The Prince of Wales’ 60th birthday show on ITV provided yet another opportunity for Stephen Green of Christian Voice, to indulge in a display of offended piety.

This time it was Rowan Atkinson’s skit on Jesus’ miracles in the Gospel of St John. This is from a circular sent out by Green:

Rowan Atkinson mocks Christ at Prince’s Birthday Show

Rowan Atkinson mocked the Bible, Jesus Christ, His miracle at Cana and His crucifixion on the Prince of Wales’ 60th birthday show at 8.35pm on Saturday 15th November 2008 which was broadcast on ITV as ‘We are most amused’.

Atkinson came on dressed as a vicar and began to read from John Chapter 2. After half a verse he began to blaspheme the word of God and mock the Lord and His miracles as conjuring tricks.

Since the presentation did not change, it would not have been clear to someone unfamiliar with the scriptures what was from the Bible and what was not. Atkinson finished up by saying: He did go unto Jerusalem and he did his full act … they absolutely crucified him.

Atkinson has rightly defended political satire and his biography quotes him as saying: The freedom to criticize ideas, any ideas - even if they are sincerely held beliefs - is one of the fundamental freedoms of society.

But his sketch was not political satire, nor did it criticise any idea or belief of Christianity. It was just insulting, mocking, crass and disrespectful. Civilised, decent people do not behave like that. Plainly Atkinson thinks there is not enough disrespect in our society already today.

The Arlington Group, a coalition of Christian nutter organizations that includes Focus on the Family, met with Marriott International officials in April to try and persuade the hotel chain to stop offering pay-per-view adult movies in its rooms.

Marriott offers the programming in most of its 3,000 U.S. hotels, and the Arlington Group representatives urged the chain to adopt an "opt-in" television system, in which guests would have to contact the front desk to receive adult entertainment. Currently, the programming is available in hotel rooms until guests opt out.

At the meeting, the group presented Marriott officials with 102,000 signatures from people wanting the chain to stop offering adult entertainment. Of those signatures, 9,000 were from Marriott Rewards Card members.

Marriott responded in a letter dated June 26 to Donald Wildman, president of the nutter action group American Family Association, which is part of the coalition.

The letter said the company was in conversation with its adult-entertainment provider, Lodgenet, about the opt-in procedure, said Roger Conner, vice president of communications for Marriott International. Marriott took no other action but promised it would raise the issue at its owners meeting in late July, Conner said.

In a terse letter to Marriott dated July 14, Wildman imposed a deadline of Aug. 15 to hear a definite response on concrete actions taken toward the removal of pornography from your properties.

There is something awfully delicious about the news that anti gay activist Stephen Green has had his prophetic ass kicked.

I know its terribly naughty, but I just cannot help taking joy from this whole thing, of course I feel suitably guilty for doing so, but mmmmmm it's delicious. To add insult to injury there is this marvellous YouTube video where he interprets being shit on by a seagull as a sign from God, I kid you not.

...Read full article

A Christian activist who tried to charge the BBC's Director General and the producer of Jerry Springer the Opera with blasphemy is facing bankruptcy over a 'grotesque' costs order.

The High Court ruled last December that Stephen Green could not prosecute Mark Thompson, the Director General of the BBC, and Jonathan Thoday of Avalon over the BBC2 broadcast of Jerry Springer the Opera and its subsequent theatre tour. The Court ordered costs against him.

In a hearing a fortnight ago, Mark Thompson and Jonathan Thoday were awarded costs totalling £90,000 against Stephen Green, who is the National Director of Christian Voice. The BBC's solicitors were awarded £55,000 and Olswangs Solicitors, who acted for Thoday, got an order for £35,000.

The money is due to be paid today, but Green doesn't have it.

He has written to both Mark Thompson and Jonathan Thoday inviting them to waive their costs in the interests of goodwill and justice.

Stephen Green, who brought the action over Jerry Springer the Opera in his own name, said today: It should be enough for Mark Thompson and Jonathan Thoday that they got away with blasphemy, insulting God and the Lord Jesus Christ, at least in this life. For these rich, powerful men to pursue me into the bankruptcy courts over money I don't have would be vindictive.

Stephen Green concluded: How are people with limited means expected to bring actions of public importance against public bodies or wealthy people? It is outrageous that a public-spirited individual should be dissuaded from upholding standards of public decency in a public body because of the fear of adverse, grotesque costs orders.

Pro-life groups trying to stop a euthanasia book from going on sale are vowing to fight on despite their latest efforts being rejected.

The Film and Literature Review Board declined last week requests by Right to Life and The Society for the Promotion of Community Standards for interim restriction orders on Australian euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke's Peaceful Pill Handbook.

The order would have stopped distribution to New Zealand shops till a review of chief censor Bill Hastings' decision to allow its sale was heard.

Both groups are seeking a review of the decision in which Mr Hastings allowed the sale of the book to over-18s. A hearing is set down for August 25.

David Lane, executive director of The Society for the Promotion of Community Standards, said the group would apply for another restriction order.

Right to Life spokesman Ken Orr said he was disappointed by the decision. The group would present a submission to the August hearing asking that the book be deemed objectionable and be banned.

Dr Nitschke, founder of pro-euthanasia group Exit International, said copies would be available at a Christchurch conference on July 5 before being distributed to bookshops: We are thrilled the injunction has been turned down. It gives us till August to get the book distributed.

Australian euthanasia campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke has welcomed a decision by New Zealand authorities that will allow him to sell his controversial book in the country.

Nitschke said he was heartened by Friday's decision to reject an application from pro-life groups, who wanted to stop the distribution of the Peaceful Pill Handbook.

Earlier this month, the Society for the Promotion of Community Standards, and Right to Life New Zealand sought a fresh order restricting its distribution.

The decision by the OFLC had demonstrated the open attitude of New Zealand to the important question of censorship," Nitschke said in a statement today: New Zealand's approach to censorship stands in stark distinction to the approach taken by the government in Australia, where the book remains a banned publication.

A Fremont-linked Hindu rights group that got a last-minute screening of The Love Guru, had few kind words about the new Mike Myers comedy, which pokes fun at enigmatic Indian spiritual guidance.

The film was vulgar, crude and — in the opinion of many of our attendees — too often tasteless in its puerile choice of humor, said Aseem Shukla, a board member of the Hindu American Foundation: Very few of the Hindus viewing the film, however, found it overtly anti-Hindu or mean-spirited.

In a statement, the foundation said: Most agreed that the film will be widely seen as a satire of a Hindu character, though this is never overtly stated in the film.

Still, many of the foundation members expressed unease that since widespread understanding of Hinduism ... is so limited, this film does nothing to promote tolerance and pluralism, and may reinforce widely held negative and exotic stereotypes of Hindus.

Virginia Lam, a spokeswoman for Paramount, said in a statement: The 'Love Guru' is a Mike Myers comedy in the same spirit of 'Austin Powers.' No one could confuse, or has confused, this film as intending to tackle serious issues surrounding faith and religion.

Hindus are for free speech...BUT...

Rajan Zed is a Hindu chaplain in northwestern Nevada and he has led the campaign against Love Guru

He wrote in a blog:

Despite lot of support and encouragement, we faced some criticism also: Why is religion trying to censor free speech? Is Hinduism so weak that a small movie can damage it? Why are you protesting when you have not even seen the movie? Why can't Hindus take a joke? Who made you the representative of Hindus and speak for them? This movie is not about Hinduism and Hindus and is a mythical and completely made up system of teachings. And so on.

Hindus are for free speech as much as anybody else, if not more. Hindu tradition encourages peaceful debates to be won on their intellectual merit...BUT...faith is something sacred and attempts at belittling it hurt the devotees. Filmmakers should be more sensitive while handling faith related subjects, as cinema is a very powerful medium.

