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School Children Punished for Not Going to Mass

Story taken from the BBC News Site

School children who decided not to attend their Catholic school’s Founders Mass one afternoon are to be subjected to discipline by the school. The school has said that it is ostensibly for “truancy” but as the whole school was expected to attend this service which lasted the whole afternoon, somehow this excuse of truancy sounds hollow. Curiously there is no mention of any alternative activities for those pupils who wised to opt out!

Religious privilege strikes again!

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Cardinal Just Doesn’t Get It!

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic has called for the Scottish Government to hold a referendum on the legalisation of Gay Marriage (or as I call it, on Marriage Equality).

His reasoning (such as it is) is that more people responded to the consultation on Marriage Equality than did on Scottish Independence and there is going to be a referendum on that!

But he is comparing apples with oranges here. Scottish Independence is a political issue which affects everyone and has major constitutional, domestic and international implications. Putting this to a public vote in a referendum is a resonable approach regardless of which side of the issue you fall. Marriage Equality is about fundamental human rights which actually should be automatic and not subject to a popular vote. The fact that public opinion, and the opinion of the polititians is very much in favour of this North of the Border and the RC Church’s bigoted homophobia in wanting to deny people these rights is being rejected just goes to show that the poor old cardinal just doesn’t get it!

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Criticism at Easter? What a Shocker!

The head of the catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, will use his Easter sermon to criticize “aggresive secularism” according to the BBC. Full story here.

Let’s examine:

Firstly, the Pope said a similar thing last year. OK so these complaints are showing that those of us who don’t believe and reject their barbaric and unsupported doctrines are actually having an effect. This citicism is an indication that they are starting to get desparate and they are being shown to have less and less relevance to people!

Secondly it doesn’t change the fact we are probably right!

Thirdly, I love it when he states that enemies of Christianity want to “take God from the public sphere”. Firstly we are enemies of irrationaliy and unreason of which Christianity is just one (very large) example, and how can you take something out of the public sphere when it doesn’t actually exist in reality in the first place?

Next he criticizes equality legislation claiming it is discriminating againt the religious. I have to keep saying this. Stopping you from practicising bigotry and discrimination is NOT itself discrimination. You have had the freedom to be bigots for too long and the world is beginning to wake up. To use an anolgy, if you hare beating someone you don’t like with a stick we will take the stick off you and you then cannot turn around and claim that the act of taking the stick off you is oppressing you!

Oh well, this is Easter, or the rising of the purpotedly magical zombie day! For those that partake enjoy the chocolate!

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Council Pays Out Over School Religion Row

Full story from the Herald Scotland.

An atheist living on a Scottish island has been awarded £1000 compensation from his local council after a protracted wrangle over religious education at his eight-year-old son’s primary school.

Apparently he was concerend over religious elements in lessons, so he decided to withdraw his son from the RE lessons and the school tried to dissude him from doing so stating that his son would have to be withdrawn from other school activities.

He won an out of court settlement and has donated it straight back to the school. How about that for principles!

 

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Sabbath Opening Battle in Outer Hebrides

Full story (and video report) from the BBC

A battle is looming over proposals to open sports facilities on Sundays in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.

The arguments against the proposals are effectively threefold:

1. The council does not want to force people to work on Sunday

2. The area traditionally closes down on a Sunday

3. God wouldn’t like it!

Well the first seems reasonable, but people want jobs and I’m sure they would not object to working on Sundays if they wanted to, if not then others could be employed. I am also not sure that people can be forced to work on Sunday (implying they would make them work 7 days a week!). The second is frankly irrelevant just because something is traditional doesn’t make it right, and now let’s turn to the third reason.

OK I have paraphased it a little but still that is what the argument boils down to. Firstly THERE ISN’T A GOD!!! Minor point but I think needs to be stated. But then the Lord’s Observance Spokesperson talked about renouncing biblical teaching… like biblical teaching about keeping slaves, eating shellfish, killing disobedient children, or (my favourite) coveting (which most of the world’s economic system is based on), but not this, this is a slippery slope which will lead to us murdering each other!

I’ll let you judge this argument!