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Monthly Archives: September 2007

The minister and the president

Sunday, September 30, 2007

It’s not hard for government ministers to upset secularists these days, given their religiosity, but Stephen Timms (pictured) has really got up the National Secular Society’s nose – specifically that of its president, no less.
This Labour Party vice-chair, former financial secretary to the Treasury and currently Minister of State for Competitiveness at the newly created Department for Business, Enterprise [...]

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Suppertime blues

Friday, September 28, 2007

It’s the Last Supper as you’ve never seen it before. The participants aren’t much interested in eating, more how macho they look in their leathers and other assorted gear, with a gorgeous red dildo on the table in front of them (as well as other assorted, well, things that polite people don’t talk about).
What it [...]

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Not an appealing prospect for discriminating diocese

Thursday, September 27, 2007

An English diocese has said it won’t appeal against a tribunal’s ruling that its bishop discriminated against a gay job applicant.
Hereford’s bishop, Anthony Priddis, turned down an applicant for a youth officer’s job after questioning him about a past relationship with another man.
But the applicant, 42-year-old John Reaney, had looked set to clinch the job after [...]

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Dentist admonished in ‘Islamic dress’ case

Thursday, September 27, 2007

A Muslim dentist in Greater Manchester has been admonished by the General Dental Council (GDC) because he told a woman patient to wear “appropriate Islamic dress” – a headscarf – before he would treat her.
Omer Butt was found guilty of serious professional misconduct after a three-day disciplinary hearing, according to the Yorkshire Post.
Stewart Goulding, chairman of [...]

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UK Goverment advice on ID/Creationism: it’s not science

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

The British government has finally issued its promised guidelines regarding the teaching of creationism and intelligent design in science class. The verdict: they are not science, and they have no place in the curriculum.
From a government obsessed with creating “faith schools”, this is a welcome breath of fresh air. These guidelines from the Department of [...]

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The unkindest cut of all

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Barbaric methods of killing animals are set to become big business, according to a story in the Australian newspaper The Age.
More than 200 food manufacturers in Victoria are gearing up for a big project to establish a premium brand for halal products to cater to the world’s 1.9 billion Muslims.
Halal, like the Jewish shechita, involves killing animals without [...]

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What a difference a gay makes!

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Is anyone any the wiser about where the Episcopalians stand on the Gay Issue? Take this one passage from the Ekklesia website:
The Episcopal Church’s decision has produced very different interpretations in the media. The Guardian’s Stephen Bates has “US bishops offer lifeline in effort to keep world Anglican church intact”. Telegraph reporter Jonathan Petre says [...]

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Signs and wonders in Surbiton

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

The words pot and kettle come to mind as a woman who claims the Virgin Mary has appeared in a pine tree at her home has been dismissed as a fraud.
By the Catholic Church.
Yes.
The Catholic Church.
You couldn’t make it up.
This apparition has been appearing for about 20 years at 67-year-old Patricia De Menezes’s home in [...]

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God’s in his Tube and all’s well with the world

Monday, September 24, 2007

God moves in mysterious ways. Now it’s up (or down) the tube. From the people who invented God (i.e. religionists), here’s GodTube. We kid you not.
Never let it be said that The Freethinker is not willing to introduce its blog readers to new and challenging ideas. Take this (cited by a piece on the Boston [...]

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(Non-)Muslims Against Sharia

Monday, September 24, 2007

Muslims Against Sharia burst onto the scene last week with its announcement of a counter-bounty on the head of the probably-imaginary Abu Omar al-Baghdadi (al Qaeda’s own version of Keyser Soze). Bearing the slogan “Acknowledging Mistakes, Accepting Responsibities, Moving Forward” they seemed almost too good to be true. Unfortunately, they almost certainly are - as [...]

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