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  • DistroMan 20:00 on November 28, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , sunday,   

    Deuteronomy 5: The Ten Commandments 

    Deuteronomy: Part 5 of 34
    The Ten Commandments

    1 Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them.

    That’s what you said last time and it was rubbish, so I’m not expecting much this time.

    2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.

    Blah, blah, blah.

    3 It was not with our ancestors that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.

    He might do better if he made a covenant with humanity as a whole and stopped playing favourites.  Parent’s who do that are bad parents.

    4 The LORD spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.

    Fire to face is NOT face to face.  You’ve just recently stated that the Israelites have not seen God.  Get your story straight.

    5 (At that time I stood between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:

    You stood between them so they Israelites couldn’t see you were faking it.

    6 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

    Only to take slaves.  How about, ‘Do not do unto others as you would not want them to do unto you’?

    7 “You shall have no other gods before me.

    Is after ok?

    8 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

    What?  I can’t have a picture of a fish?  Or a blind mole rat?  Not even an amoeba?

    9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

    You’ve done nothing.  You are impotent.  You are a figment of over fertile imaginations and should be treated as a disease of the mind.

    10 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

    Sock Puppets.

    11 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

    Screw God.  Donkey dung has more uses.  GOD turned around is DOG, so if I turn my dog around I should see you I suppose.  Yep there you are.  An arsehole.

    12 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.

    Taking a day off is fine, but I’m not wasting it on you.

    13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

    Five will do fine thankyou.  I’m no overachiever.

    14 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do.

    Then I ask you about your priests, who work every sunday.  What about them?

    15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

    You kept them there for longer than was necessary and made them suffer to a greater degree than would otherwise have been the case.  For what?  Just to get your jollies?  Not to mention that you too the place of their owner.  You are the slave owner now.

    16 “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

    I honour and respect those who deserve it.  To continue to have that honour and respect, one should earn it.  There is no sense in respecting or honouring those who beat, enslave or otherwise do harm to you, whether or not they are your parents.

    17 “You shall not murder.

    Then why have you had the Israelites murder so many millions of people?

    18 “You shall not commit adultery.

    Then why have you diddled other men’s wives?

    19 “You shall not steal.

    Then why have you made the Israelites take what is not rightfully theirs?

    20 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

    You made the Pharoah act in a way that was not in his nature.  That is as good as giving false testimony.  You had people believing those were his actions when in fact they were yours.

    21 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

    Then why have the Israelites take women and girls from other nations, take their land, take their servants, take their ox, donkeys, sheep, lambs, goats and camels and everything else they could lay their hands on?

    22 These are the commandments the LORD proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

    Why ask you not to do things he has just taught you to do?

    23 When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders came to me.

    24 And you said, “The LORD our God has shown us his glory and his majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them.

    25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer.

    26 For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived?

    27 Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then tell us whatever the LORD our God tells you. We will listen and obey.”

    Sock Puppets.

    28 The LORD heard you when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me, “I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good.

    29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!

    Why do you need fear so much?  Why not love?

    30 “Go, tell them to return to their tents.

    31 But you stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, decrees and laws you are to teach them to follow in the land I am giving them to possess.”

    The land you are taking from it’s rightful owners and giving to them.

    32 So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left.

    No, turn right around and run like the wind.  Run Forest, Run.

    33 Walk in obedience to all that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

    With the blood of millions on your conscience for the rest of your miserable lives.

    The Ten Commandments have either been broken by God himself or the Israelites at God’s command. What a load of pig’s swill this book is turning out to be. The hypocrisy is mind blowing.

    << Deuteronomy 4      Index      Deuteronomy 6 >>

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on September 9, 2010 Permalink
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    Exodus 31: The Flight from Egypt 

    Exodus: Part 31 of 40

    Bezalel and Oholiab

    1 Then the LORD said to Moses,

    For starters, you talk too much!

    2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,

    3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts-

    4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze,

    5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.

    Most probably only so he can do that kind of work for you.  Why not make everyone ‘good’ at their jobs?

    6 Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given skill to all the craftsmen to make everything I have commanded you:

    7 the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony with the atonement cover on it, and all the other furnishings of the tent-

    8 the table and its articles, the pure gold lampstand and all its accessories, the altar of incense,

    9 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, the basin with its stand-

    10 and also the woven garments, both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests,

    11 and the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. They are to make them just as I commanded you.”

    Blah, blah, blah!  Stuff and nonsense.  What has this got to do with goodness, bettering ourselves and caring for each other?

    The Sabbath

    12 Then the LORD said to Moses,

    13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.

    14 ” ‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people.

    Murderous bastard.

    15 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.

    16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant.

    17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.’ “

    I don’t understand why anyone else on earth is bothering with this insanity when it was obviously written only for the Israelites.

    18 When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

    Which contained even more rubbish. It’s not that there aren’t any good things in them, but they are only things already known to man well before this idiot book was written.

    << Exodus 30      Index      Exodus 32 >>

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on June 8, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , sunday, , United States   

    Q: Are we equal? A: Yes, but no. 

    I’m thinking of the religious amongst us.  If we were to go to a church this Sunday, stand outside and ask people as they emerge if they think we are all equal under God, they would most probably all say yes.  That is presuming that it was a happy clappy, love is in the air type service.  If it happened to be a more fire and brimstone, let’s kill the unbeliever type service there would be a lot of people saying no, but it’s the people who say we are equal that bother me.  I know who to watch out for when they are saying no and putting themselves out there in opposition to us.  But when they are the smiley, I love everybody because Jesus is in my heart type, you can’t tell when they are going to blow and come out against you or in what fashion.  I do admit though that there are plenty who will say we are equal and do honestly believe it.  They also believe that we will never be as happy as them without Jesus, but that is about as far as they go differentiating between us.  I get along really well with them and they are the majority in my life.  There is a troubling trend though.  The good ones are diminishing and the ‘down with the unbelievers’ are growing.

