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[mefree]

The Multicultural Inquisition: Scientology is NOT the greatest threat to ... - Telegraph.co.uk (blog)
20 July 2010, 8:34 am
By Ed West

Twitter is all a-flutter after a councillor in Wales was disciplined for calling the Church of Scientology “stupid” in a tweet. According to the local paper:

Mr Dixon, who is Cardiff council’s executive member for health and social services, as well as being a web developer and microbiologist, is contesting the complaint saying he was writing in a personal capacity.

He posted the message on his Twitter account, then called Cllr JohnDixon, when he was in London last year buying his wife-to-be a wedding ring.

Perhaps because Scientology seems pretty weird (can I say that?) and involves aliens, science fiction and Tom Cruise, this story has received rather more attention than a report issued yesterday by think tank Civitas.

And yet that report - A New Inquisition: religious persecution in Britain Today – by Jon Gower Davies, formerly the Head of Religious Studies at Newcastle University, details something far more important.

Davies argues that, inspired by a fear of Islam, a belief in multiculturalism and an overzealous attention to the dogma of hate crime legislation, Britain has thrown away precious liberty which took hundreds of years to achieve and which is the bedrock of our culture.

He was inspired by the case of Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang, the Lancashire hoteliers who were prosecuted after an argument with a Muslim guest. As Davies writes:

The police, advised by the Crown Prosecution Service, prosecuted the Vogelenzangs under the Public Order Acts, as amended by the ‘Religious Hatred’ section of the Anti‐Terrorism, Crime and Security Act of 2001.

This, then, was and is a case about the new legal concept of ‘religious hatred’ or ‘religiously aggravated hatred’. Over several months a team of six police officers, led by a detective chief inspector, assembled a case against the Vogelenzangs.

Their crime was to call the Prophet Mohammed a “warlord” and the case was only thrown out because another Muslim guest who witnessed the argument spoke in their defence. He remains unnamed to this day, in fear for his life.

Meanwhile, the real victims are now ruined, since their main customer, the local NHS, has withdrawn its custom (even if the state doesn’t put you away, it uses its financial muscle to bankrupt you). The author considers them to be “the British equivalent of those unfortunate Chinese who were forced, in public, and with little prospect of forgiveness or rehabilitation, to confess the ‘sins’ they did not know they had in front of the wagging minatory finger of the government‐sponsored multi‐ cultural accuser.”

According to Davies there are now 35 Acts of Parliament, 52 Statutory Instruments, 13 Codes of Practice, 3 Codes of Guidance and 16 European Commission Directives which deal with “discrimination”, hatred and various thought crimes. However, because of the way our political masters crafted these laws to tackle anti-minority prejudice specifically, these new laws are used unevenly.
   

At about the same time as Mr Khalid, Mr McElone and the Vogelenzangs were enmeshed in the nets of the hate laws, the Dutch MP Geert Wilders made, at the second attempt (having been earlier banned) a visit to London. On 16 October 2009 he was greeted by so vehement and threatening a demonstration by some Muslims that (in spite of a large police presence) he was asked to change his route to the Parliament building so as to avoid having to pass near the gathering of Muslims—one of whom indeed, via television cameras, challenged Wilders to get the police to withdraw and to approach them when, we were told, ‘within two minutes’ he (Wilders) would sharp learn the error of his ways (not, very definitely not, said the Muslim man, that he himself would do such a thing, unspecified).

Why has this happened? One of the greatest ironies of 21st century Britain is that the fall of the Anglican theocracy – the most gentle theocracy in history – has eroded our religious liberties. Two years ago the crime of blasphemy was finally abolished in England, but this is an empty victory:

The fact that the blasphemy law was invoked but twice in this century, and only once by the state, shows how successfully this free and jubilant conversation established itself. It is the very strength and adaptability of this monoculture, this inheritance, which (ironically enough) made multiculture possible.

more at http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100047912/the-multicultural-inquisition-scientology-is-not-the-greatest-threat-to-religious-freedom/

[mefree]

Another article on the councillor's tweet:
Councillor faces inquiry over ‘stupid’ Scientologists tweet
Jul 20 2010 by David James, Western Mail

A COUNCILLOR is facing a disciplinary hearing after calling the Church of Scientology “stupid” in a post on the Twitter website.

