From:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-12598896

Apparently this all kicked off because a social worker expressed concerns that the couple might not be able to be fully supportive of a gay child. As you might expect the usual tropes have been trotted out, they’re just good Christians with an orthodox view. This is just promoting an anti Christian view point. It won’t be possible for Christians to foster kids in future etc. It’s all BS of course.

This ruling is simply saying that bigoted people shouldn’t be allowed to influence young minds in their care. If you are accepting and nurturing to all (isn’t that the Christian view that Jesus himself supposedly espoused???) then there will be no issue, and there will be no discrimination.

I loved this quote from the end of the BBC article from the Christian Legal Centre:

The organisation said the judgment "sends out the clear message that orthodox Christian ethical beliefs are potentially harmful to children and that Christian parents with mainstream Christian views are not suitable to be considered as potential foster parents".

Yes, if the orthodox beliefs in question are bigoted, divisory, and discriminatory then I have to completely agree.

Oh, and the couple that lost the case are black. There is a certain amount of irony there.

ATHEISTS MUST APOLOGIZE FOR HITLER

September 16, 2010

Catholic League president Bill Donohue reacts to the way British atheists are handling Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to their homeland:

The pope cited Hitler today, asking everyone to “reflect on the sobering lessons of atheist extremism of the 20th century.” Immediately, the British Humanist Association got its back up, accusing the pope of “a terrible libel against those who do not believe in God.”

The pope did not go far enough. Radical atheists like the British Humanist Association should apologize for Hitler. But they should not stop there. They also need to issue an apology for the 67 million innocent men, women and children murdered under Stalin, and the 77 million innocent Chinese killed by Mao. Hitler, Stalin and Mao were all driven by a radical atheism, a militant and fundamentally dogmatic brand of secular extremism. It was this anti-religious impulse that allowed them to become mass murderers. By contrast, a grand total of 1,394 were killed during the 250 years of the Inquisition, most all of whom were murdered by secular authorities.

Why should atheists today apologize for the crimes of others? At one level, it makes no sense: apologies should only be given by the guilty. But on the other hand, since the fanatically anti-Catholic secularists in Britain, and elsewhere, demand that the pope—who is entirely innocent of any misconduct—apologize for the sins of others, let the atheists take some of their own medicine and start apologizing for all the crimes committed in their name. It might prove alembic.

[Quoted just in case it magically disappears]

OK, here goes.

I, the quietAtheist, do hereby issue an apology to the human race for that abomination of the 20th Century – Adolf Hitler, who was after all another human being.

As human beings we must shoulder some of the blame (apparently, according to Christian Doctrine anyway) for the actions of other human beings no matter what they believe, why they believe it, or even how long ago they believed it. Despite the fact that he died some 25 years before I was born, the burden of his utterly evil acts lies with myself – and all the rest of humanity.

Mind you, at least I personally haven’t been involved in the cover-up of heinous crimes against  humanity. Maybe I have driven down the motorway a tad fast once or twice but I don’t think that really counts.

So, yet again I apologise for Hitler. And Stalin. Oh, Pol Pot, better do him as well. I’m sure I’m forgetting someone.

So Bill, your turn?

I wasn’t disappointed.

Oh, it might contain a swear word or two, so listen appropriately.

