FGM / GM is GBH. Abuse. Nothing less.

FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) and Male Circumcision is nothing less than GBH (Grievous bodily harm) by another name. We should neither value nor respect a culture that promotes abuse of a child or adult in such a manner. It's banning should be heavily enforced and those that practice such stone-age rituals should be exposed, shamed and imprisoned. It is pathetic that in a modern country we allow such disgusting practices to go unpunished. Every right-minded person should be appalled by such activities which should be consigned to history along with many other simple-minded religious relics. A modern country should be a haven in which children are free from exposure to ancient religions and practices until such a time that they can decide to become involved themselves - let's say 16years old for the sake of argument. A child is not born with religion or superstitions, they are forced upon them through outdated teachings and traditions. Teachings and traditions that have no place in the modern world. It is a relic of stone age beliefs that should be consigned to history. A similar argument should be made to question the practice of male circumcision in infants that are not old enough to consent to the mutilation themselves. If there is no medical need for the mutilation, it is abuse. Discuss.

'Faith Schools' are a contradiction. Brainwashing is not education.

I live in Britain, We, as a nation, should be leading the way in all areas of modern life. We should be demonstrating to other nations of the world how to move forward in to an increasingly fact-based world. We should be leaving behind outdated rules, traditions, thoughts and processes. We should be pushing the boundaries of modern science and technologies and debunking myths wherever they exist within our society. We should be modern.

It is for this reason that we need to get rid of 'Faith Schools' from the education system, not just the state schools but across the board. Schooling should be about education and knowledge, truth and evidential sciences. It should not be about brainwashing vulnerable children and forcing them to believe clearly wrong, ancient myths and religions. Those that their parents wish to impose on them. It is nothing short of

Modern society & religions.

Politics and religion should be kept apart by a long stick of rational thought. Regardless of whether or not we can truly call today's Britain a Christian country, religions should have no place in the politics of a modern, forward thinking society, other than a personal freedom. However, in this country today we have 'faith schools' of all denominations veering from the national curriculum and brainwashing children with divisive lies, non-elected religious leaders sitting in the House of Lords voting on state issues and a system of local government based on religious parishes and councils. The whole system is flawed, in need of an overhaul and is not fit for purpose.

Modern society should be about taking the best available evidence, technology and knowledge to create a

#Circumcision #FGM barbaric, religiously motivated child #abuse. Time to consign both to history.

FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) and Male Circumcision is nothing less than GBH (Grievous bodily harm) by another name. We should neither value nor respect a culture that promotes abuse of a child in such a manner. It's banning should be heavily enforced and those that practice such stone-age rituals should be exposed, shamed and imprisoned. It is pathetic that in a modern country we allow such disgusting practices to go unpunished.

Every right-minded person should be appalled by such activities which should be consigned to history along with many other simple-minded religious relics. A modern country should be a haven in which children are free from exposure to ancient religions and practices

We should do away with 'bc' & 'ad'. 'BP' is much more relevant.

Why is it that this solar year is called '2016'? The answer is that it is an arbitrary number, it actually has very little meaning. The very idea of '2016' is a human creation, forced on us by power struggles, religious bigots, greed and wars. It is merely an expression

'Faith Schools' are a contradiction. Brainwashing is not education.

I live in Britain, We, as a nation, should be leading the way in all areas of modern life. We should be demonstrating to other nations of the world how to move forward in to an increasingly fact-based world. We should be leaving behind outdated rules, traditions, thoughts and processes. We should be pushing the boundaries of modern science and technologies and debunking myths wherever they exist within our society. We should be modern.
It is for this reason that we need to get rid of 'Faith Schools' from the education system, not just the state schools but across the board. Schooling should be about education and knowledge, truth and evidential sciences. It should not be about brainwashing vulnerable children and forcing them to believe clearly wrong, ancient myths and religions. Those that their parents wish to impose on them. It is nothing short of

Like you, I am a human being.

Like you, I am a human being. A member of a species that has evolved over millions of years to the point where we control our environment and resources. An intelligent, rational, sociable creature that has the ability to be compassionate and caring. Instead however, we have allowed our species to become ill-informed, miseducated, anti-social beings, lacking understanding and divided by our levels of ignorance. Happy to exploit each other and our world to attain levels of greed far beyond sustainable limits. We look at the world through rose-coloured glasses, given to us by a system that wants to control and abuse rather than advance and nurture. We have it wrong. We have it ALL WRONG. From the moment we are born we are bombarded

For Dog's sake! Leading the way in to modernity.

