Khaled Beydoun sur Twitter : “The earliest image of #Jesus in the Coptic museum in Egypt H/t HalDockin” / Twitter
▻https://twitter.com/KhaledBeydoun/status/1077365451301285888
-
-
Etan Thomas
@etanthomas36
12:30 - 26 déc. 2017The earliest known image of Jesus from the Coptic Museum in Cairo, Egypt. This painting of Jesus is older than the image of the Black Jesus in the Church of Rome which is from the 6th century
Message to #Trump & Conservatives this is the knowledge that has been under attack
-
-
Behind the latest Catholic sex abuse scandal: The church’s problem is male dominance | Salon.com
▻https://www.salon.com/2018/08/16/behind-the-latest-catholic-sex-abuse-scandal-the-churchs-problem-is-male-domiSo there’s no real conflict in the Catholic Church covering up sexual abuse while trying to prevent women from accessing legal and safe abortion services. In both situations, it’s about using sexuality as a tool to enforce patriarchal hierarchies. In both cases, it’s about a group of conservative men conspiring to organize the world so they hold power and everyone else is subject to their whims.
Shame is a major factor here too. The same sexual shame that religious conservatives try to instill with restrictions on reproductive rights is also used to silence victims of sexual abuse. It’s difficult for victims to speak up, precisely because so much shame is built up around sexuality. Victims, male and female, are often subject to people digging through their sexual pasts, using their consensual activities as “evidence” that they’re dirty and therefore undeserving of protection against abuse.
It’s possible that one reason more survivors of abuse are willing to speak out these days is that the pro-choice movement has done so much work in destigmatizing consensual sex. The fear that victims used to experience — of being outed as someone who has consensual sex and quite likely enjoys it — no longer has the power it used to have, creating more space to speak out.
Ultimately, the lesson here is there is no way for religious groups to preserve their traditions of male dominance and sexual shaming while also eradicating sexual abuse. The sheer number of priests who have molested children confirms what experts have long said about sexual predators, which is that they deliberately seek out spaces where they believe they can leverage shame and power to abuse people. As uncomfortable as this is for many to accept, the Roman Catholic Church created a perfect hunting ground because of its ingrained sexism, its hierarchical structure and its culture of sexual shaming. The only way to root out the abuse is to root out those patriarchal values.
-
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick Resigns Amid Sexual Abuse Scandal - The New York Times
▻https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/28/world/europe/cardinal-theodore-mccarrick-resigns.html
C’est bientôt l’automne. Les cardinaux sont mûrs et commencent à tomber.Acting swiftly to contain a widening sex abuse scandal at the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church, the pope officially suspended the cardinal from the exercise of any public ministry after receiving his resignation letter Friday evening. Pope Francis also demanded in a statement that the prelate remain in seclusion “until the accusations made against him are examined in a regular canonical trial.”
Cardinal McCarrick appears to be the first cardinal in history to step down from the College of Cardinals because of sexual abuse allegations. While he remains a priest pending the outcome of a Vatican trial, he has been stripped of his highest honor and will no longer be called upon to advise the pope and travel on his behalf.
...
... a 60-year-old man, identified only as James, alleged that Cardinal McCarrick, a close family friend, had begun to abuse him in 1969, when he was 11 years old, and that the abuse had lasted nearly two decades.
...
Cardinal McCarrick’s resignation comes as Pope Francis faces increased pressure to show he is serious about cracking down on bishops and cardinals found to have abused people or covered up abuse.After a Vatican envoy confirmed this year that the Roman Catholic Church in Chile had for decades allowed sexual abuse to go unchecked, the pope apologized, met with victims and accepted the resignation of some bishops — after the country’s clerical hierarchy offered to quit in May. On Monday, prosecutors in Chile said they were investigating 36 cases of sexual abuse against Catholic priests, bishops and lay persons.
-
Bishops bloodied, churches besieged in #Nicaragua crackdown - The Washington Post
▻https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/bishops-bloodied-churches-besieged-in-nicaragua-crackdown/2018/07/27/3f4a0440-9152-11e8-ae59-01880eac5f1d_story.htmlA pro-government mob shoved, punched and scratched at Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes and other Catholic leaders as they tried to enter the Basilica San Sebastian. “Murderers!” people shouted. An auxiliary bishop was slashed on the arm with some sort of sharp object.
