Two Dicks

April 12th, 2010 at 4:00 pm by David Farrar

Dick No 1 is Richard Dawkins, who has joined a campaign to try and get the Pope arrested for crimes against humanity. This is just pathetic and reminds me of why I can’t stand Dawkins.

I’ve been critical of the Catholic Church hierarchy for their failure to address child abuse by priests, and their response to the criticism. But Dawkins is being an offensive dick by suggesting the Pope is somehow guilty of crimes against humanity and should be tried by the International Criminal Court.

Dawkins also makes it much harder for other critics of how the Church has acted, because his rhetoric just makes the Vatican far more defensive. He should shut the fuck up and go back to peddling books.

But the other dick is Bishop Giacomo Babini who is blaming the criticism on the Jews:

A website quoted Giacomo Babini, the emeritus bishop of Grosseto, as saying he believed a “Zionist attack” was behind the criticism, considering how “powerful and refined” the criticism is.

The comments, which have been denied by the bishop, follow a series of statements from Catholic churchmen alleging the existence of plots to weaken the church and Pope Benedict XVI.

Allegedly speaking to the Catholic website Pontifex, Babini, 81, was quoted as saying: “They do not want the church, they are its natural enemies. Deep down, historically speaking, the Jews are God killers.”

Extremism on both sides is unhelpful.

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Posted in International Politics | 263 Comments »

The Atheist Bus Campaign

March 2nd, 2010 at 10:39 am by David Farrar

The Herald reports:

A New Zealand minister has given his support to an atheist campaign asking people to question the existence of God.

Archdeacon Glynn Cardy, vicar of St Matthew-in-the-City in Auckland, says NZ Bus’s decision last month to stop the display of paid adverts showing atheistic slogans is regrettable.

“Many in the Christian community welcome a debate about issues of the existence of God and, also, I don’t think there’s anything to be afraid of in that debate,” he said.

The NZ Atheist Bus Campaign has raised nearly $23,000 from public donations for the ads that read: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

Rev Richard Randerson has also said NZ Bus should not have censored the signs.

“Free speech should be the norm, censorship the exception. I don’t see it as a negative thing at all. I think it brings God into public debate.”

He said bus advertising was used to promote a whole range of products from clothing to alcohol.

“How refreshing it is to see advertising that is not asking us to buy anything, aspire to be slim, or sell us a lifestyle we can’t afford.

A good point.

My view is in two parts. The first is that NZ Bus has the absolute right to decline adverts they do not want to display on their property.

The second is that I think they have made the wrong call, and incidentally deprived their shareholders of some revenue for no gain.

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Posted in New Zealand | 171 Comments »