Equality & My Disdain For Religion?

I Just want to clarify something.

I believe in equality. That is: I believe that all people should be treated equally regardless of their gender, race, sexuality etc.

Sometimes people have said to me words to the effect of: “How can you claim to support equality when you’re so vocal against the religious and what they believe. This is offensive to the religious, don’t they deserve equality too?”.

So I want to make this clear. I believe in the freedom to believe what you want and also the right to be treated with the same respect as others. But I do not believe that all beliefs are sacred.

People deserve equality. Beliefs are not people.

I will not discriminate against you because of your race, sexuality, gender etc. These are all things that make you who you are. You do not control them. Religion is a choice.

Religion is also a belief system. Your belief is not automatically worthy of respect. It has to be earned. I am entitled to question it, scrutinise it, challenge it and disregard it if I wish.

I will never question your right to believe what you want and I will never disregard you as a person. But the belief itself is not immune.

Religion is the place where you find the most inequality in society. Your right to choose to follow it does not mean I can’t call you out for it.

 

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Ladies and gentlemen James is back!

Howdy hi campers!

So I’ve decided to restart this blog. It’s been six years since I wrote anything on here and to be honest I haven’t logged in here for as long as I can remember.

Looking at my stats people have been still been reading! I couldn’t believe it! I’m hardly giving Google a run for their money on the traffic front but a couple of thousand visitors a year with no new content and no promotion has made me want to carry on.

Religion is doing even more damage to the world than six years ago.

Therefore I still have a lot to say.

In firing up the ol’ blog again I’ve had a read through some of my old posts (cringing at spelling and grammar mistakes! I thought I was pretty good at proofreading!). Please do the same! Have a nosy around!

I’m not sure what my first proper article will be about. I recently read an incredible story of a young Christian’s journey to freedom from religion and it was so personal to me that it’s inspired me a lot. ‘Coming out’ as an atheist is a huge step for many religious people – – so it might be something similar.

Please subscribe / follow / come back soon!

Peace,

JB

 

A Girl Called Hope: A Leopard Can’t Change It’s Spots

Mercy Ministries has changed it’s name in New Zealand to A Girl Called Hope but it’s still the same old Mercy.

I can’t see any reason they would do this other than to try and hide from the negative publicity now associated with the name Mercy Ministries in Australia.

As the official A Girl Called Hope website states this ministry still has “strong ties” to Mercy Ministries and Nancy Alcorn. Clearly this is just Mercy Ministries with a different name. Perhaps Mercy thought that simply rebranding their product would be enough to silence it’s critics? The official website goes on to say:

“A Girl Called Hope is based on the work of Mercy Ministries which was founded by Nancy Alcorn in America in 1983. Having worked with troubled youth for eight years; Nancy gained insight into the reasons why social problems exist, particularly in young women.

The first home was opened in Monroe, Louisiana, this then extended to Nashville, St. Louis and Sacremento, California in the United States. Mercy Ministries has expanded internationally with homes in England, Canada and here in New Zealand.”

There is no mention at all of the Australian homes they’ve opened and then closed; no mention of the compensation payout; the lies they told the media; the thousands of women who’s lives were damaged; or the fact they only changed the name after the Australian home closed.

I’m sure any woman turning to A Girl Called Hope for help would like to know these important facts.

New Project: The Truth About Mercy

Regular readers will have read my views on Mercy Ministries and their abhorrent methods. It is still the case that most of the information out there about Mercy Ministries is their own PR rubbish. All over the world people are not being told about the many, many women who were made WORSE by Mercy instead of better.

So I have created The Truth About Mercy as a place where people can read about some of the harrowing experiences of those who’ve been to Mercy.

“Hi, I’m A 15 Year Old Gypsy Girl And My Dad Says It’s Ok If You Assault Me”

I couldn’t possibly watch last nights documentary “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding” without passing comment. The programme showed how young gypsy couples are married, usually at 16 years old, in a ridiculously ostentatious ceremony that Katie Price would be proud of.

