Gay Scientists Isolate Christian gene!

Respect homophobia, sexism and child abusers ???? Nope.

Imagine...

There is a head of state visiting, socialists, LGBT people, feminists , what do you do?

He heads up a political party and state :

- Where the leader is elected by a small group of men.For life.
- No woman can hold office.
- LGBT people are seen as bad and made to feel shame. They often have to pretend to be heterosexual , marry or else risk censure.
- Members of the Party have abused children entrusted to their care. Years of cover up, where the interests of secrecy and the adults take precedence over victims , have ensued . Continual pressure from victims groups have eventually lead to an apology, but the Party likes to portray itself as the victim.
- To allow a woman to be an officer is seen as on a par with abuse, they are clearly second class citizens.
-The leader and his representatives go to Africa and push unscientific twaddle, that condoms can lead to aids, exasperating a bad situation.
- Representatives push in other countries, such as Nicaragua, for all abortion to be illegal, even if the mothers life is a risk. Woman then face backstreet abortions and death. Cancer treatment is even withheld in case the foetus is harmed. Woman again, second class citizens.
- In other countries, representatives push for divorce to be illegal , often trapping women in abusive marriages .


This Party is homophobic, has a very poor track record on the physical and sexual abuse of children and does not women to have control of their own bodies. It wants to have laws across the world that will impose its beliefs and make woman suffer.

So, what should the response of Socialists, LGBT people, feminists be ? Protest !!

Ahhhh, yep we do that when a nasty Head of State visits . BUT , change political party for religion . Hmm, what difference does that make I hear you ask? Well it seems rather a lot , for example we should welcome the pope .

We must respect their views .Not be strident .Not protest.

Ahh, but do they respect our views? Do they not consider women who have abortions as sinful and murderers ? What about their supporters who scream at women going into clinic?

I believe in a secular society, freedom of religion and none. Freedom of speech , both ways. Freedom to protest abhorrent views. I believe in solidarity with woman fighting to control their bodies, access to birth control , scientific sexual health education, equality of women and LGBT people.

A religious belief is a belief just like a political ,personal or ethical one, Why should a large wealthy organisation , run by men, be privileged , not be offended and be respected?

A religious belief is just that, one amongst many beliefs. All need to be argued for, all are open to criticism, mockery, argument, debate and offence . As a socialist and feminist I expect that of my views, I know I have to defend and argue and be accountable. same goes for religion.

I'm sure the Catholic Church can stand a bit of debate and protest. My views are open to debate,protest and argument, why not theirs?

Homophobia and the Tories

Seems a rising star Tory has some homophobia in her closet :

A high-flying prospective Conservative MP, credited with shaping many of the party's social policies, founded a church that tried to "cure" homosexuals by driving out their "demons" through prayer.
Philippa Stroud, who is likely to win the Sutton and Cheam seat on Thursday and is head of the Centre for Social Justice, the thinktank set up by the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, has heavily influenced David Cameron's beliefs on subjects such as the family. A popular and energetic Tory, she is seen as one of the party's rising stars.
The CSJ reportedly claims to have formulated as many as 70 of the party's policies. Stroud has spoken of how her Christian faith has motivated her to help the poor and of her time spent working with the destitute in Hong Kong. On her return to Britain, in 1989, she founded a church and night shelter in Bedford, the King's Arms Project, that helped drug addicts and alcoholics. It also counselled gay, lesbian and transsexual people.
Abi, a teenage girl with transsexual issues, was sent to the church by her parents, who were evangelical Christians. "Convinced I was demonically possessed, my parents made the decision to move to Bedford, because of this woman [Stroud] who had come back from Hong Kong and had the power to set me free," Abi told the Observer.
"She wanted me to know all my thinking was wrong, I was wrong and the so-called demons inside me were wrong. The session ended with her and others praying over me, calling out the demons. She really believed things like homosexuality, transsexualism and addiction could be fixed just by prayer, all in the name of Jesus."
"T" said he moved to Bedford because he believed the church could help him stop having homosexual thoughts. "I was trying to convince myself that a change was possible but, at the same time, a part of me didn't believe it was possible," he said. "The church's approach was not that it was sinful to be homosexual but that it was sinful to act on it. The aim is to get a person to a position where they don't have these sinful emotions and thoughts."
"T" said it was only after he "took a break" from the church that his depression lifted. "It was the church's attitude towards my sexuality that was the issue," he recalled.
"My impression is that she genuinely cares about people," he said of Stroud. "Her personal beliefs may get in the way sometimes, but she is a positive person."
Stroud and her husband, David, a minister in the New Frontiers church, allied to the US evangelical movement, left the project in the late 1990s to establish another church in Birmingham. Angela Paterson, who was an administrator at the Bedford church, said: "With hindsight, the thing that freaks me out was everybody praying that a demon would be cast out of me because I was gay. Anything – drugs, alcohol or homosexuality, they thought you had a demon in you."
Kacey Jones, a hostel resident, said she was told to end her lesbian relationship or leave the church. "Philippa was still around when I first moved in," Jones said. "There was a 'discipleship house' for Christians struggling with issues, including their sexuality. They told me my feelings weren't normal. I didn't want to be gay, I wanted to be like everybody else, get married, have kids and please my parents."
Stroud wrote a book, God's Heart for the Poor, in which she explains how to deal with people showing signs of "demonic activity". Stroud, who declined to talk to the Observer, writes: "I'd say the bottom line is to remember your spiritual authority as a child of God. He is so much more powerful than anything else!"
In the book she discusses the daily struggle of running the hostel. "One girl lived in the hostel for some time, became a Christian, then choked to death on her own vomit after a drinking bout. Her life had changed to some extent, but we wondered whether God knew that she hadn't the will to stick with it and was calling her home."

