This is Kid Bastard, Reporting
Okay, while Moxie is laid up on the couch, I'll be doing a bit of blogging on her behalf. I asked her if she had a message for you all, but she'd just taken a percoset, so all she could say was "Wheee!"
So, first, let's get the latest from Pope Whatever out of the way. And, while we're on the subject, when can we go back to not giving a crap what the pope thinks?
Anyway, it seems His Pissiness has decided that, rather than helping to feed the poor or house the homeless, or some other act of charity that (presumably) Jesus was so big on, Pope Jackass CCLXV decides to rip into Spain for having the unmitigated gall to run their own country as they see fit. I particularly enjoy this quote from Cardinal Alfonso Lopes Trujillo, head of the Pontifical Council on the Family:
Well that's just great. And when they lose that job, what then? Will the church look after them? Find them another job? I'd like to think so, given the pretense to charity, but history suggests otherwise. This is, after all, the same church that discourages the use of condoms in sub-Saharan Africa, where the percentage of people with AIDS is at its highest. Oh, and also considers masturbation a sin akin to murdering your own mother, but clearly thinks raping children is not that big a deal, so long as it's done by an ordained Catholic priest.
Meh. Enough about the pope and his lackeys. What else is happening in the world today?
Okay. Here's something. An article about the latest developments in US energy policy. Does it focus on conservation and alternative energy sources? No, it does not. Is it aimed at helping consumers and the average American citizen? Ha. No. Go read it, and discuss among yourselves. I'd say more, but I'm needed elsewhere. Moxie seems to think "resting" means "getting up and putzing around on the computer", so I'm off to drug her coffee.
Play nice while I'm gone.
So, first, let's get the latest from Pope Whatever out of the way. And, while we're on the subject, when can we go back to not giving a crap what the pope thinks?
Anyway, it seems His Pissiness has decided that, rather than helping to feed the poor or house the homeless, or some other act of charity that (presumably) Jesus was so big on, Pope Jackass CCLXV decides to rip into Spain for having the unmitigated gall to run their own country as they see fit. I particularly enjoy this quote from Cardinal Alfonso Lopes Trujillo, head of the Pontifical Council on the Family:
"[Municipal officials asked to perform gay marriages] should exercise the same
conscientious objection asked of doctors and nurses against a crime such as
abortion. This is not a matter of choice: all Christians... must be
prepared to pay the highest price, including the loss of a job."
Well that's just great. And when they lose that job, what then? Will the church look after them? Find them another job? I'd like to think so, given the pretense to charity, but history suggests otherwise. This is, after all, the same church that discourages the use of condoms in sub-Saharan Africa, where the percentage of people with AIDS is at its highest. Oh, and also considers masturbation a sin akin to murdering your own mother, but clearly thinks raping children is not that big a deal, so long as it's done by an ordained Catholic priest.
Meh. Enough about the pope and his lackeys. What else is happening in the world today?
Okay. Here's something. An article about the latest developments in US energy policy. Does it focus on conservation and alternative energy sources? No, it does not. Is it aimed at helping consumers and the average American citizen? Ha. No. Go read it, and discuss among yourselves. I'd say more, but I'm needed elsewhere. Moxie seems to think "resting" means "getting up and putzing around on the computer", so I'm off to drug her coffee.
Play nice while I'm gone.
10 Comments:
"(The Catholic Church) considers masturbation a sin akin to murdering your own mother."
No we don't, unless you've got some very unusual usage of "akin" in mind. They're both objectively mortal sins, but so is lying. Neither masturbation nor lying is as serious as matricide.
"(The Catholic Church) clearly thinks raping children is not that big a deal, so long as it's done by an ordained Catholic priest."
Well, some American bishops acted as though they believed that. But your extrapolation constitutes a pernicious libel of 1.2 billion people.
"This is, after all, the same church that discourages the use of condoms in sub-Saharan Africa, where the percentage of people with AIDS is at its highest."
Our position on masturbation, contraception and homosexuality is a natural and necessary consequence of our belief that human sexuality has been primarily ordered by God towards the creation of new life and every sexual act must be open to that end, and furthermore that that new life must be received into a family that is secured by the bonds of licit marriage. It's not that we want people having premarital, extramarital, or gay sex without condoms, we don't want them engaging in that sort of activity at all! It trips me out that people view the Church as responsible for the spread of AIDS when, if everybody followed Catholic teaching on sexuality, there would be no AIDS whatsoever! It's exactly as if I were to state that because you oppose the war, you oppose military spending on the war and thus oppose spending on helmets and body armor and therefore advocate the death of countless more American soldiers when, in fact, if you had it your way, no further Americans would die in Iraq! Anyway, I hope your wife and child are feeling better.
~Supernatural Rabbit Scribe
Okay, while Moxie is laid up on the couch...
Oh yeah, by how many guys?
Deeming gay marriage a "crime" makes about as much sense as when he previously deemed rock music "the vehicle of anti-religion".
Just because the Pope chooses to enforce a silly set of rules that proclude him from having any-style sex and listening to some good rock tunes, does not give him the right to suggest the rest of the world be denied their right to the same.
Scribe, I was referring to the Church as a governing body, not average people of the Catholic faith. So, unless you've become a Bishop or Cardinal, I was not actually referring to you. Apologies for not being clearer on that score. And, apologies to the millions of Catholics who may have been offended by the suggestion.
And the point I was making was that the Church heirarchy was infinitely more concerned with keeping the average person from using condoms or masturbating than they were with keeping their own priests from raping children. I respect your views on sexuality, but you can't tell me that preventing masturbation is more important than preventing child molestation. And the language and actions coming from the Vatican over the past few years suggests that that is the case.
