ABERDEEN in Scotland either has a very small mosque, or a very large Muslim population.
At any rate, when the Rev Isaac Poobalan saw that a bunch of them had spilled out of the neighbouring mosque, and were forced to offer their arses to Allah in the snow, he invited them into pray in his Episcopalian church – St John’s – which now has hundreds of Mohammedans using the main hall and chapels for prayer each week.
The Rev Poobalan pictured with two local Muslims
Unfortunately, Poobalan chose to publicise his open-door policy on Facebook – and was hit by a barrage of abuse from outraged commenters, most of whom appear to be Christians.
One user said that the church was “sharing Christ’s table with Satan”. Another predicted a “flood” of Muslims moving to Aberdeen to convert the church into a mosque and said Rev Poobalan needed to be given the “boot” before it was too late.
Another posted:
I would leave this so called ‘church’”. Allah is Satan, and no God.
But a defiant Poobalan said he would not sever his relationship with the nearby Crown Street Mosque.
I keep seeing these Facebook comments coming up on my email account, but I will not back down. We have developed a relationship with the mosque and we will not be breaking that up. These people have reacted spontaneously, but over time I hope they will change their minds.
He added:
There is a huge religious cultural gap between the two, and if it takes time for them to be brought together then that’s the way it is. With our media culture these days one can easily make comments and respond to things instantaneously, you just have to live with it.
One user even criticised Rev Poobalan for being a Good Samaritan to just be “liked” and said there was nothing “courageous” in his actions.
Rev Poobalan insisted he was not interested in a popularity contest.
What governed my human response was the Christian teaching ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ and that was honestly my first thought, ‘I have to help them as a neighbour’. Jesus Christ wasn’t one who wanted to be liked and I don’t expect people to like me or the Church for what we do.
Those people don’t know what Rev Poobalan (can that possibly be a real name?) knows; The enemies of the christians are we atheists not the muslims – after all birds of a feather you know!
Sorry, this is OT but I just couldn’t let it go unnoticed. A TV advertisement promoting condom use in Kenya, a country where 1.6 million people are living with HIV, has been withdrawn after an outcry by – yes, you guessed it – religious leaders.
My blood pressure regularly goes through the roof when I read some of the madness that so-called religious leaders spout, but this one is beyond the feckin’ pale. They really, genuinely don’t care one toss for people. It’s all about their lousy bloody dogma!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21859665
AC, it is worth noting the complaints were made jointly by christian and islamic groups to stop that ad. They are happy to stop fighting each other when they can group together to cause more misery for the rest of the world.
A Christian leader engages in an act of kindness, resulting in a barrage of abuse and complain from Christians. But you can’t be good without god!
Ah, AC, but they ain’t that prissy in South Africa:
http://www.timeslive.co.za/africa/2010/09/26/sa-s-first-all-black-safe-sex-blue-movie
JohnMWhite
You can’t be good without God?
Morals pre-date religion. Otherwise homo-sapiens wouldn’t have made it this far.
You uneducated religiot!
Why do atheists make up less of the prison population in virtually every country pro-rata? We have values we believe in, not that are forced on us by a god.
@JohnMWhite If your post was ironic, my apologies for calling you a religiot.
Er, Shane. I think that was sarcasm.
I wouldn’t have done what Reverend Poo did. If I saw a bunch of weirdos banging their heads on an icy pavement I’d just turn around and walk quickly away.
Reverend Isaac Poobalan:
Clean observed paranoia
OT: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/03/22/death-of-trans-teacher-lucy-meadows-prompts-calls-for-daily-mail-to-sack-richard-littlejohn/
Believe it or not, Littlesense was nominated Columnist of the Year for his “acclaimed twice weekly column” at the Press Awards in February!
(Actually, he’s very smart, whether he believes any of what he writes of not. At least they have withdrawn the offending article now.)
It is great entertainment watching the religious slag off each other; all that christian love. I expect the christian nutters are worried that if they invite in few muslims, then – as is often the case with religious spaces – the muslims will take over.
I love the dotty logic that people who are worshipping the same Abrahamic god, but in the wrong way, are really worshipping the devil. The last tweet but one on this post, that automatically casts the followers of a rival religion as enemies that are going to cut your head off, is interesting too.
The cross on top the spire will soon be replaced with the star and crescent emblem of the most hideous hateful ruthless murderous criminal divisive mindless religion humans have ever invented.
barriejohn,
‘At least they have withdrawn the offending article now.’
Actually they have deleted all the articles in which he abused and bullied her. Like it never happened.