In Malaysia, a small group of publicity seeking, religious crackpots have been calling for an apology from the organisers of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after they became offended by the use of 'Scottie Dogs' at the opening ceremony. ( Here ) Any religion or faction that calls for its brainwashed followers to be offended by animals, touching animals, parts of animals or being led out at a sporting event by a tartan-wearing puppy, deserves to be exposed, ridiculed and then thoroughly ignored, especially by everyone with a rational and sensible POV. We should neither value nor respect the opinions of an individual that would choose to feel this way. Their opinions are regressive, small-minded and demonstrate a stunning lack of thoughtfulness. An embarrassment . Feeling offended because an extreme version of your religion tells you that you should be, is OFFENSIVE to me and all the progressive, right-minded and modern humans in the world.  What's next? Tunnock's Tea cakes and Irn Bru offensive to Jedi? Grow up.#moveforward

Time for a new English National anthem. Here is my suggestion.

"God save our gracious Queen..." - the opening line to the English national anthem. As a non-royalist and an atheist, singing these words at sporting events such as the World Cup or Olympics with passion and pride is next to impossible. I am proud to be English, we have a great country that should represent fairness and equality, providing a beacon to emerging nations around the world, a modern and advanced society. Our national anthem should represent this nation and be uplifting and inspiring, with lyrics that fill people with pride and awe, not divide the nation along religious/royalist/nationalistic lines by banging on about gods, a ruling monarch and an historical warring past.

The idea of singing about national pride at sporting events seems a little silly in the first place but, if we are going to do so, then we should at least be singing something that all involved can feel connected to. There are even other verses to the English national anthem that seem more appropriate than the one we currently use. ( Same Tune ) Check out the lyrics for the 4th verse:

 

"May just and righteous laws

Uphold the public cause,

And bless our isle.

Home of the brave and free,

Fair land and liberty,

Female Bishops to sit in the House of Lords?. How very modern.

The Question should not be 'Why don't we have female bishops sitting in the House of Lords?', we should be asking 'why do we still need unelected bishops there at all?'. In a move that will no doubt be seen by some  as 'modernising', female bishops are to be fast-tracked in to the House of Lords, the upper level of our, so called, 'democracy'.  Of course, that all depends on the church agreeing that female bishops are a good idea in the first place. These unelected officials will then sit, making laws and choosing the direction of our country's politics, as their male counterparts have done for centuries. It is far from modernising, it smacks of a bygone era when religious people ( CofE ) were consulted by a monarch to help guide lawmaking. It is nothing more than a blatant attempt to make the religious appointment of unelected political leaders more acceptable to an increasingly secular society. The whole system is anachronistic, non-democratic and designed to keep religious and hereditary privilege at the highest political station of the land. There has to be a more representative and modern way of doing things. 26 Lords Spiritual. 88 Hereditary Peers. Over 650 nominated Life Peers. A couple of female bishops will make all the difference, I'm sure. Discuss.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Lords
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10844909/Women-bishops-to-be-fast-tracked-into-House-of-Lords.html

Low Voter Turn out and contempt for politicians? A solution.

Here's an instant solution to the problem of low voter turn-out, disillusioned voters and lack of respect for politicians of all varieties - a problem that effects the UK and many other democratic nations.

Make each party  MANIFESTO legally binding before an election. A manifesto that they pledge to enforce within SIX MONTHS of being voted in. These manifesto pledges will be spread over a number of political areas ( tax, health care, environment, foreign aid etc ) and they would be legally binding. If they fail to follow up on these pledges, it automatically triggers an immediate election and

Doctor,Doctor. I have a silly myth in my brain.

Thankfully, I am a fit and healthy person. I only mildly abuse my body and I get lots of exercise and eat as healthily as I can. I haven't been to see a doctor in many years as I have not had the need. If I were to need an appointment to see my health professional, I would expect to be given the best available advice, support and medicines. If there is a treatment available, I do not want to have it ruled out because of my doctor's religious or moral stance.

There have been cases of health care professionals that have refused to prescribe contraception,

Easter = Spring time - Something meaningful?

So here we are. It is that time of year again, Easter. Yet another public holiday based on a religious myth that has nothing to do with it's actual origins. 'Easter' is a laughably movable celebration within the Christian church that is held between 21 March and 25 April. It falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the northern hemisphere spring equinox - how amazingly pagan that all seems to be. Think about it. Spring equinox, a new growing season, rebirth and the return of the sun (light) to the northern hemisphere, rabbits for reproduction, eggs for fertility, and lots of chocolate because it is tasty and encourages spending - it is all just 'symbollocks'. Even the name 'Easter' is taken from a Germanic Pagan goddess and is related to the fact that sunlight returns ( the dawn ). As humans, we are

'Noah' myth used in film. Some people are upset. How did that happen?

