Pope Condoms

It is gratifying to see that officials at the Foreign Office have a sense of humour, even if those at the top felt the need to apologise to the Vatican. In a memo from a planning meeting for the impending Papal visit to the UK junior officials suggested that the Pope could, among other things, bless a gay marriage, sack dodgy bishops and sing a song with the Queen for charity.

The BBC religious affairs correspondent, Robert Pigott, is concerned that the Pope might be regarded as a ‘figure of fun’. Well, when you have a bloke in a frock, who has never had sex with a woman and who lives with a load of other blokes in frocks, who all crave the love of another bloke, telling the rest of the world that homosexuality is against ‘natural law’, methinks that any concern is a tad behind the times.

Strangely, Pigott also says that the government needs the Vatican’s help in a global diplomatic effort to curb climate change and fight poverty. When the Pope’s main concern is about salvation in the next, presumably global warming-free, world it is difficult to see why the state of this world would be of much concern to him. As for poverty probably the best thing the Pope could do is to advise his congregation to stop depending upon a fantasy to solve their problems and promote self-reliance.

The best idea from brainstorming session was to suggest the Pope launch a brand of condoms called “Benedict”; or perhaps that should be “Benedick”!

Belgium to ban the veil

According to news reports today, Belgium is likely to pass a law which prohibits the wearing of the burqa or niqab in public.

On March 31st, the Home Affairs Committee of the Belgian Federal parliament voted unanimously for the ban which outlaws the partial or total covering of the face in public, which makes identification impossible.

Today, the bill will go before parliament where it is expected to be passed. Some regions in Belgium have already banned the veil and in 2009, 29 women were stopped for having their faces covered.

The proposed ban has angered human rights organizations. Human Rights Watch said,  “They violate the rights of those who choose to wear the veil and do nothing to help those who are compelled to do so”.

There is also the question of whether this is constructive sex discrimination, as it is unlikely that men will be affected by the ban.

More on this story from the Guardian website.

May Newsletter

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‘Act of God’

BBC news today has had numerous reports on the volcanic eruption in Iceland, which has caused the cancellation of all flights into and out of the UK, and also brings home how entrenched religious terminology is in society.

At least three separate outside broadcast reporters described the eruption as an “act of God” and one went even further to proclaim this was “literally an act of God!” Of course, most of us would acknowledge that such stock phrases roll off the tongue before the brain has engaged, unless one really believes, as sadly too many people do, that such volcanic eruptions and other natural events are actually the work of God.

It’s interesting to note that, for any rational person, geological events just happen and that’s it. However, if one believes God deliberately wills destructive geological events as some sort of lesson or punishment – well, you get the picture.

Back to my original point. God-type phrases are so much part of everyday communication that not many people really notice them or if they do, just let them pass by as normal conversation. I think it’s worth the effort to point these out where appropriate.

If you have your own examples of God-type expressions that have established themselves into common usage, please let us know by leaving a comment.

Newsletter : Atheism Update : Issue 1 : April 2010

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Science Writer Wins Libel Appeal

Taken from the BBC Website

A science writer has won the right to rely on the defence of fair comment in a libel action, in a landmark ruling at the Court of Appeal.

Simon Singh was accused of libel by the British Chiropractic Association over an article in the Guardian in 2008.

Dr Singh questioned the claims of some chiropractors over the treatment of certain childhood conditions.

The High Court had said the words were fact not opinion – meaning Dr Singh could not use the fair comment defence.

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lt_zippy2 says: Whilst not strictly an Atheism related story, it shows that those that use science to challenge irrational claims (which we at Atheism do all the time, in fact it is partially our reason for existence), should be able to do so. So congratulations to Simon Singh for his victory and hope that his success spurs others to examine and ciriticize irrationality.