Seriously. It’s a church invented to allow a divorce, and a doctrine where anything goes. As far as morality is concerned, seeking direction from the Church of England isn’t necessarily the way to go.

The “hatch-and-match” service allows couples to baptise their children after the wedding ceremony. Parents can even get baptised themselves.

The aim is to encourage cohabiting parents to marry as the Church tries to become more relevant to the way people live their lives, but critics said that it appeared to sanction having children out of wedlock. One bishop described the idea as “nutty”. The liturgy, costing £272, is being sent out to dioceses and parish clergy today.

Um, again… it’s CoE. Gay marriage, even within the clergy, female clergy, did I mention the Church was created on a whim to allow divorce? Why on earth would it matter if you were married, divorced, having babies out of wedlock, or screwing the family pet? Anything goes in the Church of England.

Did you smell the brimstone in Toronto on Friday night? Probably not, over the ineptitude of Toronto City Hall in dealing with the garbage strike. The city reeks, so you’d never notice the stench of hate and misogyny that swept through on Friday.

Everyone’s favorite “progressive” blogger, Canadian Cynic - AKA Robert PJ Day - came to town to talk intelligent design, creationism and evolution at the Centre for Inquiry on Beverly Street.

Someone taped the show last night - not sure who - but Robert didn’t much care for the free publicity. Whatever his reasons for wanting to suddenly stay private, he wound up chasing a guy with a camera halfway down the street back from O’Grady’s pub to tell the guy not to post the footage. Maybe he’s Amish at heart, and doesn’t want his image captured. Whatever his reasons, he muttered something about “not what I signed up for, no videos…”

Robert Day spent much of his two hour speaking engagement reliving past glories, in a debate he had with a creationist back in 1990 - almost 20 years ago.

He was astonishingly polite with the crowd, but then again, it was his turf. He had no reason to feel uncomfortable or intimidated in a roomful of his friends and fellow travelers. In fact, the extent of his profanity was far less than you’ll find here at Girl on the Right - “douchebag”. Of course, he has been much toned down the past couple of weeks.

At one point he did get a little testy, when an audience member came right out and called him a liar regarding the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik (though what the subject has to do with evolution, I do not know, unless it was the Evolution of Robert Day).  Day was talking about how the Harper government didn’t want the Sudanese-Canadian back in the country. The audience member reminded him that Paul Martin’s government had also refused Abdelrazik’s return. Day snapped back that he wasn’t “talking about the Martin government, I’m talking about the current government!”

He spent a good deal of time recounting a debate he had with a former VP of the Christian Science Association of Canada, Ian Taylor. In his talk last night he mocked Taylor a fair bit, and talked about how “scientists” rarely won against “creationists”, because the “scientists” tried to be fair and polite. Ahem. While not a scientist himself, Robert Day has clearly made a name for himself by being neither. No one could ever, ever accuse Robert Day of being too nice. Is he fighting the creationists with their own rules of warfare? Perhaps, but I can promise you I’ve never been called a cunt or a douchebag by a creationist.

Amusingly, and on the same point, he says he can’t understand why people get so upset at him for being rude. He said it would be worse to be called a liar than to be called rude. Hmmm… no wonder he got to touchy about the Martin/Harper double standard!

Amusingly, mere hours before his rock star appearance here in the sleazy city, I had read this article by Jason Calacanis for the first time, about a new phenomenon he dubs Internet Asperger’s Syndrome (IAS). About how people in online communications can’t see or read facial expressions or physical cues of discomfort, much like the sufferers of Asperger’s, and how it makes them numb to empathy and other human emotions. Read the article - it’s long but very interesting. Anyway, again, Day doesn’t understand why people are offended by his rudeness. Yeah.

He also called Richard Evans’ decision to post his - Robert Day’s - personal information online “uncool”. He wasn’t asked if it was “cool” or “uncool” to google-bomb someone’s name and link them to NAMBLA.

One amusing tidbit about the outing, though, that leads me to wonder about the veracity of his or of his former employer’s claims. He said that he had “stopped working for” Christie Digital by the time we outed him. Hmmm… yet Christie insisted they had never had anything to do with such a person at all.

