Comments on: Homophobic 'tattoo' vicar keeps newspaper column

By: Simon Murphy

Simon Murphy — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:10:10 +0000

Why not write to the Northern Echo asking if in addition to homophobic facism they also support racist or anti-semitic facism. They can be reached on http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/contactus/who/

It always bewilders me why homophobic facism is tolerated because of 'freedom of speech' whereas racist or anti-semitic facism isn't. Typical double standards.

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By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:04:20 +0000

"militant preaching of homosexuality"

By which I assume you mean the fight for our basic rights and equality, don't you? Which you have a problme with, and hence the tatoo's?

Well, "Revrend" Mullen, perhasp a history lesson. Look up these owkrds in Wikipedia: 1939. Nazi. Tatoo. Gay. Lets see the similarities there, shall we?

This man is a unmitigated fool and a bigot.

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By: flapjack

flapjack — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 07:28:03 +0000

rjb- I kind of see where you're coming from, and freedom of speech is certainly a grey area. However, whether these views were expressed in blog or in the main column, they were his views and they appeared in print.
I see them in the same way I'd view a journalist telling the masses that black people belong at the back of the bus or that Germany has to strike now to eradicate the Jewish problem. Blog or no blog, those remarks would be sacking offences in this day and age.

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By: rjb

rjb — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 02:27:47 +0000

I don't care for censorship, and I wouldn't like the appalling Mullen to be seen lose his column solely on account of this fracas. On the other hand, it hardly reflects well on the Northern Echo (or on its readers) to waste column inches on such a reactionary old fool. That said, the offending comments were made on Mullen's blog and not in print, so I can understand the impulse of the NE editors to keep him on board for the time being.

By the way, I am surprised by the description of Mullen as "a leading traditionalist." I don't think many self-proclaimed Anglican traditionalists (of which I am not one) would concur with this description.

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By: flapjack

flapjack — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:37:11 +0000

BTW Just read the Northern echo column link, and I quote
"THE awful incident in Derby when a mob encouraged 17-year-old Shaun Dykes to jump to his death from the roof of a shopping centre is one of the nastiest news stories I’ve read in my life."

He then has the audacity to point the finger at the percieved social ills that caused Shaun's suicide. At no stage does he point out that Shaun was gay and having trouble feeling accepted as a gay man. Wonder why? What a hypocrite.

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By: flapjack

flapjack — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:10:55 +0000

"Anybody with an ounce of sense of humour or any understanding of the tradition of English satire would immediately assume that they're light-hearted jokes," he said, according to The Daily Telegraph.

ounce of humour – check

Any understanding of the tradition of english satire – check

Immediately assume they're light hearted jokes – what f**king planet are you on? Only Bernard Manning fans feel that way about what amounts to rabid hate speech.
If you want more light hearted jokes in the same vein, I'm sure I could dig up a dusty old recording of the Nuremberg rally… that Adolph really knew how to work a crowd huh?

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By: J Geetas

J Geetas — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:34:28 +0000

The guy is a joke

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By: johnny

johnny — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:24:50 +0000

Yet another example of obscene and coercive militant preaching of so called Christian "values" by someone who is a perfect example of why that childish and baseless nonsense should be dropped into the collective bin of human history and forgotten about now.

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