    Just how many who say we are equal are the type who when they go to church and hear their preacher saying that the godless are the enemy, that we eat our babies, that we have no morals, that we would as soon murder our neighbour as eat a hot Sunday lunch, would then sit there nodding their heads in agreement?  Most of them would.  When was the last time you ever saw or heard someone voice disagreement with their preacher?  I know I’ve never heard of it.

    We are told daily that our countries are based on Christian values and the believers are trying to get more and more of the Bible into our government and into our lives whether we are religious or not.  Not only are they trying to get their foot further in the door, but they are also actively trying to do away with anything that proves that their way is not the right way.  Take for example the way Texas have now managed to cut Thomas Jefferson from a list of figures whose writings inspired revolutions in the late 18th century and 19th century.  This is not only going to affect students in that state.  This is not just Texas history they are rewriting.  Any change in history of this magnitude affects the whole world.  There is no such thing as ‘just Texas history’.  History is a planetwide concern and should not be allowed to be rewritten under any circumstances.  This kind of action is tantamount to old style bookburning.

    Here in Australia, the religious have been getting worked up about the non-religious wanting to teach their children ethics.  I have no idea what their real agenda is in this matter, but the best we can think is that while ever we don’t teach ethics and morals to our children it allows them to keep saying that we don’t have any.  Could it really be that they are willing to fight this hard just to stop us proving we can be moral and ethical people just like everybody else?  It’s not that they don’t know it, but I suppose it would stop the preachers saying over and over in church every week how much better they are.  If their flock started to believe that we are just as moral, then what would be the point of Church?

    One day, far in the future, a future I probably won’t live to see, humanity may just learn that religion really is just load of rubbish.  It’s nothing more than fairy stories to control the people.  But this can only happen, ‘will’ only happen if we stop them from taking power again.  We must keep a separation of Church and State so that reasoning people have a chance to see the truth, because even reasoning people who don’t have the truth on display to examine will believe whatever is thrown at them every day of their lives by those who have a vested interest in maintaining power.

    CHURCH <  WIDEN THE GAP  >  STATE

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on May 26, 2010 Permalink
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    Ethics Trial debate is becoming a farce. 

    Abbreviations:

    * SRE – Special Religious Education – Single faith instruction, usually by a ‘chaplain’ of that faith.

    ** GRE – General Religious Education – Comparative religious instruction on many faiths.

    Last night on television here in Australia a show called Insight had a somewhat varied group discussing their opinion on the Ethics Classes that the Education Department hope to introduce on a fulltime basis.  As you have probably seen from previous articles I have written on the subject, the religious community have gotten in on the act and are trying every tactic they can think of to stop these classes going ahead.  We have heard arguments that:

    • it isn’t necessary because they already have religious classes
    • it has no moral basis
    • ethics lacks substance
    • the term ‘ethics’ is problematic
    • it’s not fair and just to the religious children
    • it’s hostile to religion
    • it just shouldn’t happen because they have an agreement with the government
    • you can’t teach ethics outside a religious framework
    • the children’s minds can’t critically analyse ethics
    • philosophy discussion ‘problematic’ at that age (10 to 12)
    • the work of the Greek and Roman philosophers is irrelevant to ethics
    • afraid more children will opt out of SRE*
    • wasn’t implemented in a way they approve of

    They gave some of the children a chance to give their opinion and describe the classes they are involved in.  I was amazed at the explanations of the ethics given by the children and how it was being taught, but the religious in the group could not come up with one reason that countered the children’s wish to continue.

    It was explained by the person who originally put the syllabus together that scenarios are tailored for the age groups they are given to so that the children can not only comprehend the problem put to them, but analyse it and come up with different ways of dealing with them and then discussing those ideas amongst themselves with the objective of finding better solutions to ethical problems in their lives.

    The Anglican Minister confused me with his objections.  I can only think that he has no idea how atheism is defined.  He said,

    “If there was an atheistic teaching system we would be happy with that at the same time. Teaching all faiths is better than ethics with no faith component”

    and something about

    “Atheistic religion it’s a religion of some sort.”

    I don’t know what he is thinking because I’m not sure he knows himself.  None of his objections made sense and he was less than helpful in the discussion.  Whilever we include clueless people in these discussions, an outcome is impossible.

    The children who were removed from the SRE* classes told the audience that they were allowed to:

    • watch movies
    • read books in library or in the back of SRE* Classes
    • played on computer

    This is the part that really upsets the Non Religious parents.  Why, when the ‘religious’ children are being taught something their parents and the ‘chaplains’ are happy with, are our children being made to go without?  Blaming us for not wanting our children in those classes is no more than a smokescreen to reflect the responsibility back on us.  The trouble most of us have with that is that they wan to have their cake and eat it too.  I’ll explain what I mean by that.

    We take our children out of the SRE* classes, and they say it’s our fault. Fine, we take responsibility for our own children the same way they do for theirs.  Our children sit doing nothing and they say that’s our fault as well.  Sorry, but that’s not true.  It was part of the agreement they had with the government.  Why they would ever have made an agreement that the non SRE* children were not to be allowed to undertake educational activities is something they need to answer for as it is neither an ethical or moral stance.  So we took appropriate action to give our children a positive educational influence during that time and then they want responsibility back and the authority to stop us teaching ethics to our children.  We took them out of those classes and they didn’t care.  Our children sat idle and they didn’t care.  Why so much concern now?

