CHRISTIANS TO BE NO BETTEROFF THAN ROMAN CATHOLICS

From THE HERALD:

Christians could be forced out of job roles in the future because of their beliefs, said former Conservative minister, Ann Widdecombe, during a speech in Plymouth. The Roman Catholic convert said: "If you are a Christian then I believe that in the future there will be things that you just will not be able to do.

That would put Christians in exactly the same position as all those Roman Catholic theologians and priests who have lost their jobs over the years, sacked by the Roman Catholic hierarchy because of their beliefs.

SONY KILLED JESUS

From AZCENTRAL:

The Jacksons believe their brother Michael Jackson was persecuted like Jesus. Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, Jermaine said: "God blessed him because he knew what Michael was going to do with his talent. He was a voice for children who were starving, and he brought the world sing like 'We Are The World', 'Heal The World' and 'Man In The Mirror'. Everything he did was for the betterment of mankind. Look what Jesus did when he walked the earth. He did all those miracles and they still found a way to nail him up on that cross."

The four brothers went on to allege Dr. Conrad Murray - who is currently serving jail time for involuntary manslaughter for his part in Michael's death from Propofol intoxication in June 2009 - was a stooge of his record company Sony and they believe the label deliberately orchestrated his downfall by planting allegations of child molestation in the media. The 'Thriller' singer bought a 50 per cent stake in Sony/ATV in 1985 and his siblings have a "conspiracy theory" that the label wanted to diminish his popularity and power to wrestle control of the valuable catalogue of songs back from Michael.

Jermaine accusingly said: "Bottom line? They killed him. The doctor was just a figure in a bigger hand."

He wasn't the Messiah he was a person with a lot of issues who sang pop songs and danced a bit. If he didn't want to be accused of child abuse he shouldn't have slept with children.

ROOT OF ALL EVIL CANAL TREATMENT

From THE TENNESSEAN:

Andrew Byrd has filed a $3.7 lawsuit against the Family Chapel Church of God in Pigeon Forge; pastor Joel Arwood; Arwood's wife, Theresa Arwood; and Charles Shields. Byrd said the Arwoods asked to meet him last February at the church, where Teresa Arwood claimed he had a demon in him. Byrd said Joel Arwood and Shields jumped him, knocking out a tooth crown and cracking other teeth.

The lawsuit said Arwood later bragged to his congregation that he had "punched the devil and knocked the devil's tooth out."

WHILE WE WERE WITH HIMON THE HOLY MOUNTAIN

Full story at THE HUFFINGTON POST.

PAPROCKI CALLS FOR OUTLAWING OF ALL CRITICISM OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM- ESPECIALLY FROM EPISCOPALIANS

You have to admire the gall of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. The men in charge are so convinced of their own superiority over everybody, not just their own laity, that they would, given the chance, silence all criticism of themselves and their sick dogmas. This arrogance is substantially proved by Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Springfield Catholic diocese's bleating about how anti-catholic Episcopal priest, Tom Ehrich, is for criticising Pope Benedict XVI's stubborn refusal to regard women and homosexuals as human beings equal in worth to straight men. The following quotation, from his guest column for the STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER is an absolute peach of special pleading.

"Others who do not share our faith may also disagree with the church’s teaching that the Sacrament of Holy Orders is reserved to men and that homosexual acts are sinful, but that does not warrant the pejorative characterization of Roman Catholicism as 'male-centric' and 'homophobic.' These are matters of religious faith, which should be off-limits to attack in a religiously tolerant society, especially from someone who does not share that faith."

He said it. He's a Roman Catholic bishop. So it must be true.

It would be just about possible to defend his statement if "the faithful" kept their perverse ideas entirely to themselves. But, in the USA alone, the Roman Catholic hierarchy has committed vast amounts of money and effort into trying to subject the law of the nation to their excluding doctrines and have even tried to force Roman Catholic politicians to vote Catholic by threatening to excommunicate them if they dare to follow their own consciences rather than instructions from the Vatican.

Male-centric, homophobic and hypocritical..

RECORD SLEEVES WITH DOGS ON (23)

This is the front cover of the E.P. "Esa Sorola Vol 2" by Esa Sorola,
a single I actually own and which is rather good.

RECORD SLEEVES WITH CATS ON (4)

POPE RESIGNS TO AVOID HYPOCRISY H-BOMB

Here it is then. The reason why Ratzinger resigned. To be honest, unless all the cardinals take the opportunity of the conclave to choose his successor to also announce their own resignations I think that Roman Catholicism will be dead as far as the modern countries of the world are concerned. No doubt it will hang on, even prosper, in those parts of the world where the sexual hypocrisy of men is not only tolerated but expected, but any western catholic who still owns up to their membership of the institution of lies is going to need pretty thick skin and the ability not to get upset when people either laugh or spit at them.

From THE GUARDIAN:

A potentially explosive report has linked the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI to the discovery of a network of gay prelates in the Vatican, some of whom – the report said – were being blackmailed by outsiders. The pope's spokesman declined to confirm or deny the report, which was carried by the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica.

The paper said the pope had taken the decision on 17 December that he was going to resign – the day he received a dossier compiled by three cardinals delegated to look into the so-called "Vatileaks" affair.

According to La Repubblica, the dossier comprising "two volumes of almost 300 pages – bound in red" had been consigned to a safe in the papal apartments and would be delivered to the pope's successor upon his election.

La Repubblica quoted a source "very close to those who wrote [the cardinal's report]" as saying: "Everything revolves around the non-observance of the sixth and seventh commandments." The seventh enjoins against theft. The sixth forbids adultery, but is linked in Catholic doctrine to the proscribing of homosexual acts. The newspaper said the cardinals' report identified a series of meeting places in and around Rome. They included a villa outside the Italian capital, a sauna in a Rome suburb, a beauty parlour in the centre, and a former university residence that was in use by a provincial Italian archbishop.