The documentary highlighted the kind of life gypsy women are expected to live and it’s one the religious (especially Muslim’s) will be familiar with. Gypsy women must be chaperoned at all times and must not drink prior to marriage. This rule, not surprisingly, does not apply to gypsy men. Women are expected not to work and must fulfil the role of dutiful housewife; pandering to their husband’s needs. They are also encouraged not to pursue education.

The most worrying aspect of the programme was the “courtship” ritual practised by gypsy families. Young girls must stay in a group with their female friends and are not allowed to approach boys. When a boy likes a girl he will approach her and ask for a kiss; if she refuses then he can grab her and twist her arm until she agrees to kiss him. It made me sick to watch a 15 year old girl pinned up against a wall begging the gypsy boy to let her go while he’s trying to kiss her.

The fact that the parents of these children allow this to happen is appalling. To allow teenage boys to forcibly touch teenage girls is sexual assault. In any other group it would be reported to the police. I dread to think how many times it’s gone further than kissing. The worst part was hearing the girl talk about how she felt uncomfortable but there was nothing she could do. Where are the people protecting these children?

Common Sense Prevails, Stupid Homophobes Defeated: A Landmark Victory For Gay People

This week’s news, that the homophobic couple who refused a gay couple entry to their hotel have lost their court case, is a victory for common sense. In 2011 the law is ruler. Not religion; not an ancient superstition; not the ideas of our ancestors; the law! I am so thankful that our lawmakers have created provisions to protect people like the gay couple in question.

At the heart of this case is a very simple question: should the rights of gay people be more important than those of the religious? In short, my opinion is that YES they should be. Basing your life on an ancient book is clearly a choice whereas sexuality is a natural part of who we are.  I know the religious try and claim that their religion is part of “who they are” but there’s no escaping the fact that they have chosen to follow it. If I choose to follow the ways of witchcraft do I have special rights? Of course not. Religion is extra special apparently.

The fact remains that this Christian couple have chosen to use their home as a hotel and invite the public in. In doing so they surrender their right to pick and choose who they let in and under what circumstances.  Nobody is forcing them to allow things they don’t agree with to occur in their home. They are more than free to stop using their home as a hotel should they not be able to do so without compromising their dark age beliefs.

It’s great this has happened in the UK for in most other countries the church still has an iron grip on the judiciary and the religious would have probably won. Before moaning about how they are nearing financial ruin, perhaps these narrow-minded bigots should consider stopping being homophobes and take a look how stupid their defence is: “Excuse me Mr Judge, but I broke the law because the book told me to!”

Idiots

Facebook Response

This is a response to Joshua Zmarko:

With all due respect it makes no sense to quote the bible when trying to talk to an atheist as to everyone but those who “believe” it holds no credibility. So to base your definition of faith on the bible is a little misguided. Faith is the belief of something in the absence of any credible evidence.

You said: “Now this is what I can’t understand…. WHY people today put all their FAITH into a THEARY!!! That makes NO SENSE…. And this theary is younger than ANY RELIGION on the whole PLANET…… And by the way…. the whole concept of this idea comes from…..THE BIBLE… which was written over 7000 years ago….”

As you say you can’t understand hopefully I can help you understand: I’m not sure what theory you’re referring to but I think you mean evolution. While Darwin didn’t work out everything the general concept of evolution has been proven, it is no longer a theory. This is the view of the scientific community and the only people who claim it is still a “theory” are those for who it conflicts with their religion. Gravity was once a “theory” but the evidence clearly proves it is real. The evidence for evolution has been WELL documented so if you choose to ignore it that’s your choice but it’s akin to choosing to believe the sky is green.

Nobody is putting faith in evolution because by definition faith requires a lack of evidence and so, since science is based on the study OF evidence and there is mountains of evidence for evolution it’s not an issue of faith.

The age of the “theory” has no relevance at all. Do you realise what you’re saying? That they were more likely to have gotten it right 7,000 years ago when they wrote the bible? Since the bible was written thousands of years and billions of hours of scientific study and research have passed. The result of which is evidence that much of what the bible says is incorrect; that we CLEARLY don’t descend from “Adam & Eve”; that Noah didn’t build an ark and the earth didn’t flood; that there was no parting of the sea; etc etc.

Discussing any of this is impossible if you simply pretend the evidence hasn’t been discovered.