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Crafty Muslim creationists are given the brush-off in Israel

Thursday, July 17, 2008

A PLANNED Jewish-Muslim reconciliation conference due to be held at the Hebrew University in Israel turned sour when it appeared that a Turkish contingent of scientists might hijack the event to advance their anti-Darwinist views.

According to a YNet News report:

The Turkish lecturers arriving from Istanbul on a joint initiative between the research and scientific foundation they represent and the Interfaith Encounter Association, were planning to speak at the two Jewish-Muslim conferences at the Hebrew University’s campus on Mount Scopus and at Tel Aviv University.

But at the last moment the Turkish scientists were told that the Hebrew University event was off.

Professor Boaz Shamir, Dean of Social Sciences cancelled the event, saying:

We wouldn’t have hosted an event supporting anti-Darwinist propaganda.

YNet did not identify the Turkish foundation, but we have every reason to believe that scientists concerned are associated with the Science Research Foundation.

And who heads the SRF?

Adnan Oktar, the Godfather of Islamic creationism

Why, none other than our old friend and favourite basket-case, Adnan Oktar, who churns out unbelievably idiotic and very expensive junk science under the pen-name Harun Yahya. (See here and here).

The SRF website claims:

Honorary President Oktar, whose books are translated in 57 languages, is one of the most prominent and influential opinion leaders in the Turkish-Islamic world.

Little wonder the Turkish-Islamic world in such a sorry mess.

In its Statement of Belief, the SRF says:

The scientific works of the Science Research Foundation concentrate particularly on the origin of the universe, living things and mankind. The SRF emphasizes that 19th century positivism, rejecting religious beliefs and basing science on atheism, is flawed, and defends instead the ‘intelligent design’ view of the origin of living things and mankind, a stance which has its roots in contemporary scientific findings. So far, the SRF has organized 1.500 scientific conferences in different cities in Turkey. It has also held three international conferences and many scientific exhibitions on the same subject in various regions of Turkey.

The Turkish scientists were not best pleased by the cancellation, claiming:

The Hebrew University chooses to maintain the radical image of Islam and is preventing us from spreading a message of peace. We see this as an undemocratic way of handling ideas.

Let’s see if we’ve got this right: a group of “scientists”, representing a foundation dedicated to rubbishing evolution, try to sneak into a reconciliation conference to tell anyone who will listen that creationism is the answer to world peace. When they get rumbled and are shown the door, this is “undemocratic?” Please!

Yehuda Stolov, founder and director of the Interfaith Encounter Association, said:

The purpose (of the conference ) was to discuss collaboration between Muslims and Jews for peace and against terror. We had no plans of talking against Darwinism. Unfortunately, the anti-Darwinism made it by mistake into the list of topics on the electronic invitation, which in turn caused the cancellation of the event.

By mistake?! Pull the other one, it’s got bells on.

HAT TIP: Michael Cohen

Posted by Barry Duke @ 10:19 pm

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Price and Prejudice

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

A 25-year-old man who was teased and humiliated for being gay has won a substantial payout from his employers, the Presbyterian Church of Wales, according to a report in the Pink Paper.

Stephen Price’s ordeal began almost as soon as he began working at the Coleg Trefeca centre with 40-year-old Mair Jones, his manager. The 37-bed retreat in Brecon is used by church groups from across the country.

When it first came before the tribunal, a hugely amusing report about the case was written by Andy Armitage, over the the Pink Triangle Trust.

Price told the tribunal:

I was bullied consistently for no other reason than my sexuality, daily having to put up with either being referred to as a poof or having her (Ms Jones) talk of homosexuality or sex.

I was and still am shocked to have been referred to as a poof. I am very proud of both my faith and my sexual orientation.

The tribunal awarded Mr Price £11,924 for constructive dismissal and £25,000 for injury to his feelings, and said it accepted his testimony about Ms Jones’ conduct.

