In light of recent campaigns by Christian or Islamic school children to be allowed to breach their chosen school’s uniform code so that they can wear their own weird religious symbols (isn’t it verging on idolatry for the monotheists?), it seems Sikhism has felt left out. Not any more.

Today, the BBC reports:

A legal challenge has been filed in the High Court on behalf of a 14-year-old girl excluded from a Cynon Valley school for wearing a Sikh bangle.

Oh please. Is this really what the education budget should be spent on? No wonder schools up and down the country are struggling to fund real lessons (allowing creationism to sneak in), when all their budgets are spent defending against petulant teenagers wanting to rebel against the school dress codes. Gone are the days of wearing your blazer round your waist, or a funny knot in your tie, now we have court cases over esoteric religious jewellery. Wonderful.

Sadly, the much maligned liberty gets in on the act here and (IMHO) damages is standing in future causes:

Campaign group, Liberty, has made the challenge, saying the school had breached race relations laws.

Well done Liberty, you just couldn’t pass up this chance to get in the news, could you? This is not a race relations issue, it is not even a religious freedom issue. The school is not discriminating against this school girl because of her religion, race, gender, shoe size or anything else. It is attempting to uphold a uniform standard. If the school had demanded she take off the bracelet and wear a crucifix instead, then yes, I would be up in arms about it. The BBC continues:

The school bans all jewellery and has said their policy ensures equality.

After filling the challenge, Liberty said the school has also breached human rights laws.

It really is enough to make you want to cry.

I have to wear a tie to work, will Liberty defend my human right to not do so? I doubt it. Will they pay my wages when my employer sacks me? I doubt it. This girl’s parents will have been aware of the school dress codes before she started there. Why did they send her to a school which prohibits jewellery if wearing a bloody bracelet is so important?

Sadly, the BBC article continues to show humanity at its worst. It provides paragraphs of ammunition for right-wingers and neo-Nazis to continue to argue that “these people” (i.e. intelligent people who dont follow their particular brand of hatred) shouldn’t be allowed in the country. It panders to the right-wingers who bemoan how “PC” we have become and that this is a bad thing. It weakens every other “human rights” argument because this is nothing to do with fundamental human rights. I feel sorry for the Welsh Assembly (unusual for me…) being dragged into this, but at least they say it is down to the school not them.

This is not political correctness, it is stupidity. Win or lose, every one pays the price for this.

I accidentally deleted a comment on the previous “False Prophet” post which pointed to a weird site hosted by Bravenet. Titled “Welcome To Rapture In The Air” it has this blurb at the start: (insane font removed)

This is a Pre Trib Rapture forum and all are welcome who share their love for Our Beloved’s return as He promised.There is no debating on this forum about the rapture or denominational issues.We are here for one another in friendship, love, and prayer as we watch together for Jesus’s soon return.

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12 (NKJV)

Will You Be At The Wedding Supper

Of The Lamb Of God?

Accept Jesus Now As Your Saviour

The Invitation Has Been Sent

Come Dine With Him.

Wow. You just know it is going to be hilarious. It has hundreds of death-worshipping posts longing for the end of the universe and being somewhat self-congratulating about how all the Born-Againers will get the rewards and everyone else will suffer. Not massively Christian in its outlook but then most BAFundies aren’t.

The site is riddled with madness. Because there is so much start staring lunacy, it is hard to know which particular bit to ridicule the most so I have gone for a random post. I clicked on one of the first page topics at random and found this: (only beginning bit repeated here, it is long)

The judgment at Midnight! (THIS MONTH?)

ALL:

The news of “JUDGMENT” is NOT readily accepted by people “of” the world
and EVEN (or maybe ESPECIALLY) Christians! That may be ALL beside
the point as we enter 2008!!!

It is almost like NOW there was provided (for those watchful) a ringside seat
to “see” some things that “MAY” be about to transpire!

Going back “5” (which means “GRACE”) years….

