PETA use Pope's comments in campaign to neuter dogs and cats

Many people have misunderstood the comments made by the Pope as a relaxed stance on condoms. However, unfortunately for those westerners who chose to live by the words of a senial pontiff- nothing has changed unless abstaining from using a condom could be a matter of life and death. Nonetheless, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has used the recent media flurry surrounding the Pope's comments in their newest international campaign.


The campaign poster shows the pope waving to crowds with a condom in his hand. Below the picture are the words "DOGS AND CATS CAN'T USE CONDOMS." The poster aims to draw attention to "an unholy animal overpopulation crisis" which leads to the euthanizing of millions of healthy pets each year and urges people to spay or neuter their dogs and cats to help reduce the problem. The "Pope Condom" campaign was launched outside the vatican this week and will soon be hitting Cathedrals and Churches across America.

It's possible that PETA may have created for themselves some uneccessary obstacles by potentially narrowing it's audience down to christians, particularly catholics. However, any complaints about the imagery from the the vatican or the likes of Bill Donohue from the Catholic League could actually prove more helpful for the international success of the project. It's quite conceivable that provocation is the honest aim of PETA's message.

'Christian Voice' call for ban on Twilight's calendar

The Article

I found this article in the free paper 'METRO'

Christian Voice says mixing religion with the cult vampire series is ‘deeply offensive’ to Christians.
‘It’s sickening to see the message of Jesus Christ being hijacked to peddle a brand like Twilight, which to all intents and purposes proclaims an anti-religious cult,’ said Stephen Green, national director of the group.

'Twilight may be fiction, but it is dangerous to mix-up such a story in the minds of impressionable children with that of the Nativity.' 

Stephen Green - Christian Voice

The Twilight Eclipse calendar features a picture of actress Kristen Stewart, and her two rivals in love - Edward the vampire, played by Robert Pattinson, and Jacob the werewolf, portrayed by Taylor Lautner. 


Tesco apologised if anyone was offended but said it always gives customers a choice, adding: 'Twilight is a very popular brand and we aim to provide the types of products our customers would like to buy.'


My Reply

I thought it was ridiculous so I decided to email Christian Voice about it:

Dear Christian Voice,

Whilst travelling home on the train after a day at university, I picked up a copy of the free newspaper - METRO. In it I saw an article concerning a row between your organisation and a large supermarket chain over a Twilight themed advent calendar. Despite the fact that I can't wait to see the back of Twilight, I found your stance on the matter very confusing, considering the reasons (below) voiced by your very own national Director, Stephen Green.
"It's sickening to see the message of Jesus Christ being hijacked to peddle a brand like Twilight, which to all intents an purposes proclaims an anti-religious cult."
Mixing religion with the cult-vampire series is "deeply offensive" to Christians.

Firstly, I imagine that by 'the message of Jesus Christ' you are talking about the many references to chocolate filled advent calendars that are a littered throughout the New Testament. Unfortunately, I don't remember any mentions of these novelties in the psalms, letters to the Corinthians; neither have I heard any stories of the apostles opening the first windows on their calendars and asking each other if their chocolates are also shaped like baby Jesus. Could you explain to me how having Doctor Who, The Simpsons or Father Christmas on these calendars is promoting 'the message of Jesus Christ'  for you any better than Twilight. Why of all the secular calendars have you singled out the Twilight calendar.

Secondly, this season belongs to everyone - not just Christians. Christianity has hijacked the winter solstice in order to peddle the message of Jesus Christ, and it is by no means the first religion to do so. We don't mind you celebrating the birth of your saviour on the Winter solstice, as long as you don't try to stop people having their own non-christian celebrations. By claiming that non-christian themes should be banned during this festive period, this is exactly what you are doing.

Furthermore, on your website it says that "Christian Voice opposes the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill as an ILLIBERAL ATTACK ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH." I agree with you that all religions should be criticised, and that preventing people from doing so is an attack on freedom of speech. But then you go on to say that if the bill is passed you want to "Report Islamic bookstores for selling the Quran and Hadith" claiming that it is hate speech, yet you want to be able to continue to preach about how other religions lead you to be eternally tortured in hell. If this really is the Voice of Christians, then I'm thankful not to be amongst your ranks.

Happy Holidays,

David Craggs


I'll let you know if I get a reply.

Anti-Evolutionist Parody

This is a great parody of the sort of 'logic' that is parroted by advocates of Intelligent Design and Creationism. One of the biggest of these is the Discovery Institute. There are still many people who think that evolution means that humans came from slime, or that a cat gave birth to a dog. Once again this video's best asset is it's comedy value.  Enjoy :)

Why blog?

I am a zoology graduate from Bangor university, currently taking an MRes in Ecology. During my studies I have learned a great deal and my interest for Science and the natural world has continued to grow. However I have also encountered great ignorance of science and reason among many people, sometimes I even feel embarassed to belong to the 21st century.

Using my blog I hope to contribute to the cause of freethinking by sharing my passion for science and reason; and dismissing some of the nonsense that has somehow become mainstream in modern society despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.