I deny the existence of Agdistis or Angdistis
I deny the existence of Ah Puch
I deny the existence of Ahura Mazda
I deny the existence of Alberich
I deny the existence of Allah
I deny the existence of Amaterasu
I deny the existence of An
I deny the existence of Anansi
I deny the existence of Anat
I deny the existence of Andvari
I deny the existence of Anshar
I deny the existence of Anu
I deny the existence of Aphrodite
I deny the existence of Apollo
I deny the existence of Apsu
I deny the existence of Ares
I deny the existence of Artemis
I deny the existence of Asclepius
I deny the existence of Athena
I deny the existence of Athirat
I deny the existence of Athtart
I deny the existence of Atlas
I deny the existence of Baal
I deny the existence of Ba Xian
I deny the existence of Bacchus
I deny the existence of Balder
I deny the existence of Bast
I deny the existence of Bellona
I deny the existence of Bergelmir
I deny the existence of Bes
I deny the existence of Bixia Yuanjin
I deny the existence of Bragi
I deny the existence of Brahma
I deny the existence of Brigit
I deny the existence of Camaxtli
I deny the existence of Ceres
I deny the existence of Ceridwen
I deny the existence of Cernunnos
I deny the existence of Chac
I deny the existence of Chalchiuhtlicue
I deny the existence of Charun
I deny the existence of Chemosh
I deny the existence of Cheng-huang
I deny the existence of Cybele
I deny the existence of Dagon
I deny the existence of Damkina (Dumkina)
I deny the existence of Davlin
I deny the existence of Dawn
I deny the existence of Demeter
I deny the existence of Diana
I deny the existence of Di Cang
I deny the existence of Dionysus
I deny the existence of Ea
I deny the existence of El
I deny the existence of Enki
I deny the existence of Enlil
I deny the existence of Eos
I deny the existence of Epona
I deny the existence of Ereskigal
I deny the existence of Farbauti
I deny the existence of Fenrir
I deny the existence of Forseti
I deny the existence of Freya
I deny the existence of Freyr
I deny the existence of Frigg
I deny the existence of Gaia
I deny the existence of Ganesha
I deny the existence of Ganga
I deny the existence of Garuda
I deny the existence of Gauri
I deny the existence of Geb
I deny the existence of Geong Si
I deny the existence of Hades
I deny the existence of Hanuman
I deny the existence of Hathor
I deny the existence of Hecate (Hekate)
I deny the existence of Helios
I deny the existence of Heng-o (Chang-o)
I deny the existence of Hephaestus
I deny the existence of Hera
I deny the existence of Hermes
I deny the existence of Hestia
I deny the existence of Hod
I deny the existence of Hoderi
I deny the existence of Hoori
I deny the existence of Horus
I deny the existence of Hotei
I deny the existence of Huitzilopochtli
I deny the existence of Hsi-Wang-Mu
I deny the existence of Hygeia
I deny the existence of Inanna
I deny the existence of Inti
I deny the existence of Iris
I deny the existence of Ishtar
I deny the existence of Isis
I deny the existence of Ixtab
I deny the existence of Izanaki
I deny the existence of Izanami
I deny the existence of Jesus
I deny the existence of Juno
I deny the existence of Jupiter
I deny the existence of Juturna
I deny the existence of Kagutsuchi
I deny the existence of Kartikeya
I deny the existence of Khepri
I deny the existence of Ki
I deny the existence of Kingu
I deny the existence of Kinich Ahau
I deny the existence of Kishar
I deny the existence of Krishna
I deny the existence of Kukulcan
I deny the existence of Lakshmi
I deny the existence of Liza
I deny the existence of Loki
I deny the existence of Lugh
I deny the existence of Luna
I deny the existence of Magna Mater
I deny the existence of Maia
I deny the existence of Marduk
I deny the existence of Mars
I deny the existence of Medb
I deny the existence of Mercury
I deny the existence of Mimir
I deny the existence of Minerva
I deny the existence of Mithras
I deny the existence of Morrigan
I deny the existence of Mot
I deny the existence of Mummu
I deny the existence of Muses
I deny the existence of Nammu
I deny the existence of Nanna
I deny the existence of Nanna (Norse)
I deny the existence of Nanse
I deny the existence of Neith
I deny the existence of Nemesis
I deny the existence of Nephthys
I deny the existence of Neptune
I deny the existence of Nergal
I deny the existence of Ninazu
I deny the existence of Ninhurzag
I deny the existence of Nintu
I deny the existence of Ninurta
I deny the existence of Njord
I deny the existence of Nut
I deny the existence of Odin
I deny the existence of Ohkuninushi
I deny the existence of Ohyamatsumi
I deny the existence of Orgelmir
I deny the existence of Osiris
I deny the existence of Ostara
I deny the existence of Pan
I deny the existence of Parvati
I deny the existence of Phaethon
I deny the existence of Phoebe
I deny the existence of Phoebus Apollo
I deny the existence of Pilumnus
I deny the existence of Poseidon
I deny the existence of Quetzalcoatl
I deny the existence of Rama
I deny the existence of Re
I deny the existence of Rhea
I deny the existence of Sabazius
I deny the existence of Sarasvati
I deny the existence of Selene
I deny the existence of Shiva
I deny the existence of Seshat
I deny the existence of Seti (Set)
I deny the existence of Shamash
I deny the existence of Shapsu
I deny the existence of Shen Yi
I deny the existence of Shiva
I deny the existence of Shu
I deny the existence of Si-Wang-Mu
I deny the existence of Sin
I deny the existence of Sirona
I deny the existence of Sol
I deny the existence of Surya
I deny the existence of Susanoh
I deny the existence of Tawaret
I deny the existence of Tefnut
I deny the existence of Tezcatlipoca
I deny the existence of Thanatos
I deny the existence of Thor
I deny the existence of Thoth
I deny the existence of Tiamat
I deny the existence of Tlaloc
I deny the existence of Tonatiuh
I deny the existence of Toyo-Uke-Bime
I deny the existence of Tyche
I deny the existence of Tyr
I deny the existence of Utu
I deny the existence of Uzume
I deny the existence of Venus
I deny the existence of Vesta
I deny the existence of Vishnu
I deny the existence of Volturnus
I deny the existence of Vulcan
I deny the existence of Xipe
I deny the existence of Xi Wang-mu
I deny the existence of Xochipilli
I deny the existence of Xochiquetzal
I deny the existence of Yam
I deny the existence of Yarikh
I deny the existence of Yhwh
I deny the existence of Ymir
I deny the existence of Yu-huang
I deny the existence of Yum Kimil
I deny the existence of Zeus

I deny the existence of any god or gods that I’ve missed out on that list.