Employment Judge Dr Rachel Davies said:

He started as a cheerful and enthusiastic young man and there is no evidence of a vindictive side to his nature nor that his claims were fabricated. Mair Jones treated him less favourably than if he were a heterosexual man. She subjected him to considerable harassment.

We have found that Mr Price suffered grotesquely discriminatory conduct on the part of Mair Jones for 10 weeks followed by seriously incompetent discrimination on the part of the church.

Meanwhile, we learn today that the London Borough of Islington has decided it will appeal against an employment tribunal ruling in favour of Lillian Ladele, a registrar whose Christian beliefs led her to refuse to conduct same-sex civil unions.

The Council has issued a statement saying:

The decision was taken after careful consideration of the legal ruling made by the London Central Employment Tribunal.

In agreeing that Ladele had been discriminated against because of her religious convictions, the tribunal may have set a precedent that will allow people with strong religious convictions to opt out of the provision of services to gays, lesbians and bisexuals.

Councillor John Gilbert said:

We believe an important question is at stake and the law must be clarified. Islington Council, like all councils and employers, needs to know whether we can expect employees to provide services to all sections of the community, regardless of who they are.

London MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford, the Liberal Democrat European Justice & Human Rights spokeswoman and former Islington councillor, welcomed the council’s decision to appeal.

The case raises important issues about how second-class treatment of gay people as customers can be avoided if a services employee invokes a religious reason for displaying prejudice.

If the staff ‘conscience clause’ endorsed by this tribunal ruling stands, a coach and horses will be driven through the existing UK and planned EU bans on discrimination.

The Christian Institute, which funded Ladele’s case, is not happy about the challenge, saying on its website:

The CI believes the judgment is correct in law and the Council will struggle to overturn the well-considered ruling.

Posted by Barry Duke @ 9:59 pm

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Are Catholics about to create their first modern gay saint?

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

THE Catholic Church is about to dig up a body. Not any old cadaver, of course, but one of great symbolic value to this grisly religion: the corpse of The Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman, who was buried in a small cemetery in August 1890. Yes, after he died, in case you were wondering.

Rome – which has a worrying obsession with dead bodies, as distinct from live boys – now wants his remains to be moved to a marble sarcophagus in the Birmingham Oratory. However the Vatican has forbidden the announcement of the removal of the corpse until after the process has been completed.

But what the Church intends doing with the remains of Newman’s BOYFRIEND, buried in the same grave, remains a mystery

After we posted this story, Anthony Bucci (see comments) alerted us to the possibility of the cardinal being one of those!

We went hurrying to the site he suggested, as well as to Wikipedia, which reveals that Newman:

Shares a grave with his lifelong friend, Ambrose St John, who had converted to Roman Catholicism at the same time as Newman. The pall over the coffin bore his cardinal’s motto Cor ad cor loquitur (”Heart speaks to heart”). Inseparable in death as in life, the two men have a joint memorial stone that is inscribed with the words he had chosen: Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem (”Out of shadows and phantasms into the truth”)

So it looks like Newman not only looked like Wilfred Bramble, but, like Bramble, was gay too.

Commenting on the story in the Times, an American reader, Donald Lowery, said:

Cardinal Newman was buried beside his gay lover at his own request. Are they going to disinter Ambrose St. John and keep the happy couple together? Perhaps the Roman Church is going to loosen up its opposition to gay unions? The pair would make lovely patrons for closeted Gay Roman Catholics.

According to the Telegraph, the move is expected to take place by the end of the year, and would enable people to pay tribute to him more easily, and is also part of the process of creating a saint.

Yeah, like the Vatican needs another damn saint - they keep accumulating the bloody things like kids once collected Pokemon cards

The procedure has to be approved by Birmingham City Council and the Ministry of Justice, which was accused of “procrastinating” over the issue, but is expected to be rubber stamped in the next few weeks.

Catholics hope that Pope Ratzinger will issue a decree declaring Cardinal Newman as Blessed in December. This would pave the way for beatification next spring. The final step would be for the Cardinal to be canonised as a saint.

