THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IS AN EVIL SCAM
The Roman Catholic Church is an Evil Scam
Most everybody knows priests in the Catholic Church have abused children since time immemorial, and this begs the question, “How has this been allowed to continue for so long?” And also, “What steps have been taken to stop this and how are they protecting children now?”
Well, the answers don’t make comfortable reading. In the same way tobacco companies have shifted their evil wares to less developed countries, the RC church moves its abusing clerics to other parishes, dioceses and nations.
And then it covers up the crimes.
In the USA alone over 6500 kids have been abused and thousands of priests accused. Now imagine how many have been molested globally…
So what did His Holiness the Pope do to help these thousands of children? He wrote the Crimen Sollicitationis.
Click here for BBC documentary exposing this awful organisation.
Created in 1962 by one Cardinal Ratzinger, Crimen Sollicitationis was issued in secret to bishops across the world and outlined procedures to be followed when dealing with allegations of child abuse, homosexuality and bestiality by members of the clergy.
It swore all parties involved to secrecy on pain of excommunication from the Catholic Church.
This document was reissued in 2001 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and sent to all bishops.
Yet rather than ordering more openness and cooperation with the authorities as demanded by both law enforcers and the victims, Ratzinger reiterated its policies and ensured that the Code of Silence be applied to all cases of child abuse involving a priest.
Cardinal Ratzinger also instructed that all cases should now be referred to his office directly and that he would maintain ‘exclusive competence’ over the handling of allegations.
This is the Catholic Church’s policy to this day and Cardinal Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI.
The policy laid out in this evil document has led to systemic failure and allowed a significant number of priests to abuse again, and further children have been put at risk.
How can people still allow these evil men access to their children? They claim to be ‘Holy’ but in reality act more like Cosa Nostra – the Sicilian Mafia.
The Roman Catholic hierarchy have a Code of Silence, the Mafia have Omerta.
Protect your children by never leaving them alone with a priest, vicar or any other so-called ‘Holy’ man and join the fight to
KEEP RELIGION OUT OF SCHOOLS
Bible Bollocks and Christian Crap
The Bullshit Bible is back in showbiz. Darren Aronofsky has a bearded Russell Crowe for Noah. The documentary Bible Quiz is in post-production. Will Smith’s directorial debut will be Cain and Abel (reportedly with a vampire twist). Paul Verhoeven’s Jesus of Nazareth has its finance in place. Justin Theroux is rewriting Swear to God – a comedy about a hedge-fund manager who has seen the Almighty. Ridley Scott, Warner Bros – with a rumour of Spielberg directing – and the Chernin Entertainment Company all have Moses movies. Mary Mother of Christ, a film about the life of Jesus up to age 12, is currently prepping, as is Langston Hughes’s Black Nativity, with a cast of Samuel L Jackson, Angela Bassett and Jennifer Hudson. And earlier this week, a Pontius Pilate movie was greenlit.
What was it that H L Mencken said?
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people…
Liebster Blog Award goes … to me!
Morning Campers! Today I awoke to discover I’ve been nominated for the hugely important Liebster Blog Award and the Nobel Peace Prize. Now I’m a busy man so had to tell the nice Swiss guy I’ll do the dynamite thing next year.
‘And just what is this Liebster Blog Award?’ I hear you scream. Glad you asked. I’ve trawled the net 🙂 and can’t honestly tell you of the award’s origins, but certain details seem to be common to the process. It’s awarded to ‘up-and-coming’ blogs with less than 200 hardcore followers and involves answering a set of searching questions. You also have to nominate others to receive this prestigious plaudit.
‘Liebster’ is German and can be translated as ‘darling’ ‘boyfriend’ ‘sweetheart’ or ‘beloved’. Quite a coincidence as my first name ‘David’ means ‘beloved’ in Hebrew.
I’m honoured to be nominated by a lovely fellow blogger who writes under the nom de plume of “Gaffelioyet”. Gaffelioyet’s Blog has the great tagline – “Broken glass. It’s just like glitter, isn’t it?” I can see the eternal truth in this statement, although the waitress in a Devon ice-cream parlour where I clumsily smashed a Knickerbocker Glory glass certainly didn’t.
Gaffelioyet’s Blog was originally written in Norwegian but has evolved into English. The author is something of a polyglot and is fluent in more languages than the average blogger has followers. This is very handy as she is currently travelling and studying ‘down under’ and obviously has a bad attack of wanderlust or ‘itchy feet’ as they say in shoe shops.
