Christians Outraged by Poster Showing Mary and Joseph after Sex
THE TELEGRAPH: A risque church billboard showing the Virgin Mary and Joseph in bed apparently after having disappointing sex has caused outrage among Christians in New Zealand.

The poster sparked a barrage of comments to radio stations and on internet websites. Photo: The Telegraph
The large poster depicts a dejected-looking Joseph lying next to Mary, whose eyes are turned heavenwards, under the words: "Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow."

Both figures, painted in classical fresco style, appear to be naked.

Within hours of the billboard being erected outside the Anglican church of St Matthew's in the City, in central Auckland, it had been attacked by a man who clambered on to the roof of his car to smear brown paint over it.

As a result it was almost obliterated and the church, which describes itself as "progressive", is seeking a replacement.

Archdeacon Glynn Cardy said the billboard was intended to lampoon the literal interpretation of the Christmas conception story "and that somehow this male God impregnated Mary".

"What we're trying to do is to get people to think more about what Christmas is all about," he said.

"We actually think God is about the power of love as shown in Jesus, which is something quite different than a literal man up in the sky." >>> Paul Chapman in Wellington | Thursday, December 17, 2009

Outrage in Washington Over Obama's Japan Bow
U.S. President Barack Obama is greeted by Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko upon arrival at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo November 14, 2009. Photo: Canada.com
CANADA.COM: WASHINGTON - News photos of President Barack Obama bowing to Japan's emperor have incensed critics here, who said the U.S. leader should stand tall when representing America overseas.

Obama on Monday was in China, having wrapped up the Japan leg of his Asia trip two days earlier. But Washington's punditocracy was still weighing whether or not the U.S. president had disgraced his country two days earlier by having taken a deep bow at the waist while meeting Japan's Emperor Akihito.

Political talk shows have played and replayed the moment from the second day of Obama's week-long Asia tour, which set the blogosphere on fire and chat show tongues wagging.

"I don't know why President Obama thought that was appropriate. Maybe he thought it would play well in Japan. But it's not appropriate for an American president to bow to a foreign one," said conservative pundit William Kristol speaking on the Fox News Sunday program, adding that the gesture bespoke a United States that has become weak and overly-deferential under Obama.

Another conservative voice, Bill Bennett, said on CNN's "State of the Union" program: "It's ugly. I don't want to see it."

"We don't defer to emperors. We don't defer to kings or emperors. The president of the United States -- this coupled with so many apologies from the United States -- is just another thing," said Bennett.

Some conservative critics juxtaposed the image of Obama with one of former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney, who greeted the emperor in 2007 with a firm handshake but no bow.

"I'll bet if you look at pictures of world leaders over 20 years meeting the emperor in Japan, they don't bow," Kristol said.

Some said the gesture was particularly grating coming after Obama's bow to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah at a G20 meeting in April. >>> Stephanie Griffiths, AFP | Monday, November 16, 2009

Obama Bows to Japanese Emperor Akihito

MPs' Expenses: We, the People, Are in Revolt
THE TELEGRAPH: Voters have been treated like peasants by our so-called betters for long enough, as the MPs' expenses scandal illustrates. Now it is time for a change, argues Robert Colvile.

Spirit of revolution: the fires are not yet burning, but the public is indeed angry. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
When Sir Peter Viggers next encounters the citizens of Gosport, there are bound to be a few colourful suggestions made about what precisely he can do with the 28 tons of manure included in his expense claims. But even if he tries to argue that the purchase of the fertiliser – or, indeed, of a £1,600 floating habitat for his ducks – was “wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred” in the performance of his Parliamentary duties, the electors will almost certainly be in no mood to listen.

Across the country, the public is out for blood. The opinion polls, the thousands of letters sent to this newspaper, the savaging of politicians on Question Time, a simple sampling of saloon-bar conversation: all reveal the strength of feeling. Macaulay might have claimed that there is “no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one of its periodical fits of morality” – but that was before the politicians’ fit of venality, before the reputation of Parliament collapsed under the weight of duck islands, patio heaters and tins of dog food.

