Lots of links

So, having been away for a week, I found myself with over 250 blog entries to catch up on! That took a while, even skipping over lots of them. However, some blogs and other sites have caught my interest, so I thought I’d lump them all together!

Father Jake has been worrying about the possibility of the USA becoming a far-right theocracy and the degree to which this is already happening. On a slightly lighter note, he also passes on some good advice from Roy Clements about how to conduct ourselves when involved in emotional debates such as those about sexuality. As an aside, I’m glad to hear from Roy – I was in Cambridge when he had to leave his position as leader of a local evangelical baptist church because he was “outed” as gay, and it always seemed a shame (although not a surprise) this his church couldn’t cope.

Meanwhile, Adam Cleave of PoMoMusings (who, fortunately, isn’t leaving blogging after all :-) ) is turning 25 (youngster!) and having an interesting-looking party to celebrate!

Reports from No2ID and The Register indicate that, despite shelving the ID cards legislation because of the UK General Election on May 5th, the Labour Party is planning to bring in a national fingerprint database by stealth. They claim to be able to do this by piggybacking on passports – because these are issued by Royal prerogative, they claim that there is no need for legislation to force people to give biometric data, nor is it required for them to store this in a national database (which would have fewer legal boundaries than the proposed national ID database).

Finally, on a lighter note, have you heard of the Unitarian Jihad? Jon Carroll is reporting that he’s received a commniqué from them, targeting the “Imprisoned Citizens of the United States”. So, just call me Brother Cattle Prod of Courteous Debate. :-)

pax et bonum

Article posted at 11:31am on 13 April 2005
Category: Faith, Funny, Politics, Struggling