Bizarre conspiracy theory

David here,

This is one of the most bizarre conspiracy theories via the J Post -

Israel and the United States are responsible for creating the Islamic State phenomenon, former Cuban president Fidel Castro is quoted as saying on Wednesday.The 88-year-old former ruler also attacked McCain, Israel's "most unconditional ally."Castro alleged that[Senator John]McCain, “together with [Mossad, conspired] in the creation of the Islamic State, which today controls a considerable and vital portion of Iraq and reportedly one-third of Syria as well.”

What? Has the world just got even crazier or is it just me.

Ed Miliband: "We oppose the Israeli incursion into Gaza"

David here,

If there is any doubt as to whether or not I would ever vote for Labour or its leader Miliband,at the next general election, it has been removed following Miliband's decision to oppose Israel's military intervention in Gaza . At least Prime Minister Cameron has been as supportive, very supportive as he can be given the notorious pro-Arab Foreign Office Britain has always had . Why Miliband does this is unclear : what is the point about boasting (albeit incorrectly) that he would be 'the fist Jewish Prime Minister', when he decides to sock Israel in the balls during this most testing of times, that is war?  What is the point of him praising Israel and gushing about it when he comes up with statements like this, which are clearly pandering to the Islamic vote in the UK? 

So OK Miliband, before  you go criticising Israel,  answer these questions.

Explosive warheads are raining down on Birmingham.

Do you :

A. Get the British army to shoot back at the enemy positions

B.Seek out and destroy all the launch sites and the factories and warehouses where these rockets are being made and stored.

C.  Mobilise the full force of the British defence forces against this terrorism

Or  :

D. Show up at Birmingham with a white shirt that you're waving around like a white flag ( the favourite colour of the left) and demand everyone to stop it, because you might get to be a Prime Minister

E. Have a group hug with your supporters and pray for peace.

F. Roll over and go back to sleep & join the UN in calling Britain, which is defending itself against terrorism as being guilty of war crimes.

American Presbyterians take Jewish-Christian relations back to 1492

Dudes, it is Sam here, 

So following the disgraceful vote of the American Presbyterian Church, which makes me utterly uninterested in anything this group has to say about anything, one of the most disgusting parts of the resolution [here] was the inclusion of this statement from an opinion piece in a Jewish newspaper : 

"The ADL [Anti-Defamation League] goes after anti-Semitism with a fist, it goes after Israeli racism with a sigh. As a matter of fact, the ADL and the entire American Jewish establishment should suspend their campaigns against anti-Semitism indefinitely and take a look at what’s going on in Israel."

Underneath  this statement :

"The ACREC[[one of the Church's committees] holds on to the belief that God created all people good. To deny some people (because of skin color or language) the privileges other have, is to deny God’s good creation. To allow this system—in which some receive advantages simply because of perceived “race”— to go unchecked is to deny that God made all people in God’s own good image."

Why is this group singling out a great, but tiny people, us Jews, who have done considerably more to advance humanity [oh and whilst this entire post could be take up with links see  here, here , here, here, here & here for a small fraction of Jewish contributions to the world] than their piss pot organisation ever has? Are they not the ones who should have a resolution condemning them? Where is the outrage against Chinese actions in Tibet? The kidnappings of innocent children in Nigeria? The poverty in their own America? The slaughter and death that is the daily life of their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in the same region as Israel? where is Christianity most protected and which leader of which religion raises their plight[Answer it is a Jew] ?

As a result of this resolution are they not saying, in another way, that attacking Israel is more important than tackling anti-semitism or Jew hate; this less than 70 years after the Shoah, where over ONE THIRD of the world's Jewish population were slaughtered en mass, simply because they were Jews or had a Jewish grandparent & 66 years after the systematic ethnic cleansing of Jews from Arab countries? So who the fuck are these guys to call the State of Israel 'racist' ? This state, need I remind readers was founded precisely because of anti-semitism, the Shoah, the fact of Jew hate as perpetuated by Christianity for 2,000 years of 'replacement' theology; but in spite of all of this, Jews have rebuilt bridges with Christians and many Jews (including myself) are good friends with Christians, we are healing, we are reconciling we are forgiving.

If, however, this is nothing more than a dig about the Jewish notion of being 'chosen', it is yet again another ridiculous and gross characterisation of Jews as a self -serving 'master race' that a Christian organisation has come out with for a long time. Need I remind readers that in Jewish theology G-d chose us, not because we were the greatest of people, but because we were the worst of people and that if we were to do anything good in the world, it would be reflective not of our efforts, bu G-d's! !

