PUPILS at a south London Catholic state school have reacted angrily to an anti-gay petition they were urged to sign at the end of a presentation encouraging them to oppose the gay marriage,

The presentation, given to “draw attention” to the Coalition for Marriage’s campaign against the Government’s proposal to allow gay couples to marry in civil ceremonies, caused pupils to “bristle” with anger and some considered:

Buying gay pride badges to pin on our uniform and thought about staging a Stonewall coup by posting the ‘Some people are gay – get over it’ posters around school.

These were the words of sixth-form student Katherine, who, in an exclusive Pink News report, said:

In our assembly for the whole Sixth Form you could feel people bristling as she explained parts of the [Catholic Education Service] letter and encouraged us to sign the petition. She said things about gay marriage and civil partnerships being unnatural. It was just a really out-dated, misjudged and heavily biased presentation.

She added:

Most importantly though, there are several people in my year who aren’t heterosexual – myself included – and I for one was appalled and actually disgusted by what they were encouraging. After all, that’s discrimination they were urging impressionable people to engage in, which is unacceptable.

Numerous organisations including the British Humanist Association, the National Secular Society and SchoolsOut have indicated that the presentation could be in breach of multiple laws.

Greg Pope, the Deputy Director of the Catholic Education Service told Pink News:

We wrote to Catholic secondary schools to let them know of the archbishops’ letter on the government’s gay marriage proposals. We’ve asked them to draw attention generally to the Coalition for Marriage petition which is an open petition that people of all ages can sign. We have been aiming this towards older pupils and parents. The archbishop’s letter is a positive statement of the Church’s support for marriage, rather than negative comments about gay marriage.

The Coalition for Marriage themselves pointed out that the petition is not open to people “of all ages” as the Service suggested, but only to those aged 16 and above.

When alerted to this, Pope said that the Catholic Education Service would be clear in any future correspondence with schools that the Coalition for Marriage petition had an age restriction, but that it was not planning to contact schools again on the subject.

On the particular claims made by the student that the headmistress had called gay marriages “unnatural”, Pope conjured up these weasel words:

All pupils deserve to be treated with respect and tolerance. If a pupil or parent feels the school has not lived up to that, all schools have complaints procedures which meet the Department for Education requirements.

Conor Marron, who set up the Coalition for Equal Marriage to build grass roots support for equality and oppose the campaign of the Coalition for Marriage, told Pink News:

This is incredibly worrying.  These children are shamelessly being used and manipulated to further the goals of the religious right, most likely without the knowledge or permission of their parents.

With children as young as 11 being drawn into this without being adequately equipped with maturity and an understanding of the issues at hand is nothing less than abusive scaremongering.

He added:

They claim that one of their reasons to campaign against same-sex marriage is to try to protect children. This just goes to show how untrue that is, and that they will use any tool and stoop to any low to get what they want.They are the ones who are a threat to children, and this is a shining example as to the dangers of faith schools.

Sue Sanders, co-chair of Schools Out, told Pink News:

I hardly think telling people to sign a petition that limits LGB people their human rights is either appropriate or legal.

The Catholic Education Service said in response that the school is permitted by the Act to teach sex and relationship education in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church, but that it would not be allowed to discriminate or permit discrimination against pupils on the grounds of sexual orientation.

The Coalition for Marriage petition has attracted  over 467,000 signatures, while the Coalition for Equal Marriage has almost 49,000.

Hat tip: BarrieJohn

ON BALANCE, pagans are a much nicer class of people than, say, the joyless sourpusses who form the backbone of the Abrahamic religions. That’s not to say that they can’t be equally bloody stupid.

As part of a Wiccan-related ceremony, two Nottingham men got naked and started a fire indoors to rid the premises of negative vibes.

Mohammed Aftab Mughal, left and Terence Williams

This resulted in the pair – Mohammed Aftab Mughal, 21, and Terence Williams, 51 – having to be bundled in their birthday suits out of Williams’s house in Blair Court, The Meadows, by firemen, then later being charged with arson.

According to this report, Nottingham Crown Court was told how a neighbour became concerned after seeing thick smoke coming from the house.

When he looked inside, could see Williams standing next to a fire completely naked and throwing things on to it.

Siward James-Moore, prosecuting, said:

The flames were licking around Mr Williams’ ankles at that stage. Mr Williams was staring right through him.

The court heard the pair had been burning white sage leaves and a candle as they meditated. But when Mughal said there was a “negative vibe in the air”, they decided to burn it away with lit newspaper.

Said Mr James-Moore.

Terence Williams suggested both their clothes should be burnt to enhance the ritual they were undertaking. Fire crews were called to the property at around 11.50am on October 21. Firefighters entered the address and found two males within, these two defendants, both of them were completely naked. They initially refused to leave, were not concerned for their own safety and were shocked the fire service was called.

Williams, 51, described the daft goings-on as a Wiccan ceremony, involving burning items to cleanse their souls.