The ugly scene in the normally sleepy town of Diriamba, an hour’s drive south of Nicaragua’s capital, was a dramatic example of how rapidly a wave of unrest has soured relations between the Roman Catholic Church and beleaguered President Daniel Ortega.
The church has tried to play a mediating role between Ortega’s Sandinista government and protesters who have increasingly demanded his ouster amid demonstrations and clashes in which about 450 people — most of them protesters — have been slain.
Instead it finds itself increasingly targeted by Ortega and his backers, reviving a hostility between the Sandinista base and the church establishment that burned hot during the 1980s but seemed to have been overcome in recent years, when the former guerrilla commander had formed a sort of alliance with once-critical bishops.
[…]
Through his verbal attacks, Ortega is “telling his followers, especially the (pro-government gangs), ‘You can go ahead and beat up priests and bishops and vandalize church buildings without any punishment,’” Gooren said.-
Rights group updates death toll in Nicaragua unrest to 448
▻https://www.tampabay.com/rights-group-updates-death-toll-in-nicaragua-unrest-to--ap_world4cb36d229a
Armed police stand after taking control of the streets in Jinotega, Nicaragua, Tuesday, July 24, 2018. Four more people have been killed in Nicaragua amid unrest that has rocked the country for over three months.
AP Photo/Cristobal Venegas), The Associated PressA rights group on Thursday raised by nearly 100 to 448 the number of dead from more than three months of political upheaval and protests demanding President Daniel Ortega leave office.
Alvaro Leiva, director of the Nicaraguan Pro-Human Rights Association, said 399 of the dead had been identified and there were photographs, news reports and other evidence to document the other cases.
-
-
The Irony of the Pope Decrying Fake News - Facts So Romantic
▻http://nautil.us/blog/the-irony-of-the-pope-decrying-fake-newsWhat fake news breeds, like religion, is unnecessary uncertainty (“Am I going to Hell?”), a pernicious kind of epistemological gaslighting.Illustration by DonkeyHotey / FlickrPope Francis may be the first pontiff in Roman Catholic history to embrace the voice of the modern pundit. In 2015, he wrote an encyclical on climate change, “Laudato Si’,” which the New Yorker described as a “blistering indictment of the human failure to care for Earth” and a “poignant description of the momentous choice now confronting every government, corporation, and person on the planet.” So perhaps it was just a matter of time before the head of the Roman Catholic Church pivoted from God to another global problem—fake news.The scale and danger of global disinformation may not be as grand and existential as the (...)
-
Rigolo ! Mais c’est surprenant, vu le sujet, que l’article mentionne Constantin sans évoquer sa « donation ».
►https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donation_de_Constantin
La #donation_de_Constantin faisait partie du bon vieux fond de soupe des bouffeurs de curé du XIXe. Tout fout le camp, ma bonne Dame, mon bon Monsieur, même la laïcité de combat…
EDIT : tiens, ça fait tout juste 4 ans que je la pointais ici…
-
Torah, Bible, Coran, Zabur, Avesta, Véda, Tao Tö King, Confucius, Guru Granth Sahib, Kitab-i-Aqdas: les premières #fake_news?
▻https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texte_sacr%C3%A9
-
-
Africa’s North Korea: Reporting From Eritrea, the Land of No Journalists
But Fathi Osman, an ex-Eritrean diplomat who fled the country and now works for Paris-based #Radio_Erena, an Eritrean media outlet in exile, says that comparison doesn’t do the situation in his home country justice. The Eritrean capital Asmara, he says, is a less open place than Pyongyang.
▻http://www.newsweek.com/eritrea-north-korea-press-freedom-isaias-afwerki-623641
#journalisme #presse #médias #Erythrée #répression #dictature-
Eritrea’s Silent Totalitarianism
Eritrea emerged as a sovereign state in 1991, following 30 years of armed battle for independence with its neighbour Ethiopia. The nationalist movement of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (FPLE) was a Maoist guerilla party that led Eritrea to independence in 1993 under secretary general Isaias Afwerki. The movement’s leader then became the first Eritrean President and reshaped the movement into a single party called the Popular Front for Democracy and Justice (FPDJ).
There is no denying that the length and the severity of the war that led to Eritrea`s accession to independence have forged a real esprit de corps among its leaders. But while that spirit may be useful in times of war, it can have devastating effects on the civil society in times of peace. Since its inception, arbitrary detentions and cases of torture, rape, and extrajudicial killings have marred the regime – as was reported by a special UN commission in June 2016. According to the report, more than 400,000 Eritreans have been enslaved in the national conscription program, where they are forced to work in the army or the bureaucracy. In addition, there are no independent newspapers left and state-run media outlets are the sole providers of news.
