Posts in the category Religion
The issue of religion in the United States has always been one the Supreme Court has been quick to avoid. We can hardly blame them; it’s perhaps the most contentious political topic this nation faces. However, it cannot continually be avoided, and so here in Wisconsin is a case involving a man named Gary Kazmarek. Gary was a Catholic school teacher who abused children in the 1960s, and because of this the Church quietly transferred him. This was despite the promise to the children’s parents that Kazmarek would receive treatment and never have contact with children again. The parents trusted the Church, but after all that he taught at a grade school in Kentucky abusing children in 1968-1973. Read More »
U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-What's Wrong With You Sick, Frothing Morons?) is finally dead. Happy birthday, U.S. of A.
Helms was a hate-slathered cretin, whose campaigns and governing showed American democracy at its worst. "White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories? Frank Graham favors mingling of the races," thundered just one of many Helms' attacks over the decades.
Conservatives are saddened by the news. "Ol' 27 percent" George W. Bush was soiling his White House crying towel, calling Helms "kind," "decent" and "humble."
And while he had some admirers in Wisconsin, most notably Supreme Court Justice-Elect Mike Gableman's ad-writing team, Helms was a racist thug and the world mourns, simply because it took him so, so long to exit the world he befouled for over eight decades.
For my dough, I'm hoping Wonkette Editor Ken Layne has penned in "Jesse Helms: American Garbage," what will be a waterfall of appropriate tributes.
Feel free to add even better ones to the comment portion of this blog. Helms deserves it for all he did to people of color, gays, the poor and this nation's sense of decency.
IS THE POPE A CATHOLIC?
In so many words, some bishops and cardinals have their doubts. After Benedict's speech in June 2005 prohibiting Catholics from using
condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, high ranking church officials
were stunned. AIDS activists in Brazil call the pope's stand criminal.
The spread of AIDS "should be tackled through fidelity and abstinence
and not by condoms," the pope said. Numerous bishops and cardinals
have said this is not the Catholic way. The pope is on the wrong path.
• Six months before the new pope's speech, Cardinal Georges
Cottier, the theologian for the papal household, called for a change in
Vatican policy regarding AIDS prevention.
• In the Fall of 2005 Bishop Kevin Dowling of South Africa stated
that the Vatican ban on the use of condoms to prevent AIDS was morally
unacceptable.
• Cardinals Danneels and Martini joined the chorus of dissent in
April, 2006. They asked for a change in the Pope's policy banning the
use of condoms to fight the spread of AIDS. Ironically, the man who
became pope, Joseph Ratzinger, labored in the Vatican for 24 years
defending Catholic orthodoxy and was now being asked: are you
on the right track? Are you a Catholic? The challenge was
formidable. The pope bristled and blinked. He then ordered a
comprehensive review of Catholic teaching on condom use to prevent AIDS.
Over 365 days have passed and we have no answers. Officials at
the highest level of the church hierarchy are wondering if the
pope is teaching correct Catholic principles. Some of these men feel
there is a better and more enlightened Catholic perspective.
First, a Catholic should respond to human suffering. Time and again we
have heard high ranking bishops say Christians must follow the
commandment: "Thou shalt not kill"(Deut 5:17). Catholics must be
concerned with human life. This is precisely the meaning of Catholic
doctrine: what is believed always, everywhere, and by all. AIDS has
orphaned millions in Latin America and Africa. Thus Catholics should be
allowed--encouraged--to use condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS.
Second, Catholics should take action when it is clear they can make a
difference. With 150 million Catholics in Africa and 120 million in
Brazil the pope must help those who are at high risk of contracting AIDS. Johns Hopkins physician Dr. Thomas Quinn has reminded us that 16,000 new HIV infections occur everyday worldwide. Since the Vatican has been researching the true Catholic stance on this issue, some 5,800,000 new cases of HIV/AIDS have emerged on the planet. Catholic action in favorof the poor and suffering could have saved thousands of lives. Action 5 years ago could have avoided untold millions of deaths. There are 400,000 priests worldwide who could have been engaged in teaching a truly Catholic approach to AIDS prevention. Instead, health care workers report that priests in Tanzania tell parishioners not to use condoms to fight the spread of AIDS. Will the pope be a Catholic to these suffering masses and respond positively to his brother Catholic bishops? While in Brazil last week the pope offered no new insights about AIDS prevention.