As far as the modern state of Israel is concerned, she offers full equality before the law, voting rights, religious freedom and the only place in the middle east which is welcoming and tolerant of gay people, regardless of one's race, status or religion.  But let's just take their loony logic at face value; France is  racist for being French!  Is Germany? Russia? Britain? Mexico? Shouldn't The USA itself dissolve because it was founded via a colonial Empire of the British?  The logic is disgraceful, as is the singling out of Israel as a  racist state, because by their logic EVERY SINGLE state in the world is de facto racist !!

Bibi (as the Israeli Prime Minister is affectionately  known as) had this to say (via The Times of Israel) :

“It’s so disgraceful,” Netanyahu said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” news program. “Most Americans understand that Israel is a beacon of civilization and moderation.”He said that while much of the Middle East was “riveted by religious hatred, by savagery of unimaginable proportions,” Israel is “the one democracy that upholds basic human rights, that guards the rights of all minorities, that protects Christians.”Netanyahu advised the Presbyterians to “fly to the Middle East, come and see Israel for the embattled democracy that it is, and then take a bus tour, go to Libya, go to Syria, go to Iraq, and see the difference.”“I would give them two pieces of advice — one is make sure it’s an armor-plated bus, and second, don’t say that you’re Christian.”

Good on you Bibi, I don't always agree with you, but thank G-d Israel's got you. To the PCUSA, all I'd say is that this time Jews aren't going meekly into the night  & anyone who thinks we are simply going to dismantle the state of Israel has got another thing coming. Us Jews have survived 4,000 years of this crap. We'll be here in another 4,000, long after everyone has forgotten about you, the world will still remember and have Jews celebrated in it.

UKIP are acting like fucking clowns

UKIP are  acting like  fucking clowns— they are bestrode by constant gaffs, idiocies and what is terrifying is that they are going to win an election- despite not knowing what their policies actually are .

As my friends & family will know, your humble Dude has been  trying to steering clear of politics.  But  like a moth to a flame and with an election on Thursday, it would be remiss of me not to comment on the idiocies of this group; especially as they are going to win . But don't worry. I'm not turning to Labour. One would have thought that after bankrupting the bloody country—again—the Labour Party might have learnt some humility. Apparently not. The current Labour Party is determined to bring socialism back to the country. Because that's always  worked so well, eh?But that is a story for another day.

I've said on more than one occasion I was going to vote UKIP- as a protest against the current government,not as an endorsement of them- but quite frankly, the more I look at it the less and less likely I want to vote for them. In fact the possibility is now approaching zero. I got called for saying I'd vote UKIP by a good friend of mine . So I decided to do some research, look into things. These are my conclusions.

The BNP Youth - "heartless Zionists" and "militant homosexuals" are to blame for Britain's ills

If it is one political party I detest it is the so called 'British National Party' or BNP. For  those of  our readership outside of the UK, they are nothing more than thugs of the traditional far right (& have 2 MEP's). Last week, their 'youth wing'  released this video (I'm not going to link via YouTube as I refuse to give such an odious polity, which makes me sick, a visible platform on my blog).As my helpful guide of anti-semitism & anti-zionism showed [here], Jew haters will often camouflage their racism with the term 'anti-zionism' but it pretty much one and the same thing, although nowadays they will often attack Islam and ignore Jews (at least in propaganda), but in this video the mask  has slipped. We see the full vent of their  bigotry, angst and anger against society, whose ills are the fault of the following groups  - 

• "militant homosexuals"
• "cultural marxists", 
• "banksters", 
• "heartless Zionists",
• "capitalists"
• " the media", 
• "UK immigration policy" 

. As Jake Wallis Simons of the Daily Telegraph noted* -

"Earlier this week, BNP Youth released a campaign video entitled Fight Back (above). It is in equal part worrying and comical. Beginning with music that evokes a Death Star fascist aesthetic, it is presented by a handful of (white) teenagers, all of whom look awkward, pimply, nerdy and gauche – the sort of kids who would be stalwart members of the Dungeons and Dragons society if they hadn't been quite so politically aware. And the message they promote, which targets "militant homosexuals", "cultural marxists", bankers, "heartless Zionists", the media, UK immigration policy and (bizarrely) Doreen Lawrence, comes across as little more than unreconstructed fascism."

