Detailed fury at reporting, zero worry about victims.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Exiled Murphy May Have Continued Abuse
Apr 3rd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHe interacted freely with children for the rest of his life, never having been punished by church or secular law.… Read the rest
Vatican Quickly Distanced Itself From Remarks
Apr 3rd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonYet the official Vatican newspaper published the remarks in its Saturday edition.… Read the rest
Angry Reaction to Cantalamessa’s Remarks
Apr 3rd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonVatican is saying ‘nothing to do with us’ but the sermon probably circulated for comment at a senior level.… Read the rest
Atheists Reject Clerical Attack on Non-belief
Apr 3rd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen on Friday described non-belief as an ‘assault on God.’… Read the rest
Some Speech Deserves to Be Marginalized
Apr 3rd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe political freedom to speak your mind does not entail a right to be taken seriously or given deference.… Read the rest
Cardinal attends to what really matters
Apr 3rd, 2010 11:34 am | By Ophelia BensonRatzinger gave his old job to an American when he (Ratz) was bumped upstairs. Cardinal William Levada now heads Ratzinger’s old Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This week he expressed his sorrow and sympathy for what the church has enabled priests to do to generations of children by…writing a long article saying how awful the New York Times is.
He starts by singling out Laurie Goodstein.
… Read the restOnly after eight paragraphs of purple prose does Goodstein reveal that Fr. Murphy, who criminally abused as many as 200 deaf children while working at a school in the Milwaukee Archdiocese from 1950 to 1974, “not only was never tried or disciplined by the church’s own justice system, but also got
Shed a tear for the sufferings of the Vatican
Apr 2nd, 2010 5:30 pm | By Ophelia BensonUn.Be.Lievable. They still don’t get it. They still think they are the victims. Still! Half the world has explained it to them with one voice, and they still don’t get it!
The Pope’s preacher today likened recent attacks on the pontiff over the Catholic sex abuse scandal to the “most shameful acts of anti-Semitism”.
Not ‘attacks by priests on children’ but ‘attacks’ meaning criticism by victims and observers on the pope who helped conceal and perpetuate those very attacks by priests on children – that’s what they’re comparing to anti-Semitism! It’s – it’s – it exhausts my capacity to revile it. The self-pity, the world-blotting egocentrism, the blank inability to grasp the misery of people outside their own circle, the … Read the rest
Vatican ‘Is Fighting Back’
Apr 2nd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe self-pitying thugs compare themselves to the victims of anti-Semitism. It’s beyond belief.… Read the rest
Victims, Jewish Groups Slam ‘Shameful’ Remarks
Apr 2nd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonVatican official compared ‘violent’ criticism of pope and church to anti-Semitism.… Read the rest
Even Archbish of Canterbury Fed Up With Pope
Apr 2nd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPope’s preacher’s compares accusations against the Pope to the ‘collective violence suffered by the Jews.’… Read the rest
The Priest is Supposed to Be ‘Another Christ’
Apr 2nd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt’s doubtful that Catholicism can survive the smashing of its altars and thrones.… Read the rest
Gordon Brown: Catholicism ‘Conscience of Nation’
Apr 2nd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAbsolutely rejects the idea that religion should be tolerated but not encouraged in public life.… Read the rest
Are Women’s Rights Still Human Rights?
Apr 2nd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSahgal was one of the first to understand the threat fundamentalist movements pose to women’s rights.… Read the rest
Letters to the Nation on Gita Sahgal and AI
Apr 2nd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIn Algeria, AI defended the rights of fundamentalists, rather than the rights of their victims.… Read the rest
Katha Pollitt on Papal Indulgences
Apr 2nd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe moral authority granted the Catholic Church in the secular world is the most repellent aspect of the crisis. … Read the rest
Row Over Amnesty’s Support for ‘Defensive Jihad’
Apr 2nd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonLeading South Asian rights campaigners accuse AI of ‘undermining” the campaign against sex discrimination.… Read the rest
Human Rights for All Replies to Amnesty Int.
Apr 2nd, 2010 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe principles of universality and equality are being challenged by concessions to ‘cultural rights.’… Read the rest
Circumcision or Genital Mutilation
Apr 2nd, 2010 | By Jahanshah RashidianCircumcision, or for non-believers “genital mutilation”, is in some societies one of the most ancient rituals still practised. The historical background of this old ritual, as to when and why it started, is not precisely known. The practice varies from region to region and from epoch to epoch in its total or partial removal of the foreskin or clitoris.
Circumcision, in its different forms, is practised in a big part of the world. The Jews were the first to adapt it as a sign of religiosity; it is mentioned in the Old Testament as a religious ritual and preserved its practice into our times. Circumcision was banned by the ancient Romans and Greeks considering it as an act of barbarity. … Read the rest
The least of these
Apr 2nd, 2010 11:16 am | By Ophelia BensonWould you believe it – Gordon Brown is saying Catholicism is often the conscience of the UK. He’s saying it in a new magazine with the rebarbative title “Faith Today.” He’s also spitting on secularism while he’s about it.
Asked if religious faith is essentially “a private, personal pursuit” or has a role in the wider community, he says: “Our common realm is not and cannot be stripped of values – I absolutely reject the idea that religion should somehow be tolerated but not encouraged in public life. Our equality bill is specifically designed to protect religion and belief on exactly the same terms as race or gender or sexuality.”
God, what a dog’s breakfast. First he conflates religion … Read the rest