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.

OK, this just makes me sick. Some religious wacko parents have a daughter who is obviously very ill. Their religion dictates that they don’t seek medical help, but instead they must pray, lay on hands, and fast etc. Funnily enough (although funny is the last thing that it actually is), their daughter died as a result of their mistreatment.

Now for many minor ailments, not seeking medical help won’t kill you. Having a bit of a cough, a head-ache, or an upset stomach aren’t serious conditions. Left untreated the bodies natural defences will kick in and you’ll get better. If someone happens to be doing some ‘faith healing’ at the same time it won’t change anything, the person will still get better.

However, when the illness is more serious, you must get proper medical attention! This is especially necessary in the case of the young, elderly, or generally unhealthy. For them, their natural bodily healing mechanisms aren’t always as strong. But for even the most healthy and fittest there are many diseases and ailments that must be treated by a trained medical professional.

But it’s things like this that really get my goat:

When the detectives told Worthington that the law requires a parent to provide adequate medical care, he said he had provided care.

“I did everything I could do for her,” Worthington said. “What I was doing was working,” he said. “She was getting relief.”

WHAT? F*CK *FF! How can he say that shit? Your daughter DIED, so how much more evidence do you need that your so called treatment wasn’t working? It is my profound hope that these child abusers (and it was without doubt abuse) get prosecuted to the full extent of the law and have a very long time to contemplate the paucity of their actions. Hopefully they will come to realise that their religious beliefs are not only utterly fallacious, but also down-right dangerous.

BBC News Article

Obviously, as an atheist, I’m reluctant to let any of my tax (or National Insurance in this case) pounds be used for any theistic purposes. So to that extent I do support the calls of the NSS. I have no problem with chaplains per se, and I’m quiet happy for them to visit hospital patients and their families if called upon to do so. I just don’t want to be paying for it.

There is one other point however that I’d like to touch on, and my views may be slightly surprising. In the radio interview, the chaplain (whose name I didn’t catch) mentioned that their services do form part of a ‘whole body healing’ service. He claimed that patients who were subject to the services of a chaplain had a much better recover rate. I did cough slightly at that statement, but then I thought on a bit. Obviously, such a claim should be subjected to a properly controlled scientific study, and anything that can aid the healing/recovery process needs to be encouraged. The thing is however, there is already some data that may support this position – sort of. Investigations into the efficacy of ‘Complementary and Alternative Medicines’ (CAM) seem to indicate that there is a small improvement above and beyond what can be explained from the placebo effect. This improvement isn’t down to the actual medicines themselves, but is due to the fact that CAM practitioners are often more able to spend time just being with the patient. The human body does have amazing powers to heal itself, and anything that makes the patient feel happier and cared for can assist the overall healing process. Because of this it’s just possible that chaplains can be beneficial. But so could doctors and nurses if they were able to spend more ‘bedside’ time. So could anyone whose job was just to go round the wards, and be a friend to the patients.

I wonder, can we have atheist/humanist chaplains?