A wooden penis, a fabric vagina and an explanatory booklet are among the teaching aids included in the "sex box", a teaching kit slated for distribution to 30 primary schools and kindergartens in Basel [Switzerland] and this year as part of the canton's sex ed programme for 4 to 10-year-olds, according to the newspaper Blick.
UPDATE 3/17/15: Pornography Belongs in Classroom, More Experts Say
See how Europe visits American schools: Read Oral Sex Quiz Given to Pre-teens and also read School Policy: Condoms to Kids Old Enough to Ask as well as Condom Training Mandated for NY City Schools
-- From "Swiss Post blocks 'porn' booklet for 4-year-olds" posted at The Local, Switzerland's News in English 9/27/11
An accompanying guide instructs teachers to "show that contact with body parts can be pleasurable." It also recommends having children massage each other or to rub themselves with warm sand bags, all to the accompaniment of soft music. A second kit will contain more explicit materials for older kids.
A picture from the petition booklet shows a naked woman rolling a condom onto the penis of her equally naked partner.
Basel educational director Christoph Eymann . . . strongly defended himself against accusations of pornography.
“I classify the brochure as tasteless, but not the content of the sex box. Previously, rolling on condoms was practised on bananas, now it’s wooden penises – that has nothing to do with pornography,“ he said.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Also read Children are Sexual Beings, Says White House - Masturbation OK
Showing posts with label Switzerland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Switzerland. Show all posts
Monday, October 03, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Christians Becoming Extinct in 9 Western Nations
Researchers of the American Physical Society have released a census study of over 100 years of data showing that Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland will be void of Christians.
UPDATE 12/30/12: Christians, Extinct in Middle East, as Islam Wins
-- From "Faith no more! From New Zealand to Canada, religion 'to become extinct' in nine countries" by U.K. Daily Mail Reporter 3/22/11
The study was carried out by Northwestern University and the University of Arizona.
Richard Wiener, of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, led the scientific survey.
He said: 'In a large number of modern secular democracies, there's been a trend that folk are identifying themselves as non-affiliated with religion.
'In the Netherlands the number was 40%, and the highest we saw was in the Czech Republic, where the number was 60%.'
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Religion may become extinct in nine nations, study says" by Jason Palmer, Science and technology reporter, BBC News, Dallas 3/22/11
The team's mathematical model attempts to account for the interplay between the number of religious respondents and the social motives behind being one.
Nonlinear dynamics is invoked to explain a wide range of physical phenomena in which a number of factors play a part.
[Richard Wiener said,] "It posits that social groups that have more members are going to be more attractive to join, and it posits that social groups have a social status or utility.
"For example in languages, there can be greater utility or status in speaking Spanish instead of [the dying language] Quechuan in Peru, and similarly there's some kind of status or utility in being a member of a religion or not."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "God keep our land? The numbers raise doubts" by Frank Appleyard, Postmedia News, posted at the Montreal Gazette 3/22/11
The study attempted to link these countries' religious identities with the social motives behind belonging to particular groups. Researchers said that as the masses who claim religious non-affiliation swell, it becomes more appealing to join the ranks of that group.
Weiner speculated that social pressures are contributing to the decline in religious identification in these countries. "People no longer see the slate of benefits as being as great as they probably did 100 years ago. It's become less socially useful."
In the Netherlands, where close to 50 per cent of the population identifies as not belonging to a religion, Weiner said they found that by mid-century close to 70 per cent of the country will be made up of non-believers.
"That's very substantial growth over four decades," Weiner said. "It's not saying that religion will not exist, but it will very strongly change the makeup of society. Maybe in 100 years in some of these countries if this trend continues, there will be a very small percentage of people that still identify themselves as belonging to a religion."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 12/30/12: Christians, Extinct in Middle East, as Islam Wins
-- From "Faith no more! From New Zealand to Canada, religion 'to become extinct' in nine countries" by U.K. Daily Mail Reporter 3/22/11
The study was carried out by Northwestern University and the University of Arizona.
Richard Wiener, of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, led the scientific survey.
He said: 'In a large number of modern secular democracies, there's been a trend that folk are identifying themselves as non-affiliated with religion.
'In the Netherlands the number was 40%, and the highest we saw was in the Czech Republic, where the number was 60%.'
