Stephen Green = Wrong. No change there then.
I do love Stephen Green sometimes. His latest shtick is to complain to the Advertising Standards Authority about the "There's probably no God, so stop worrying and enjoy your life" advert London buses. Of course if he hadn't started jumping up and down and stamping his little feet virtually no-one outside London or the prominent atheist internet communities would know.
If he didn't exist I think the atheists would have to invent him. His campaign against Jerry Springer The Opera got the laws against Blasphemous Libel overturned, though with the introduction of the Racial and Religious Hatred Act in 2006 its death was on the cards anyway. Incidentally Green's private prosecution was dismissed by the High Court on the grounds that it was impossible under the acts governing theatres and broadcasters to be charged with blasphemy.
I shouldn't be surprised that people like Green don't understand that being told we're bad people for not agreeing with him annoys us. Clearly by his logic feminists should keep quite about all the adverts that portray women's bodies as dirty things to be ashamed of. (Actually Green probably thinks women's bodies are dirty things to be ashamed of.)
What's annoying too, is the Christians who like to think of themselves as moderates, and the concern trolling atheists and agnostics (Clifford Longley as quoted by Andrew Brown for instance) "Ooh no, we can't upset the religious people". To which the only response I can think of is bollocks. Insulting for no reason? Yeah, I'm not a fan of that. I've been guilty of it myself, and it just makes you look stupid.
There are however times when its perfectly justified. Osama Bin Laden and Fred Phelps (to take the most extreme examples) clearly have some warped ideas about what their religions should be. I'm sure they have (and in the case of Christianity know) bits of their holy books that back up their ideas, but there are plenty of other parts that contradict this, and big lumps that are just plain ignored. After all Christians women don't make blood sacrifices after their periods any more. (They don't do they? Or is it like that secret evolutionist ritual where they show us all the Precambrian rabbits?)
Sometimes it would be really nice if it didn't feel like it was just the humanists and the "outspoken atheists" getting up and telling the religious extremists that they're mental. And Christians, what is it with the persecution complex? Guys you took over the Roman Empire, and have been in charge of Western Civilisation ever since. You haven't been able to cry "Oppression" in 1800 years, except when you've been oppressing each other.
I'm going to stop here before I turn into Marcus Brigstocke without the gags.
If he didn't exist I think the atheists would have to invent him. His campaign against Jerry Springer The Opera got the laws against Blasphemous Libel overturned, though with the introduction of the Racial and Religious Hatred Act in 2006 its death was on the cards anyway. Incidentally Green's private prosecution was dismissed by the High Court on the grounds that it was impossible under the acts governing theatres and broadcasters to be charged with blasphemy.
I shouldn't be surprised that people like Green don't understand that being told we're bad people for not agreeing with him annoys us. Clearly by his logic feminists should keep quite about all the adverts that portray women's bodies as dirty things to be ashamed of. (Actually Green probably thinks women's bodies are dirty things to be ashamed of.)
What's annoying too, is the Christians who like to think of themselves as moderates, and the concern trolling atheists and agnostics (Clifford Longley as quoted by Andrew Brown for instance) "Ooh no, we can't upset the religious people". To which the only response I can think of is bollocks. Insulting for no reason? Yeah, I'm not a fan of that. I've been guilty of it myself, and it just makes you look stupid.
There are however times when its perfectly justified. Osama Bin Laden and Fred Phelps (to take the most extreme examples) clearly have some warped ideas about what their religions should be. I'm sure they have (and in the case of Christianity know) bits of their holy books that back up their ideas, but there are plenty of other parts that contradict this, and big lumps that are just plain ignored. After all Christians women don't make blood sacrifices after their periods any more. (They don't do they? Or is it like that secret evolutionist ritual where they show us all the Precambrian rabbits?)
Sometimes it would be really nice if it didn't feel like it was just the humanists and the "outspoken atheists" getting up and telling the religious extremists that they're mental. And Christians, what is it with the persecution complex? Guys you took over the Roman Empire, and have been in charge of Western Civilisation ever since. You haven't been able to cry "Oppression" in 1800 years, except when you've been oppressing each other.
I'm going to stop here before I turn into Marcus Brigstocke without the gags.