From the Daily Mail:
I read the Koran every day, says former prime minister Tony Blair who claims it keeps him 'faith-literate'
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Reading the koran just makes you a dickhead, Mr. Blair. No one cares about your own faith or beliefs, because you aren't important anymore. However, we do like to keep an eye on you because it's people like you who cause massive problems in this world. And to say that, "the [Islamic] Prophet Mohammed had been ‘an enormously civilizing force’", simply shows that you haven't actually bothered to read the other 90% of the literature that makes up Islam. The hadith - the collection of sayings and actions of Muhammad - show how he once personally beheaded HUNDREDS of people. How is that a 'civilising force'?!

Mr. Blair, you're a prick. Away with your nonsense.

From The Telegraph:
A committed Christian GP has been accused of harassment and told by the medical regulator that his behaviour was unprofessional after talking about his religious beliefs with a patient.
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In the video he tries to explain how giving his patients a way of helping themselves with faith is perfectly fine to do. No, dickwad, it's not okay. You are a GP. You are not supposed to be proselytising to your patients. They go to you to help them with their health problems. That is your fucking job! Telling them your own personal beliefs about the origin of the universe have fuck all to do with treating their health conditions.

Let's say you're shopping in Sainsbury's and the Muslim girl at the checkout is putting your bottle of gin through the till, and then tries to get you to go to her mosque to learn about her faith and how Islam could help you with your 'alcoholism'? Would you be happy to listen to her, or would you be annoyed that someone has decided to inflict their personal religious beliefs upon you while you were trying to get your shopping done? I mean, she's just done the same as you. She just made an assumption that her faith could help you with something she perceived was your problem. You did the same thing.

You should be reprimanded for this.

This was from a conversation I had today with a Muslim colleague:

Me: "You should try alcohol once in a while. It's not as bad as your 'prophet' made it out to be. Besides, it'll be good practice for when/if you get to paradise, what with those rivers of wine n' all..."
Him: "That's reserved strictly for paradise, not on Earth."
Me: "You really should try it. I mean, you might get to paradise and not actually like the taste of wine. What do you do then? You're pretty much fucked. Can you ask for a separate river of McDonald's banana milkshake, or Ribena?"
Him: "You don't have to drink it, it's just that it's not forbidden in paradise."

So, there we have it. He understands the idiocy of what he's saying, but his mind won't let him do anything about it. That's what indoctrination does to a human mind. He won't touch alcohol in the ONLY life he can prove he has. What a waste. It's not just alcohol though. This is a great example of everything they aren't allowed to do.

From BBC News:
A traditionalist Anglican group has voiced regret after an Anglo-Catholic bishop said he would convert to Rome.

The Bishop of Fulham, John Broadhurst, has become the fourth Anglican bishop to make the announcement.

He intends joining the Roman Catholic Church because of his opposition to the way the Church of England plans to introduce women bishops.
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Another person changes his mind about the way to worship an unprovable deity (much like Tony 'fucking' Blair did when he left office). This is NOT news.

I see he's converting because he is opposed to women having any sort of power in the Church. Bigoted asshole. Your own mother had enough power and presence of mind to bring YOU into the world and raise YOU, but another woman can't be a bishop? Fucking religious prick.

From BBC News:
A Vatican official has said the awarding of the Nobel Prize for Medicine to British IVF pioneer Robert Edwards is "completely out of order". Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said the award ignored the ethical questions raised by the fertility treatment. He said IVF had led to the destruction of large numbers of human embryos.

Nearly four million babies have been born using IVF fertility treatment since 1978.

Monsignor Carrasco, the Vatican's spokesman on bio-ethics, said in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) had been "a new and important chapter in the field of human reproduction".

But he said the Nobel prize committee's choice of Prof Edwards had been "completely out of order" as without his treatment, there would be no market for human eggs "and there would not be a large number of freezers filled with embryos in the world", he told Italy's Ansa news agency.

"In the best of cases they are transferred into a uterus but most probably they will end up abandoned or dead, which is a problem for which the new Nobel prize winner is responsible."