Try holding holy communion in a mosque and see what happens – rioting likely followed by some hair trigger hysterical violence. Maybe justin wellby can go bang on a mosque door with his fancy stick. You just know what the outcome would be.
Aren’t Muslims enthusiastic killers of Christians who live in Muslim countries? There,of course, they have the power.
Sorry, folks – OT again.
However, I’m glad to report it has been yet another bad day for the Christian Legal Centre and the ever-lovely Andrea Minichiello Williams. (Wouldn’t you think they might have learnt by now?)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21894518
AC, glad to see it, worth being OT at times. It should also be noted in any further trials the latest paper printed by proper scientists (I have posted it somewhere on here) that shows there are definite genetic factors that effect people’s sexuality.
Bigots like AMW and her friends will have to accept that being gay is about as curable as my haemophilia.
Andrea Mini-Cello says the view from Wonderland is just beautiful:
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/03/22/christian-legal-centre-high-court-anti-gay-bus-ruling-is-a-victory-for-christian-freedom/
Note that it’s the atheists who are being hateful!
And Julie Burchill escapes censure:
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/03/22/comment-julie-burchill-the-message-she-is-sending-to-trans-people-and-aspiring-writers/
barriejohn
As we all know, Andrea Mini-Cello would happily sell her grandmother if she thought it would advance her despicable xtian cause. No need to bother with the truth, smoke and mirrors is what she deals in. Defeat is victory. Humiliation is honour. She also has a pretty outstanding track record of chucking away tens of the thousands of pounds of her backers’ money on lost causes.
AM-C is clearly an utterly incompetent and hapless CEO. As such I hope she stays in the job until the day there are no more xtians to defend.
Wasn’t the Rev Poobalan in the Lion King?
The commenter who said that Islam is devil-worship could have pointed out that:
Isaac Poobalan = Oo! Baal’s in a cap!
I am very sad to see my post was taken seriously. I blame a lack of Religious Education. :p
The Julie Burchill story is rather perplexing and demonstrates precisely why I think we need a real regulatory body to control the press. I’m all in favour of press freedom and I am leery about any government agency getting to tell them what they cannot say, but the UK press have purposefully shat the bed. It’s time they were put in nappies. The PCC is nothing more than a band of toothless collaborators giving a veneer of legitimacy to their friends’ vicious and vindictive antics.
@stokebruernehuman: The answer is simple: the vicar should bring in a brazier and cook bacon and eggs as breakfasts for the homeless. No aggressive islamist is going to want to use the place as a mosque thereafter. Moderates may well abide by his hospitality, of course.
Matt, slightly different religion but you made me think of the hyprocrisy in some of the ant-pig brigades. I used to work with a jew and she was happy to have a bacon roll whenever we went over the local cafe but as soon as her son was born she had him hacked about in the name of her god.
Personally, if I was religious and going to disobey one of the laws, it would be the one about mutilating my children.
@sailor1031
“The enemies of the christians are we atheists not the muslims – after all birds of a feather you know!”
No, Moslems are far more dangerous to Christians than atheists and have been for the past 1400 years, in fact Islam is liberal democracy’s worst enemy and consequently threatens all other religions and atheists alike.
The Rev Poobalan is a naive “useful idiot”.
Having read the Burchill article I cannot understand how such a thing saw the light of day. It is a parody of a Youtube comment. I am far from trigger happy when it comes to removing people from gainful employment but if this landed on my desk and it wasn’t April 1st I would have fired her on the spot and would have considered calling a doctor to discussion her being sectioned.
Burchill appears to have a very unhealthy chip on her shoulder and a profound paranoia targeted towards transgendered and disabled persons, as well as a serious inferiority complex and insecurity over her education and background. She depicts anybody who identifies with feminism but is not entirely like her as a sub-human parasite riding her menstrual-cramping coattails to the glory of misogynistic persecution. This article is not merely a hateful hand grenade hurled into a crowd of various vulnerable peoples, it is a flare lighting up in a bright cry for help. Much could be made of her obsession with cutting off dicks, too.
Armchair psychology aside, this article’s badness in quality and in content are striking and its presence in a national newspaper is egregious. The entire premise is childish and the execution unashamedly spiteful. This woman hates those who are transgendered and/or disabled, and makes it clear they and their concerns are to be dismissed, suggesting they are just like murderers in a fit of pique over her friend being aggressively treated after aggressively refusing to apologise for a thoughtless remark.
The best part is she sticks a plug for her book in this article that is causing so much controversy. Convenient.