Wales’ public standards watchdog said John Dixon is likely to have breached the code of conduct for local authority members with his short message last year.

The Church of Scientology, whose followers include entertainers Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirsty Allie, made an official complaint after spotting the posting last year.

The church, created by American science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard in the 1950s, has a reputation for being fiercely litigious and has been accused in the US courts of trying to use the legal system to destroy critics.

Mr Dixon, who is Cardiff council’s executive member for health and social services, as well as being a web developer and microbiologist, is contesting the complaint saying he was writing in a personal capacity.

He posted the message on his Twitter account, then called CllrJohnDixon, when he was in London last year buying his wife-to-be a wedding ring.

It said: “I didn’t know the Scientologists had a church on Tottenham Court Road. Just hurried past in case the stupid rubs off.”

In a follow-up comment after the Scientologists registered to receive all his Twitter posts, he posted: “Just realised the Scientologists are following me. Quick everyone, pretend you’re out.”

Mr Dixon did not want to comment yesterday and said he would make a statement after the disciplinary process is completed.

He has since changed his name on the Twitter website to JohnLDixon to emphasise he is posting in a private capacity.

The complaint was made to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales in December last year, nearly six months after the messages were posted on Twitter.

more at http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/07/20/councillor-faces-inquiry-over-stupid-scientologists-tweet-91466-26886933/

[wynot]

Mr. Dixon is obviously a very intelligent fellow, and Wales is lucky to have him in any official capacity...

'til next time;
wyot

[Lorelei]

I like how they gloss over the creepy stalking aspect of this: "In a follow-up comment after the Scientologists registered to receive all his Twitter posts"...at least he made a funny about their creepiness.

So, the guy makes a comment, and it seems as if the call immediately went out to all Scienos in the area to stalk / follow everything he writes / lurk his tweets so they can BAAAWWW!! if he makes another comment they don't like, which is exactly what happened.

Guess what? Religious freedom, even if they were a legitimate religion, does not include freedom from mockery for believing in stupid things...or even NON-stupid things. Freedom of speech of the other party or parties involved ensures that. Now, do the Welsh have a similar set of rights and protections? Not sure, but as much of our system was based on much of the UK system, I wouldn't be shocked if they did.

If they discipline him for having a personal opinion, especially since he's pretty much in the RIGHT to have an OPINION, then guess who will be BAAWWWing about THAT? Who do you want to make upset, a small cluster of weird cultists who get uptight over everything remotely critical said about them, or the average person in the street who probably wholeheartedly agrees with this man's assessments and finds them funny & entertaining, to boot?

[RedShieldwolf]

You know what the best part about this is? If the Church of Scientology had just let this go, it wouldn't be the issue it is right now. Why?

Councillor faces inquiry over tweet calling Church of Scientology 'stupid'

Dixon said that even if he had been speaking in an official capacity – which he maintains he was not – he was surprised at the complaint going so far.

"As a Liberal Democrat, I'm used to having things said about me. You take it on the chin," he said.

He said he did not have very strong opinions on Scientologists before the saga. "Having done some research on them, I take a harder line now," he added.

Not only that but #stupidscientology became a Twitter trending topic.

So by Scientologists screaming blasphemy, they have gained us an ally and put themselves back into the news.

Church of Scientology: Doing our work for us.

[mefree]

So, the councillor is now more informed and opinionated as a result of his experience.

[RedShieldwolf]

So, the councillor is now more informed and opinionated as a result of his experience.

Yes. And he also seems to be gaining all party support.

Tom Harris, a Labour MP, retweeted Dixon's tweet after the incident, even though Dixon is a Liberal Dem.

[Lorelei]

I love it when the cult does all our work for us. WIN!