en-us http://www.intensedebate.com/users/693145 Comments by Madison_ http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2010/01/climate-change-case-for-inaction.html#IDComment50920260 I'm finding it very difficult to take this post seriously. "The numbers dying of unseasonal cold far outstrip those dying of unseasonal heat." This sort of comment occupies the same intellectual level as John Redwood. Thu, 7 Jan 2010 21:39:13 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2010/01/climate-change-case-for-inaction.html#IDComment50920260 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2010/01/why-am-i-giving-this-man-further.html#IDComment50443903 It's a free country, he can insult whomever he likes. I hope I'm still free to insult him and his silly beliefs. (Oh, maybe I'm not. So maybe it's not a free country any longer.) Tue, 5 Jan 2010 10:25:09 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2010/01/why-am-i-giving-this-man-further.html#IDComment50443903 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2010/01/however-cold-it-gets-this-is-officially.html#IDComment50443714 All the more reason to leave Climate Science to the Climate Scientists. the Met Office is a weather forecasting bureau, not an academic institution. Ignore the politicians and the commercial interests and listen to the Scientists. (Of course, I know that wont happen. We're doomed.) Tue, 5 Jan 2010 10:22:26 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2010/01/however-cold-it-gets-this-is-officially.html#IDComment50443714 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/matters-of-honour.html#IDComment48230534 Good for him. I'm assuming your family were never tied up by a violent intruder. But who knows what we are capable of when the lives of our loved ones are threatened. I'm not so overconfident as to know what I would do, or refrain from doing under such endocrine charged circumstances. Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:36:38 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/matters-of-honour.html#IDComment48230534 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/matters-of-honour.html#IDComment48082168 It is often said of these situations that Adrenaline does not come with an off switch. I recall that in the opening sequence of Porridge the Judge says that Fletcher views imprisonment as an "occupational hazard. Perhaps if a darn good beating with a cricket bat was an occupational hazard burglars would be less inclined to physically abuse their victims in person. Unfortunately a law abiding man has been punished by reacting like a normal human being and loving father. Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:07:00 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/matters-of-honour.html#IDComment48082168 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/matters-of-honour.html#IDComment48080744 Troika, if you are able to rationally and calmly assess a situation and the motives of someone who has broken into your house and tied up your family then I stand in awe of your mental capabilities. Really. Personally, being a lesser human being, I would be gripped with fear and my imagination would run riot. Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:55:34 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/matters-of-honour.html#IDComment48080744 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/loony-left-now-swimming-in-conservative.html#IDComment47434117 "authoritarian in the extreme" I think that an unsubstantiated assertion. Most people accept that it is not authoritarian in the extreme to require you to treat all people equally in respect of the service you provide, Africans, Gays, Accountants, Ginger people and as someone said left-handed midgets. No amount of squealing about scripture is going to help as it carries no weight in secular society. We expect you to treat everyone equally or return the money. Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:07:21 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/loony-left-now-swimming-in-conservative.html#IDComment47434117 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/loony-left-now-swimming-in-conservative.html#IDComment47413102 "The idea of not having to pay business tax being equivalent to receiving State funding seems a little draconian." This is the typical parasitic clerical attitude to tax and benefits. 'Tax is what "other" people pay so I don't have to.' Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:10:23 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/loony-left-now-swimming-in-conservative.html#IDComment47413102 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/loony-left-now-swimming-in-conservative.html#IDComment47375951 I suspect Mann was expecting Conservatives to be conservative and supportive of his tradition. Cameron has wisely reflected the view of the rest of society that there should be no discrimination in provision of services. That Cameron refused to guarantee special privileges to Mann's brand of bigotry merely indicates that Cameron has more important issues to tackle as the next PM. I don't think Cameron wants to intervene in the voluntary sector as Mann implies but merely ensure that everyone in public life behaves in a civilised manner expected of them by the rest of society. The argument from property rights really does fall flat on its face considering the state subsidy of Church property. WE own it, not YOU. The Church cannot even maintain the Cathedrals without turning to the State for handouts. What disappoints me with the religious voice here is the attempt to make discrimination against gay people a matter of conscience akin to abortion when it is quite clear to everyone else that it is more comparable to racial prejudice. Mann's views are repugnant. Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:57:56 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/loony-left-now-swimming-in-conservative.html#IDComment47375951 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/loony-left-now-swimming-in-conservative.html#IDComment47266272 "I wonder if this debate has gone the way Rev. Julian expected." I reckon the Reverend is so convinced of the absolute moral superiority of his opinion, which is also God's, that the opinions of a bunch of heathen commie faggots can be easily dismissed. After all, we're all going to the hot place while he will be rewarded with 72 dark-eyed virgins in paradise. Oh, wait, am I thinking of a different group of bigoted authoritarians? It's so hard to tell the difference. Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:45:34 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/loony-left-now-swimming-in-conservative.html#IDComment47266272 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/loony-left-now-swimming-in-conservative.html#IDComment47213189 "I know it outrages the sensibilities of good secularists that their tax pennies (even notional ones in the form of charity benefits) should go to support opinions they don't agree with." Not if the disagreement is about whether Emmerdale is better than Coronation Street. But when it is about Inter-racial Marriage or Same-Sex Marriage then Yes. Do you really think that Race Discrimination law is "authoritarian" in any negative sense of the word. Tue, 15 Dec 2009 07:43:42 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/loony-left-now-swimming-in-conservative.html#IDComment47213189 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/loony-left-now-swimming-in-conservative.html#IDComment47138022 "I think state funding is a red herring." I disagree. State subsidy, through tax exemption is how these religious organizations continue to operate. I think the matter is inextricably linked with subsidy and would be almost impossible to unpick. I agree that a private organization, such as a Golf Club "acting independently of the state" and paying taxes should be at liberty to decide on whom it employs and whom it offers membership. But not a tax subsidised Church with establishment status. If the Church wishes to retain its privileged status it should reflect the prevailing values of society. Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:58:13 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/loony-left-now-swimming-in-conservative.html#IDComment47138022 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/loony-left-now-swimming-in-conservative.html#IDComment47128763 Rev Julian, I think you may be confused. Left wing politics traditionally concerns itself with collective control of economic affairs, not social affairs. Right wing politics concerns itself with more social affairs and is liberal about economic matters. I'm sure folks here can recommend some basic reading for you if you are interested. As for the gay issues you raise, from the libertarian conservative angle, once the church has become a private club that pays its taxes then you can employ as many homophobes as you like as long as you don't receive any state funding or come into contact with children. Once again we have a Christian claiming special exemptions. Tescos shouldn't get them, and neither should any church. Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:00:14 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/loony-left-now-swimming-in-conservative.html#IDComment47128763 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/thanks-for-lovely-meal.html#IDComment46271334 Was the Vanuatu Tourist Board involved by any chance? Pity they didn't think to hire Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall for the "re-enactment of the fatal event" Tue, 8 Dec 2009 16:54:36 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/thanks-for-lovely-meal.html#IDComment46271334 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/agreeing-with-god.html#IDComment45444847 Wrong about who he is or about who you are? The picture you paint of God might well be described as your conscience. In a fuzzy CofE kind of way can this be the same thing? I think good religion (?) could seek to guide people in how to hear the voice of their conscience/God. Unfortunately, rather than teaching people how to listen, all too often religion seeks to tell people what their conscience/God is saying, reinforcing received opinion until it becomes dogma. The process you describe of reassessing one's beliefs in the light of new evidence and reason is all very well for one such as yourself but you're not like most Christians by a long margin. Tue, 1 Dec 2009 22:38:27 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/12/agreeing-with-god.html#IDComment45444847 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/11/shadow-of-minaret.html#IDComment45374560 @ Indigomyth. I'm finding your analogies unconvincing and somewhat spurious. A person's confectionery choices are not comparable to imposing publicly visible architecture. Can you provide a better example or better reasoned argument? Here's an analogy. Should the residents of a sleepy Cotswold village be permitted to veto the construction of a six story social housing block in the 1970's concrete Brutalist style? Most people would reason that whereas the construction of a social housing block may be necessary its design should conform to some local standards. What do you think? Tue, 1 Dec 2009 09:40:32 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/11/shadow-of-minaret.html#IDComment45374560 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/11/shadow-of-minaret.html#IDComment45285978 I think the Swiss have gone about this the wrong way. They do have a right, as a nation, to protect aspects of their culture such as architecture. I can see how they would want to preserve a Swiss-ness to large or conspicuous buildings and the skyline. Nothing wrong with that. But surely the place for this is discrete planning policy rather than making it a political issue. I wish it were the same here. You can have your Mosque as long as it is in keeping with the surrounding architecture. Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:14:44 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/11/shadow-of-minaret.html#IDComment45285978 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/11/abuse-of-catholicism.html#IDComment44901993 It never ceases to amaze me how much Goodwill the Church has in Ireland and how even an episode such as this has not used it all up. I completely agree that any institution or organization perpetrating these acts of the vilest conspiracy should be dismantled permanently and its leaders prosecuted to the fullest extent. Unfortunately it wont. The conniving, unprincipled charlatans will over time turn this into a positive. Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:22:17 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/11/abuse-of-catholicism.html#IDComment44901993 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/11/saudis-zero-tolerance-approach-to-fake.html#IDComment44817112 It shouldn't be a tricky area. For example, the Catholic church and the CofE still perform exorcisms. As do Shamans, Brujos and Witch-Doctors. I think the churches have a slightly different revenue model but it amounts to the same type of fraud. They justify exorcism by claiming in extreme cases to be helping people in some way but they are not. Telling someone who is seeing demons that they are real and we just need to say some magic words to make them go away isn't ethical, it's enabling. What needs to happen is for the priests to explain that Satan and Demons do not exist and they would be better off consulting a mental health professional. Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:01:36 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/11/saudis-zero-tolerance-approach-to-fake.html#IDComment44817112 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/11/saudis-zero-tolerance-approach-to-fake.html#IDComment44816217 @ H When someone I respect and who holds views similar to mine says something I don't quite understand or I disagree with in some way I suspect that I haven't quite understood a bit or I have something interesting to learn. Hence the occasional probing. Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:50:00 +0000 http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2009/11/saudis-zero-tolerance-approach-to-fake.html#IDComment44816217