Third, Catholics seek enlightened teachers. Young people today are
looking for moral leadership. With church attendance and religious
affiliation at all time lows for 18 to 24-year-olds in the USA, Catholic
leaders must not throw another generation of believers under the bus and drive off into the conservative sunset. The pope and his colleagues may say mass and pray for world peace while visiting Brazil's poor and
oppressed. But now is the time for religion not only to talk the talk.
True holiness calls for meaningful action that values and protects human
life. Does the pope subscribe to such uniquely Catholic principles? His fellow bishops and many lay Catholics are waiting to find out.
R. John Kinkel's latest book is 'Chaos in the Catholic Church.'
In so many words, some bishops and cardinals have their doubts. After Benedict's speech in June 2005 prohibiting Catholics from using
condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, high ranking church officials
were stunned. AIDS activists in Brazil call the pope's stand criminal.
The spread of AIDS "should be tackled through fidelity and abstinence
and not by condoms," the pope said. Numerous bishops and cardinals
have said this is not the Catholic way. The pope is on the wrong path.
• Six months before the new pope's speech, Cardinal Georges
Cottier, the theologian for the papal household, called for a change in
Vatican policy regarding AIDS prevention.
• In the Fall of 2005 Bishop Kevin Dowling of South Africa stated
that the Vatican ban on the use of condoms to prevent AIDS was morally
unacceptable.
• Cardinals Danneels and Martini joined the chorus of dissent in
April, 2006. They asked for a change in the Pope's policy banning the
use of condoms to fight the spread of AIDS. Ironically, the man who
became pope, Joseph Ratzinger, labored in the Vatican for 24 years
defending Catholic orthodoxy and was now being asked: are you
on the right track? Are you a Catholic? The challenge was
formidable. The pope bristled and blinked. He then ordered a
comprehensive review of Catholic teaching on condom use to prevent AIDS.
Over 365 days have passed and we have no answers. Officials at
the highest level of the church hierarchy are wondering if the
pope is teaching correct Catholic principles. Some of these men feel
there is a better and more enlightened Catholic perspective.
First, a Catholic should respond to human suffering. Time and again we
have heard high ranking bishops say Christians must follow the
commandment: "Thou shalt not kill"(Deut 5:17). Catholics must be
concerned with human life. This is precisely the meaning of Catholic
doctrine: what is believed always, everywhere, and by all. AIDS has
orphaned millions in Latin America and Africa. Thus Catholics should be
allowed--encouraged--to use condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS.
Second, Catholics should take action when it is clear they can make a
difference. With 150 million Catholics in Africa and 120 million in
Brazil the pope must help those who are at high risk of contracting AIDS. Johns Hopkins physician Dr. Thomas Quinn has reminded us that 16,000 new HIV infections occur everyday worldwide. Since the Vatican has been researching the true Catholic stance on this issue, some 5,800,000 new cases of HIV/AIDS have emerged on the planet. Catholic action in favorof the poor and suffering could have saved thousands of lives. Action 5 years ago could have avoided untold millions of deaths. There are 400,000 priests worldwide who could have been engaged in teaching a truly Catholic approach to AIDS prevention. Instead, health care workers report that priests in Tanzania tell parishioners not to use condoms to fight the spread of AIDS. Will the pope be a Catholic to these suffering masses and respond positively to his brother Catholic bishops? While in Brazil last week the pope offered no new insights about AIDS prevention.
Third, Catholics seek enlightened teachers. Young people today are
looking for moral leadership. With church attendance and religious
affiliation at all time lows for 18 to 24-year-olds in the USA, Catholic
leaders must not throw another generation of believers under the bus and drive off into the conservative sunset. The pope and his colleagues may say mass and pray for world peace while visiting Brazil's poor and
oppressed. But now is the time for religion not only to talk the talk.
True holiness calls for meaningful action that values and protects human
life. Does the pope subscribe to such uniquely Catholic principles? His fellow bishops and many lay Catholics are waiting to find out.
