A recipe for hell on earth: Equality

How to make everyone’s life miserable: Equality Camp:

The Government’s ‘equality’ watchdog is recruiting 14 and 15-year-olds for its second annual summer camp.

The camp, called Our Space, will consist of a few days in the Lake District with outdoor activities and “modules to discuss diversity, equality and rights”.

The camp is being organised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the body which recently funded a leading homosexual lobby group to write a guide for employers on how to deal with religious workers.

In practice, equality means the reduction of everything and everyone to the same squalid level of grey mediocrity; the fortunate few who escape the malevolent levelling are the government officials employed to inflict the misery on everyone else.

As Theodore Dalrymple observes:

Equality of opportunity is a thoroughly nasty and totalitarian concept. It is the demand that no one should start (or continue) life with any advantages relative to another. But how could such a condition actually be achieved? Leaving aside genetic differences, which must persist until all hereditary endowments can be made precisely the same, and which for the time being must be accepted even though they are unfair (not unjust, although most people nowadays seem to have difficulty distinguishing between the two), the only way environmental factors affecting opportunities can be made equal is by social engineering on a scale that would make North Korea look like a paradise of laissez-faire..

Selective clerical compassion

The World Council of Churches is worried about Gaza:

A directors’ delegation from APRODEV – the Association of World Council of Churches (WCC) related Development Organizations in Europe – who visited Gaza during the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel, have urged Ministers of Foreign Affairs in the European Union (EU) to also go there and “witness for themselves the denigrating circumstances in which the people of Gaza live.”

The World Week for Peace in Palestine intones:

The week calls participants to seek justice for Palestinians so that both Israelis and Palestinians can finally live in peace. It is now more than 60 years since the partition of Palestine hardened into a permanent nightmare for Palestinians. It’s more than 40 years since the occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza overwhelmed the peaceful vision of one land, two peoples.

So, as usual, the mantra is that Israel has created a nightmare for Palestinians.

The Canadian paradigm of left-wing Anglican political agitprop, Fred Hiltz oozes with compassion here:

We were deeply distressed to learn from the Near East Council of Churches in Gaza, that this church-run healthcare centre, which served approximately 10,000 families and has been co-funded by Canadians and the Canadian International Development Agency, was destroyed on January 10th by missiles fired from the Israeli Defence Force.

So, of course, we expect the WCC, Fred Hiltz and other Anglican apparatchiks to be equally voluble in their support for the Iranian people, who are being killed, tortured and imprisoned by their government.

Anyone hear anything anywhere?

Science goes out the window to promote gender ambiguity

A study from A&M University, Texas shows what every sane parent already knows: boys are different from girls:

Boys are genetically programmed to prefer Bob the Builder to Barbie dolls, say scientists.

Tests involving children as young as three months suggest biological differences and not social pressures dictate which toys children like to play with.

The U.S. study looked at babies aged three to eight months – before they can identify even the gender of other people.

Undaunted by mere science, gender confusion marches onward in Sweden where parents of a 2 year old declare by fiat that gender is a social construction, even though science, common sense and bodily apparatus says it isn’t. The truly repulsive part of this is that the “parents” are sacrificing their own child to further their miserably twisted delusions:

A couple of Swedish parents have stirred up debate in the country by refusing to reveal whether their two-and-a-half-year-old child is a boy or a girl.

Pop’s parents, both 24, made a decision when their baby was born to keep Pop’s sex a secret. Aside from a select few – those who have changed the child’s diaper – nobody knows Pop’s gender; if anyone enquires, Pop’s parents simply say they don’t disclose this information.

In an interview with newspaper Svenska Dagbladet in March, the parents were quoted saying their decision was rooted in the feminist philosophy that gender is a social construction.

“We want Pop to grow up more freely and avoid being forced into a specific gender mould from the outset,” Pop’s mother said. “It’s cruel to bring a child into the world with a blue or pink stamp on their forehead.”