Once upon a time in an underdeveloped society, far, far away there was a group of humans that had a very basic understanding of the world around them. They didn't understand the world or their place in it and they relied on tribal elders who made up random stories to help them make sense of the things they saw. They were fearful that the sun wouldn't rise, they thought that supernatural powers controlled the weather and that demons and monsters roamed the flat earth. They had very little knowledge.

One day, someone was walking up a hill somewhere and they found fossils and shells and evidence of previous life and they just couldn't get their primitive brains around what they were or how they could have got there. So they went to the tribal elders ( who enjoyed a life of privilege because they had nurtured fear and ignorance in those below them ).

"How can these animal bones have got to the top of the hill oh wise one?" asked the fearful and ignorant humans. The tribal elders decided that this was another great opportunity to reinforce their position as leaders so they told another story of a vengeful and destructive deity who would smite them unless they complied with the rules ( made up by the elders

15 to 1. The disappointment of a quiz show fanatic.

In 1988, the greatest quiz show that has ever graced British television began (my opinion). It would run until 2003. Hosted by the brilliant William G Stewart, it was fast, brutal, always entertaining and full of questions. A winning format and a no-nonsense style that kept people watching for years. On Saturday 5th April 2014, it returned to our screens with a new look, a slightly altered format and a new presenter, the hugely talented Sandi Toksvig.

I was a huge fan of the original series, watching or recording it almost every day to get my fix of trivia. The end of the final series was a sad moment in my television-watching life. So, on Saturday, I watched the beginning of the new series, hopeful that the intensity of those episodes would return to the screen. Here are a few of my thoughts.

Firstly, as talented and witty as Sandi Toksvig is, she is out of place as the presenter of a serious quiz show. There was never any need for banter or jokes in the original incarnation. In fact, the minimalist approach to the presentation meant that any funny moments were heart-felt and genuine. The new approach feels scripted and awkward. I don't need to know personal history of these people, I want to see them answer some seriously hard trivia questions. Just get straight in to it.

Secondly, I can live without the little tit-bits of information that seemed to follow every question, slowing the game down and preventing any build up of tension or pace. The questions are so slowly delivered in the first place that everything feels pedestrian and laboured. Just bang out the questions.

'Everyone gets 3 chances on 15 to 1'. No they don't. If you get knocked out, you wait for the next series and try again. That is part of the brutality of the original format.

The £40,000 prize for the winner of the grand final is also a new feature. Winners used to get kudos and an antique vase and losers got nothing and no second chances. It is a sign of the times that kudos and antique vases are no longer enough.

When someone gets knocked out, I know they

FGM / GM is GBH

FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) and Male Circumcision is nothing less than GBH (Grievous bodily harm) by another name. We should neither value nor respect a culture that promotes abuse of a child or adult in such a manner. It's banning should be heavily enforced and those that practice such stone-age rituals should be exposed, shamed and imprisoned. It is pathetic that in a modern country we allow such disgusting practices to go unpunished. Every right-minded person should be appalled by such activities which should be consigned to history along with many other simple-minded religious relics. A modern country should be a haven in which children are free from exposure to ancient religions and practices

#DarwinDay #moveforward

Charles Darwin was born in England on the 12th February 1809 and he spent his life understanding and studying evolution. His work was a major contributor to our present understanding of evolutionary science. Over 200 years have passed. Yet, in the UK today, we still have religious groups, schools and zoos (!) 'teaching' children twisted and obviously wrong myths. Parents are forcing their religious beliefs on to children and these failings should be countered by a factual, scientific state education system. These outdated institutional behemoths are misleading young minds from a path of evidence based science and study, stifling

Why do we have faith in our education system?

I live in Britain, We, as a nation, should be leading the way in all areas of modern life. We should be demonstrating to other nations of the world how to move forward in to an increasingly fact-based world. We should be leaving behind outdated rules, traditions, thoughts and processes. We should be pushing the boundaries of modern science and technologies and debunking myths wherever they exist within our society. We should be modern.
It is for this reason that we need to get rid of 'Faith Schools' from the education system, not just the state schools but across the board. Schooling should be about education and knowledge, truth and evidential sciences. It should not be about brainwashing vulnerable children and forcing them to believe clearly wrong, ancient myths and religions. It is nothing short of