Of course a small movie, which will be forgotten in few months, would not destroy the great tradition of Hinduism, which has been around longer than any other established religion and has faced many onslaughts and come out stronger...BUT...Hinduism is often misunderstood and wrongly portrayed outside India. Movies like this bring more confusion and create stereotypes in the minds of audience, many of whom may not have had any other exposure to its tenets.

...

Humor is a part and parcel of Hindu society and our folk festivals, plays, stories, etc., are full of parody, satire, mimicry, buffoonery, etc. We are strong enough to take a joke or rather many jokes...BUT...there are certain convictions in every tradition, which are venerable and not meant to be mocked.

...

Comedy should make everybody smile and should not come at the expense of ridiculing others’ faith and spreading misinformation. Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion followers and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken lightly. No faith, larger or smaller, should be ridiculed.

Moreover, cinema is a forceful medium and it can create stereotypes in the minds of some audiences. So it should handle faith related subjects especially carefully.

The Mumbai police have released on bail all 69 detained Sikh protestors who were arrested for vandalising MTV music channel office in the city.

They were objecting an alleged poster that gives a picture of a Sikh man being massaged by a woman.

Reportedly, around 100 of protestors entered the MTV office in Mumbai and ransacked the workplace by smashing windows, furniture and computers, police said.

According to the protesters, the poster which portrayed a woman massaging a Sikh man – who peeped through a door - was to promote the reality show On the Job 2, offended Sikhs.

The Vatican has banned the makers of Angels & Demons, the latest book from Da Vinci Code bestseller Dan Brown to be turned into a movie, from entering the Holy See and any church in Rome.

The entire film is set in Rome, and Sony Pictures applied for permission to film two key scenes inside the churches of Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Vittoria.

However, the scenes will now be shot on a soundstage after the diocese of Rome closed its doors against the producers. Father Marco Fibbi, a spokesman, said: Usually we read the script but in this case it wasn't necessary. Just the name Dan Brown was enough.

Fibbi said: Angels and Demons peddles a type of fantasy that damages our common religious beliefs, just like The Da Vinci Code did.

The film, which also stars Ewan McGregor, is due to be released next May.

Jerry Springer: The Opera is already causing a stir in the talk show host's hometown of Cincinnati.

The New Stage Collective is putting on the production, and organizers said that they've already received 14,000 letters from people protesting the show.

The troupe said they wanted to bring the show to town for two reasons: to acknowledge the city Springer started in and because, they said, the city has served as a battleground for the First Amendment.

The show is set to run June 26 through Aug. 3.

Update: Opening Night Protest

25th June 2008

When Jerry Springer: the Opera opens in Cincinnati on Thursday it will be greeted by a “rally of reparation” made up of protesting pseudo-Catholic cultists.

The campaign is being organised by Robert Ritchie who entitles himself “executive director” of America Needs Fatima - an offshoot of the pseudo-Catholic American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property.

Hindus have appealed to the MPAA for assigning upcoming Hollywood movie, The Love Guru, NC-17 (adults only) rating instead of currently held PG-13.

Bhavna Shinde, representing Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, in communiques to MPAA, said: Paramount Pictures, presenter of The Love Guru movie, has not pre-screened it for Hindu leaders, despite various requests by Hindu leaders so that they have more information. So, from the information available about the movie, it appears to be mocking and ridiculing Hinduism, Hindu philosophy, ashram life, Hindu concepts and terminology, Gurus, etc. Cinema is a powerful medium and it can create stereotypes in the minds of some audiences, especially in the minds of younger audiences, who are passing through an impressionable phase. We do not want our next generation to be growing up with a distorted view of Hinduism and Hindus.

Shinde further said in the communique: We appeal to you to reconsider your earlier rating decision this season and assign The Love Guru movie the 'NC-17' rating. If the filmmaker wants a lower rating, they should pre-screen it for Rajan Zed, us and other Hindu leaders, edit the material objectionable (if any) to this group and re-submit the movie to you.

The Love Guru, a comedy starring Mike Myers, is set to release on June 20.

Robert Hurt went to Washington and didn't like what he saw – nudity in the nation's capital.

Nude women, sculptured women, he told the state Republican platform committee, which sat in rapt attention. Of all the evils in Washington that the Texas Republican took aim at this week, removing art with naked people from public view was high on the list for Hurt, a delegate from Kerrville.

You don't have nude art on your front porch, he explained: You possibly don't have nude art in your living rooms. So why is it important to have that in the common places of Washington, D.C.?

Hurt offered statistics: He'd heard that 20% of the art in the National Gallery of Art is of nudes. He offered detail: On Arlington Memorial Bridge overlooking the famed national cemetery, there are two Lady Godivas, two women on horses with no shirt on and long hair.

Actually, they are classical sculptures about war – one called Valor, depicting a male equestrian and a female with a shield, and Sacrifice, a female accompanying the rider Mars.

The Republican platform presented to rally the troops advocates prayer in school, getting out of the United Nations, teaching intelligent design with evolution in science classes, repealing of the minimum wage, declaring illegal immigrants criminals and outlawing abortion with no exceptions.

Hallelujah! said a delegate who had urged strong anti-abortion language.

The platform calls homosexuality contrary to the unchanging truths ordained by God. It opposes gay marriage, civil unions and the custody of children by gays.

Ridding Washington of naked art didn't make the cut though.

Gordon Brown attempted to bribe MP with honour to push through terror legislation, alleges UK press

Censorship nutter MP Keith Vaz has been offered a knighthood by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, UK national newspapers have alleged.

According to The Times and The Guardian, there have been ‘strong hints’ that Vaz was offered the honour as part of a series of bribes from Brown to Labour MPs, in return for them voting for his controversial new terror detention laws.

Vaz, MP for Leicester East , has ‘strongly denied’ the rumour.

A euthanasia campaigner's book outlining ways in which people can kill themselves could be banned for a second time if an appeal from pro-life advocates is upheld.

The appeal by Right to Life New Zealand has stalled distribution of Philip Nitschke's The Peaceful Pill Handbook to bookshops, expected this month.

Right to Life spokesman Ken Orr said the group had been granted permission by the secretary of Internal Affairs to make a submission to the Film and Literature Review Board after chief censor Bill Hastings approved the book for sale last month.

It was given an R18 classification and must be sold sealed.

Orr said the board had been asked to issue an interim restriction order so the book could not be sold till the submission had been heard: We're quietly confident that the board will agree with our submission and classify it as objectionable and have it banned.

The book would now not go on sale till after a conference called Voluntary Euthanasia Matters run by Exit International in Christchurch on July 5.

Customers heading into Secrets Lingerie Boutique in Vacaville, California, are sometimes met by nutters and a sign saying, Smile, you're on YouTube.

Youth pastor Jim White said the protesters gather to film shoppers entering the store because they think Secrets is a shop that is profiting from pornography and other materials that we feel are degrading to people and exploitative.

The Vacaville City Council passed a law last week that bans adult businesses. According to a city representative, Secrets is not breaking any laws.

Protest organizers said they haven't posted any video of customers on YouTube, but they plan to.

Hindus have urged the Viacom and its brand Paramount Pictures to post a study guide about Hinduism and guru tradition on their websites and place it in movie theaters worldwide to undo the supposed damage done by their upcoming Hollywood movie The Love Guru.

Bhavna Shinde, representing Hindu Janjagruti Samiti and Sanatan Society for Scientific Spirituality, in a communique to Paramount Pictures said: ...We also feel that the parody on Gurus will contribute to the misunderstanding about the sacred concept of the 'Guru'...

Shinde urged Viacom and Paramount to immediately issue a study guide about Hinduism and the sacred tradition/role of the 'Guru' confirming to Hindu scriptures, post it on the official websites of Viacom and Paramount and 'The Love Guru', and make it available free of cost in printed form at the movie theaters worldwide.

