the Pope is disgusting

At his end-of-year address to senior Vatican staff 'Pope Benedict XVI . . . said that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour is just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.' [BBC] So instead of a message of love and compassion, instead of words of comfort for those without jobs this Christmas due to the economic crisis, instead of a call for peace in the world's many war zones, this despicable man has come out with a message of bigotry and prejudice. Eradicating a huge group of people, or at least forcing them out of sight (people do not choose to be homosexual, 'God' decides for them in the womb), from the planet is as important as saving the forests. With so little evidence in the Bible, especially the parts dealing with Christ's teaching, to support his pronouncements on homosexuality and transsexual behaviour, we must assume that he is simply falling back on the entrenched homophobia and the urge to control human sexuality that have characterised Catholic teaching down the centuries. It is becoming easier by the day to discover what this man learnt from the Nazis.

His contribution, direct or indirect, to the already superabundant intolerance and hatred in the world makes him an evil man. The sooner people realise this the better. When they do, I hope they will line up outside Catholic churches around the world to denounce their Pope, bishops, and priests.

This Pope is disgusting.

what the church is really about

Once again the Church of England and its many sister congregations around the world seem set to tear themselves apart. The Christian church bears the name of Christ and allegedly models itself on the teachings of Christ. Curiously though, the things that you would expect to matter on the evidence of Christ's teaching, such as poverty, war, torture, corruption, the destruction of the planet (God's creation), globalisation, intolerance, hate, etc., etc. never seem to set Christian pulses racing quite as much sexuality and gender. The latest schism or possibly schisms is or are founded on two distantly related themes. One is homosexuality and the ordination of gay bishops in the States; the other is women and the ordination of women bishops in the United Kingdom. These are the matters that the Church really cares about. The oddest thing about, say, the homosexual debate is that the Bible barely mentions homosexuality; Jesus doesn't, that's for sure, and everything in his teaching suggests that, unlike many of today's Christians, he would have been compassionate and inclusive. In order to get an anti-gay message from the Bible, you really have to dig for it and make personal decisions about fiercely debated language and stories, and while you're digging you conveniently overlook matters on which the Bible doesn't hold back, including:

• DEUTERONOMY 22:13-21
  If it is discovered that a bride is not a virgin, the Bible demands that she be executed by stoning immediately.
• DEUTERONOMY 22:22
  If a married person has sex with someone else's husband or wife, the Bible commands that both adulterers be stoned to death.
• MARK 10:1-12
  Divorce is strictly forbidden in both Testaments, as is remarriage of anyone who has been divorced.
• LEVITICUS 18:19
  The Bible forbids a married couple from having sexual intercourse during a woman's period. If they disobey, both shall be executed.
• MARK 12:18-27
  If a man dies childless, his widow is ordered by biblical law to have intercourse with each of his brothers in turn until she bears her deceased husband a male heir.
• DEUTERONOMY 25:11-12
  If a man gets into a fight with another man and his wife seeks to rescue her husband by grabbing the enemy's genitals, her hand shall be cut off and no pity shall be shown her.

(from the site What the Bibles says - And Doesn't Say - About Homosexuality)

The sad truth about the Church is that its subtext is more important than its publicly proclaimed text. This subtext over many centuries has been the subjugation of women and the control of people's sexuality. Merged with this is the homophobia and misogyny of those now opposed to the presence of gays, lesbians and women bishops.

Let's not automatically respect the Church. By all means give credit to members who genuinely mean and do good, but let's name the rest for what they are: dishonest, deeply flawed, and an open inducement to every cruelty and neurosis in the human psyche.