The court heard there had been three different fires in the house. There were two gas canisters in a cupboard, which were potentially a threat had the fire got out of control.

In sentencing the pair, who both men pleaded guilty to arson, to 12 months of community service, the judge, recorder Jason MacAdam, told them:

This fire was caused through stupidity rather than malice.

The judge noted both of them had done a great deal of good in their lives, and were:

Dedicated to doing good acts for people in the future.

Hat Tip: Gill Kerry

DOTTY minister Catherine Flamond, of the Church of the Ecumenical Redemption International, was none to pleased when she received three traffic tickets last year for driving without a licence plate or insurance, and failing to produce a driver’s licence.

What she calls her “ecclesiastical pursuit chariot” – a 1994 Mercury Sable – was ticketed in February, 2011, but Flamond, in a June 13 letter to Edmonton Police Chief Rod Knecht, claimed she had her own plate — made of paper and bearing the biblical verse Rom. 11:29:

For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

She then mounted a constitutional challenge against the tickets, arguing in a written Charter notice that the provincial civil laws do not apply to her because she is a Christian minister bound only by God, the Queen of England and the Constitution Act of 1982.

But this week Provincial Court Judge John Henderson tossed out her challenge, ruling that:

The Alberta Traffic Safety Act applies to “every single person” who operates a motor vehicle in the province.

Henderson also dismissed several other motions seeking to have the tickets quashed, including ones alleging wrongful prosecution and bias by the Crown and judge, who was also accused of coming close to treason.

The matter was then adjourned for trial on October 23.

In her Charter notice, Flamond included several letters she had written to people in authority.

She also called the car “church property” and accused the officer of stealing it and taking it to the “city pound.”

The Church of the Ecumenical Redemption International is a Christian denomination that does not believe in the authority of the Canadian government and wishes to use the King James Bible as the rule of law.

Flamond is by to means the only unhinged member of the church.  According to this report, in 2006 one of the congregation – Karen Ponto – had to be dragged kicking and screaming from Saskatoon provincial courtroom. She yelled at the judge that her arrest for contempt of court was a violation of her rights as a Christian.

Hat tip: Dog Gone

AUSTIN SPROUT was 16 when he died last December after his parents chose prayer, rather medical care for an undisclosed illness he was suffering.

Austin Sprout. Click on pic for video report

Five years earlier, the Oregon teenager’s fundamentalist dad, Brian Sprout, met his Maker after refusing medical treatment for sepsis that set in after an injury sustained in a fall.

Austin’s parents, Brandi and Russel Bellew, who attend General Assembly and the Church of the First Born in Pleasant Hill, Cresswell, now face second-degree manslaughter charges – and this week six of their children were made wards of the state. But they may continue to care for their remaining children under a state-supervised “in-home safety plan”,Lane County Circuit Juvenile Court Judge Eveleen Henry ruled in a brief afternoon hearing.

Terms of that plan include the presence of a state-approved “safety provider,” immediate notification of the state Department of Human Services if any of the children has “medical symptoms, illness or injury” and calling 911 if any medical emergency arises.

The safety monitor, Del McCracken, is a fellow church member, but “believes in seeking medical care and advocates for the children to have medical care,” the plan states.

The children are a blended family, created when Brandi and Russel Bellew married after both were widowed.

Brian Sprout was the biological father of three of the six children placed in state custody.

Monday’s hearing was packed with more than two dozen relatives and supporters of Brandi and Russel Bellew. Many were fellow church members who bowed their heads and appeared to pray during the hearing.

During the hearing lawyer, Bob Schrank, representing the Bellews, challenged as unnecessary the state’s request that both parents undergo a comprehensive psychological exam.

But child protection caseworker Jennifer Long Perkins said the state had a solid basis for seeking the exams:

By no means are we suggesting that these parents are crazy. But we are asking the family to make a significant, life-changing decision about a practice (faith-healing) they have long upheld. We want a professional opinion that they are able to do that.

Judge Henry ordered the exams, but allowed the couple to delay them until their criminal case is resolved.

Hat tip. Angela K

ROMAN Catholic and C of E bishops in the UK have found something new to whinge about: a plan to impose VAT on  improvements made to cathedrals and churches.

According to this report, the bishops were “in revolt” over the scheme announced in the recent Budget.

The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster and leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, said the move was “regrettable”:

Vincent Nichols

Nichols, who, courtesy of a certain Pope Ratzinger, came to his post in 2009 vowing to fight “an aggressively secular agenda”, added:

At a time of increasing austerity, it would be regrettable if they (listed churches) had to face higher costs for repairs and alterations from planned changes to VAT.

And the Right Reverend Christopher Chessun, warned that extending VAT to cover listed building improvements would:

Cause a great deal of difficulty for those caring for the nation’s heritage.

He added:

The extra costs this tax will impose on building projects, which enhance community and other use, will damage the ability of the church and others to undertake important work in building social cohesion.

