The popes message; Respect my religion or expect a punch

Although the beauty of the Vatican cannot be overstated, my problem is the criminal corporation that sits behind it.

It is just a few weeks ago, after religious fanatics, in the name of Islam, slaughtered innocent journalists at a Paris magazine. We are continuing to be asked to respect peoples faith, but then this is what faith brings certain people to do. And the initial reaction of the current pope. Not; ‘I condemn, without reservation, murder.’ Not; ‘My thoughts are with the victims families and I trust we can bring an end to this senseless slaughter’.

But

“If my good friend Dr. Gasparri (The pope’s travel agent) says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch, It’s normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others.”

I want you to think about that a little.

This is, according to the catholic church, gods representative on earth.

Nice message.

It sickens me, to the core.

I took a look in the new testament, but couldn’t really find a similar message as spoken by JC (jesus christ), there was a lot about; turning the other cheek, forgiveness, compassion, but not a lot about punching.

Maybe I have read a different bible, a different translation.

Maybe catholicism has lost its way a little from the original message of JC.

 

He did go on to say that the attacks were an aberration, but this was caveated with; you can expect a reaction, there are limits to freedom of speech especially when it insults or ridicules someone’s faith.

I disagree.

 

Now I never realised that someone’s faith was so shallow, so based on shaky ground that a little criticism might rock the foundations to the core, but it seems that this is the case.

This is not the first case where a pope has incited violence, we only have to look back to Mr Ratzinger (Ratzy). Who had this to say about our muslim brethren on a trip to Germany;

Questioning the concept of holy war, he quoted a 14th-Century Christian emperor who said Muhammad had brought the world only “evil and inhuman” things.

Nice. That really does respect someone else’s faith.

Maybe it is not surprising that Pope Benedict XVI didn’t last that long. When looking around the vatican gift shops, and there were many fleecing the tourists and the believers, there were lots of postcards of JP2 and the latest ‘nice’ one, but we really had to dig deep to find one of nasty ratzy. It looks like they are a bit ashamed of ratzy. Maybe when he eventually ‘kicks the bucket’ he may not take such pride of place buried in St Pete’s like JP2, buried out back maybe, under a bush, quietly forgotten.

Would Ratzy punch you? The new, nice one would.

 

But this boxing is not my major contention with this church, there are many thugs around, people that justify violence.

I content that the church is a organisation whose sole purpose is to protect its assets, and it will go to any lengths, including criminal and, what I would consider, grossly immoral ones, to do this.

I am not looking back in history to the witch-hunts, the inquisition and the other obscene acts of violence that the church has perpetrated on its unfortunate victims, all that cruelty and violence. The torture that was used in the name of the church Susana and I experienced in an exhibition in Toledo, beyond horrific, enough to give you nightmares. What we are looking at is the sexual violence used against young children in recent times, the case against paedophilic priests. This is well documented, in countless countries across the globe, but very few priests have actually been bought to justice, few priests have actually been sent to prison, but also sadly the priests have not been helped. Some contend that the church has withheld information from the judicial system, moved priests so that they will not bring dishonour to the church, moved them so they could continue to abuse. But the biggest crime of the church, that they have given no thought, no support to the victims of the crimes committed by the priests.

What I cannot understand is why the numerous cases of paedophilic priests have not turned more people away from the catholic church.

How can practicing catholics still stay loyal to an institution which is so obviously rotten to the core? Not only rotten, but criminal, not helping with police investigations, not supplying information, this is unforgivable, an unforgivable sin against the victims, against humanity.

Graffiti on a wall in Lisbon depicting a priest chasing two children, denouncing the child sexual abuse that rocked the Catholic Church in Portugal.

Often we have heard the believer make excuses. They contend that not every priest abuses children.

They would be absolutely right, not every priest does, thanks for small mercies. But this is not the point.

From 2001 to 2010 the Holy See, the central governing body of the Catholic Church, “considered sex abuse allegations concerning about 3,000 priests dating back up to 50 year. (wikipedia and all references in blue)

I am not sure of the statistics, and it might be very difficult to ascertain; are the cases of child sex abuse higher within the catholic church than they are within general society. If it were proven that they were it would show that the church is indeed a breeding ground for paedophiles, that through its dogma, it creates them, and you can see why. Taking in young men to train as priests, confused about their sexuality, made to feel guilty about their feelings, these are supressed, abstinence, but then the opportunity to be alone amongst young people.

Can you believe that! Any thought there to the victim. None whatsoever.

 

But this is still not the point.

The point is that the church covered it up, and continues to do so.

They refused to admit to it.

They didn’t bring the perpetrators to justice, they didn’t notify the police, they didn’t pass on all the relevant information.

What they did do is protect the priest. That is right, they protected the paedophile, preventing justice.

By 2009, U.S. dioceses have paid more than US$2.6 billion in abuse-related costs since 1950.