Said Father Paul Chavasse, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory:

One of the centuries-old procedures surrounding the creating of new saints by the Catholic Church concerns their earthly remains. These have to be identified, preserved and, if necessary, placed in a new setting which befits the individual’s new status in the Church. This is what we have been asked to do by the Vatican with regard to Cardinal Newman’s remains, which have lain at Rednal since his death in 1890.

We hope that Cardinal Newman’s new resting place in the Oratory Church in Birmingham will enable more people to come and pay their respects to him, and perhaps light a candle there. Many will surely wish to honour this great and holy man.

Cardinal Newman – an Anglican-turned-Catholic – died in Edgbaston, on Monday 11 August 1890, aged 89

Posted by Barry Duke @ 9:00 am

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Mormon elders blow their tops over bare-chested male missionaries

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

A MORMON entertainment entrepreneur has landed himself in the soft and smelly following his creation of a topless male calendar.

The hunks featured are not just your common-or-garden beefcake, but Mormon missionaries.

Gasp!

Chad Hardy, 31, is now an EXCOMMUNICATED Morman, having been disciplined for his heinous crime at the weekend, according to this report.

But Hardy said he bears no ill will toward the council of elders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I felt like I spoke my truth. Bottom-line, they still felt the calendar is inappropriate and not the image that the church wants to have.

“Men on a Mission,” which has sold nearly 10,000 copies at $14.99 each, included pictures of 12 returned missionaries wearing black slacks, but not their trademark white shirts. The men also were photographed in traditional missionary garb and share their religious beliefs in biographical sketches.

Some of the 12 models have also been called to disciplinary meetings, but none have been punished.

Said Hardy:

I have no ill feelings toward any of those people [of the church council]. They did what they believed was right and I really do feel it was the best decision for both of us.

An excommunicated Mormon is removed from official church rolls, but are still welcome at church services. Excommunicated members are prohibited from receiving the sacrament and can’t perform church callings such as teaching or preaching during meetings. They also cannot enter church temples.

Posted by Barry Duke @ 2:07 pm

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Don’t you go a-messin’ with the Swedish gay Mafia

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

These guys are ruthless. Piss them off, and they’ll do far worse than break your coffee table’s legs – they’ll throw darts at your photographs!

Frankly, we are shocked. When we think of Sweden, images spring to mind of lovely landscapes, sexy blond people, Ikea furniture, that lovable, tubby chef in the Muppets … oh, and Lars Vilks, the cartoonist who received death threats from Muslims for his Modog drawings.

We had no idea that the country was secretly being run by the “Homomafia”.

But thanks to an email we received last night from someone called “Kregus”, we can reveal a shocking truth: The Good Christian Folk of Sweden are living in fear of homo thugs, who will stop at nothing to advance their agenda – which includes the normalisation of paedophilia.

But an organisation called AMOSO is here to save the day. AMOSO has no fear of telling the “truth” about the “homomafia” – more commonly known as the Swedish Federation for Gay and Lesbian Rights (RFSL).

And how does it do this? By planting charming little messages in boxes of children’s toys.

Earlier this year, the Swedish newspaper Göteborgs-Tidningen reported on the birthday surprise little Rufus Karisson, 6, received when his dad gave him a gift bought from Toys R Us in Göteborg.

A card, bearing this message, fell out of the box:

Homosexuals transmit AIDS when they are licking each other’s butt holes. What else are they doing? Visit www.amoso.se. Dislike homosexuality, not the homosexual person.

No-one knows how the card found its way into the box.

AMOSO is a Swedish acronym for “Exposing myths about sexual orientation,” and is run by Ron Linden (aka Ronnie Lindén), a loopy Swede living in the US.

According to the Box Turtle Bulletin:

His web site features all the worst examples of junk science commonly found in extremist anti-gay propaganda.

