Harry's Blog

Governors at St Monica's High School in Prestwich have banned the anti-cervical cancer vaccine being administered to pupils at the school.

They believe that the vaccine promotes promiscuity. Because of course, most teenagers abstain from sex for fear of cancer in thirty years later. The stupidity of this position beggars belief.

Let's be clear, this is not the teaching of the Catholic Church. The church itself does not object to the vaccine against the virus that causes 70 percent of cervical cancers.

No, it is the idiotic set of governors at the school.

Last night Channel 4 aired an interesting and rather unintentionally funny documentary called In God's Name about the danger in Britain of fundamentalist Christians gaining influence and power in the UK political system.

On the whole, while entertaining, David Modell's film failed to prove its hypothesis, though he seemed to think it had. The truth is that the three very sad figures of Christian Voice's Stephen Green, the female Christian parliamentary lobbyist and the rather strange lonely bloke John - all cut rather pathetic figures that were far from powerful.

Stephen Green continued to show why his tiny little group of nutters has failed to achieve anything other than annoying people. He's an insignificant racist twit of the highest order. He believes Islam is from "the pit of Satan" and that when a bird shat on him (to the amusement of Modell) that it was a message from God to stop taking part in the filming.

I've watched the debate on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill rather aghast at the unscientific, uncharitable and anti-intellectual guff that has been spouted by various bishops over the last few days.

You would think that science was suggesting we open up the gates of Hell rather than keeping splodges of cells alive for just two weeks to help solve major illnesses and bring relief to millions. There's more life in the potatoes in your cupboard than these embryos. But there are some clerics who think these splodges have more right to life than you mother suffering from alzheimer's, your dad with Parkinsons, your friend with cancer.

Once again obsessive "Christian" nutjob Stephen Green and his (very) small band of fundies have been shown the door by the British legal system.

Green's shrill little group - Christian Voice - tried to sue BBC boss Mark Thompson over the decision to screen Jerry Springer The Opera.

Two judges decided Green's case didn't have any merit as the opera "as a whole was not and could not reasonably be regarded as aimed at, or an attack on, Christianity or what Christians held sacred."

Regular readers, au fait with my usual ranting against blind fundamentalist preachers such as Fred Phelps and Richard Dawkins, are probably wondering where my bitter obit of Jerry Falwell is now he's shuffled off his mortal coil.

After all, Falwell was just the kind of preacher that gets my back up. Given recent events in my own realm and the confusion it has brought to that withered nutmeg I call my spiritual life I really don't have the heart to put the knife into the late fundie preacher.

Sometimes you come across Christian Fundamentalism so lacking in anything like common sense and intellectual rigour that it becomes pure comedy rather than something to worry too much about.

Take charlesfinney.com (open in a new window), this site is so far off the chart that it's actually quite hard to be offended by it. Though I'm sure if you had a look around you'll probably find something suitably scary in there somewhere.

I particularly enjoyed the Evolution section explaining that dinosaurs never existed.

I really wish these homophobic wack-jobs wouldn't keep pretending that what they are campaigning for is their rights of religious freedom.

I particularly wish Pentecostal self-styled Bishop Michael Reid would shut the hell up about this issue. He's just been ranting on BBC 5Live about what "committed Christians" believe.

I hardly think the leader of a Brentwood Cult that tried to annex a local political party and also requires the deeds to church members' houses has a right to talk about the sins of others.

I'm a committed Christian too Michael, but I'm really not obsessed with what people do with their genitals. Take a look at your own cult's activities before you attack other people.

I'm surprised the BBC even gave him air time considering his involvement in the very shady Peniel Church.

Today's tale of religious asshattery concerns the Christian Union at Exeter University. Regular readers will know my thoughts on University Evangelical Christian Unions but it's worth me restating my position. In my experience at Lancaster and my wife's experience at Wolverhampton, these types of Christian Unions are dangerous, a hotbed of sexual hypocrisy and packed the gunwales with fundamentalist children who shouldn't be running a tuck shop let alone an organisation charged with the spiritual wellbeing of its members.

If you're a Christian about to go to university, or perhaps are intrigued by Christianity while at university, go to your chaplaincy centre, talk to the Catholic society perhaps or go visit a local church of any denomination. Turning towards your average Evangelic Christian Union is like sticking your head in a lion's mouth. Unless that is you want a bunch of power-hungry teenagers poking their noses into every aspect of your private life and faith.

But back to the story, a tale of typical childish student stupidity from all directions.

I was a participant in a BBC World Service discussion about Left Behind: Eternal Forces this evening. It was very entertaining.

I was invited to take part in the radio show to explain what the game's about in my official capacity as a games journalist. Then a preacher came on to talk about what a lot of bigoted shite the game was (not exactly his words). The Left Behind Games President waffled on his usual line about the game only using violence for defence.

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Interesting story over at The Times today about several groups condemning the PC strategy game Left Behind: Eternal Forces for inciting religious hatred.