Several dioceses chose to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a way to litigate settlements while protecting some church assets to ensure it continues to operate.

But more importantly; they ignored the victim.

This is the crime, this is case against the catholic church, this is what they need to answer for. And it goes to the highest level with Ratzinger, now retired, but he should be bought to justice.

Interesting a group of American’s sought to extradite Ratzy.

In August 2005, Pope Benedict was personally accused in a lawsuit of conspiring to cover up the molestation of three boys in Texas by Juan Carlos Patino-Arango in Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. He sought and obtained immunity from prosecution as head of state of the Holy See. Some have claimed that this immunity was granted after intervention by then-US-President George W. Bush. The Department of State “recognize[d] and allowed the immunity of Pope Benedict XVI from this suit. My mistake Ratzy asked for immunity!

That is right, George bush said it is OK for priests to abuse young children.

Are you not angry at this, are you not angry at the church?

If not, why not?

You should be, if you are not, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Even the United Nations agrees;

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, in early 2014, issued a report asserting that the pope and the Roman Catholic Church have not done enough and protect their reputation rather than protect children.

 

What it particularly disturbing about this is the churches obsession with sex. They are happy to tell every believer when, how, with who, but they cannot get the priests to keep their dicks in their cassocks, ironic isn’t it!

It is difficult to imagine a more serious crimes than covering up the crimes of paedophiles, but sadly they are there, and it still relates to sex, and to the use of condoms.

 

The disinformation the church spreads around the use of condoms has condemned millions to an early death in Africa.

It started in September 1990 when JP2 visited the small town of Mwanza, in northern Tanzania;

and gave a speech that many believe set the tone for the AIDS crisis in Africa. Being unequivocal, he told his audience that condoms were a sin in any circumstances. He lauded family values and praised fidelity and abstinence as the only true ways to combat the disease.

 

and because of their dogma, they tell their flock that condoms do not work.

In a BBC documentary in 2003, López Trujillo, an african catholic priest, sensationally claimed that the HIV virus which causes Aids could actually pass through tiny holes in the rubber of condoms. Hitherto, the Catholic church had argued that condoms were immoral because they break the link between sex and procreation. López Trujillo was adding an entirely new objection – that condoms did not work. His remarks were seized upon internationally and ridiculed by eminent scientists as well as the World Health Organisation, condoms had been shown to be 90% effective in stopping the transmission of infection, with failures down to users’ carelessness.

Against every piece of scientific evidence and years of analysis that says; not only do condoms stop the fertilisation of eggs, preventing unwanted pregnancies, but they also stop sexually transmitted diseases. Not according to the catholic hierarchy, they don’t work.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/sep/11/bad-science-pope-anti-condom

Ben Goldacre

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/apr/22/catholicism.colombia

Other lies spread by the church;

The head of the Catholic Church in Mozambique has told the BBC he believes some European-made condoms are infected with HIV deliberately.  Maputo Archbishop Francisco Chimoio claimed some anti-retroviral drugs were also infected “in order to finish quickly the African people”.  The Catholic Church formally opposes any use of condoms, advising fidelity within marriage or sexual abstinence. Aids activists have been angered by the remarks, one calling them “nonsense”.  “We’ve been using condoms for years now, and we still find them safe,” prominent Mozambican Aids activist Marcella Mahanjane told the BBC.  The UN says anti-retrovirals (ARVs) have proved very effective for treating people with Aids. The drugs are not a cure, but attack the virus on several fronts at once. The BBC’s Jose Tembe in the capital, Maputo, says it is estimated that 16.2% of Mozambique’s 19m inhabitants are HIV positive. About 500 people are infected every day.

Globally, well over thirty million people have died from HIV/AIDS. How many of these should we attribute to the wickedness of the catholic church?

 

You could blame the victim here, they believe their vile dogma. But when it is the only show in town, where reliable information, supported by science is unavailable, perhaps it is unsurprising that people believe this crap.

 

Luckily, in most developed catholic countries, the contraception battle was lost by the church many decades ago, and sense prevails.

What is still is mystery, in these days of science, rationalism and sensibility, is why so many from these countries still cling on to such fairy tales.

 

So back to our current pope.

An insult to someone’s faith, ridiculing someone’s faith, this is unacceptable.

There are limitations to freedom of speech.

Violence is acceptable with regard to ones faith.

Heard this massage before?

Maybe actually what the current Pope is trying to do is aligning himself with fundamental islam.

Insult my faith and I will punch you in the face will tomorrow be, I will kill you, I will blow you up.

Perhaps what the pope knows is that people are scared of fundamentalist islam. in the past we were scared of catholicism. You don’t criticise faith, because it comes with a death sentence.

Christianity is certainly moving on.

 

“There are so many people who speak badly about religions or other religions, who make fun of them, who make a game out of the religions of others,” he said. “They are provocateurs. And what happens to them is what would happen to Dr. Gasparri if he says a curse word against my mother. There is a limit.”

 

GDR