Now, to be honest, I'm not in the slightest bit interested in the sexual pursuits of other people as long as nobody gets hurt, not even if it involves the pope himself. The scandal here is the extreme level of hypocrisy involved. How many priests and theologians have been sacked during Benedict XVI's reign of terror for just suggesting that priests need not be celibate and that maybe being gay isn't the crime against nature and God that the men at the top insisted that it is. When you add these revelations to the child sex abuse scandal, the Magdalene Laundries scandal,all the cover ups and the blackmail of politicians throughout the world, I cannot see how any person of good conscience will be able to stay as a member of the Roman catholic church if there isn't an immediate cull of all those presently in positions of authority. Anything less than this would be a compromise with the devil.

I only hope that the shit that is about to hit the Roman Catholic fan scares the living daylights out of all the Church of England bishops who presently denounce gay relationships and gay clergy in public whilst shagging their male lovers behind the doors of their palaces.

NERD ALERT

You might think the following story is humorous. I don't. That's because all my life I have been the person who gets stuck behind nerds like this in the queue. Quite honestly, instead of going on and on about what is being taught about the origins of life he should go out and get one. Four letters, first letter "t" and last letter 't".

A typical Pastafarian
Typically not getting a lot of sex

From THE INQUISITR:

Motor vehicle workers in New Jersey called the police on a man who refused to take a spaghetti strainer off his head while taking his driver's license photo.

The man said he was a Pastafarian, a group that's against teaching creationism in schools.

Aaron Williams said his strainer was a religious head covering and that he had a right to wear it.

Police informed Williams that a pasta strainer was not approved by the MVC and convinced him to take the photo without it. The incident occurred on February 2.

FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

From CINCINNATI.COM:

A Greater Cincinnati nun is suspected of illegally casting a ballot for another nun who died before last November’s election. Sister Rose Marie Hewitt, 78, died Oct. 4 after a 59-year career as a Sister of Charity. Although her death occurred before absentee ballots had been mailed to voters throughout Hamilton County, a completed ballot was returned to the elections board in Hewitt’s name. Officials believe the ballot was sent by another local Sister of Charity who was a friend of Hewitt and is registered at the same Delhi Township address. That person cast her own vote at her polling place on Election Day.

IT'S A CRAP JOB BUT SOMEBODY'S GOT TO DO IT

From THURSTON TALK:

In many religious customs, it’s not uncommon to say a blessing for the things that are dear to us. Before a meal, a prayer is said to give thanks for the food on our plates. New houses are blessed to protect its inhabitants from misfortune. Some congregations even bless pets to ensure they will be reunited with their owners in the afterlife. But one local church is blessing something that some people might consider a bit unconventional: toilet paper.

Olympia’s Good Shepherd Church is building a pyramid of donated toilet paper that will be donated to The YWCA’s Other Bank, a program that provides free personal hygiene products and cleaning supplies to thousands of low-income individuals and families in Thurston County each year. But before the stack of toilet paper is delivered to The Other Bank, The Rev. Chuck Harris will perform a blessing ceremony for the donated goods.

Harris says. “I like to use the ceremony to remind us that God loves us and cares about us and even the most basic parts of our bodies. You can’t help but laugh when you see the look on peoples’ faces when they see you bless the toilet paper. It’s just precious and it brings attention to The Other Bank program.”

The “Blessing of The Toilet Paper” ceremony will take place following the 8:30 a.m. service on Sunday, March 3 at the Good Shepherd Church, 1601 North St. SE, in Olympia. Anyone wishing to add to the pyramid of toilet paper can bring their donations to the church between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. seven days a week.

COFFEE BREAK

For KJ.

GOD OF MILK ON TAP AT SHINTO SHRINE

From ROCKET NEWS:

Coming across this Shinto shrine in Soja Okayama by chance you might think you’ve stumbled into a cartoon eye factory. However, this is Karube Shrine, also known as Oppai Jinja or Boobs Shrine. Shinto shrines in Japan are all said to enshrine a certain deity or deities. Boobs Shrine houses five Shinto gods, yet none of them have anything to do with women’s breasts. However, a long time ago people believed that the God of Milk existed in this area. For a long time the God of Milk was only known to the local people. However, a TV variety program from the 80s and 90s, featured Karube Shrine during a segment on unusual temples and shrines. Since then Boobs Shrine has gotten nationwide recognition and women with breast concerns all over the nation have come to pray for their health.

Since the God of Milk isn’t an official god of the temple the offering doesn’t have to be done in the traditional way. In fact, the Soja-Kibiji Chamber of Commerce has also set up a long-distance offering kit. For around 2,000 yen (US$21), you can buy an ema pre-fitted with a pair of boobs delivered to your home. You can write your wish and send it back to the Chamber of Commerce who will offer it up to the God of Milk for you. These kits are also useful for locals to who just can’t make the time to craft some breasts of their own, and it comes with a sporty teat shaped charm you can keep with you at all times.

I realise that all this might appear a little strange to those of you from western cultures but I think it's one of those things that you shouldn't really knock until you have tried it for yourself. Or, to put it simply, suck it and see!

BEIBER FAN DISCOVERED AT UNIVERSITY

That is just so insulting. I can think of nothing worse than being accosted in the street and accused of liking Justin Beiber. I mean, what would people think of me. If I was a Justin Beiber fan I would, most certainly, keep that fact well and truly locked away in the closet.

But what I don't understand is how a Justin Beiber fan managed to pass the exams to get into college.

OH, FOR GOODNESS SAKE!

From LOS ANGELES TIMES:

A civil rights lawsuit was filed Wednesday aimed at stopping the teaching of yoga in Encinitas public schools on the grounds that yoga represents religious indoctrination.

