Friday, 30 May 2008
Clampdown on anti-Scientology protestors in Birmingham
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According to a comment left on my previous post on this matter, and to chat on the Anonymous discussion board Enturbulation, the Birmingham Anonymous Rapid Reaction Force (BARRF) have were warned by police on 28 May that if they display the word 'cult' on banners they can be arrested for inciting religious hatred. As if this wasn't enough, they were also told that they can't use megaphones in the city centre, and four members were fined for handing out flyers without a licence (on littering grounds, by environmental officers from the local authority).
Given the decision by the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to the London case – that the use of the word 'cult' "is not abusive or insulting and there is no offensiveness, as opposed to criticism, neither in the idea expressed nor in the mode of expression" – the position of the police in Birmingham hopefully won't be able to stand for too long. As for the leafleting problem, members of Anonymous have identified that licences are not required when handing flyers "where the distribution is for political purposes or for the purpose of a religion or belief", which they believe covers their actions in protesting against Scientology.
Let's hope so – we wish them luck.
[Thanks to the commenter who put me on to this story. Also, if you're involved in any of this we'd love to hear from you. Comments on posts are always welcome, but also feel free to contact us]
Posted by New Humanist at Friday, May 30, 2008
3 commentsLabels: Anonymous, free speech, freedom of speech, police, Scientology
US marine withdrawn for proselytising in Iraq
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A US marine based in Falluja has been withdrawn from the area for allegedly distributing coins engraved with evangelising messages in Arabic. According to reports, one side of the coins read "Where will you spend eternity?" while on the reverse was a well known Bible verse: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16."
The move follows complaints from residents of Falluja, and officially soldiers are forbidden from "proselytising any religion, faith or practices, and our troops are trained on those guidelines before they deploy".
The strength of evangelical Christians in the US military has been an issue for some time and earlier this year in New Humanist David Belden reported on the efforts of Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, to expose and force an end to their influence. It's frightening stuff and I strongly urge you to read it...
Posted by New Humanist at Friday, May 30, 2008
1 commentsLabels: Christianity, evangelicals, Iraq, US military
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Californian Ford dealership tries the bigoted approach to advertising
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Kieffe and Sons, a Ford car dealership in Mojave, California has produced a radio ad which, rather than pointing out, say, the quality of their service or the range of cars on offer, instead chooses to play on the stat that "86% of Americans say they believe in God" and suggest that they're not interested in custom from the remaining 14%:
"But did you know that 86% of Americans say they believe in God? Since we all know that 86 out of every 100 of us are Christians, who believe in God, we at Keiffe & Sons Ford wonder why we don't tell the other 14% to sit down and shut up. I guess maybe I just offended 14% of the people who are listening to this message. Well, if that is the case then I say that's tough, this is America folks, it's called free speech. None of us at Keiffe & Sons Ford are afraid to speak out. Keiffe & Sons Ford on Sierra Highway in Mojave and Rosamond, if we don't see you today, by the grace of God, we'll be here tomorrow."
It's certainly a novel approach to marketing - "come and visit our good old traditional bigoted Christian car dealership. You won't see any filthy atheists/Muslims/Jews/Hindus/others hanging around here while we're giving you the hard sell". Not sure why they feel it's going to make anyone buy but, as PZ points out, you can't rule out the possibility that it might prove successful.
One atheist blogger tried writing directly to Ford to complain about this rogue dealership, but as her post shows this didn't exactly prove successful.
Here's a YouTube clip with the audio from the ad:
Posted by New Humanist at Wednesday, May 28, 2008
2 commentsLabels: bigotry, cars, Christianity, Very Silly Things
Sharon Stone blames Chinese earthquake on bad karma
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"I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. I've been concerned about how should we deal with the Olympics, because they are not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine. And then all this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, is that karma – when you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?"
That's right, China as a geographical entity (population 1.3bn) has "bad karma" because of the ongoing situation with Tibet (the Dalai Lama's Sharon's friend you know) so along comes an enormous earthquake that kills over 68,000 innocent people and leaves over 4m homeless in a province in the middle of China which is unlikely to be inhabited by any of the people directly responsible for what's happened in Tibet (which incidentally Sharon is "not happy" about).
Needless to say many people in China are unhappy with these comments and some cinemas have vowed to never show her films again, which will presumably come as no great loss to the Chinese people. Cosmetics stores have also taken down adverts featuring Stone, and citizens have posted videos on YouTube calling on the actor to apologise.