And while we’re on the subject of humane Atheism

Atheist evangelism

Atheists learn from Proverbs 22:6:

An atheist summer camp for children is to be held in the UK for the first time this year, offering a “godless alternative” to similar religious events under canvas.

The purpose of Camp Quest UK, supported by the atheist and sceptic author Richard Dawkins, is to encourage critical thinking and provide children with a summer camp “free of religious dogma”.

On the Camp Quest website we find this:

The Amsterdam Declaration:
Humanism is the outcome of a long tradition of free thought that has inspired many of the world’s great thinkers and creative artists and gave rise to science itself. The fundamentals of modern Humanism are as follows:

Humanism is ethical.

Humanism is rational

Humanism supports democracy and human rights.

Humanism insists that personal liberty must be combined with social responsibility.

Humanism values artistic creativity and imagination

Humanism is a lifestance aiming at the maximum possible fulfilment through the cultivation of ethical and creative living

This religious dogma sounds very much as if it has been lifted straight out Judeo-Christian ethics; the difference is, the humanist version really is irrational because it expects adherence to a set of rules whose reason for being has been removed. Without a Lawmaker, what possible reason is there for Kim Jong-il, for example, to embrace democracy and human rights, when it suits him better not to?

It is probably vain to hope that the atheist summer camp will point this out as part of its critical thinking.

The Expurgated Bible

Will the UK start censoring the Bible?

Under pressure from influential gay lobby groups such as Stonewall, with widespread media-fuelled public support behind them, the State will be faced with the question of what attitude it should take towards the wide availability of the Bible in the United Kingdom in the English language. Currently you can easily purchase an uncensored copy of the Bible from mainstream retail outlets and from online retailers such as Amazon.

Will the State allow a Stonewall-approved version of the Bible in retail outlets with certain offensive passages excised?

This, although idiotic, isn’t necessarily all bad; if it happens, it will leave people clamouring to read the forbidden versions of the Bible.

St. Hilda’s: Artists for Africa

St. Hilda’s, ANiC has a lot of artists in its congregegation. A couple of times per year, the artists put on an Art Show as a community outreach and to raise money for World Vision. The latest Artists for Africa was held on St. Hilda’s front law in June; a percentage of the proceeds will go to World Vision:

Some of the Art:

One of the Artists:

To buy or not to buy, that is the question:

The youngest visitors:

Another Artist:

Bad financial advice from the Pope

Making silly statements about politics and finance is not the exclusive domain of Anglicans: the Pope, presumably feeling left out, is about to play the politically correct financial morologist himself:

In Charity in Truth, which should be released next week, he is expected to point out the failings of capitalism and lament the world’s roiling markets, exploited workers and the harsh disparity between rich and the poor.

Indeed, commenting earlier this year on the global economic collapse, Pope Benedict said the Church must “denounce the fundamental errors that have now been revealed in the collapse of the major American banks. Human greed is a form of idolatry that is against the true God, and is a falsification of the image of God with another god, Mammon.”

The problem with this is that capitalism, for all its faults, is the only system that has ever managed to produce wealth for the benefit of both the rich and the poor. If the Pope wants to be “on the side of the poor and the disadvantaged” it might be a good idea to be less critical of capitalism which does a moderately good job of holding the consequences of greed in check, and more critical of socialism, which does not.

Surely the real problem is, [f]or the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils – (1Tim 6:10) – and the love of money – human greed – afflicts the wealthy and poor alike. If the Pope were really interested in helping the poor, he would be working to encourage democracy, freedom and capitalism in countries ruled by corrupt tyrannies, and for individuals – wealthy or poor – get to the root of the problem by emphasising the truth of the gospel.

Now you can have a life size model of your unborn child

The model baby:

It’s a defining moment in a parent’s life: Seeing their unborn child’s image on an ultrasound for the first time. Now pregnant women could have the chance to hold a life-size model of their unborn baby.

Here is a life-size model of a 12 week old baby:

The inescapable conclusion from this is something that is obvious to those who think that life has precedence over convenience: foetus = baby.