Having the program in the nine schools of the K-6 district "represents a serious breach of the public trust" and a violation of state law that prohibits religious instruction in public schools, said Dean Broyles, attorney for the Escondido-based National Center for Law and Policy.

Yoga, the lawsuit asserts, "is inherently and pervasively religious, having its roots firmly planted in Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist and western metaphysical religious beliefs and practices."


If the roots of yoga are firmly planted in so many different religions then it is obviously primarily a cultural, rather than religious thing. If it is a part of so many religions then which religion exactly are the school teachers indoctrinating their students into?

Okay, yoga is used as part of the religious practice of adherents of certain religions but an evangelical church near to where I used to live ran keep fit classes "for Jesus" every week but that didn't make all work outs intrinsically Christian. Buddhists meditate. So do sufis and so do Christian mystics. Does that mean that sitting still and being quiet should be banned from all schools? Heck, that was pretty much what was expected of us kids when I was at school.

Perhaps there should be no singing in American schools. I mean all sorts of religious people sing in their places of worship. It's a slippery slope. One day the kids are singing "The Star Spangled Banner" and the next thing you know they're running through the streets of their neighbourhoods crooning "Shine, Jesus, Shine" at the top of their voices and the world ends.

CLICKING CATHOLICS

From THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:

Ed Steiner, the priest at Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's Catholic church in Nashville, Tennessee, is so convinced the celebrity couple will stay together forever that he has offered to quit his post if they split.

"If I were to hear that they were breaking up, I think I would just have to give up my job," he said.

"Their body language suggests that they are a man and woman madly in love. Just to see them strolling about the campus, they are like a couple that are clicking."

Actually, the clicking is probably just Nicole's replacement hip playing up in the damp weather.

CATHOLIC PATRIARCHY DECREES WOMENCAN'T BE PRIESTS OR PLAY FOOTBALL

From MSNBC:

Anything boys can do, she can do better. Or at least that’s what one 11-year-old girl in Philadelphia is trying to prove on the gridiron. Caroline Pla has been playing football (not proper football but American football) since she was 5 years old. She was an all-star offensive guard for the Catholic Youth Organization football league in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and was the only girl and played for the CYO Our Lady of Mount Carmel league in Bucks County for two seasons. She was planning to return for a third. But that was until the Archdiocese of Philadelphia stepped in.

“[Her father and I] were told in the middle of the season that Caroline could no longer play because 'football is for boys,’” says Marycecelia Pla, Caroline’s mother.

Her mother began a petition on Change.org to encourage the Archdiocese to change its “no-girls” policy. The petition reads in part: “Caroline wants more than anything that this rule be updated and modernized to reflect the times. Simply change the rule and allow girls to play.”

The petition currently has more than 100,000 signatures.

Larry Mendte, a writer for “Philadelphia” magazine who has been following the controversy says the ban isn’t just because Caroline is a girl. He writes, “Pla was banned from playing football because she is a girl and she is good.”

I've got a copy of "The Catechism of the Catholic Church" and nowhere in it is anything about American football or any other team sports. Certainly it does not go into detail about who can play and who can't play in the Doylestown Catholic Youth Organization football league. It's almost as if God doesn't care.

Actually I can think of a few reasons why a young girl shouldn't play a contact sport with a bunch of young lads approaching that confusing time of their lives, which could be argued to be valid. But none of them are, "Because football is for boys."

Personally I'm all for women playing football, rugby, cricket, all team sports in fact. The only thing that I think the authorities should insist upon is that the female competitors wear nice, short skirts like the women wear in tennis, rather than trousers or even shorts. I realise that my suggestion may be regarded in some quarters as being sexist in tone. In my defence I would point out that I am more than happy for male competitors in such sports to be expected to wear nice, short skirts as well. In fact, I think nice, short skirts on both sexes would result in an increase in the popularity the games, more income for sportswomen and the added bonus of a greater toleration of transvestitism within society.

CALVARY BAPTIST SUSPEND GYRATING STUDENTS

From SHREVEPORT TIMES:

About 40 students between eighth and 12th grade were suspended by Calvary Baptist Academy on Wednesday for their part in one of three videos with students performing the “Harlem Shake.” The videos feature members of the school’s baseball and wrestling teams, as well as a high school English class. School officials say the video is “vulgar” because of the students’ attire and gyrations.

Oh, for goodness sake. If my secondary school had overreacted like this every time a student did something potentially embarrassing there wouldn't have been any kids left in the school by the end of the first semester.

Of course, this has nothing to do with the school's image and everything to do with the men who run the place having complete control of the students, what they think, what they say, what they do. This is the same in pretty much all religious institutions. The Southern Baptists are merely a rather extreme example. But at least they are honest unlike churches in the Anglican Communion, for example, whose in charge people pretend in public to be so very liberal and freedom loving whilst privately keeping a very tight rein on every aspect of their organisations by judicious dismissal and silencing of any of its members who are prepared to say out loud that their emperors have no clothes, so to speak.

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE BENEDICT RESIGNATION

For the real facts as to why the Holy father has decided to do a bunk, straight from the horses mouth, so to speak, check out "Don't Believe HR About Why I Left" By Pope Benedict over on the GOBLINBOOKS blog.

Thanks to Ellie for the tip off.

RECORD SLEEVES WITH CATS ON (3)

This is the front cover of the album "Yellow Chair" 
by Sadayoshi Atsumi and very good it is too.

A DEFINITE CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY

From NEWSDAY (Zimbabwe):

Speaking during a party meeting on Saturday, ZANU PF provincial chairman for Bulawayo, Killian Sibanda, described Robert Mugabe as a man of integrity and good social standing who was like the biblical Jesus. He said according to the Bible, Jesus performed numerous miracles, including raising Lazarus from the dead, but was persecuted despite all the good that He had done for His people.

