mediawatchwatch.org.uk

Church leaders in Cambridge have reacted amusingly to the news that a self-styled “King of All Witches” plans to open an Occult Centre in the town.

Lynius Shadee, who claims he can bring back the dead (“I can prove it and any sceptic is more than welcome to join me”), says his shop will offer exorcisms, psychic research, communication with ghosts, and witchcraft.

Father David Paul of St Laurence’s Roman Catholic Church is sceptical of the claims, but still worried:

It will be a shockingly bad thing for Cambridge. Whilst it is obviously a load of nonsense it will appeal to people who are in distress or are vulnerable. It really is manipulation of people’s fears and a complete fraud. People who go to these things often end up with mental problems.

Another churchman is less concerned about the direct competition the woo-shop would present to his business than he is about the reality of the woo it peddles. The Rev Ian Church has visited Shadee’s Occult Centre in Normandy (its website contains a Donations Page with a useful direct-debit form and last-will-and-testament templates to facilitate bequests to fund the “groundbreaking work” Shadee carries out). And the Rev was obviously impressed:

It was quite an experience. There were several ritual and séance rooms and what really struck us was the intense and extreme cold in the rooms.

Mr Shadee is most certainly an occultist in the truest form and I am of no doubt of the powers he can summon, within the paranormal. My concerns are that if he is allowed to open an occult centre there would be an epidemic of anti-faiths.

Oh my god. It would be like Ghostbusters – but in real life!

Shadee’s claim to be the King of All Witches could also spark some controversy. The rather large Kevin Carlyon already has a claim on witchy leadership in the UK, and might object to this upstart from Normandy coming over here and trying to take over.

Witch fight!

UPDATE: (11:45) Cambridge News has more on this Shadee character. According to that jaw-droppingly credulous report, he used an invocation to call up a demon to prey on worshippers at the Church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs. He said,

It’s an element, a hunter that will attach itself to an individual, then try to take the person, either send them insane and make them depressed, and the worst is to cause them to take their physical life.

All good publicity for his new shop, no doubt.

(Thanks to Mark in the comments)

A German crime novel has been withdrawn from publication at the last minute because of fears that it will spark a violent reaction from Muslims.

To Whom Honour is Due, by Gabrliel Brinkmann (writing under the pseudonym WW Domsky) concerns an honour killing. For some reason, the publisher Droste Verlag, thought it had better send the manuscript off to an “expert on Islamic society” for their opinion.

It is reported that one particular phrase troubled the expert, who suggested that the author change it. The phrase occurs in a dialogue, and is somewhat implausibly translated as

‘You can shove your Koran up …’

It is not known whether the newspaper is shy of publishing the quote in full – “You can shove your Koran up your arse” seems more plausible and likely to cause some offence – or the quote really is that innocuous. EDITED to add: it could be “You can shove your Koran up yours…”

Gabriel Brinkmann refused to change it to “You can shove your honour up…”. Indeed, she is commendably indignant about the affair:

It’s a scandal for a publisher to tuck its tail between its legs.

But Felix Droste is unrepentant:

One knows after the latest Mohammed cartoons that one can’t publish sentences or drawings that defame Islam without assuming a security risk.

Internalised censorship strikes again.

Atheist Ireland have today launched a fresh campaign for a secular Irish constitution. This new aim complements the existing campaign to repeal the Irish Blasphemy law.

The campaign has one common aim that transcends any other differences we may have: that all Irish citizens, of all beliefs and none, can live together in equality, with the State being neutral on matters of religion.

They’d appriciate it if you sent them a message of support.

Here’s the MWW contribution to Blasphemy Day International. A Motoon-headed Shiva in a Yahweh-dissing t-shirt committing the “unforgivable sin” of blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29).

Beat that!

Mediawatch-UK, the increasingly irrelevant activist group after which this website was named, has confounded pundits by appointing a relative unknown as its new Director. Vivienne Pattison has up to now created barely a ripple in the cesspool of pro-censorship activism, so it will be interesting to see what she brings.

Unlike Beyer’s mini me, The Boy Turtle, Vivienne is an unknown quantity. Does she, like Beyer, form her most deeply held opinions on the basis of a fundamental confusion between correlation and cause? Does she share his way with words, or can she string together a coherent sentence? As a former accounts director at a public relations company, she looks to be in a different league.

