Ken Livingstone Won’t Like It
The second leader in The Times today, asks about Ken Livingstone’s attitude to London’s Jews.
It also questions his puzzling comments about homosexuality, claiming that the Tory party is riddled with it.
It finishes with this paragraph.
This turns what would otherwise be a nasty squabble into an issue of importance to all London citizens and, indeed, beyond. A divisive politics that seeks to exploit tensions between religious groups for electoral gain would be a disaster, not just for the city but for the country. And it is to be hoped that Mr Livingstone will find it a disaster for him as well. Muslims value a united London, too.
Until now, I hadn’t really been too bothered about who was Mayor of London. Now, I’m certainly on an ABK ticket.
David Cameron’s Biggest Problem
Rowan Williams decision to retire as Archbishop of Canterbury, may have given David Cameron his biggest problem. Although, as the Telegraph puts it he makes the decision from a short-list of one.
Dr John Sentamu has been installed by bookies as their favourite in the wake of the Archbishop of Canterbury announcing that he will step down by the end of the year.
David Cameron, the Prime Minister, will name Dr Williams’ successor after being given a “preferred name” by the Church’s appointments commission, which is made up of three clergy and three members of the laity. It is chaired by a civil servant.
Dr Sentamu is on the commission and will have to step down if he intends to be considered to be Archbishop of Canterbury.
He would be the first black leader of the Church of England and as primate would inherit an Anglican communion badly split over how to deal with homosexuality and whether women can become bishops.
Dr Williams himself conceded that his own attempt to prevent schism in the Church over the issues was likely to fail.
But if a large number of the Anglican Community don’t like the choice, David Cameron will get the blame.
Perhaps he should give the decision to Nick Clegg, as he doesn’t believe in God.
How Could Anybody Vote For Rick Santorum?
The times has a fairly detailed article on Rick Santorum today and they list some of his beliefs.
He has actually called higher education a liberal conspiracy. Good one that, as does he think that ideas and scientific breakthroughs, like cures for serious diseases just happen without education?
He also says that women ,who get pregnant after being raped, should be made to keep their gift from God. I should think that the only country with similar views is somewhere like Iran.
His views on homosexuality seem to be very much like those in Iran too.
He has also said that working mothers are slaves of radical feminism. That is something worthy of the mullahs of Iran.
I could go on, but I have better things to do, like the washing up, as we widows can’t be choosy about who does the work. Does Rick Santorum have a policy for widows? I suspect it’s God’s gift to those left behind. I couldn’t find his views, but I did find this piece about a widowed conservative Republican, who has a gay daughter. She talks more sense in a minute, than the odious Santorum has talked in the last year.
Show me a white American male with strong religion and I’ll show you a bigot, who believes that a woman’s place is slaving in the home.
Is This a Solution to Bigots Like Abu Qatada?
Michael Burleigh writing in the Sunday Times today, takes a broad look at terrorists who have come to or are in the UK.
He makes one point that I wholly sympathise with. If someone says lets kill all people with a penchant for wearing purple socks, then they should be prosecuted for incitement to murder.
So why hasn’t Abu Qatada been prosecuted, if as some allege he has incited others for murder? Surely if found guilty and sentenced, he could then be returned to his homeland. We now have a precedent in that in this case in Derby, three men were jailed for urging people to hang homosexuals.
These cases would be very much helped if phone-tap evidence were allowed. I can never understand why it isn’t After all, if the United States can use it, to convict the Mafia, why can’t we use it with possible mass murderers. It might have the side-effect that they all got paranoid about talking to each other.
We Have Ways of Making You Believe These Things
I have always felt Scientologists to be a group of religious nutters. but not after reading reports in The Times and this one in the Sun. They’re dangerous, sadistic, religious nutters.
Richard Pitman’s Good Deed
Richard Pitman was a good jump jockey, but more famous for losing the Grand National on Crisp in the last few strides to Red Rum. He was also a reliable BBC commentator and presenter.
He was reported yesterday as having donated a kidney to a complete stranger, after seeing his friend deteriorate whilst waiting for a transplant. He was on BBC Breakfast and the story is also related here.
On a day when Baroness Warsi was complaining that we are turning from religion, isn’t what Pitman did a much more altruistic act, than most of the worthless words we get from those with so-called religion. Name a religious leader, who did what Pitman did for a start!
Incidentally, a kidney transplant expert, told me that one in a hundred of us only have one kidney.
I do think that Pitman upset a few people in what he did, as it wasn’t covered very deeply in the media.
Are the Bishops Right to Vote Against a Benefit Cap?
To me it’s what the statistics say, but then we don’t have access to full figures. I would like to see a database on the Internet of all those who get benefits of over the £26,000 level. It would obviously be anonimised completely. We would then see how many people lived in a particular town, who got more than £50,000 for example.
But I’m interested to see John Bird, the founder of The big Issue has written in The Times, this morning.
The title of the piece is These bishops are not so Christian after all and it has a sub-title of A benefit cap is needed. You don’t help the poor by making them dependent on handouts.
You should buy the paper today just to read this article on page 20.
Is God He or She?
I don’t believe in any supreme being, but I find it strange that Christianity, Islam and a lot of other religions assume that God is male. Others do have famale deities, so it’s not universal.
It would be a real problem for some religions and especially sects in some, if God did appear and she was female. It would certainly cause a lot of embarrassment. But I suppose they wouldn’t believe her, as their God is male.
At least not believing in anything means, I won’t have that problem.
God Isn’t Listening
Apparently, Texas is in the midst of a drought.
According to The Times today, last April Rick Perry, the governor and Presidential candidate, lead a prayer for rain in the state.
And guess what?
It hasn’t rained.
Either God doesn’t exist or he/she doesn’t like the fact that Rick Perry executes a lot of people in his state.
There’s Always Some Bad News at Christmas
This year it was the pointless but deadly bombings in Nigeria. It’s when things like this happen, how anybody with any knowledge of the world’s great religions could see them as anything other than unwarranted mass murder.
The Anonymous Widower 