Yet twenty-five years into his party`s rule, Isaias Afwerki is still the president of Eritrea. Elections were scheduled for 2001, but have yet to take place. It is no wonder that Eritrea is often nicknamed the “North Korea of Africa.”
Censorship and Repression
According to Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom report of 2017, Eritrea is ranked 179th out of 180 countries; only North Korea ranks lower. To keep its grip on power, the repressive regime of Isaias Afwerki has used imprisonment and torture of opponents, harsh crackdowns on independent journalists, and arbitrary arrests, ultimately creating “a media climate so oppressive that even reporters for state-run news outlets live in constant fear of arrest.” In 2015, Eritrea had the third highest number of imprisoned journalists after China and Iran, all of whom have been given no trial and no criminal charges.
But repression has not always characterized Eritrea’s attitude towards journalism. In 1996, the number of independent newspapers boomed, many of which were founded by graduates of the University of Asamara and presented pluralistic views. However, the political climate changed. Following a border conflict with Ethiopia (1998-2000), President Isawa Afewerki’s practices abruptly turned totalitarian. Using new measures to perpetuate his power, Afewerki established his position toward his opponents in the beginning of the 2000s by eliminating independent media outlets and cracking down on all dissent. Fifteen members of the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice wrote a public letter denouncing Afwerki’s “illegal and unconstitutional” actions, and were immediately jailed. Eleven of them are still incarcerated without trial, and have become known as the G-15. On the same day, 18 September 2001, Afwerki banned private newspapers and jailed eleven journalists, who remain in undisclosed locations. In addition, religious freedom in Eritrea is also curtailed, with the government allowing the practice of only four religions: the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea, the Roman Catholic Church and Islam.
To be sure, satellite dishes offering BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera can be accessed throughout the country, and Internet, although very slow, appears to be unfiltered. Even so, however, according to U.N. International Telecommunication Union figures, internet service is available only when channeled through slow dial-up connections and fewer than 1.2% of the population is using the internet in 2017, the lowest number on the list of 148 countries. Similarly, only 5.6% of Eritrea’s population owns a cell phone, again the lowest figure in the world. Inside Eritrea, all mobile communications are channeled through Eritrea’s sole state-run telecommunication company, EriTel. That the regulation of mobile communications is a tool to further project Isaias’ government authority on its population is evidenced by Eritrea’s decision to cancel plans to provide mobile Internet for its citizens by fear of the spread of the Arab Spring protests. Further isolationist policies include the restrictions placed on foreign correspondents. Indeed, the last remaining accredited international reporter was expelled in 2007, and ‘‘the few outside reporters invited in occasionally to interview the president are closely monitored.”
Today, thousands of dissident and political prisoners, from former politicians and journalists to practitioners of illegal religions, continue to be detained with no planned trial in sight. Often, they are held in underground jails in remote areas where prisoners are placed in metal containers and suffer from intolerable heat. In some cases, information regarding the state of the prisoners’ health is not disclosed to the public nor their family.
The report from the UN commission of inquiry on human rights in Eritrea claims that state spying and surveillance leads to the constant fear of arbitrary arrest, torture, disappearance or death. Ultimately, this culture of fear has created a climate of self-censorship and mistrust that affects communities and families. Denouncement of deserters can be rewarded with benefits from local administrators, and families of the deserter legally have to pay amends (50 000 nakfas for each deserter – or 2500 euros). This structure creates incentives to denounce members of your own family or your neighbours, further consolidating the role of an authoritarian state whose actions and agents are constantly expanding and interfering in the everyday life of its citizens.
Forced Military Service
In 1994, a national system of military mobilization for young Eritreans legally imposed 6 months of military training and one year of service. National service was perceived as a duty for the citizens which had not participated in the war of independence. Thus, tens of thousands of men and women from 18 and 40 years of old are recruited each year.
However, since the border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea that began in 1998, the period of service has been indefinitely extended. Eritreans over 18 years old are now conscripted into 18 months of military service, followed by an indefinite period of civil service that often lasts more than a decade. Since 2002, this expansion of the conscription period has become the central pillar of the national development campaign known as WofriWarsay Ykä?Lo, which aims to rebuild the country devastated by war, and to cope with the economic consequences of the decrease in trade relations with Ethiopia. The government also justifies national conscription by arguing that there is an ongoing highly militarized border dispute with its neighbor, Ethiopia.