Gaffelioyet’s Blog first caught my eye with a beautiful picture of Brisbane by night and held my attention with her lust for life and irreverent attitude.
She studied drama and theatre for her BA and plans to add to this while away between visiting Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.
She’s also a musician, poet and general woman of letters so please pop in and say hello to her in person.
There are lots of blogs that deserve a mention, but I’m going to plump for “Becoming not Became” for intellectual honesty, explaining about bipolar disorder and amazing writing about desire. I imagine the title is an allusion to Hegel’s famous statement about things being in a constant state of becoming rather than arriving at an end point. Of course it may actually be about the number 11 Outer Circle bus route in Birmingham, UK. As somebody wise once said, “Who really knows anything?”
Anyway, the blogger who writes “Becoming not Became” is welcome to pop in for a cuppa if they’re in the English Midlands – and that applies to everybody reading this that isn’t a troll, ogre or large, dangerous semi-mythical monster. If you are a large, dangerous semi-mythical monster please leave your contact details and a blank cheque at the desk then scram.
Below are the questions set by Gaffelioyet, followed by some of my own for Mr Mulligan (pen name of author of “Becoming not Became”
1. How long have you blogged?
Since 2005 when I was part of the New Civilization Network, however I stopped writing there because everyone was so bitchy 🙂 I developed my blogging skills subsequently on the Moodle system at a couple of local universities, annoying as many pretentious and pompous wannabe writers as possible. This includes myself…
2. What is the talent you are most proud of?
Creativity. I was going to say “pride” but that’s conceited.
3. You wake up in a shaggy hotel in a city of your choice with your best friend and a complete stranger of the opposite sex. There’s a kitchen-battle-axe on the floor with blood on it and an owl in the bathroom. What has happened?
Amazingly this is one of the questions Inspector Marie du Plessis of the Jo’burg Police dept. put to me only last week in a memorable 12-hour interrogation. As I told her then, the owl works for Mossad and follows me every night like a winged vampire. I still have no knowledge of where it roosts each day. My friend is an architect and no doubt picked up the stranger at a conference on how hotels get shaggy in the first place. It’s a mystery to me – I thought they were built of bricks and concrete and stuff.
4. What’s your favourite day of the week?
All of them. As a freethinker, I’ve been trying to deprogram myself out of the idea that different days have different feelings as I realised this is an artefact of the ‘working week syndrome’. However as a shaman and occultist I know that particular days are more suitable for certain magical operations so use astrological and other correspondences to achieve my ends.
5. If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?
A bear. This is my totem animal and came to me magically on a multi-storey carpark in Birmingham City Centre when under the influence of sacred entheogenic fungi when I was 18.
6. What are you doing for your living?
Writing, marking and critiquing academic essays and teaching this and that.
7. Where would you take me in your hometown, if I visit you?
A multi-storey carpark in the City Centre to take sacred fungi and dance with the ancestors.
8. What is your favourite sound?
Laughter.
9. Do you have a celebrity crush? Who is it?
Groucho Marx – sadly he’s no longer with us, however after ingesting sacred fungi on the top floor of a City Centre carpark…
10. What is the first website you go to when you open your browser?
http://www.facebook.com/DOGSharonTheFutureIsFemale
11. What languages do you speak?
English, some French and Italian to myself. I’m good at accents too.
Right – these are my questions 😉
1. OMG what’s that behind you?
…
2. What do you do with your hands when you are in bed? Thanks to the late, great Ivor Cutler for that.
…
3. Can you remember your first and last orgasms?
…
4. If you were a car, what would you have in your glove compartment?
…
5. If you had all the world’s religious leaders in a box, what would you do with it?
…
6. Have you ever had a mystical experience?
…
7. Have you ever asked a lady her age?
…
8. Would you kiss the Pope’s ring?
…
9. Would you share underwear with a French person?
…
10. What’s the first piece of music you bought?
…
11. Would you rather meet a devil or an angel?
…
So my friend – answer those questions and nominate someone else for the award.