My goodness! Zimbabwean political campaigning is just like political campaigning in the USA.

WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN?

From THE SIDESHOW:

Shortly after his pet boxer passed away, New Hampshire man, Jamie Carpentier went online and looked at pictures on the Humane Society of Greater Nashua website where he saw a familiar face: his old basset hound, Ginger.

Ten years ago, Carpentier's ex-wife got Ginger in the divorce. But she gave up Ginger a short time later. The dog was adopted, but 10 years later had become too much work for her elderly owner who surrendered Ginger to the Humane Society. Carpentier happened to log on to the right site at the right time.

"She seemed like she knew it was me," Carpentier said about picking up his old/new dog.

"I have her now, and she has a place to live and stay. The end. It’s awesome,” he said.

THE POSSIBILITY OF OPPOSING INFALLIBILITIES

Will God take away Joseph Ratzinger's infallibility when he stops being Benedict XVI at the end of February? If not will it mean that when the new pope is elected there will, for the first time ever (because popes were not infallible until late in the nineteenth century) be two infallible people on earth at the same time?

WTF will happen if the previous pope disagrees with the new pope? Will it result in a catastrophic paradox that, like matter occupying the same space as anti-matter, will result it one almighty explosion that will blow us all to kingdom come?

I think we best play safe and leave the planet now.

CHILD ABUSERS THOUGHT PRESLEY WAS SATAN

According to Ivor Casey, author of the book, "Elvis and Ireland," the swinging hips of Elvis Presley, that so excited Irish young people, set off alarm bells among the Catholic Church’s hierarchy, who feared they would lead men and women to ruin. One archbishop actually set up a secret committee of busybodies and snoops to spy on teenagers who dared to listen to rock ‘n’ roll music.

"Many priests howled their condemnations from the pulpit and criticized, in ferocious anger, their disgust with rock ‘n’ roll music. They roared that Elvis was slouched at the left hand of Satan with a distinctive plan for the corruption of the young people of Ireland," claims Casey.

This was at the same time that Roman Catholic priests were buggering boys in penal establishments they cynically called schools and Roman Catholic nuns were chopping off the hair and torturing young women who had been sentenced to hard labour in the Magdalene Laundries for the crime of being raped.

"Elvis and Ireland" by Ivor Casey can be purchased from Amazon.

WHATEVER TURNS YOU ON

The Kangjiashimenji Petroglyphs, in Xinjiang, north-west China, depict an intense fertility ritual and are some of the earliest known examples of what we these days might dub pornography.

The cast of about 100 figures, which range in size from more than nine feet tall to just a few inches, are taking part in what is obviously an orgy as fertility ritual. Women seem to initiate the proceedings. Males, on the other hand, are depicted as smaller with spindly stick legs, bare heads and mainly erect penises. Many of the figures appear to depict transexuals combining both male and female features. They have erect penises but are wearing female headgear and chest decorations.

Full story and more dirty pictures at THE DAILY MAIL.

RETIRED NURSE BESTS HEAD OFROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

A 65-year-old former nurse has delivered a withering telling off to the Archbishop of Westminster – England’s most senior Catholic – for his stance on gay marriage. She has requested to remain anonymous but asked GAY STAR NEWS to share her letter. WShe has received a reply from Nichols, but it failed to address the substance of her comments. Here is her letter in full:

Dear Archbishop,

I listened to your letter of Sunday 3 February in which you asked us as a matter of urgency to either send a postcard provided or write to our local MP to request him to vote against the government’s proposed legislation to legalize same-sex marriage. I came out of the church with two thoughts and one resolve. Firstly I thought ‘Lord pity and help any gay person sitting listening to that letter’ not a word a charity or understanding did it contain. Secondly I thought or asked ‘Where in that is the love of Christ for all humankind?’ My resolve was not to contact my MP.

That decision was not made because of the tone of your letter however. I do not find it at all easy or even possible to uphold the church’s teaching on homosexuality. Among gay people of my acquaintance are those who have a deep spiritual life, to have one’s sexual orientation, an orientation that one is born with, described as an ‘objective disorder’ and to hear homosexual acts described as ‘intrinsically evil’ surely makes it almost impossible to feel at home or welcome in the church. It is utterly unrealistic to expect homosexual people to live celibate lives (We all know that many priests find this very difficult and sometimes impossible). The revelations of clerical sex abuse have led many of us to look with a very critical eye on the so-called celibate life and to realize that it has all to often lead to warped and destructive behavior.

To return to same-sex marriage, can it be abhorrent that two people of the same sex would wish to experience that emotional and physical closeness that marriage offers? We believe that God is love and so it must follow that in every loving and committed relationship God must be present – or does this, in your understanding, only apply in heterosexual relationships? Is heterosexuality more valued by God and by the church than homosexuality? You are, I suppose, aware that there are more than a few homosexual men in the priesthood and that nowadays heterosexual men are much less willing to embrace the celibate life. Is the good work done by such men less valuable in the eyes of this church? If so is it further evidence of its dysfunctional state?

I am 65 years of age and have been married for almost 30 years. I would so have appreciated an explanation from you or any of the hierarchy exactly how my long and happy marriage will be threatened by the union of gay couples. When I meet people in my day to day existence they talk about the economic climate (bad), lack of employment (bad), uncertain future for their children (bad), state of schools, hospitals (bad) – never ever has anybody expressed concern about a threat to their marriage by the proposed legalizing of same-sex marriage. You, the church, claim that marriage is the bedrock of society and indeed it is but you also seem to consider it so fragile that allowing a few gay people access to it will endanger it forever. Here the implicit homophobia cannot be ignored.

Sadly you still think your pronouncements will be accepted without question by a meek credulous herd. You have spent far too much time telling us just how sinful we are while drawing veils of respectability over your own grievous wrongdoings.