Part of Amoso’s anti-homomafia’s programme is to tour the country with a roadshow that implores Swedes to turn the clock back to a time before the liberating 1960s.

Around the middle of the last century our people were in full swing reaping the harvest of the great sobriety and Christian revivals … Today the situation is drastically different. In a 2002 survey of 25 countries asked the question: “Do you believe in God?” The highest affirmative response was in Portugal where 92 percent declared a faith in God. Sweden was on the bottom of the list with only 32 percent declaring a faith in God. USA was at 84 percent (3rd from the top). Sweden was also on the very bottom when the question asked was: “Do you believe in a hell?” And again at the bottom when the question was: “Do you go to church at least once a month? Sweden was at the bottom with 8 percent (USA 48 percent).

Bigots bash the bishop – again

Monday, July 14, 2008

YOU don’t often see respect expressed for bishops (other than the hugely-likeable Anglican maverick Tutu) on this site, but one has to admire the Anglican Bishop of New Hampshire in the USA for his sheer bloody chutzpah.

All smiles, Robinson wandered amiably into the lion’s den yesterday to address Anglicans at St Mary’s Church in Putney, south west London – only to experience Christian “love” at its most virulent when a heckler shouted “repent”, “heretic” and “go back to your own country”.

Could it have been drama queen Stephen “Birdshit” Green, up to his old tricks again?

Afterwards, Robinson whose same-gender partnership has caused heated debate in the Anglican Communion, said he had not been afraid but had felt sorrow for the “darkness” in the man’s heart.

“Darkness”, of course, being a euphemism for religious zealotry.

Robinson’s address was one of several public events in the days before the July 16 opening of the deeply disfunctional Lambeth Conference, the decennial meeting of the world’s Anglican bishops.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, concerned about Anglican unity, did not invite the bishop to attend the conference, but the Rev Dr Giles Fraser, team vicar of St Mary’s, Putney, in the Diocese of Southwark, was allowed to invite Robinson to preach at the regular Sunday evening eucharist.

According to Ekklesia:

Listed in the church bulletin as a ‘quiet and reflective’ service, it turned out to be rather noisier than usual, with a couple of dozen journalists, television camera operators and a packed church in attendance.

Two demonstrators were present, one carrying a placard outside the church and handing out leaflets saying the Bible prohibits homosexuality (ho-hum) and one attempting in the church to shout down Bishop Robinson as he began his sermon.

In a faintly Pythonesque scene, the demonstrator shouted “Repent! Repent!” but he was eventually drowned out by the congregation, which rose and sang - with organ accompaniment - the hymn “Thine be the glory, risen, conquering son.” The man was escorted out by ushers.

Robinson reacted by saying, in a slightly shaky voice:

Pray for that man. Fear is a terrible thing. How sad that the Anglican Communion would threaten to tear itself apart over two men or two women who choose to make a Christian family together.

The bishop, who is visiting the UK with the protection of a bodyguard, confirmed that threats had been made against his life.

Well, of course he’s been threatened. It’s what some Christians do best, after all – especially when you abuse their bloody biscuits.

UPDATE; July 15, 2008: We speculated in this post that the heckler might have been “Birdshit” Green. We were close. Green was there, but outside the church. According to the Guardian:

A lone campaigner stood outside St Mary’s church, Putney. Stephen Green, a haggard and unshaven figure, obsessed and weighed down by the wickedness of modern Britain, handed out leaflets warning of the consequences of same-sex love, while announcing to anyone who would listen: ‘Homosexuality and sexual immorality is all on a continuum with paedophilia, bestiality, adultery, child-sacrifice. You are saying it is all OK.’

Posted by Barry Duke @ 7:05 pm

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Blasphemy heads for oblivion in Ireland

Sunday, July 13, 2008

MORE bad news for the Catholic Church in Ireland, which has suffered a number of setbacks in this increasingly sceptical country: the offence of blasphemy is likely to be dropped from the Irish Constitution.

