UKIP Are Awful (1st May)

Hilarious news came out recently that UKIP have asked the police to investigate the BBC over comments made on a satirical panel show. It seems that they literally can't take a joke, and want actual policeman to take actual time out of their day solving actual crimes to look at a sarcastic remark made on a BBC comedy show. 

UKIP Are Awful (30th April)

Hello again, and welcome again to the cesspit of moral and ethical death that is UKIP Are Awful. Yesterday, "Man Of The People ©" Nigel Farage launched what was tastefully referred to as the Christian Manifesto. Because, yes white people, Christianity is under attack! I mean, there are no actual limitations and restrictions on worship, but still! PANIC!

"But how will I be able to watch Songs of Praise if the Communist Muslims at the BBC take it off the air?!"

Attempting to right a wrong that doesn't actually exist, UKIP launched a mini-manifesto specifically of policies aimed at Christians. Now a cynical person might call this pandering, but Nige knows better. He laments: "Sadly, I think UKIP is the only major political party left in Britain that still cherishes our Judaeo-Christian heritage". Of course, at this early stage we already see what the true aim of the manifesto is all about. Judeo-Christian? Because he wants to celebrate the Jewish contribution to British society and acknowledge the active and complicit anti-semitism targeted at the Jewish community going back centuries? Of bloody course not. The whole point of the manifesto seems to be "Don't worry, we'll stand up to the Muzzies!"

A most unfortunate coincidence.

Of course, it's not just Muslims who threaten Britain's future; there are also the homosexuals. "Traditional Christian views of marriage and family life have come under attack of late" Nige thunders, seemingly unaware that Christians are still perfectly free to marry in as Christianly a manner as they wish. Again, we return to the awkward truth that Christians and Christian views aren't being unfairly persecuted in Britain, merely that wider society itself is caring less and less about outdated religious dogma. The implicit message when defending 'traditional' marriage is actually "Don't worry, we'll stand up to the gays!", though presumably UKIPers reserve some of their ire for single parents also. After all, how dare we move away from "traditional Christian views of marriage", which presumably covers stoning wives who aren't virgins, or forcing unmarried rape victims to marry their rapist.

The issue of gay marriage is one that UKIP ties itself in knots over. Of course, they were actively opposed to the change in law which allowed for gay marriage: 

But then, in the very next sentence they go on to say:

No "buts", you were doing so well!

Which is basically their way of telling bigots/potential UKIP voters: "Look, we don't like gays getting married, and we're clear on that. You can trust us. We're 100% against it. But, seeing as it's 2015 and most of the British public don't have a problem with two loving adults being married, we can't really reverse it".

In perhaps the most obviously disgusting bit of small-mindedness in the entire document, UKIP go on to promise an extension of "reasonable accommodation" for those "expressing a religious conscience in the workplace".

Now, here UKIP have obviously been paying attention to the fabulously successful and totally uncontroversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act. They're basically saying that if you happen to be, say, a Christian, and you happen to, for example, be asked to bake a cake for a gay person, you could, theoretically, tell them to get out and never come back because their lifestyle is an ungodly abomination. Hooray! Of course legally allowing such discrimination would never stand up in British or European courts, which perhaps explains why the outline for such legislation is so atomically thin.

Look, here's the rub. Yes, a majority of people in Britain are technically Christians. But the current number is down 12% since the last census (over a space of ten years!), whilst those reporting no religion saw a 10% increase. And those are just results that people have self-reported; an older source shows that only 1 in 10 British people actually go to Church every week. The number now is likely to be even lower. The overwhelming fact is this: Britain is no longer currently a Christian nation. And that's a good thing. We're more diverse, rational, and scientifically literate than we have been at any time in our history. You can't tell the hetrosexual members of the Great British public that gay marriage is a threat because it harms Christian values, when many actual voters know one or two gay people and actually think they're decent human beings who deserve the same rights.

OH THE HUMANITY! WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

There are many sad things that come to mind when reading this manifesto. Perhaps the saddest thing is, they almost got it right! Right there near the start of their policy pledges:

Indeed they are. And that's why Christianity shouldn't specifically be promoted above all other beliefs (or non-beliefs). 

Chiang Mai Football Club (Part 3/3)

In my final post about Chiang Mai FC, I'm going to talk about the elephant in the room...the actual football.

Chiang Mai Football Club (Part 2/3)

Last time, I wrote about 700 Year Stadium, the unique home of Chiang Mai F.C.

Today, I'll be writing about the fans.

Leading the cheers.

Chiang Mai Football Club (Part 1/3)

Over the next three posts, I'll be sharing my appreciation and love for my adopted football team- the mighty Chiang Mai Football Club. This first post will be about their home ground, 700 Year Stadium. 

Thailand vs. North Korea, 2012

British vs American English

Shots fired, I repeat, shots fired!

Reading this article on Ajarn.com the other day got me thinking about British English and American English. Of course it's something we don't normally consider when we're at home and surrounded by people who speak exactly the same way as us, but it's something that you're constantly aware of when you live abroad (especially so when you're an English teacher). As soon as you open your mouth- or attempt to write something on a whiteboard, you instantly mark yourself out. Of course this can be true at home (whenever I went to Manchester, I always felt like a bit of an imposter), but when you're abroad the attention is magnified. After all, accents can play a big part in how people perceive us.