Thankfully according to the latest polls, this party is heading toward welcome oblivion. But we must always be on guard against such bigotry. I only hope that UKIP isn't anything other than a more 'respectable'  outlet for such radical views, especially after the Farrage meltdown on Friday. 

Time will tell. 

It always does.


* Hannah made a brief skirmish into the comments. She was too nice with the BNP supporters on Jake's blog.

Where is your 'inner bitch' Hannah? 

Jurassic Judaism!

Via the BBC -

"Fossilised bones of a dinosaur believed to be the largest creature ever to walk the Earth have been unearthed in Argentina, palaeontologists say.
Based on its huge thigh bones, it was 40m (130ft) long and 20m (65ft) tall.
Weighing in at 77 tonnes, it was as heavy as 14 African elephants, and seven tonnes heavier than the previous record holder, Argentinosaurus."

But of course, this doesn't stop people from denying that dinosaurs ever existed; in 0.31 google seconds I came up with 1,220,000 internet articles about 'dinosaurs didn't exist'. More interesting than this  was that some sites suggesting that they are a conspiracy theory to 'prove' evolution. OK, I guess if people wish not to believe in facts  & even though, as the picture shows below it is pretty conclusive that dinosaurs did exist that is up to them.

                                                                   Pause .Oy vey !

For us Orthodox Jews and for the thinking person of any faith, I'd suggest the Judaism & religious belief  has always been compatible, if not comfortable,  with science. Our great Rabbi Maimonides  noted that  seeming conflicts between science and the Bible arise from either a lack of scientific knowledge or a misunderstanding of the Bible; furthermore that  science is one of the primary paths to knowing God which is the reason why the Bible commences with a description of creation . Indeed Chazal of the Talmud always viewed Torah knowledge in light of prevailing scientific theory.

Secondly there is possible reference in the Torah  dinosaurs, as it says: "And God created the giant Tanin" (Genesis 1:21). What is a Tanin? In Exodus 7:10, when Moses throws down his staff before Pharaoh, it turns into a "Tanin," translated as a "snake." Thus a Tanin is in the reptile family. They are also the only creatures in the creation account referred to as "giant," and indeed, dinosaurs were the largest creatures ever to walk the earth. What happened to them? The Talmud (Baba Batra 74b) says that God caused the extinction of the giant Tanin soon after their creation, because had the Tanin been fruitful and multiplied, the world would not have been able to endure before them. And as we know the dinosaurs became extinct, although there are various theories (asteroid, climate change etc) as to why this occurred. 

Huge, fearsome & magnificent creatures that they were, dinosaurs can't possibly be a threat to the religious Jew. As G-d's creations, they are another example of His wondrous might. There's nothing to be afraid of in acknowledging the fact of dinosaurs or learning about them.

'This Jew died for you' - a Jews for Jesus - crap video

Hey all,

A Christian I know enthusiastically sent me a note about this one called 'This Jew died for you', as done by the Jews for Jesus organisation, saying it really explained Jesus as a Jew and why we needed to believe in him. I'm not going to put this video up, as I have no desire to give a free add to a group I have no time for. This video has been doing to rounds since Passover  when it was released on you tube, link here. So far it  has got thousands of comments and a million hits.

With all due respect to our Christian and non Jewish readers, I have to say what the fuck do these people think they are playing at? This has to be the shittiest and most crassest video our friends Jews for Jesus have yet come up with, surely? It isn't just that the acting is appalling, but  the fact you have Jesus carrying a cross into a concentration camp actually highlights the fact that to Christians he is not 'Just another Jew'  or else historically,  Christians wouldn't have gone around accusing Jews of killing him, thinking up blood libels and arranging expulsions of Jewish communities, whenever there was something up & a Jewish scapegoat needed to be found.

I disagree with the message anyways, but it is like, do they really think they'll convert anyone with vids like this? A dude is tempted to say 'as you were', because vids like this will stop them in their tracks as it such a crappy, shitty, vid, which might make them feel better, but will have no success in converting anyone. 

Has Dawkins gone over to the religious ?

