As someone who exists largely on the fringes of the sceptical and atheist communities I pretty much stayed out of the debate.  I figured that it was all just a storm in a tea-cup and would blow over soon enough. Indeed, as the weeks turned into months the story slowly faded from my sight, only occasionally popping up. Just as any big story does in the press.

Because I wasn’t really paying attention, and I usually switched off when I realised a blog post was about this event I never fully understood the levels of depravity some dirty low-life scum were still sinking to, and how there were treating Rebecca.

Until I decided to read this post:

http://skepchick.org/2011/09/mom-dont-read-this/

I am in utter disgust with the way that some people are treating not only a fellow human being, but also a fellow sceptic. The hate that Rebecca has had directed her way is utterly deplorable, and completely uncalled for.

If sides are being taken, and I really wish they weren’t, then I want to make it publicly known that I am absolutely, 100%, behind Rebecca Watson here.

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.

[Who knows how long the overly sensitive types at YouTube will let that last?]

OK, these lads are idiots. They are also apparently racists. But as far as I can tell they’re perfectly within their rights to burn the Koran. It was (it seems anyway) their own book that they had paid for. So no big deal huh?

Except Northumbria police have arrested the six men for ‘Inciting Racial Hatred’. Bollocks! Islam/Muslim is not a race, it is a religion. One is a choice, one is not – I’ll give you three guesses which is which, and the first two don’t count.

In a joint statement, Northumbria Police and Gateshead Council said:

The kind of behaviour displayed in this video is not representative of our community as a whole.
Our community is one of mutual respect and we continue to work together with community leaders, residents and people of all faiths and beliefs to maintain good community relations.

Mutual respect? How about respect for the individual, and their rights to freedom of speech and expression? How about their rights to do what they want with their own possessions – so long as they don’t endanger life and property of others?

I sincerely hope that these men are not convicted of any crimes. If they are then I suspect that there will be civil uprising against such state stupidity.

http://richarddawkins.net/articles/518808-pope-s-holyroodhouse-speech-transcript?page=1

So …

Even in our own lifetime, we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society and denied our common humanity to many, especially the Jews, who were thought unfit to live.

Erm, they would be the Nazis with “Got Mitt Uns” – “God With Us” enscribed on their belts huh? Lets also not forget that Ratzi was a member of the Hitler Youth, and thus part of the Nazi tyranny that Britain et al fought against. (I’ll concede that he was young at the time, and may well have been pushed into joining by his parents). It was also the Catholic Church that had for centuries riled against the Jews, and inspired the hatred that Hitler took to such terrible conclusions.

As we reflect on the sobering lessons of the atheist extremism of the twentieth century, let us never forget how the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and of society and thus to a “reductive vision of the person and his destiny” (Caritas in Veritate, 29).

Um, what? Is he equating us atheists with the Nazis? What about the religious extremism huh? You know, the one that lead to planes flying into buildings? The one that lead to many years of bloody violence in Northern Ireland? The one that denies science and tells people that condoms actually lead to AIDS? That has systematically covered up the repeated sexual abuse and rape of young children in their care?

Today, the United Kingdom strives to be a modern and multicultural society. In this challenging enterprise, may it always maintain its respect for those traditional values and cultural expressions that more aggressive forms of secularism no longer value or even tolerate. Let it not obscure the Christian foundation that underpins its freedoms;

Would they be the christian freedoms that promote slavery, demote women to second class citizens, and attempt to deny basic freedoms like Freedom of Speech? And when has any secularist ever not tolerated the religious. All we ask for is that the religious don’t enjoy any special privilege over society. The religious are free to practise their religion and traditional values all they want as long as they don’t impinge on my freedom to ignore their traditional values (and vice-versa).

Pope Ratzi, you are an odious little toad. Please don’t let the door hit you on the ass on your way out.

It made me smile.

I was happy that the DJs felt they could treat the matter with such irreverence that they could joke about it. It made me happy to think that there might be some religious nit-wit getting his knickers all in a twist because a joke was made against his Popiness. It made me happy that this could happen on one of the highest rated independent radio stations in Britain.