She further said, This guide should also offer the viewers a framework in which to see the film, so that the viewers do not carry any misconceptions about Hinduism and that the characters portrayed in this movie are in no way depicting authentic Gurus from the Hindu and spiritual tradition.

Charliegrrl is a feminist who clashed swords with the Melon Farmers who she referred to as Moron Farmers. It seems that she is chilling out somewhat, as she quite poignantly explains on her blog:

Anyways, time for a change. I’m fed up of living my life as a feminist through the internet. I’m fed up of putting energy into an online feminist community that is not real. I’m fed up of the blog wars, the radical feminist elitism, the secret clubs and the attacks on women for not agreeing 100% with the party line.

...Read full article

A popular Japanese cartoon is sparking off outcries in the Muslim world.

Shueisha Inc, a Japanese publisher involved in the production of the cartoon JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and its animation version, suspended sales of some of the original comics and the DVD series, but said the material was not intended to be offensive.

At issue is a 90-second segment from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, which depicts Dio Brando, a villain, picking up a Quran from a bookshelf and apparently examining it as he orders the execution of the hero and his friends.

After a viewer posted negative comments and the still scene, it sparked off more protests. Eventually responses were carried on more than 300 Arab and Islamic Web forums with some accusing Japan of insulting the Quran.

Sheikh Abdul Hamid Attrash, chairman of the Fatwa (religious edict)
Committee at Al-Azhar, the highest Sunni authority based in Cairo, dismissed the cartoon as an insult to Islam: ‘This scene depicts Muslims as terrorists, which is not true at all. This is an insult to the religion and the producers would be considered to be enemies of Islam.’

In responding to the accusation, the Shueisha official explained that it was a simple mistake. Neither the original comic nor the animation intends to treat Muslims as villains. But as a result, the cartoon offended Muslims. We apologize for the unpleasantness that the cartoon may have caused and will carefully consider how to deal with religious and culture themes.

Gamal Qutb, the former head of the Fatwa Committee at Al-Azhar suggested that Muslims would boycott Japanese products unless Japan takes action against the controversial video.

The judge who presided over Jack Thompson's Florida Bar trial late last year has recommended that the controversial attorney be found guilty on 27 of 31 professional misconduct charges. The Florida Supreme Court must now rule on those recommendations.

In a report issued last week, Judge Dava Tunis made 21 recommendations of guilt in relation to Thompson's participation in Strickland vs. Sony, an Alabama case in which the anti-game attorney represented the families of two police officers and a police dispatcher slain by 18-year-old Grand Theft Auto player Devin Moore.

Tunis also recommended that Thompson be found guilty on four out of five counts relating to his 2006 attempt to have Rockstar's Bully declared a public nuisance in a case before Miami Judge Ronald Friedman.

Among the Florida Bar offenses for which Judge Tunis has recommended a guilty verdict:

• Knowingly making a false statement of material fact or law to a tribunal
• Knowingly disobeying an obligation under the rules of a tribunal
• Communicating the merits of the case with a judge before whom the proceeding is pending
• Using means that have no purpose other than to embarrass, delay or burden a third person
• Engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation
• Engaging in conduct in connection with the practice of law that is prejudicial to the administration of justice, including to knowingly or through callous indifference disparage or humiliate litigants or other lawyers
• Making statements that the lawyer knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to the truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge

In his meeting with the bishops of Thailand on their five yearly visit to the Vatican, Benedict XVI insisted on the need for Thai Catholics to promote education in Catholic-run schools.

At the same time he stressed the need for working together with Buddhists to preserve and improve Thailand’s cultural traditions, opposing through inter-faith cooperation one of the negative effects of globalisation, namely prostitution-related trafficking in women and children, which is itself a consequence of the trivialisation of sexuality by the media and the entertainment industry.

Benedict turned his attention to the scourge of the trafficking of women and children, and prostitution.

Undoubtedly poverty is a factor underlying these phenomena, he said. And the Church does what it can to counter this problem: But there is a further aspect which must be acknowledged and collectively addressed if this abhorrent human exploitation is to be effectively confronted. I am speaking of the trivialization of sexuality in the media and entertainment industries which fuels a decline in moral values and leads to the degradation of women, the weakening of fidelity in marriage and even the abuse of children.

Christian nutters based in San Diego have found grounds for outrage over the new retro-style Starbucks logo.

The Resistance says the new image has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute, Mark Dice, founder of the groupsaid: Need I say more? It's extremely poor taste, and the company might as well call themselves Slutbucks.

The group, which claims more than 3,000 members nationwide and has found a place on the fringe advancing various conspiracy theories, is calling for a national boycott of the coffee-selling giant.

The logo will run on Starbucks cups for several more weeks, said company spokeswoman Bridget Baker, and will live on as the logo for Pike Place bags of coffee.

The image is a less-revealing version of what the chain used for many years, starting when it first opened in Seattle in 1971. The explanation for that initial logo is explained in the book Pour Your Heart into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time, written by company founder Howard Schultz:

[Creative partner Terry Heckler] poured [sic] over old marine books until he came up with a logo based on an old 16 Century Norse woodcut: a two-tailed mermaid, or siren, encircled by the store's original name, Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spice. That early siren, bare-breasted and Rubenesque, was supposed to be as seductive as coffee itself.

Marriott International is coming under heavy fire from nutter activists urging the hotel giant to banish  sexual fare from its bedroom TV.

Focus on the Family met with hotel executives in Washington DC, and provided Marriott with a petition signed by 102,000 nutters who want pornographic films purged from the list of movie offerings.

Daniel Weiss, media and sexuality analyst for the group, said Marriott has billed itself as a family-lodging establishment, and its decision to provide adult films to its customers is contrary to its reputation.

Weiss said hotels and motels have been major contributors to the proliferation of pornography in mainstream culture: We've heard from people who have developed addictions, businessmen, people who travel a lot, who found that away from their support structure and families they were very vulnerable to this type of material. They indicated that hotel porn was very significant in their addiction.

When WND asked Marriott Vice President of Communications Roger Conner why the hotel offers sex films in its rooms, he provided the following response: That's one of those any-kind-of-'why' questions. It's very universal in nature. For 25 years or more, not just Marriott, but the whole industry has offered a wide range including adult movies.

Asked if he believes customers would miss the pornographic films if they were not offered, Conner said, It would be interesting to know. I don't want this to sound flippant, but who knows?

Marriott International offers families an option to block pornographic movies by calling the front desk or using the remote control, but Focus on the Family and other nutter groups would like the hotel chain to consider a policy where the pornography would automatically be turned off unless a guest requests it.

For some people, that may just be enough of a hindrance that they won't access that material, Weiss said. They won't get caught up in it if they have to come out of the anonymity of ordering it in their room and call somebody.

Marriott executives said they will think about the suggestions and respond to concerns by July 1, though Conner acknowledged that not everyone left the meeting satisfied: We know it's not a perfect world that we live in, unfortunately, so it's not a perfect response for those that we met with yesterday. There were some who said they wanted more of an immediate response or decision. But, based upon the complicated business model and contracts that are in place, we can't simply walk away from it as we speak.

Hotels do not lose a large percentage of revenue when they boycott adult content because they only take 10 to 15% of the profits from the sale of pornographic films, Weiss said. He has faith that Marriott International will live up to its reputation as a family friendly establishment and make its 3,000 hotels porn free: I think at this point we want to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they will do the right thing. We're going to take a cautious wait-and-see approach.

Hindu groups have contacted various cinema/film related organizations around the world and mist recently to Canada urging them not to distribute/screen upcoming Hollywood movie The Love Guru till its presenter Paramount Pictures makes 'necessary changes' to it.

Furthering the drive pioneered by Indo-American leader Rajan Zed, various organizations and leaders have been coming out expressing concern about the possibility of The Love Guru hurting the sentiments of Hindus worldwide and urging filmmakers to be more responsible when handling faith related subjects.