On one point we certainly agree. Day wants the religion books in schools to be kept in the religion section, and the science books in the science section. Science can be taught in science class, and religion can be taught in religion class. I know some of my readers disagree, but too bad. He pointed out that if you want to start teaching religion in science class, or one religion over another, you’d soon have everyone demanding equal time for their theories and religions. The old quote about history being written by the winners came to mind. It’s true - there’s only so much you can teach in a 6.5 hour school day. Why not just give students a passion and a thirst to learn more on their own time?

Anyway, he was not harassed or heckled as I’m sure he hoped to be, because we don’t roll that way. And besides, it was a Friday night. Most of us had better things to do.

That’s right. Perhaps we could even send them to “residential schools”. You know, give them a fair shot at becoming a more integrated part of the Canadian cultural mosaic.

No? Bad idea? Unconstitutional? It will never fly?

Why not? These kids in many (if not all) cases are being taught to hate Canada, hate Canadians, hate infidels, loathe Jews, commit acts of violence…

HADITH Sahih Bukhari [4:52:176] : Allah’s Apostle said, “You (i.e. Muslims) will fight with the Jews till some of them will hide behind stones. The stones will (betray them) saying, ‘O ‘Abdullah (i.e. slave of Allah)! There is a Jew hiding behind me; so kill him.’ “

How dare we discriminate on the basis of faith, belief or color of flesh? If these parents (abhorrent though they may be) can have their daughter taken away for learning and espousing their belief system, then certainly all children raised in Muslim homes are in danger.

Disagree? Why?

Do yourselves (ourselves) a favor and please shut up. Shut up, for the love of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee little donkey too.

This contrived outrage over President Obama’s forthcoming commencement address at Notre Dame University is distracting and very, very embarrassing. First of all, you (we) voted overwhelmingly in favor of President Babykiller (54 to 45% Obama over McCain among Catholics), so you have no room to argue over his policies around the unborn. He never made any secret of his belief in abortion (”If Malia or Sasha were to become pregnant, I wouldn’t want them punished with a baby.”), and unless you’ve been living under a rock since the Ascension, the pro-abortion policies of the Democrats shouldn’t be news to you.

Then there’s the fact that you are screwing up a class’s commencement ceremony with your airplane banners and billboard trucks with that oh-so-tired imagery of chopped up baby bits. The President of the United States - whoever he may be - has always done at least one graduation ceremony at a prominent school since time immemorial. And the kids that graduate that day can look back for decades on the day the president spoke at their event. What will these Notre Dame kids have to look back on, other than a bunch of screeching harpies with picket signs?

You are not doing the Catholic faith or the pro-life movement any good by embarrassing Notre Dame. If any of you are alumni (that is, if any of you were educated beyond 5th grade), make your feelings known during the annual donation drive. At that point, you may get a little thrill to send back the pre-paid donation envelope with a grotesque image of an aborted fetus in lieu of a check. Your point will be well taken by the alumni association.

In the meantime, let these kids graduate in peace. You remember peace, right? Jesus taught us about it.

It’s been a long 40 days of Lent, having forsaken Starbucks in favor of instant. Glad that’s over.

But there’s a bit more to it than that.

Last night as the clock rolled over into the new day, I began to receive Easter wishes and blessings from all over the world. My Jewish friends, especially, came forth to offer me blessings on the holiday. That they should do this when Jesus took Judaism and turned it on its head really means a lot to me. It’s a mark of respect.

Yet all over the internet you can find atheist bloggers and tweeters making remarks about Jesus becoming a “zombie” on this day (rising from the dead) or merely taunting the words in the Bible. To what end I am not certain. Perhaps to cover for their own insecurities in having an empty place in their lives. (as an aside, these same atheists are obvious in their reluctance to behave the same way toward non-Christian faiths, like say… Islam)

I tell you what: I’m not great at being a Catholic - anyone who knows me even a little can tell you that. But my faith is between me and God. He’s the only one I need to answer to in the end, right? Which means that an atheist has only himself to answer to. They are their own god. So does that means they give themselves permission to be assholes at the expense of others? I guess so.