Religion and social cohesion? Please tell me Chessun is having a laugh.

Meanwhile, the Bishop of London, the Right Reverend Richard Chartres, has written to Chancellor George Osborne urging him to exclude places of worship from the VAT extension or to boost a rebate scheme from which churches can reclaim spending on this tax.

The Treasury has pointed out that this grant scheme had been increased by £5 million to offset the VAT change.

But religious leaders have warned that the extra money will not fully cover the increased bill from having to pay VAT, at 20 per cent.

A Treasury spokesman said:

Currently listed places of worship, of any faith or denomination, can claim a grant equal to the VAT paid on eligible repairs and maintenance works. The scheme will be extended to include approved alterations to listed places of worship.

Hat tip: Pax Tayer

HOMOSEXUAL “activists” – in a mythical land inhabited by former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord George Carey – are in the vanguard of a sustained and vicious campaign to vilify Christians and drive them underground.

Lord George Carey

In a submission to the European Court of Human Rights in support of a clot of “persecuted” religious fanatics who proved unfit for purpose in their respective jobs and were rightly dismissed, Cary writes that Christians can be sacked for manifesting their faith, are vilified by state bodies, are in fear of reprisal and can even be arrested for expressing their views on sexual ethics. All of this:

Affects the moral and ethical compass of the United Kingdom. Christians are excluded from many sectors of employment simply because of their beliefs; beliefs which are not contrary to the public good … It is now Christians who are persecuted; often sought out and framed by homosexual activists.

Christians are driven underground. There appears to be a clear animus to the Christian faith and to Judeo-Christian values. Clearly the courts of the United Kingdom need guidance.

Carey’s hope that his latest bleat would result in outpouring of sympathy, or even vigorous nods of agreement were dashed when commentators immediately set about exposing him as paranoid loon with a very tenuous grip on reality.

This, from Guardian columnist Martin Robbins:

In his latest outburst, Carey is guilty of at least three sins against his flock: he fear-mongers regarding the ability of Christians to express their faith in public, he regurgitates a slew of mythical episodes of Christian persecution, and he entirely misrepresents secularism.

Robbins then points out that Carey can hardly claim that “the outward expression of traditional conservative Christian values has effectively been ‘banned” in Britain’ when, as a life peer, he:

Lives in a palace, holds a seat in the House of Lords (alongside twenty-odd other Bishops from the Church of England), and has his remarks published on the front pages of newspapers.

Ophelia Benson, over at Butterflies and Wheels makes pretty much the same point – then dismisses him in two words:

Filthy man.

And Executive Director of the National Secular Society, Keith Porteous Wood said:

Lord Carey is not just wrong, but the truth is the opposite of what he asserts. Far from the UK being less intolerant than the rest of the world on religion, it is perhaps the most religiously tolerant country in the world.

Hat tip: Marcus Robinson

A NUN in her 80s – the first person to be charged after an investigation by the authorities into Spain’s “stolen babies” scandal that lasted decades – this week refused to testify in a Madrid court.

Sister Maria Gomez Valbuena. Pedro Armestre / AFP - Getty Images

Sister Maria Gomez Valbuena is facing charges related to her alleged role in a baby-trafficking network of clerics and doctors that operated in Spain from the 1940s until the early 1990s. Children were taken from their parents and sold to other couples.

More than a thousand cases have been filed with Spain’s attorney general.

During her court appearance on Thursday, crowds of mothers claiming their newborns were stolen reportedly chanted, “shameless” at the nun. Shortly after refusing to testify, the nun issued a statement denying the allegations.

Under no circumstance have I ever had any knowledge of the separation of a newborn from his or her biological mother under force and threats. It disgusts me to the depths of my being. I consider it inadmissible and unjustifiable.

Meanwhile, police documents published in Australia implicate the Catholic Church  in the suicides of at least 40 people who were sexually abused by priests in Victoria.

The reports, written by Detective Sergeant Kevin Carson, allege that the Church appears to have known about a shockingly high rate of suicides and premature deaths but has chosen to remain silent.

They linked the suicides to the sexual abuse perpetrated by a band of paedophile clergy, including Gerard Ridsdale, Bryan Coffey, Paul Ryan, Robert Best and Edward Dowlan. Most of the victims were abused between the 1960s and late 1980s.

One of the reports says it would appear an investigation would uncover many more deaths as a consequence of clergy sexual abuse.

Det-Sgt Carson wrote that at the end of last year that the sheer number of young men who were abused or suspected to be the victims or abuse, and who had met a premature death, continued to grow.

A spokesman for the Melbourne Catholic Archdiocese claimed that the only information it has about such suicides is what has appeared in the media.

We don’t have access to any information that links suicides with sexual abuse.

Victims and their relatives have called on Premier Ted Baillieu and Attorney-General Robert Clark to create an inquiry with royal commission powers to examine sexual abuse involving religious organisations.