Zed has been saying that from the information available about the movie, it appears to be lampooning Hinduism and Hindus and using Hindu terms frivolously.

G. Kendrick Macdowell, Vice President of the National Association of Theatre Owners, largest exhibition trade organization in the world, replying to one such request wrote, I am sympathetic to your concern as I have been to the ashrams in India and know a little bit about the guru-disciple relationship. I have not seen the trailer or the movie, but I can guess that it satirizes 'gurus on the make'. I doubt I would find it funny. Nevertheless, we are not in a position to take action you recommend ...we are a trade association, and we cannot interfere with the decisions of our members regarding what movies or trailers to play...

Ilona Cheshire, Press Officer of prestigious British Film Institute (BFI), wrote in her reply, Please rest assured that the BFI will not be screening this title nor will be involved with a possible release of it.

J.L. Green, Chief Assistant (Policy) to the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), replying the communique, said, The BBFC is sympathetic to your concerns. However, THE LOVE GURU has not been submitted to the BBFC for classification...

Pro-family nutters have wrapped up what is being called a "productive" meeting with officials of Marriott International.

The meeting focused on the hotel chain's practice of selling in room pornographic movies at some of its properties.

Last month, leaders of 47 pro-family groups sent a letter to Marriott CEO John W. Marriott the Third, which asked for a meeting with Marriott executives about the issue.

Don Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association, says the meeting in Washington D.C. was a good first step: Two things came out of the meeting. They are going to look into a system where people would have to call the front desk and get the movie turned on.

Secondly, notes Wildmon, the Marriot executives will discuss the issue further with some of their franchisees. And he says pro-family nutters will have another meeting with Marriott representatives in about six weeks to check progress on the issue.

Woman and Horse

Criminal charges against India’s leading living artist for an allegedly obscene painting of a Hindu goddess have been quashed in a ruling that said religious extremism risked pushing the country into a “pre-Renaissance era”.

Maqbool Fida Husain, 92, a Muslim, who has been called “the Picasso of India”, was served with private criminal complaints by Hindu groups for Bharat Mata (Mother India), a work representing the nation as a nude woman.

The Delhi High Court judged that the picture could not be construed as offensive.

The nutters of the Society for Promotion of Community Standards has written to New Zealand's Film and Literature Board of Review, seeking a review of the approval of the book for R18 release.

The society's executive director David Lane says the material breeds a culture of death in New Zealand and is not just a matter for the chief censor to deal with legally.

Lane says the society is seeking an assurance that those who deal with depressive and suicidal people have been consulted over the release of the book.

He says there will be calls for bookshops to be publicly shunned, should they stock the title.

Update: Right to a Holier than Thou Life

23rd May 2008

Pro-life organisation, Right to Life, says it is incongruous that on one hand we have this dangerous book being allowed for sale in New Zealand and on the other hand we have the Government earlier this year unveiling its five-year plan that includes expensive TV advertising to reduce New Zealand's suicide rate.

Right to Life's Ken Orr questioned why the Government was not prepared to challenge the chief censor's controversial and dangerous classification. His society will seek a review of the misguided classification.

Hindu nutters have contacted various cinema organisations in Australia urging them not to distribute or screen the upcoming Hollywood movie The Love Guru until Paramount Pictures makes changes to it.

Vamsi Krishna, representing Hindu Janjagruti Samiti and Sanatan Society for Scientific Spirituality, sent a letter to several film groups saying the film would hurt the feelings of the worldwide spiritual and Hindu community unless certain scenes were altered.

The letter went to the Australia Classification Board, Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia, Australian Film Commission, Media Standards Australia, Becker Entertainment, Hopscotch Films, Hoyts Cinema Chain, Palace Cinemas, and Palace Films.

If the trailer is an indicator of the content of the movie…then we feel that this movie is most likely to hurt the sentiments of seekers from various spiritual paths and also the peaceful Hindu community at large in Australia, the letter said: Poking fun is one thing...BUT...if it creates a sense of belittling others’ faith, then it is wrong.

Update: Worldwide Calls

12th May 2008

Hindu groups have contacted Central Board of Film Certification (Censor Board) and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of India, urging them not to screen upcoming Hollywood movie The Love Guru till its presenter Paramount Pictures makes necessary changes in it.

It seems that the hindu groups are sending their calls for a ban worldwide and the same story is cropping up in multiple stories. Surely good hype for Love Guru.

The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) has called on the television network HBO to stop airing shows like Cathouse, which promote sex trafficking and prostitution.

On April 24, 2008, CATW held a picket line protest in front of the corporate offices of HBO in New York City to protest its reality series Cathouse, set in a brothel.

CATW claimed that by airing shows like Cathouse, HBO normalizes prostitution and its legalization. The cultural and legal acceptance of prostitution, in turn, encourages the demand for prostituted and trafficked women and girls in the global sex trade. Legitimizing pimps as entrepreneurs and managers, as well as portraying patronizing prostituted women as acceptable, harmless entertainment commences a vicious cycle in which the sex industry expands, and increases the demand for sex trafficked women and girls.

Islamic militants in Pakistan's tribal areas, which border Afghanistan have issued a decree banning music from mobile phone ringtones and vehicles in tribal areas of the country. A spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Maulana Faqir Mohammed said, the they would not allow commuters to play music in their cars or use musical ringtones on mobile phones.

He warned that offenders would be punished according to Shariah lynch mob law.

This is not the first time that Taliban leaders have tried to clamp down on music in their areas - and a wave of attacks on mobile phone stores in North Waziristan was carried out last October to stop them selling music capable phones.

The shop-owners said at the time that they had received several letters, asking them not to sell mobile phones pre-loaded with 'musical' ring tones. Many retailers had started offering phones pre-loaded with 'jihadi' ringtones, but this did not seem enough to appease the militants.

The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) has called on the television network HBO to stop airing shows like Cathouse, which promote sex trafficking and prostitution.

On April 24, 2008, CATW held a picket line protest in front of the corporate offices of HBO in New York City to protest its reality series Cathouse, set in a brothel.

Australia's Catholic church has taken a swipe at foul-mouthed British chef Gordon Ramsay and demanded his reality television shows be either taken off air or shown at a later time.

The move comes as Australia's Parliament holds an inquiry into swearing on television, prompted by Ramsay's antics in his series Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen.

One episode broadcast recently featured Ramsay using a four-letter expletive more than 80 times, while he also shouts at a chef saying: You French pig.

There can be no excuse for vilification of this sort. We conclude that this episode should never have been aired on Australian television, the Catholic church in the southern city of Adelaide said in a submission to the parliamentary inquiry.

Ramsay's reality programmes are popular ratings drawcards in Australia, but they have also prompted complaints from schools and parent groups who are angry that the shows are broadcast at times when children may be watching television.

Two of the Ramsay programmes air at 8.30pm, while one of the shows, Hell's Kitchen, where contestants compete to win a restaurant, is aired at a later 9.30pm time slot.

Conservative Senator Cory Bernardi initiated a Senate inquiry into swearing after his office received several complaints about Ramsay's programmes.

The inquiry has received more than 50 public submissions, with the overwhelming majority in favour of tighter regulation and calling for the Nine television network, which broadcasts the programmes, to censor Ramsay.

But the Council for Civil Liberties in Australia's largest state of New South Wales said it has no problems with Ramsay's programmes, which regularly attract more than one million viewers: This inquiry is yet another attempt to restrict the freedom of expression of ordinary Australians. Not everyone is offended by coarse language.

Teenage boys are going wild this week over a more dangerous cultural low: Grand Theft Auto IV. The new video game from Rockstar Games is flying off the shelves, and all the early reviews are glowing. GamePro magazine calls it the pinnacle of interactive entertainment and game design.

Yes, young lads, you can visit strip clubs and get lap dances, pick up prostitutes, go on assassination missions and conduct gangland-style executions. The New York Times applauded the game’s winsome procession of grifters, hustlers, drug peddlers and other gloriously unrepentant lowlifes.

