Clampdown on anti-Scientology protestors in Birmingham- May 30, 2008 A blog reader has kindly alerted me to the latest development in the great British Scientology 'c' word saga. As protesters from the group Anonymous gained significant victories for the right to use the word 'cult' in London and Edinburgh, activists in Birmingham seem to have become the subject of a clampdown by local police.According to a comment left on my previous post on this matter, and to chat on the Anonymous discussion board Enturbulation, the Birmingham Anonymous Rapid Reaction Force...http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/05/clampdown-on-anti-scientology.html US marine withdrawn for proselytising in Iraq- May 30, 2008 A story on the BBC website gives me a good opportunity to direct readers to an excellent New Humanist article from earlier this year.A US marine based in Falluja has been withdrawn from the area for allegedly distributing coins engraved with evangelising messages in Arabic. According to reports, one side of the coins read "Where will you spend eternity" while on the reverse was a well known Bible verse: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in...http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/05/us-marine-withdrawn-for-proselytising.html Californian Ford dealership tries the bigoted approach to advertising- May 28, 2008 I thought I'd round off the day with a bizarre story I came across on PZ Myers' ever-excellent blog Pharyngula.Kieffe and Sons, a Ford car dealership in Mojave, California has produced a radio ad which, rather than pointing out, say, the quality of their service or the range of cars on offer, instead chooses to play on the stat that "86% of Americans say they believe in God" and suggest that they're not interested in custom from the remaining 14%:"But did you know that 86% of Americans say they.http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/05/californian-ford-dealership-tries.html Sharon Stone blames Chinese earthquake on bad karma- May 28, 2008 Darn celebrities with their bizarre spiritual beliefs. You can't live with them, but reading those free papers they give out in London might become even more boring if we had to live without them. We've featured a few before, most recently Madonna and her belief that parents' souls choose the gender of their children, and now along comes former-Scientologist-turned-Buddhist Sharon Stone with her view that the recent Sichuan earthquake in China might have been caused by "bad karma":"I'm not...http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/05/sharon-stone-blames-chinese-earthquake.html Christians feels misrepresented by media over Embryology Bill- May 28, 2008 I've been off for a couple of weeks and I was pleased to see that while I was away religious attempts to restrict scientific progress and abortion rights failed as the controversial elements of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill made it safely through the Commons.Now a story from a Christian news source tells me that the Christian Broadcasting Council is concerned that the Christian viewpoint was misrepresented in the media during the debate over the matter.Chairman Olave Snelling...http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/05/christians-feels-misrepresented-by.html The 'c' word: an update- May 27, 2008 Following on from Caspar's earlier post concerning the 15-year-old who was handed a court summons by the City of London police for displaying a banner branding Scientology a cult, it's our pleasure to report that further developments have held up the legal right to use the dreaded 'c' word (see you last Tuesday, maybe).It turns out that once the Crown Prosecution Service looked into the matter they decided that use of the word is neither "abusive or insulting" and dropped the case against the...http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/05/c-word-update.html Ex-footballer Gavin Peacock to train for religious career in Canada- May 27, 2008 Continuing my fondness for stories where football meets religion, I thought I'd pick up on the news that former Chelsea midfielder Gavin Peacock is to emigrate to Canada to take a three-year Masters course in Divinity with a view to becoming an ordained Christian minister.Now, this isn't one of those shock sporting conversion stories Peacock's born-again and has been a Christian since the age of 19 and in my opinion the real story is the reshuffle his departure will initiate in the BBC's...http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/05/ex-footballer-gavin-peacock-to-train.html Don't mention the 'c' word- May 21, 2008 Four letters, begins with 'c' ends with 't', got a 'u' in it, you know the one. Thats right 'Cult'.Turns out it is a criminal offence to use the word in reference to that august institution dedicated to thetan-themed gobblegook, the church of Scientology. At least it is in the City of London - where the chief superintendent appears to have some worrying links to said completely non-cultish religion, though its not in the rest of London. An un-named 15-year old faces prosecution for holding a...http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/05/dont-mention-c-word.html Dutch cartoonist arrested- May 19, 2008 The controversial Dutch cartoonist who publishes under the pseudonym Gregorious Nekschot was arrested in a raid on his home by Dutch police last Tuesday. Nekschot is renowned for publishing satirical cartoons about Islam, some of which make the Danish cartoons look like Peanuts (blowjobs and pigs!). The arrest came about because of a complaint against the cartoonist by a convert to Islam Abdul Jabbar Van de Ven, made back in 2005 (why have they only acted on it now). The Dutch justice ministry.http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/05/dutch-cartoonist-arrested.html God and the US elections- May 19, 2008 Two pieces via the ever excellent revealer add depth to our cover story about the role of the evangelical voters in the race for the White House. First Jeff Sharlet looks at Hilary Clinton's closet fundamentalism, and second Mollie Hemingway analyses the increasingly Christian language of Barack Obama. Cripes!http://blog.newhumanist.org.uk/2008/05/god-and-us-elections.html |