in the UK. The truth is the African communities are tight lipped about the practice, and as such, it would appear the battle to curb female circumcision is not going well. It’s why I fully support what they are doing, and hope that my own country offers the same. This is a seriously disturbed practice, and it must be stopped. Young women go their entire lives with painful scar tissue which makes sex not only unpleasant, but excruciatingly painful as well. When will we stop treating women so poorly around the world?