I sometimes despair of this church, this institution. It seems to me in my reading of the Gospels that Jesus had no problem whatsoever with those who were considered outsiders or exceptions. He appears to have happily shared meals with prostitutes, drunkards, lepers, Gentiles and I do not doubt with people of same-sex orientation since such an orientation has existed since time began. The church seems much happier with its version of order over compassion and love towards the so-called exceptions. It has an appalling history of excluding and torturing those who do not think or subscribe to its definition of ‘right’.

The world is facing disaster on all levels and this church, when not obsessing about matters sexual, spends an inordinate amount of time on pointless activities such as changing the liturgy back to a correct translation of the original Latin – a language not spoken by Jesus but spoken by the oppressors of his time and country. Do you imagine that this obsession with precisely translated texts will win you a single new adherent? To me, you (particularly but not exclusively the hierarchy) appear to be a frightened group of men preoccupied with titles, clothing and other religious externals. You seem, with some wonderful and brave exceptions, to pay only lip service to ecumenism and matters of social justice. I would love to see the so-called ‘Princes of the Church’ (Where did all these triumphant, utterly anti-Gospel titles you award yourselves come from?) get rid of the silk, the gold, the Gucci shoes, the ridiculous tall hats, croziers, fancy soutanes etc etc and substitute bare heads and a simple pilgrim’s staff on all liturgical occasions and that might be taken as a small outward sign of your inner acceptance of fundamental Gospel values.

I seem to have digressed somewhat but to return to where I started, same-sex marriage. I will always be unsure of the validity of any principle or opinion that makes one act in an unkind or intolerant way. Toleration, of course, has its limits, I want you to cry out against injustice and cruelty. Explain to me please exactly how marriage will be ‘changed forever’ by the proposed new laws, specifically tell me how my marriage will be threatened.

I admit that I am not very well versed on biblical texts and I know that there are those who can find a text to confirm any prejudice without having to resort to any sort of reasonable debate but surely if we accept one piece of scripture (Lev 18:22) which declares homosexuality to be an abomination, to judge what is right or wrong, we must accept them all. Following this logic we are therefore forbidden to wear garments made of two different kinds of thread (Lev 19:19), men must never have their hair trimmed especially around the temples (Lev 19:27). According to Lev 25:44 I may possess slaves provided they are purchased from neighboring nations, not sure if this applies to non-members of the EU! As for organizing the stoning of transgressors – well, a logistical nightmare!

Archbishop, we have grasped the principles of evolution, stopped burning witches and holding heresy trials, discounted the flat earth theory. Do you now think we could move the debate about equal human rights for people of same-sex orientation and also the status of women in the church on by a few millennia please?

GETTING DOWN WIT DA YOOT

If you are American and liberal in outlook
PLEASE DO NOT PRESS PLAY!

Europeans who inherently understand satire, go ahead!

IRELAND APOLOGISES TO MAGDALENESROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH DOESN'T

The people of Ireland moved even further away from its previous enthralment to Roman Catholicism on Tuesday when Prime Minister Enda Kenny made an emotional state apology for the decades of abuses in the so-called Magdalene Laundries.

"By any standards it was a cruel, pitiless Ireland, distinctly lacking in a quality of mercy," Kenny said, as dozens of former Magdalenes watched tearfully from parliament's public gallery overhead.

Kenny told lawmakers his government has appointed a senior judge to recommend an aid program for the approximately 1,000 women still living from the residential workhouses, the last of which closed in 1996. He also pledged government funding for the erection of a national memorial "to remind us all of this dark part of our history."

"As a society, for many years we failed you. We forgot you or, if we thought of you at all, we did so in untrue and offensive stereotypes. This is a national shame, for which I say again: I am deeply sorry and offer my full and heartfelt apologies," he said.

Full story at ABC NEWS.

PRAYING TO SATAN

During the Monday broadcast of AFA’s Focal Point radio show, the director of issues analysis of the fundamentalist American Family Association, Bryan Fischer had this to say about the democratically elected leader of the United States Of America:

“One of the reason that I pray for President Obama — and virtually every day pray for him by name — is that Jesus taught us to pray for our enemies and for those that persecute us. We should be under no illusions here. President Obama is not our friend, President Obama is our enemy. He is seeking to restrict religious liberty. He wants to confine the First Amendment free exercise of religion clause to one hour a week.

"So why do we pray for him? And it’s genuine, I pray for him, it’s genuine. It’s not pro forma prayer. I pray for him as genuinely as I pray for anyone else because Jesus taught us to pray for our enemies.”

WHOOPS!

From MEDIA ITE:

Roman Catholic priest, Father Joseph Krupp is the chaplain for the Michigan State University football team, and happens to be a fan of MSU sports in general. In anticipation of yesterday's MSU vs. Indiana basketball game, Krupp tweeted out the following...

Ouch!

Father Joseph did sincerely apologise later for any ambiguity in his tweet which, he says, and I believe him, was "truly meant for laughs."

AFRICAN POPE MIGHT OFFER POSSIBILITY OF REGULAR SEX FOR ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS

From THE DAILY MAIL:

The African cardinal widely tipped to be the first black pope in modern history faced a firestorm of criticism last night after he laid the blame for clerical sex abuse crises at the feet of gay priests. Cardinal Peter Turkson, who comes from Ghana, told an American journalist that similar sex scandals would never convulse churches in Africa because the culture was inimical to homosexuality.

"African traditional systems kind of protect or have protected its population against this tendency. Because in several communities, in several cultures in Africa homosexuality or for that matter any affair between two sexes of the same kind, are not countenanced in our society. So that cultural taboo, that tradition has been there. It has served to keep it out," said Cardinal Turkson.

