Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson blames the Church of England for the country's obesity rates, on the basis that the lack of spiritual nourishment leads people to binge eat. The obvious projection—Boris being an overweight atheist or agnostic with a history of briefly-held religious poses—is really just a way of complaining about black people, contemporary risk aversion and all the other things conservatives hate. [via]
He criticised the Most Rev Justin Welby and other religious leaders for going on about slavery reparations rather than addressing "people's spiritual needs". Johnson said this failing was leading to a decline in church attendance. "The living bread is being provided by Tesco," he said. "And they're gorging themselves on the real living bread." … Johnson said that higher levels of obesity among children was the result of people being told that there were "paedophiles everywhere".
That he's wrong is almost the point—if it invites objection or debunking (how many Churches of England have the fattest countries Qatar, Hungary and America?) it invites you to mark yourself in the out group of those averse to jocular falsehood—and all other other things conservatives love.
