Transcript:
Hi everyone, I've been asked by ptolemi to say a few words about religion here in Britain.
Well, as you probably know we are a Christian country like you are in America. We're not quite a Christian as you are because, after all, you've still got the death penalty. But traditionally we practice a form of Christianity which is almost a psycopathically disengaged from the message of Christ as you do. Although nowadays we're more of a multi faith society.
And what that means in practice is that everybody wants respect, but nobody wants to give any. So we all get offended at the drop of a hat... Or a turban... It doesn't make much difference.
Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, everybody it seems has some sort of beef. Except the Hindus, obviously.
Everybody complains in Britain that religion doesn't get enough respect. And yet there are 16 churches within a 10 minute walk of my house. Not to mention mosques and temples and sinagogues and all the other assorted wendy houses of the soul that cover this land from top to bottom like a plague of boils. And yet, religion doesn't get enough respect.
It pays no tax on corporate profits. They are allowed to indoctrinate children from birth, and yet it doesn't get enough respect!? Well, excuse me, but even the Royal Family doesn't get that much respect and they're treated like royalty.
A third of all the schools in Britain are single faith schools financially supported by the government. Teachers are agains this. In fact, just this week teachers demanded a ban on all faith schools because they encourage segragation and prejudice. So, naturally, the government is creating even more of them because our prime minister is a well known Christian hypocrit who has publicly endorsed the teaching of creationism in schools.
Meanwhile, schools are dropping the holocaust from history lessons in case Muslim children who have been taught to hate Jews feel compelled to say something anti-semitic. We don't want to embarrace the Muslim kids by showing up their parents as hate mongering bigots because that would be disrespectful to their faith. I'm just wondering how long it will be before we start referring to it as the "Holocaust Theory" for the sake of community relations.
Christians, meanwhile, are becoming a lot more vocal here in Britain because they're worried about the growth of Islam. They don't want to see the country swamped by a new foreign religion. They'd rather keep the old foreign religion. The one that stole the pagan's festivals and burned them all as witches in the name of Jesus The Merciful.
The Church of England is doing its best to keep the flame alive, so to speak. The church is very much a part of the establishment here in Britain. We even let some of its bishops sit in parliament and help decide our laws which explains why we're still not allowed to go shopping on Easter Sunday.
The Church of England was originally established about 500 years ago primarily to allow King Henry the Eighth to abandon and murder his wives with God's blessing. But now that that purpose has been served, it has become something of a joke organisation which is often referred to as the "Conservative Party in drag".
Right now the leaders of the church are preoccupied, not with homelessness or poverty or injustice. But whether it is right for one man to insert his penis into another man's anus in private. This is what they're focused on and we all know that you get what you focus on which is probably why half of them joined the church in the first place.
One person I do feel a little sorry for is the Archbishop of Canterbury. The most important clergiman in Britain. He's only got two lousy palaces to live in. What sort of life is that for a man of God. I bet if Jesus came back, even he'd be embarrased for him. I bet he wouldn't be able to look him in the eye.
But anyway, that's pretty much how things stand here in Britain.Religion is alive and well in the sense that a crocodile that is swimming towards you is alive and well. And it's influence is growing as steadily as a clergiman's penis in a room full of choir boys.
But here and now, as in America, people are starting to speak out against this creeping insanity. And who knows, if enough of us do it, humanity will come to it senses and we can finally put this faith God into a rocket ship and send the silly old fool back into thin air where he came from. I'm looking forward to it.
Peace
Labels: christian, faith, god, religion
¶ 23:04 0 comments
For the moment, here is Alex Salmond's New Year 2007 Message:
¶ 01:53 0 comments
The First Minister [Jack McConnell] told Holyrood yesterday that if Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, bowed to pressure to cut corporation tax in the province, he would argue for the same for Scotland.
If Scotland had indepenedence we wouldn't need to go on our knees begging to London when we wanted to do something like this. ¶ 23:27 0 comments
- Scotland independence movement united around referrendum demand
...perhaps be grateful to Straw for his honesty. What he is effectively saying is that countries like Scotland and Wales are expected to give up their unique voices in the international community so England can enjoy ‘amplified’ ie undeserved international status. The case for union then is simple if, like Gordon Brown, you support England’s interests over Scotland’s then as Straw says there is an excellent case for retention of the union because it was designed to amplify England’s voice and it still does today. If however you support Scotland’s right to have our unique voice heard then the only logical choice is independence....