WhatTheyPlay.com is a resource site for parents, and interviews with children find they like the series for its wide-open play, particularly the vicarious experience of the thug life. I’m never going to be a car-jacking, whore-murdering gang member, said one, so I guess it’s very interesting to see what your life could be like, if you chose that path. It’s amazing to become so immersed in the game experience and really be able to feel like a criminal.

The violent content also attracts children as a way to vent anger or stress. One boy explained: “Last week, I missed homework and my teacher yelled at me. When I went home, I started playing [Grand Theft Auto] Vice City, and got a tank. I ran over everybody. And I smashed a lot of cars and blew them up.

There’s something odd about our culture when we try to prevent children under 17 from seeing violent or sexually overt material in a two-hour R-rated movie, but we’re cavalier about selling the same experience - actually, a more offensive experience since it’s entirely non-judgmental - in an M-rated video game that will be played every night for months.

There’s only one word to describe parents who would buy this game for their children: Disgraceful. But retailers, too, must be pressed to check ID before selling the game to children who most assuredly will seek to purchase it. Legally, stores cannot sell children pornographic magazines or handguns - but they can legally sell video games to children that contain pornographic content or that teach children how to gun down cops.

They can choose to line their pockets with the proceeds of the sale of this cultural poison to youngsters. They can join the chorus of consequential deniability, too. All they have to worry about is their conscience.

Members of the Concerned Women for America are criticizing Wikipedia for allowing content that includes sexually explicit images.

According to a report in World Net Daily, Matt Barber - the Concerned Women for America's policy director for cultural issues and a constitutional law attorney - said he was outraged by the decision: Children use Wikipedia all of the time for reports for school, and this stuff is not just pornography: This is hardcore pornography. Much of it may even be in violation of our nation's obscenity laws.

Wikpedia, an online encyclopedia that features user-submitted content, has some detailed photographs that accompany more adult articles on subjects such as "fluffer" and "striptease."

Barber said many of the filtering devices people have in their homes and schools are not geared toward protecting against Wikipedia's material.

Wikipedia's goal is to provide an encyclopedia that contains the sum of all human knowledge, Mark Pelligrini, a regional representative for Wikipedia, told World Net Daily: To that end, Wikipedia does not censor objectionable material.

[I]f someone goes to the articles on 'sex,' 'penis' or any graphic topic, we do provide frank descriptions and images. For images, we aim for clinical pictures of the sort you would find in an anatomy or medical textbook.

Barber said he planned to contact the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's office to determine whether Wikipedia may be engaging in the dissemination of illegal obscenity.

The prospect of the BBC auditioning pop hopefuls in front of Andrew Lloyd Webber for the role of Jesus has led a Christian group to promise Jerry Springer the Opera-style protests if the project goes ahead.

Christian Voice said tonight that they might even try to get young Christians into the audition room itself to share the Gospel of the real Jesus Christ with Lord Lloyd-Webber himself.

The BBC are now said to be reconsidering their decision to air the reality TV show based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar just weeks after the composer said he wanted to cast Jesus as a follow-up to Maria in The Sound of Music and Nancy and Oliver in the musical Oliver.

The TV shows How do you solve a problem like Maria and I'd Do Anything were regarded by TV bosses as such a success that Lord Lloyd-Webber has been urged to come up with another one. He said in March: I have an idea to do Jesus Christ Superstar next year and then maybe another all-new show which I'm really excited about.

But the BBC are now said by the website UnrealityTV to be worried that they will face the same sort of complaints from Christian groups that they faced over Jerry Springer Opera a few years ago.

Auditions could take place this year, but as with previous shows, they will be held across the country and the judges, who will include Lloyd Webber, will be at each venue.

Stephen Green, National Director of Christian Voice, said tonight: If it were to go ahead, the show would then become for Christian Voice very much a Jerry Springer the Opera operation, with witness and evangelism at every venue. There are still plenty of veterans of the early protests over Jesus Christ Superstar around who would love to share the Gospel with the queuing wanabees. It might even be that we could encourage Christian singers to enrol in order to tell Andrew Lloyd-Webber just what they think of his project in the audition room itself.

A Roman Catholic newspaper cleared its first legal hurdle in its fight against a Malaysian government ban on Christians using the word "Allah" as a synonym for "God."

High Court Judge Lau Bee Lan ruled that prosecutors' objection to a lawsuit by The Herald weekly was without merit. The judge said she will allow the paper to contest the government ban in court.

The government says the word "Allah" refers only to the Muslim God and its use by Christians might confuse Muslims. It has threatened to revoke the paper's publishing license if it defies the order.

The Herald also wants a court declaration that "Allah" is not for exclusive use by Muslims. The court agreed that the church's application is not frivolous nor vexatious nor an abuse of process. It deserves to be heard, said Derek Fernandez, a lawyer for the newspaper.

The court will set a trial date later, Fernandez told reporters.

The Herald  insists that "Allah" is an Arabic word that predates Islam and has been used for centuries to mean "God" in Malay.

In a separate case in Malaysia, the Sabah Evangelical Church of Borneo has also filed a lawsuit in an effort to be allowed to use "Allah" after officials last year banned the import of books containing the word. Hearings in that case were still in the preliminary stages.

The enemies of free expression are at it again, with Morality in Media President Robert Peters criticizing FBI Director Robert Mueller for refusing to investigate obscenity crimes that do not depict the most extreme hardcore pornography.

Peters' letter to Mueller cites a number of ways in which he feels that constitutionally-protected materials lead to child abuse, including allowing "child molesters [to] use 'adult' obscenity (i.e., no minors depicted) to entice, arouse, desensitize and instruct their child victims," and how a consenting adult's viewing of legal erotica inevitably leads to the consumer's depravation and a "downward spiral" of viewing child pornography rather than "adult obscenity."

Peters' rant praised the efforts of former Attorney General Ashcroft and condemned the Supreme Court for upholding the Constitution in its overturning of the CDA and COPA.

MIM is also calling for increased efforts focusing on online adult entertainment as well as erotica delivered via in-room hotel PPV systems, citing titles from Hustler as an example of his belief that much obscenity features teens who may be at least 18 but who are promoted for their youth.

It wouldn't require a tremendous allocation of investigative and prosecutorial resources to substantially reduce traffic in obscene materials, Peters said. Because much if not most hardcore pornography is controlled by a relatively small number of companies based in the U.S. But it would require a commitment.

Finally, Peters expressed his support for Big Brother's monitoring of consumer's surfing habits via ISP record retention and called on the Justice Department and FBI to change its counter productive obscenity enforcement policies that make it more difficult if not impossible to win [this] war.

Australian bishops urge their government to ban pornography, one of the most evil uses of the Internet in a new pastoral letter on Internet safety.

The letter explains that the relative anonymity of the Internet and its private nature means that there is a real danger of pornographic addiction. The Bishops warn that All of these images are humiliating and degrading, most often towards women.

The letter points to a growing body of research about the damage that Internet pornography is doing to marriages and relationships. In 2007, the Sydney Morning Herald spent two months charting this new social phenomenon which it said was poisoning couples and destroying families. The investigation found that counselors were reporting that an increasing number of clients had begun to cite Internet pornography as a factor in their relationship breakdowns.

The bishops point out moreover that while it is damaging to marriages, addiction to Internet pornography is no less damaging to single people or to those dedicated to living a life of celibacy.

The letter explains: The Church commends the intimate giving of spouses to each other. Pornography undermines this. It injures the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world.

The bishops urge parents to discuss the dangers of pornography - its damaging impact on human dignity and on relationships - with their children, and call for the government to ban such degrading materials: Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials, and that includes, as far as possible, distribution on the Internet.

A Christian party has lost a High Court bid to have its party election broadcast (PEB) repeated, after claims it was censored by the BBC and ITV.

