Bristol Greens councillor quits over trans protests

I believe everyone should be able to be themselves and be treated with respect, including trans people. However the green response stating counsellors have a right to feel safe when they are hardly in any danger listening to a difference of opinion. If people are incapable of fulfilling their official role and upholding democracy then this isn’t the career for them.

I did say "religious indoctrination" should be illegal, not "religious education".

That said I think there is a lot to be said for crazy ideas with no evidence behind them (the idea that some people would be happier as an amputee and seek amputation for example, but religion and trans ideology are arguably exactly the same) should not be introduced to kids until they are relatively old (as I believe younger people are more vulnerable to have insane ideas drummed into them)

I feel exactly the same way about gender ideology being indoctrinated to the kids in school now; year in year out. It also isn't normal (and is actually anti-science and anti-biological fact never mind anything else) but unlike you not wanting religious teaching to be legal, I would just want it taught as a "this is a belief some people believe" which is what I was taught about religions. None of my teachers told me that if I didn't believe in god I would be punished, which seems to be the case for gender ideology.

He should be disciplined by both the council and the Green Party, but I'm not sure if there are any sensible people left in the GP anymore.

I worked for the NHS, if I'd called a colleague trash let alone putting it on social media I'd have been in serious trouble. How is this humpty getting away with it, surely there is a standards committee to complain to?

Ignore the derailer!

I was talking about myself. My response to christianity is a direct response to my experience.

Kids who are certain god does not exist and who despise having religious indoctrination rammed down their throats day in day out should not have to put up with it.

You are talking about Christianity specifically and "day in day out" means at school and at home.

Where are kids in the UK today having Christianity"rammed down their throats day in day out" at school and at home?

There can't be many of them. Are they being home-schooled by parents who are religious zealots?

It's like taking one neighbour's unreasonable behaviour and assuming that all your other neighbours are the same.

It is not about the beliefs, I was brought up in Britain and broadly share our "western christian values" (which are kinda christian, but also heavily influenced by things like classical liberalism). It is about the principle that now I have the power to enforce boundaries and have my consent respected I will do so, absolutely.

It's a bit like if you had a neighbour who kept parking on your drive without asking, however much it inconvenienced or annoyed you, and however much you told her to stop. You inherit £200k, you build a big extension and quadruple the size of your drive. Would you say "well, I have loads of parking space now, so I'll go next door and tell my neighbour she can park then whenever she wants"? Or would you put up a big fence with a secure gate and never ever ever let her park on your drive, as a matter of principle, because she spent years taking the mick?

That is black-and-white thinking and lacking nuance.

Christianity is a very broad group of lots of very disparate strands/schools/sects.

Encompassing extreme evangelical views right up to the mildest and most rational, in fact including agnostic/atheist views sometimes, too.

Yep.

See also Mothin Ali supporting Palestine Action, a proscribed group.

My response is not as extreme as Alice's.

My response is actually more from a rational point of view than emotional one - christianity lost all rights to a single second of my time when christians decided they had a right to force me to listen to their propaganda. I am not going to start firebombing churches (for numerous and very obvious reasons), I cannot sue my deceased mother or old schools for compensation. The only punishment I can give, the only justice I can gain, is to refuse to listen to anyone who is speaking in a church or from a christian standpoint.

Personal experiences and traumas do effect one's emotional 'climate', obviously. Take the example of humanist TV presenter, Alice Roberts, who vehemently rejects religion - seemingly because her mother was religious, and who was so rejecting of this that she did not even attend her own mother's funeral. Her mother sounded perfectly reasonable and rational in interviews.

That is quite an extreme response, I'd suggest, that was clearly rooted in childhood/parental issues ( not to attend your mother's funeral). My point being that extreme emotional responses are usually coming from a place of unresolved angst - and to let them continue to shape our responses to fairly typical life situations is probably not the healthiest way to proceeed.

I'm not saying your feelings are wrong. I'm more commenting on the nature of strong feelings.

Not everyone is the same. You can tell me my response to my experience is wrong all you want.

I do think your response is over charged. I went to a C OF E school and was not indoctrinated or abused, and my granddaughter goes to a RC primary school ( even though we're not RC ourselves) and she is just fine. Very well balanced and happy at school

The point is that it shouldn't be an everyday issue. Kids who are certain god does not exist and who despise having religious indoctrination rammed down their throats day in day out should not have to put up with it.

On the one hand I agree "it happens all the time, it is a fact of life, no point trying to get legal recompense, no point worrying about it, get over it" is good advice, on the other hand it is advice that many people with other historic trauma would not be given.

Even taking that position about a mainstream Cof E or even Catholic school, for example, is quite extreme, though. Children are 'indoctrinated' with all sorts of things including ideas that abound within secularism.

Excessive emotional responses to everyday issues is not conducive to good mental health

Just because religious indoctrination of kids against their consent year in year out through childhood is normal does not mean it should be legal, let alone regarded as normal.

I'm sure you're right. I wonder how old he is? Many of the noisier Greens are really quite young and inexperienced, which I'm guessing is why they seem to behave like children not used to hearing the word No.

Last time I saw his post, there were 49 replies and although the posts expressed astonished disbelief that he was speaking about a fellow councillor in such a contemptuous way, there wasn't personal abuse or similar to what women would have had in response.

If it was another party, I might have suspected that someone a bit more sensible had had a word but with the Greens, I suspect he's feeling mightly triggered at what he considers the lowly proles actually having the temerity to speak to him when he's not got the chance to hold up a sign or walk out in protest.

Just catching up and when I tried to view this I found that poor James has had to lock his account. Looks like not all the replies to his post were approving.

Such extreme emotional reactions to quite normal things, even things one has an issue with, are not healthy and they should be minimised.

She is still listed on the Green Party website here:
https://bristolgreenparty.org.uk/councillor/paula-orourke/

but correctly shown on the Bristol Council website as independent here:
https://democracy.bristol.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=601

both list her council email address - I will be sending her an email of support / thanks.

Whilst I agree with your post overall, I do think that you're minimizing just how much some people absolute hate being in buildings that remind them of religion, or how much some peole hate the thought of the room costs for a room they are using being paid to a religious organization.

For most people - the vast majority - of course practical concerns like not being seen by your boss massively outweigh any dislike they might have towards religion.