Catholic crocodile tears

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The Vatican said 'the Holy Father was deeply disturbed and distressed.' Well poor baby, but why was he not deeply disturbed and distressed before? Why did he not give a rat's ass while the report was in progress and the Vatican ignored all its questions? To say nothing of while the abuse and the cover-up of the abuse and the perpetuation of the abuse via refusal to do anything about it, were going on? Why is his distress so god damn late? Why is he bothering to do a Bernie Madoff, pretending to be all sorry and repentant after it is no longer possible to conceal and deny and hide?

''He wishes once more to express his profound regret at the actions of some members of the clergy who have betrayed their solemn promises to God, as well as the trust placed in them by the victims and their families, and by society at large.'' The Vatican said the Holy Father shared the outrage, betrayal and shame felt by so many of the faithful in Ireland, and that he was united with them in prayer at this difficult time in the life of the Church.

No he doesn't! [jumps up and down in fury until the windows rattle] He doesn't, he doesn't, he doesn't! It's all soothing oil, it's all sleazy self-exculpation. He does not share the outrage, betrayal and shame felt by so many of the faithful in Ireland because he and his Vatican are what the outrage, betrayal and shame are all about. He doesn't get to make himself another subject; he's the object. He's not one of the victims, he's the top perpetrator. He has an unbelievable gall claiming to feel all this sorrowful emotion when he is the head of an institution that did everything it could to protect itself and did nothing to protect children who were assaulted by its priests. He shouldn't be talking eyewash about his emotions, he should be saying the Vatican behaved like a criminal organization. He should resign. They should all resign. They should fold up their tents and go do something useful.

And knock off the 'Holy Father' crap, too. With a father like that, who needs enemies?

Word to Ophelia.

UK body endorses Christian fundamentalist curriculum as equivalent to A-Level

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"Have you heard of the 'Loch Ness Monster' in Scotland? 'Nessie,' for short has been recorded on sonar from a small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others. Nessie appears to be a plesiosaur.

"Could a fish have developed into a dinosaur? As astonishing as it may seem, many evolutionists theorize that fish evolved into amphibians and amphibians into reptiles. This gradual change from fish to reptiles has no scientific basis. No transitional fossils have been or ever will be discovered because God created each type of fish, amphibian, and reptile as separate, unique animals. Any similarities that exist among them are due to the fact that one Master Craftsmen fashioned them all."

There are schools in the UK who teach this shit as fact and will get you an A-Level for your pains. When was lying to children in a manner which strongly influences their world view and social interactions (by making them look like a fucktard to the rest of society) not child abuse?

UK police declare 200 children to be "terrorist suspects"

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WTF? This just isn't funny. Children? Children for fuck's sake!

"What will often manifest itself is what might be regarded as racism and the adoption of bad attitudes towards 'the West'."

Said the senior pig in charge.

Punkscience is completely immune to charges of racism but as far as a "bad attitude towards 'the West'" goes, he's pretty fucking guilty of that. I think Western society is a fucking joke. Subtle imperialism, corruption and corporate globalisation are a threat to everything I hold dear in the Western world and they are products of that same world. But my attitude is very different from rucksack bombs and fundraising for the Taliban. I note that this program is exclusively targeted at Islam. As if other religious fundamentalists aren't any sort of threat to the integrity of our society (think Catholics and stem cell research, abortion and sex education or the Labour Friends of Israel parliamentary group and war crimes, or the various cultural and religious forces fuelling arranged marriages, female genital mutilation, other misogyny etc. etc. etc. etc.). No, it seems other religious and cultural phenomena promoting equally inhuman philosophies are ignored when there are Mooslims to persecute.

I might add that, to many children living amidst such a culture of pernicious persecution, where the people they are meant to respect and trust (teatures, etc.) grass them up to the authorities instead of confronting their beliefs with reason and argument, I am entirely sympathetic with their plight, if not their beliefs. The reason that kids can embrace such philosophies with such conviction is because there is so much damning evidence of UK war crimes and hypocrisy. That's what happens when you throw the moral high ground away and give people ample reason to hate you and want to blow you up. This was perfectly self-evident to me and the millions of people around the world who marched against the wars. Sadly, not to Bush, Blair, Straw, et al. (Or was it?)

Religion and Child Abuse

Dawkins pointed out that the enforced indoctrination of children into their parent's archaic rituals is a form of child abuse. This theme is expanded on in this article from Free Inquiry by Innaiah Narisetti.

Being an antitheist I support this argument wholeheartedly. However, I cannot agree with her accusations of unwillingness on the part of the UN to face up to this problem. The UN is only as good as its member states and when these include Muslim nations and the Vatican- both specifically criticised in the article for obstructing UN attempts to legislate against, or even criticise, religion on behalf of children- then you cannot point the finger of blame at the body of the UN.