Christian Choice said the BBC forced changes to its description of a Muslim group in a PEB aired in London.

The BBC said it expressed concern and Christian Choice responded by agreeing to change the form of words.

The judge said the request had been left "far too late" - although he did not think the PEB had been libellous.

Alan Craig, the party's candidate for London mayor, had argued the action breached his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights - which guarantees the right to freedom of expression.

Rejecting Craig's request for a judicial review, the judge, Mr Justice Collins, said he should have launched the legal challenge before the broadcast took place on 23 April. He said it was "perfectly permissible" for the BBC to take into account legal advice that the original broadcast might have been libellous - although he did not think it would have been.

But the judge said the BBC had indicated that if a legal challenge had been issued before the broadcast it would have backed down and let them publish as they wished.

Unfortunately that was not done, Mr Justice Collins added. He ordered Mr Craig to pay the BBC's £11,875 in legal costs.

Original version:

You may know about plans by a separatist Islamic group to build Europe’s biggest mosque next to the Olympics site in West Ham. I think it’s a bad idea that will bring division and I’m glad moderate Muslims support my stance in opposing it.

Censored version:

You may know about controversial plans by an Islamic group to build Europe’s biggest mosque next to the Olympics site in West Ham. I think it’s a bad idea that will bring division and I’m glad some Muslims leaders support my stance in opposing it.

TA councillor has called for more control over advertising posters in "culturally sensitive" areas of Birmingham.

Coun Talib Hussain made his plea after a billboard on the corner of Sydenham Road and Golden Hillock Road, in predominantly Muslim Sparkbrook, was defaced.

The hoarding, close to mosques in Anderton Road and Golden Hillock Road and visible to parents and children walking to Montgomery Primary School, promotes Matalan's new swimwear range and features three scantily-clad models.

The models have been covered in thick white paint to conceal bare flesh.

Coun Talib Hussain (Ind, Sparkbrook) criticised the vandalism but said it was a result of the lack of action from city council bosses. He said: I condemn the people that did this but at the same time it's wrong for companies to put that kind of advert in sensitive wards.

I have received complaints on a number of occasions not to put adverts like that in Sparkbrook. The city council should not give permission to advertising like that in these wards. Having families seeing naked pictures does not bring the community together, it provokes things.

The vandalism is similar to a spate of attacks in 2005 and 2006 by a group called Muslims Against Advertising.

A Birmingham City Council spokesman, said: Our only power is to approve where advertising can take place, but not what is put on it. That is between the Advertising Standards Agency and the firm itself.

The ASA said the content of billboard adverts was controlled by billboard owner and the advertiser, and that the agency only had "responsive" powers: If we receive complaints we will consider if an advert should be removed.

The lawsuit by the archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur against the government of Malaysia has been adjourned until April 29. The archdiocese is claiming the right to use the word "Allah" in its Catholic weekly, the Herald.

The standoff over the use of the word "Allah" is just one more chapter in the difficulties facing the majority Muslim country, where a secular constitution is accompanied by Islamic courts charged with applying sharia.

On December 10, the domestic security ministry had prohibited the Malay-language section of the Herald from using the word "Allah" to designate the Christian God, claiming it could be used in this way only by Muslims. Fr Andrew Lawrence, the director of the newspaper, was forced to accept the restriction, but the archdiocese decided to sue the government.

The archbishop of the capital, Murphy Pakiam, maintains that the domestic security minister and the federal government are making a mistake: I am advised by my solicitors that I have a legal right to use the word 'Allah' in the Herald, and this legal right stems from the right to freedom of speech and expression as enshrined in Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.

Archbishop Pakiam further reports that he has been under constant pressure from the government to conform to the "directives". At the same time, numerous threats have been issued, creating a climate of "apprehension".

The bishop concludes by describing as unreasonable and irrational" the justification of the ministry, according to which the use of the word "Allah" is a security issue which is purportedly causing much confusion and which threatens and endangers peace, public order and security". Over thirteen years of publication, he adds, no article in the Herald has ever caused any incidents.

Family First NZ is calling for the latest version of the Grand Theft Auto video game series to be banned in NZ.

Grand Theft Auto IV is scheduled for release this week. It follows on from previous Grand Theft Auto games which included constant graphic violence and sexual situations. Players could re-enact having sex with a prostitute, beating her bloody, taking her money and running her over with a car and shooting at police officers.

Rockstar Games which produces the game says the company is going even further in its pursuit of realism with this latest game in the series and players can buy cocaine, set enemies alight, shoot a policeman, drink drive, and visit strip clubs – all with improved physics and animation which makes the game feel more real, according to reviewers.

In Australia the graphic violence contained in the game was modified to meet an MA15+ rating, still with warnings of strong violence, strong coarse language, drug and sexual references. The Australian censorship board warned that as the violence is relatively frequent, causing blood spray and injury detail, the impact is strong.

It is completely naïve to believe that teenagers and young children won’t have access to and be able to play the game, says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ: It is also completely unrealistic to believe that young people will not be influenced in their attitudes and behaviours by constant exposure to this type of material.

Family First says that with concerns in the increasing rates of juvenile violent and sexual offending, it is time we acted to protect our young people and communities from the effects and influences of these extreme types of video games.

So-called ‘entertainment’ and freedom of expression should never be at the expense of the safety of our community, appropriate emotional and moral development of our children, and promoting acceptable attitudes towards women, violence and law enforcement, says McCoskrie.

However, such is the popularity of the title that big electronics stores are planning midnight openings to cash in on demand from gamers.

A London mayoral candidate is taking the BBC and ITV to the High Court for censoring his party Election Broadcasts in the run up to the May 1 elections.

The Christian Choice candidate, Alan Craig, has instructed the Christian Legal Centre to file papers this morning at the Royal Courts of Justice after BBC and ITV officials instructed him to remove parts of his Party Election Broadcast which was aired on Wednesday evening.

Cllr Craig, a long-standing campaigner against the 'mega-mosque', due to be built in Newham close to the site of the Olympic Games, originally described the organisation behind it, Tablighi Jamaat, as ‘separatist’.

However, BBC and ITV officials responsible for supervising the Broadcasts instructed him to moderate his views and change this description of the Islamic organisation if he wanted it aired.

Cllr Craig claims not only ‘political interference’ by the broadcasters, but says such action breeches his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects freedom of speech.

According to the Christian Legal Centre, Cllr Craig changed the word to “controversial” under duress. Late in the day ITV insisted that the agreed word “controversial” should be applied to the mosque plans not to the Islamic group. Cllr Craig’s objections to the mega-mosque, however, have consistently been related to the nature of the Islamic group behind the project - the plans have not yet been published.

Cllr Craig said: BBC and ITV officials, none of whom were lawyers to our knowledge, clearly instructed us to ‘tone down’ our views and change the sense if we wanted the PEB broadcast. The legal language of ‘libel’ was mentioned by the BBC, and in the case of TV, we were forced to go back to the studios at the last minute to record a censored version of the PEB.

I am advised that libel is a defamation of an individual, and no-where in the broadcast do we defame individuals. My comments are reasonable and moderate and do not contradict the Racial and Religious Hatred Act. The BBC and ITV are not entitled to limit free speech and I look forward to the judge ordering them both to broadcast my original message.

Andrea Minichiello Williams, barrister and director of the Christian Legal Centre, said: Providing that the content of an election broadcast is within the law, the BBC and ITV should enable the electorate to hear the unedited views of candidates and allow them to make up their own minds as to whether they agree or not.

The Christian Legal Centre will be calling for a Judicial Review of the BBC’s and ITV’s decision, and ask the judge to order, as a matter of urgency, the unedited Party Election Broadcast on both channels. The case will be heard next Monday when Cllr Craig will be represented by leading Human Rights barrister, Paul Diamond.

