Webs’ Random Ideas

A movie that shows the dark side of the Catholic Church.

The director of this movie followed the story of a Priest, Father O’Grady, that raped many children in California. And you would think after the Bishop in charge of said Priest found out about the first incident he would put an end to it right? Nope. It continued on for around 20 years. Boys, girls, and parents (parents were abused to get closer to the children). And to make matters even worse O’Grady didn’t discriminate against the victims’ age and apparently had a victim 9 months old.

For twenty years he continued to destroy the lives of families and children. Meanwhile the Bishops in charge shuffled him from Church to Church. And the last church he was at was in an area were no Bishop has control over the area. Meaning O’Grady was left to govern himself. But it doesn’t end there. To keep O’Grady from having to testify in civil court (once he got out of jail, which would have forced out some catastrophic info) the church moved him to Ireland (where he lives a free life). Apparently he only had to serve 10 years in prison for what he did.

What makes it even worse is that an estimated 80% of child abuse victims do not come forward. For various reasons, but I can only imagine what it would be like to tell my parents. But this number puts estimates in the tens of thousands for actual number of abuses in United States alone. Other countries are starting to have cases pop up.

And the Priests, for whatever reason, are being hidden under the cloud of the entire Catholic organization. Essentially making it impossible for prosecutors to go after the abusers. Which is why there are a lot of civil suites going on. And most of those civil suites are solved out of court because if they weren’t the Church would have to divulge some pretty devastating information. And the money being used to settle the cases comes from… that’s right, the abuse victims that gave money to the parish when they attended church and were being abused.

The whole issue of Priests abusing children stems from a variety of issues but one of the key ones seems to be in how the Church views sex. Sex, in Catholicism, is generally viewed as evil (especially before marriage). And because of this the church views all forms of sex as evil, there are no varying degrees of evil. So sex with a child is just as evil as sex between two men, just as sex before marriage. So naturally the bishops deal with sex with a minor as a sin, and go from there.

But the obvious problem here is there is a difference between having sex with a 9 year old and a consenting adult. From a medical and psychological perspective, it’s a widely accepted difference.

With this issue as with most issues of religion, the problem isn’t with the Catholic Religion itself. I know plenty of good Catholics, ones that would never rape a child or do other terrible things. The problem is how the Religion is run. With power coming down from the top and filtering through lower levels. It allows for many terrible things to happen because faith is blindly accepted from top and forced down to others. And an outside looking in viewpoint is neither accepted or used by those toward the top.

I consider myself atheist but I do not write such posts to go off on a rant about specific religions. I leave that job to PZ Myers and other atheists. I do not believe that abolishing religion would solves the world’s problems because there is no easy way to abolish religion. When you are reasonably happy, loosing your faith can be a terrible thing and I don’t wish that upon anyone.

I think instead the world would be a better place if people learned to truly love themselves and others. And stopped trying to use religion to explain the universe and instead used it to find solace in their life.

Of all of the methods to reduce the spread of STDs, and teen pregnancy, only one in theory could actually eliminate both. Abstinence. Unfortunately for supporters of Abstinence, it never works out this good. Most scientists that see the data would tend to agree, abstinence education fails on many levels. As an idea, it sounds quite nice and seems great. But it goes against human nature and teenage hormones.

Long post ahead (more…)

Go answer Paul’s question. It’s really an intriguing and interesting one.

… and I at least am still glad he is gone. I have complete and udder disgust for Falwell. The only reason why I am upset with his death is the possibility that someone with more intelligence will step in and find better ways to allow “Moral Majority” to grow.

Falwell was a despicable human being with clouded morals and ethics. But if you need more information on why I might dislike him, here ya go. Anyone who tells the grieving families that it is their fault the attacks happened on 9/11 is truly an asshole.

Don’t let his religious fervor cloud your sense, the man deserves no sympathy or empathy. Do I grieve for his family, or feel any emotion because they may have lost a loved one. No. Just like I don’t grieve for Hitler’s family cause of their loss.

But Falwell tried to do what he thought was right. Doesn’t that count for anything? No! If Falwell saved 10 babies from a burning building he would be an asshole that saved 10 babies from a burning building, not a hero. A hero is not just someone that strives to do what is right, but someone that actively seeks to make the world a better place. And they do not have to follow religious guidelines to do it, however some do.

Don’t let anyone fool you there is no good that came from Falwell.

NYTimes article: Red Cross Report says Israel has Disregard for Humanitarian Law…

From the article:

With the construction of the separation barrier, the establishment of an outer ring of Jewish settlements beyond the expanded municipal boundaries and the creation of a dense road network linking the different Israeli neighborhoods and settlements in and outside Jerusalem, the report says, Israel is “reshaping the development of the Jerusalem metropolitan area” with “far-reaching humanitarian consequences.” Those include the increasing isolation of Palestinians living in Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and the increasing difficulty for some Palestinians to easily reach Jerusalem’s schools and hospitals.

