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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007 Location: retired
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 10:13 am Post subject: Justice for UK Pagan community |
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At long last!!
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Pagan prisoners win right to have 'magic wand' twigs in cells under new religious freedom rules
Prison bosses have been instructed to let pagan inmates keep twigs in their cells...to use as wands.
Officers have been told to allow prisoners to collect and decorate the twigs which they need for their rituals.
It is the latest in a series of rulings to protect convicts' rights and ensure equality among different faiths.
Followers of other faiths are allowed items such as a prayer mat to allow them to worship.
The policy regarding pagans was announced by Justice Reform Minister Maria Eagle in a parliamentary answer.
She said: "Prison service policy is to enable prisoners of different faith traditions, including paganism, to practise their religion.
"Religious artefacts are allowed for relevant faiths within the constraints of good order and discipline. The religious artefacts for pagan prisoners include a flexible twig for a wand."
Tory prisons spokesman Edward Garnier said: "This sounds like an April Fool's Day joke. But there's genuine concern prisoners are taking the system for a ride."
Conservative MP Andrew Turner, who uncovered the new ruling, added: "This strikes me as bizarre. A lot of people would be worried about equating paganism with Christianity." |
The UK may have collectively lost her mind, but some still have that side-splitting Brit humor. From the comments:
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Ah, a sensible story at last. Don't tell the other religions, if they find out that twigs are religious symbols then the Birmingham Council will consider removing all the trees in case they cause offence.
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Nice! |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 7:55 pm Post subject: |
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In the 2001 United Kingdom census, 390,000 people -- 0.7 percent of the population -- listed Jedi as their religion.
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I wonder if Jedis pray to Yoda. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007 Location: retired
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Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 8:04 pm Post subject: |
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Aren't Jedi's like Pagans? The force flows through all things and so on. Yoda merely could control the force, no?
Now that we're talking Star Wars.. Like Islam, Christianity and the rest, the Jedi actually have a destructive and counterproductive religion.
Tyler Cowon from Marginal Revolution breaks it down:
The core point is that the Jedi are not to be trusted:
1. The Jedi and Jedi-in-training sell out like crazy. Even the evil Count Dooku was once a Jedi knight.
2. What do the Jedi Council want anyway? The Anakin critique of the Jedi Council rings somewhat true (this is from the new movie, alas I cannot say more, but the argument could be strengthened by citing the relevant detail). Aren't they a kind of out-of-control Supreme Court, not even requiring Senate approval (with or without filibuster), and heavily armed at that? As I understand it, they vote each other into the office, have license to kill, and seek to control galactic affairs. Talk about unaccountable power used toward secret and mysterious ends.
3. Obi-Wan told Luke scores of lies, including the big whopper that his dad was dead.
4. The Jedi can't even keep us safe.
5. The bad guys have sex and do all the procreating. The Jedi are not supposed to marry, or presumably have children. Not ESS, if you ask me. Anakin gets Natalie Portman; Luke spends two episodes with a perverse and distant crush on his sister Leia, leading only to one chaste kiss.
6. The prophecy was that Anakin (Darth) will restore order and balance to the force. How true this turns out to be. But none of the Jedi can begin to understand what this means. Yes, you have to get rid of the bad guys. But you also have to get rid of the Jedi. The Jedi are, after all, the primary supply source and training ground for the bad guys. Anakin/Darth manages to get rid of both, so he really is the hero of the story. (It is also interesting which group of "Jedi" Darth kills first, but that would be telling.)
7. At the happy ending of "Return of the Jedi", the Jedi no longer control the galaxy. The Jedi Council is not reestablished. Luke, the closest thing to a Jedi representative left, never becomes a formal Jedi. He shows no desire to train other Jedi, and probably expects to spend the rest of his life doing voices for children's cartoons.
8. The core message is that power corrupts, but also that good guys have power too. Our possible safety lies in our humanity, not in our desires to transcend it or wield strange forces to our advantage. |
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Grab the Chickens Levi

Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Location: Ilsan
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 5:27 am Post subject: |
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The coutry is turning into a comedy of errors.
Bring back the Tories, Christ at least they knew how to run a country.... |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Location: I walk along the avenue
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 10:11 am Post subject: |
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Grab the Chickens Levi wrote: |
The coutry is turning into a comedy of errors.
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What exactly do you think is so comedic about a particular religious group being granted the same rights that are already available to other religious groups? |
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Grab the Chickens Levi

Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Location: Ilsan
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 10:29 am Post subject: |
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On the other hand wrote: |
Grab the Chickens Levi wrote: |
The coutry is turning into a comedy of errors.
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What exactly do you think is so comedic about a particular religious group being granted the same rights that are already available to other religious groups? |
The part about treating prisoners like spoiled children of course. |
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