Its been an amusing news day. IOL could not bring themselves to put “The K-word” in a headline so they lead an article with “Air force shooter suspect called ‘redundant’.” The article reveals that the shooter is alleged to have been called a “redundant kaffir*”, and is using this as part of his defence on murder charges. This will rightfully work far better than presenting the “I was called ‘redundant’” defence, so I think that IOL could have puckered up and given us a realistic headline.
The Afrikaans newspaper, Rapport, has fired one of their writers, Deon Maas, after he dared to express the opinion that Satanism was just another religion, and one which probably has the worst deal of the lot in terms of intolerance. Sadly, I cannot find the November 4 column in which he expressed these opinions so I would be grateful if someone could send me the link.
Pride of place, though, goes to the story of British PM, Gordon Brown, becoming an “Honorary Hindu”. IOL reports it here and to eliminate the possibility of some kind of cultural misunderstanding, the Hindustani Times reproduces the same story here.
I never considered the possibility that one could be an honorary member of a religion. If it is possible to be an honorary atheist, I am tempted to propose that we bestow this title on the Pope, complete with an “Atheist Name” such as Jeebuz McPointyhat.
Tempted, that is, because I honestly believe that the most beautiful gift that an atheist can give to a believer in any faith is haughty derision. Perhaps, if they receive enough of this, they will begin to question their religion. Perhaps The Honorable Gordon Brown could use a double share.
*: For this reason alone, I have a certain amount of sympathy for the accused.
Related posts:
