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Thanks to this week’s guest scriptwriter Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, for his help.


Discussion (28)¬

  1. Sparky_shark says:

    Oh man. Thanks Author for getting my blood boiling again…that arsehole Archbishop should spend all of his remaining time on this planet making up for the systemic and horrific child abuse perpetuated by his organisation – and pray that there really is a hell for the people his church protected and validated whilst destroying the lives of children and families and communities. There are many, many reasons to find religion a subject of ridicule and pity, but the abuse of children which they’ve covered up, fudged and victim shamed to avoid being accountable is the thing that males me want to see every fucking church, temple and shrine burned to the ground and that earth salted. Fucking god botherers. Get out fo schools you pederast, child raping motherfuckers. Happy Christmas everyone.

  2. M27Holts says:

    We need to get rid of the unelected fools who spout such drivel. House of Lords should be removed from the UK constitution. Now.

  3. Oozoid says:

    “And skills move from being talents held for the common good which we are entrusted with as benefits for all, to being personal possessions for our own advantage.” Like the bishopric, for instance?

  4. Oozoid says:

    “We have a world of unguided and competing narratives where the only common factor is the inviolability of personal choice. Which means that for schools that are not of a religious character, confidence in any personal sense of ultimate values has diminished.” Which means what? That he wishes to reinforce the illusion of free will by controlling it?

  5. Justin Case says:

    This is exactly the sort of reasons we rebelled against England 240 years ago.

  6. Acolyte of Sagan says:

    Justin Case; assuming you’re American, how did that work out for you? For a supposed secular nation your governments (federal, state, county) are not exactly short on religious influence.

  7. Joe Fogey says:

    “This is exactly the sort of reasons we rebelled against England 240 years ago.”

    And there’s me thinking it was all about taxes!

  8. Michael says:

    “And there’s me thinking it was all about taxes!”

    And lack of representation in Parliament.

  9. Nassar Ben Houdja says:

    Would the secular education system kindly
    Refrain from judging others critically
    If it is truly secular
    To use the vernacular
    Treat everyone indifferently.

  10. PrimalVirtue says:

    How much better off the world would be had the elderly ex polytheist Abraham not promoted a monotheistic war god and his tiny tribe of bronze age nomads stayed in Ur, Iran. Welby is still “talking in tongues” following his Alpha course convertion with these new weasel words. The fact that the Archbishop and his 26 state funded unelected over-privileged Bishops in the Lords practise their “historic Christian-based understanding” solely as the result of an adulterous head lopping king should be a source of moral embarrassment to them. Their unrelenting grip on the state school system has been encouraged by the current politically motivated undermining of local authority control. “…nurturing the whole child spiritually, emotionally, mentally, as well as academically, yet welcoming the whole community” …….What nonsense! Amendments to section 85 of the Equality Act 2010, allow these self serving bigots legalised religious discrimination on admissions against those who have no faith or the “wrong faith” and to indoctrinate with mythologies as truths those too young to defend themselves whilst practicing their rituals with impunity. To criticise the ethics of Humanists and Atheists many of whom have arrived at their position after study and thought is laughable given the churches homophobic attitude, paedophile scandals, and his intervention to prevent government action on illegal religious schools.

  11. Son of Glenner says:

    PrimalVirtue: Wow! What an outburst! You’ve pretty well covered everything. I don’t know if it will have much useful result, but I hope you feel better for getting it all off your chest. As I write this, I hear on the BBC radio a discussion about “spirituality” (what a weasel word!). The god-botherers are not going to give up easily.

    BTW was Welby really converted by the Alpha course? My impression of that course is that no intelligent person would swallow it.

  12. HaggisForBrains says:

    test2

    Good, back to normal. I had a strange comment box at the bottom, asking me to log in as Author! Fortunately I don’t know his/her/zir password.

  13. Dr John the Wipper says:

    HfB:
    For me even stranger:
    Apparently I WAS logged in as Author.
    I thought it better to log out.

  14. Laripu says:

    The Archbishop wrote “We live in a country where an overarching story which is the framework for explaining life has more or less disappeared.”

    Does it not matter at all that this story is demonstrably false, and false in both its details and its overarching idea? What is the morality whose lack he bemoans, if it is based on propagating many falsehoods?

  15. acs says:

    ‘lacks clear, internal and commonly held values’

    A small example how it looks like when the religions influence the law with their “clear” values:

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/14/el-salvador-court-upholds-30-year-jail-sentence-in-stillbirth-case

  16. Canneloni says:

    I think it was Richard Dawkins who pointed out that schools are intended to teach children how to think, but faith schools are for teaching children NOT to think.
    Obviously the Bish attended a faith school…

  17. Acolyte of Sagan says:

    Haggis, as a demon once (almost) said:
    “My name is Author, for I am many.”

