A fifth of Britons are homophobic.

Or at least that many are willing to admit they are in a poll, lets be honest the real number is probably higher. The BBC commissioned a survey to investigated the population's opinions of homosexuality on television and the results are broadly positive. I obviously can't comment on gay people's perceptions of TV but that they think portrayals are improving is a hopeful sign. If nothing else this shows the immense importance of culture in society.

Then again with the fifth of the population who are made uncomfortable by gay storylines maybe there are other causes. Good looking happy straight couples make me uncomfortable so alone...

The wheezings of a Behemoth

A narrowly focused look at a couple of, admittedly major, problems facing the Catholic church with a bit of analysis. This sounds dismissive but unless the article was a several inch thick book with 8pt writing it would not be able to achieve even a shallow overview of the state of an organisation as large as the Catholic church and its' context in nearly every country on earth. Still though the article is good, it just is what it is. Most interesting is Benedict's belief that smaller congregations could be useful for the catholic church, this is an odd aspiration for an organisation that has dominated western christendom for millenia, was the inheritor of the influence of the Roman Empire and has been accurately described as the world's first corporation. A bit like Steve Ballmer hoping MS's waning power will allow them to focus on making the best possible iPhone apps. then again...

A nice accompaniment to this piece is something jonny linked me, showing that aside from the big problems that are causing Western European congregations to wither away Catholicism also faces the problem of its' consistent dickishness.