Rowan Williams ought to go and speak to the people of Bradford, rather than whoever he was talking to before.

If Sharia was to be formalised, this is one city where the effects would be widespread.

But I found it impossible to find anyone who advocates such a move. In Canada similar proposals were abandoned following protests that women’s rights would be affected.

So what do Muslim women in West Yorkshire think?

Rihana Basharat, a mosque welfare secretary, said: “To me Islam, as we’ve been taught, is equal in divorce for women and men. Bringing it into this legal system is going to be totally confusing for everyone.”

Her friend Maria Ahmad told me: “We are striving for integration but I’m worrying that something like this will breed division rather than integration.”

It does make you wonder who his interfaith liaison was. Probably some sort of “representative” group, with all that entails.

News:

Hitchens derided religions’ claim to morality with historical examples of cruel acts associated with various religions. He used expletives and vulgar language regularly throughout the debate, and cursed God himself.

Stein incited particular vehemence from Hitchens when he relayed the question, “What is the purpose of life?” While Richards deferred the question as it was not within the scope of the debate, Hitchen’s reply was more candid. “Vindication,” he declared. The second reason he gave was sex.

Features:

An Interview with Christopher Hitchens

Example question and response:

TSR: … what is the role of the young educated people?

CH:

To become older and better educated . . . “young” is another propaganda word. The “youth” vote, the “rock” vote — the young are awful. The young are the biggest waste of time in the United States. The young are really boring, really uninteresting, can’t wait to be middle aged, and won’t even be good at being that! They ask, “what about the youth, what about the young people?” Who cares? Is it an achievement now to have an age? It’s like standing up and saying “As a gay person, I think . . .” What right have you earned by saying you’re gay? As a woman, I think . . .” What right have you earned by having a gender? What work have you done? What thinking have you taken part in? What effort have you made? As a young voter, I would say, “No! Shut up!”

Editor’s Note:

Sample extract:

Many lamented Hitchens’ frequent resorts to lewd language and name-calling. The Church Communication Network employees who broadcast the show live no doubt rued Hitchens’ blasphemous swearing; there was no opportunity to edit anything before it was sent out to hundreds of churches across the country.

The ungrateful fucking bourgeois tossers!

Nick Cohen has a great article in the Observer today. And, as I write, not a single commenter has seen fit to mention Iraq. This must be a first.

Cohen mentions the worldwide day of action against Scientology centres and websites. But the bulk of his article is about the unhinged motion picture star Tom Cruise, and an infamous episode of the coruscatingly brilliant animation South Park that has never been shown on British television owing to legal threats from Cruise’s ‘Church’.

In the final scene of the South Park show, Cruise cries: “I’m going to sue you… in England!”, this being a subtle reference to the UK’s litigant-friendly libel laws.

Click on the picture above to watch the banned South Park episode. You can also download the 23 minute, 37 megabyte RealMedia video file here (you may need to right-click, depending on your web browser and/or operating system).

Scottish ‘government’ issues Draft Cat Welfare Code of Practice. Oh duh! Feed them meat, keep their teefs clean, let them have the pillow, and don’t put stickaz on them.