According to the Irish Independent, the joint committee on the Constitution said last Friday that changes to the Constitution in the areas of freedom of expression and blasphemy are required, and should be voted on in a future referendum.

Committee chairman, Sean Ardagh, said the Constitution should be amended along the lines of Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights in order to ensure greater emphasis on the freedom of speech.

Said Ardagh:

The committee is of the view that amendment is not immediately necessary but recommends that change be made when an appropriate opportunity presents.

He added that changes could be made alongside another referendum vote. However, he stressed there was no urgent requirement to make the changes.

A constitutional reference, which deems the publication or utterance of “blasphemous, seditious or indecent matters” as an offence punishable in accordance with the law, should also be deleted, according to the report.

However, the committee noted that recent incidents highlighted that religious offence is still something which can cause genuine distress. It cited the performance of Tommy Tiernan on the ‘Late Late Show’ and his now infamous ‘Lamb of God’ routine in which Tiernan joked, in typically surreal style, that the Lamb of God was an actual lamb bounding around a field full of his own self-importance because he was chosen by God.

Tiernan remembers it vividly:

The front page of the Evening Herald in Dublin had a headline that the show was going to be sued for blasphemy — it was great.

The committee also referred to accusations of blasphemy directed at Jerry Springer: the Opera in in the UK, and the publication of controversial cartoons in Denmark.

Notwithstanding this, it is the committee’s view that the specific reference to blasphemy should be deleted from the Constitution.

Meanwhile, New Zealand rationalists are urging the Government to follow Britain’s example and take blasphemy off the law books.

The New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists says the charge gives religious doctrine special protection that other ideas and beliefs do not have.

The group says the crime is a threat to freedom of speech.

Posted by Barry Duke @ 11:59 pm

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A little fun for the weekend

Saturday, July 12, 2008

THE zany story that broke this week about the hijacking in Florida of a Jesus cracker – or Corpus Crispie – and the fear of Catholics that it might be “abused” by its kidnapper – got us wondering what indignities Freethinker readers might heap on a blessed Eucharist, should they ever decide to take one hostage.

So we decided to launch The Great Jesus Crust Abuse Challenge. Let us know by July 31 what you would do with a holy wafer. More creative entrants might even like to film their abuse, and post their videos on YouTube.

But we implore you to make sure that no children or animals are harmed in the process.

The entry judged the most imaginative wins a year’s free subscription to the print edition of the Freethinker.

UPDATE: The hostage cracker row has turned ugly – very ugly indeed. Catholics are now calling for the head of P Z Myers, a professor at the University of Minnesota Morris and creator of the hugely popular Pharyngula blog.

Myers was one of the first to comment on the news of the kidnapped cracker in an hilarious post, “It’s a Frackin’ Cracker” – and he is now receiving death threats.

Furthermore, the Catholic League is now calling on the university to take action against him.

Catholic League President Bill Donohue said:

It is hard to think of anything more vile than to intentionally desecrate the Body of Christ. We look to those who have oversight responsibility to act quickly and decisively.

Oh, and may we remind you that our photo caption contest is still open until July 31.

We used the picture on the right in an earlier post, and invited captions. You can see what others have submitted in the comments section here.

Again, the prize is an annual subscription to the Freethinker.

Posted by Barry Duke @ 8:50 am

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Swiss to decide on minaret ban

Friday, July 11, 2008

A DEFIANT symbol of political and religious power? Or merely a lofty Islamic platform used for calling the faithful to prayer?

That’s what Swiss will soon decide, following a decision this week to hold a referendum on whether minarets – like the one pictured here, in Maidenhead, Kent – should be banned.

Swiss nationalists had collected enough signatures – 100,000 or more – to force a vote on the ban, the Interior Ministry said.

Organisers backed by the nationalist Swiss People’s Party and the fringe Federal Democratic Union say they are calling for a ban to fight the political spread of Islam.