Who I'll be voting for in the Euro Elections

Who knows if this will be a protest vote on my behalf or something more permanent. But as a lifelong conservative, I am stick to the back teeth of this current Conservative party -Liberal Democrat coalition.  So when we get to vote for the British representation in the Reichstag the European Parliament, the  'fig leave of democracy' in the Euro leviathan,  on the 22nd May , here's why (& then who) I shall be voting for - 

1. Duncan Smith. I cannot abide his extreme right wing views when it comes to poverty, welfare reform and the Daily Mail esque smearing of anyone in receipt of welfare as scroungers. The attitude on food banks (the very bloody fact that a FIRST WORLD country has sodding food banks in the first place is a utter disgrace upon the nation)  just made me sick. If you create a policy, which then has consequences you should be there in the House defending it , not scuttling off  or refusing to respond to criticism. 

2. I simply don't trust David Cameron and Nick Clegg went back on his biggest pledge- NOT raising tuition fees for university, which has fit our family financially .

3. I'm fed up generally with what is called the ' liberal urban metropolitan elite' (I might be urban and metropolitan myself, but I'm not liberal and I'm not an elite), condescending to any one who disagrees with their outlook as a Neanderthal bigot. Conservatives who have loyally served the party, never get listen to and it is time they responded to this and the broader feeling in the country.

4. Gay Marriage- No, no, no, no! I'm  fed up of people saying that anyone who has a traditional or religious outlook on marriage as being bigoted (see point 3). Even worse is the fact that a conservative government has done this , when it was never pledged before the election and the fact that it has clearly been done to 'detoxify' the apparently 'bigoted' Tory brand. (which is strange because conservatives accepted the established compromise of civil partnerships.  

5. Numerous bungling policies, not least has been Cameron's outmanoeuvre by the SNP, which could see the break up of our country 

6. George Osbourne - I've seen too much of his smugness 

7. Europe - the EU gets more dictatorial by the day. For our own sake, we need to leave this behemoth and leave it to the  French. 

8. The constant cutting of the defence forces has left us extremely vulnerable to attack

9. HS2- we don't need another railway that does bugger all, except to funnel state funding money to certain businesses.

10. The conservative party needs to listen to the people and undertake sensible, popular policies, which look after jobs, create wealth for all, not for a narrow few. 

So.... I shall be  protest voting UKIP : 

A knock at the door

Hello All,

This is my first blog post here, I hope it will be one of many...

Yesterday, as I was giving the house a thorough clean in time for Passover, there was a knock at the door. Who could this be, at 11 in the morning? It turned out to be two old ladies from the local C of E Church. Me being the good Jewish girl that I am, decided to invite them into the home and offer them a cup of tea or coffee. One we'd settled down, they came to the purpose of their visit. They were collecting throughout the Parish for.... a donation to their Church, specifically to repair their organ (that is the musical instrument). Whilst I knew that there was going to be a campaign to repair the Church organ, I politely declined the offer, explaining that as a Jew I did not feel that I could donate money which  was for the specific benefit of another religion and its worship. That didn't go down well, 'but' spluttered one of them 'the Church is the centre of the community and a beautiful building; it benefits everyone in the Parish' .

I've got to admit at that point, I sort of saw of red mist. You see I do, as a way of helping a friend in our town, who is also the Secretary of the Church, type up the minutes of the last Annual General Meeting of the Church (I do have sympathy, you see for a Mrs Hubbard type,  70 year old woman with chronic arthritis).   I couldn't quite see the logic here given that the membership of said Church is all of  50 people (out of a population of 3,000). And this is where I kinda lost it and told them that  if they had more members then they might be able to afford the repair themselves or perhaps if their own relatively affluent membership donated more than 50p per week per head to the Church, then they wouldn't need to beg off others. Needless to say they made a quick exit from my house soon after. I do feel guilty in some ways, but then I do think my point was a fair one. 

Shortly after there was another knock on the door. Oy, what is going on. This time a young women in her twenties and a middle aged women, I noticed they'd got Bibles & leaflets in their hands. At this rate I thought, I'll need another kettle. But, I thought it is raining and it wouldn't be very Jewish to slam the door in their faces. So much to their surprised and I think delight they got ushered in to our living room. So what were they knocking my door for? They were Bible believing Christians from a growing (200 members plus) Church from the bigger town by us, from something along the lines of the ' free evangelist church of Jesus the risen saviour'. They were in the neighbourhood, to invite people to a  Passover meal & presentation of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Great. 

