Anne Marie Waters
Anne Marie Waters is a member of the Pegida UK leadership team and leads Sharia Watch, an organisation launched by UK lawyers on the 24th of April 2014 which has the support of the Baroness Caroline Cox.[1][2] Waters once said, "None of this [current events] would be happening if we hadn't had the Left running down Western culture for decades, teaching children to hate Western culture. And then comes along this aggressive religion into a country which hates itself. It's the perfect storm."[3] She is pro-NHS[4] and pro-LGBT.[5]
Message to the Church
Waters was raised Catholic and most of her family is still Catholic. She wrote a piece in The Huffington Post in which she chides Christians who aren't compassionate toward homosexuals, equating the Vatican of old with the Islamist states of today and reminding us that in medieval Europe, homosexuals were burned at the stake. In her opinion, it is cruel that the Vatican expects homosexuals to abstain from acts that are of a homosexual nature; she points out that the Church of England has the same proscription for bishops.[6][7]
In 2010, Waters signed a joint letter,[5] which was sent to The Guardian, on the eve of then-Pope Ratzinger's visit to the UK. The letter asserts that the Vatican is responsible for:
- Opposing the distribution of condoms and so increasing large families in poor countries and the spread of AIDS.
- Promoting segregated education.
- Denying abortion to even the most vulnerable women.
- Opposing equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
- Failing to address the many cases of abuse of children within its own organisation.[5]
The letter then goes on to say:
- The state of which the pope is head has also resisted signing many major human rights treaties and has formed its own treaties ("concordats") with many states which negatively affect the human rights of citizens of those states. In any case, we reject the masquerading of the Holy See as a state and the pope as a head of state as merely a convenient fiction to amplify the international influence of the Vatican.[5]
Draw Mohamed event
In August 2015, Waters planned to have a "Draw Mohamed" event in London. She said, "The aim is a fear-free Mohamed cartoon contest. When we can have that, we will know we are winning." Her definition of winning is to have protection of freedom of speech. The event was canceled because intelligence showed there was a "very real possibility that people could be hurt or killed - before, during and after."[8]
References
- ↑ Kassam, Raheem (24 April 2014). "UK Lawyers, Human Rights Activists Launch 'Sharia Watch' Org to Monitor UK Islamism". Breitbart News. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ↑ Deacon, Liam (4 January 2016). "IN PICTURES: Anti-Islamisation ‘PEGIDA’ Group Launches UK Chapter". Breitbart News. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ↑ Cortbus, Colin; Myers, Russell (16 April 2015). "Watch Ukip candidates spouting vile anti-Islamic hate messages at a far-right rally". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
- ↑ Newman, Andy (15 June 2013). "Anne Marie Waters – the worst possible potential Labour PPC". Socialist Unity. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 "Harsh judgments on the pope and religion". The Guardian. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ↑ Waters, Anne (12 March 2013). "Christian Leaders Are Not Compassionate on Homosexuality". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ↑ Walker, Peter (4 January 2013). "Church of England rules gay men in civil partnerships can become bishops". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ↑ Denham, Jesse (20 August 2015). "London 'Draw Mohamed' exhibition cancelled due to 'real possibility people could be killed'". The Independent. Retrieved 6 March 2016.