Go Britain.

Go home Ratzinger.

OK, facts first. The proposed mosque is not on ground zero. It’s a few blocks away. It’s not even really a mosque, it’s a muslim community centre that also includes a prayer room.

So, should such a building be built? Well, in my opinion, no. But not for the reasons most people don’t want it built (i.e. it’s insensitive, it’s too close, it’s too contentious). I don’t want it built because I don’t want any religious buildings built. However, given that religious buildings do get built and that I have no right to stop them then yes it’s perfectly fine to build it. If you want to argue that it’s too close to ground zero, then you also need to say what the minimum distance should be, and then explain why other religions are allowed to build closer than that (there are several christian churches the same distance or closer away) and how your position isn’t discriminatory.

Until then, stop worrying about it.

I’d just like to take a moment to comment on what I feel this day is about, and what I want to bring to the discussion. As you are probably aware Muslims have a rule that you cannot depict images of their prophet Muhammad (although as I understand it the wording in the Koran could be interpreted to say that only Muslims may not depict images of Muhammad), and they take great offence when others, particularly westerners, do. In particular the incidence a few years ago of the Dutch newspaper Jyllands-Posten led to widespread outrage and death threats against the artists, the papers, and even westerners in general. This shows yet again radical Muslims inability to live peaceably with long established western ideals and rights – principally Freedom of Speech. These are rights that many of us hold very dear to our hearts, and will defend whenever possible.

Some argue that Freedom of Speech comes with restrictions. Some would argue that you do not have the freedom to offend or insult another person or their beliefs. I would argue that that is exactly the sort of thing that the right of Freedom of Speech is designed to protect – the right to say things that others may find offensive. You have every right to be offended, but you have no right to stop me from saying something that you personally feel offensive.

Just because you hold yourself to an ideal dictated to you in a book written by a bunch of backward desert dwelling goatherds does not mean that the rest of us feel the need to be held to that same standard. In fact we are perfectly within our rights to completely ignore that standard, and even hold it up to ridicule. And you may do the same about some of our beliefs – that’s the beauty of the sort of free society that we here in the west promote. You certainly do not have the right to threat us with violence and even death just because you don’t like something we said.

Just to quickly explain why I included Jesus and Dumbledore in the picture. I felt it necessary to point our that this doesn’t just apply to Muslims, it applies to others of other belief systems too, be it factual or fictional.

Full details here.

*UPDATE*

I was slightly overzealous with the celebrations above. What Simon has won is the right to use his argument that his statements were opinion, something that should be protected under freedom of speech/press.

Hopefully this will allow him to actually overturn the libel verdict that was previously handed down.

*UPDATE 2*

Of course you should all know by now that the BCA has dropped its case. Whoohoo! No Simon just needs to get his money back from them and everything will be straight again.

Please visit the Libel Reform Campaign website, sign the petition (it’s not just for UK citizens) and send a message to your MP (if you are a UK citizen).

The recent earthquake in Haiti is a major disaster. From the what I have heard and read there are thousands, probably hundreds of thousands dead, and the immediate area is in chaos. Governments and organisations the world over are promising aid and financial assistance, and people of all beliefs are dipping into their pockets to give money to the various aid agencies that have sprung into action.

So, this is all the things that normally happen when there is a huge humanitarian disaster. Everyone bands together in an effort to help those stricken by whatever natural even has befallen them.

Then the religious nuts chime in. First it was that odious toad Pat Robertson claims that it was divine retribution because of Haiti’s pact with the devil to throw out the French, and that it is a blessing in disguise. Second, whilst driving in to work this morning I was listening to Chris Evans on BBC Radio 2, and some religious numpty came on (I didn’t catch his name unfortunately) and proceeded to make some utterly bizarre claims. Echoing Pat he said something along the lines of “How can a god exist and allow this sort of thing to happen. Well, he can’t, unless some good comes of it.”, “Among the first support that came were words of support from the Pope.”, and “God didn’t cause this, it was just a natural event.”