There seems to be little doubt, however, that this mobilization of almost all the available labor force in the country aims to set up a planned economy and to extend the reach of authoritarian control into social activities. Often referred to as forced labour, the national service is rooted in three-decade struggle for independence that gave rise to an obsession over security, evidenced by party and government policies and the consequent process of militarization of society. Anyone who defies this national program is subject to cruel torture.
Completion of national service is a condition for full citizenship for young adults, which grants Eritreans who are required to serve indefinitely only limited rights in the choice of their studies and their professional activity, as well as restricts their freedom of movement within national borders. Freedom of enterprise and land ownership are also not allowed for conscripts, and their low wages and arbitrary leave allowances often disturb family life. But that is not all. Conditions in military training camps are dire, and conscripts must tolerate the inadequacy of food, water, hygiene facilities, accommodation and medical facilities. These camps are also sites of sexual violence perpetrated against women and girls, the purpose of which is to extract confessions, punish, and intimidate. To escape conscription, many avoid public places and hide. Today, 10 000 ‘deserters’ are imprisoned, often in metallic containers in remote cities.
In light of the aforementioned constraints on freedom of expression and movement imposed on Eritreans, understanding why many decide to flee the country becomes less challenging. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported 474, 296 Eritreans globally registered as refugees and asylum seekers at the end of 2015, which represents around 12 percent of Eritrea’s estimated population of 3.6 million.
Constrained Liberties in the Midst of Extreme Poverty
However, the report of the U.N commission does not escape criticism. Journalist Bronwyn Bruton argues that since the U.N commissioners were denied entry into Eritrea, they relied almost exclusively on the testimonies of about 800 Eritrean refugees that had decided to leave Eritrea and failed to interview diplomats who had recently traveled to the country: ‘‘The commissioners didn’t interview Western diplomats or U.N. staff based in Eritrea. (…) They discarded tens of thousands of testimonials from Eritreans defending the Isaias regime, claiming these were irrelevant or inauthentic.”
While acknowledging the human rights abuses taking place in Eritrea, Bruton argues that the report does not reflect the reality on the ground. Although the report claims that Eritreans who leave the country and eventually return face arbitrary imprisonment and torture, Bruton sheds light on the reports from some Horn of Africa reporters, including Mary Harper from BBC, about the thousands of Eritreans who have returned to celebrate independence: “They have spoken freely, and on camera, with dozens of Eritreans about the political situation in the country, despite the COIE’s assertion that Eritreans exist in a climate of fear without the ability to speak their minds.”
Further, scholars have questioned the potential causal link between socioeconomic development and democracy. Some scholars worry that, should democracy occur before a country achieves a considerable level of socioeconomic development, governments would not be capable of accommodating all the new political and economic demands. Many have continuously justified authoritarian rule as a necessary ‘stopgap’ to jump-start economic growth. In their view, authoritarian regimes can limit workers’ wages and control labor unrest to increase profit and attract external and domestic private-sector investment. [1] To diversify its economy and to convert conscript jobs to formal civil-service or private-sector positions, some have argued that the Eritrean government has no other choice but to develop its economy: ‘‘It will simply be impossible to reform Eritrea’s controversial National Service Program (…) without improving the economy. Simply releasing those people to joblessness would cause insecurity, and of course the country would completely cease functioning….’’.
In short, Eritrea is facing the problem of development in a situation of extreme poverty.
To lift itself out of mass poverty, it needs a quantum leap in the accumulation of capital that is required to build infrastructure and educate the population. The Eritrean regime has evidenced their aspirations to develop through their achievements in sectors like education and healthcare which are strategic to the functioning of the state. According to the Eritrea Health MDGs Report of 2014, Eritrea is one of the only countries likely to fulfill the Millenium Development Goals in health. The achievements include the reduction of infant and child mortality rates and the increase of immunisation coverage. Considering that Eritrea ranks among the poorest countries in the world, such “Concerted government programmatic and resource investment in the health sector” should be acknowledged as a successful achievement.