    They showed a clip of one Minister teaching 10 to 12yr olds with toy bears.  THAT does not seem age appropriate to me.  If you can’t do better than that, it will only reinforce the decision to keep our children out of SRE.  While I certainly do not believe that all ‘chaplains’ would be that bad, I can only assume that they would have tried to show their best to the world.  If that is so, it was a pretty pathetic ‘best’.  They did themselves a great disservice and only managed to show how poor SRE* can be as an educational tool.

    It was also a sad reflection on the Victorian State Government to hear that they wouldn’t allow Humanist/Secular Ethics classes in Victoria because the group proposing it weren’t religious.  It really does show that the Christian Lobby in this country have quite a stranglehold on our Education Departments.  This is inappropriate in this day and age.  It needs to be looked at seriously and a resolution sought that will allow for our children to get better educations free of the restraints being imposed by a ‘special interest group’.  It is their ‘interest’ and not that of the wider community.

    Let’s get to some facts.

    1. They have the classes for their children that they want.
    2. We don’t have an existing alternative.
    3. Their children learn scripture according to their groups beliefs.
    4. Our children are banned from learning anything during that time.
    5. Some parents put their children into the SRE* classes because there is no alternative class.
    6. If there was an alternative, they would change their children over to that class as has already been shown during the trial.
    7. There has been up to 47% drop in SRE* attendance in some classes.

    This whole debate is entirely unnecessary.

    • They have their classes for their children, so why complain?
    • They haven’t cared about our children going without before, so why are they so interested in what we ‘do’ teach our children now?
    • Our children learning ethics is a good thing, so why complain?
    • They have GRE**, SRE*, Church, Sunday School and home. What more do they need?

    It really boils down to this:  The children of religious parents have the right to have their children taught the belief system they choose.  We, as either non-believers or parents whose children’s school does not have a chaplain for their ‘belief system’ would prefer to have our children taught ethics.  Why when they get exactly what they want do they think they have the right to deny us the exact same thing?

    Again, the explanation is simple.  They have to ‘automatically respect’ the other religions so they don’t make a noise about children of other faiths being taught in SRE*.  But we aren’t religious and are not given that respect.  We are nothing to them and in their opinion we don’t have equivalent rights to teach our children ethics.  It would not be in any of their interests for our children to be shown to be becoming more moral and ethical without their so-called religious beliefs.  It would once and for all show to the world that their gods and prophets are not needed for us to be good people.  They will continue to fight this even if we do get these classes approved.  It is not in their interests for us to be good.  How then do they claim that without God, there is no morals, no goodness, no compassion etc?  What use will there be for religion if that happens?

    THE DEMISE OF RELIGION IS AT HAND

     

    • Kat 11:58 on May 27, 2010 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I am a strong supporter of teaching ethics in primary and philosophy to high school age students. One of the things that most strongly affected my thinking as a child was that while Mum wanted us to go to Catholic school where our thinking was often stifled – my father taught us many philosophies, encouraged critical thinking and had many ethical discussions on many topics.
      I taught my children ethics when they were primary school age and Philosophy when high school age. Even though my daughter has not pursued it academically – it has helped her make good life choices and decisions. My son is still interested and continually questions and discusses ethics and philosophy daily.

  • DistroMan 20:00 on May 20, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , sunday   

    Cardinal Pell versus Ethics Classes – Yet Again 

    Once again Cardinal Pell finds it necessary to speak out about the Ethics Classes under trial here in NSW.

    “Our state schools are free, compulsory and secular; there’s no reason whatsoever as part of the normal curriculum that secular ethics mightn’t be taught,” the cardinal said.

    Let’s break this down and go through it one bit at a time shall we.

    “Our state schools” – yes, State Schools George.  Not your Catholic Schools.  You get a fair bit of leeway in how you run your Private Catholic Schools and can teach religion in whatever way you wish, but when it comes to State Schools, you shouldn’t. Not even close to having a say.  Just where do you get off thinking you are in a position to demand that our children either sit in your indoctrination classes or sit idle?  If not idle, then why not ethics?  Straighten your frock George, your agenda is showing.

    “Free” – yes, they are to a great degree, but that isn’t what is under discussion here.

    “Compulsory” – No, that is not true. You may enrol your child in a private school or do homeschooling if you so choose.

    “Secular” – No, that is not quite true.  If it were you wouldn’t have your god squad invading them once a week.

    “there’s no reason whatsoever as part of the normal curriculum that secular ethics mightn’t be taught” - Wow, I’m surprised you even said this.  I really am.  That is the whole argument there in one phrase.  If our children aren’t attending your religious classes, then you have nothing to do with them and no say over what we as parents want to have them taught and therefore whatever they are taught IS part of their normal curriculum.

    I know that SRE has been going on since approx 1880.  At what time parents were allowed to exempt their children from SRE I do not know, but I do know that nobody has said a word about that as long as those children that were exempt weren’t doing anything ‘worthwhile’ or that may encourage others to remove their children as well.  As I see it, that is the big problem here for you.  You are worried that parents will remove their children and you’ll lose a captive audience.  If those parents only have their children in your classes for the ethics but would prefer a non religious environment if that was on offer then that is their choice and you should not be depriving them of that.  Neither you, nor the Catholic Church have the right to deny anyone a choice in how they learn or live their lives.

    What is the the Jesuit maxim? “Give me a child for his first seven years and I’ll give you the man”?  There it is in a nutshell.  That is what you are losing.  Raw recruits to feed your religious mill.  You know full well that if you can’t get them early enough, you’ll never get them.  If we can teach them ethics outside of your superstitious institution, then they would have no reason to bow before you and the inevitable demise of religion would be hastened.