The separation barrier is basically the wall that was built. Every vito country in the UN was against the wall accept the US which allowed it. Even our closest ally the UK was against it for humanitarian reasons. To me it’s just obvious, caging a wild animal that is trying to incessantly bite people is one thing, but caging a group of people to control where they go, how the hell do you justify that?

Israel says they have given health care passes to 81,000 Palestinians. And we are supposed to give them a free pass to do whatever inhumane actions they want because of this? There are over 2.5 million Palestinians in Gaza alone. So Israel has given out health passes to 3.2% of the pop of Gaza. When put in that perspective, 81,000 seems small. If you actually read specific accounts, or talk to anyone that has lived there, this is all just the tip of the iceberg of what sort of atrocities go on.

I will concur that the suicide bombings, mortars, and gun attacks that enraged Palestinians use are not helping their cause and are pretty despicable. But looking at it from their perspective, they have no other choice. They feel hopeless and when people are put in that position they will fight to get out of it.

It would be nice if there was a simple answer for peace in the world but it appears people are too busy finding differences among their fellow man/woman. And people are too concerned for their beliefs to be true. I think if people dropped the whole belief mentality and instead took on an idea mentality, a lot of violence and bigotry could be hindered. Ideas are easier to change than a belief.

Found via Venganza…

Religious discrimination is a hot topic still today. I know the link above is a little old, but I just remembered I hadn’t sent it out yet, and I wanted to. Above, a student was suspended from school for wearing an eyepatch, which is part of the Pastafarian religion of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The First Amendment protects Bryan Killian to wearing the eyepatch, and if I were him I would have fought the case.

A religious belief is a religious belief and should be respected. Pastafarianism is a religion as much as any other and should have the same rights. Principles do not suspend students for wearing crosses, so why should a student get suspended for wearing an eyepatch?

I would side with the school district about it being disruptive if the student was proselytizing, but this was not the case. Maybe someday the Pastafarians will be free, just not today…

RAMEN

Below you will find two videos of from the Daily Show where Jon Stewart is interviewing Ali Allawi. Ali Allawi has worked closely with the interim governement in Iraq under various titles and positions. He is a very intelligent and well spoken individual with a lot of inside knowledge of Iraq and the government there.

His new book out “The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War”, seems to be an excellent look, not only on the history of Iraq, and what America has done wrong, but also about what we can do to fix the problems that have been created.

If you watch the videos you will notice that Jon Stewart does an excellent job of interviewing Mr. Allawi and we find that again, an understanding of the history and culture of Iraq may have saved us from an unnecessary war…

I have a little more written after the Videos. And a question for the readers. (more…)

Tragedies like the one that happened today is something that really cannot be prepared for. Those that commit the act usually fall off the radar screen because as DOF puts it (the link is below) the person is an outlier. And because of this you cannot really plan for the event, and unfortunately it may be difficult to stop.

But that probably won’t stop politicians from using it as a means to put forth their agenda and politicizing the whole thing. Even though this won’t help because those that really want to commit these acts will find a way. The only thing we can do is try to make the world a better place and give people a reason not to commit these acts.

As DOF says:

I suggest two things. First, just listen and think for a year or two. Try to let the event gain some context. Whatever we throw together overnight is likely to do as much harm as good. Second, I suggest kindness. Just random acts of kindness, small words of encouragement to others at unexpected times for no reason at all. It won’t prevent events like this from happening. But it will shine a light against the darkness.

This line from the post deserves it’s own quote:

Kindness is our most powerful rebellion against tragedy.

What a great quote! What a great post! Too bad it had to be a spawn of such a terrible event…

The following email was sent to me by my sister. I present it in it’s entirety with my reply I sent back to her discussing the matter, and a few extra remarks I added.

—– A thought-provoking dissertation

There was a man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War
II. They owned a number of large industries and estates. I asked him
how many German people were true Nazis, and the answer he gave has
stuck with me and guided my attitude toward fanaticism ever since.

“Very few people were true Nazis,” he said,” but many enjoyed the
return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one
of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So the
majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it,
they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had
come. My family lost everything I ended up in a concentration camp and
the Allies destroyed my factories.”

We are told again and again by “experts” and “talking heads” that
Islam is a religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims
just want to live in peace.

Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely
irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and
meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the
globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam
at this moment in history.