Stone made the comments while she was at Cannes last week. Here's a video:
Posted by New Humanist at Wednesday, May 28, 2008
12 commentsLabels: Buddhism, Hollywood, religion, Sharon Stone, Very Silly Things
Christians feels misrepresented by media over Embryology Bill
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Now a story from a Christian news source tells me that the Christian Broadcasting Council is concerned that the Christian viewpoint was misrepresented in the media during the debate over the matter.
Chairman Olave Snelling feels "Christians and pro-life campaigners are portrayed in the media as people who do not care about the cure of diseases, research and the plight of unwanted pregnancy" and that "the public and MPs were not adequately informed about the issues and the consequences of certain parts of the Bill, despite the best efforts of many Christian and pro-life groups who worked tirelessly with MPs."
Which isn't how I remember this debate. Think back to Easter weekend, when clergy from across the Christian spectrum were given ample (excessive) column inches and airtime when they chose to use their most holy day to "inform" the public on the perceived dangers of the bill. They were using their top guys (bishops, cardinals etc), so presumably this amounted to their "best efforts". Anyone seeking the news had little choice but to hear and read these views, but unfortunately for them their "best efforts" comprised some of the most stunningly ill-informed and ignorant opinions heard in recent public debate. If this sounds strong, let us recap for a moment:
Cardinal Keith O'Brien (Scotland's top Catholic): "This bill represents a monstrous attack on human rights, human dignity and human life." Other descriptions of the bill included "monstrous", "grotesque", "hideous" and of "Frankenstein proportions".
Dr Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham (Anglican): "Gender-bending was so last century; we now do species bending".
Add to this failed attempts at debate by representatives of anti-abortion groups (see the BHA's Andrew Copson's demolition of Paul Tulley from the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children live on BBC News) and it's difficult to argue that Christians weren't given a fair chance to make their points. They even had a free vote in Parliament play with. But ultimately they were wrong, and fortunately reason won the day.
Posted by New Humanist at Wednesday, May 28, 2008
1 commentsLabels: abortion, Catholic Church, Christianity, Church of England, Embryology Bill, stem cell research
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
The 'c' word: an update
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It turns out that once the Crown Prosecution Service looked into the matter they decided that use of the word is neither "abusive or insulting" and dropped the case against the boy. He had been taking part in a protest organised by the anti-Scientology group Anonymous outside the church's headquarters near St Paul's on 10 May and was issued with the summons for inciting religious hatred under the Public Order Act after he refused to take down a banner saying "Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult".
As reported in the Guardian, a CPS spokesman explained the decision as follows: "In consultation with the City of London police, we were asked whether the sign, which read 'Scientology is not a religion it is a dangerous cult', was abusive or insulting. Our advice is that it is not abusive or insulting and there is no offensiveness, as opposed to criticism, neither in the idea expressed nor in the mode of expression. No action will be taken against the individual."
And the City of London force's reaction is great news for both free speech and the protesters, who can now cult away to the heart's content at future demonstrations: "The CPS review of the case includes advice on what action or behaviour at a demonstration might be considered to be threatening, abusive or insulting. The force's policing of future demonstrations will reflect this advice."
Meanwhile, Anonymous protesters in Edinburgh deserve a huge pat on the back for the success of their preemptive move to ensure the same thing doesn't happen to them while protesting in the Scottish capital. They contacted the city council to check the 'c' word wouldn't land them in trouble, to which an official replied "I understand that some of the signs you use may display the word ‘cult’ and there is no objection to this."
So, congratulations to Anonymous both north and south of the border and, in support of what seems to be a newly-guaranteed freedom to use the 'c' word in public, I'd just like to declare that Scientologists are all a bunch of cults.
Posted by New Humanist at Tuesday, May 27, 2008
1 commentsLabels: Anonymous, cults, free speech, Scientology
Ex-footballer Gavin Peacock to train for religious career in Canada
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Now, this isn't one of those shock sporting conversion stories – Peacock's born-again and has been a Christian since the age of 19 – and in my opinion the real story is the reshuffle his departure will initiate in the BBC's punditry ranks. They've already lost Ian Wright as a result of using him as a "comedy jester" and with Peacock off with God they'll be forced to take on two new names to back up their diminishing football coverage. No doubt certain friends of mine who are as obsessed with punditry as they are with the game (you know who you are) will furiously debate the potential impact of Peacock's departure, but personally I'm a fan and would prefer it was someone else disappearing to the other side of the world to become a minister. Lawro, if you're reading this, have you ever considered the religious life?
