A little divertissement courtesy of today's Telegraph:
Buckfast monks should be stripped of their charitable status, campaigners have said, following claims that they are profiting from selling "dangerous" wine.Ha!
The Charity Commission is launching a probe into the Buckfast Abbey Trust, where monks produce wine which has been associated with a surge in alcohol-related violence.
The National Secular Society - which works to challenge religious privilege - has claimed Buckfast Tonic Wine, known as "Buckie" in Scotland where it is most popular, is a scourge on society.
The drink has been linked to 6,500 reports of antisocial behaviour and violence in just two years. Yet Buckfast Abbey Trust, which produces Buckfast Tonic Wine, does not pay tax on its income because it is a charity, something which the National Secular Society claims is an "abuse of the charitable system"...
...The Trust justifies its charitable status by saying its aim is the "advancement of the Roman Catholic religion".
It certainly may be someone's idea of "religion" - not least Mr Dean Martin...
Cheers!
Nasty stuff. Buckfast Abbey is beautiful though and the monks are a jolly nice bunch too.
ReplyDelete"Jolly" is possibly their permanent state... Jx
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