I’ll stick with the God I was given, thanks. Sounds like a much better deal.

A happy and blessed Easter to all of you. And to those coming out of Passover, blessings upon you.

I’m going to Starbucks.

When you consider all the senseless deaths that occur because some religions are violent and seek domination, you really have to laugh at the Atheists vs. Christianity Bus Debate.

Atheists have started advertising. The most talked about ad campaign in England, now plastered across the outside of 800 British buses, declares: “There’s probably no God, so stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

And now the retort:

Now the Christian party, the Trinitarian Bible Society and the Russian Orthodox Church have paid for their own pro-God adverts that will run on 175 buses across central and east London and the West End for two weeks from Monday.

The advert for the Christian Party includes the slogan: ‘There definitely is a God. So join the Christian Party and enjoy your life.’

It’s all so very civilized, isn’t it? I mean, these buses can drive back and forth past each other with little fear of being blown up for their message.

It’s very much like that Kenny vs Spenny stunt with the Jesus Sucks! banner that flew over Toronto. It’s all very safe and milquetoast in its supposed edginess.

So what say we all get together to buy some ads that say “Allah is a Myth” or “Mohamed was a Child Rapist” and really be cutting edge? I mean, what’s the worst that could happen, right?

The devout Christian registrar who won a landmark legal battle over her refusal to carry out gay ‘weddings’ has spoken for the first time about the devastating campaign of bullying she suffered at the hands of her politically correct colleagues.

Lillian Ladele says she was treated as a ‘pariah’ because her traditional values were at odds with the dogmatism of equalities-obsessed Islington Council.

‘This experience has shattered me,’ she said. ‘It has been so overwhelming. For more than two years of my life I was treated as though I was full of hate, which is just not me at all.

‘All I ever wanted was to have my beliefs respected, just as I try to respect the views of others, even if I don’t agree with them.’

I have such inconsistent views when it comes to things like this. Like, I don’t think a registrar should have to marry same-sex couples if they held the job before the law changed. But, on the other hand, I feel that pharmacists have an obligation to provide the morning after pill - though NOT the abortion pill, RU486. Doctors should not have to perform abortions. I guess these are still issues that I have not completely worked out for myself, in my own mind. But I’m glad this woman won her case.

It was founded on the principle, in fact.

Stephen Boisson, Alberta Public Enemy #1 and recipient of future-crime complaints because of his Christian stance on homosexuality, brings us a surreal conversation with a Human Rights Commission employee.

He said the following recommendations were the responsibility of the people who invited me, not my responsibility.

2. Ask the church to get a signed consent form from everyone, parents and children, everyone, stating that they are not forced to attend and are there of their own free will. Later he added that this consent should be drawn up by a lawyer who is familiar with the Human Rights Laws.

3. The weekend retreat is considered one-occasion situation and that a license was probably not required.

4. The church needs to contact the education people and take a curriculum of the program and demonstrate that it is an educational program that is not unwelcome by the group there and everyone is there by consent. Also, the church needs to ask the education people if a license is required. At this point Ralph was uncertain and seemed to think a license would be helpful if problems occurred.

5. The church needs to contact the police to make sure they do not view the program as bordering on criminal activity—need to show them the curriculum so they know what is going on and do not arrive on the scene.

WTF? With the exception of the occasional 8-year-old who would probably prefer to be at home playing Wii, people are usually at church or any church program by their own free will. There aren’t people herding them in at gunpoint.

I then told Ralph that the church had already distributed a CD of mine to each of their families to prepare for the retreat that had some statements on it about homosexuals. He said that they needed a consent form from each family that this was not unwelcome material and that their kids would not be talking about any of it in the schools.

He said, “You may have a problem with the CD if it is seen as gay bashing and if anyone who has it displays it before the public, i.e., talking about it in a classroom. It needs to be used by a select group who consented to receiving the material. Religious material must not be forced on anyone who is not a part of the group who consented. If a student did this, and the person complained, you would be liable and it would not matter that all the safeguards were in place.”