Michael Jackson the “pop icon”

The news media’s nauseating gushing about Michael Jackson’s death is a prime illustration of what is wrong with the cult of celebrity in our declining civilisation. From the family lawyer telling us he has been crying to the effusive ageustia of empty-headed Hollywood entertainment merchants – enough!

Jackson was abused as a child, possibly abused other children, was sufficiently obsessed with his appearance to have repeated operations that transformed his face into a grotesque mask, lived in the type of fantasy world that only an excess of money and ego can provide and was addicted to drugs.

The truly sad thing about Michael Jackson was that he was a victim of the sycophancy that accompanies celebrities, most of whom have characters that are too feeble to cope with it. He is being hailed as a pop icon – an object of uncritical devotion; Mother Teresa may have been closer to deserving this kind of adulation, but her death was largely ignored.

In case anyone is wondering, no, I don’t like his music.

Free speech in the Diocese of Niagara

There is nothing like having a low expectation of something to set the tone; thus the Diocese of Niagara has a new program called the Wall of Innovation (who came up with that name?). In anticipation of a barrage of negativity, much like this moribund forum,  the diocese admonishes potential critics:

Please note – although we really want to give every member of the Diocese of Niagara the privilege of commenting and entering into a productive dialogue, we will not accept comments that are vitriolic or hurtful in any way. These will be removed.

Free speech is cherished in Niagara – so long as you don’t upset the delicate sensibilities of Michael Bird as he journeys in the pursuit of excellence.

Update: The presentation is here and technically is quite well done – an Adobe Flash page that looks like a curved (I almost said “bent”) version of iTunes Coverflow.

Diocese of Niagara: the dog days of summer

The Diocese of Niagara and its contingent of itinerant squatters – all 3 of them – assembled and organised by Rev. Cheryl Fricker (pew saleswoman extraordinaire) have come to the sensible conclusion that St. Hilda’s sanctuary is too hot, smelly, mouldy and orange to be worthy of their occupation during the dog days of summer.

Therefore, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Niagara Potemkin St. Hilda’s, “during the summer, services will be held at St. Aidan’s church, people from St. Hilda’s are welcome to join.”

The people from which St. Hilda’s? There is no congregation in the diocese of Niagara version of St. Hilda’s. Perhaps this is a oblique invitation for me to visit St. Aidan’s with a camera; perhaps not.

Global warming is actually caused by burping cows

It is, really. But Canada has the answer: the low carbon footprint non-burping cow:

Canadian scientists breeding cows that burp less

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian scientists are breeding a special type of cow designed to burp less, a breakthrough that could reduce a big source of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.

Cows are responsible for nearly three-quarters of total methane emissions, according to Environment Canada. Most of the gas comes from bovine burps, which are 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.

Stephen Moore, a professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, is examining the genes responsible for methane produced from a cow’s four stomachs in order to breed more efficient, environmentally friendly cows.

It makes me proud to be Canadian.

Iran bans prayers for murdered woman

From the Telegraph:

Iran’s regime has issued a ban on memorials for a young woman whose death has become the focal point of protests against the clerical regime.

Neda Agha Soltan, 27, was dubbed the Angel of Freedom after a video which appeared to show her being shot by a government sniper was posted on the internet.

Graphic scenes show Neda – her name means “the call” – walking with her father among demonstrators, then separately when she was shot as well as attempts to save her life.

The Iranian authorities have now sent out a circular to mosques banning collective prayers for the woman.

A sniper killing an innocent young woman is bad enough, but what kind of systematically evil regime would ban prayers or a memorial for the victim. The one in Iran, it seems; this could backfire on the “authorities”.

Ann Coulter on the Tiller murder

On the Bill O’Reilly show tonight Ann Coulter made one of her characteristically outrageous comments.

In discussing George Tiller’s murder she said something to the effect that, although she personally was against killing abortionists she didn’t want to impose her morality on others. Before anyone gets excited, she probably didn’t mean it – but it does make the interesting point that when the left says this, we have become so used to it that it no longer registers as something that is utterly illogical.