In this context, conscript work is a concerted effort to impoverish the individual for the benefit of the collective. The legitimacy of the move hinges on the ability of the government to build a viable consensus on its goals without excessive coercion. If the effort is squandered in useless projects or diverted through corrupt channels, the regime will devolve into the worst type of despotism. The restrictions on human liberties implemented by Isaias’ government are excessive and not necessary to secure the capital needed for Eritrea’s development. Should, however, the regime succeed in accumulating growth for its population while renouncing its draconian measures against dissent, it could pave the way toward a sustainable development for generations of Eritreans.
▻https://mjps.ssmu.ca/2018/02/21/eritreas-silent-totalitarianism
-
-
Pope Francis says women will never be Roman Catholic priests | World news | The Guardian
▻https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/01/pope-francis-women-never-roman-catholic-priests-church?CMP=Share_iOSAppOn le croyait progressiste, mais en fait, dès qu’il s’agit des femmes, non.
Pope Francis has ruled out a woman ever serving as a priest in the Roman Catholic church.
The declaration is not a change in stance for the Argentinian pope, who has always said the door was closed on women being ordained as priests.
But when he was asked and then pressed on the matter by a Swedish journalist during a press conference onboard the papal plane, Francis suggested the ban would be eternal.
-
Bah c’est un pape très normal.
– sur l’ouverture au mariage pour les couples gays et la théorie du genre devant l’Assemblée générale de l’ONU à New York le 25 septembre quand il a dénoncé "la colonisation idéologique" qui impose aux "peuples" des "modèles de vie anormaux et irresponsables" et demandé de reconnaître "une loi morale inscrite dans la nature humaine elle-même, qui comprend la distinction naturelle entre homme et femme".
– François fustige tout de même les lobbies gays et considère qu’ils demeurent "le problème le plus grave"
– Laurent Stefanini, diplomate homosexuel dont la nomination par François Hollande pour devenir le nouvel ambassadeur de France auprès du Vatican reste bloquée par le pape
– « Allez-vous autoriser les divorcés remariés à communier ? » Réponse : « Ceci est une chose qui vient à la fin… “Intégrer” dans l’Église ne signifie pas communier.
– « L’avortement n’est pas un mal mineur, c’est un crime. C’est un mal absolu. Tuer pour faire disparaître l’autre, c’est ce que fait la mafia »
-
-
Qatar’s Christian crusaders
▻http://al-bab.com/blog/2016/08/qatar-christian-crusadersOver the last decade Qatar has been working quietly with socially-conservative elements in the west to promote “traditional” ideas of family life. In doing so it has readily joined forces with Mormons and the more reactionary parts of the Roman Catholic church. It has also helped fund a right-wing think tank set up by a former leader of Britain’s Conservative Party.
(...)
In 2005, Sheikha Moza established the innocuous-sounding Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development (later known as the Doha International Family Institute, or Difi for short). The man appointed to run it as executive director was Richard Wilkins, an American Mormon who had previously worked internationally in opposing liberal social policies.
-
The Rhythm of the Tide - Issue 29: Scaling
▻http://nautil.us/issue/29/scaling/the-rhythm-of-the-tide-rpStanding deep inside the archives of the Roman Catholic Church’s Canadian headquarters, it suddenly struck me that this was an odd place to find evidence that people are still evolving. That human evolution has continued into modern times was, until recently, a mostly theoretical idea debated among experts because there simply was no data. But as an evolutionary biologist, I had my own perspective. My research has mostly been on ants, which are common and diverse, making them ideal subjects for understanding evolutionary processes. In some ways ants and humans have a lot in common. Leafcutter ants create enormous underground nests that house millions of individuals, each with specialized tasks—not unlike our cities. They grow their own food in the form of a fungus that they (...)
-
Conscientious Compassion: A Buddhist’s View on Climate Change, Social Justice, and Saving the World
▻http://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/conscientious-compassion-a-buddhists-view-on-climate-change-social-jAmerican scholar and Theravada monk Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi might not receive the same high-profile press coverage as the Roman Catholic Church’s charismatic standard-bearer Pope Francis, but it...
-
LGBT Catholic Group Gets VIP Treatment At Vatican
▻http://www.brujitafr.fr/2015/02/lgbt-catholic-group-gets-vip-treatment-at-vatican.htmlA prominent American Catholic gay rights group was given VIP treatment for the first time at an audience with Pope Francis on Wednesday, a move members saw as a sign of change in the Roman Catholic Church.
"This is a sign of movement that’s due to the Francis effect," said Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, which ministers to homosexual Catholics and promotes gay rights in the 1.2 billion-member Church.
