Yes, it is! No, it's not!

Scientology? A cult? Hmm - but, despite the opinions of a couple of my betters, I really don't think so.

You see, the term 'religion' is not the only rational alternative to the term 'cult'. And Scientology certainly isn't a religion. It is a deeply unpleasant con-trick, which splits families apart,and was designed by a crappy writer in order to make money more easily than selling books. Which it does do - extremely well. And well enough to pay for lots of lawyers.

It isn't well written sci-fi, either (as you would entirely expect from Hubbard, whose ouvre, frankly, sucks. When you consider that some of the greats of the genre were writing around that time - Asimov, Clarke, Dick, Haldeman - apologies to the rest of the alphabet - or even entirely competent and readable journeymen such as Herbert, Heinlein or 'Doc' Smith - how did Hubbard ever get published?)

However, regardless of the rights or wrongs of the appellation, City of London Police are not doing the job they are expected to. Back to Peel's Principles, Mr Mayor?

Updated to add: The Germans, unusually, have entirely the right idea about how Cruise, his fellow inmates and their criminal warders should be dealt with.

Update 2: H/t to John B who pointed out that it is the Corporation of the City of London, hence the Lord Mayor rather than 'BoJo', who are nominally in charge of these jokers.

Sacreligious Publishing

Okay, I guess that unlike the 25,000¹ ravening bigots whipped into a fury of "peace and tolerance for their fellow man"^(TM), I have watched 'Fitna' and read 'Infidel'. There is some utter crap² around concerning these.

Now, it has to be said that all religions have their utter wackos. Ask any family planning clinic in the US 'Bible Belt'. Or somebody after a drink (or a game of golf) on the Western Isles on a Sunday. However, modern Islam does have its nutters more than a wee bit closer both to the mainstream and to the hairy edge than, for example, Tibetan Buddhists. (Ed notes: And a happy non-violent continuing anti-Olympic protest beating to you in the gulag near Lhasa! And best of British for your protest in SanFran - you ought to have a more favourable policing atmosphere than you did in the Euro-statist capitals of Paris or London.)

Well, Infidel was not a nice story. Ayaan Hirsi Ali has not had a quiet and easy life. An impoverished upbringing of tribal brutality in exile. A violent mother out of place in modern³ society. Endless misogyny and female circumcision⁴. Much of this seemed to be post hoc justified in Islam - but like just the burka, these are tribal customs enforced through female acquiescence to patriarchal stupidity. I was cured of this by reading Germaine at a suitably impressionable age. Islam didn't come out of her childhood too badly - her adults came out appallingly - mother, grandmother (especially) father, brother - a fairly uniform bunch of oxygen thieves. Now, once she was a free adult in the Netherlands, then the 'Religion of Peace' showed its real (ugly) form. It is a good, albeit fundamentally disturbing (especially, I suspect, if you are a sexually active female) book - buy it or borrow it, but read it. If it doesn't make you think then you are probably a nu-Lab PPS.

'Fitna' was a damp squib. Nothing new, nothing particularly interesting. A simple documentary on fundamentalist extremism in Europe would have done the trick, without the political kudos. No mention of Saudi (although I did spot at least one Saudi sheik amongst the rabid), Salafism or Wahabbi. 15 minutes of the best of the Quran, the successful amongst Islamist terrorists and crowds incited to foaming-at-the-mouth anti-Semitism. We get that on the news - even al-Beeb carries that sort of hysteria. Watch it - just because people want to ban it and that is, of itself, a bad thing⁵. Many thanks to Liveleak for carrying it - I appreciate the sheer aggro you went through with all the mindless nut-jobs and the intimidation.

The last word.



1. It's nice to see there are some commonalities in modern policing - 100,000 according to the organisers.

2. Exodus, Samuel, Psalms. And this is an angry response about Christians. Well educated in the 'good book', then. New covenant, anybody? 'Sermon on the Mount', going cheap?

3. Geek moment. Mine is /was an AS400 Sysadmin. Zero cool points for the Tux generation!

4. This is the wrong word. Male 'circumcision' involves removing a small bit of skin on the end of your knob that, frankly (and I speak as one with one) doesn't seem to serve that much of a purpose. And I get the hygiene point. As opposed to removing the clitoris, the labia (various) and whatever else gets in the way of the knife. 'Castration' isn't the right word either. But it's closer.

5. I've read 'Mein Kampf'. It's a terrible book - huge, turgid and vile. The 'John Prescott' of literature. But it is an important book - it shaped a large part of the last century and is still significant now. Which is why it should be available to be read. Along with "Animal Farm', 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich'. Both of which are (much) shorter and (vastly) better written.

An Early Christmas

Remember "Santa's Little Helper"? The tangerine hero of Protestantism?

Well, we now know his real name. Not Charles Clarke, not even John Parker. It is (why is the blink tag depreciated the one time you really need it?):

Diamond Dan the Orangeman

After rejecting "Sash Gordon" and "the Boyne Wonder", you really have to worry about these bigots. Especially at 7 years old. I suppose we should congratulate Mr and Mrs Mitchell for bringing up young Steven in the best traditions of warped Christianity, religious intolerance and mindless stupidity your island is so famous for. Possibly a year-out scholarship at a Taliban madrassa beckons once he can grow enough bum fluff for an acceptable beard?

Divine Compass

Our good friend at law, the Reactionary Snob, has recently had a pop at the Political Compass. In his brief account, and with his astonishment at the clustering of the American Presidential candidates, he wonders about how religion might affect this.

So, having done the test for myself some time ago, I went back and answered the questions as I think the biblical Jesus might have done. Armed with my trusty King James, Mrs S-E's New International Version and the Rector's favourite, the Revised Standard Version and, for giggles, the wonderful "The Year of Living Biblically", I got this:

Christ's political compass

Economic Left/Right: -6.12
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.15

I had to skirt the Samaritan / Jewish issues; the money changers being thrown out of the Temple yet "Render unto Caesar"; the whole Biblical abhorrence of (male) homosexuality; the exposure as hypocrites those who followed the letter of the Jewish law but not its spirit - and many of the other issues that bedevil the Churches various in this modern era.

Feel free to quibble about my results - some of the questions were difficult to translate to biblical example but, as any honest Christian probably would have guessed, Christ is, by example at least, some sort of evil commie pinko and worse, if he ran for office^* while waiting for the Second Coming, a liberal!

* Note that buy using the phrase "ran for office", I am loosely implying "in the Land of the Free".