I Know There Is Something Up

With politics in its current state when I find myself agreeing with Anne Widdecombe. I mean I find her political views to be almost 100 percent repulsive, she was a dreadful minister and choose to become a Catholic not because she was persuaded of the truth of transubstantiation but rather because she disagreed with the Church Of England's move towards equality in the form of women priests.

But this morning on the Today Programme she defended the Church of England's right to request that voters shouldn't let their anger lead them to voting for the BNP because of the views the BNP stands. I agree with her especially when the BNP claimed through an election poster that Jesus would vote for them! which is gob smacking cheek on their behalf, because if Jesus was around today they would wish to deprive him of his rights as he would be in their eyes a dirty foreigner.

Given that the BNP have tried to steal the Church's "IP" they've got every right, nay duty to speak up against the racists' odious claims. After all if the BNP had tried to claim that Desperate Dan would vote for them D.C. Thomson would have placed an injunction against them faster than most Dundee chippies could whip up a deep fried Mars Bar. I would also go along with what Widdecombe said and support their right to speak against the BNP on moral grounds too if they so wished. In fact I think it is a shame that that we are not hearing the new Archbishop of Westminster (RC) raise his voice along side Rowen Williams and John Sentamu.

Now as many of you know, I am an atheist, not because I think the churchs are a steaming mass of hypocrisy or suchlike - I'm not particularly anti clerical and also it wouldn't matter if every member of the clergy, whatever their religion or denomination were outstanding paragons of virtue it wouldn't change for me my lack of belief in a god or gods. My atheism comes from finding the idea of a personal god ludicrous and illogical and I see no point in an impersonal god either. For full disclosure I should also point out that I was baptised, first holy communioned and confirmed all within the Roman Catholic Church, I went to a Catholic school for my secondary education (excluding the year in the States) however, I don't think I ever properly "believed" and my religious education at high school probably only helped me to come to the view that there isn't a god, in fact one of my RE teachers spotted that I was an atheist before I did.

I believe strongly that the Church of England should be disestablished, the removal from the statute books of all the remaining anti Catholic legislation, Anglican vicars should be allowed to stand for parliament and I don't believe that schools should be required to hold a daily act of worship. However, Nick Clegg is wrong though to say that religion and politics should stay seperate, they can't be for one thing, not in a country where so many people do have a religious faith and where so many people develop their ethical standpoints from what their faith teaches them. Also no section of society, in this case the clergy, should not be silenced politically because who they are because that is censorship, which I think most of us are agreed is wrong.

No let the clergy speak and where people agree with them, let them be cheered and praised and where people disagree with their views - disagree and oppose through evidence and facts not by telling them to "grow up" and complaining that it's not fair because the Church of England "wants to be nasty [to them] the BNP" Eh Nick Griffin? When you get called on your vicious lies you whinge and complain and want the people calling you out to be silenced, you vicious lying scumbag.