HOLY COW!

OK, first off Haiti overthrew the French over 200 years ago. There is a saying that “Revenge is a dish best served cold” but wow, God obviously wanted it very cold!

Next, this is a huge disaster, with massive loss of human life. What sort of heartless, uncaring, opportunist do you have to be to say “It’s OK, don’t worry about all those dead people,God allowed this to happen so something good would come of this”. An all powerful, loving being would manage to bring about good without killing off vast swathes of the population of a country. A country by the way where around 95% of the population identify themselves  as Christians.

But lastly, the Pope(^TM ) can blow it out has fat ass. Right now what the people of Haiti need is food, medicine, and rescue workers then money in the coming months not some pompous twit sitting in his lavish palace blowing hot air.

If you can, please give to one of the international aid organisations that is actually doing something. I suggest either the Red Cross, or Oxfam.

*** FOLLOW UP ***

Some details of the supposed Pact with the Devil from StraightDope.com

Just shows that Pat has his facts wrong – no great suprises there.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6925781.ece

BHA Please Dont Label Me poster

First off, this is not a campaign by Richard Dawkins. Prof Dawkins was a prominent supporter of the original “There’s Probably No God, Now Stop Worrying And Enjoy Your Life” advertising campaign. It wasn’t his campaign, he just provided some money and lent his support. I too provided money to that campaign does that mean it’s mine too?

Secondly, the article basically proves the point of the advert, but completely fails to realise it. Those kids are the children of “Evangelical” parents, they aren’t evangelical kids. Not yet anyway. Maybe they will grow up to be evangelical, and that’s fine. Or maybe they’ll grow up to be Buddhist, or Muslim, or maybe even atheist. But foisting a world view on them when they are far too young to make an informed choice is infringing on their rights to self determinism.

I am a Sci-Fi fan, but no one would label my daughter as such as a result. I am a software engineer, but that doesn’t mean that my daughter is too. My daughter is an atheist, but she told me that.

Thirdly, this campaign is not in any way shape or form about infringing on the rights of the parents to raise their children under the umbrella of the parents faith, nor to restrict their ability to teach their children about their particular brand of religious dogma. So all the commenter’s on the article really need to learn to read and comprehend.

GAH!

Come on people, what the hell are you thinking? No matter how you dress it up neither Creationism nor Intelligent Design is science. It poses no testable theory. It is not falsifiable. There has never been a paper written about it that has been subjected to peer review in any repultable science journal.

It’s NOT SCIENCE.

You can’t teach it in a SCIENCE classroom.

Just like you can’t teach Woodworking in an English classroom. Or Cooking in a Physical Education class.

Please, for the sake of our children, keep the science curriculum strictly scientific. Don’t let educational standards fall any further.

If you absolutely have to teach Creationism then there is already a classroom to do it. It’s the Relgious Studies class (which, by the way, I’m still pissed that no-one told me I could opt out of when I was at school, it could have saved me from a huge amount of tedium).

Link to Times Online article

It’s early days yet so information seems to still be a little patchy, but some details are coming out. Jaycee has been subject to rape, and has two daughters by Garrido as a result. It’s not entirely clear what health Jaycee and her two daughter are in, but it appears they’re relatively healthy thankfully.

Now, just like Josef Fritzl and other similar cases of recent years, Garrido obviously has a few screws loose. From the details of a rambling telephone interview he has given it appears that he claims that God speaks to him. He has done the things he did because he thought they were what God wanted. I wonder how long before some religious types come along and try to dismiss those claims? Will anyone try and claim that Garrido wasn’t a true Christian?

It’s interesting that in general when someone claims to hear the voice of God then they’re almost universally considered to be nutters. Yet Christians heap praise on praise to a guy who claimed he was God. Now given that Jesus is supposed to return at some point, I’ve got to wonder how many Christian would just ignore him and claim he was deluded?

It’s good to hear that Jaycee and he children are now free from this monster, and I hope they get all the care and support they need to bring them back into society.