Bloody marvelous !

Brilliant Law. Ban the bible and ban the koran - they are both blasphemous ! Pity it is just a small fine for being in possession of these incendiary documents.

A response from the Discovery Institute ? There is more chance of plaiting snot !

So Abraham woke up one day and heard some voices in his head. They said to him that "God" wanted a human sacrifice. Well thought Abraham "It ain't going to be me ! So it's hard luck son !" And thus he became the patron saint of child abusers. Many years later a paedophile prophet heard the story and thought "He's my kind of guy."

Sad bastards

Having made the transition from a religion to being an atheist it is becoming more and more difficult to understand how any thinking person can commit to a specific religion. They are also atheistic about thousands and thousands of gods - why not just add one more god to the list ? etc etc etc.

The question needs to be asked again and again - do they really believe the absolute truth of their religion, or are they just carrying on as they are stuck with it ?

The devil is in the detail. British newspapers have reported that the "Sharia" arbitration courts have been working for some time and have dealt with a wide variety of cases. There have been a number of inheritance cases in which the settlement followed the practice of allowing twice as much for a son as a daughter. I hope that the newspapers continue to keep people informed on the generalities of these courts' actions.

This is all a side issue on this thread, but I assume it will become part of the work of the Council of ex-Muslims of Britain. The government should recognise their importance as a group and support their aims.

Taking a dispute in front of the British legal system is expensive and can take a long time. Many years ago (sorry I don't know the fine detail)a law was passed allowing the participants in a dispute to go to any other arbitration process - provided all parties agreed to such arbitration. The outcome of that arbitration is subsequently binding in the eyes of British Law. This has mainly been used by the Jewish community in Britain, but is open to anyone. As has been stated on this site on a different thread - if the parties agree to the best of 10 goes at paper, stone, scissors then British Law will subsequently back it up.

I think that arbitration law needs to be reviewed. I think that any arbitration that does not take into account the principles of non-discrimination should be made invalid. Discrimination on the basis of race, sex, sexuality, religion, football club etc is a blight that has been difficult to erase in our society. It shouldn't be allowed to creep in through a Trojan horse.

As an apostate from the CofE I feel quite safe. I suffer no problems within my family circle or within my social circle. All people should be able to feel this way.

The Council of ex-Muslims should be given as big a role in advising the British Government as the British Muslim Council on matters pertaining to community issues. Just getting them to sit in the same room and engaged in sensible dialogue would be wonderful.
While I understand that it is British Law that individuals can agree to arbitration where ever they choose, I do think that the principals "enshrined" in British Law should never be dispensed with. Agreeing to a discriminatory ruling is bizarre.

Some people on this site don't like Pat's "in your face" style. But I do. I agree with using ridicule and disgust to highlight the abuse and irrationality of those afflicted with faith.

I have just signed the petition on the No10 web site using the link above although I had to search for the individual petition. Sadly this Blairite pretence at "listening to the public" will result in a standard response in a few days time that they have considered it and they are going to do nothing. The same as the petition on removing religion based schooling.

Pat's comments should be considered as hate speech. But that is becasue he hates the islamisation of Britain. As I understand the law in Britain it does not constitute "Hate Speech" which is punishable in the courts as he does not incite anything other than ridicule, disapproval and the desire for the re-establishment of commonly held ideals of British justice.

Can anyone give me a link to a route to the YouTube complaints desk ?

I like the idea that has been postulated here before. Let them have their way, but insist that creationism is taught rigorously. All creationist myths must be taught - not just christian myths. I understand that the Indian subcontinent and South America are the home of some very imaginative creationist myths. They should teach the history of creationist myths so that the students become knowledgeable about how the myths from Mithras etc were "stolen" wholesale into the new religion of christianty. Explain how L Ron Hubbard et al could make a religion from scratch and invent another whole raft of creationist myths. Maybe invite the students to make up their own stories about how "it" may have come about.

And get Joel Fanti to teach it without introducing any bias.

Free will? Luke Reinhart discussed this in "The Diceman". But his strand started a religion and morals went out of the window !

Well, once Faith would have been the answer. She was bloody gorgeous ! But she married someone else - so am having to do without Faith.

So all I need to be led back into the fold of the god fearing religious community is to stick my head ostrich-like in the sand for a few hundred years so I can ignore the Enlightenment and then wake up with my hands over my ears while saying "Na na na na na - I can't hear any strident atheists !"

Oh Bugger ! Yet another person who thinks I am a gullible twat who is thick as two short planks.

Bejesus !!!!!

I am with dlitt (Comment 6). The article was well worth reading just for the laugh generated by the last sentence. It has made my day !!

