Francis I: A New Pope

I was raised Catholic, so I can't help but be intrigued and appalled by the bizarre rituals the church still contorts itself through at the drop of a hat.

The thing that gets me about the Catholic church, which is handily highlighted by the political manoeuvring, rumour-mongering and back-scratching that takes place before a papal conclave, is how transparently doublethink the whole thing actually is. The cardinals are just the Inner Party, who seem to simultaneously believe their own bullshit about Catholic dogma and recognise its usefulness in holding onto power, primarily through the manipulation of the church's members.

It's no different from Scientology, on an organizational level. They've just been around longer and have learned how how to hide (most of) their darker secrets, and gained most of their power and acceptance before there was enough easy communication to uncover them.

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to believe that the Catholic church is going to be cured of the pervasive bigotry, misogyny, homophobia and hypocrisy that informs its every action. The election (by old white guys trading favours and secrets, not by divine providence) of another old white guy with a long history of intolerance isn't doing much to make the church relevant for an increasingly connected, informed and accepting world.

The only sad thing is that its death is going to be a slow one.

The Intelligence Squared Debate: Stephen Fry

The Intelligence² Debate - Stephen Fry (Unedited)
by Xrunner17

This speech is utterly astounding.

It makes me want to hug him.

Common sense beats "Chastity Ring"

Some brief background: A 16-year-old girl, Lydia Playfoot, took her school to court after they told her she wasn't allowed to wear a "Chastity Ring" to classes. The ring is inscribed with "1 Thess 4:3-4", which is a bible passage about keeping yourself pure of sexual sin.

Playfoot's argument was that it was an expression of her religious beliefs, and since Muslim and Sikh pupils were allowed to wear headscarves and bangles then it would be discrimination to prevent her from wearing her ring.

That seems like a disingenuous argument to me, since Ms. Playfoot's ring is not a part of her religion, the way a crucifix would be. It's an expression of her personal beliefs and opinion, not a religious symbol.

It's possibly also important to note that Ms. Playfoot's parents are run the UK branch of the chastity ring group "Silver Ring Thing" from their church in Horsham; it originated in the United States (surprise!).

Anyway, she lost her court case, and in pessimistic fashion declares that this ruling signifies "that slowly, over time, people such as school governors, employers, political organisations and others will be allowed to stop Christians from publicly expressing and practising their faith".

Now, far be it from me to applaud someone's freedom of expression being limited, but I'm very glad to see her lose this case.

I'm utterly, utterly fed up with Christians crying foul and playing the underdog every time they think their religion is being trampled - even in cases like this, where it's clearly not.

I'm sure Ms. Playfoot wouldn't be so supportive of a Satanist pupil trying to express their spiritual beliefs in a similar manner, so to portray this as a religious dispute is a feeble and misleading attempt at drumming up sympathy for Christians - a religion that's gotten to a position of world dominance, in one denomination or another, by conquering the world and trampling over "primitive" belief systems.

So, lighten up, Lydia. Your religious rights are secure, and no amount of legal posturing is going to create a believable tale of Christianity Under Siege - not in a country with a Christian majority, at any rate.