Gramick and executive director Francis DeBernardo led a pilgrimage of 50 homosexual Catholics to the audience in St. Peter’s Square.
They told Reuters in an interview afterwards that when the group came to Rome on Catholic pilgrimages during the papacies of Francis’s predecessors John Paul and Benedict, "they just ignored us."
This (...)
-
The Rhythm of the Tide - Issue 19: Illusions
▻http://nautil.us/issue/19/illusions/the-rhythm-of-the-tideStanding deep inside the archives of the Roman Catholic Church’s Canadian headquarters, it suddenly struck me that this was an odd place to find evidence that people are still evolving. That human evolution has continued into modern times was, until recently, a mostly theoretical idea debated among experts because there simply was no data. But as an evolutionary biologist, I had my own perspective. My research has mostly been on ants, which are common and diverse, making them ideal subjects for understanding evolutionary processes. In some ways ants and humans have a lot in common. Leafcutter ants create enormous underground nests that house millions of individuals, each with specialized tasks—not unlike our cities. They grow their own food in the form of a fungus that they domesticated (...)
-
Pope Says Church Is ‘Obsessed’ With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control - NYTimes.com
Donc, le pape explique qu’il faut en finir avec les obsessions habituelles de l’église (l’avortement, le mariage gay et la contraception) et qu’il va falloir passer à autre chose sinon ça va pas être possible ? Révolutionnaire ? j’ose pas y croire vraiment.
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/world/europe/pope-bluntly-faults-churchs-focus-on-gays-and-abortion.html?nl=todaysheadli
Six months into his papacy, Pope Francis sent shock waves through the Roman Catholic church on Thursday with the publication of his remarks that the church had grown “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and that he had chosen not to talk about those issues despite recriminations from critics.
-
hum hum
Le pape demande aux gynécologues de « diffuser la culture de la vie » dans les hôpitauxFrançois a condamné très fermement l’avortement devant une centaine de médecins catholiques, qu’il a encouragés à « aller à contre-courant » de l’époque.
▻http://www.lepoint.fr/societe/le-pape-demande-aux-gynecologues-de-diffuser-la-culture-de-la-vie-dans-les-h
-
Ah oui @odilon, ton lien montre que le pape a un pragmatisme particulier :
Les pavillons hospitaliers de gynécologie sont des lieux privilégiés de témoignage et d’évangélisation.
J’en parlerais à ma chatte.
-
-
The “Dirty War” Pope - World Socialist Web Site
▻http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/03/16/pers-m16.html
... mais il rejette toutes les accusations (voir le papier du NYT)
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/16/world/europe/pope-francis-praises-benedict-urges-cardinals-to-spread-gospel.html?_r=0
A suivre...
The “Dirty War” Pope
16 March 2013
For over a week, the media has subjected the public to a tidal wave of euphoric banality on the Roman Catholic Church’s selection of a new pope.
This non-stop celebration of the dogma and ritual of an institution that for centuries has been identified with oppression and backwardness is stamped with a deeply undemocratic character. It is reflective of the rightward turn of the entire political establishment and its repudiation of the principles enshrined in the US Constitution, including the wall of separation between church and state
-
Vatican pledges to continue campaign of homophobia and bigotry
Vatican doubles down on homophobia and bigotry
In opposition to justice, the Vatican will continue to fight against marriage equality. According to the Vatican, the Roman Catholic Church will continue their immoral campaign of bigotry and homophobia in an attempt to deny gay and lesbian individuals the right to same-sex marriage.
In two separate, strongly worded editorials this weekend, the Vatican reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church’s unequivocal opposition to marriage equality. Despite the recent moral progress of the West, the Catholic Church is determined to cling to their immoral and unjust homophobia and bigotry.
The Vatican editorials come after recent victories for same sex marriage in the U.S., France and Spain. Speaking on Vatican Radio, Father Federico Lombardi said:
“It is clear that in Western countries there is a widespread tendency to modify the classic vision of marriage between a man and woman, or rather to try to give it up, erasing its specific and privileged legal recognition compared to other forms of union.”
One must marvel at the moral audacity of Father Lombardi and the Catholic Church. To think that a morally corrupt institution like the Catholic Church presumes to make any moral directives is astonishing. An institution with a long and well established history of protecting and enabling pedophiles, an institution that puts its own reputation above the health and welfare of children, has no business making any moral pronouncements.