I said, well I am a Jew, who is going to be celebrating the start of Passover next Monday evening, in my own home and therefore had the real deal .I was hoping they'd be a bit more clued to the fact that they were coming to a Jewish household as I deliberately put my Menorah in the window and of course we have a mezuzah right by the door bell (!). I guess they don't teach that at Bible school, I mused. Their eyes lit up and they asked if I had ever considered learning about Jesus in the Old Testament and how he fulfilled all of the Jewish prophecies ? I said that I had no idea why they were knocking on my door, but even if I had of know I would still have let them into my house, because  it was cold, wet and windy outside and as they looked like they had already had several doors slammed in their faces , that I should do the Jewish thing and welcome them into my house for a bit of refreshment. I pointed to their Bibles and said that this was as Biblical as they were, in Leviticus 19, 33 to 34  & as to why I could not be a Christian, Deuteronomy 10, 17 to 19 among other places. I did say to them I would be happy to discuss with them at length an essay I had written a couple of years ago whist I was reading my  MA : why I am a Jew and not a Christian. Needless to say, we got into a bit of a heated discussion. They couldn't quite grasp the fact that I had as much knowledge about their Bible as they did, which  flummoxed them and they left the house as quickly as they could , which disappointed me as we'd only covered Isaiah 53,  let alone going on to a critique of 'Hebrews', salvation and St Paul, among other things.

 I received visits from two different types of Christians. Musing about this is  important because I still live in what is overwhelming a white middle class 'christian' area. I live in what is still technically a national Christian state,so that will always be the predominate culture of the UK*. Therefore to a Jew,who will always be a minority in the UK, important to know what is going on within Christianity as this has an impact upon our faith and fortunes as well. To me I saw that one  group seemed to be entirely wrapped up in their own world, but entirely confident that someone else should be picking up the tab for their Church. The other group was outward looking, but again entirely confident that someone else would just automatically accept whatever they had to say at face value and without comment and getting a tad upset at the challenge. I'm not sure whether or not either approach was particularly effective. I do know that Christianity in all of its forms is certainly not dying in the UK. Rather, perhaps it is shifting and changing. As the C of E withers into discussions, often byzantine e.g. 'saving the organ' at a local level, or the obsessions with women Vicars and gay marriage at a national level, there are other, younger and confident denominations that are taking its place. So I don't buy this baloney about the Christian Church dying in the UK. It is merely a matter of change. 

*mythology about Islam aside- I doubt that the majority of the English would ever be truly comfortable ever adopting that religion, although I accept it will be a large minority of the population in years to come, which brings  problems and issues as well.

Dave's helpful table of Anti-semitism vs Anti-Zionism

I've often been accused of 'cynically' conflating the term Judaism with Zionism, which is utter bull... but, but do Anti-semites and Anti -Zionists have anything in common. Let me be helpful , ecumenical and set the record straight  : 