I look forward to reading your responses…
Love to all, even evangelical Christians
Wavey Davey
How Culture and Religion Oppress Women
Gender, religion and culture are foundational social constructs but are not of the same level. Culture is a macroscopic concept and therefore subsumes religion. As Raday argues, religion derives from culture and gender derives from both religion and culture. (2005: 665) The word “culture” has been described as “one of the two or three most complicated in the English language” (Williams 1988: 87). Kuper described it as “a way of talking about collective identities” (cited in Raday: 666) and can be seen as falling into two categories, ideological – what is thought, valued and believed and social culture – how people are organised. Culture is not always homogenous and does not necessarily map one-to-one with the constitutional realm, but can have three levels. There can be ethnic and religious differences, dominant and minority subcultures, a diversity of institutional cultures and an international culture of human rights all overlapping within the same national boundaries (Raday 2005: 667). Raday distinguishes between dynamic and static forms of culture, arguing traditional and patriarchal forms tend to resist change and moves towards gender equality (2005: 667)
Religion is an aspect of culture, although it is not easy to define the concept. Most arguments regarding the clash of gender equality and religion have been made against the three main monotheistic religions, Islam, Christianity and Judaism (Raday 2005: 668). Monotheistic religions are characterised by canonical texts, authoritative interpretations of doctrine and a formal structure to preserve the organisational ideology and ethical rules regulating the lives of individuals and communities. But these fundamental texts are in conflict with the basis of human rights legislation and doctrine which is humancentric and focuses on the responsibility and autonomy of the individual (Raday 2005: 669). Human rights doctrine works from the premise that the state has ultimate authority but must be prevented from abusing individuals. The opposite is true with monotheistic religions which are based on individual subjection to the will of the Supreme Being and transcendental morality.
Although culture and religion are often treated as different concepts, Raday argues that they have a lot in common when contrasted with human rights (2005: 670). But it is the leading global religions as opposed to cultures which codify custom and practice into texts which are then claimed to be outside history and culture. Raday cites the examples of the Vatican and the Organisation of Islamic Conferences as religious groups with a great deal of temporal power (2005: 669). Gender has been described as denoting the historical, cultural and social distinctions between women and men (Curthoys 2005: 140) Gender identity develops from normalised behaviour imposed on women and men by religion and culture. The history of gender in religion and traditional culture is of subordination of women to men and women’s exclusion from the public sphere (Raday 2005: 669). Although cultural and religious practices can be separated academically, in practice they usually interact. Patriarchal relations exist within culture and religion and there is a correlation between some cultural practices and the religious situations in which they are found (Raday 2005: 676). Raday gives the example of the cultural police in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who in an attempt to develop a culture of chastity, forced women to wear the veil in public places even though there is no clear religious command to do so. 676 The clash is between international human rights law and norms of culture and religion which promote and reinforce patriarchal values and fall back on the claim of religious freedom or cultural tradition. Giving it into any of these claims could result in an “infringement of woman’s right to a quality” (Raday 2005: 676).
So-called cultural practices which preserve patriarchy and discriminate against women include; female genital mutilation, the sale and forced marriage of daughters, the dowry system, preference for male children, female infanticide, polygamy, the power of husbands to discipline wives, marital rape, honour killings, witch-hunting, gendered division of food and restrictive dress codes (Raday 2005: 667). Examples of cultural issues found in signatories to CEDAW which conflict with human rights doctrine gender equality include: the elimination of polygamy in Algeria, polygamy, forced marriage and female genital mutilation in Cameroon, food issues for rural women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, domestic violence and discriminatory religious and cultural practices in Uganda, dowry, sati and devadsi practices in India, illegal sex selective abortions and family planning in China and laws discriminating against women in family and marriage matters in Indonesia.
Some feminists have argued that religion is a major source of female oppression and inequality and that most if not all religions are gendered and oppress women. In Christianity, the Supreme Deity is considered to be male. Several of the early church fathers such as Tertullian, Jerome, Ambrose and Augustine made misogynist writings which served to reinforce stereotypical gender roles (Skeptics Annotated Bible 2011). The story of the Virgin Birth promotes the idea that a woman’s body is a dirty and sinful thing and is not a proper origin for a spiritual being. The Roman Catholic Church does not ordain women and excommunicates those who attempt to become priests. It opposes family planning and birth control and does not believe in a woman’s rights to decide on abortion (Skeptics Annotated Bible 2011). Many protestant churches do not ordain women either and many believe in the wife’s submitting to the husband. In addition, many protestant churches teach that women should dress modestly but do not impose the same values on men. Other Christian denominations such as The Church of the Latter Day Saints, commonly known as the Mormons, formally allowed polygamy and still have not had condemned the practice. The Mormons do not ordain women and teach that a husband is master in the home (Skeptics Annotated Bible 2011).