  18. PrimalVirtue says:

    Son of Glenner : You can read about Welby and the Alpha Course here by one of his fans in the Torygraph………
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9667071/Justin-Welby-is-the-Alpha-male-tosave-the-Church-of-England.html
    He is not the intellectual Rowan Williams was but I guess the C of E thought his ex oil executive management skills might be useful in his new role.

    We have discussed thew word “spirituality” before on this forum. I understand what you mean when it is used in certain religious contexts where it has a creepiness about it and brings up images of the indoctrinated reaching up to the sky, talking gibberish to an imagined deity and falling over backwards.
    A similar sort of thing is hilariously shown in this Trump clip……
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAgLnnkFOcg
    However, I see no reason why the religious should have a monopoly on the concept of spirituality, when we are talking about something other than connected to the nonsense of religious belief as
    these vids explain…………….
    Dawkins………..
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCX4vAsRo90
    Sam Harris……..
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxzAQRYYqlk

  19. PrimalVirtue says:

    Son of Glenner : You can read about Welby and the Alpha Course here by one of his fans in the Torygraph………
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9667071/Justin-Welby-is-the-Alpha-male-tosave-the-Church-of-England.html
    He is not the intellectual Rowan Williams was but I guess the C of E thought his ex oil executive management skills might be useful in his new role.

    We have discussed thew word “spirituality” before on this forum. I understand what you mean when it is used in certain religious contexts where it
    has a creepiness about it and brings up images of the indoctrinated reaching up to the sky, talking gibberish to an imagined deity and falling over backwards.
    A similar sort of thing is hilariously shown in this Trump clip……
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAgLnnkFOcg
    However, I see no reason why the religious should have a monopoly on the concept of spirituality, when we are talking about something other than connected to the nonsense of religious belief as
    these vids explain…………….
    Dawkins………..
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCX4vAsRo90
    Sam Harris……..
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxzAQRYYqlk

  20. Someone says:

    This makes me remember a commercial that came out a few years back that featured a 12 year old white trash kid walking down a dirt road and pointing a gun at the camera.
    When he did, a voice-over proclaimed, “If you don’t matter to God, you don’t matter to anyone.”

    I can’t find it anymore on YouTube otherwise I’d share it.

  21. Laripu says:

    @Someone, I take that to mean that if you don’t follow that religion, they’re prepared to kill you; and that no one will care that they’ve killed you.

    It’s a justification for religious violence. Such is the end point whenever religion gains sufficient social and political control. From the Spanish Inquisition to the murders of “witches” to Jonestown to the Taliban, if you won’t knuckle under, you don’t matter and will be killed.

  22. Someone says:

    @Laripu, exactly.
    It was preaching to the converted but also showing just how contemptuous Christianity can be to to non-believers. Especially in America.

  23. Blaze says:

    The usually lighthearted show “The Librarians” started a new season with a bold sort of comment. The heroes’ enemies this opening episode were a group of cassock-wearing priests with a rather brutal, murderous style. It wasn’t until halfway thru the story that it was explained these priests were a secret rebel sect of the Roman Catholic Church. A secret rebel sect that formed in the Age of Enlightenment and have been working hard ever since to somehow remove all this damn knowledge from the world. Which makes them an obvious foe to the Library.

    “Rebel outlaw sect”. Not the actual church. Yeah, right.

  24. Laripu, thanks for that like and that commercial. I am baffled by it. What message was intended? What are they trying to sell with it? Is it supposed to scare me into the arms of their pastor, seeking comfort? Is it telling the faithful that killing me is okay? Why the kid? Is he the one their god doesn’t care about, or is the viewer? It seems so quintessentially American, but it comes off like the product of a film student who managed to sell a concept to somebody with money and a religious bent. Generally just weird.

  25. Oh dang, used the wrong email address again and hence no avatar. Just transfer this one post up, folks.

  26. Oh pook. I did it again and yet again.Used to the wrong email address and there I am with no avatar. Please just imagine this one up on that previous post.
    And in that first post, please replace “like” with “link”. I really need to be a better proo freader, eh.

  27. Someone says:

    DH, the commercial was from me but that’s ok.
    It amuses me to no end how much backlash it got at the time.
    Though I’m sure orange Hitler would endorse it wholeheartedly.

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