R. John Kinkel's latest book is 'Chaos in the Catholic Church.'
The New York Times is reporting that the president-elect of the right wing Christian Coalition of America is stepping down. He states that his attempts to broaden the groups agenda have been rejected. He sought to include reducing poverty and to fight global warming in the organization's agenda. The president-elect has said that he believes that the evangelical Christian constituency that is less interested in the passage of certain laws and more focused on "living what Jesus would do." Thus his focus on the environment and poverty.
Link
Link
Wal-Mart has already caved to the "religious right" on their past use of the greeting "Happy Holidays" and now they are backing down to bigotry. Wal-Mart ruffled some feathers of the most extreme elements of the right wing because they dared to give money to gay and lesbian business groups that exist to prevent workplace discrimination among other things. A group that has been awfully boycott happy over the years, the American Family Association, threatened to do just that to Wal-Mart on the two busiest shopping days of the year, just after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately Wal-Mart has caved once again.
They refuse to pay their fairshare for employee's healthcare and will fight to the death to put a big box wherever they desire, but take a stand against bigotry? Unthinkable! If you have any doubts that this is bigotry, you need only ask yourself why would the AFA protest Wal-Mart's giving to a group that stresses workplace equality? Because it is workplace equality for "the gays." AFA has made an industry of stalking the countryside threatening to boycott any and every entity that dares to treat the LGBT Community with any respect and dignity. While many others have stood up on principle against such threats, it is truly a shame that the largest corporation in America has decided to back down to such bigotry.
*This was orginally posted on ONE BlOG at Link
They refuse to pay their fairshare for employee's healthcare and will fight to the death to put a big box wherever they desire, but take a stand against bigotry? Unthinkable! If you have any doubts that this is bigotry, you need only ask yourself why would the AFA protest Wal-Mart's giving to a group that stresses workplace equality? Because it is workplace equality for "the gays." AFA has made an industry of stalking the countryside threatening to boycott any and every entity that dares to treat the LGBT Community with any respect and dignity. While many others have stood up on principle against such threats, it is truly a shame that the largest corporation in America has decided to back down to such bigotry.
*This was orginally posted on ONE BlOG at Link
Wal-Mart has already caved to the "religious right" on their past use of the greeting "Happy Holidays" and now they are backing down to bigotry. Wal-Mart ruffled some feathers of the most extreme elements of the right wing because they dared to give money to gay and lesbian business groups that exist to prevent workplace discrimination among other things. A group that has been awfully boycott happy over the years, the American Family Association, threatened to do just that to Wal-Mart on the two busiest shopping days of the year, just after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately Wal-Mart has caved once again.
They refuse to pay their fairshare for employee's healthcare and will fight to the death to put a big box wherever they desire, but take a stand against bigotry? Unthinkable! If you have any doubts that this is bigotry, you need only ask yourself why would the AFA protest Wal-Mart's giving to a group that stresses workplace equality? Because it is workplace equality for "the gays." AFA has made an industry of stalking the countryside threatening to boycott any and every entity that dares to treat the LGBT Community with any respect and dignity. While many others have stood up on principle against such threats, it is truly a shame that the largest corporation in America has decided to back down to such bigotry.
*This was orginally posted on ONE BlOG at Link
They refuse to pay their fairshare for employee's healthcare and will fight to the death to put a big box wherever they desire, but take a stand against bigotry? Unthinkable! If you have any doubts that this is bigotry, you need only ask yourself why would the AFA protest Wal-Mart's giving to a group that stresses workplace equality? Because it is workplace equality for "the gays." AFA has made an industry of stalking the countryside threatening to boycott any and every entity that dares to treat the LGBT Community with any respect and dignity. While many others have stood up on principle against such threats, it is truly a shame that the largest corporation in America has decided to back down to such bigotry.
*This was orginally posted on ONE BlOG at Link
Glenn Grothman is our albatross, but the voters keep electing him. My own naivete insists that this is because no one really pays attention to what he's been up to and hence, this little blog attempts to put the light on him. Come see us.
Glenn Grothman Watch: What did Glenn Grothman get wrong this week?
hiho
Mpeterson
Glenn Grothman Watch: What did Glenn Grothman get wrong this week?
hiho
Mpeterson
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