The Catholic Church is a morally backward, bankrupt and corrupt institution. Their continued endorsement of homophobia and bigotry is just one of their many crimes against humanity. By continuing their campaign opposing same-sex marriage, they only confirm that they are a dangerous and despicable institution that stands opposed to human decency and human happiness.
-
Well, as it took the Vatican to acknowledge and realize that the Sun was not circling around the Earth, but that facts were the other way round, it will probably take centuries for the RCC to acknowledge that human beings are intended to be together, regardless of gender....
In time even the RCC will see the light, and if not... the light will go out for the RCC
“The Last Member Of The RCC Turns Off The Light”
-
-
French government adopts gay marriage
The French cabinet has adopted today a bill for marriage equality which will be put to a parliamentary vote early next year
07 November 2012 | By Dan Littauer
French cabinet adopts gay marriage, it will be put to a parliamentary vote early next yearFrance’s Socialist government adopted today (7 November) a draft bill to authorise gay marriage and adoption despite opposition from the Roman Catholic Church and others.
‘This is an important step towards the equality of rights,’ said Minister of Family Affairs Dominique Bertinnoti to AFP.
The French president Francois Hollande, made the issue a key part of his electoral platform, stating it was an advance ‘for all of society’.
Bertinnoti rejected criticism from religious and conservative groups that the move would ‘destroy’ the family, saying: ‘On the contrary it is a legal protection’.
The bill, will be introduced for a vote in early 2013 in the parliament, has attracted strong critique from religious and conservative groups without fully addressing the demands of France’s LGBT community.
The text of the bill stipulates: ‘marriage is contracted by two persons of different sex or same-sex’, the bill also grants the right for adoption for gay couples.
The text of the draft bill also stipulates the use of the words ‘parent/s’ replacing the words ‘mother’ and ‘father’.
However, as previously noted by LGBT rights groups, the bill does not provide medically assisted procreation (MAP) for lesbian couples and would be ‘addressed’ by the government in a ‘future family law’, which was not specified.
In other words, France will continue to prevent lesbian couples from using artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization to conceive. This in contrast to heterosexual couples who have access to assisted reproduction as long as they can prove they’ve been together for two years.
French lesbian couples who manage to have babies together will therefore not be allowed to list both parents’ names on their children’s birth certificates
The French prime-minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, suggested that the text might evolve during the parliamentary hearings, scheduled to begin late January.
With more than a month’s delay, the French government objective is to pass the law before the end of the first half of 2013.
Members of the ruling Socialist party stated that amendments will be filed to address MAP, and other issues such as the legal status of a step-parent.
These amendments would partially meet the criticism levelled at the French government made by, Inter-LGBT, the main French LGBT rights group.
LGBT rights groups have previously pointed out that MAP had been promised by François Holland during his election campaign.
LGBT rights groups are planning to hold a protest for MAP this evening in Paris.
-
Catholic Church: Scotland gay marriage bullies children as Nazis | Gay Star News
►http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/catholic-church-scotland-gay-marriage-bullies-children-nazis101012Catholic Church: Scotland gay marriage bullies children as Nazis
The Catholic Church has alleged that children are bullied and branded as Nazis if they oppose marriage equality in Scotland
10 October 2012 | By Dan Littauer
John Deighan, spokesperson for the Catholic Church in Scotland said children are bullied and manipulated by the “equality lobby” over same-sex marriageThe Catholic Church has claimed that school children as young as 12 who disagree with marriage equality in Scotland have been branded as ‘Nazis’ and ‘bigots’.
John Deighan, the Roman Catholic Church’s parliamentary officer in Scotland, claimed that the Catholic Church and children are being victimized because of the planned Scottish marriage equality bill which is due to be put to the vote early next year.
He stated: ‘I know, for example, of children in Scotland, including my own 12-year-old child, who have been branded as “Nazis” and “bigots” because they have dared to disagree with the idea of same-sex marriage.’
Deighan made these comments in the European parliament in Brussels during a recent meeting of the EU’s most right wing parties, the group of European conservatives and reformists and the group of the European People’s Party.
Deighan warned the meeting that LGBT campaign groups, such as the Equality Network and Stonewall subject anyone who opposes their views to ‘intense levels of hostility.
‘People are increasingly being subjected to manipulation by what I would call the equality lobby.