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Religion may become extinct in nine nations, study says" by Jason Palmer, Science and technology reporter, BBC News, Dallas 3/22/11
The team's mathematical model attempts to account for the interplay between the number of religious respondents and the social motives behind being one.
Nonlinear dynamics is invoked to explain a wide range of physical phenomena in which a number of factors play a part.
[Richard Wiener said,] "It posits that social groups that have more members are going to be more attractive to join, and it posits that social groups have a social status or utility.
"For example in languages, there can be greater utility or status in speaking Spanish instead of [the dying language] Quechuan in Peru, and similarly there's some kind of status or utility in being a member of a religion or not."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "God keep our land? The numbers raise doubts" by Frank Appleyard, Postmedia News, posted at the Montreal Gazette 3/22/11
The study attempted to link these countries' religious identities with the social motives behind belonging to particular groups. Researchers said that as the masses who claim religious non-affiliation swell, it becomes more appealing to join the ranks of that group.
Weiner speculated that social pressures are contributing to the decline in religious identification in these countries. "People no longer see the slate of benefits as being as great as they probably did 100 years ago. It's become less socially useful."
In the Netherlands, where close to 50 per cent of the population identifies as not belonging to a religion, Weiner said they found that by mid-century close to 70 per cent of the country will be made up of non-believers.
"That's very substantial growth over four decades," Weiner said. "It's not saying that religion will not exist, but it will very strongly change the makeup of society. Maybe in 100 years in some of these countries if this trend continues, there will be a very small percentage of people that still identify themselves as belonging to a religion."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Europeans React to Islamization
France is home to five million Muslims, the largest population in Europe, which may explain why it has an identity crisis. Like many Europeans nations, it is suffering the consequences of a decades-long open-borders policy that has allowed Muslims to establish enclaves across the country, particularly in Paris, where rioting Muslims sent the city up in flames in November, 2008.
UPDATE 1/5/11: British conversions to Islam nearly doubled in decade, study says
UPDATE 12/16/10: Wikileaks shines light on Muslim radicals in the U.K.
UPDATE 10/9/10: Sharia law being used in Germany in Muslims' domestic disputes
UPDATE 10/7/10: Muslims are taking over parts of the world into which they move simply by outnumbering the previous residents
UPDATE 10/7/10: Italy to become next European country to ban burka
-- From "France In Trouble Over Immigrants" posted at The New American 9/15/10
Trying to control the increasing Islamization of its society, the French Senate passed a bill that forbids women from wearing the burqa and other face-hiding veils in public. The vote was nearly unamious, 246-1. The Senate's action follows that of the country's National Assembly, which acted in June and also passed the bill by a large margin. The bill awaits the singnature of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
But whatever the reason women may no longer cover their faces in public, the country's radical Left, as expected, chalks the action up to Islamophobia.
. . . In 2009, the Swiss banned the Muslim minaret, described by Turkish President Recep Erdogan as the "Muslim Bayonet." That law sent European leftists into a tizzy.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Analysis: Burqa bans: France, then Netherlands - who's next?" by Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor, Reuters 10/1/10
First the French banned Muslim face veils, now the Dutch have decided to follow suit. With debates about outlawing burqas and niqabs spreading across Europe, a third ban -- perhaps even more -- may not be far behind.
Calls for a "burqa ban" are now heard across Europe, with local politics influencing how close it gets to becoming law.
Three days after Paris passed its ban last month, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's populist Northern League allies introduced a similar bill in Rome. Another Berlusconi ally submitted a draft ban law in the Senate last week.
[In Spain,] Barcelona outlawed burqas and niqabs in public buildings in June, after two smaller Catalan towns, Lerida and El Vendrell, banned them early this year.
A recent poll showed 61 percent of Germans favored a burqa ban but the debate there has focused more on a dispute caused by Thilo Sarrazin, who had to resign from the board of the central bank after publishing a book denigrating Muslim immigrants.