Update: The Censored Word

29th April 2008

Original version:

You may know about plans by a separatist Islamic group to build Europe’s biggest mosque next to the Olympics site in West Ham. I think it’s a bad idea that will bring division and I’m glad moderate Muslims support my stance in opposing it.

Censored version:

You may know about controversial plans by an Islamic group to build Europe’s biggest mosque next to the Olympics site in West Ham. I think it’s a bad idea that will bring division and I’m glad some Muslims leaders support my stance in opposing it.

The BBC should not apply its impartiality rules when it comes to religion, and the Corporation should be biased in favour of Christianity, said Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor last week.

The Cardinal was speaking after a speech by BBC Director-General Mark Thompson in Westminster Cathedral. Thompson, a Catholic, said that the BBC intended to increase its religious coverage after the "success" of programmes like The Monastery and Extreme Pilgrim.

Murphy O'Connor also said that Christianity should have unopposed time to deliver its message on the BBC. Sometimes the adversarial aspect — if you've got one view you've got to have the opposite view — supplants what we need.

Keith Porteous Wood, Executive Director of the National Secular Society, said: Cardinal O'Connor speaks like a classic demagogue. His desire to have no contradiction to his message is authoritarian and anti-democratic. Religion already has hours of time of TV and radio in which no-one is allowed to question or comment. Thought for the Day is one such slot, where preachers of all hues are allowed to make blatantly political pitches for religious points of view, and no-one is allowed to interrupt. Mark Thompson's enthusiasm for the Catholic Church is beginning to suggest that his approach to religion is not entirely balanced or objective. If he listens to the Cardinal, he risks undermining the BBC's precious heritage of trust as an impartial voice for the whole nation – not just the Church.

European electronics retailer Media Markt was sued by a Swiss politician for selling John Woo’s Stranglehold. To be more precise, Roland Näf sued the manager of a local branch of Media Markt.

Now, the reason Näf is doing this is that he wants to see how effective this law is when used against video games. He states that Swiss law isn’t strict enough in that respect. Even though the video game industry voluntarily uses a system that prohibits selling overly violent games to minors, kids could still easily get their hands on them, especially since the law doesn’t forbid giving the games to them.

So Näf wants to ban video games from being produced or sold at all. He wants prohibition.

Actually, he already tried to change the law but was turned down by the parliament. They said that the law as it is now was good enough and that no connection between video games and violent minors was evident.

Good to know that there are some politicians who actually think about the matter instead of lashing out irrationally.

A video interview showing American TV actor Jason Beghe criticising Scientology has been removed from YouTube.

The 48-year-old was the first celebrity to speak out against the religion, telling how his 12 years with the church damaged him and accusing Scientology of being “destructive” and a “rip-off”.

After Beghe’s criticism of the church made headlines yesterday, YouTube suspended the account of the prolific Scientology critic who posted the video, making the clip unavailable to viewers.

But the suspension has angered YouTube users who have thrown their weight behind Mark Bunker, who uses the name XenuTV1 on the site. By this morning, 45 YouTube members had used their sign-ons to re-post Bunker’s interview with the Cane and CSI actor.

In the clip, Benghe said: My experience personally, and what I’ve observed for myself, is that Scientology is destructive and a rip-off. It’s very, very dangerous for your spiritual, psychological and mental, emotional health and evolution. I think it stunts your evolution.

One YouTube user, Vongoloid, uploaded the video with the message: Actor Jason Beghe exposes... Scientology to Mark Bunker of Xenu TV. YouTube suspended Mark's account, XenuTV1, so I am putting this up for justice.

Angry viewers posted comments below the re-hosted clips Unsuspend his fuckiing account, YouTube, wrote one: Banning free speech is a major no no. Knock it off.

Marriott International will meet in Washington May 14 with anti-porn nutters that have petitioned the hotel chain to remove adult movies from its rooms.

Coming in response to an April 3 letter signed by 47 "pro-family" groups, the meeting may or may not serve to further the groups' agenda, as making such a broad change to the corporation's policy would be a very complex proposition, Marriott officials say.

Marriott is a publicly traded company, so Mr. Marriott would not make a unilateral decision, said VP of communications Roger Conner, referring to CEO J.W. Marriott Jr., to whom the letter was addressed.

This is the first time a major hotel chain has agreed to meet with anti-adult lobbying groups, but even so, Conner stressed that it's the individual properties and not Marriott International that decide whether or not to offer adult programming, and that receive compensation for it from Lodgenet and other providers.

Adult industry attorney Paul Cambria, however, pointed out to Cybercast that, Adult entertainment is completely protected by the First Amendment, and the Supreme Court has said so time and time again.

Reacting to the US Justice Department’s indictment of producer John Stagliano on obscenity charges, executives from nutter groups said their organizations are pleased by the indictment, but concerned about the type of material being prosecuted.

Early indications lead us to believe this material is once again the ‘worst of the worst,’ said Daniel Weiss, the senior analyst for media and sexuality at Focus on the Family: The Justice Department does nothing to stop the mainstreaming of pornography by only prosecuting material at the extreme edge of society.

Robert Peters, president of Morality in Media, concurred with Weiss and called on the government to initiate far more obscenity prosecutions: The case is an important obscenity case, but standing alone it isn’t going to stem the tide of obscenity. They’ve just got to do more cases, or the pornographers are going to win.

Peters asserted that, despite the proliferation of pornography in American society and the “mainstreaming” of adult content, Americans are not accepting of pornography: Just because there’s a lot of pornography around doesn’t mean the American people accept it.

Diane Duke, the executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, told XBIZ that: It’s difficult to win any obscenity case, and it will be difficult for them to convict Evil Angel, because most people really don’t want to tell their neighbors what they can or can’t watch.

Nearly 50 nutter organisations are asking the Marriott hotel chain to take pornographic movies out of guest rooms.

In an April 3 letter to CEO John Marriott III, 47 pro-family nutters requested a meeting to discuss the issue. The letter goes on to say that pulling the pay-per-view movies would be in line with Marriott's public statement of promoting the well-being of children and families and stand against ... such tragedies as human trafficking and the exploitation of children.

Among the nutters who signed the letter are: Dr. James Dobson (Focus on the Family), Bishop Harry Jackson (High Impact Leadership Council), Tony Perkins (Family Research Council), Paul Weyrich (Free Congress Foundation), Dr. Richard Land (Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission), Matt Staver (Liberty Counsel), and Robert Peters (Morality in Media).

Don Wildmon, the founder and chairman of the American Family Association, was one of the signatories to the letter. He says it is time for Marriott to put families first: Children can go [into a Marriott room and] accidentally ... access the porn. So we're asking Marriott simply to put people above profits and [to] drop the porn movies from their guest rooms."

Wildmon says so far, Marriott has not responded to a request to meet with representatives of the pro-family groups to discuss the matter.

According to a press release from AFA, Marriott has approximately 2,800 hotels in the U.S. -- and about 2,400 of them offer in-room pornographic movies.

Remember the Christian Congress for Traditional Values (CCTV). They have appeared several times on Melon Farmers for being holier than thou. For example:

The CCTV advert showed a man, woman, boy and girl with the statement Gay aim: abolish the family.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints against the ad, ruling that it could be inflammatory. The poster broke advertising rules on social responsibility, decency, matters of opinion and truthfulness, the ASA said: We considered the statement and the way it appeared was likely to cause offence both to the mainstream gay community and supporters of equality.

The ASA added that it was also likely to be seen as controversial and possibly inflammatory by a significant number of people who saw the poster in an untargeted medium. We concluded that the poster was likely to cause serious or widespread offence and might lead to anti-social behaviour.

Now Christian Congress for Traditional Values was established by Bishop Michael Reid who was the head of Peniel Church.

And guess what, Reid has been pursuing his own aim of family abolition by undertaking a long time extra-marital affair.