It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of
50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically
slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are
gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is
the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor kill. It is the
fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who
zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and
homosexuals. The hard quantifiable fact is that the “peaceful
majority” is the “silent majority” and it is cowed and extraneous.

Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in
peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of
about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.
China’s huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese
Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

The average Japanese individual prior to World War II not a
war-mongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way
across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the
systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most were killed by
sword, shovel, and bayonet.
And who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it
not be said that the majority of Rwandans were “peace-loving”?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our
powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of
points:

Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.

Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don’t speak
up, because like my friend from Germany , they will awake one day and
find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have
begun.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs
Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many
others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until
it was too late.

As for us who watch it all unfold–we must pay attention to the only
group that counts: the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

At the risk of offending someone, I sincerely think that anyone who
rejects this as just another political rant, or doubts the seriousness
of this issue, or just deletes it without sending it on, is part of
the problem. God Bless America!

My Comments:

The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.

I am good friends with an Arabic scholar and historian that has spent the last 25 years of his life writing and studying the Bible (which includes an understanding of Hebrew, Arabic, and other languages, as well as history and other religions as well). When I say he 25 years of his life, I mean that is pretty much all he has done in the last 25 years. He grew up and lived most of his life in the Middle East. He states the exact opposite of what whoever wrote this stated. That most Muslims don’t practice Islam strongly just like most Christian and Catholic Americans don’t practice their faith strongly either.

He said his family was more strongly Muslim than any other family in their community and he rarely prayed. He said he remembered growing up and he rarely saw people pray. He said what we hear, read, and watch in the media is Muslim fundamentalism.

But even if we believe for one second that the above quote is true, than why did so many Arabs leave Iraq and Afghanistan prior to the war? Surely if they were the Christianity hating fundamentalists we are to believe they are then they would have stayed behind to kill some Americans right?

It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave.

This leads me to believe whomever wrote this is a Christian. Probably the same type of Christian as the others that say Christianity is being attacked (think Billy Boy).

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.

I guess it just disheartens me every time I hear or read what someone says about war and peace they always have to point to Islam as the shinning example. But in all actuality, all religions have just as much death, destruction, and war associated with it as any other, and for one simple reason.

People believe. Beliefs are something hard to change. Beliefs are what ground someones thinking making it hard to accept outside evidence. And once you have a belief, it is just one more step to fundamentalism or radicalism…

This post is also being filed under “Religious” because that is all the whole ID (Intelligent Design) thing is. It’s a movement to get someone’s religious viewpoints in our lives. Why? Who knows? I just can’t seem to think why people can’t be happy knowing others might also be happy. Let me live my life and I will let you live yours.

Atascadero school board to rethink religion class. Another school board votes on what is essentially an ID issue. You see those with strong religious beliefs know that they will never be able to get their views taught in school as regular curriculum in public schools. In this day and age it is impossible.

So they instead came up with a BS theory called ID, which is not substantiated by any scientific experiments at all, and claim it as science. This way all they have to do is fool some board members and get some public backing, then viola! We have religious beliefs taught in public schools. Well that plan kinda failed when people saw it for what it was, now we have religious class offerings.

Before I go further let me explain how theories normally gets into public schools as accepted scientific theory. They go through the scientific process. The creator of a theory validates the findings with studies, experiments, and well drawn conclusions. Then the scientific community examines the theory and findings and will draw conclusions. If the theory is rejected, it is back to the drawing board to get more evidence. Otherwise, congrads you are in.

In fact there was a scientist from Australia that claimed since the 50s stress causes liver failure (I think this is what it was, I am not positive here). He spent years and years of working with patients and conducting studies to show the scientific community he was right. Finally after over 20 years of collecting evidence the scientific community accepted his findings. It is now well known that stress, along with other factors can cause liver failure (or whatever it was, like I said I cannot remember).

This scientist, and many others went through the proper stages to prove their theories. What the hell gives the ID people the right to sidestep this process entirely? What makes them so special?

To answer, nothing! The only reason they are sidestepping the scientific process is because they know ID is developed from religious beliefs and not from science. There isn’t a single scientist that doesn’t promote the teachings of multiple theories. This is in fact a common practice of science teachers. Science teachers and scientists abound do not like teaching beliefs, particularly religious beliefs however.

Now what we have in the article from above are religious classes offered to students. That leads me to ask, what is wrong with church? Have churches gotten sooo bad you have to put religion into schools. Seriously! I have no problem with religions at all. If people want to practice them I have no problem with that. I just want to be able to live my life without someone trying to force their beliefs onto me.

ID people, let the scientists decide if your theory should be taught. And those pushing for religion classes in schools, leave teachings of religion to the churches and outside school activities. Because if we let your religion in, you have to let in mine…