    I also know that this worries you.  As it should I suppose.  You have given your whole life to the Church and what it stands for, but is that a reason to deny others with differing opinions a chance to learn and to prosper as human beings?  Really George, if christianity, the church, religion or whatever term you wish to use, has a firm enough foundation as you obviously believe, don’t you think it could withstand this?  Facing hardships is one of the things we all know is part of life on this planet and that when we overcome them, we turn out to be better people for that experience.  If christianity/the church/religion can’t survive children learning ethics outside of a religious framework, then it doesn’t have the foundation you think it has and it should be allowed to fall by the way, just as the Ethics Classes shall if they are not worthy of continuing.  Are you worried religion isn’t up to the challenge?

    Once again, I’ll say this.  You have your churches to teach Sunday School for those who wish to attend.  You have your Catholic Schools to teach religion in the manner you choose.  You have SRE classes in State Schools where you can teach religion in the manner you wish to the children of parents who wish to have them attend those classes.  Those are your domains.  Outside of that, it is our domain.  A place where  secular parents can choose to have their children be educated in a secular manner.  Why is it that you are trying to deny us that right?

    DEMOCRACY NOT THEOCRACY

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on April 9, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , baptism, bookburning, , , exorcism, , , inquisition, , Latin, , , , , , , sunday,   

    Where will more religous power in government lead? 

    I’ve just been sitting here thinking about dictatorships.  I haven’t been able to come up with one where the people are truly happy or even halfway happy with their situation.  Even in some so-called democracies these days, one person or group has so much control that they are effectively dictatorships.  When and only when the politicians know that their jobs rest upon the peoples safety, health, education and job security, will the country be in adequate hands.  I say adequate because at my age, I’ve learnt enough about governments to know that they aren’t all about the people.  But I digress.

    The old saying of ‘power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely’ is one worth bearing in mind at the moment.

    We have seen over the past couple of decades, the church gaining more and more influence in political circles whether by lobbying or by getting their own candidates into power.  There are so many bible wielding politicians running around here in this country that it scares me.  I can’t cope with the idea of what it must be like in the USA.  But this is the fate we are all facing, whether we are there now or not.  As they gain more control, they exert more pressure and are able to pass laws, block laws and repeal laws of which they do not favour.  Are you starting to see where this is going?

    Go a little further down the track to when they have enough power to control a political party that has the power to pass laws at will without needing votes from the opposing party.  Say goodbye to freedom, abortion, women’s rights, gay rights, children’s rights, freedom of thought, atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, skeptics, humanitarians, condoms, divorce, adult entertainment, scientific progress, freedom from slavery, modern forms of justice, freedom of religion, freedom from religion, secular education, sex education,  sex before marriage, mini skirts, see through blouses, bikinis, cleavage, blasphemy, freedom of speech, IVF, the Internet, advances in medical science, evolution etc.  We may as well turn the clock back to around the time of the Dark Ages.

    Look forward to compulsory church at least once a week to start with, compulsory baptisms, shorter life spans, higher rates of death during childbirth, book burnings, witch hunts, restriction and requirements on how we bring up our children, weekend exorcisms in the park, holy wars, compulsory Latin classes, One 24 hour Evangelist Tv channel, Xtian Music Radio only and The Inquisition.

    This is not just for us atheists.  Think about it.  Just how many of your xtian friends would really want to live in that world?  I honestly can’t think of any of mine that would.  Most of them are way too addicted to modern society to want to give all that up.  I think we should let them know just what kind of world that they are advocating for and that they don’t even realise it.

    Think about your current life.  Think about the things you and your family have worked hard for and then think about how much of all that you would have to give up.  How many of your freedoms would be curtailed?  What is the future for your children?  Grandchildren?  How many of you business owners would have to shut down once they start listing things the devil might like?  No video shops for sure.  Cinemas would only show children’s movies.  Most would have to shut through non-attendance.  These are only a couple and you know the list will grow and grow as they get more power.  All you xtians that have your little xtian dances and discos.  Do you really think they will last?  Not on your life.  Xtian Rock Bands?  They’ll go.  Unless they change their clothes to a more sedate style and only sing hymns.  This sounds scary I know, but that is just a taste of what is to come if they get their way.  Think hard xtians.  It wasn’t just the ungodly that suffered the last time the church was in power.  Xtians died in their millions too.   Didn’t matter whether they were innocent or not.  All that mattered was that the Church was seen to be doing something, whether the people liked it or not.

    WELCOME TO YOUR FUTURE

     

    • Greybeard 13:10 on April 9, 2010 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      If we lived in a theocracy, we would find ourselves unable to criticise christians, jews or muslims, unable to bring pedophile priests to justice, unable to sue the church for their misdeeds, unable to prosecute those responsible for covering up crimes committed in the name of god.

      We would have public holidays on religious festivals. We would also be forced to give churches full tax exemption and relieve them of any basic fair trading requirements to tell the truth about their products. We would have people killing other people in the name of Jesus and flying planes into buildings in the name of allah. We would be supporting the right of parents to brainwash their children from birth and we would have religious chaplains in schools and hospitals. The government would pay huge sums of money to faith schools and we might also all have our genitals forcibly mutilated to please god.

      Oh, wait a moment. That's just the stuff we already have………….

