BBC: Teddy Bear Teacher “pardoned”

3 December 2007 · Comments 

The BBC has just reported that the British teacher at the centre of the Mohammed-named-teddy stupidity, Gillian Gibbons, has been pardoned by the Sudanese president al-Bashir after a meeting with two British muslim peers.

While I’m sure this will be seen in some circles (e.g. those of an islamic and/or political bent) as the Sudanese government being magnanimous, we shouldn’t forget that there wasn’t any crime in the first place.

Just because some muslims are so hyper-sensitive and thin-skinned — so much so that I’m surprised that their internal organs don’t spill onto the floor — that they take offence at the drop of a kufie, it doesn’t mean that us non-muslims should censor ourselves to pander to their insecurities, respect their beliefs or treat their fairy-tales as a reflection of reality. And the same goes for all other unproven myth-believers.

Gibbons has been pardoned, but she shouldn’t have been arrested and, most certainly not convicted, at all.

Now, al-Bashir, sort out the rest of that fucking mess of a country of yours, especially Darfur.

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Teacher found guilty in Sudan

29 November 2007 · Comments 

BBC News 24 has just reported that Gillian Gibbons, the teacher at the centre of the Sudanese Mohammed Teddy stupidity, has been found guilty of “insulting religion”, and sentenced to 15 days in prison and is then to be deported, hopefully, for her sake, to a country not run by those who cling to their backwards bronze age mythologies.

The bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, calls it a “deep disappointment”, which sounds like a rather weak sentiment, but one needs to consider that he’s of the same bent, just of a different flavour.

He also calls the crime “a mistake” although, oddly enough, he has exactly the same law on the UK’s statute “protecting” his god-belief.

Fucking morons, the lot of them.

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Telegraph: Attenborough lambastes Dutch fundies

4 October 2007 · Comments 

I wasn’t able to blog about this when it first came out, but Tuesday’s The Telegraph has an article about naturalist and broadcaster Richard Attenborough’s complaint to the BBC over a Dutch evangelical christian fundamentalist broadcaster’s “editing” (read ripping to shreds) of a series television programmes, The Life of Mammals, that he has presented for the BBC.

The world’s best known wildlife broadcaster, Sir David Attenborough, has called on the BBC to stop Christian fundamentalists from deleting references to evolution from his documentaries.

Censored versions of Sir David’s award winning programmes have been broadcast in Holland without any references to evolution, speciation, descent and timescales of millions of years, after being censored by Christian creationists who are opposed to Charles Darwin’s ideas.

“Instead of saying “70 million years ago, something happens,” they say “a very long time ago something happens”. They also omit paragraphs such as: “This is inherited from my warm-blooded ancestors,”" Sir David told the Telegraph. “I would much rather they kept to the letter, as far as that is possible, of what I said.”

I don’t think I need to point out the obvious, but I will anyway: these people are lying by removing parts of these programmes, that have scientific evidence (i.e. reality) to back them up, simply to try to convince themselves, and brainwash others, into thinking that their scripture has some kind of literal significance that trumps how the universe really is. Note to fundies: it doesn’t.

If I had heroes, Attenborough would be one of them. Thank you, Sir David, for standing up for reality, and defying these liars.

P.S. Is it just me, or do other people hear Attenborough’s silken tones drift through their inner monologue when reading nature books or articles?

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