#1353324
"@ Anon-e-moose:
'Here in the extremely civilised, very secular, nay, Atheist UK'
That'll be the UK with an established church (so much for secular and atheist) inhabited mostly by whining workshy drunks (so much for civilised), then. Yeah, right."
And therein is the ultimate irony.
Despite our state religion, our political system is very secular*. In Parliament several years ago, the then Leader of the Opposition (now Prime Minister) David Cameron voted against shortening the time on abortions; also against a ban on Stem Cell research at the same time. PROTIP: Cameron is the leader of the Conservative. Party.
In our Parliament, even the most devoutly religious MPs know that, to keep their offices, aides etc (certainly to have any possible chance to advance up the 'Greasy Pole' to a cabinet position in a future government, they have to STFU about their religious beliefs (even if the policies of their party conflict with their 'beliefs' in any way, shape or form). Although Tony Blair was known to have converted to Catholicism late on in his premiership, even he had to keep quiet about such, and not 'rock the political boat'. So it is with MPs; to openly profess to be a fundie in our political system is electoral** suicide, and they know it. And they'll be told in no uncertain terms by their Chief Whips too. As far as said religious MPs are concerned, The Party leader & Chief Whips are Lord God Almighty, and must tow the political line, saying 'Yes sir, no sir, three bags full, sir', or face having the Whip withdrawn from them, and lose said office, aides, perks etc, and certainly any hope of a future cabinet position; to say nothing of deselection at the next election.
Ergo, our very secular political system. QED. No GOP here, thank fuck. Our clergy (as in C-of-E, etc) aren't even allowed to vote. Now there's real 'Separation of Church & State' for ya, buster.
Now which country is the more civilised, again...? Nope, not seeing the Repubican party in the US, consisting solely of avowed Atheists.
*- The only political system that's more secular than ours is that of India's; another ultimate irony? India is the most religious country on the planet.
**- We Brits are just too cynical to allow ourselves to be ruled by religion, least of all allow ourselves to become like those fundie nutty buggers are 'over the pond' have allowed themselves to in the first place. Question everything, and all that jazz, as per our sense of satire - even religion gets torn apart here (in books, magazines, radio, TV, films etc).
One last thing, re. if the UK is 'civilised' or not...:
Question: Is there a British equivalent of the Westboro Baptist Church?
If your answer is the only possible one, not only is my point proven, but your argument is completely annihilated.
Moral: So we in the UK don't have a US-style Constitution, outside of Magna Carta, and the EU Convention on Human Rights. If the likes of Section 5 of the Public Order Act results in religion (i.e. WBC) being crushed under the heel of Secularism, to the point of destruction (at least not having the right to tell people what to do), then there can never be enough legislation to force religion - certainly it's clergy - to be told what to do by people.
Religious control - via politics - must be reigned in, to the extent that it no longer has the right to tell people what to do. Because the US Constitution never gave it that right in the first place. Remember: 'Separation of Church and State' - it must be absolute, or face an Iran-esque Theocratic dictatorship, America.
America, especially take note, re. the 1st Amendment; Fred Phelps & all that jazz. With rights come responsibilities. And there should be legislation to prevent anyone peverting said 1st Amendment for their own nefarious ends.