Posted by New Humanist at Tuesday, May 27, 2008
0 commentsLabels: Christianity, football, Gavin Peacock, religion
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Don't mention the 'c' word
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Four letters, begins with 'c' ends with 't', got a 'u' in it, you know the one. That’s right 'Cult'.
Turns out it is a criminal offence to use the word in reference to that august institution dedicated to thetan-themed gobblegook, the
If you are the anonymous 15-year-old or you know him, do get in touch - we might be able to help you with your case.
Posted by Caspar Melville at Wednesday, May 21, 2008
2 commentsLabels: cults, freedom of speech, Scientology
Monday, 19 May 2008
Dutch cartoonist arrested
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Since I can't read Dutch I can't judge these images on the only basis on which cartoons should be judged in my view- that is whether they are funny- but the whole thing, including a reportedly 30-hour interrogation, seems ridiculously heavy-handed and counter-productive. I thought the Danish cartoons were mostly rubbish (except the 'agent provocateur' one) and the reason given for publishing them disingenuous (is that how you start a debate?); and Geert Wilders Fitna film is just the worst kind of racist propaganda. I also value the freedom to say so. But if it comes down to a battle with the authorities about it we have to stand with Gregorious Nekschot, Jyllands-Posten and Wilders. These debates are nothing to do with the law which should preserve all of our rights to say, write and draw what we think.
Cartooning is not a crime!
Posted by Caspar Melville at Monday, May 19, 2008
1 commentsLabels: cartoons, Gregorious Nekschot, Islam
God and the US elections
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Posted by Caspar Melville at Monday, May 19, 2008
1 commentsLabels: Barack Obama, evangelicals, Hilary Clinton, US elections
Friday, 16 May 2008
Gin and Oyster Cards
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Here's the blurb:
"A dapperly dressed, terribly civilised, gin-soaked drinks party on the Circle Line, before BoJo bans us from drinking on public transport. Let's demonstrate how civilised and social drinking really is."
Boo to Boris, say I.
Posted by Caspar Melville at Friday, May 16, 2008
1 commentsLabels: Boris Johnson, drinking, London Underground
Thursday, 15 May 2008
Lott on Lut
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[Lot makes a passing reference towards the end to the fact that he gave up being a newspaper columnist. I, for one, am very glad of that as I didn't like him as a columnist, whereas he is a very good writer of these kind of long-form reflections]
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Cult update: Messiah banged up
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Here's Ben and former cult members talking ab out it on the Larry King show.
Posted by Caspar Melville at Wednesday, May 14, 2008
0 commentsLabels: messiah, Strong City Cult, Wayne Bent
Brain in Brighton
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Posted by Caspar Melville at Wednesday, May 14, 2008
0 commentsLabels: science, Susan Greenfield, the brian
Religion is childish says genius
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Thursday, 8 May 2008
Israel's 60th anniversary: more from our new issue
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To mark the 60th anniversary of Israel's foundation we asked two Jewish writers – Mike Marqusee and Eliane Glaser – to consider what Israel means for them. Their answers reflect the mixed feelings the issue invokes in those with attachments to Israel (and in those without them) and are sure to attract some strong opinions.
Have a read and then discuss by leaving comments on this post.
Posted by New Humanist at Thursday, May 08, 2008
1 commentsLabels: Israel, Judaism, Middle East, Palestine
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
Campaign 2008: Nailing the faith vote
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![](http://web.archive.org./web/20180219013737im_/http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_v6SgB3LYD5k/SCHXnAFZBkI/AAAAAAAAACc/4OadjRhpH8Y/s320/NewHumanistLibertycrucified.jpg)
Barack Obama's march to the nomination seems to be back on track following last night's victory in North Carolina (though Hilary's just lent herself $6.4m so she can carry on fighting), so this seemed like an appropriate time to shamelessly plug our May/June cover story, in which James Crabtree discusses how, in the current campaign, both parties are courting the evangelical vote.
Read it, it's very good.