That an African cardinal is a homophobe is no surprise (certainly not to those of us from the Anglican Communion who have had to put up with the macho breast beating and rantings of bishops such as Peter Akinola). But it may end up as being interesting. John Hooper, for THE OBSERVER, has this to say about what might happen if an African gets the nod in conclave.

Traditionally-minded Catholics might see one major change resulting from an African pope; the tradition of priestly celibacy.

Because of that tradition, combined with the contemporary intolerance of the laity towards unmarried relationships between priests and their "housekeepers", it would appear that the number of gay men in the Catholic priesthood has increased.

Sharon Ferguson, chief executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, said: "A lot of gay young men brought up in Catholic households see the priesthood as a potential answer to the question: 'Why aren't you married yet?'"

In one of his earliest moves, pope Benedict barred sexually active homosexual men from studying for the priesthood. Yet, three years ago, using hidden cameras, the Italian news weekly Panorama captured priests in Rome visiting gay clubs and bars and having sex.

That sort of thing would run into very vigorous opposition from the kind of no-nonsense African and Asian cardinals being touted as candidates for the throne of St Peter. Their attitude – of revulsion towards homosexuality – could, however, prompt a distinctly non-traditional reform. Time and again, bishops on visits to Rome have stressed that, in many African cultures, a man without a woman beyond a certain age incites suspicion and lacks authority. That puts a Catholic priest at a notable disadvantage to the local imam in many of the areas where Christianity is competing with Islam for ascendancy. And since that is one of the most important challenges facing the church, a black pope could put an end to priestly celibacy.

"Shall we dance?"

NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN

From THE GALWAY INDEPENDENT:

Following Tuesday’s Father Ted table quiz, the TedFest madness continues on Thursday with the ‘Mainland’ Ball, featuring The Hairy Bowsies and Frank Sanazi followed by a ‘Lovely Girls’ competition, hosted by Danny Dowling at the Róisín Dubh.

The Hairy Bowsies are Ding-Dong Denny O’Reilly (Paul Woodfull) and Scribbler O’Donohue (Joe Rooney, also known as Fr Damo), and they play songs such as ‘Animals are B**tards’ and ‘The Craic We Had The Day We Died For Ireland’.

Presenting his outrageous ‘Das Vegas’ cabaret, Frank Sanazi is a cross between a Rat Pack style singer and Der Führer. Naturally therefore, he croons his way through numbers like ‘Third Reich’, to the tune of ‘That’s Life’ and his touching ode to terrorist hijackings ‘Strangers On My Flight’.

Following the musical entertainment, three lovely ladies will battle it out on stage for the honour of being Miss Lovely Girl 2013. Events include sandwich making, lovely laugh and walking around traffic cones.

The final night of TedFest 2013 takes place at the Róisín Dubh on Thursday, 21 February at 8.30pm. Tickets are €12.50 or €10 at www.roisindubh.net.

It's all good, clean fun.

BILLERICAY CHRISTIANS CONFUSESCARECROW WITH SON OF GOD

Jon Pertwee as "Worzel Gummidge"

One of the problems of following a religion that is 2000 years old is that there are no photographs or YouTube clips of its founders. In Christianity's case there aren't even any paintings of Jesus around, so people are left with no alternative other than having to imagine what he looked like. Most of the faithful over the years, at least those in the Western Church, have agreed that Christ was a tall, white, Northern European adonis with a beard and long, flowing hair (rather similar to Robert Plant when Led Zeppelin were at the height of their fame). However, this view of Christ is not universal. For example, in the town of Billericay in Essex, England, the local Christians have traditionally held that Jesus Christ looked like Jon Pertwee's seminal portrayal of Worzel Gummidge in the ITV series of the same name that ran between 1979 and 1981. Usually this eccentric understanding of Our Lord's visage is a harmless idiosyncrasy but occasionally it does cause problems, especially for local farmers and others involved in the rural economy of the region, as the following report from THIS IS TOTAL ESSEX illustrates very clearly.

A giant scarecrow mounted on a 20 foot cross has been agitating more than just birds in Billericay. The gigantic stuffed figure, complete with a miniature counterpart, has been erected in a Jesus-like pose at the junction of Barleylands Road and Southend Road – and many of the area's Christians are not happy.

​One mother from Billericay, who refused to give her name, said: "I think it's incredibly distasteful and it is making fun of Jesus. I drove past the scarecrow with my daughter and she said, 'Look, Mummy, there's a man on a cross.' It's an unmistakable crucifix and it's making a mockery out of my religion."

Robert Christ - lead singer of Led Zeppelin 

David Finkle, general manager at Barleylands Farm Park and Craft Village, who helped to make the scarecrow and its smaller equivalent, claims they are to promote the farm's half-term activities for children. But this is obviously a lie and, in reality, he is the Antichrist come to earth to lead an army of demons against the Christians of Essex in the ongoing "war against religion." Which, at least, let's Barack Obama off the hook.

NO MORE MISTER NICE JESUS

ART THERAPY

Kevin Frayer, a photographer with The Associated Press, took a series of photos of Hindu holy men before and after they had their beards and hair shaved off as part of the initiation ritual to become Naga Sadhus. Check out NBC's PHOTOBLOG for some excellent portrait photography. Although maybe a bit scary - I wouldn't want to meet Baba Sanjay down a dark alley late at night. I'm sure he's a lovely man and all that - but those eyes...

From PRI's THE WORLD:

In L’Hospitalet, near Barcelona, a priest let a bunch of graffiti artists go to town on his church. Specifically, on the dome ceiling above the main altar. The Santa Eulalia church is neo-Romanesque in design, with a Catalan twist. Inside it’s austere. The walls are painted nondescript colors, the statues of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and the Saints are simple. To compensate Father Ramon Borr decided to make the main dome a little different. In the ante-chamber of the church on a recent evening, he recalled how he came upon the idea last year, surfing the web. He said to himself, why not graffiti?