On 2/1/03, I was in bed watching TV (after an operation the day before) and
actually “HEARD” the words on CNN:

…”The Shuttle (Columbia) has COME APART OVER PALESTINE (TX)!”

As we come to that anniversary on February 1, 2008, there are OTHER
“heavenly” (and “earthly”) witnesses going on! As 2007 became 2008, a
“wedding ring” (URL below sent to me by Carol) produced by solar flares
was seen in the heavens:
… [loads of madness]
WARNINGS TO THE US GO UNHEEDED and Bush is about to enter Israel
this month! This month is 700 days from a 7.0 quake VERY NEAR MIDNIGHT,
Israel time (see notes below). The quake was “IN” Israel’s time zone! I’ll let the
reader decide its implications (because I am only watching, as well)!!!

This is so weird it makes your head spin. It is written in that wonderfully breathless style the real “faithful” manage. The writing style, with its interesting use of grammar, is very typical for the cranks who predict every day is the end of the world. The crazy rationale for how this “quake” being near midnight means the world is going to end is priceless. I challenge anyone to read this without either getting a headache or laughing out loud at least once.

On the subject of False Prophets, the wonderful, balanced, truthful news site FauxFOX News has reported that the lying scumbag ever so honest prophet Pat Robertson is unbowed by his previous predictions from God being complete lies and making new ones: (Source)

NORFOLK, Va. — Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson predicted Wednesday that 2008 will be a year of violence worldwide and a recession in the United States, followed by a major stock-market crash by 2010.

Sharing what he believes God has told him about the year ahead is an annual tradition for Robertson.

On Wednesday’s “700 Club” broadcast, the founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network predicted that evangelism will increase and more people will seek God as the chaos develops. Robertson said, “We will see the presence of angels and we will see an intensification of miracles around the world.”

Some people really have no shame. I wonder if they really believe the voices in their head are from God? I know when Toutatis talks to me he sounds a bit like Zeus but I put that down a bad connection as the toaster doesn’t even have a speaker…

It is a new year and as always, I have been inundated with well meaning text messages and emails saying things like “have a great new year” and a fair few saying the optimistic “I hope 2008 is an even better year for you” – not that anything went wrong in 2007 (at least for me). In the same manner, the TV has all manner of pundits going on about how great the new year will be and generally around this time of year there is a lot of optimism. We seem to assume that as the world gets older, we all get wiser and, collectively, things will get better.

Personally, I think it is crap.

As Heather alluded to in a previous post, we (*) are not getting wiser. If anything, our culture is undoing every “good” that our forefathers fought and died for. Problems which previous generations thought were “solved” have returned and it seems that the entire world is racing back to the mythical version of the dark ages(**) as fast as it can. In fact, it seems we are trying to invent a society which would be frowned upon by feudal serfs as too harsh and cruel.

It is with this at the back of my mind, that I was far from shocked to read today’s Guardian newspaper:

Smokers could be required to quit in exchange for NHS rights

People could be expected to lose weight and give up smoking in exchange for rights to healthcare to be enshrined in a new NHS constitution, Gordon Brown will signal today.

In case you get the wrong idea, I am rabidly anti-smoking and, if I had the power, it would be banned in all public spaces (open and enclosed) and smokers would only be allowed to smoke in little cages with no air escapes.

However, this strikes me as being insane. It is plain wrong and undermines the basis of the National Health Service.

In the UK we have an admittedly flawed national health service but even at its worst it is better than pretty much every other one in the world. The NHS provides care for all, not worrying about the sick being rich or poor, not worrying who is fortunate enough to have a job which comes with health care or is fortunate enough to be able to afford to treat their illness. Sickness, disease and infirmity affect everyone and (with a few exceptions) doesn’t care about the victims social status or income.

It seems our society is trying to lose this fantastic service. There are repeated talking heads on the TV news saying how “we” (the public) shouldn’t have to pay for the treatment of people who are suffering what are often described as self inflicted illness (cancer in smokers, diabetes in the obese etc). However, the problem covers more than the two currently acceptable bugbears of our society.