Yet, outraged as the public are, it is still possible – if not, as MPs must be hoping, probable – that this passion will subside. Yes, there will be a “kick the bums out” movement at the next election, with a few bad apples forced out by their parties or constituency associations, and a few independent anti-sleaze campaigners entering the House of Commons.

There will be new rules for MPs’ behaviour, perhaps even those proposed this week by Gordon Brown; there will be an election for Speaker, in which the candidates compete to sell themselves as the toughest of the tough and cleanest of the clean. But in a few years’ time things will be back to normal: the public will lose interest in politicians’ behaviour, and it will be noses back into a (markedly smaller) trough.

There is, however, an alternative argument – that the disgust over MPs’ behaviour is part of a wider refusal to be taken for a ride any longer.

What enrages us about this scandal is not so much that Douglas Hogg had his moat cleaned, as that he used our money – that the MPs’ ginger biscuits and packets of Maltesers and mock-Tudor beams were bought at the taxpayer’s expense. Especially galling is that although the claims were mostly made in the boom years, they have been revealed in a recession, just as we are all being urged to tighten our own belts and prepare for higher taxes and lower public spending. >>> By Robert Colvile | Thursday, May 21, 2009

Religulous: Borat-style Satire on Faith Causes Outrage
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: British release for controversial US movie will increase friction between atheists and believers

The Pope caused global outrage last week when he suggested on a trip to Africa not only that Aids 'cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms' but that they 'even aggravate the problems'. Photo (AP) courtesy of The Independent on Sunday
A Borat-style documentary lampooning the world's religions through interviews with their leaders is to open in Britain next week – and, if the US experience is anything to go, it is certain to spark controversy.

Religulous – the title is a provocative combination of "religion" and "ridiculous" – caused outrage across the Atlantic, with Catholics complaining they were the main target of the film, directed by Larry Charles. He also directed Borat, the satire on US mores starring Sacha Baron Cohen as the Kazakhstan reporter. The American comedian and satirist Bill Maher takes the Cohen role.

Maher has said that while the film was meant to be funny, it wasn't just meant to poke fun at religion, but demolish it. "I was raised a Catholic," he said, "but by the time I became an adult, scientific thought and rational evidence led me to believe otherwise. You know, when I was a kid and got a cavity, I had mercury drilled into my teeth. Then, when I got older, they drilled it out – and you can do the same with religion."

The film opens shortly after the Pope was condemned for suggesting condoms "aggravate the problem" of Aids, causing a frantic Vatican damage-limitation exercise.

Emboldened atheists have run slogans on the side of buses proclaiming "There is probably no God" – and a campaign by Christians to undermine that attracted record numbers of complaints last week to the Advertising Standards Authority. >>> By Andrew Johnson and Emily Dugan | Sunday, March 22, 2009

Bill Maher's 'Religulous'


YOUTUBE: Religulous: A Trailer

Sharon Stone Stirs It Up in China
Photo of Sharon Stone courtesy of TimesOnline
TIMESONLINE: Film star Sharon Stone has set off a storm of fury across China after she suggested the deadly earthquake that killed as many as 80,000 people was bad karma for Beijing policy in Tibet.

Several Chinese cinemas have pledged not to screen her movies and the Internet has exploded in a stream of angry comments.
Ms Stone, speaking at the Cannes Film Festival last week, said: “I’m not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don’t think anyone should be unkind to anyone else.” China Boycotts Sharon Stone Films after Star Blames Earthquake on Bad Karma for Tibet >>> By Jane Macartney in Beijing | May 28, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

No Outrage in the Muslim World: Neal Boortz
With many thanks to Jim Ball, Australia’s best known radio chat show host, for this. It was on his great website that I came across this most interesting audio/video:


WORLD NET DAILY: A controversial Washington-based Islamic lobby group today is highlighting as "Islamophobia" a heated radio talk-show exchange in which host Neal Boortz tells a Muslim caller Islam is a "cult," not a religion. Radio host condemned for 'Islam is a cult': CAIR cites Neal Boortz for angry confrontation of Muslim caller

Mark Alexander