Religious Backlashes

Religious extremism hasn't half been busy recently, mainly to fatally or the stuff that hit the news has been. I have not seen the video in question that has caused such controversy, but most people who I know who have seen it have all agreed that the video is poor, that it is some racist Islamaphobic idiot trying to cause more upset. Unfortunately religious extremists of 'Islam' have risen to the bait & started killing people who had nothing to do with the idiot's video (I have put Islam in inverted commas as it is written nowhere in the Koran that you should go around murdering people). I can't think of anyone who thinks that the guy who created the video was right & nobody I know thinks that the fall out from the video was justified either. People in Libya agree too forcing the militias out who carried out the attacks on the American Embassy, the people of Libya Muslim or otherwise condoned what had happened. Muslims are not the only ones who have to put up with the extremism of people of their faith, though the way the news is reported by some right wing news papers you thought it would be, but others do it too. There are people been killed for being witches by Christians in the world which apart from a few notable cases go unreported. There have been those who have burnt copies of the Koran too. But there are extremists in most faiths so don't think I'm anti any particular one it is just that these examples are the ones that stick in people's minds more. So if you want to know how most people feel about these religious conflicts going on ignore the papers, many times you'll see faiths helping each other in the community rather than being at war with each other if you just take your mind away from the extreme few. Think about the innocent Muslims who are being tarred with the same brush as the deranged few etc, & you will come through a better person than those who believe the media hype.

Autumn is truly in the air

With the Olympics & Paralympics over & we are wondering what to watch next, try watching nature, the leaves are beginning to turn, the roses have hips & the brambles are full of blackberries. There also a nip in the air the winds are rising & the showers aren't feeling quite so stiflingly hot. It won't be long till the swallows, swifts & house martins are all gone, but somehow the midges that feed on will still remain. I love autumn it's hues & it's bounty of foods, at the moment I'm taking advantage of the raspberries in my garden by making chocolate & raspberry cheesecake & my chillies are for off from being ready to pick either. So if you have time to go outside, do & see the wonder of nature, though you may want a waterproof or a light jumper.

Paralympic Closing Ceremony Part 2- What was amazing about it

So it was not all bad the closing ceremony, in fact most of it was amazing. It has got people talking. There were apparently Iluminati symbols in there which got the conspiracy theorist's tongues wagging, all you have to do is put an eye or a clock somewhere & people are all oooh did you see that? OK possibly not the best starting point of reference for the post but it did get the ball rolling. I must admit I loved the steam punk aspect of it, a mock Victoriana which quite often has London as it's base in many a steam punk novel, with the fact they gave a nod to it was very clever indeed. The second part of it that I was impressed with was the overtly Pagan nature of the festival, the fact that they used part of a rite from BDO multi path Pagan ritual was inspired, it fitted the theme well & not many people I know didn't pick up on it. So has Paganism had it's first major public airing & will people respect that? After all we can now say, our beliefs are akin to that, people now have a reference point as to vague notion of what we do, just without the spectacle of the steam punk & excessive amounts of Coldplay. But combined it provided an impressive watching experience even if you do have to mute it & play your favourite music over the top of it. Well done London 2012 what a fantastic Jubilympic year it has been.

The Paralympic Closing Ceremony Part 1- Taking the focus away somewhat

There are 2 things I want to say about the Paralympic Closing Ceremony, so number one I shall state today, as although the visual part of the ceremony was stunning, the music AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH! There was way too much Coldplay, it turned the closing ceremony from an amazing spectacle to an infuriating concert, not band/artist should have taken over the stage for whole of the event, it made it seem the event was about Coldplay, not about the athletes who did their nations proud. It made my blood boil that they went on for sooooo long, Coldplay are OK in small doses or if you are a huge fan of them seeing then in concert would be fine, but then you are expecting & have paid for that long of a set. They definitely lost a lot of respect from me, not that huge amount their to begin with. they should not have been allowed to do that, other artists should have been allowed on the stage & then a proper party atmosphere could have got under way, many of the people there were only being carried by the energy of the visuals & the emotion that came with such a momentous event. If the Paralympics hadn't been exciting & the artistry been amazing they would have slumped the atmosphere further, they milked it for all it was worth. When they did have special guests on there was Rihanna & JayZ who are some of Britain's finest exports in music (please read in a sarcastic voice) & didn't really showcase the talent much of the GB Paraorchestra which having watched a program about them earlier in the day would have been amazing to have more of. So tanks Coldplay for stealing the limelight from the achievements of others & making the closing ceremony a little less spectacular than it should have been.

Christians Fighting for Equality

This is a bit of a sensitive subject & I know I have to tread carefully, but there are 4 Christians fighting against dismissal from their workplace because of their faith, one at least was sacked due to the fact as a sex therapist he wouldn't have been willing to advise a same sex couple on how to improve their sex lives, but  taking this one into account, wouldn't we be offering a hierarchy of discrimination if you let somebody because of his faith not do his job properly, because he doesn't agree with something that the people coming to see him have no control over? Before going into this profession he should have thought about what it would entail & either going along with it or choose another career path. He wouldn't have been allowed not to to treat couples of a different ethnicity different or disabled different so why should he be allowed to do it with LGBT people. The similar point has to be made about the registrar who refused to do civil partnerships. If it was all just Christian bashing for the sake of it & not tied up with other equal rights issues then I would have sympathy for him, but this is not the case in his case, the 2 other cases I feel are examples of this. The other 2 cases are a flight attendant & a nurse who refused to remove their crucifixes. that is direct discrimination without other equality issues, it would be the same as asking a Muslim woman not to wear a hijab or a Sikh not to have a turban if they worked in a certain place, which would have been deemed unacceptable by society, it should not be one rule for one faith & a different one for another.

Should the Paralympics exist?

I have been just as glued to the Paralympics as the Olympics & Team GB are doing us proud, but do we need a Paralympics? Why don't we just have have the Olympics & grade them to ability of athletes? Or is it that people are worried that the rounds with the disabled competitors won't get watched as much as the able bodied ones as we don't promote them as much? All I can say is that it is Team GB's Paralympic athletes that are the more successful on the whole as far as Team GB's athletes go, we are not far off the amount of medals won as the Olympic team won for the whole of the games & yet we are only half way through the Paralympics. Something I also found interesting was an interview with Tanni Grey-Thompson, was that it was in her words infuriating & quite patronising to say that they were brave for doing what they do as bravery does not come into it, that there are still rivalries, people are just as competitive & it is just the athletes doing their job. I can't really argue with that as when my mother was in a wheelchair & doing the best to lead a normal life with her illnesses. People with disabilities doing everyday thing are just that people doing everyday things like anyone else. But at the end of the day well done again Team GB.