  • DistroMan 20:00 on March 24, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , sunday,   

    Secularism is to blame for Child Abuse in Ireland says Pope – Part Two 

    Part Two

    8. First you have the arrogance to tell the parents how they feel. Not having children (or do you) how can you know?  You know nothing. If you did have even a small amount of real knowledge of what it is to be a parent, you would have done something much earlier instead of writing a how-to for priests who need to get out of trouble. You completely lack any credibility in this area.

    Then you start telling parents how their children should be brought up. Considering you are the leader of a sex starved organisation of men and women, you least of all, have a right to be telling them their children need to be taught how to behave by the Catholic Church.

    9. “Your experience of the Church is very different from that of your parents and grandparents.” I doubt that actually. Maybe it is, but only in the fact that you have been caught. With the sectarian war raging in that country it would have been near impossible for the children to speak out. Even if they did, the parents could hardly have said anything. Before that, communication being what it was in this world, everyone was so cut off that the children would have felt even more powerless than they do now. My bet is that it was even worse back then. But how would you know? You’d have to care first.

    “We are all scandalized by the sins and failures of some of the Church’s members.”  Some of the Church’s members Joe? How about you stop trying to minimise the whole event and tell it like it is.  Many of the Church’s members, sounds a whole lot more honest. You remember honesty don’t you Joe?  Understatement is as bad as fabrication under the circumstances.

    “But it is in the Church that you will find Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and for ever.” As are the priests, and that is what worries me most.  I have very little doubt that they will continue in the same way after a period of abstinence.  It’s the nature of the beast.  Man is not meant for that life.  It is unnatural and you have it within your power to change it.

    “He loves you and he has offered himself on the cross for you.”  Ah, you admit it now.  He did that crap to himself.  You can’t call that abuse when he did it himself willingly. How is that abuse? We call that masochism these days. Which would also make him a sadist as he did it to himself.  So your god is a sadomasochist.  It all seems to flow from there.  No wonder the Church as a whole is a hotbed of moral turpitude.

    “for he will never betray your trust!.” It seems that is exactly what just happened. People put their trust in him and they were repaid with deceit and abuse. That is not something new for the Catholic Church.

    “He alone can satisfy your deepest longings and give your lives their fullest meaning by directing them to the service of others.” Looks like he satisfied someones longings, just not the children’s, and they were directed towards the service of the priesthood. It is as it always has been and always will be.

    10. Please, oh please my priests, help me keep my position of power?  Lame.

    11. Laying blame and distancing yourself again. You do say that leadership was lacking, but you fail to go as far as it being your leadership that was lacking.  Take responsibility for this.  That is what fathers do.

    “Only decisive action carried out with complete honesty and transparency will restore the respect and good will of the Irish people towards the Church to which we have consecrated our lives.” True, but it has to happen from the top.  How many times does this need to be said before you understand?

    “This must arise, first and foremost, from your own self-examination, inner purification and spiritual renewal.” No Joe, from the top. You must show leadership. You must be a role model. Not just a powerless, annoyed and cowardly father figure.

    “In particular, I ask you to be attentive to the spiritual and moral lives of each one of your priests. Set them an example by your own lives.”  You  are asking them to do what you yourself need to do.  Lead by example. If a priest has wronged he must admit that wrong and step down. If a bishop has wronged, he must admit it and step down. That goes all the way up the line to you. You failed in your leadership. You set a bad example and must take personal responsibility.  Step down Joe.  Do the right thing.

    12. “we need to find new ways to pass on to young people the beauty and richness of friendship with Jesus Christ in the communion of his Church.” New ways Joe?  The church is so bogged down in the past with outdated rules and rituals that it can’t do anything new.   For a start, you won’t let it.  You have kept trotting out ridiculous rules that are costing millions of lives.  You can’t expect sexually frustrated people to contain themselves. Your God has never been able to help them with that and so it will continue. The lifestyle you expect them to lead is untenable, unworkable and unjust.  The ‘new’ needs to happen, I agree, but start with new rules that save lives and don’t pit one person against another.

    “By treading the path marked out by the Gospel, by observing the commandments and by conforming your lives ever more closely to the figure of Jesus Christ, you will surely experience the profound renewal that is so urgently needed at this time. I invite you all to persevere along this path.” Fundamentalism is never the answer. You will only create more problems for future generations to have to deal with.  You had just finished talking about ‘new ways’ and now you go backwards.  Make up your mind.

    13. “I am praying earnestly that, by God’s grace, the wounds afflicting so many individuals and families may be healed”. The problem is though that your prayer is only offering hope. It cannot be known that it will come to fruition. Therefore, you risk future atrocities. How can you take such a risk with even more children?  You don’t have the right.

    14. “I now wish to propose to you some concrete initiatives to address the situation.” When I read the word ‘concrete’ I stupidly expected to hear something concrete, like excommunication for offending priests, hard and fast rules to help put a stop to further occurrences of child abuse. But what do you propose? Prayer, hope, wishes, outdated ritual and meaningless pap. Joe, that is nothing more than mystical hand waving in a cloud of smoke. You may as well say, “abracadabra, see, all fixed now”.

    —

    You end with a prayer. Nothing unusual there. The last section of said prayer goes:

    To you, Triune God,
    confident in the loving protection of Mary,
    Queen of Ireland, our Mother,
    and of Saint Patrick, Saint Brigid and all the saints,
    do we entrust ourselves, our children,
    and the needs of the Church in Ireland.

    Really Joe? Entrust the children to the church? Again? Hasn’t that already been proven to be unsuccessful? How many more children are you willing to sacrifice to your priests before you wake up to the fact that it won’t work. It does NOT work. It never worked, it isn’t working and it will never work with a church so full of itself and the power it holds over the people.