In the Hindu religion, the Supreme Being is also considered to be male. In cultural practices dating back many thousands of years, widows are shunned as bringing bad luck and forced to live on the edge of society, alone (Skeptics Annotated Bible 2011). Widows were also supposed to shave their heads and never remarry. In the religious practice of Sati, windows were burnt alive on the funeral pyres of their husbands (Bowker 1997: 430). In Devadsi, girls are dedicated to a deity or temple and forced to become religious prostitutes for Upper caste members.
In Islam, menstruation is considered to make women unclean (similar conditions pertain to Christianity). Muslim women are expected in many societies to wear a veil due to the command in Sura 24 of the Koran for women to dress modestly (Skeptics Annotated Bible 2011). Honour killings are also traditionally carried out by adherents of this faith, where women are murdered after being raped or assaulted because they are considered to bring dishonour on the family. Also the practice of female genital mutilation is associated with Islamic culture although it is not mentioned in the Koran. Under Shari’a law, a man can divorce his wife by repeating the phrase “I divorce you” three times, although this cannot happen the other way round (Skeptics Annotated Bible 2011). As a woman’s testimony is worth only half that of a man’s (Koran Sura 2) allegations of rape can only be proved if four male eye witnesses testified the assault occurred. The Prophet Mohammed, according to the Hadith (sayings and traditions of the prophet) married Aisha bint Abu Bakr – a prepubescent girl of nine years according to some accounts. This is considered important as 25% of all the Yemeni females marry under the age of 15 and several other Arab countries have not signed CEDAW (Skeptics Annotated Bible 2011). Finally, polygamy is legal in many Muslim countries and not condemned in the Koran.
Menstruation is similarly described as unclean in Judaism. In a male orthodox prayer, Jews say, “Blessed is He that did not make me a woman” (Skeptics Annotated Bible 2011). Orthodox Jews, like their Islamic counterparts in Iran, have set up modesty police who assault young women and men if they are showing too much of their bodies on the streets. In Jewish religious law, a woman cannot be divorced from her husband unless she receives a certificate from him. If this does not take place, she cannot get divorced (Skeptics Annotated Bible 2011). Men are allowed to pray at holy sites where women are not and orthodox Jews do not allow women to recite prayers in the synagogue.
Anderson, B., (2000) Joyous Greetings: The First International Women’s Movement 1813 – 1860.
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Bye bye religions…
This is the best anti-religion film I’ve ever seen. Please, please, please watch and copy and spread the word.
As Bill said, “Religions must die so mankind can live…”
Grow up or die…
Terrific, hilarious.. Maher wipes the floor with religious bigots and corrupt fairy t![Cover of "Religulous"](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51mGiYaPfqL._SL300_.jpg "Cover of "Religulous"")
ales
Religulous is an American comic documentary film written by and starring comedian Bill Maher and directed byLarry Charles. The title of the film is a portmanteau derived from the words “religion” and “ridiculous“. The documentary examines and mocks organized religion and religious belief.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religulous
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A gun is a weapon with some woman’s child at both ends
Marx said history was the record of the struggle between classes, but it’s also the record of the War on Women, for women are always on the losing side; a gun is a weapon with some woman’s child at both ends. There’s never been a time when there wasn’t a War on Women.
Greece, the cradle of so-called democracy, didn’t allow women to vote; Rome’s power was built on violence and was ruled by a succession of Emperors. It evolved to become the Roman Catholic Church ruled by a succession of Popes, while the Anglican Church was founded on the murder of women. Christianity is one of a triumvirate of misogynist religions that claim God’s male and whose books sanction violence to women.
Feudalism was based on the Great Chain of Being with God at the top, man next and women below with the animals. With industrialisation women were forced into factories, mines and prostitution. Britain and Germany grew rich and spent the money on arms, causing two world wars. Men claimed women couldn’t be trusted to vote and resisted equality everywhere.
Women have been held back in employment and education, are still paid less, are abused and ignored while at the same time caring for more people, never starting wars and rarely using violence. The latest instalment of the War on Women is rightly receiving attention as US females protest attacks on their reproductive rights – but let’s not get confused – this is just another skirmish in an ancient conflict.
DOG Sharon 