Some Muslims have called for a ban, but that isn't going to happen and is really not a great idea. While I really dislike anything to do with Tim LaHaya and Jerry Jenkins right-wing nonsense I equally dislike groups trying to limit free speech and person freedom.

The fact is that Eternal Forces is going to sink without a trace over here. Why? Because the game isn't actually any good.

It's all too easy to forget, when faced with the shrill sound of America's right-wing Christians, that there are many of the faith across the pond who actually believe in Jesus' message rather than a doctrine of hate and bigotry.

One such coalition of Christians has clearly had enough of Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins' Left Behind series and specifically the new game based on the franchise.

I think this is the first time I've used the "fundiewatch" tag on a story about someone who isn't of faith. But religious zealots can be found elsehwere than among the faithful.

Richard Dawkins is an excellent science writer, The Selfish Gene is great. But he really comes a cropper when it comes to the subject of religion. Either he hasn't done his research or The God Delusion, his new best seller, deliberately misrepresents several faiths - most notably Christianity (as Dawkins is a Christian atheist).

Last year I wrote about a US organization called The Greater European Mission. This is a band of rather misguided fundamentalist Christians who seem to think that Europe is a dark hellhole that can't match God's paradise AKA North America. The last time we looked at the group's website it spoke of a UK beset by the evils of "tolerance of other religions" and being a dark sexually depraved place. The group even managed to put a picture of the Union Flag upside down.

Yes clearly GEM is the work of utter nutcases. I really don't think they'd no Christianity if it sat on their face and wiggled, but that hasn't stopped them sending missionaries over to Europe to patronise us.

This is a repost of a story that first appeared back when this site was called grumpygamer.biz. I thought it was worth saving for posterity. I've reposted it here in its entirety on the correct date.

I've had a rather odd afternoon today. Jack Thompson has been pestering me. Normally he pesters the Florida Bar, videogame publishers and websites that give money to charity because he's to cheap to keep his promises. But today I was the target of his anger. Why should this be so?

Well, you see last week I played Canis Canem Edit, a game otherwise known as Bully. Rockstar Games had invited me over to take a look at the game and having played the PS2 title in question I wrote up my impressions of the game here at Boomtown.net.

Channel 4 broadcasted a very interesting documentary this evening called The Doomsday Code. Presented by Tony Robinson, in one of his much better performances, this investigated the End Times believers. The cancerous subset within Christianity especially prevalent in the USA that not only believes that the time of Armageddon is upon us, but that they have a role to play in making it happen. Hence US support for Israel's more extreme policies, an unwillingness to combat environmental damage - in some cases deliberately increasing it and support for anti-Islamic military and political policies.

I've touched on this subject here often before, especially when discussing the Left Behind books. But it was pretty scary watching Tony Robinson put all this together on screen. It painted a picture of a United States run by people who want to bring about the end of the world, slaughter and destruction on a global scale, and all in the name of Jesus.

Yet another story that proves that Christianity's greatest enemies are stupid Christians. Churches in Kenya are pressuring the country's national museum to hide Dr Richard Leakey important hominid finds, which rightly have pride of place there. Dr Leakey's collection includes the most complece Homo Erectus skeleton and bone specimens from Australopithecus Anamensis. The collection has brought tourists to Kenya and given the nation a strong reputation for its Great Rift Valley research.

However the evangelicals don't like this one bit. It's all a bit hear no evil, see no evil really. The group of Pentecostal churches want this world renowned collection of extremely important artefacts put in a back room somewhere. The evangelicals are seeking to hijack the museums survey of what visitors wish to see in a redesigned version of the Nairobi site.

And now in the "thank heavens for that" category is the news that one of London's annoying megaphone preachers has been given an Anti Social Behaviour Order (ASBO). Regular readers will know these folks really annoy me, so I'm delighted to see one taken off the street.

Unfortunately though the ASBO served on Philip Howard from using a megaphone or other amplification and not from spouting his skewed view of Christianity at passers by.

I don't think I'll comment on this movie at Google Videos too much. I think it's best you just watch it and offer your own opinion in the comments.

The Danish papers really shouldn't have printed those cartoons about Islam, it was a foolish act. The majority of Muslims are of course peaceful adherents to their faith. We don't describe the IRA as Christian terrorists, so why should Bin Laden and his cronies be described as Muslim terrorists?

Yet when this sort of thing happens it really does make one question the issues surrounding this scandal. Protestors in Beirut have torched the Danish embassy. So what exactly have these idiots proved? The Danish cartoons said Islam is a faith of violence. And in Beirut the protesters disagreed with this and to prove it launched into some violence. This kind of thing will do more to harm the perception of the faith than any cartoon. These protests have carried out a more dramatic insult to those that follow the teachings of the Prophet.

I suppose it was inevitable, but the Christian right-wing in America has got the knives out for Brokeback Mountain (which many call the "gay cowboy movie"). The right-wingers have criticised Hollywood for making gay and "leftist" movies.

Now to me the latter claim is the most interesting. So now Christians in the US have to be on the right of the political spectrum to be a true Christian? That would leave Jesus out in the cold then with his, sell all your worldly goods agenda, wouldn't it?