Comments on: Christian Institute outraged over Pauline Howe ‘slur’ on Channel 4 TV

By: British barrister helps feed US loonsâ€™ paranoia over ‘Christian bashing’

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:20:26 +0000

[...] the way, Christian Channel CBN lost no time in pouncing on the story of Pauline Howe, the mad Norwich cow who almost got her collar felt by the local rozzers after she set out to [...]

By: randy

randy — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:19:09 +0000

I think all those domestic violence adverts and ‘sex abuse’ adverts stir up hatred towards ‘men’.

But it seems that ‘men’ can be demonised all you like – and no-one protests.

Only privileged groups must be protected from ‘hate speech’.

By: Bigot of the Week « Rabid Atheist

Bigot of the Week « Rabid Atheist — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:50:11 +0000

[...] First on the list is Pauline Howe a ‘concerned’ (read whinging whining) Christian from Norwich (ie the most backward inbred part of the UK) who has been writing vitriolic homophobic hate-filled letters to her local council by the dozen as well as picketing gay pride parades screaming at the nice gays and lesbians and showing her Christian side fully (ie hate filled rhetoric from a book of fairy tales written 2000 years ago by bronze age sheep shaggers…mmm sounds very Norwich). Well the poor old dear got a visit from the Police because of the hatred in her unending supply of letters to the Council and is now moaning how hard done by she is and how the council overacted by reporting her for hate crimes. Sorry love you spew that kind of stuff you deserve being locked up in my humble opinion. More about the odious smelly old bat here [...]

By: Tim Danaher

Tim Danaher — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:18:40 +0000

Yes. Yes I absolutely do want to give up my freedom of speech to prevent this from ever happening again.

Wat the FUCK are you talking aboot?

By: Trevor Blake

Trevor Blake — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:36:44 +0000

Is your anti-superstition ranting bound to manifest itself in rationality? Then why are there still theists? Is religion’s ranting bound to manifest itself in superstition? Then how did you become a freethinker? The majority of music is about love – does it make you love when you hear it daily your entire life? Does school make you smart and lack of school make you dumb?

Hate speech laws are the very opposite of freethinking. If it were true exposure to a hateful pamphlet (or Bible or Quran) could make you do anything, there would be no atheism. If I could write in such a way to control others I’d be a bit more wealthy than I am now. Speech and thought and inquiry are either free or not. I expect better, and so far have always got it, from The Freethinker.

I advocate the withering away of superstition under the twin suns of reason and scorn.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:19:31 +0000

An old lady handed out leaflets and was verbally abusive and wrote a nasty letter.

You want to give up your freedom of speech to prevent this?

Not like she was tossing cats at people, get a grip.

We have a human rights board in Canada set up by a bunch of we
know better folks in the 70s, turns out it violates every prinicple
of justioe since magna carta. We are currentl finally getting rid
of it.

BTW, pride parades can be gross, seen one once, and i have no
desire to see one again. Basically let them have their parade,
but whats a parade with no audience?

By: Stuart W

Stuart W — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:05:49 +0000

Shargraves, it is absolutely true that whether the church will admit it or not, they do dutifully contribute ill feelings towards gay people in waves even in a ‘PC’ country like this. If a person in power or with at least a fair degree of influence had made the rant that Howe did I would be happy to see them demoted or booted. When it is a Stephen Green’s aunt-type gasping that at a Gay Pride she was told where to shove the anti-gay leaflets she took along, she deserves nothing but mirth and condescending advice to find something better to do.

By: Stuart H.

Stuart H. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:52:41 +0000

If you look at that Channel 4 quote it’s obvious they mean it as a sort of ‘from the obscene (Baynham’s death) to the ridiculous (our batty old cow)’ sumary of the situation.
So is the C.I.’s real beef that John Snow intimated she and her kind are nothing more than crazed halfwits who nobody takes seriously?
Are they upset the Howes of this world will only unite the public in gales of laughter, not a midnight rally with torches and pitchforks?
Incidentally, if (as I suspect) Howe accepted a caution from the police in return for them not taking it further (which would be standard practice for overworked police forced to investigate a pointless complaint which, her letter having been published on a public record, the council were obliged to make) then technically she admitted a crime.
I also mention this because I see a pattern – fervent Christian, usually cash strapped or close to retirement/redundancy makes inflammatory comment to a public body which is bound by law to respond. ‘Coincidentally’ s/he gets national press coverage when they do, ambulance chasing lawyer steams in with compo claim. Matter settled out of court.
Free publicity for right wing zombie chasers, free story that will run and run for papers too idle to look for one…. well, think you get the general picture.

By: barriejohn

barriejohn — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:55:58 +0000

You’re spot on shargraves. I trained as a teacher at Padgate College of Education in Warrington (best days of my life – I should have stayed ‘oop north’!), and did much of my “Teaching Practice” in Catholic schools. What an eye-opener! It was like stepping back in time to the days of Dickens. The general standard of education in the schools tended to be very poor, as was “discipline” – where it existed – and they had a reputation for delinquency amongst the children second to none. The priests used to come in regularly to conduct religious services which lasted half the day (teaching there was a sinecure for non-Catholic staff, of course!), and I remember on one occasion after they had left a particular school, the headmaster had the whole school back again to harangue them because Father O’Malley was VERY disappointed with the paltry amount of money that the kids had contributed to the Vatican’s coffers that day. They had ANOTHER collection the next day, believe it or not – and this in a very poor mining community as well! You couldn’t make it up!!

By: shargraves

shargraves — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:13:01 +0000

oops -

…so blind to how horrendous it is, and how it has appalling consquences in the real world to real people.