“Even though the press is scandalized by graffiti artists,” he said, “for me graffiti is just another artistic technique.”

The result is a spectacular splash of colors – rich blues, bright reds and greens, on the rounded ceiling dominating the main sanctuary. But don’t think street art. In fact, the style of the painting is faithfully Romanesque, with static, two-dimensional renderings of Saint Eulalia, the Virgin and Baby Jesus and the congregation. Borr says he sent his two young graffiti artists to school before he let them near the place.

“I told them they couldn’t start until they visited a museum in Barcelona to study the Romanesque style I was interested in,” he said. “So they went, and studied, even took out some books.”

Only after that could the project come together. I must say, I really like it. But it's quite different to the graffiti art you get on the bus shelters round my way.

A belated happy birthday to The Angel Of The North who was 15 years old on 14th. February.

Anthony Gormley’s website states that he “wanted to make an object that would be a focus of hope at a painful time of transition for people of the north-east, abandoned in the gap between the industrial and the information ages”.

To say the least this momentous sculpture has done just this, as it has had millions visitors as well as the 90,000 drivers that pass it each day. Standing 20 metres tall and spanning 54 metres across, it is hard to miss. A key aspect Gormley wanted to emphasis was the past strong industrial state of the North East. Below the Angel lay the coals mines that had been worked in for two centuries before hand. It is these connections that have made the Angel of North part of the North East’s culture and heritage. (NEWCASTLE FREE PRESS)

It's just a shame about the graffiti.

Check out more great photos, this time of Trappist monks, on the GUARDIAN website. They are from an exhibition on at Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, until 9th. March.

On Monday, international architect schmidt hammer lassen announced the inauguration of the Cathedral of the Northern Lights in Alta, Norway, some 500 km (311 miles) inside the Arctic Circle. The metallic spiral form of the building is clad in titanium. Check out GIZMAG for more excellent photos, including some of the interior that should appeal to a good few of OCICBW...'s TEC readers amongst others.

THE WAR ON FUN

Those of you who are regular readers of this blog will know by now that I hate being told what to do and I will roundly condemn the Vatican when they try and poke their unenlightened, closeted gay, male noses into the affairs of my country even though I know I will be accused of anti-Catholicism. Therefore, you will not be surprised that I don't give a damn if people accuse me of Islamophobia when I make statements such as, "On the whole, Pakistani, muslim immigrants to England are working towards, if not the Islamisation of their new country, then at least, the creation of geographical ghettos where everything can be like is back home, even though many of their social practices and ideologies are abhorrent to most modern day English people of philosophically Christian descent. To be honest, I cannot see how there can be peaceful coexistence between two ethnic groups when the incoming ethnic group has no intention of assimilating into the existing culture and every intention of forcing their beliefs on their new society, using violence if they think it necessary. I mean, you only have to look at the situation of the first peoples in the States, or the Aborigines in Australia, or the Amazonian tribespeople in Brazil to see what happens when a proselytising (religious, political or social) group moves en masse into a different culture that is unable or unwilling to thwart their aspirations.

From THE INDEPENDENT:

In the last few weeks, Al Jazeera has been posting videos on its global web site of Islamic vigilantes “patrolling”, as it puts it, the streets of Whitechapel ensuring that the various British citizens inhabiting its pavements are doing their best to conform to shar’ia law. A notorious instance involved an unfortunate, and wholly innocent, gay man who was told that he was “dirty” and should get out of the neighborhood immediately. “Yes,” he was forced to say, presumably under the threat of a boot in the groin, “I am dirty.”

The British mosques duly condemned the patrols, and the Metropolitan Police made its usual ineffectual vows. But the videos themselves, as far as I could see by watching them in Dubai that week, evoked very little disgust in readers sharing the Faith. It struck me immediately that there was very little reason that such patrols should not progress from the rarified joys of beating up homosexuals to demanding that people stop drinking in public in the same neighborhoods. Lo and behold, other videos show drinkers being forced to pour the contents of their cans on to the streets.

From ARUTZ SHEVA:

Among the latest victims of the new Islamist atmosphere in Egypt is the “first lady of Arabic song,” Umm Kulthum, who is regarded as the greatest female Arabic singer of the 20th century, or perhaps ever. She had hundreds of hits and was responsible for integrating Western and Arabic singing and musical styles. It was around her style of singing that the large orchestras today identified with Arabic music, sometimes consisting of many dozens of musicians, were developed. She was also a pioneer in Arabic film, starring in dozens of movies in which she sang love songs. Nearly 30 years after her death in 1975, her records still sell in the millions annually.

Whether because her songs were mostly secular in nature, or because she was a female, there have been calls among some of the more radical Islamists recently to ban her music. Although the current regime in Egypt has made no such call, numerous supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, both on the internet and in Friday speeches in mosques, have called on Muslims to stop listening to her music.

While a ban is unlikely, Islamists have done what they apparently believe to be the next best thing – dressing Umm Kulthum in full female Arabic caftan, a “nikab.” The covering was placed on a statue of Umm Kulthum, in the Egyptian town of Mansoura.

From ARUTZ SHEVA:

The Islamization of Egypt under the Muslim Brotherhood-backed regime of President Mohamed Morsi continues, with a Cairo court this weekend ordering a TV channel off the air that broadcasts belly dance clips. The court said that the station, which operates out of a Cairo apartment 24 hours a day, airs advertisements that are “offensive” and can “arouse” its viewers.

The channel specializes in broadcasting videos of belly dance performances to Middle Eastern music in traditional costume. The Egyptian form is the more restrained of those practiced in the Middle East, with little floor work, relatively conservative use of body movement, and music based on a four-beat rhythm.

Here's some filth for you that you should enjoy whatever your gender preference may be.