Rev Angus MacLeay and Rev Mark Oden, Friday Fuckwits

Apparently wives should submit to their husbands and shut the fuck up :

In a leaflet issued to parishoners, the Rev Angus MacLeay used passages in the Bible to justify women playing a submissive role in local church life. He urged women to “submit to their husbands in everything”.

Mr MacLeay, a member of the General Synod, is opposed to the appointment of women bishops. He has campaigned vociferously for Reform, an Evangelical group that seeks to reform the Church of England “according to the Holy Scriptures”.
The leaflet he issued It says at one point: “Wives are to submit to their husbands in everything in recognition of the fact that husbands are head of the family as Christ is head of the church.

“This is the way God has ordered their relationships with each other and Christian marriage cannot function well without it."
In a section called `More difficult passages to consider', it continues:
"It would seem that women should remain silent....if their questions could legitimately be answered by their husbands at home."

In a sermon days later, his curate, the Rev Mark Oden, a married father-of-three, built on the argument, sparking further controversy.

He told his congregation at St Nicholas Church, Sevenoaks, Kent, that the behaviour of modern women was to blame for Britain’s high divorce rate.

He said: “We know marriage is not working. We only need to look at figures – one in four children have divorced parents.
“Wives, submit to your own husbands.”

Quite a few women were not so willing to 'submit' to such nonsense, saying they won't return to the church and dozens of them cancelling their direct debit to St Nicholas's.

Oh dear, they really don't know their place do they.

Stephen Fry on the Catholic Church

Via Neil on Facebook.

This was from a debate last year.

The clip is about 20 mins long, by half way through Fry gets into his stride on sex, abuse and HIV/Aids.

Belated Friday Fuckwit(or Sunday Sinner?), Iris Robinson

OK, belated Friday Fuckwit. Been busy, well not really. Couldn't be arsed , hibernating from the snow.

Anyway, Iris Robinson , Friday Fuckwit.

First off can I say that I do take mental health issues seriously. Depression, not just a bit sad or down, is bloody awful. I have worked with people with it, I have had friends who struggle it and I had a father whose life was literally destroyed by it.

OK, just wanted to get that out of the way.

I also don't wish it on Iris. BUT, she is still a nasty hateful reactionary intolerant thoroughly bigoted individual. Just now she is a depressed nasty hateful reactionary intolerant thoroughly bigoted individual. Check out an earlier post where I highlight the role of 'treatments' and intolerance on the lives of LGBT people and the effect people like Iris can have on their lives and mental health.She happily added to an environment that makes LGBT people feel depressed, isolated and wary of living their lives in the open. Yeah, we have civil partnerships, but we still have this crap from Iris and various other hateful people, often justified by religion. What about their depression Iris, did you care ?

Then the news breaks that the woman who once said she was a "simple housewife " is rather more "Desperate Housewife," showing a flair as a budding female Ronnie Wood , though her penchant being cafe owners rather than cocktail waitresses.

Now I really don't care what people do sexually as long as its consensual between adults , they are honest and respectful to each other. What pisses me off is hypocrisy, lecturing others about sin whilst partaking off some forbidden fruit themselves. They must know they will get caught out? Surely if they believe all this stuff, and expect others to live a sin free life, they realise that goes for them as well? Do as I do ?

As well as the double standards in sexual conduct, there appears to have been some questionable practices re setting up the bit on the side in a cafe .

Tut tut tut.

Iris is not the first, and won't be the last, to be shown up as a hypocrite.This is a long and fine upstanding tradition of god bothers.When will they learn...or perhaps when will they learn to be less judgemental and concerned about other peoples sex lives.

So the year has got off to a good start with the downfall of a bigot.I'm hoping now for a few more to get caught out. Wish list , well for a start Sarah Palin found in a lesbian threesome S/M bondage session, wielding a whip shouting hell yeah. Tony Blair found frequenting a fetish website where people share their fantasies of being beaten by Maggie and her handbag, screaming oh yes yes yes. Oh and some Catholic Priests caught fucking the choirboys and girls...oh yeah, that's a bit last year isn't it.

Meanwhile what of the future for Iris? Well she has had to resign her political positions and been expelled from the DUP. Will she use this time on her hands to reflect on the complexity of human nature and sexuality? Will she be more caring and compassionate towards others and less judgemental? Will she reflect on the emotional pain caused to LGBT by bigotry ?

Nah, my bet is that after a suitable interval she will publicly repent, probably via talk shows and newspaper interviews. She will espouse how her faith in God has helped her to be a better person and that she is now a good and faithful wife .

Perhaps the Psychiatrist she knows who 'cures gays' has a sideline in adulterers and she can pop along and turn her faithful.

Let us hope she takes on board he who is without sin cast the first stone, and lay off Lesbian and Gay people.

Or in Stroppy language ...shut the fuck up !