Here at MWW we extend our congratulations to Vivienne Pattison on her appointment, and wait eagerly for her contribution to the UK’s cultural conversation.

Oh, and bye-bye John. Enjoy your retirement.

An art installation in a Brussels shop window has been forced to shut down early because of the violently negative reaction it provoked in some passers-by.

Mehdi Lahlou-Georges’ exhibit took up the whole of the shop floor with an array of Muslim prayer mats. Each mat had a pair of men’s shoes next to it, except one which was occupied by a spot-lit pair of stilettos.

The shop window had stones thrown at it and was spat at before it was boarded up by the owners. Although the religion of the vandals is not known for sure, the artist seems to have his suspicions: he says that the Muslim community did not understand the message of his work.

He is apparently unaware that there is a significant portion of the Muslim community which takes pious delight in claiming offence at any given opportunity.

(Hat tip: Islam in Europe)

Perhaps the widespread criticism of Yale’s decision to publish The Cartoons that Shook the World has stung the university and the Press into face-saving action. News is filtering through that Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist responsible for the iconic Turbomb cartoon of Mohammed, has been invited to speak at on the campus on October 1st (next week).

Which is nice. But what happened to Yale’s self-declared fear of stoking Muslim violence?

Dutch politician Geert Wilders is due to appear in an Amsterdam court in January on charges of discrimination and inciting hatred. His anti-immigration movie Fitna, plus articles and letters in the Dutch press where he compared the Koran to Mein Kampf and called for it to be banned, are cited by prosecutors.

Wilders has said that he wants to put Islam on trial, and is thinking about bringing some interesting witnesses for his defence:

That is why I am considering calling on radical imams and other idiots as witnesses.

Will he bring Abu Bakri from Lebanon? He was quite impressed by Fitna, saying “it could be a film by the Mujahideen.”

It will be an interesting trial.

BoingBoing has a story highlighting “Vegemite’s stupid and clueless linking policy.” You cannot actually access their website without first agreeing to this. It includes the proviso:

You are also prohibited from linking the Site to another website in any way whatsoever.

Vegemite? Pfft. Everyone knows it’s just Marmite for wimps.

Last year the Australian Human Rights Commission called for submissions for their “Freedom of Religion and Belief in the 21st century project.” Among the 1937 responses was one from the Church of Scientology (PDF download), who spotted the opportunity to call for drastic across-the-board censorship laws to protect them from criticism and scrutiny.

Their recommendations are summarised at the end of the document:

Recommendation 1: The implementation of Criminal and Civil Restrictions on Religious Vilification.
Recommendation 2: Restriction on Anonymity on acts of Religious Vilification:
2.1 Websites created with primary purpose of inciting religious vilification shall be removed or their access to the Australian public restricted.
2.2 Creators of websites whose primary purpose is the incitement of religious vilification shall be prevented from concealing their identity.
Recommendation 3: Restriction on Religious Misinformation and Misrepresentation known or reasonably known to be untruthful in the Media
Recommendation 4: Include a form of Bill or Charter of Rights into the Australian Constitution, which prevents the Commonwealth from making any law, which ‘directly, indirectly or incidentally’ prohibits the free exercise of religion to the extent of such prohibition

That last recommendation is about protecting the Co$ from taxation and immigration restrictions on their members.

It looks like Anonymous has got them on the run!

You have probably heard that Penn and Teller released a magnificent “Bullshit” episode about the Vatican last month. If you haven’t seen it, you should.

A lot of it centre’s around Italian comedian Sabina Guzzanti, who got into trouble with the Vatican last year for saying the Pope would end up being sodomised in hell. They tried to prosecute her, but when it became apparent that they couldn’t they decided to “forgive” her.

The Bullshit video contains footage of the incident, which took place at a rally in Rome. It hadn’t been freely available before. It is now:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcs7nMiOE8A[/youtube]

Translation:

within 20 years the Pope will be where he ought to be — in Hell, tormented by great big gay demons, and very active ones, not passive ones.

We suspect he wouldn’t mind that much.