In his statement, Monsignor Carrasco stressed that he was speaking in a personal capacity.

The Nobel medicine prize committee in Sweden said Prof Edwards' work had brought "joy to infertile people all over the world". "His achievements have made it possible to treat infertility, a medical condition afflicting a large proportion of humanity, including more than 10% of all couples worldwide," it said.

Prof Edwards efforts in the 1950s, 60s and 70s led to the birth of the world's first "test tube baby", Louise Brown, in July 1978. Ms Brown said the award was "fantastic news". "Me and mum are so glad that one of the pioneers of IVF has been given the recognition he deserves," she said. "We hold Bob in great affection and are delighted to send our personal congratulations to him and his family at this time."
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There's something twisted about the Catholic Church (quelle surprise). Rather than join Ms Brown in her admiration for Prof. Edwards' work bringing joy to millions of couples worldwide, they go on the attack. Typical behaviour.

We can sum up this idiot priest's views by turning them around to him. Observe:

• IVF had led to the destruction of large numbers of human embryos = The Catholic Church had led to the destruction of large numbers of actual human beings because of their genocidal views on condom use in sub-Saharan Africa.
• completely out of order = completely out of touch with modernity
• In the best of cases they are transferred into a uterus but most probably they will end up abandoned or dead, which is a problem for which the new Nobel prize winner is responsible = In the best of cases they are transferred out of the 'care' of paedophile Catholic priests and into a loving home but most probably they will end up being abused by these priests and abandoned, which is a problem for which the Catholic Church is responsible but has long buried its head in the sand and attempted to pay off their victims.

From Times Online:
THE home secretary, Theresa May, is facing a stiff test of the Conservative party’s claims to oppose radical Islam after her officials chose to allow a misogynist Muslim preacher into Britain.

Zakir Naik, an Indian televangelist described as a “hate-monger” by moderate Muslims and one Tory MP, says western women make themselves “more susceptible to rape” by wearing revealing clothing. Naik, who proselytises on Peace TV, a satellite television channel, is reported to have called for the execution of Muslims who change their faith, described Americans as “pigs” and said that “every Muslim should be a terrorist”. In a recent lecture, he said he was “with” Osama Bin Laden over the attacks on “terrorist America”, adding that the 9/11 hijackings were an inside job by President George W Bush.

In opposition, David Cameron and other senior Tories led criticism of the Labour government for allowing radical preachers into Britain to stir up hatred on lecture tours. While in opposition, Cameron also campaigned to get Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian radical, banned from Britain.

Cameron and May now face a political test over Naik, whose inflammatory comments have led some moderate Muslims to call him a “truth-twister”.

One well-placed insider said: “Zakir Naik is a nasty man who makes al-Qaradawi look like a participant at a teddy bears’ picnic. He shouldn’t be allowed into the country to stir up hatred.” The Home Office indicated that it was not planning to ban Naik, however.

Although Naik makes it clear he does not support specific acts of terrorism, his inflammatory speeches have included one, currently on YouTube, in which he states: “Beware of Muslims saying Osama Bin Laden is right or wrong. I reject them ... we don’t know. But if you ask my view, if given the truth, if he is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him. I don’t know what he’s doing. I’m not in touch with him. I don’t know him personally. If he is terrorising the terrorists, if he is terrorising America the terrorist ... I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist.”

According to reports in the Indian media, his organisation, the Islamic Research Foundation in Mumbai, was where Rahil Abdul Rehman Sheikh, suspected of being commander of a series of train bombings in Mumbai, and other alleged terrorists spent much of their time before the attacks.

The American terror suspect Najibullah Zazi, arrested last year for planning suicide attacks on the New York subway, is said to have been inspired by Naik’s YouTube videos. There is no suggestion Naik had any knowledge of terrorist plotting.

The UK Border Agency said: “Each case is considered on its own merits. When assessing a visa application, we will consider the previous conduct of the individual and we will ensure the UK does not provide a platform for the promotion of violent extremism. We reserve the right to revoke someone’s visa if they are found to be promoting extreme views which are contrary to UK values.”