Explanation	Anti-Semitism	Anti-Zionism
Official Definition	Hatred of Jews	Hatred of the Jewish state
What do its most vociferous proponents ultimately want	Physical destruction of the entire Jewish race	Physical destruction of the entire Jewish state
What is the core belief	The Jews are the root cause of most suffering in the world	The Jewish state is the root cause of most suffering in the world
What it based on	The singling out and demonization of Jews – and Jews alone - based on a set of complete lies about the political, economic, social and religious behaviour of Jews	The singling out and demonization of the Jewish state – and the Jewish state alone - based on a set of complete lies about the political, economic, social and religious behaviour of the Jewish state
How is it currently sustained	Continued and incessant lies about Jews – much of it emanating from Muslim countries - promulgated in the media and on the web – that is rarely if ever challenged	Continued and incessant lies about the Jewish State – much of it emanating from Muslim countries - promulgated in the media and on the web– that is rarely if ever challenged
Typical media presentation	Cartoons of big fat Jews who control the world and eat non-Jewish babies; cartoons of Jews killing non-Jewish children.	Cartoons of big fat Jews who control the world and eat non-Jewish babies; cartoons of Jewish soldiers killing Arab children
Who currently are the most virulent proponents	Muslims,  left-wing political activists, Black panthers, right-wing extremists, racists, self-hating Jews In Muslim countries Pew surveys report 96% of the population ‘hate Jews’	Muslims,  left-wing political activists, Black panthers, right-wing extremists, racists, self-hating Jews In Muslim countries Pew surveys report 98% of the population ‘hate Israel’
Most common beliefs	Jews are baby-killers;        Jews bake the blood of Christian children in their Passover matzos;         Jews did 9/11  The Jews control America, Britain, France (add any country you like, including even Arab ones) like  The Jews control the world banking system, the United Nations (add any international organization you like)	Zionists are baby-killers;       Zionists bake the blood of Arab children in their Passover matzos;          Zionists did 9/11          Zionists control America, Britain, France (add any country you like, including even Arab ones) like         Zionists control the world banking system, the United Nations (add any international organization you like)
Typical everyday behaviour	Criticizing Jews for certain character traits (such as meanness, aggressiveness, deviousness) that are actually far more prominent in all other ethnic and religious groups       Criticising  Jews for their genuinely good character traits (such as intelligence and business acumen) as in ‘The Jews use these traits to trick and steal from non-Jews’	Criticizing the Jewish State for certain character traits (such as meanness, aggressiveness, deviousness) that are actually far more prominent in all other countries         Criticizing Jews for their genuinely good character traits (such as intelligence and business acumen) as in ‘The Zionists use these traits to trick and steal from the Arabs’
More ‘active’ behaviour	Boycott Jewish businesses; vandalise Jewish-owned shops and their products, including  daubing Swastikas and Stars of David.	Boycott Jewish owned Israeli businesses; vandalise Jewish-owned Israeli shops and their products, including  daubing Swastikas and Stars of David.
What especially angers proponents	·         Jews defending themselves from attack;  ·         Any Jewish success in science and culture	·         The Jewish state defending itself from attack; ·         Any Israeli success in science and culture
What they have never heard of or must never be mentioned	The total destruction of Jewish communities in Muslim lands after the establishment of Israel	The total destruction of Jewish communities in Muslim lands after the establishment of Israel
Beliefs about the Holocaust	The holocaust is largely a myth perpetuated to gain sympathy for Israel	The holocaust is largely a myth perpetuated to gain sympathy for Israel. The only real holocaust was committed by Zionists against the Palestinians
About the killing of Jews by the Nazis	If it happened at all it was a natural reaction against Jewish crimes	If it really happened then the Jews must have had it coming to them. After all Zionism equals Nazism.
About the killing of Jews by Arab terrorists	If it really happens then the Jews must have had it coming to them	If it happens at all it is a natural reaction against Zionist crimes
About violence generally	Jews are legitimate targets for violence	Zionist Jews are legitimate targets for violence
Who are their heroes	Hitler -  because he “stood up to the Jews”	Saddam Hussein, Ahmedinejad and any other Muslim bigot you can think of – because they “stood up to the JewsZionists”
Mandatory reading	Protocols of the Elder of Zion, anything by Gilad Atzmon	Protocols of the Elder of Zion, anything by Gilad Atzmon
Most hated thing in the whole world	The State of Israel	The State of Israel

The onward March of the feckin' scary PC brigade...

Brother Sam here,

Via  the BBC : 

The Welsh Assembly wants to BAN the public smoking of 'e cigarettes ' i.e. the device that look like a fag, gives one his nicotine boost, but produces harmless water vapour ?!? Oh for the love of sanity, is there NO  end to the  onward march of politically correct loons????

UPDATE, Friday 4/4/2013, 12.28pm -

Apparently the UK government is going to BAN branded tobacco products. The onward march of a nanny state! Scary, really scary.

The 6 Principles of Atheism

Below are what I call the '6 statements and Mantras of atheism', which are 9 times out of 10 banded around by atheists online and offline : 

1. Religion is homophobic, sexist and racist 
2. You pick and choose what you want from your religion
3. The religious are always seeking "special treatment" in respect of their faith;The religious should just go away into a locked room
4. Religion is unscientific and not appropriate for the modern day world 
5. The Bible is an evil book about god- endorsed genocide and has nothing to offer the world
6. Kosher slaughter is barbaric and male circumcision is child abuse

Is it just me or can one see the irony here, that atheists have a creed or statement of belief themselves, even as they bash other religions ?  I do, of course, have my own replies about these statements, but I'd be intrigued to see what the readers think of these.

Feel free to discuss the 'holy six', whether you agree or not  and to add to the list ,in the comments section.

A note on Kosher slaughter

One of the challenges that the Orthodox community faces is the current campaign against Jewish ritual slaughter which, along with male circumcision, is one of the targets of the so-called enlightened liberal brigade, especially bodies such as the national secular society. Indeed a couple of weeks ago one of Britain's leading vets also got into the act as well, thus forcing David Cameron to publicly confirm that he would not be seeking to legislation to ban Kosher slaughter in the UK (to the Israeli Knesset).