- Is Scotland an oppressed nation?
Since the clear indication is from opinion polls that support for the union is now in the minority it is a simple matter of democracy that the people of Scotland must be asked directly if they want the union to continue or not. Obviously this executive hope that they can ignore this issue and it will go away particulary if the press can be convinced to completely ignore it or treat it as a footnote. The Press Association covered the issue yesterday but almost every newspaper has completely ignored it. What a disgrace, the Scots ARE an oppressed nation but because of our biased media, they don't realise it yet.
- Worried Labour attack SNP on defence
It is Tony Blair and his illegal Iraq war against imaginary weapons of mass destruction which has made Britain a target of international terrorists who have come to believe that the West is waging a war against their culture and religion and are trying to steal their oil. Britain want us to 'share the pain' of their foreign policy which basically entails sucking up to George Bush without any benefits to Scotland whatsoever. Scotland is an energy rich country we don't need to interfere in the affairs of other nations in the middle east and we don't want to either. Scotland does not have an imagined post imperial role nor do we want to share in an American empire. We need our own seat in the UN and our own independent foreign policy.
He writes:
All my adult life I had been a member of the Conservative party. I have been a Tory candidate for election to both the British and the Scottish parliaments. I was still committed enough to believe that the party's comeuppance in 1997, when it lost all its seats in Scotland, could be the prelude to an ascent from the ashes. I thought the implosion might purge the party of all it had got wrong as Thatcher stomped with heavy boots over the conventions that had grown up inside the union. I was deluding myself. The Scots Tories, nine years on, neither uphold their old policies nor seek new ones—they prefer to have no policies at all.
...
An inflated public sector... accounts for nearly 50 per cent of Scottish GDP, 10 percentage points higher than the British figure. In depressed areas, the state and its agencies are often the only major employers—in East Ayrshire they provide over two thirds of jobs. Across Scotland, spending rains down on groups organised enough to lobby the government... Much more importantly, this undoubted pre-emption of resources by the state is squeezing out the private sector and immobilising a good part of the Scottish workforce—how else could tens of thousands of Poles arrive and immediately get jobs the natives have no incentive to do? In other words, all the public spending is designed—just in a different way from before—to keep Scotland dependent, therefore voting Labour.
And that is the important bit. The unionist Labour Party are intent on keeping Scotland dependent on government hand outs that independence will look a very unattractive proposition.
Personally, I don't think Labour do this solely to keep Scotland dependent - they do it so that everyone is dependent on the state. However, the fever in which they are creating dependencies in Scotland is amazing.
Michael Fry also writes:
I have no doubt independence would make the Scots happier. It is a shame that from their subordinate position in the union, so many feel they have to hate the English, and that this feeling is coming to be reciprocated south of the border.
And he is absolutely right. I have met very few English people that I actually disliked. But there is a kind of peer group pressure simmering away that makes it very difficult to publicly like the English. It is an issue that can be avoided if you are skilled enough, but if cornered it is easier to discharge a volley of profanity aimed at the English than it is to argue the case that there are a few eejits in England, just like anywhere else, but on the whole they are a pretty good bunch of people.
ADDITIONAL
More discussion on Michael Fry's article:
¶ 19:47 0 comments
There are a few things that it says to which I take exception. Now, they are perfectly free to say those things, but they just rub me up the wrong way.
"Perhaps it's just a passing midlife crisis, but two new polls have found for the
first time a majority of Scots say they would prefer independence to remaining
part of Britain."
Really? In 1979 a referrendum returned a 55% majority (of those that actually bothered to get out and actually vote) in favour of independence. And more recently in 1998 an ICM opinion poll suggested 52%.
"separatist sentiment"
Nice alliteration, but I feel that the words have a very negative and xenophobic connotation. I don't like "separatist" because the Scotland that I live in is a very culturally diverse place. We welcome, and have done for centuries, people of all nations to Scotland. We recognise that we are stronger through that diversity. That is hardly a separatist agenda.