It is easy, and almost required, for “health experts” to vilify and demonise those who smoke or are overweight (***) – especially at this time of year – and it is also a seductive point that people who smoke or are overweight may cost the NHS more than people who don’t/aren’t. Leaving aside the argument as to if this is even true, the principle is flawed.

The Health Service is there to help care for, treat, heal (etc) the sick. People end up in hospitals for all manner of reasons and trying to deny them access to services based on what is largely a value judgement on their lifestyle is foolhardy. Today we may think of denying smokers who refuse to quit treatment for infections (reduced immune defence) or cancers, and we may think of denying the obese surgery (or pretty much anything) until they lose weight. Why stop with those two groups? When the NHS saves fortunes by this simple limitation of service, it will have its budget cut and have to seek more cost cutting moves.

Why not refuse to treat people who play sports for any related injury? Physiotherapy costs a fortune and easily as many “sporty” people are undergoing it – sprains, tennis elbow, hamstring injuries etc are all the result of a pass-time they have chosen to take part in so why should we [the public] fund their treatment?

If that is too harsh, what about people who drive too fast? If they have an accident why should we [the public] pay for their ambulance and hospital time? Not just people who drive too fast but people who are just crap drivers! The ultimate in self inflicted injury – they are too ignorant to learn to drive well so we shouldn’t treat them at public expense.

This is great. We can include people who injure themselves through incorrect lifting techniques (they should have known better), people who catch STIs from unsafe sex (they should have known better), people who travel abroad and catch illnesses (you get the idea…)

Where do we draw the line? What reasonable criteria is there to deny a “National” service to one segment of society? A valid counter argument is that everyone funds the NHS by their tax payments. Can people who are “refused” a treatment refuse to pay for it?

Equally worrying, this is another example of how an ostensibly socialist government seems happy to encourage a two-tier society. Rich people will not be affected by this, so in reality only the poor serfs are at risk. What happens when the great unwashed, overweight, chain smokers catch the Black Death is anyone’s guess…

Before I rant too much, it seems the newspapers (and TV news) might have got carried away over this. From the BBC website:

Patients with unhealthy lifestyles would not be penalised under a proposed NHS constitution, the government says.

Those offered medical guidance would be encouraged to act in a “responsible” way, health minister Ann Keen said.

Ok, not really reassuring given the governments ability with doublespeak, especially when read in conjunction with this:

A constitution would set out patients’ “rights and responsibilities”, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.

Interesting choice of words, Mr Brown… Heading back to the Guardian, the article finishes with:

[about NHS reform] And I believe they will transform the experience of the NHS for millions of people in this country.

Does this imply their experience will transform into losing an NHS?

I was googling for some relevant examples to use about this and I came across a quote (attributed to Hitler ) which seems relevant even if its provenance is dubious:

The best way to take control over a people and control them utterly is to take a little of their freedom at a time, to erode

rights by a thousand tiny and almost imperceptible reductions. In this way the people will not see those rights and freedoms being removed until past the point at which these changes cannot be reversed – Adolf Hitler (****)

Seems a good description of modern society. Would the people of the early 1950’s think we have “progressed” towards the Utopia they hoped the post war years would bring, or are we in fact sliding back to the horrors of the Victorians?

—

(*) I use this to mean the UK for certain and the US as a probable – the rest of the west is possibly included but I make no general comment as to the rest of the glob.

(**) Before I get shouted at, I am aware the “dark ages” were not as filled with ignorance, suspicion and horrors as my school history class used to pretend. I am also aware that the Dark Ages only really applies to the west, but that is where I live so it is where I assume the whole world lives… I am not alone in this mindset…

(***) Have you seen the Prime Minister?

(****) I have tried, but I have been unable to even slightly verify this is an actual Adolf quote. It seems to be used a lot by right-wingers who want to rubbish the government and may be a form of Godwins Law. Oh, dear Thor, I am turning into a Right Wing Express reader… Strike me down now!