Again, that free will thing. But even more worrying, what is this about keeping teachings secret and not talking about them with others? Is it now official policy of the Alberta Human Rights Commission to drive Christianity underground? Are we in Iran, where Christian teachings must be done in basements and behind closed curtains, never letting the neighbors know? Is this still Canada?

This is absolutely terrifying, if you stop to think about it. Whether you are Christian or not, you must agree that it is heinous that the main religion of Canadians is being forced into hiding by these Commissions. Is this what was originally intended when our government drew up the Charter? Nowadays, kids go to school and learn about every religion except Christianity. No one is allowed to complain. But if one of these kids attending the workshop goes to school and tells his friends about it, all hell will break loose. It has to be kept a secret. The founding religion of the modern world: Now a dirty little secret for backrooms and speakeasies.

I’m an insomniac. So I headed our for a jog this morning, a little after 5. As I went past Our Lady of Perpetual Help, I read the sign outside:

Many small good moments will outweigh one big event.

I needed that this morning.

Many of my favorite people on the intertoobs are atheists, Rachel included. But the vast majority of atheists are basically whackjobs with an axe to grind (axetogrind??).

The update I posted about Rupert’s dad was titled “There are no atheists in a foxhole.” Which anyone who reads here regularly would understand is my way of poking fun at myself, seeing as how publicly, on this blog, I’ve repeatedly identified myself as feeling like either an atheist or an agnostic, depending on my mood. I’ve regularly criticized Christians and their beliefs and have asked them to defend themselves, which they did, some nicely and some not. I’ve been very open about the fact that I simply don’t know the truth even though I’d like to, and that I find debates about religion interesting because they give you such a window into how other people think and view the world.

…

Well. That post title really, really, really pissed off some atheists. An atheist forum linked to it and its members began peppering my comment thread - which remember, was for a post that was about a loved one being in a coma and that I wrote and titled while in an understandably emotional state - with things like this:

I am sorry to hear that you find the contribution of so many members of our military, such as Master Sergeant Gid L. White (retired), to be of no value.
- Foxhole Atheist

Your opening post is a lie. There ARE atheists in foxholes… even if you don’t “believe” there are. Pat Tilman was just such an atheist. Educate yourself and quit deleting posts who try to lessen the bigotry you spread. http://www.atheistfoxholes.org/

Lying for Jesus is still lying. I hope your friend gets better. I hope he never is the bigot you are.

Just because your faith makes you feel all humble and honest… doesn’t make it true, you know.
- A Third Atheist (articulett)

Uh huh. Not a word about the state of Rupert’s dad, or any best wishes. Just nattering on about their (lack of) ideology. Why? Can’t you just say “hey, I don’t like you’re post title, but I hope that guy’s ok”? Are you so unsure of your un-faith, that you have to hijack a person’s blog post about an injured family member like that?

Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, defended Labour’s policy on religion after a report backed by the Church of England claimed that Muslims receive a disproportionate amount of attention.

She said it was right that more money and effort was spent on Islam than Christianity because of the threat from extremism and home-grown terrorism.

Ms Blears told BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme: “That’s just common sense. If we’ve got an issue where we have to build resilience of young Muslim men and women to withstand an extremist message.”

Moral of the story: Blow shit up and we’ll give you more money than your peaceful neighbors. Where art thou, Winston?

Freedom of Religion no longer seems to exist in certain (Islamic) parts of England.

Two Christian preachers were stopped from handing out Bible extracts by police because they were in a Muslim area, it was claimed yesterday.

They say they were told by a Muslim police community support officer that they could not preach there and that attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity was a hate crime.

The community officer is also said to have told the two men: ‘You have been warned. If you come back here and get beat up, well, you have been warned.’

A police constable who was present during the incident in the Alum Rock area of Birmingham is also alleged to have told the preachers not to return to the district.

It comes amid growing concern over the development of Islamic ‘no-go areas’.