    Is this the same meaningless drivel you intend to offer to people in the United States, Africa, Australia, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and everywhere else your beloved church has infected the land and abused the children?

    This is shameful and you should be ashamed. Ashamed of yourself for betraying your followers in their greatest time of need.

    Fathers who care for their children arrive at a time when they have a talk with their sons about responsibility and the choices they will have to make in their lives. Occasionally it is turned around and a son has to have a talk to a wayward parent. If that parent cares more for their children than themselves, they will listen. Joe, it is time for you to listen to your children. Listen to their pain. Their cries of anguish. Their pleading with the church as a whole to stop.  Or do you wish people to see you as a child who sticks their fingers in their ears and yells, “I can’t hear you!” ?

    —

    To the Catholic people I say that this outrage is not your fault and you should not have to pay the price. Nor should your children. The Church has shown you nothing but contempt by the way you have been so shabbily treated in this matter. Every step of the way they have been full of words to make you feel better, but without making one meaningful step in that direction. You have been praying for centuries and this still happened. Do not let them tell you prayer will get you out. If you do that, your children and grandchildren will pay the price as you have done. Force them to change. I beg of you, for the sake of the children, not to step foot inside a church till the Pope agrees to real change. You must force them to put child proof locks on the churches. They must never again be left alone for one moment with children.

    —

    To Joe. The bottom line here is that the people trusted you and the church to do the right thing. The church certainly let them down as it has always done.  But it was your job to change things.  If not yours Joe, then whose? You are the Pope. You knew of the atrocities being committed upon children from decades earlier all across the globe. You knew. When you became Pope you had the opportunity to start fixing things of this nature immediately and yet you did nothing. If you had been more devoted to the children instead of the church you may have lifted a finger to help, but when your attention is firmly fixed more on saving face and power, you fail in your mission. You do not deserve to be Pope. Step down Joe. Shut up shop. Put out the closed for business sign and fade away as gracefully as you are able. If you are unwilling to do that, then the least you can and should do, what is in the best interests of the people, is some real words meant to change things, not just prayer and wishes, but action.

    Something like the following:

    —

    “These children are the future of our world, and they must not be made to bear the ignominy of the past. We shall set a goal that ANY priest, or nun, of any rank involved in these activities shall be cast out of this church and subject to the law of the land wherein the offenses took place, and a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual abuse will be in force from this day onward.”

     

    • eda 10:10 on March 24, 2010 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      …The lifestyle you expect them to lead is untenable, unworkable and unjust….I guess this is the real problem. I like that you actually came up with some concrete solutions and mentioned that the church needs to be child proof. That's a really good start, any chance Joe follows your blog???

    • Loren 11:14 on March 24, 2010 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      The problem is simple – dear Papa Joe is insulated and isolated from anyone who might supply the brand of constructive negative feedback that could have sufficient power to awaken him from his reverie. The only outsiders who could get close enough, heads of state, most notably, suffer too much from an overdeveloped sense of diplomacy to consider such frank language. It will most likely require a chance act, likely during a public event involving ol' Joe, both to shake him and the sleepwalkers of his flock out of their torpor and recognize that the pontiff has no clothes.

      Such an event could get very ugly … but then, what has happened behind closed doors is already far more than ugly.

    • Richard C Brown 12:15 on March 24, 2010 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      About 30 years ago I did a seminar.At the end there was a question.The question was about the identity of god.
      The answer"She is Black and Beautiful"rang through the auditorium.I have pondered the question since.Maybe in the Church She is the secret being kept under the floors of the Vatican.
      Us guys never seem to get it right and the closest the church has come to the feminine is Mary.
      The spirit of the man jesus must really go bonkers at the churches actions today.By the way what does the holy ghost do at times like these.
      What and the hell is the pope telling the upstairs peoples.Same political BS as those reporting to the president of the USA.
      For a win/win what must take place?Keep speaking up and out..Communication works when heard.

  • DistroMan 20:00 on March 23, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , sunday,   

    Secularism is to blame for Child Abuse in Ireland says Pope – Part One 

    The Pope’s verdict is in.  It’s our fault.  Secularism is to blame.  Who knew?

    After more than 15,000 reported cases of child abuse Pope Benedict XVI has written a ‘pastoral letter’ to the people of Ireland.  That link will give you the whole thing, the real deal.  As of this moment I have read 1/3 of this piece of drivel and already I am both shocked and not shocked.  How can that be you ask?  Well I had hoped for a lot more.   It should have gone further and I suppose I had high hopes that for once in his miserable life, the pope would have done the right thing.   On the other hand it’s the usual tripe trotted out by the church when they get caught with their hands in something it shouldn’t be.  I’ll deal with this piece of garbage one section at a time.  To the letter…

    1. He’s concerned, deeply disturbed and dismayed by what happened to the children by the church.  He listened to the bishops and he is confident that things will get better.  The part I like is this, “I am confident that, as a result, the bishops will now be in a stronger position to carry forward the work of repairing past injustices and confronting the broader issues associated with the abuse of minors in a way consonant with the demands of justice and the teachings of the Gospel”.

    Repairing past injustices?  Does he really think this can be repaired?  He can’t honestly think that.  It must be the damage to the church he wants to repair.  No sane person could possibly think that what happened in that godforsaken country could possibly be put right.  Stopping it from happening again maybe, but repairing?  He is not in touch with the realities of the situation and the damage done to the children and families.  Actually I don’t think he is in touch with reality period!

    2. The first sentence of this section is nothing more than laying the blame directly on the Irish priesthood.  Nobody else’s fault whatsoever.  Bullshit Joe.  There were reports going on for a long time and you knew about them and have done nothing.  You did nothing and hoped  the Irish Priests would take care of it and it would go away.  Well it didn’t.  You are their leader and you didn’t lead.  You failed not only the priests, but the children.  This is YOUR failure Joe.

