St George. Who the what the hell now? #StGeorgesDay

 St George's Day. Saturday 23rd April, 2022. Let's face it, the day needs revamping. A celebration of Spring that has become a sorry excuse for a national celebration. It usually passes with a quiet whimper and a bit of flag waving, failing to be embraced by the vast majority of the English nation. Here is why.

We have a poorly educated, Roman soldier, allegedly born in what would be modern Turkey, who was possibly persecuted and executed for his religious beliefs in a made-up, emerging cult nearly 1800 years ago. He also slayed a dragon that didn't exist ( most likely a graphical representation of victory in battle ) and then magically re-appeared to lead troops in to battle, approximately 1000 years after his death. Mumbo-Jumbo. Nonsense. Myth.

This military, religious icon was thrust upon us through war and tyranny. His myth is celebrated throughout many countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Russia, Syria and Romania. As a figurehead of 'Englishness' he has very little going for him. He never even set foot in the  green and pleasant land.

A small group of people 'celebrate' his holy-englishness by draping themselves in red and white flags, drinking ales and singing religious/football songs in pubs before vomiting in a bin and being thrown out for fighting. 

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 A child is not born with religion or superstitions, they are forced upon them through outdated teachings and traditions.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.

St George. Who the what the hell now? Irrelevant. Farmer Georgios?

St George's Day. Thursday 23rd April, 2020. Let's face it, the day needs revamping. A celebration of Spring that has become a sorry excuse for a national celebration. It usually passes with a quiet whimper and a bit of flag waving, failing to be embraced by the vast majority of the English nation. Here is why.

We have a poorly educated, Roman soldier, allegedly born in what would be modern Turkey, who was possibly persecuted and executed for his religious beliefs in a made-up emerging cult nearly 1800 years ago. He also slayed a dragon that didn't exist ( most likely a graphical representation of victory in battle ) and then magically re-appeared to lead troops in to battle, approximately 1000 years after his death. Mumbo-Jumbo. Nonsense. Myth.

This military, religious icon was thrust upon us through war and tyranny. His myth is celebrated throughout many countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Russia, Syria and Romania. As a figurehead of 'Englishness' he has very little going for him. He never even set foot in the  green and pleasant land.

A small group of people 'celebrate' his holy-englishness by draping themselves in red and white flags, drinking ales and singing religious/football songs in pubs before vomiting in a bin and being thrown out for fighting. It is lame

'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

We need to move away from the outdated idea that 'this is the 21st century'.

We need to move away from the outdated idea that 'this is the 21st century'. '2019 A.D' Why is it that this solar year is called '2019'? The answer is that it is an arbitrary number, it actually has very little meaning. The very idea of '2019' is a human creation, forced on us by power struggles, religious bigots and wars. It is merely an expression

St Georgios? St George. Who the what the hell now? Irrelevant.

St George's Day. Let's face it, the day needs revamping. A celebration of Spring that has become a sorry excuse for a national celebration. It usually passes with a quiet whimper and a bit of flag waving, failing to be embraced by the vast majority of the English nation. Here is why.

We have a poorly educated, Roman soldier, allegedly born in what would be modern Turkey, who was possibly persecuted and executed for his religious beliefs in a made-up emerging cult nearly 1800 years ago. He also slayed a dragon that didn't exist ( most likely a graphical representation of victory in battle ) and then magically re-appeared to lead troops in to battle, approximately 1000 years after his death. Mumbo-Jumbo. Nonsense. Myth.

This military, religious icon was thrust upon us through war and tyranny. His myth is celebrated throughout many countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Russia, Syria and Romania. As a figurehead of 'Englishness' he has very little going for him. He never even set foot in the  green and pleasant land.

A small group of people 'celebrate' his holy-englishness by draping themselves in red and white flags, drinking ales and singing religious/football songs in pubs before vomiting in a bin and being thrown out for fighting. It is lame

Legally binding MANIFESTO. Improving democracy.

With politics, both home & abroad, being at the centre of everyone's attention at the moment, our screens are full of hopeful, career politicians spewing half-truths and pretending that they (a.) believe them and (b.) intend to implement them. What is the answer to this blatantly un-democratic lie-fest? One thing stands out to me.

Make each party  MANIFESTO legally binding in the run up to 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 set political areas that each party has to declare ( tax levels, benefit levels, 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

'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

National Anthem - silly and irrelevant. Time for a new one.

"God save our gracious Queen..." - the opening line to the British national anthem. As a non-royalist and an atheist, singing these words at events such as the World Cup, Olympics or special, national occasions with passion and pride is next to impossible. I am proud to be English/British, we have a great country/nation 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 these nations 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

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

St George? Who the what?

St George's Day. The day needs revamping. At the moment, it is sorry excuse for a national celebration. It usually passes with a quiet whimper and a bit of flag waving, failing to be embraced by the vast majority of the English nation. Here is why. We have a Roman soldier, allegedly born in what would be modern Turkey, who was possibly persecuted and executed for his religious beliefs nearly 1800 years ago. He also slayed a dragon that didn't exist ( most likely a graphical representation of victory in battle ) and magically re-appeared to lead troops in to battle, approximately 1000 years after his death. This religious icon was thrust upon us through war and tyranny. His myth is celebrated throughout many countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Russia, Syria and Romania. As a figurehead of 'Englishness' he has very little going for him. He never even set foot in our green and pleasant land. A small group of people 'celebrate' his holy-englishness by draping themselves in red and white flags, drinking ales and singing religious/football songs in pubs before being thrown out for fighting. It is fairly lame

Keep your religion out of our politics.

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. However, in this country today we have 'faith schools' of all denominations veering from the national curriculum, non-elected church 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.

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

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

Stunning. Best practice. Time to label. Time to modernise.

Religious slaughter of animals without prior, full stunning should be banned in the UK. Until we get a ban on it, all religiously slaughtered meat on sale in the UK should be labelled as such regardless of where it came from. There is no argument. We have laws to govern the best possible treatment of animals during slaughter, laws that have developed over time in conjunction with many concerned groups. These laws have evolved and advanced through study and collaboration and we should be leading the way in animal welfare throughout the modern world. ( Amongst others, the BVA, Compassion in World Farming, RSPCA, Federation of Veterinarians of Europe and FAWC all support a ban on non-stun slaughter ). We should be practicing the highest of standards when it comes to animal husbandry, welfare and managing the end of life process. There should be no room for religious exemptions and loop-holes like #RecoverableStun. There is always room for improvement and the only way to ensure that animals don't suffer is to not eat meat.

It is important that we employ the best practice during animal slaughter to minimise the stress and distress caused and the modern consensus is that pre-stunning should be part of that best practice. There are some groups however, who insist on bypassing these laws, claiming their right to religious freedom. Denmark have recently joined a growing list of countries to realise that the backward step of allowing certain groups to flout animal welfare laws is against the flow of national opinion. The Danish Agriculture and Food Minister, Dan Jørgensen