In Austria, the opposition Freedom Party has been gaining ground in state polls with its anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant line. Socialist Chancellor Werner Faymann says he "could imagine" a ban and his conservative coalition partners want to debate it.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "French Senate passes ban on full Muslim veils" by Elaine Ganley, Associated Press Writer 9/14/10
Many Muslims believe the [veil-ban] legislation is one more blow to France's No. 2 religion, and risks raising the level of Islamophobia in a country where mosques, like synagogues, are sporadic targets of hate. However, the law's many proponents say it will preserve the nation's values, including its secular foundations and a notion of fraternity that is contrary to those who hide their faces.
The bill is aimed at ensuring gender equality, women's dignity and security, as well as upholding France's secular values — and its way of life.
Muslim leaders concur that Islam does not require a woman to hide her face. However, they have voiced concerns that a law forbidding them to do so would stigmatize the French Muslim population, which at an estimated 5 million is the largest in western Europe. Numerous Muslim women who wear the face-covering veil have said they are being increasingly harassed in the streets.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 10/4/10: From "Muslims should conform to German values: Merkel" by Indo-Asian News Service
German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded on Monday that Muslims living in Germany conform to "fundamental German values", saying there was no leeway on the issue.
"There is no leeway on this," she said, adding that Germans' perceptions of Islam were dominated by Sharia (Islamic law), the lack of equality between men and women and honour killings.
Germany had freedom of religion, and Islam was welcome, "but it must be a form of Islam that feels devoted to our fundamental values", Merkel said. If it were not, fears would develop among Germans, "and that is hardly something we want to happen".
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Read also, Cardinal Says Secularization of Europe has Doomed it to Islamization
UPDATE 1/5/11: British conversions to Islam nearly doubled in decade, study says
UPDATE 12/16/10: Wikileaks shines light on Muslim radicals in the U.K.
UPDATE 10/9/10: Sharia law being used in Germany in Muslims' domestic disputes
UPDATE 10/7/10: Muslims are taking over parts of the world into which they move simply by outnumbering the previous residents
UPDATE 10/7/10: Italy to become next European country to ban burka
-- From "France In Trouble Over Immigrants" posted at The New American 9/15/10
Trying to control the increasing Islamization of its society, the French Senate passed a bill that forbids women from wearing the burqa and other face-hiding veils in public. The vote was nearly unamious, 246-1. The Senate's action follows that of the country's National Assembly, which acted in June and also passed the bill by a large margin. The bill awaits the singnature of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
But whatever the reason women may no longer cover their faces in public, the country's radical Left, as expected, chalks the action up to Islamophobia.
. . . In 2009, the Swiss banned the Muslim minaret, described by Turkish President Recep Erdogan as the "Muslim Bayonet." That law sent European leftists into a tizzy.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Analysis: Burqa bans: France, then Netherlands - who's next?" by Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor, Reuters 10/1/10
First the French banned Muslim face veils, now the Dutch have decided to follow suit. With debates about outlawing burqas and niqabs spreading across Europe, a third ban -- perhaps even more -- may not be far behind.
Calls for a "burqa ban" are now heard across Europe, with local politics influencing how close it gets to becoming law.
Three days after Paris passed its ban last month, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's populist Northern League allies introduced a similar bill in Rome. Another Berlusconi ally submitted a draft ban law in the Senate last week.
[In Spain,] Barcelona outlawed burqas and niqabs in public buildings in June, after two smaller Catalan towns, Lerida and El Vendrell, banned them early this year.
A recent poll showed 61 percent of Germans favored a burqa ban but the debate there has focused more on a dispute caused by Thilo Sarrazin, who had to resign from the board of the central bank after publishing a book denigrating Muslim immigrants.
In Austria, the opposition Freedom Party has been gaining ground in state polls with its anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant line. Socialist Chancellor Werner Faymann says he "could imagine" a ban and his conservative coalition partners want to debate it.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "French Senate passes ban on full Muslim veils" by Elaine Ganley, Associated Press Writer 9/14/10
Many Muslims believe the [veil-ban] legislation is one more blow to France's No. 2 religion, and risks raising the level of Islamophobia in a country where mosques, like synagogues, are sporadic targets of hate. However, the law's many proponents say it will preserve the nation's values, including its secular foundations and a notion of fraternity that is contrary to those who hide their faces.
The bill is aimed at ensuring gender equality, women's dignity and security, as well as upholding France's secular values — and its way of life.