    Then he goes on to say that it isn’t only the Church that is abusing children.  How weak is that.  There is no defense in the defense of ‘others were doing it too’.  How bloody childish.

    Then he says, ‘the task you now face is to address the problem’.  What?  You’re leaving it up to them?  This is also of your doing, if only by closing your eyes to the facts and not stepping in sooner.

    “Perseverance and prayer are needed, with great trust in the healing power of God’s grace.”  Grow a freaking brain man.  If there was a God he wouldn’t have allowed this to happen to the children.  Even if we did allow for his existence, how can you follow someone who would allow this to happen?  You distance yourself from the priests who committed these despicable acts and from the bishops who knew and allowed it to go on for so long.  How is that any different from you and your god?  You both knew!

    “At the same time, I must also express my conviction that, in order to recover from this grievous wound, the Church in Ireland must first acknowledge before the Lord and before others the serious sins committed against defenseless children.”  Again, you distance yourself and lay blame on others alone.

    “As you take up the challenges of this hour”.  And again you distance yourself.  There seems to be a pattern emerging here.  One that we are not buying into either.

    “It is my prayer that, assisted by the intercession of her many saints and purified through penance, the Church in Ireland will overcome the present crisis and become once more a convincing witness to the truth and the goodness of Almighty God, made manifest in his Son Jesus Christ.”

    What kind of crap is this?  That is just thinking of the Church, not the children.  Where is the goodness of your god in any of what has happened?  Do you think he allowed this to happen as a test for the Church?  I am amazed at your callousness Joe.  To speak about the future of the church while the people are still in pain is to ignore them and what was done.  That is cold.

    3. You go on in this section to try and draw energy from the past.  Good works from the past do not negate the horrors the present has inflicted.  Try dealing with the situation now instead of attempting to distract people from the crimes committed by the Church.  Your Church.

    “Those Irish missionaries drew their strength and inspiration from the firm faith, strong leadership and upright morals of the Church in their native land.”

    How can you even say those words without choking?  You really are out of touch with the pain these people feel.

    Again, harking back to the past looking for support where there is none.  Then to make matters worse you spew this crap, “Many dioceses, especially in Africa, America and Australia, benefited from the presence of Irish clergy”.  The things that happened and are happening even now in these countries may not have been the fault alone of the Irish Catholic Priests, but the Church has done just as much harm in each one of those as it has done in Ireland.  If not more.  All you manage here is to offend the people of those countries.

    “In almost every family in Ireland, there has been someone – a son or a daughter, an aunt or an uncle – who has given his or her life to the Church.”  Only to be treated in this manner.  You should be ashamed.

    4. The first paragraph is just an attempt to divert attention and lay the blame on secular society.  Secular society did not abuse the children. Priests and Nuns did.  Your lot.  Take responsibility for your own actions instead of blaming the innocent once again.  The Church tried that centuries ago and is still paying the price.  That is not a road you want to go down.

    The second paragraph has one thing I agree with.  “Certainly, among the contributing factors we can include: inadequate procedures for determining the suitability of candidates for the priesthood and the religious life; insufficient human, moral, intellectual and spiritual formation in seminaries and novitiates.”  I’d prefer to shorten it and say “insufficient human, moral, intellectual and spiritual formation in the Church as a whole.”  After that we get “and have obscured the light of the Gospel to a degree that not even centuries of persecution succeeded in doing.”  What about the centuries of persecution the Church itself has inflicted upon the people?

    5. If you don’t step down, you’ll be meeting with a lot more abuse victims Joe.  A lot more.  That is unless you’re more heartless than I think you are.  Ireland is only one part of the larger picture.  You’ve tried to deflect attention on this matter by saying that it isn’t just the Church that commits these crimes.  That is true Joe.  What is also true is that there is no other organisation on this planet that practices child abuse to the extent that your beloved Church did, does and will continue to do until the day it breathes it’s last breath.

    6. You start off well, but then go on to say “It is in the communion of the Church that we encounter the person of Jesus Christ, who was himself a victim of injustice and sin.”  He was a victim of his own abuse.  He as your god, sent himself down as his own son for that to happen.  It was his own plan all along.  Who are you kidding?

    “I know some of you find it difficult even to enter the doors of a church after all that has occurred.”  I would advise them to nail the doors shut and never enter them again.  You and yours cannot be trusted.  You have shown that over a very long time.  Ever heard of ‘once bitten twice shy’?  Well you have bitten us way too many times and can’t be trusted any longer.  Go away.  Shut up shop and leave the people alone.  You are an anachronism and are no longer needed.

    “I pray that, by drawing nearer to Christ and by participating in the life of his Church – a Church purified by penance and renewed in pastoral charity – you will come to rediscover Christ’s infinite love for each one of you.”  Purified Joe?  How can it be pure considering what this letter is all about?  You call that a pure church?  And what will you do if one more child is hurt?  Say the same tired old thing again?  And again?  And again?

    7. Laying of blame on the priests again.  Yes, they committed the acts, but yet again you forget that you knew it was happening and failed in your duty of care and allowed it to continue with no real attempt to put an immediate stop to it.  You are just as guilty.

    —

    “These children are the future of our world, and they must not be made to bear the ignominy of the past. We shall set a goal that ANY priest, or nun, of any rank involved in these activities shall be cast out of this church and subject to the law of the land wherein the offenses took place, and a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual abuse will be in force from this day onward.”