Posted by New Humanist at Wednesday, May 07, 2008
0 commentsLabels: 2008 US Presidential Election, america, Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton
Peanut butter disproves evolution
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Thanks to New Humanist reader Alistair Scott for sending this in. He was convinced it was a gag until he Googled the presenter, Chuck Missler, and found out that he's a well-known evangelist and a former "Branch Chief of the Department of Guided Missiles" in the US military...
Posted by New Humanist at Wednesday, May 07, 2008
15 commentsLabels: creationism, evangelicals, evolution, Very Silly Things
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Jesus Camp on TV tonight
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The film profiles the Kids on Fire School of Ministry, a Pentecostal summer camp in North Dakota where fire and brimstone pastor Becky Fisher trains children to join the "army of God".
I haven't seen it, but it was critically acclaimed when it was released in 2006 and it looks suitably disturbing – see the trailer below:
Posted by New Humanist at Tuesday, May 06, 2008
2 commentsLabels: child abuse, cinema, documentary, fundamentalism, Jesus Camp
Robbie Williams obsessed with aliens
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![](http://web.archive.org./web/20180219013737im_/http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_v6SgB3LYD5k/SCA7-9XICtI/AAAAAAAAACM/32n4nHlk-M8/s320/FameGraph.jpg)
So imagine our delight when it turned out that fading pop superstar Robbie Williams has retreated into the world of alien conspiracies. The Sun recently caught up with Robbie at a UFO convention in Nevada, where he confirmed "his belief that UFOs are 'there all the time' but only show themselves on Earth when they make mistakes and their 'protective shields' come off".
Sporting a new look that may disappoint his female fans (think an overweight Fidel Castro) Robbie meets a mother who claims her son is regularly abducted by aliens, and who believes he is "an 'Indigo Child', who has been put on Earth as a psychic sage. She's taken photographs of him being abducted, but they never come out "because she is not a very good photographer and only owns a disposable camera".
It turns out Robbie's always had an interest in the paranormal, telling the Sun that “Mum was a tarot card reader. On the shelf just outside her room there would be the books about the world’s mysteries — elves, demons and witchcraft. She’d have people round to read the tarot cards and read their palms. She’d talk about spirits, ghosts . . . the other side. I was that scared that I never talked to her about it and just lived in fear of this stuff.”
He says he's tried visiting psychics in the past but has always found them to be "charlatans" and now he's hoping the same won't happen with his interest in UFOs. For the moment he's happy to spend "hours holed up in his LA mansion researching UFOs on the net and watching DVDs about alien conspiracies".
Robbie's not the first celebrity to develop an obsession with alien conspiracies (Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters star Dan Ackroyd believes alien/human hybrids might be walking among us) and, as our exclusive graph reveals, there seems to be a correlation between fame and increased irrationality. But then again, they might be the rational ones...
Tune into Radio 4 tonight at 6.30pm, when Robbie Williams will be talking to Jon Ronson about his interest in UFOs.
Posted by New Humanist at Tuesday, May 06, 2008
1 commentsLabels: Aliens, paranormal, Robbie Williams, UFOs, Very Silly Things
Friday, 2 May 2008
Royal girlfriend converts from Catholicism to marry a royal
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And what better way to illustrate the absurd, established state we live in than by turning to our distinguished royal family? You see, according to the Sun (yes I'm linking to the Sun) the girlfriend of someone from the royal family has made, in their words, a "dramatic" 11th hour conversion from Catholicism to the Church of England in order to ensure that her beau doesn't lose his vital position as 11th in line to the throne.
As any self-respecting secularist should know, the 1701 Act of Settlement declared that any royals who married Catholics would have their names stricken from the line of succession, and that piece of legislation still stands to this day.
However, anyone concerned that the girlfriend may have received an unfriendly nudge in the right direction from senior royals shouldn't worry too much – Buckingham Palace insists it was all her own decision and that "She was welcomed into the Church of England some time ago."
[Names withheld from this article due to irrelevance]
Posted by New Humanist at Friday, May 02, 2008
0 commentsLabels: Catholic Church, Church of England, monarchy, Protestantism, Royal Family
Thursday, 1 May 2008
RSA debate agrees – a secular state is best for Islam
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Speaking first was Dr Usama Hasan, director of the City Circle, an organisation that seeks to promote the development of distinct British Muslim identity. Hasan opened by stressing that political secularism is desirable for all, but that many Muslims, himself included, would find it difficult to accept a state of "metaphysical secularism" – one that operates on the assumption that there is no god.
