We have yet another story about Catholic abuse and an associated cover-up. The tragedy here is that this is now so common, it is almost non-news. A BBC documentary, “Abused: Breaking the Silence”, will air tonight (BBC1 at 10:35 21st June) and reveal all the sordid details. It concerns the antics of Fr Kit Cunningham, the jovial parish priest of St Ethedreda’s church and for many years unofficial padre to Fleet Street. When he was a young missionary in Africa he committed the most disgusting paedophile crimes – he sexually assaulted prep school boys at the order’s school in Soli, Tanzania
More Information = More Rationality
There is an interesting news story today about the deal that Google has reached with the British Library. The BBC reports …
Thousands of pages from one of the world’s biggest collections of historic books, pamphlets and periodicals are to be made available on the Internet.
You can read the full story here.
This is a good thing and also is very much in keeping with the very reason for the existence of the library itself. The very concept of a library is to provide access to knowledge for everyone. However, beyond that, it is also (I suggest) one more step towards a more rational culture for us all.
Belief = Stupidity ?
OK, a bit of fun today … tongue-in-cheek only … but still a real story.
Just off the North coast in the UK there exists a tiny little tidal island known as “Holy Island” and built upon it is the monastery of Lindisfarne. Recently it has become the centre for the revival of Celtic Christianity and so it has become a popular retreat centre, as well as holiday destination.
To get there there is a tidal causeway – hint: when the tide is high, you don’t cross. Ah but I don’t need to tell you that, its the bleeding obvious, yes? … right? … apparently not.
The Law and Religion
I’ve two examples to talk about here … both are examples of intolerance, both have a religious theme, and both illustrate the problems you can get tangled up in when you let religious considerations interfere with the legal process. One is an attempt to legislate some support for an irrational belief, and the other is an attempt to legislate against an irrational belief, what they both have in common is that they are an attempt to dictate how individuals should behave.
You can probably guess, but they both involve Islam … gasp!! … what a surprise that is these days.
First up we have the story about driving in Saudi. As I’m sure many of you are aware, it is illegal for woman to drive in Saudi. Ah yes, a real example of how truly progressive Islam can be when granted a free reign. In fact, its not just a driving issue, this is Islamic Sharia law in full swing; woman cannot vote, cannot be elected, and can never be independent because it is mandated that they must have a male guardian … In essence, woman are most or less a subservient class of slaves with no rights, and its the law because the clerics say so. (and I’ve not even mentioned the mandatory dress code, or that in public men and woman are completely segregated).Make no mistake, “It’s the culture, not the religion,” is a Saudi saying, but that claim is complete bollocks, its the clerics who impose these rules.
To read more about the complete lack of rights for woman in Saudi, you can click here.
Atheist Discrimination
Does Atheist Discrimination exist to the same degree as that experienced by ethnic minorities in the US? One the one hand we can make these observations: Atheists are not denied equal access to housing for lacking belief in god They are not kept from seeing their partners during life-threatening scenarios in hospitals Atheists don’t earn … Read more
Unicorn no longer extinct
Now here is a small piece of encouraging news from Today’s Guardian … Unicorn’s are no longer extinct. Basically … the last wild Arabian oryx was shot in 1972, thus making it more or less extinct. However, a successful captive breeding programme and reintroduction efforts mean its population now stands at 1,000. You can read … Read more