Christianity is a religion that proselytizes. It always has. Christ himself preached his Word to thousands. Many chose to follow him. Others perhaps took some good from his message, ignored the rest, and went home to be Jews and Gentiles - just as they were before his sermons. He never held a knife to anyone’s throat and forced their conversion to Christianity. And neither did these two men in Birmingham.

Are Muslims so afraid of their numbers slipping that they consider Baptists evangelizing a “hate crime”? They needn’t worry - they will always have the incarcerated population to draw upon. Those in prison, especially for violent crimes against the person, are naturally drawn to Islam and its bloodthirsty ways.

I must say I am uncomfortable with the idea of being told that I would not be allowed to go about my business in a certain part of town because it’s a no-go zone for Christians. Is this the religious tolerance I’ve been forced to swallow since the 70’s? Tolerance for thee but not for me?

Some common sense has prevailed in the UK, where the teenage boy arrested for “insulting” Scientology has been given a pass from the courts.

But Ghost of a Flea has some interesting details about how the kid may have gotten himself arrested in the first place:

Two years ago, the City of London police attracted criticism when it emerged more than 20 officers, ranging from constable to chief superintendent, had accepted gifts worth thousands of pounds from the Church of Scientology.

Follow the money…

Bible swiped from German church during service

C’mon! Shouldn’t they be burning cars and blasting McDonalds’ and stuff?

St. James Cathedral has given up worshiping You, and is now fully in the service of Bono and his 21st century eco-peace crusade.

For you atheists and eco-religionists in Toronto, St. James Cathedral will be happy to host you this evening to listen to the hymns of U2.

Tissue alert.

I abhor freak cults of all kinds, from the Raelians to the Jehova’s Witnesses to Scientology. And I have - on more than one occasion - described Islam as a cult of sex and death. I believe this to be true. And I believe that its adherents are brainwashed into believing that if you murder in the name of Mohammed and Allah, you will get laid a lot in Paradise. Islam is a dangerous cult along the lines of Jonestown or the Branch Davidians. They need to be listed as a cult and cleaned out by the FBI.

So imagine my dismay when I read that a member of a Christian Jesus-freak cult wanted to donate a kidney to a sick woman here in Toronto, but the surgery has been cancelled because his parents and hospital authorities fear religious brainwashing. Muslims are allowed to walk around hiding God-knows-what under their black burlap garb and they are afforded “freedom of religion”, but this guy can’t save a woman’s life.

The case has been closely tracked by an Australian film crew because the would-be donor, 22-year-old Ash Falkingham of Sydney, belongs to the controversial Jesus Christians, the “kidney cult” whose members believe that giving up an organ to save someone’s life is an exemplary act of devotion to God and humankind.

The Toronto General Hospital cancelled the scheduled transplant following accusations of religious brainwashing, appeals from Mr. Falkingham’s mother and stepfather to stop the surgery, and extensive psychiatric assessments of the man after his arrival in Canada.

Remember kids: Killing Jews is an okay religious practice, but don’t try to give a kidney to save a life. Only cults do that.

What the hell is this world coming to?

The Charter is merely a list of then-current Received Liberal Pieties and should have as much bearing on the average Canadian’s life as a six-year-old Chinese takeout menu. If written today it would include a clause making the separation of paper and glass mandatory for all householders, every other Wednesday. I do my best to ignore the Charter and so should any thoughtful person.

To Pope Benedict XVI.

Two Russian Muslims were arrested for firebombing a Jewish community center and for plotting kidnapping and armed robbery. The Canadian arm of CAIR goes for the amusing and over-used Religion of Peace routine:

Sarah Elgazzar, of the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, expressed dismay the accused are Muslims and hoped that fact wouldn’t increase the animosity between the Jewish and Muslim communities in Montreal.

“Religiously speaking, Jews and Muslims should be so close,” she said. “Sure, there are differences, and there are problems in other parts of the world, but that doesn’t justify these kinds of attacks.

“Most Muslims would never even think of doing something like that; it’s horrible.”