Muslim leaders concur that Islam does not require a woman to hide her face. However, they have voiced concerns that a law forbidding them to do so would stigmatize the French Muslim population, which at an estimated 5 million is the largest in western Europe. Numerous Muslim women who wear the face-covering veil have said they are being increasingly harassed in the streets.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 10/4/10: From "Muslims should conform to German values: Merkel" by Indo-Asian News Service
German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded on Monday that Muslims living in Germany conform to "fundamental German values", saying there was no leeway on the issue.
"There is no leeway on this," she said, adding that Germans' perceptions of Islam were dominated by Sharia (Islamic law), the lack of equality between men and women and honour killings.
Germany had freedom of religion, and Islam was welcome, "but it must be a form of Islam that feels devoted to our fundamental values", Merkel said. If it were not, fears would develop among Germans, "and that is hardly something we want to happen".
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Read also, Cardinal Says Secularization of Europe has Doomed it to Islamization
Friday, May 09, 2008
Swiss Government Considers 'Plant Rights'
Adoption of a "biocentric" moral view means you can be accused of "decapitating wildflowers"
For background, read Swiss Grant Rights to Animals, Considering Same for Plants
-- From "The Silent Scream of the Asparagus" by Wesley J. Smith in the Weekly Standard 5/12/2008, Volume 013, Issue 33
You just knew it was coming: At the request of the Swiss government, an ethics panel has weighed in on the "dignity" of plants and opined that the arbitrary killing of flora is morally wrong. This is no hoax. The concept of what could be called "plant rights" is being seriously debated.
A few years ago the Swiss added to their national constitution a provision requiring "account to be taken of the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms." No one knew exactly what it meant, so they asked the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology to figure it out. The resulting report, "The Dignity of Living Beings with Regard to Plants," is enough to short circuit the brain.
A "clear majority" of the panel adopted what it called a "biocentric" moral view, meaning that "living organisms should be considered morally for their own sake because they are alive." Thus, the panel determined that we cannot claim "absolute ownership" over plants and, moreover, that "individual plants have an inherent worth." This means that "we may not use them just as we please, even if the plant community is not in danger, or if our actions do not endanger the species, or if we are not acting arbitrarily."
. . . Switzerland's enshrining of "plant dignity" is a symptom of a cultural disease that has infected Western civilization, causing us to lose the ability to think critically and distinguish serious from frivolous ethical concerns. It also reflects the triumph of a radical anthropomorphism that views elements of the natural world as morally equivalent to people.
Why is this happening? Our accelerating rejection of the Judeo-Christian world view, which upholds the unique dignity and moral worth of human beings, is driving us crazy. Once we knocked our species off its pedestal, it was only logical that we would come to see fauna and flora as entitled to rights.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
For background, read Swiss Grant Rights to Animals, Considering Same for Plants
-- From "The Silent Scream of the Asparagus" by Wesley J. Smith in the Weekly Standard 5/12/2008, Volume 013, Issue 33
You just knew it was coming: At the request of the Swiss government, an ethics panel has weighed in on the "dignity" of plants and opined that the arbitrary killing of flora is morally wrong. This is no hoax. The concept of what could be called "plant rights" is being seriously debated.
A few years ago the Swiss added to their national constitution a provision requiring "account to be taken of the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms." No one knew exactly what it meant, so they asked the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology to figure it out. The resulting report, "The Dignity of Living Beings with Regard to Plants," is enough to short circuit the brain.
A "clear majority" of the panel adopted what it called a "biocentric" moral view, meaning that "living organisms should be considered morally for their own sake because they are alive." Thus, the panel determined that we cannot claim "absolute ownership" over plants and, moreover, that "individual plants have an inherent worth." This means that "we may not use them just as we please, even if the plant community is not in danger, or if our actions do not endanger the species, or if we are not acting arbitrarily."
. . . Switzerland's enshrining of "plant dignity" is a symptom of a cultural disease that has infected Western civilization, causing us to lose the ability to think critically and distinguish serious from frivolous ethical concerns. It also reflects the triumph of a radical anthropomorphism that views elements of the natural world as morally equivalent to people.
