The continual blurring of demarcations

I was somewhat surprised when my last credit card bill (i owe £0.00 - oh yeah, proper management of personal finances rocks) arrived, as the bank had kindly added an advert inside the envelope.

What was it advertising, you ask?

Alcohol, that's right - the people who look after my money so i don't have to keep it hidden under my mattress (or in the freezer) - are trying to sell me alcohol.

(It's actually a pretty good deal, 12 bottles of wine (doesn't look like it's the crap stuff either) and a free corkscrew for just £47 - i'm very tempted, but i digress)

I'm used to the bank trying to get me to take out a mortgage or loan or some other unnecessary financial arrangement (well not anymore, but that's another story) - but i get worried when they try and offload alcohol onto me. There are many things in my life I like to keep distinct and away from each other, such as my family and everyone else i know. The grand protectors of my money and alcohol are two such objects, they should remain separate, out of principle.

This may sound like pointless whining (ha, a joke to those who are paying attention), and it is partly - but i still stand by my principle that somethings should remain separate.

That brings me onto another real annoyance of mine - the continual attempts of the religites to undermine the demarcation of state and religion.

When we have elected politicians declaring that instead of listening to the evidence, or their constituents, they will 'go with their conscience' (*cough* what a man in a dress has told them to do *cough*) and vote against a bill that includes positive scientific amendments to current rules on stem cell research and changes to the abortion laws, we have a serious problem. If the politician has a genuine objection to something, an objection based on rational thought and consideration then that's perfectly acceptable - but it beggars believe when a politicians mind on many matters was made up the day they were born, due to their parents religion.

Politicians are elected to represent the people of their constituency and their country - they are not elected to enforce a bronze age dogma as decreed by a foreign leader (i'm looking at you catholics). The politicians who put their own childhood indocrination above the welfare of this country know who they are and should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves .

This now leads me onto the recent attempts to place religion at the heart of education, and in every classroom. To pick one topic from many: -
We need to get some facts straight - creationism, intelligent design, creation science or what ever the hell you want to call it in no way qualifies as anything like science. There are no predictions, no scientific methodology and most importantly - it contradicts the evidence.
Creationism can be taught in comparitive RE lessons along with all the other creation myths - but not in a science classroom.

My bank trying to sell me wine is a broken boundary that i find amusing and likely to set me back about £50 - the recent attempts to break the boundary between the running of government and religion is no laughing matter.