According to this report, no date has yet been set for the referendum. If the Swiss vote against allowing minarets, the Swiss parliament will have to pass a law banning their construction.

More than 310,000 people among Switzerland’s 7.5 million are Muslims, according to the Federal Statistical Office.

Those opposed to a ban say it would violate religious freedom.

The UN expert on racism, Doudou Diene, has said the Swiss campaign was evidence of an “ever-increasing trend” toward anti-Islamic sentiments in Europe.

Swiss President Pascal Couchepin said the government will recommend that voters reject the proposed ban. Several other members of Switzerland’s cross-party government have also spoken out against such a ban.

Posted by Barry Duke @ 6:00 pm

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Catastrophe! Homophobic Christian registrar wins discrimination case

Friday, July 11, 2008

OH, they are so full of themselves – those self-righteous cranks over at the Christian Institute, where their head of communications, Mike Judge, yesterday gleefully declared:

… Gay rights should not be treated as trumping religious rights. The law [now] clearly recognises this.

Judge was all cock-a-hoop over a bizarre employment tribunal decision this week that a Christian registrar from Islington – Lillian Ladele – had been discriminated against by the council after she refused to conduct same-sex civil unions.

In its judgment, the employment tribunal found that Miss Lillian Ladele was directly discriminated against by Islington Council after she asked to be allowed not to perform civil partnership registrations.

Ladele’s case was financed by The Christian Institute’s Legal Defence Fund – and she now expects to receive thousands in compensation.

The tribunal accepted that Islington Council had been able to deliver a “first-class” service to homosexual couples seeking civil partnerships, without Miss Ladele’s involvement. Therefore, the Council’s decision to require Miss Ladele to perform civil partnership registrations, contrary to her conscience, was an unlawful act of indirect religious discrimination.

The Council’s actions also amounted to unlawful harassment. The judgment found that the Council “disregarded and displayed no respect for Ms Ladele’s genuinely held religious belief,” and it created an “intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for her on grounds of her religion on belief.”

Reacting to the decision, Ladele said:

I am delighted at this decision. It is a victory for religious liberty, not just for myself but for others in a similar position to mine. Gay rights should not be used as an excuse to bully and harass people over their religious beliefs.

Judge added:

If we really believe in equality before the law, that means respecting people who have sincerely held religious beliefs on sexual ethics. The witch hunt against those who disagree with homosexual practice has to stop.

According to the Daily Mail, Islington Council was disappointed by the result which carried a ‘wider implication’ for local authorities. It was considering an appeal against the result.

Councillor John Gilbert was quoted as saying:

We’re clearly disappointed with the result, as we consider our approach was the right one. We are now considering the judgment carefully in order to decide whether we should appeal.

On first reading, the Tribunal seems to have based its findings primarily on the fact that we could have continued to provide civil partnerships without Ms Ladele.

The wider issue of whether councils should be able to expect employees to carry out civil partnerships doesn’t seem to have been fully addressed. In our view this is a crucial question that has much wider implications for local authorities and employers.

Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, is outraged by the judgment:

This is catastrophic not just for gay people but for the wider community. It appears to place the religious ‘conscience’ of registrars above their legal duty to carry out parliament’s legislation.

Ms Ladele now seems to have won the right to be exempt from some of her duties on the grounds that she is a Christian. Putting religious rights and gay rights under the same legal umbrella when they are incompatible was bound eventually to lead to this confrontation. This decision appears to show that religious rights trump gay rights and that should leave gay people quaking in their boots.

If it sets a precedent, this entirely wrong decision will have major implications for the Government’s equality and human rights agenda. This raises all kinds of implications far beyond the gay community. What other duties will religious people now claim exemption from? We have already seen pharmacists refuse contraception on religious grounds and supermarket check-out attendants refusing to handle alcohol or pork products. Others demand that they should not be required to work on holy days.

We urge the Council to appeal and hope the decision is rapidly overturned.

Posted by Barry Duke @ 9:00 am

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