I am also not saying the Church is responsible for the spread of AIDS. I am, however, saying that they are acting irresponsibly by trying to obstruct access to condoms in a region where they could most certainly save lives. To paraphrase one of your favorite responses, this is real life. While I realize the Church would prefer people not engage in premarital sex at all, the simple reality is that AIDS is a serious crisis (particularly in that part of the world), and condoms are very helpful in preventing its spread. To vilify their use in the hope that it will inspire abstinence is, in my opinion, very irresponsible. I'm not saying they should start encouraging their use, I'm simply saying there are more important crusades for the Vatican to become involved in. Cleaning their own house being first and foremost.
And I'm going to assume the second anonymous post was not the Scribe, as the Scribe strikes me as being slightly less common with regard to humor. But, for the record, two men and three women. Moxie prefers an active recuperation. ;)
Sar: think about what you're saying! He doesn't have the right to make a suggestion? 'Cause that's what it amounts to: the Church is a voluntary organization, and we suggest that you join it and govern yourselves according to the truths revealed to the Church.
~Supernatural Rabbit Scribe
Scribe, you wrote: "It trips me out that people view the Church as responsible for the spread of AIDS when, if everybody followed Catholic teaching on sexuality, there would be no AIDS whatsoever!"
I wouldn't say the Church is spreading AIDS. The Church policy does not appear to take realistic approach when dealing with the spread of AIDS. Educating people about the nature of STD's and safe sexual practices is ideal, but preaching against the use of condoms is just plain assinine.
If we all followed Catholic Dogma there wouldn't be AIDS?!?! Your previous writings gave me the impression that you are far more intelligent than that statement indicates. Diseases and illnesses are unfortunately part of the grand plan. Can following one interpretation of the bible, or following teaches of a religious leader, make you impervious to disease and suffering? Sign me up!
"... unless you've become a Bishop or Cardinal..."
Cardinals (as well as the pope) are really just jazzed-up bishops, by the way. The hiearchy consists of deacons (like my Dad-woot), priests, and bishops. The rest is just gravy.
"... you can't tell me that preventing masturbation is more important than preventing child molestation."
Indeed I can't because it certainly isn't.
"... And the language and actions coming from the Vatican over the past few years suggests that that is the case."
I really feel that that isn't true. First of all, the problem was with some American bishops, not with the Vatican. The Vatican (and lately the American bishops) have certainly taken steps to curb the problem, albeit not as quickly nor as severely as I would have liked. Bishops can't really be excommunicated or fired, but they can be transferred. John Paul II had the bright idea of transferring an obstructionist French bishop to a diocese that was quite populous and important... in the fifth century. As a result of desertification, it is now inhabited exclusively by non-Catholic nomadic tribes and the odd scorpion. Wouldn't Boston's Cardinal Law's unique administrative abilities and moral compass be a tremendous asset to, say, Antarctica? Or the dark side of the moon? But I digress. A council of laity with oversight over bishops, as has been created, is a radical, radical thing, I assure you. I am unaware of any major anti-masturbation initiatives of the recent past.
"I am, however, saying that they are acting irresponsibly by trying to obstruct access to condoms in a region where they could most certainly save lives."
I am unaware of any such obstructionism on the part of the Church, but by all means, educate me.
"And I'm going to assume the second anonymous post was not the Scribe..."
Certainly not.
"... as the Scribe strikes me as being slightly less common with regard to humor."
Slightly...
~Supernatural Rabbit Scribe
"The Church policy does not appear to take realistic approach when dealing with the spread of AIDS."
You mean we should roll over and play dead in the face of what we view as family-destroying and soul-destroying behavior? Thank God English Christians didn't take that tack with slavery. We are people of faith, not only in God, but also in His creation. No people or culture is somehow intrinsically predisposed towards promiscuity. If my faith can change me, it can certainly change Africans. That's real life, baby...
"If we all followed Catholic Dogma there wouldn't be AIDS?!?! ... Can following... the teachings of a religious leader make you impervious to disease and suffering?"
If you and your spouse follow the Catholic teachings on extramarital sex and IV drug use ("Ixnay, chuckles!"), you will not get AIDS or any other STD unless you are raped or contract it through a blood transfusion (the latter being vanishingly unlikely.)
"Sign me up!"
http://masstimes.org/dotNet/
Tell 'em the Supernatural Rabbit Scribe sent ya!
Scribe - Let me try to clear up your misinterpretation of my statement. Yes, by mere job definition, the Pope should make suggestions and offer religious leadership to his congregation. And yes, his congregation happens to be world-wide, based on the extent of his power. Yet, the world, in it's entirety, is not his congregation. It's pompous and ignorant for him, or anyone else, to presume otherwise.
Do you think those gay couples in Spain that he so hatefully addressed as criminals are Catholic? I would think not, and are, therefore, not part of his congregation. So what right does the Pope have to level such hateful suggestions at people who are merely trying codify their love?
We're talking love, for God's sake, not hate! So why is it so taboo? Because their sexual preference is different than that dictated by the Catholic religion? I'd argue that pedophilia is the sexual preference to spurn hatred, not homosexuality.
Let people enjoy their own sexuality as it pleases them and their partners. We all have the right to personally disregard it if we don't agree with it or if makes us uncomfortable (whether or not it has anything to do with your religious beliefs). But no one, especially someone with the world-wide powers of the Pope, has the right to impose their disdain when it's dealt explicitly at the expense of another's happiness and well being.
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