I consider anyone that follows any of them to be at best deluded, and at worst psychotic.

I hold the religions that have sprouted up around any and all gods in contempt.

I consider those that try to force their religion on others are morally bankrupt.

I consider those that deny the evidence of science in favour of faith as idiots.

I consider any laws that attempt to promote any religion, religious belief, or any religious leaders above any other or at the expense of any other as being unjust.

There, that should cover most of it.

Just to add a note of fairness…

I respect the rights of the individual to freedom of thought, and freedom of expression.

These are common accusations of the religious. They fact that it’s obviously fallacious seems to completely pass them by. If the only measurer of good or bad is Yahweh, then how do peoples and cultures who have never had anything to do with Christianity get by? How come they haven’t managed to kill themselves because they were unaware that they shouldn’t?

To ask the question ‘Can you be good without God?’ is akin to asking ‘Can you have tasty food without salt?’, or ‘Can you produce light without electricity?’ To anyone not indoctrinated into the religious fallacies, the answers to all three questions are easy – and the same. I won’t argue that salt brings a new dimension to the taste of our food, and that electricity makes it so much easier for us to have illumination in our homes. Similarly, I won’t argue that being religious and believing in the All Mighty brings a new dimension to how you might come by your moral compass. But they are none of them essential, and furthermore if used incorrectly might even prove dangerous.

So, I’ll ask again – ‘Can you be good without God?’

But when you start reading some of that massive content, that’s when the brain melt will set in. It’s just a constant barrage of idiotic drivel. The use of so many logical fallacies, over and over. The repeating of straw man arguments that have long since been torn down again and again. It’s a mark of a truly faith-based mind that it can still believe that any of this would still hold any weight. The only people that it could convince in any way are those that don’t need convincing in the first place. For those whose minds actually work properly we can see it for the brain fart that it actually is.

Now, I will grant the author one thing (and pretty much only one thing), it must have been a monumental labour of love to create the site. To be able to concentrate such huge amounts of inane, baseless, stupidity into one place… it’s almost a work of art!

Without a higher power and moral law giver, how can you have a set of moral laws?

and

You’re just an atheist and rejecting god because you want to be bad and just do anything you want to do.

As a life-long athiest, I’ve got to say that I find these two statements quite insulting.

The first statement seems to suggest that it would be entirely impossible for human society to generate it’s own moral code, and for the same society to judge whether its individual members had acted in accordance with said code. Humans are social creatures that like to live in social groups. For a group to survive each member of the group must act in a manner that is generally conducive to the common good. Thus you can pretty much guarantee that such acts as murder, assault, rape etc would be high on the ‘NO’ list.

Quick aside… It’s interesting that there is no mention of rape or assault in the ’10 commandments’. This would seem to suggest that they’re OK. God will punish me if I steal a loaf of bread, or get jealous of my neighbours new BMW. However, he seems less worried about me beating my neighbour up and raping his 18 year old daughter. Please note, I am not saying that christianity says these things are OK, just pointing out that if you don’t bother to take a closer look at the wider picture you can make a big mistake.

Back on topic… It should be obvious to anyone who actually thinks about it that any cohesive society will quite naturally over a period of time arrive at a set of moral laws (which may or may not be codified into actual Laws) that allow the society to prosper. Those that are unable to follow the moral laws of their society will be ostracised.

Onto the second statement… Given that I have been an atheist basically all my life it doesn’t entirely apply, but let’s assume it does. The premise seems to be that I’m rejecting gods moral code so that I can perform immoral acts with impunity. Well, lets see how well that holds up. Most of the biggies are covered by the laws of pretty much every country on the planet, and in most places the police force is sufficiently good at their jobs that I’m unlikely to go unpunished. Thus, even if I was inclined to murder, rape, assualt, theft etc, there would certainly be consequences to my actions. Even the ‘minor’ morals that go towards making me a generally nice person and which aren’t normally covered laws cannot just be ignored. If I was someone who didn’t reciprocate the kindness of friends and family, who didn’t help the less fortunate when I could, and didn’t give back to the community in which I live, then I’d quickly find that I would become an outcast.

Hopefully, I’ve demonstrated the point, that morality is innate in our own nature and the nature of the society in which we live.