



http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/haveyoursay/ ... ttack.html
A sampling of the comments:
1. At 11:21am on 01 Dec 2010, The Bloke wrote:
There is a kind of institutional racism here.
People are allowed to attack and laugh at christianity, but not at other religions, especially islam.
Treat all religions, including islam, with the disdain and ridicule they deserve, rather than singling out christianity.
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2. At 11:40am on 01 Dec 2010, Bauer wrote:
It seems so. We see a lot of these reports especially in the tabloids that seems like it is ok for any religion to preach and do or wear what they want but christians are singled out time and time again.
People need to realise that this is a majority christian nation. We have bank holidays to recognise easter and christmas and those people should be able to celebrate it the way they want, and wear any religious symbol of their choosing.
The main problem is that we don't want to risk offending "the muslims" they seem to get all the bad press these days and most of it probably undeserved but what everyone needs to remember is that these christian traditions are a bigger part of our culture than anything else and they need to be upheld and respected. No other country in the world does this. Most other countries go by the opinion that this is our culture and we are proud of it, if you don't like it then you know where the door is.
Having said that I think all religion is a bit... well I mean come on. I personally don't believe in God, just like I don't believe in father christmas and I believe these religious texts to be nothing more than work of fiction. But it certainly does not offend me that people want to celebrate their faith, so why should they not be allowed to in this (once again) majority christian nation.
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3. At 11:41am on 01 Dec 2010, thewiz wrote:
I agree with The Bloke (1). You only have to look at this site to see there is no religion section and no church news, despite this being a 'christian country'. Compare that with most of the main news sites representing the UK.
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4. At 11:45am on 01 Dec 2010, Natman wrote:
All faiths are under 'attack' - it's called reason.
Christianity has long had a persecution complex about this, as if somehow it's being singled out. When you're the biggest and most visible icon of an out-dated superstition then you need to expect more arguments against your ancient dogma and rituals.
I feel discriminated against for being an atheist - I don't get my special events celebrated as a public holiday, I don't have unelected representation in the House of Lords like the Anglican Church does and no one is expected to give my opinions special treatment in case I get offended.
By all means, allow anyone from any religion the right to be outspoken about their faith. But they have to expect that if they do, those who disagree with their beliefs have every right to point, disagree and possibly laugh at their fantastical ideas.
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5. At 11:45am on 01 Dec 2010, ChaosMagick wrote:
Chritainity is not under attack.
More accurately, it's just that Christianity or religious faith in general is no longer an acceptable excuse or a reasonable justification to be bigoted or prejudicial to others.
This is why we need to live a purely secular society similar to what they have in France or the rest of Northern Europe. For this reason, we should abolish the so-called "conscience clause" that enables health workers from doing the job they were employed to do.
If a persons deeply-held beliefs (whatever they are) makes them unemployable then that is a problem for them (and them alone) and they may wish to re-examine their beliefs, revising or dropping those that are stupid, intolerant or unnecessary.
It is not a problem for society or anyone else anymore than it would be if someone voluntarily joined the army and then refused to fight because of their "pacifist convictions" - it would not be tolerated there and it should be tolerated in any other form of employment.
Either do the job you have been employed to do or make room for those who can.