‘This is a blatant attempt to manipulate the ideas and views of people, including school children, so that they become more intolerant of the Catholic message.’
Deighan also alleged that it is ‘very difficult’ to persuade politicians in Scotland to speak out marriage equality because ‘they are afraid that in doing so they will jeopardise their careers’.
A 2011 survey by the Scottish Youth Parliament showed 74% of young people actually support marriage equality.
While Stonewall Scotland poll conducted by YouGov poll published in late June this year showed two-thirds (65%) of the general public in Scotland support for marriage equality.
The Scottish government has consistently stated that the proposed marriage equality law will ensure churches, and individuals within them, do not have to conduct same-sex marriages if they do not agree with them.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman previously stated: ‘The Scottish Government is committed to a Scotland that is fair and equal and that is why we intend to proceed with plans to allow same-sex marriage and religious ceremonies for civil partnerships. All views have been taken into account in coming to this decision.
‘Our next consultation, due later this year, will seek views on protections in areas such as religious freedom, education and freedom of speech.’
-
This statement coming form specifically and especially the Roman Catholic Church is making the statement ridiculous and absurd!
The whole world knows of the practices of and by the Roman Catholic Church, especially and specifically were and when it concerns children, from instructions by the highest ranked officials of the Roman Catholic Church in the Vatican, to the lowest-leveled practitioners in the smallest villages and communities, to protect the criminals who abused, raped, assaulted and tortured the children who were in their care and protection, to voluntarily and with utter speed ordering and creating possibilities of relocation of the criminals to locations were they were and are able to continue with their foul inhuman practices, as well as the whole world knows of the wholehearted support and even protection by the Roman Catholic Church of creatures who were developing plans, who executed plans to murder millions of people just for their faith, their sexual orientation and or their political convictions during and while WorldWar 2, and as well as the whole world knows of the atrocities that were committed by the Roman Catholic Church during ages when they murdered, tortured and burned people because of so-called witchcraft and other reasons just because people were opposing the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church during the well-known Inquisition period, and then to be reading that that same organization is accusing people who want to inform, educate and make better people of young people of bullying these children..... well, that is something I call “having balls” BUT then in the most negative way and manner!
It is shocking, shaming and totally un-acceptable that a criminal and terrorist organization like the Roman Catholic Church even dares to think of sending out a reaction on matters that are relating to children (in the first place), and it is even more un-acceptable to see the Roman Catholic Church issue a statement that refers to bullying and referring to the nazis!
The Roman Catholic Church, as THE organization for suppression, oppression, hate-mongering, discrimination, practitioner, endorser and enforcer of human rights violations worldwide, protector of human rights violators and sexual criminals, instigator and supporter of worldwide atrocities by its employers and enforcer of acknowledged crimes against human values and dignity by its rulers, that organization of all organizations should be silent when it comes to educate young people who are the future of the world, to bring prosperity, happiness and hope to all people!
-
-
THE NEW #ISLAMISTS by Olivier ROY
The following is an excerpt from the book The Islamists Are Coming: Who They Really Are, which will be released on April 18 by the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
The longstanding debate over whether #Islam and #democracy can coexist has reached a stunning turning point. Since the Arab uprisings began in late 2010, political Islam and democracy have become increasingly interdependent. The debate over whether they are compatible is now virtually obsolete. Neither can now survive without the other.In Middle Eastern countries undergoing political transitions, the only way for Islamists to maintain their legitimacy is through elections. Their own political culture may still not be democratic, but they are now defined by the new political landscape and forced in turn to redefine themselves — much as the Roman Catholic Church ended up accepting democratic institutions even as its own practices remained oligarchic.
At the same time, democracy will not set down roots in Arab countries in transition without including mainstream Islamist groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Ennahda in Tunisia, or Islah in Yemen. The so-called Arab Spring cleared the way for the Islamists. And even if many Islamists do not share the democratic culture of the demonstrators, the Islamists have to take into account the new playing field the demonstrations created.►http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/04/16/the_new_islamists?page=0,0
-
The pope has work to do selling Catholicism in Cuba’s busy marketplace | Richard Gott | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
►http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/mar/26/pope-cuba-catholic-churchCuba remains an island where the Roman Catholic church has a weak and insubstantial hold. Afro-Cuban religions – Santería, Palo Monte and Abakuá – come top of the popularity contest among the great mass of the people, followed almost certainly by a variety of Protestants sects imported from the United States over a century ago.