Why is this happening? Our accelerating rejection of the Judeo-Christian world view, which upholds the unique dignity and moral worth of human beings, is driving us crazy. Once we knocked our species off its pedestal, it was only logical that we would come to see fauna and flora as entitled to rights.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Death-mobiles - Swiss Right-To-Die Group Offers Suicide In A Parked Car
From "Death-mobiles - Swiss Right-To-Die Group Offers Suicide In A Parked Car" by Thaddeus M. Baklinski, posted 11/09/07 at lifesite.org
The Swiss suicide charity Dignitas has been forced to reinvent its assisted death operation after losing its lease on the apartment in a Zurich suburb where hundreds of people had gone to die.
Other residents in the building had complained about having to use the same elevator as "customers" going up to the third floor flat, and dead bodies being taken down to ambulances or hearses parked below.
Dignitas had hoped to book a suite of hotel rooms to carry out the assisted deaths but withdrew when the Association of Zurich Hoteliers threatened legal action if clients checked in to die. Use of their former premises in an industrial area was also denied them by local authorities.
With nowhere to turn, the group has been reduced to offering its killing service in rental vans where clients are given a concoction of chemicals which they voluntarily drank - which means there is no possibility of prosecution under Swiss law.
Assisted suicide, where the patient carries out the final act himself, is legal in Switzerland while active euthanasia, or deliberate killing to end suffering, is not.
The organization intends to continue offering mobile suicide services until it finds a permanent base.
Read the whole article.
The Swiss suicide charity Dignitas has been forced to reinvent its assisted death operation after losing its lease on the apartment in a Zurich suburb where hundreds of people had gone to die.
Other residents in the building had complained about having to use the same elevator as "customers" going up to the third floor flat, and dead bodies being taken down to ambulances or hearses parked below.
Dignitas had hoped to book a suite of hotel rooms to carry out the assisted deaths but withdrew when the Association of Zurich Hoteliers threatened legal action if clients checked in to die. Use of their former premises in an industrial area was also denied them by local authorities.
With nowhere to turn, the group has been reduced to offering its killing service in rental vans where clients are given a concoction of chemicals which they voluntarily drank - which means there is no possibility of prosecution under Swiss law.
Assisted suicide, where the patient carries out the final act himself, is legal in Switzerland while active euthanasia, or deliberate killing to end suffering, is not.
The organization intends to continue offering mobile suicide services until it finds a permanent base.
Read the whole article.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Switzerland: Suicide Clinic Being Evicted from Building
Neighbor says "We call it the house of horrors. This is meant to be a residential flat but some days you'd think it was a morgue."
From "Neighbor's Complaints Succeed in Evicting Dignitas from Residence" by Elizabeth O'Brien, posted 7/17/07 at Lifesite.org
The Swiss assisted-suicide group Dignitas has been evicted from its operation site in a suburban area due to growing complaints from neighbors.
From "Neighbor's Complaints Succeed in Evicting Dignitas from Residence" by Elizabeth O'Brien, posted 7/17/07 at Lifesite.org
The Swiss assisted-suicide group Dignitas has been evicted from its operation site in a suburban area due to growing complaints from neighbors.
For nine years the assisted-suicide clinic at Gertrudstrasse 84 received people who wanted to kill themselves, Spiegel News reports. The organization took up two apartments of the apartment block; but recently the owner cancelled their lease because residents were horrified by the stream of body bags that were carried out on the elevator and are frustrated by the police and ambulances that constantly come to the door.
The landlady has given Dignitas until September to find a new residence. The eviction is especially significant, reports Spiegel, because the landlady is a cousin of Ludwig Minelli, the head and primary launcher of Dignitas.
55-year old resident Gloria Sonny started the eviction movement, gathering signatures to petition against Dignitas. She told Germany's Süddeutsche Zeitung that the place had become a "house of death." Last year Sonny was also quoted in UK's Telegraph, "We call it the 'House of Horrors'. This is meant to be a residential flat but some days you'd think it was a morgue."
She also noted that not all of the people who came with a one-way ticket were old. She said, "The look in their eyes haunts me, particularly if they are young."
Other residents complained that their children were constantly exposed to the dying and dead bodies. One woman was quoted in the Guardian Unlimited, saying that she changed her household chores in order not to "bump into a corpse while I'm taking out the rubbish."
Read the rest of this article.
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