A Nun's Vow of Poverty

OK. It's Sunday, so time for my regular look at the workings of religion - and, believe me, this one is a real piss boiler...

According to the Daily Telegraph, "A Benedictine nun who faces an impoverished retirement is challenging the Government's refusal to give benefits to members of religious orders.

Sister Mary Scott, 74, and one other nun run the Oulton Abbey community near Stone in Staffordshire, where they manage a small nursing home and playgroup, but she is getting too old to keep working.

Sister Mary has never been paid, so never paid National Insurance, and what money she makes goes on food and clothes.

A Government regulation excludes 'members of religious orders who are fully maintained by their order' from pension credits, but her lawyers argue that the abbey is not supported by the Benedictine order which has no central hierarchy. She has been given permission to take the case to the Court of Appeal.

Her barrister, Stephen Knafler QC, said poverty was an 'endemic' problem facing the country's 5,000 remaining nuns and 1,400 monks, most now past retirement age."

Well of course it is, you stupid bugger! It's endemic because they take a vow of poverty! Although clearly in the light of the scandal of child molestation by priests, religious vows count for fuck all these days!

And another thing, if she has "never been paid", where did she get the money from to spend on "food and clothes"?

You two faced, hypocritical bastards! I hope that this is all going down in St Peter's ledger ready for your day of judgement. You make me sick, the lot of you!

A Nun's Vow of Poverty

OK. It's Sunday, so time for my regular look at the workings of religion - and, believe me, this one is a real piss boiler...

According to the Daily Telegraph, "A Benedictine nun who faces an impoverished retirement is challenging the Government's refusal to give benefits to members of religious orders.

Sister Mary Scott, 74, and one other nun run the Oulton Abbey community near Stone in Staffordshire, where they manage a small nursing home and playgroup, but she is getting too old to keep working.

Sister Mary has never been paid, so never paid National Insurance, and what money she makes goes on food and clothes.

A Government regulation excludes 'members of religious orders who are fully maintained by their order' from pension credits, but her lawyers argue that the abbey is not supported by the Benedictine order which has no central hierarchy. She has been given permission to take the case to the Court of Appeal.

Her barrister, Stephen Knafler QC, said poverty was an 'endemic' problem facing the country's 5,000 remaining nuns and 1,400 monks, most now past retirement age."

Well of course it is, you stupid bugger! It's endemic because they take a vow of poverty! Although clearly in the light of the scandal of child molestation by priests, religious vows count for fuck all these days!

And another thing, if she has "never been paid", where did she get the money from to spend on "food and clothes"?

You two faced, hypocritical bastards! I hope that this is all going down in St Peter's ledger ready for your day of judgement. You make me sick, the lot of you!

War - a fresh perspective

Seems there have been one or two fuck ups lately on the warfare front.

First, Nick Clegg stands up in his first Prime Minister's Questions and describes the Iraq War as 'illegal'. Oh dear. Sharp intakes of breath from the Tories behind him who voted for the war.

It should, however, be remembered that the Lib Dems have always regarded the war as illegal. It should also be remembered that just because someone voted for the war, that didn't make it legal. Show me the dodgy dossier and persuade me that Blair has integrity (difficult in my case), and I might have voted for it. But that still doesn't make it legal - so I reckon fair enough, Cleggy.

Then Call-me-Dave pops across the water to liaise with the great black hope. Unfortunately, he then pisses off the yanks by describing Britain's presence in Iraq as a 'supporting role'. True, but not very palatable. It's America's war, they're fucking it up and we seem to be covering all the difficult stuff. Truth hurts!

But just to show that he's not biased, Dave then pisses off his own veterans by saying that Britain played a junior role in World War II. Well, Dave, that's bollocks because if the Japs hadn't bombed Pearl Harbour we'd still be waiting for the yanks to arrive - just like in the first war.

So, all in all, I reckon that's 2-1 on the war front. Not a great result, but a result nevertheless...

War - a fresh perspective

Seems there have been one or two fuck ups lately on the warfare front.

First, Nick Clegg stands up in his first Prime Minister's Questions and describes the Iraq War as 'illegal'. Oh dear. Sharp intakes of breath from the Tories behind him who voted for the war.

It should, however, be remembered that the Lib Dems have always regarded the war as illegal. It should also be remembered that just because someone voted for the war, that didn't make it legal. Show me the dodgy dossier and persuade me that Blair has integrity (difficult in my case), and I might have voted for it. But that still doesn't make it legal - so I reckon fair enough, Cleggy.

Then Call-me-Dave pops across the water to liaise with the great black hope. Unfortunately, he then pisses off the yanks by describing Britain's presence in Iraq as a 'supporting role'. True, but not very palatable. It's America's war, they're fucking it up and we seem to be covering all the difficult stuff. Truth hurts!

But just to show that he's not biased, Dave then pisses off his own veterans by saying that Britain played a junior role in World War II. Well, Dave, that's bollocks because if the Japs hadn't bombed Pearl Harbour we'd still be waiting for the yanks to arrive - just like in the first war.

So, all in all, I reckon that's 2-1 on the war front. Not a great result, but a result nevertheless...