Another blog bites the dust

John writes to me to point out that the Morrisons blog has gone - the work-related posts have all been deleted and now there is a message on the site with (what seems to me at any rate) to be a rather smug and gloating edge to it saying "Oh dear. It seems that Morrisons Employee, has deleted his blog. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to create this one with the same name." It then directs folk to a new 'forum' for Morrisons employees.

Perhaps I am just a cynical and suspicious person, but this didn't look like a private undertaking to me, especially with all its rules on what you could and couldn't post (not keen on anything too negative - in fact not much room for any real debate their, so is it really a forum?). Perhaps I'm wrong but I got the impression of a very controlled environment designed to give the appearance of an open forum while not being anything of the sort. If so it would be a hi-jacking of the original in a most underhand manner, but then I suppose it was a matter of time before a control collar was fastened around Morrison Employee's neck. What happened to that blogger I do not know, but I wish them well and hope they rejoin us in the blogosphere at some point.


Brotherly Love

Oh, those wonderful ultra-right, super-caring Christian fundamentalists have been busy the last couple of months proving they are as big a danger to civilsed society as Muslim fundamentalists. And no, I'm not talking about those nutty right-wing, God-fearin' folks in the USA who love life so much they shoot doctors. Nope, I'm talking about the disturbing rise of their intolerant cousins right here in Blighty.

Back in December I blogged about a bunch of ultra-Christian numpties who were trying to force the chief constable in Fife to shut down a play in Saint Andrews because it was blasphemous (it had a gay Jesus). They didn't actually go to see it, they just demonstrated against it without viewing the play then tried to get the law to stop anyone else seeing it. Does that strike anyone as being a bit ridiculous that a tiny number of religious zealots think they can tell the rest of society what they can watch? And if you looked at that group's website (as I did) the homophobic, intolerant ranting was obnoxious and awful. Good caring folk practising the message of Jesus to love they neighbour... Hypocrites.

Then there was the Jerry Springer - The Musical debacle. It's been around a while but when the BBC screened it - with many warnings as to the content being offensive to some, so they may wish to not watch - there was a shitstorm. Out came these right-wing Christian wankers again, attacking the BBC, calling for it to be banned because it so offended them. Well here's an idea for you, DON'T BLOODY WATCH IT! But don't ever tell the rest of us what we can, as reasonable adults, watch. These are the modern, more vicious descendants of the religious bastards who attacked the Life of Brian on its release (of course, it is a revered film from the Monty Python team loved around the world two decades later while those who tried to 'protect us for our own good' are largely forgotten).

Ah, but that wasn't all. These same gits then went on to threaten a charity. Yes, devout (supposed) Christians attacking a small charity which ran a hospice caring for people with cancer. The Jerry Springer Musical folk offered to do a charity fundraiser - the Christians threatened the charity with a blockade of their hospice if they accepted. In other words they were prepared to abuse terminally ill patients and their carers and families.

How fucking sick are these people? What sort of Christianity is this supposed to be? Doesn't seem to follow the path laid down by the man who walked among the lepers, the poor, the prostitutes and sick to care for them, does it? They have since pressured numerous theatrical venues to pull out of hosting the tour of the show (and shame on them for caving to these fools so easily, cowards).

So this small group of religious whackos are forcing their views on the entire population, attempting to control what we can see and hear. I'm all for legitimate protest (if it is informed) and wholly support the right of everyone to their own views (even when I think they are daft or even obnoxious) but they have no right in a democratic society to try and impose their restricted views on the rest of us. We don't go round saying we should ban their homophobic, culturally intolerant websites or church meetings (and I wouldn't, its their right, but its our right to argue against their bitter rhetoric). The freedoms which protect their rights of worship and expression also protect ours, something they seem to selectively forget.

But they seem to think they can turn back the clock three centuries to the puritancial times of Cromwell (another man with little time for those who disagreed with him, even old comrades in the army he fought alongside and certainly not the theatres or, ironically, parliament). I think they should recall that Cromwell's 'New Jerusalem' ended up in the riot and debauchery of Charles II's court and the people loved him for it because they were sick and tired of the ious, miserable bigots who had run their lives (and those nasty folk I mentioned shooting doctors in the States today are the descendants of those puritans who left a now merry Britain to go and make a miserable but Godly existence in the New World).

A woman reader emailed me weeks back about the charity incident (very sorry, I can't find your email now, but thanks for sending me the story) and I've been following it since then (and since my December blog on the Saint Andrews play) and it has just been growing ever more disturbing as the weeks go past. The scariest part is that these numpties are convinced they are saving us...