ADDITIONAL
Curiously, I also discovered this almost identical article published by the Kansas City Star. ¶ 01:00 0 comments
Links:
¶ 00:39 1 comments
It is utterly absurd to confiscate a book at an airport like that. I really don't know what Luton airport security were thinking. Really... I have no words to describe the utter ineptitude of the staff at Luton Airport. ¶ 13:57 0 comments
You Tube: SNP 2006 Conference - It's Time
Transcript
Alex Salmond:
As I travel around our country hearing people's views it is clear that
Scotland is at a turning point. More and more I'm told "it's time", time to take
a fresh direction, time for Scotland to make progress.
After 8 years of devolution Scots want to reach a new and higher level.
Scots are aware of the success of our neighbours, independent nations like
Ireland and Norway. People know that with the right policies and strong
leadership, we have the ability and resources to match these success
stories.
I agree. For Scotland to flourish, Scotland's economy must be free from
London control. We must have our own voice in the world. Scotland can and must
be safer with more local police, fairer with our cut in local taxes, and
healthier with local hospitals kept open. Our young people should have the best
start in life. Our older people should have the respect that they deserve.
That is why the SNP has been working hard. Listening to what people care
about. Gearing up to deliver progress. Progress for Scotland.
With your support the Scottish National Party can deliver the policies to
ensure a bright future for all of Scotland. There are 202 days until the
election next May. Scotland has had enough of Labour. They've had their chance.
But now the clock is ticking.
It's time for the SNP.
It's time for a parliament with real power. It's time for strong
leadership.
Nicola Sturgeon:
It's time for a government Scotland can trust.
Alex Salmond:
It's time. Time for the SNP.
The comments on You Tube in relation to this video are great.
JHunter22 says:
Whoever says we're too wee does not know Europe at all. Scotland is bigger than eight states of the EU at the moment, and that includes Ireland. At a pinch, we're comparable with Denmark, Finland and Slovakia, and they even have their own languages.
darrencassidy says:
The SNP's economic policies have received unanimous support from top business leaders and entrepreneurs. Recent by-election victories with huge vote swings & opinion polls are proof of the SNP's rising popularity. Scotland needs independence, there are no two ways about it.¶ 13:14 0 comments
THE US government has made a dramatic intervention into Scottish politics after a senior diplomat said the Bush administration would “probably” prefer independence not to happen. Lisa Vickers, the new US consul in Scotland, questioned the effect of separation on American energy firms.
I know that most people tend to think about themselves first, but for a diplomat to come out with such a statement is hardly likely to help her engage with the locals.
Now, as I've said before, I'm all for free speech, so the US Consul is entitled to say what she likes. However, it does seem to me to be a most politically naïve statement to make. Anyway, who am I to complain - It must be obvious by now that I'm all for Scottish Independence and anything the US can to to help, however unintentional, must be welcomed.
It can be seen from the letters page this week what people think of her comments.
Mary McCabe from Glasgow wrote:
It is disappointing to see the new consul, right at the start, falling into the stereotype of the American bully, blundering into other countries’ affairs and telling them, from a position of apparent ignorance, what to do, expecting deference as a matter of right and assuming that other countries will prioritise America’s (erroneously perceived!) self-interest over their own.
Dr Alasdair Allan from the Isle of Lewis wrote:
Her claim that Bush isn’t too keen on Scottish independence is unlikely to win many Scottish hearts and minds. In fact, it is likely to prove, on the basis of Bush’s previous record in the areas of foreign policy thinking (and thinking in general), that Scottish independence is a sensible option.¶ 11:24 0 comments
"Countries like Sweden, Finland, Greece in the 10 years to 2000 cut
corporation tax by an average of a half. Over the same period, their corporation
tax take increased by 87.5%."
- Scotland on Sunday: Tartan Tiger earns his stripes
Meanwhile, this blog entry by the Irish Tribesman sets out the reasons why an independent Scotland needs to be a more capitalist country.
¶ 10:33 0 comments
