It’s a fantastically mixed-up stew of historical hatreds that’s been boiling over at least since Scátheach fought Aiofe over Cú Chulainn. Christianity’s been no help to the situation, and probably made it worse.

I also think that humour works best when it is pushing boundaries.

However, if I sent a joke through my work email that used an ethnic minority and sensitive issue as a punchline, I would not be too surprised to find myself out of the job.

Dawkins’ grasp of political and social history is thin at best, and his compulsion to set religion up as the bogey man is more divisive and ignorant than the beliefs of most theists.

His lack of self awareness with regards to his utter, utter cultural protestantism is also pretty damning.

If you think religion causes most of the world’s problems now, try and ban it and see the kind of world you create. Not to mention that if we ban religion we are creating thoughtcrimes.

Mockery sometimes is counterproductive, or worse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_football_referee_strike

I’m no fan of football or religion but to be honest I’m not sure the religious angle is entirely to blame here. Historically maybe, but the fact of the matter these days is that there are a large number of idiots who look forward to getting tore into each other most weekends. Religion is merely a convenient excuse for such behavior, much like the thugs that go on Orange marches purely to antagonise a whole other group of people an a yearly basis.

This is something that’s been debated ad-infinitum by Scots the world over and the truth is that the vast majority of us simply wish that both parties would cut-it the f*ck out and grow-up, religion or no.

So it’s interesting that you say that historically it’s been the opposite. Perhaps that’s what stokes the fire: each side feels itself threatened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur5fGSBsfq8

Instead of the currently religious-affiliated football teams, maybe it would be better philosophy.

Maybe as stated above there should be a Irish Buddhist as a referee.

You have an unfortunate tendency to sound like a typical establishment Englishman getting in on a bit of that traditional English sport, Catholic bashing – with all the ethnic and class implications contained therein.

Probably not your intention, im sure. I was mildly sickened at your Pope visit speeches where you spoke in such a tone – like some CoE chortling over a brandy about those Papist plebs and thanking god you belonged to the “Queen’s Church” (I almost choked when I heard you say that phrase).

I’m an atheist. I’m all for free speech. But I can’t stand in work and say to people “I think so and so is a paedophile” and make jokes about it, because it would violate workplace rules. If I was caught lying to an employer or customer, and then was caught making paedo jokes in the workplace, I would certainly be fired. It’s frankly hilarious how you’ve skirted over the facts in this situation simply to try and score more points against the church considering the time could clearly be better spent dealing with things that matter, and which you’re actually well-versed in. Football is clearly not one of them.

Maybe the mocking doesn’t help the zealots at all, but I think we appease zealots quite a bit already. Do I sit around in coffee shops mocking zealots and hurting people’s feelings? No.

Ok, that’s a lie, if someone throws me enough grief, it has been known to happen… but overall, I generally ignore, appease (and maybe even enable) these zealots with patient inaction… and this happens almost every day.

That said, I think you’ve sensitively charmed me with logic and I will cut down on some of my mocking. Maybe from a pack a day to a pack a week or something [cough].

Richard Dawkins? On boingboing? Talking about the old firm?

*rubs eyes

Celtic fans have a massive inferiority complex bred from years as catholic immigrants. If feels good to be the underdog, but they cant accept that things have changed and move on.

The only real sectarians are the catholic church who feel the need to involve themselves in such an issue, fanning the flames of an already paranoid support. The fact that they can take offense at the joke while there is a massive sexual abuse scandal actually going on shows they have no shame.

I dont know anyone who watches football who is genuinely sectarian.

Once upon a time, if you were a non-sectarian in Glasgow you could support Third Lanark:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Lanark_A.C.

“After Third Lanark went under, some Third Lanark fans began supporting Pollok in the Scottish Junior Leagues, but the vast majority of the club’s 10,000 fans that went through the turnstiles at the start of the 1960s were lost to football for good. Third Lanark had long been seen specifically as the club of choice for those that objected to the sectarian connotations of the “Old Firm”.”

Dave Zirin on “Bad Sports: How Owners Are Ruining the Games We Love”

Put your own house in order.

Roger from USA

To whom did the referee pass the email? If he forwarded the email to coworkers knowing that it was bound to offend colleagues, he probably should be sacked for not knowing anything about professionalism or collegiality.

and thanking god you belonged to the “Queen’s Church” (I almost choked when I heard you say that phrase

Would you have rather had him thank the jesus?

;D

It has to do with just what Richard said, child rape by people in positions of authority. The same thing goes on in America, so we get the joke too.

There will always be class wars, as long as there are classes. And if there aren’t classes, people will invent them just for the excuse to have an “other” to rail against.

Perhaps the politic solution is to pass along a similar joke about the atrocities committed by Protestants, just to even up the score.