[Rosvanian]

Another right wing gobshite whining about Christianity. These fucking people are just the worst. The absolute fucking worst.

[kreuzberger]

Christmas, when I was a kid in the 60s, was dreadful.

We got a Big Present, with no batteries and invariably didn't work, and were carted off to relies for further early afternoon horror. A mustard coloured jumper has never left my more scaring moments of nocturnal loneliness.

The food was so dreadful that I ought to have applied for asylum in Italy at age eight which, coincidently, was around when we were collecting pennies at school for the poor babies. At least those mites had a decent slab of lamb rather than piles of arid fowl and spouts which would melt in the mouth. Not in a good way. A fart-tasting bad way.

And then uncles would hset about a Party Seven and we watched The Great Escape on the telly. I hated every moment.

These days, we have food and narcotics with our closest friends on the 24th and go for a walk in the park on the first Christmas Day.

I prefer this.

[Youngian]

These days, we have food and narcotics with our closest friends on the 24th and go for a walk in the park on the first Christmas Day.

Never missed a family Christmas out of courtesy but never had one since both parents passed away. My brother hated Christmas even more than me and perfectly content to have developed our own rituals.

[Abernathy]

https://www.gbnews.uk/news/exclusive-a ... JuIDJNwHrU

EXCLUSIVE: ‘A clear majority of the country feel that migration is too high’

Poisonous bullshit. I’ve always thought that immigration is actually a wonderful, positive thing, not an unspeakable evil to be railed against at all times. The more the fucking merrier, I say. Bring it on.

[Samanfur]

I think that it was Thomas Piketty who wrote that immigration is a sign of a healthy society, in the sense that you have a place that people want to come to, and a constant flow of new ideas and enterprise.

A sign of an unhealthy society is when those immigrants arrive to start at the botton, but the society isn't allowing them to progress any further.

[Andy McDandy]

Back to Neil Oliver, it's depressingly familiar how his rant segues from "who could object to Christmas, it's a fun festival, midwinter bashes are common in most societies", to trite evangelism* in a heartbeat.

*In short, "modern western capitalist society is great because we think Jesus was a white man who spoke English".

And on Goodwin, Reform UK might be "up 6%", but that's 6% of fuck all.

[Youngian]

https://www.gbnews.uk/news/exclusive-a ... JuIDJNwHrU

EXCLUSIVE: ‘A clear majority of the country feel that migration is too high’

Poisonous bullshit. I’ve always thought that immigration is actually a wonderful, positive thing, not an unspeakable evil to be railed against at all times. The more the fucking merrier, I say. Bring it on.

‘Feel’ is the key word there. How do these respondents measure ‘too high?’

[Yug]

About this popular right-wing trope of Britain being a Christian country hated by the "woke".

Daily worship in schools should end, according to teachers and education experts who have branded the legal requirement “archaic” now that England is not predominantly Christian.

The 2021 census revealed last week that for the first time fewer than half the population in England and Wales described themselves as Christian, while 37% said they had “no religion”.

Currently, all state schools are legally required to provide an act of “collective worship” that is “broadly Christian” every day. Many heads admit privately they no longer stick to this, preferring to run less religious assemblies more relevant to their diverse student bodies...

https://amp.theguardian.com/education/2 ... us-results

Fewer than half of the population of England and Wales give their religion as Christian (all denominations), while over a third give their religion as None.

Even in this bollocks the righties are in the minority.

[Andy McDandy]

More clever bastards. Powerless against the Revenge of the Shit.

[Youngian]

Currently, all state schools are legally required to provide an act of “collective worship” that is “broadly Christian” every day.

Does “broadly Christian” give scope for any adventure tale where the baddies get killed at the end? In many ways Obi Wan Kenobi was like Jesus.

[Andy McDandy]

Seems to be the way most schools interpret it. I once applied for a job at at Catholic school (as a librarian) and was told that I'd be expected to have a "basically Christian" outlook and morality, which seemed to boil down to being a decent human being. Golden rule and so on.

[Tubby Isaacs]

I used to volunteer at a C of E school in Tower Hamlets. The headteacher said "God" a couple of times and the vicar (who the kids seemed to like) popped in and doubtless did the same. The school must have been 90% Bangladeshi, and it all seemed to work. If they were thinking about God much, they probably weren't thinking of something entirely Christian.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

I used to take those assemblies.

Our agreed stance (if asked) was that we would take an issue of the day, or issue the kids needed to think about, and approach it in a moral manner that would not offend any religious group or non-faith group such as humanists. Occasionally throwing in a bit of religious morality in an off-hand way.

Admittedly I did stretch it to Norse gods and Olympians from time to time...

[Bones McCoy]

Seems to be the way most schools interpret it. I once applied for a job at at Catholic school (as a librarian) and was told that I'd be expected to have a "basically Christian" outlook and morality, which seemed to boil down to being a decent human being. Golden rule and so on.

This is all OK until you get a couple of more enthusiastic parents, with access to a Christian legal service.

[mattomac]

Odd how those who claim that things are forced on them are the usual ones who force.

[MisterMuncher]

Seems to be the way most schools interpret it. I once applied for a job at at Catholic school (as a librarian) and was told that I'd be expected to have a "basically Christian" outlook and morality, which seemed to boil down to being a decent human being. Golden rule and so on.

SOP in this neck of the woods is that in order to teach in a Catholic/CCMS school you need to have a Catholic RE certificate, which anyone can theoretically do the test for and get. It's just that most non-Catholic teachers don't, which is probably by design in part at least.

[Spoonman]

Seems to be the way most schools interpret it. I once applied for a job at at Catholic school (as a librarian) and was told that I'd be expected to have a "basically Christian" outlook and morality, which seemed to boil down to being a decent human being. Golden rule and so on.

SOP in this neck of the woods is that in order to teach in a Catholic/CCMS school you need to have a Catholic RE certificate, which anyone can theoretically do the test for and get. It's just that most non-Catholic teachers don't, which is probably by design in part at least.

AFAIK that applies only to Primary schools that are under the CCMS. It doesn't apply to post-primary CCMS schools unless you're looking to teach RE in one of them. Not entirely sure about the Voluntary schools with a Catholic ethos (usually Catholic grammar schools), but I think they're the same. The vast majority of post-primary teachers in such schools are or were brought up Catholic, but there are notable numbers whom are from other denominations, non-Christian religions or none at all.

[Abernathy]

Well, I’d say I was gobsmacked, but I’m absolutely not. Farage. Racist cunt.

https://www.gbnews.uk/royal/nigel-fara ... tep8U151BI

Nigel Farage labels Meghan Markle and Prince Harry ‘despicable’ for blaming racism on Brexit

[Andy McDandy]

Two things.

1. They don't need to "launch a career", they're pretty much done with that.

2. If anyone knows about grifting...

[Tubby Isaacs]

This is the proper news from the "Red Wall" that they promised, is it?