Naik will be appearing at Wembley Arena in London and in Sheffield on his British tour. When he last came to Britain in 2006, his visit was condemned by David Davies, the Tory MP for Monmouth, who described him as a “hate-monger”.

A doctor by profession, Naik has distinguished himself from dozens of other “mad mullahs” through his intellect and his ability to recite verbatim extended sections of the Koran. Peace TV has a huge following in the Muslim neighbourhoods of Mumbai, Naik’s native city. He has been named as the third most popular spiritual guru in India. Last year he was ranked 82nd in a list of India’s most powerful people.

Since the 9/11 attacks, he appears to have developed a particular hatred of America. He is reported to have said: “The pig is the most shameless animal on the face of the Earth. It is the only animal that invites its friends to have sex with its mate. In America, most people consume pork. Many times after dance parties, they have swapping of wives. Many say, ‘You sleep with my wife and I will sleep with your wife’. If you eat pigs then you behave like pigs.”

Sermons of malice
“Western society has actually degraded [women] to the status of concubines, mistresses and social butterflies, who are mere tools in the hands of pleasure seekers and sex marketeers”

“People who change their religion should face the death penalty”

“It is a blatant secret that this attack on the twin towers was done by George Bush himself”

“If he [Osama Bin Laden] is terrorising the terrorists, if he is terrorising America the terrorist ... I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist”
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This is the guy who people on YouTube keep telling me to watch because he's so 'eloquent' and 'right'. Well, he preaches HATRED, so all you Muslims on YouTube who have EVER been in touch with me about this man can go fuck yourselves. He's a horrible man, and I can't believe the UK government has allowed this evil little bastard into my country. (Or maybe I can, given the UK government's track record on appeasing Muslims who demand respect rather than earning it.)

I love this quote of his - "People who change their religion should face the death penalty". Excellent! Then no more proselytising from Muslims. No more trying to get people to become Muslims. No more extra followers of Islam unless they're through (the unnaturally high rate of) birth (in Muslim families). You said it yourself, Naik, you are not allowed to convert someone from a different religion to Islam or they should face the death penalty.

FUCK OFF, ZAKIR NAIK. You are not wanted in this country. We - the inhabitants - would like to be free of your particular evil brand of hatred, and we'd like to feel safe here. And when you do fuck off, take the rest of your terrorist friends along with you - all those sympathisers of yours; all those who think the UK should be ruled according to Sharia; take them all. They aren't welcome here.

From BBC News:
A Christian nurse moved to a desk job after refusing to remove her crucifix at work has lost a discrimination claim against her employers.

Shirley Chaplin, from Exeter, said the cross ban prevented her from expressing her religious beliefs.

But an employment tribunal ruled that the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospitals NHS Trust, where she worked, had acted in a "reasonable" manner. It said the damage to Mrs Chaplain had only been "slight".
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Boo hoo squish squish. You do NOT have to wear a crucifix to express your religious beliefs. Where in the Bible does it say to wear a crucifix? Nowhere.

To quote Bill Hicks: "If Jesus ever comes back, do you think he's ever going to want to see another fucking cross?!"

From BBC News:
The lawyer for a Lebanese man sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for witchcraft has appealed for international help to save him. Ali Sabat was the host of a popular Lebanese TV show in which he predicted the future and gave advice. He was arrested by religious police on sorcery charges while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in 2008.

His lawyer, May el-Khansa, says she has been told Mr Sabat is due to be executed this week. Ms Khansa has contacted the Lebanese president and prime minister to appeal on his behalf.

There has been no official confirmation from Saudi Arabia, but executions there are often carried out with little warning.

Mr Sabat did make a confession, but Ms Khansa says he only did so because he had been told he could go back to Lebanon if he did.

Human rights groups have accused the Saudis of "sanctioning a literal witch hunt by the religious police".

An Egyptian working as a pharmacist in Saudi Arabia was executed in 2007 after having been found guilty of using sorcery to try to separate a married couple.