     

    • eda 14:12 on March 23, 2010 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Brilliant! So well written and with amazing arguments. I love your precision and it pleases me a great deal that someone can say everything that ought to be said as well as you do. Thanks.

  • DistroMan 20:00 on March 14, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , sunday,   

    Catholics need to speak up or stand accused… 

    It is about time even the followers of the Catholic Church took a stand themselves.  The litany of offenses committed by the church over the centuries is excused by todays followers, but with the latest news, now even the Pope is implicated.

    In 1980 a priest that has not been named, was accused of forcing an 11 year old boy into performing oral sex.  At that time, Pope Benedict was a Cardinal and it was on his direct orders that the accused priest was transferred to another rectory for therapy.  No other punishment, except a few Hail Mary’s was given to the priest.  This priest subsequently re-offended and was convicted of the child abuse of minors (note: plural).  He was given an 18 month sentence and fined DM 4,000.  An inadequate sentence by any standards.  Any other member of the community, lay or outside the church, would have received a much harsher sentence and never allowed near a child again.  That is, IF they were lucky enough to survive the jail sentence.

    To make matters worse, the priest was then allowed to go back into pastoral work.

    He commits the crime, gets caught, Joe covers it up, he re-offends multiple times, gets caught again, is convicted, goes to jail, gets fined and is then allowed to go straight back to work in the community.  When is enough, enough for these people?

    I am so sick and tired of writing about this in the full knowledge that the church and it’s followers don’t care one damned bit.

    Don’t you people get it?  If they cared about your children, they wouldn’t hurt them.  If the ones who don’t hurt your children, cared about them, they would put a stop to this.  They don’t.  They do NOT care.  If you, the followers of the church cared, you would be standing up and yelling out as loud as you could until something was done.

    As I do not see this happening, I can only assume you don’t really care about them either.  There is no other option.  If you even dare to give me the “I’m just trying to protect my child” crap, I’ll scream louder than your child did when they were being raped.  You keep your damn mouth shut and you are implicitly giving your approval for the next child to be hurt.  Would you be happy if your neighbour kept quiet about what happened to their child so that your son could be raped next?  Would you be ok with that?

    If you go out and join a criminal organisation, even if you don’t actually commit the crimes, you are just as guilty as they are.  There is no defence to ‘knowing’.  Knowing is what makes you guilty.  This is what makes each and every nun, priest, bishop, archbishop, cardinal and pope guilty of these crimes.  Each and every follower of the church that sits quietly and doesn’t speak out is hurting these children.

    You don’t have to have first hand knowledge of the crime.  It doesn’t have to be your child.  It doesn’t have to be you.  But you do have a voice and you should have used it before now.  It is not too late to save the next child who gets a chance to become an altar boy.  Are you going to sit quietly and let that happen?  How will you feel when you read or hear about the next child knowing you kept silent?

    We always hear that if you want change, you have two choices, make noise or join in and effect change from the inside.  I’m making noise, but not being a Catholic, nobody listens to me.  YOU as Catholics on the inside need to stand up and make the noise from the inside.  YOU will have twice the effect.

    THESE ARE YOUR CHILDREN

    EVERY SUNDAY, SPEAK UP OR STAND ACCUSED !!!

     

    • Phil Ferguson 02:54 on March 15, 2010 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Great Post! Could not agree more. Where is the rage?

    • sowhat 20:23 on March 15, 2010 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I find this article very upsetting. Child abuse is a horrific thing and the idea that men do this to children and go unpunished makes me feel physically sick. even more because they have the church’s protection and “blessing”. I’m happy that you have chosen to discuss this, however your article makes me feel that we have to do more as a society and really try to stop this from happening. thanks for bringing this awful issue to the front line.

    • eda 09:27 on March 15, 2010 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I find this article very upsetting. Child abuse is a horrific thing and the idea that men do this to children and go unpunished makes me feel physically sick. even more because they have the church's protection and "blessing". I'm happy that you have chosen to discuss this awful issue, although I feel as a society we ought to do much more to protect our children…

  • DistroMan 23:49 on March 9, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , sunday   

    Let me tell you about a man named Ted… 

    Let me tell you a story about a man named Ted,
    a poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed.
    When one day he was shooting at some food,
    wandering up the hill came a babbling fool.

    Hello Ted, I’ve got some good news,
    come down here, sit on one of my pews.
    There’s this fellow I know, let’s call him God,
    if you believe in him, he’ll give you the nod.

    That’s no problem,
    says Ted as he gets up to leave,
    Just wait a minute says the fool,
    I have a story to weave.

    What you need to do,
    to get into heaven,
    is pray to him,
    on day number seven.

    But I can’t feed the family,
    if I’m down on my knees,
    God will take care of that,
    if you just say please.

    Get out of my way,
    I have work to do.
    You don’t need that,
    Just believe in Woo.

    I’m telling you friend,
    that sounds a mite lazy.
    So get out of my road,
    you’re driving me crazy.

    Please Ted,
    just a little more,
    one or two things,
    of God’s divine law.

    One last time,
    don’t worry about his law,
    you should be thinking,
    about my hunting dogs jaw.

    Now don’t be like that,
    It won’t take a lot.
    Just give him some
    of what you have in your pot.

    You’ll be leaving now,
    walking down that path,
    with my shotgun,
    pointing at your scrawny arse.

    Don’t stop moving,
    go a little quicker,
    my fingers squeezing,
    upon this trigger.

    A little word of warning,
    if you come back here,
    the sound of my shotgun,
    will be the last you hear.

    And keep your good book,
    I don’t need his nod.
    This is Atheist’s Hill,
    We’re good without God.

     

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