Poor old Tony. I don't think his smoke and mirrors political philosophy is going to suddenly make the religious start to love each other. Not a hope in hell.

Keep all religions out of civilisation's moral compass. Even if Tony has shopped around and chosen his own particular sect of christianity, he hasn't shown much moral backbone in how he publicised that choice.

Re Comment 5

I am not so sure 2 out of ten is a very good assessment of the ten commandments.

Do not kill. In my country (UK) you are allowed to kill in self defence and as a member of the armed forces in certain proscribed circumstances.

Do not steal. It has been said many times on this site that there are better books - some even fiction, like Shakespeare's plays - that discuss morality rather better than the bible. For stealing I prefer the dictum expressed by Richard Sharpe in Bernard Cornwall's Sharpe series. "Don't steal unless you are starving."

One out of ten for the pathetic effort.

Flying Goose and Irate.

The current cure for mental illness is to equip the sufferer with a load of helium filled balloons and a GPS. They not only get cured but win a Darwin Award.

p.s. I hope they find him alive.

I agree with Bonzai. You should be allowed to argue with the "site moderator" without being shouted down.
The "site moderator" was being too fundamentalist. It is the first time I have read him agreeing with D'Souza, Mc Grath etc that only experts can rationally comment on a topic. Everyone knows that the only people that can reliably talk about the existence of god are those that have studied Theology.

How do I mark this as tongue in cheek ?

Although this article may not have a fundamental impact on the validity or not for a belief in god, it can serve a useful purpose.

For lots of people it is a revelation that their spiritual leaders are fallible. "I didn't know it was OK not to believe in god" is a thread that recurs. Well, this story - while not being philosophically a clincher - may help some people to start being sceptical about their individual spiritual gurus.

As well as helping me become more sceptical, logical and rational, I also find that this site helps me be a little bit more positive. I am very easily able to skim past the negative doom sayers who post here.

Fucktards.

Please vote for "none of the above".

Blimey ! It was difficult to follow the thinking behind the verbal attack made by Davis. The comments on other sites show that she has upset a lot of people within her own constituency.

Lets hope that democracy is seen to work.

I am afraid you are far too accurate Hungarianelephant. Sadly I concur that UK cannot "lecture" any other country - and that is because successive governments have not learnt the lesson given to Neville Chamberlain. Appeasement is easy, but usually incorrect. Standing up for your principles sometimes means stepping on someone else's toes. Tough.

What happens when good men do nothing ?

Hungarianelephant you are a very naughty boy ! How dare you tell some truth ! Your post #111 may be considered a hate speech - by the UK government.

I agree with the proposal to establish an alternative body to the UN made up of grown-up and responsible democratic nations. I hope that in due course the UK would be able to get its act together and qualify for membership.

Presumably I am now able to go on the Hajj and offer to sell FSM material (and TGD, since it represents my religious views)to my fellow humans getting dizzy walking round a black stone. And British Airways no longer needs to insist that their staff don't wear crosses when they fly in and out of Saudi Arabia.

Wow !

Thre is an elephant in the room. Global warming, oceans polluted, transport systems breaking down, power generation not able to keep up with demand, etc etc.

If the world population continues to rise then individual efforts to be green will be largely meaningless.

Spaceship Earth is probably well capable of correcting the balance of nature in her own sweet way.

It sounds to me as if a few more Universities need a Professorship in the Public Understanding of Science.

Despite the gloom I can say that the Americans I met at my British university knew a lot more about their own country than I did about mine. They were proud of America and wanted to know everything about it. It would have helped if someone had equally inspired them to learn about the rest of the world. They certainly showed no lack of ability to absorb/retain information.

I do like Mithrastide/Winter Solstice/Christmas. Everyone is so cheerful and generally nice to each other. It is a fun time of the year. And I have enjoyed reading the comments on this article.
Epicure was spot on for me. Libby sees a druid as a human invention but fails to make the logical step to appreciate the Abrahamic pantomimes in the same light.
I can only agree with Epeeist. Yes, the Messiah is wonderful to listen to and to sing. But the vast majority of carols - both music and lyrics (but especially the lyrics) - precipitate the gag reflex.
Inferno, the same goes for pop songs. If they are good musically then I will sing along. I boogeyed on down to "young, gifted and black" when one out of three seemed enough justification for me. But what the heck - I may try a few steps if I hear it at a party even though it is now none out of three.

Yet another sad sad story. It beggars belief. If I was a cynical chap I would have to assume this father acted in accordance with the 5th (?) commandment.

I also assume he will not have to wait for hell after death. Although I am not a father myself, every father I have met would be going through hell now if he had to contemplate the fact that he had murdered one of his own children.

I wish I had some advice for the next Aqsa.