What absolutely and utterly gets on my wick, is that we have a bunch of people (the National Secular Society)  who go around and say religion shouldn't interfere with society or politics, and yet here we have a group that wishes to poke its nose into a religious practise and belief. Secondly, it seems to me that  when discussing ritual slaughter, people portray our religion as being anti-animal welfare, which is the biggest load of cock ever .The  is a Jewish concept of 'Tza'ar Ba'alei Chayim', that is regarding cruelty to animals which is prohibited under Jewish law, this says a great deal about looking after animals, as various Biblical quotes indicate. I'd say that this is one thing opponents of Kosher slaughter in the the National Secular Society and other lobby groups, don't quite grasp, that Judaism has always taken animal welfare seriously, long, long before the west started to legislated against animal cruelty (Jews are even forbidden to hunt for sport), so I spot the rich irony here of animal rights activists jumping up and down about the 'barbarity' of Kosher slaughter. 

In terms of why we do not 'stun' animals, the most straightforward & blunt approach is to say that for us these methods of slaughter were divinely given teachings to us, from G-d via Moses, to follow for all time and as understood and explained in our Oral Torah and the vast bulk of Jewish legal opinion throughout the centuries. But OK if you are not Jewish then this argument means nothing, but there is also a secular argument to put forward a well, which I will now discuss.

In respect of stunning, the difficulty for us here is that we cannot eat an animal that has been injured before slaughter and stunning is seen as injuring an animal. In respect of stunning itself, I’d say that there is no guarantee that the animal is being rendered insensible to pain, the animal could in fact be only part paralysed, so all you are seeing is the animal being unable to express its pain .Furthermore sometimes stunning fails and means the animal has to be re-stunned which doubtless increases the animal’s suffering and this in what will be an extremely stressing ‘mechanical’ environment for the animal; whereas in Jewish Kosher slaughter, this is less mechanical as it is done by hand, by a trained professional called a shochet (who has to follow various rules of the method of slaughter). Shechita avoids these problems, as there are no mechanical or electrical appliances that can go wrong. The Schechita produces an effective and irreversible stun as well as being humane and efficient slaughter method.

Of course, I suspect most of this will fall of deaf ears.Most of the time, people don't bother with facts, but leap on the anti-religious bandwagon, which is a pity, given that the claim to authority by secularists is one of rationality, fact checking and erudite logic...

Clowns who are utterly terrifying : left/liberal steamroller

OK, perhaps I might be guilty of a few little strawmen here, but what do I mean by 'left/liberal ideological steamroller'? When I write about this I mean the types who frequent 'Comment is  Free' on the Guardian, but could also mean liberal democrats, labour politicians and the general world view of the modern elite (Tory party included), often fulled by a militant atheism which automatically sees all religion as 'bad', even as they advocate some atrocious things themselves. At least that's how it is here in Britain. Now we could dismiss  these people as poltroonish clowns, but their policies are equally frightening; besides which the lunatics have taken over the philosophical & governmental  asylum and if religious people 'pick and choose', then we've learned it from this first, as they are the world's worst, at least when it comes to trying to practically work through who might be called a 'liberal' outlook. 

I'll give a few examples of conversions I've had with such people: 

1. As a liberal I believe in freedom of religion... 

-Kosher slaughter is a barbaric treatment of animals and should be banned 

-Male circumcision is child mutilation and should be banned

-Religions shouldn't be involved in politics, keep it at home , but it's OK to be an atheist and put forward a political view on that basis 

-Religions that opposed gay adoption are homophobic and should loose charitable status

- The Church of England needs to 'get with the programme'  re women Bishops despite deciding to vote against it themselves. 

2.  Capital Punishment is state sanctioned murder and therefore wrong...

-Abortion is a  right  of women in any circumstances

-Assisted suicide is right, as people have the right to do what they want with their life 

- Suicide is a right  and if people want to take their life, it is up to them

-I support  euthanasia and living wills 

3.  conservatives are all  far right swivel eyed  and or Nazi type loons...

-Conservatives just don't think rationally about anything 

-Israel is an apartheid state and needs to be boycotted/shouldn't exist 

-Non of the policies of the above were ever considered or implemented by far right states, as I'm rational and the Nazis never argued they did what they did because of rationality.

- Conservatives are homophobic, racist and sexist, it doesn't matter if they introduced same sex marriage, that the fist Jewish , that the first female Prime Ministers were from the conservative fold.

I could go on, but I'd be here all day... isn't the self satisfaction and self- contradictions utter terrifying ?