Hasan was followed by Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain, who suggested that the question taken on by the debate was something of a red herring. He stated that among the majority of Muslims in Western democracies there was no problem with secularism, and that the real debate concerns the roles of Islam or secularism in the governments of countries with majority Muslim populations. Bunglawala suggested that some Muslim countries have had negative experiences with secularism, for example in Turkey where the hugely popular governing Islamic AK Party has come under attack from a militant secular minority well entrenched in the state apparatus.
Next up was the Independent columnist Yasmin Alibhai Brown, Chair of the organisation British Muslims for Secular Democracy, who began by stressing that secularism should not be seen as a "backdoor way of privileging atheism", and claiming that she finds "the fundamentalism of Richard Dawkins and Islamic fundamentalism" to be "two sides of the same coin". Brown added that she opposes the French style of secularism - which in her view has been used in "racist ways" and has given secularism a bad name. She stated that there is the greatest potential when the state is religiously neutral, pointing out that this is not yet the case in Britain. As an example of how a secular state can succeed in comparison to an Islamic one, Brown asked the audience to consider the relative stability and development in India since independence when compared to neighbouring Pakistan.
Ed Husain, author of The Islamist and founder of the counter-extremism think tank the Quilliam Foundation, was last to speak and, along with the others, came down in defence of secularism, stressing that it is the reason Muslims are able to live in the UK today. To highlight this he used the example of Abdullah William Quilliam, the British covert to Islam after whom the Foundation is named, who in the far less secular 1890s was stoned along with his followers for leading Muslim prayers in Liverpool.
Husain advanced three reasons why some Muslims have a "psychological block" against secularism. Firstly, the words for secularism in some languages, such as Urdu, have meanings equivalent to "atheism", which can prove off-putting. Second he blames the rising influence of Islamism, whose proponents have been more effective than others in making themselves heard, and lastly the reluctance of the liberal intelligentsia in the UK to stand up for secularism and liberal democracy. He thinks that the answer may lie in better teaching of the values of secularism and democracy in schools, particularly in history lessons where students need to learn about the conflicts and obstacles we had to overcome to establish the secular, liberal democracy we have today.
The debate was rounded off by Kishwer Falkner, who described her own experiences with religious groups lobbying the House of Lords. She praised groups, such as Muslims and Catholics, for being well-organised and ensuring they have a say in public affairs, but warned that at times the religious demands for exceptions from the law can go beyond belief in democracy and reach very exceptional levels.
So, that's my quick-fire rundown of the debate this lunchtime. It would have been interesting to have someone on the panel who wasn't backing secularism, but it's still fair to say there's plenty to chew on here. It's clear that while the speakers all support a secular state, there was uneasiness among them about the role of atheism (see Usama Hasan's problem with "metaphysical secularism"), and Yasmin Alibhai Brown's suggestion that the likes of Richard Dawkins are "fundamentalists" on a par with Islamic fundamentalists is sure to raise a few eyebrows. Brown also had strong opinions on the merits of French secularism (in her view it's "racist"), an issue covered by Joan W Scott in the March/April New Humanist.
Join this debate by leaving some comments on this post...
Posted by New Humanist at Thursday, May 01, 2008
1 commentsLabels: Ed Husain, Inayat Bunglawala, Islam, Islamism, Kishwer Falkner, RSA, secularism, Usama Hasan, Yasmin Alibhai Brown
Is George Bush about to follow Blair into Catholicism?
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Before anyone gets too carried away, let us clarify that this story appears spurious at best. Reuters' blogger Philip Pullella is entirely unconvinced, saying that "the odds of this happening appear as good as those of the proverbial snowball in hell."
Panorama's evidence for this claim amounts to the fact that Methodist Bush prayed with Pope Benedict during his recent visit to the US, that Bush's brother Jeb converted to join his Mexican wife as a Catholic, and that several of the President's close advisers are Catholic.
And that's pretty much it. Catholic blogger Father John Duhlsdorf provides his own English translation and dismisses the story with the introduction "Wanna read an article typical of much of the Italian press?", before concluding that "A lot of this article is pure fantasy. "
So, to sum up, don't expect to see George W confessing in a booth adjacent to Tony's any time soon.
Posted by New Humanist at Thursday, May 01, 2008
0 commentsLabels: Catholic Church, George W Bush, Pope, Tony Blair