Anthony McIntyre's Blog, page 654

Is Belfast Agreement The Real Target Of Unionist Protocol Campaign?

Dr John Coulter ✒While all the Unionist parties plus loyalists have vented their anger against the Northern Ireland Protocol, branding it a threat to the Union,  the TPQ Monday contentious political commentator poses the awkward question - is it the Good Friday Agreement the anti-Protocol lobby really wants scrapped?From the day in 1970 when I served sandwiches in Clough Presbyterian Manse near

A Morning Thought @ 1374

Nazi-Like War Crimes

Anthony McIntyre ✒ Much of the discourse around Russia’s war crime of aggression against Ukraine pointedly aims at drawing a comparison with the Nazis. Yet the Nazi comparison in conflict situations, when used all too facilely, becomes little more than how Brendan O’Neill once characterized the pejorative of fascist – just another way of calling somebody else a bastard. The matured observation

New Survey ✑ 70% Of Young Scottish Adults Have No Religion

Atheist Republic ✒ A study sponsored by the Humanist Society of Scotland revealed many Scots are departing from religion and religious identity. The study showed a stark difference compared to a similar survey in 2011. The survey conducted by YouGov, an international research data and analytics group, asked more than 1002 adults about their religious preferences.The study administered an online

The Catholic Church And Right-Wing Politics

Church And State ✒ This post by James McDonald originally appeared at Bad News About Christianity.When all countries lived under absolutist governments, the Churches enjoyed a much closer relationship with the State than they do in democratic societies. The Church happily accommodated some of the cruellest rulers in history.In recent centuries the Roman Church has always favoured authoritarian

State-Funded Faith School Unlawfully Segregates Girls, Ofsted Finds

National Secular Society ✒ A state-funded faith school is breaking the law by segregating girls, the school inspectorate has said.Ofsted downgraded the King David High School, a Jewish academy in Manchester, from "outstanding" to "inadequate" after it found pupils in the school's single-sex unit suffered discrimination.King David High School operates a mixed-sex "main school" unit and single-sex

Praying For Congress To Be Filled With Christian Nationalists

Right Wing Watch ✒ Christian Nationalist Lance Wallnau Prays That God Will Raise Up More ‘Great Leaders’ Like Reps. Greene, Gaetz, and CawthornKyle Mantyla Unabashed Christian nationalist and self-proclaimed “futurist” Lance Wallnau held a livestream on his Facebook page Tuesday night in which he prayed that God will bring “such a cleansing of a House in November” that Congress will be filled

A Morning Thought @ 1373

Falls Road Says YES ✑ Ben Habib Qualifies As An Honorary Ulsterman

Brandon Sullivan ✒ I recently heard that Jim Allister, like me, an Ulsterman (him from Crossgar, me from the Falls Road, Belfast), bestowed upon Ben Habib the title of “honorary Ulsterman.”At first, I felt that this was typical of a certain type of right-wing unionism. But then, having thought about it, maybe Jim has a point.Ben Habib does have some traits that make him quite similar to me, an

Lynx By Ten To The Power Of One Hundred And Sixty

Ten links to a diverse range of opinion that might be of interest to TPQ readers. They are selected not to invite agreement but curiosity. Readers can submit links to pieces they find thought provoking.Before We Conform, Let Us At Least Be CuriousGlobal Nurses Union Says 'Heinous' Russian Attacks on Hospitals Amount to War CrimesThe Politics of the Russo-Ukrainian War: International Scholars