There is no legal definition of witchcraft in Saudi Arabia, but horoscopes and fortune telling are condemned as un-Islamic. Nevertheless, there is still a big thirst for such services in the country where widespread superstition survives under the surface of strict religious orthodoxy.
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Hang on a sweet minute... By the very fact that there's no legal definition of witchcraft in Saudi Arabia, doesn't this mean that the 'prophet' of Islam, Muhammad, was also a sorcerer? I mean, didn't he attempt to predict the future?

Surely the law should provide evidence that ANYTHING he said in these sessions actually came true? They should ask him to predict the future and then check to see if it happens. Currently, he's being put to death because the Saudi Arabian religious police (welcome to 1984...) CLAIM he can predict the future.

A fucking barmy state of affairs from a fucking barmy state.

From BBC News:
The Vatican has attacked the media over charges that the Pope failed to act against a US priest accused of abusing up to 200 deaf boys two decades ago. A Vatican newspaper editorial said the claims were an "ignoble" attack on the Pope and that there was no "cover-up". The head of the UK Catholic church said the Pope had made important changes to the way abuse was dealt with.

The Catholic church has been hit by a series of allegations in Europe and the US over the past months. The latest allegations stem from the US, after it emerged that Archbishops had complained in 1996 about a priest, Fr Lawrence Murphy. Their complaints went to a Vatican office led by the future Pope Benedict XVI, but apparently received no response. One victim told the BBC the Pope had known of a cover-up "for many years".

Arthur Budzinski, now 61, said Pope Benedict should confess about what he knew. He said through an interpreter: "It goes all the way up to him - he was in charge of these types of cases."

The recent allegations against the Catholic Church echo paedophilia scandals that rocked the institution in America eight years ago. Allegations of the abuse of deaf children have also resurfaced in Italy, where interviews with several victims were due to be broadcast on national television on Friday. At least 14 former pupils at the Antonio Provolo Institute for the Deaf in the northern city of Verona say they were abused between the 1950s and the 1980s. They complained to local Church authorities as early as 2008. The diocese of Verona said this week that it intends to interview the victims following a request from the Vatican to do so.

And in a separate case, the Legionaries of Christ, an ultra-Conservative congregation within Catholicism, condemned the "reprehensible" actions of their Mexican founder, the late Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado, who sexually abused a number of children in the 1940s and 1950s.

'No cover-up'
Fr Murphy is suspected of abusing some 200 boys at St John's School for the Deaf in St Francis, Wisconsin, between 1950 and 1974. According to Church documents, an archbishop wrote in 1996 to a Vatican morals watchdog led by the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to complain about Fr Murphy. A canonical trial was authorised by the future pope's deputy, but was later halted, despite objections from a second archbishop. Fr Murphy had written to Cardinal Ratzinger saying he was ill and wanted to live out his life in the "dignity of my priesthood".

The Pope's official spokesman, Federico Lombardi, said the Murphy case had only reached the Vatican in 1996 - two decades after the Milwaukee diocese in Wisconsin first learned of the allegations, and two years before the priest died. The diocese had been asked to take action by "restricting Father Murphy's public ministry and requiring that Father Murphy accept full responsibility for the gravity of his acts", Fr Lombardi said. "Father Murphy died approximately four months later, without further incident," the statement said. The papal spokesman also noted that police at the time investigated the allegations, but did not bring charges.

A strongly worded Vatican newspaper editorial said there was "no cover-up" over the case, which was reported in Thursday's edition of the New York Times. L'Osservatore Romano labelled the allegations "clearly an ignoble attempt to strike at Pope Benedict and his closest aides at any cost".

Meanwhile, one of the Pope's top aides, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, told reporters there was "a conspiracy" against the Church, without specifying who was responsible.

The Pope was also supported in the UK by the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, who said the then Cardinal Ratzinger had not been an "idle observer" in the case. Writing in the Times, the Archbishop also said the Pope had introduced changes into Church law to protect children.

The BBC's Robert Pigott in Milwaukee says the US case is particularly shocking, not only because the priest abused boys but because he was allowed to go on to another diocese where he had access to children all over again. Our correspondent says that although there is no direct evidence against the then Cardinal Ratzinger, this is an uncomfortable confluence of events for the Vatican. This is a case of concealment, he says, and that is where the Pope will have a case to answer.