He has now resigned saying: It is with great sorrow and regret that I have resigned from the church board and have stepped down from official duties. I confess that I have sinned by committing adultery. I recognize that I have failed in my duties and acted in a way that harmed the Church. I take full responsibility for my actions and so I resigned. I apologize to my wife and family and all of you whose trust I have betrayed and ask for your forgiveness and prayers.

The website of Christian Congress for Traditional Values has been replaced by a statement of apology

Nutter clamour is growing against the upcoming Hollywood movie The Love Guru over denigrating Hindu traditions.

The movement is spearheaded by Hindu chaplain and Indo-American leader Rajan Zed.

Zed has been saying that from the information available about the movie, it appears to be lampooning Hinduism and Hindus and using Hindu terms frivolously.

Swami Pooja Saraswati, a spiritual leader says: I watched the trailer of the movie Love Guru and was shocked that any respectable movie producer would so blatantly ridicule a great world religion, a culture, spiritual path and sincere way of life, portraying it as farce. Producers Paramount Pictures will agree to make changes suggested by Rajan Zed and other Hindu leaders, during the premier of this insulting film before millions of Hindus, yogis and people of high spiritual consciousness around the world feel hurt, offended and outraged, she added.

Reverend John J. Auer, Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Reno added his support: Neither Zed nor I have any interest in censorship...HOWEVER...it is crucial that every faith tradition be given the chance to be heard in response to any portrayal in popular culture of elements of that tradition that might be easily misrepresented and/or misunderstood.

Alison Pratte, a yoga leader, has stated, I was offended after watching the trailer of The Love Guru. The depiction of the main character in the movie seems more than a harmless spoof. It is loaded with an ignorant stereotype of a culture and religion that is already misunderstood and stigmatized. This movie will only cause more ignorance and bring shame to a beautiful tradition that has existed for thousands of years.

The Love Guru is a comedy film starring Mike Myers (who is also the co-writer and co-producer), Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake and Ben Kingsley, is directed by Marco Schnabel and due for release on June 20 this year. In this film, Myers as Pitka, an American, raised in an ashram in India, moves back to US as Guru to seek fame and fortune in the world of self-help and spirituality.

India is preparing a new manual to teach sex education in schools. But it will be bereft of diagrams and will barely mention the phrase "sexual intercourse", after protests from politicians and parents.

The country's health ministry has been forced to delete even mildly graphic references in the manual after religious conservatives reacted with alarm to the notion of sex being discussed in the classroom.

Criticism by conservatives of an early draft of the manual led to it being banned outright in nine states. Now the health ministry has come up with a new version which, the minister responsible admits, has been "mellowed down".

The message remains the same but it is simply being put across in a more sensitive and appropriate way, said Sujatha Rao, who helped draft the new version: We don't have to do things the same way as in the West. We have to consider our own cultural and social norms.

One of the first elements to be cut was an anatomical flip chart that taught schoolchildren about contraception. All references to homosexuality, a criminal offence in India, were also dropped.

Sex education is un-Indian, said Ram Madhav, of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh organisation: Look at what it has done in the West - divorce, adultery, teenage pregnancies and people having sex as casually as having a Pepsi.

With a population of 1.13 billion and rising, an HIV epidemic that has infected nearly six million, and government studies suggesting more than half of Indian children have suffered sexual abuse, proponents of the manual say proper sex education is desperately needed.

Update: Censored

21st June 2008

Intercourse and masturbation are words that will find no mention in a new sex education module being devised for school students.

Unlike last time, there will be no graphic flip charts either. The new adolescent education programme may roll out in November. The officials behind it are hoping there will be no hue and cry like last time when six states banned it, saying it was too explicit and would corrupt the minds of the young.

At the time of this writing, the dissemination on the worldwide web of the deliberately provocative anti-Islam film Fitna, made by the Dutch populist MP Geert Wilders, has not provoked violent protest on the scale of the Rushdie affair or the Danish cartoons. If things remain this way, that is progress of a kind.

In the meantime, three questions need to be asked about the film. The first is "Should Mr Wilders be murdered for making it?" That's what some demonstrators outside the Dutch embassy in Indonesia called for, waving banners saying Kill Geert Wilders. Theirs is an attitude that the British writer Douglas Murray has sharply characterised as say my religion is peaceful or I will kill you. More seriously, even before the movie was released, al-Qaida issued a fatwa calling Muslims everywhere to assassinate Wilders, thus further increasing the threat to a man who is already under 24-hour protection.

Now, that Wilders should not be murdered for making a film may seem so obvious that it hardly needs saying. But it does need saying, again and again; in truth, it's the first thing that needs to be said. For one of the most deeply corrosive realities of our time is that not just one but many people across the world are living under death threats, in hiding or with round-the-clock security, simply because they have said, drawn or done something that is alleged to "insult Islam".

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Nutter outrage, has prompted Vienna's Dommuseum, the art gallery attached to St. Stephen's Catholic cathedral, to remove some of the works in a supposedly blasphemous exhibit of paintings and sculptures. One of the most noted works in the exhibit depicts Christ and his Apostles as homosexuals engaged in an orgy.

The Gloria TV website carried a short film of the exhibition and Catholics around the world responded condemning the depiction of Christ as an active homosexual.

The artist, Alfred Hrdlicka, a Marxist and self-proclaimed atheist, had titled the exhibition of his work Religion, Flesh and Power, and said that he was pleased it was being displayed in the Catholic museum.

He told Reuters, however, that he had been surprised that the museum had agreed. For me it was quite surprising the museum wanted to show the piece in the first place. If the Cathedral Museum is having problems now, it's not really my affair, it's for the Cathedral Museum to deal with.

The museum's curator, Bernhard Boehler, replied to the complaints saying, I don't see any blasphemy here. People can imagine what they want to. He referred to a depiction of the flagellation of Christ that showed a Roman soldier holding the Lord's genitals.

Boehler told Reuter's news service that the work that drew the most complaints was the painting of the Last Supper that depicted Christ and his Apostles in a homosexual orgy. The museum said many of the complaints came from overseas where people had read about the exhibition online.

A statement from the Cardinal's office said that the removal of the works has nothing to do with censorship, [...BUT...] rather corresponds with the understood 'reverence for the sacred'.

A judge has ruled in a case against MP Geert Wilders brought by the Dutch Islamic Federation that Wilders is not guilty of spreading hate, although his statements are provocative.

However the judge ruled that members of parliament have to be able to express their opinions strongly.

In a written statement the judge at the Hague District Court said Wilders' right to free speech allows him to criticise radical Islam and passages from the Muslim holy book.

Steve Sinnott was the general secretary of the National Union Of Teachers. He has featured on Melon Farmers several times but most recently he was part of a campaign to ban the video game Bully: Scholarship Edition which he and other campaigners claimed encouraged bullying amongst children is school.

Steve Sinnott died suddenly yesterday, only weeks before he was due to lead the first nationwide classroom strike for two decades. The 56-year-old's death from a suspected heart attack stunned the education world and triggered a wave of tributes from political friends and opponents alike.

He was praised by fellow union leaders as a "doughty fighter" who campaigned for the rights of children in Britain and against "injustice and tyranny" around the world.

Nutters from AIDS-Free Philippines and some church-based groups are campaigning against the airing of advertisements promoting the use of condoms and contraceptives.

Dr. Rene Josef Bullecer, Human Life International–Pilipinas country director, yesterday said these advertisements are sending the wrong message to young people, especially young women. What they are advertising is contrary to what is true, he added. Bullecer claims that these contraceptives cause cancer of the breast and cervix, hypertension and heart disease.

AIDS-Free Philippines, together with the Couples for Christ Bacolod, and Family and Life Apostolate of the Diocese of Bacolod are asking the ADBOARD, the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, and the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas to immediately stop the airing both on television and radio of all “condoms and contraceptive” advertisement.

In the absence of a vaccine or cure, “abstinence and chastity” still are the best proven and most effective weapons against the world’s dreaded disease – AIDS, the group claims.