Pete Waterman and Girl Guides

Pete Waterman is, of course, a complete idiot. I’m sure everyone reading this is fully aware of that fact. But I wonder if the producers of BBC Breakfast knew just how big an idiot he is when they invited him to be their guest newspaper reviewer this morning. Perhaps they were just desperate to find… Continue reading Pete Waterman and Girl Guides

ECHR and Christianity

Today was the day that the ECHR published its verdicts on the four Christians who had claimed that their human rights had been violated by their employers preventing them from acting in ways conducive to their faith. The four cases were as follows: Nadia Eweida works as a check-in assistant from British Airways. She wanted… Continue reading ECHR and Christianity

Equal Marriage

Over the last few days there has been a fair amount of heat and light coming out of the Tory party, generated by the discussion about equal marriage (or, as the tabloids like to describe it, “gay marriage”). We’ve know for ages that David Cameron is in favour of it and that a lot of… Continue reading Equal Marriage

What Is Marriage?

There’s another major flaw in Cardinal O’Brien’s arguments against gay marriage. In his article he says “No Government has the moral authority to dismantle the universally understood meaning of marriage.” He seems to believe that there is some immutable definition of marriage that has always been true and that he is bravely defending. Let’s examine… Continue reading What Is Marriage?

Marriage in the UDHR

In his article arguing against gay marriage, Cardinal Keith O’Brien twice referred to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, saying that article 16 clearly defined marriage as a relationship between a man and woman. In my response to his article I made the assumption that he, at least, knew what he was talking about here… Continue reading Marriage in the UDHR

We Cannot Afford To Indulge This Madness

By “this madness”, of course, I mean religious leaders talking about what society wants without bothering to ask them. The latest example is this piece in the Telegraph by Cardinal Keith O’Brien. Let’s take a close look at what he says. The Government is this month launching a consultation on same-sex marriage, asking the public… Continue reading We Cannot Afford To Indulge This Madness

Telegraph vs Dawkins

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. – Gandi If recent articles in the Telegraph are any indication then Richard Dawkins has just moved from phase two to phase three, which means that his victory must be imminent. Dawkins has, of course, been in the media… Continue reading Telegraph vs Dawkins

10 Reasons Why Religion is Like Masturbation

Most people try it at some point in their life It’s generally harmless in small doses But you would be worried if a friend was constantly doing it Or constantly talking about it Or inviting you to do it with them It can bring on bouts of extreme ecstasy But they never last long No-one… Continue reading 10 Reasons Why Religion is Like Masturbation

The Inescapable Rise of Secularism

I’ve got rather sucked into the comments on Nadine Dorries’ nonsense about the “attacks” on Christianity. Here’s the first comment that I left, which pretty much sums up my feelings. The Christian church’s outcry against Mr Justice Ouseley’s eminently sensible ruling can only be seen as the death cries of increasingly irrelevant group. Spout whatever… Continue reading The Inescapable Rise of Secularism

Hitchens’ Last Laugh

This morning I woke up to the terrible (although not completely unexpected) news that Christopher Hitchens had died. The rational community has, of course, lost one of its most erudite and interesting members. But it seems that Christopher had one last trick up his sleeve. As with most breaking news these days, I found out… Continue reading Hitchens’ Last Laugh