Ireland letter
Fr Murphy - who admitted abusing boys before he died in 1998 - is said to have targeted victims in their dormitory beds, on school trips and even at confession. Lawsuits have been filed on behalf of five men alleging the Archdiocese of Milwaukee did not take sufficient action against the priest.

Last week the Pope issued an unprecedented letter to Ireland addressing the 16 years of clerical cover-up scandals. He has yet to comment on his handling of a child sex abuse case involving a German priest, which developed while Benedict was overseeing the Munich archdiocese. Fr Peter Hullermann had been accused of abusing boys when the now Pope approved his 1980 transfer to Munich to receive psychological treatment for paedophilia. The disgraced priest was convicted in 1986 of abusing a youth, but stayed within the Church for another two decades.

Sir Ken Macdonald, former Director of Public Prosecutions in England and Wales, said the Vatican ought to report all abuse cases to the police. "If teachers in a school commit abuse against children, we don't say it's for the school to resolve that issue," Sir Ken told Radio 4's Today programme.
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Oh look, the Vatican is attacking the media rather than the FUCKING CHILD-MOLESTING PRIESTS THEY'VE BEEN TEACHING IN THEIR OWN FUCKING INSTITUTION! Seriously, el Poperino, clean up your fucking house and stop blaming everyone else for your fucking massive mistakes.

I know Catholic doctrine says the Pope is infallible, but seriously, that's like the Italian PM passing laws that prevent the prosecution of the PM in fraud cases...

The facts are that the Pope was in charge of making sure this kind of thing stopped. He failed. He is not and has never been infallible. He is a dickhead who decided that protecting the church of Catholicism was more important than protecting the rights and lives of children in the church's care.

Whenever someone mentions paedophilia, I immediately think "Catholic priest". They will have to do a lot more than a wishy-washy letter and an attack on those reporting on the failures of the Pope to reverse that situation.

I suggest the Pope disbands the church for ever.

From BBC News:
Pope Benedict has written a pastoral letter to the Catholics of Ireland with guidelines on preventing and punishing sexual abuse of children by priests.

Scandals involving Roman Catholic priests have been reported recently from a number of countries, including the Pope's native Germany.

It is unknown if the letter, to be read at Sunday Mass, includes an apology.

The Vatican recently denounced attempts to link the Pope to a child abuse scandal in Germany. In recent months paedophile scandals have also rocked the Church in the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland. The BBC's David Willey in Rome says that by implication, the measures decided by the Pope will have a much wider application than Ireland alone.

'Healing process'
The Pope has announced he will sign the letter on Friday and it will be sent immediately to the bishops of Ireland in preparation for it to be read out in churches there on Sunday. The text will be published by the Vatican on Saturday. The Pope has said he hopes it will "help in the process of repentance, healing and renewal". The message is expected to express contrition for what he himself has already described as shameful and hateful behaviour by some priests.

What was first perceived in Rome as a series of local scandals has now escalated into a worldwide problem for the Catholic Church with new allegations emerging each week from Catholics claiming they have been victims of sexual abuse by priests. The implications for the Vatican are serious, our correspondent says. The credibility of the Church as a guardian of morals is at stake. And there is the prospect of an avalanche of claims for compensation by victims. That could lead to financial ruin in some dioceses, as has already happened in the US, where the greatest number of cases has been reported.
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"guidelines on preventing and punishing sexual abuse of children by priests": Simple. There are already laws to deal with this. I hope this letter basically says, "If you find out about abuse, or are abusing yourself, you will go directly to the police and you will own up to it or provide details about it." I bet it won't though. I bet it'll go along the lines of, "Cover your backs, there's a shitstorm coming!"

"It is unknown if the letter, to be read at Sunday Mass, includes an apology.": Of course it fucking won't. What? You think the Pope is sorry for anything that's happened to his priests' victims? You think he's sorry that numerous victims have committed suicide because of it?

I truly hope that the Catholic church never recovers from this. Anyone thinking that the Catholic church is a guardian of morals has had their moral compass well and truly fucked with... by the church.