However, it is absolutely important that we remember that it is only most of the world's muslim population who are homophobic, misogynist, fun-hating, puritanical spoilsports. There are muslims who don't run out on to the streets to celebrate when ten thousand non-combattant people are massacred whilst going about their daily lives. For a start there are the musicians of Mali who are presently rejoicing at the defeat of the Islamists who had taken over their country and banned their profession. For an excellent article on these talented, fun loving people check out "Saving the Soul of Mali" at THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, and do listen to the attached music which is beautiful.

Comparing the terrorists to "parasites," Ms. Diawara said she is forming a foundation to continue cultural communication between the north and south. "We have to raise awareness that this wealth of diversity is not a burden, it's a strength. We have to fight for cultural reconciliation."

Well, I sincerely pray that she is successful. But, as I said at the beginning of this post, I don't personally hold out much hope that such a thing is possible. Fundamentalism, whatever its religious garb, does not do reconciliation or anything else that involves compromise. If it did it wouldn't be fundamentalist.

IRISH POLITICIANS TOLD HOWTO VOTE BY VATICAN

They spent all those years fighting to rid themselves of English rule even though the English allowed Irish MPs to vote exactly how they wanted, only to hand their legislature over, lock, stock and barrel, to the rulers of a small, independent nation in Southern Europe.

From IRISH CENTRAL:

Catholic politicians who support abortion legislation should be refused Holy Communion, says Cardinal Raymond Burke, who heads the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's highest legal tribunal that rules on canon law. He said that local bishops and priests must ensure that Holy Communion is properly received to avoid “the grave sin of sacrilege” from those like Catholic politicians who receive Communion in spite of “grave moral evil.”

The Irish parliament is considering legalizing abortion where the mother's life is at risk, a push for a change in Ireland's laws after the death of Savita Halappanavar, who died at a Galway hospital after miscarrying. The cardinal says that while her death is "tragic" it still does not mean “an innocent and defenseless human life can be justifiably destroyed in order to save the life of the mother."

Cardinal Burke said that Catholic politicians must support legislations that will"most reduce the evils which attack human life and the integrity of marriage."

I would have thought that allowing both the mother and the foetus to die because your god (or, more exactly, your pope) does not allow doctors to save the mother if it means killing the foetus is a class one attack on human life and does fuck all for the integrity of marriage.

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL WHO'STHE MOST GULLIBLE OF THEM ALL?

Sold on EBAY yesterday for £100

FOR SALE. LARGE ANTIQUE MIRROR.
ORIGINS UNKNOWN. VERY POSSIBLY HAUNTED.

This is a beautiful grand victorian style mirror and has had pride of place in our North London studio apartment for several months now. However, I feel it's only fair that I tell anybody with an interest in buying it about the strange phenomena that has occurred since we acquired it. It is for this reason that we feel sadly unable to keep the mirror ourselves.

Many times since putting up the mirror, both myself and my flat mate have woken in the early morning hours screaming in pain. We both experienced what I can only describe as intense sharp stabbing pains throughout out bodies. They would strike us both at the same time, then dissapear as fast as they came. Our original suspicions were that somebody was performing some kind of voodoo or Black magic on us. The mood in the flat turned sour. I felt constantly as if there was a sense of impending doom upon us. As if something awful was about to happen. Both of us began to feel zombie like, as if drained of all our energy. Many times over the course of the next few months we were unable to move out of bed, our bodies weak and tired for no apparent reason. However, leaving the flat for any short amount of time would make us both feel instantly better. Upon returning to the flat, the zapping of energy feeling would strike again.

I would put things down and they would dissapear. Things were constantly going missing, keys, phones. Entering the bathroom one morning after hearing a loud bang, I found objects strewn out across the floor, and a tub of shaving foam, which had been on the other side of the room, headfirst down the toilet. Pictures have fallen from the walls. Many times while passing the mirror, I would see flickering shadows reflected in it. I would stand completely still and yet would continue to see them, quick glimpses of black darkness, darting around in the space behind me.

Last week I woke up startled at 3.30am with a pain in my lower back and bottom that felt like I'd been burned. I got up and looked in the bathroom mirror to find myself covered in deep red scratches going in all directions. I have short fingernails, and after checking the bed found nothing sharp or no loose springs that would explain such a thing.

Now, you may all scoff at this but pretty much exactly the same sort of diabolical infestation is happening to me at the moment. I am being haunted by a demonic, border collie puppy. Yes, it's true. Ever since Quiz arrived at my house, stuff has been mysteriously moving around the house, especially shoes, slippers, socks and other items of underwear. At other times I will be sitting upstairs working on my computer when I will hear a crash downstairs. When I go down to investigate the room will be empty but plates and cups, that were on top of tables or up on the kitchen sideboard, will have fallen onto the floor. And, the ultimate proof is the fact that, like the lads who sold the haunted mirror on eBay, I too have scratches on my arm along with small, needle like teeth marks.

However, I shall not be selling my haunted border collie. The little devil is worth all the pain.

MEGA CHURCH = MEGA FRAUD

From GLEANINGS:

Atlanta megachurch pastor Bishop Eddie Long is facing a suit from former parishioners who say he encouraged them to invest in a company that was operating an alleged Ponzi scheme. A dozen former members of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., filed suit in DeKalb County court in late January. The suit says that Long’s assistant had been warned that businessman Ephren W. Taylor was running a $3 million capital deficit. After Long introduced the businessman as his “friend,” the former New Birth members lost more than $1 million investing with the self-described “social capitalist.”

“If Bishop Eddie Long hadn’t endorsed this they wouldn’t have invested,” Jason Doss, attorney for the former members, told the Journal-Constitution.

Oh, I don't know. This particular friend of George W. settled a suit against him filed by young men who accused him of coercing them into sexual relationships using gifts and money. Now any congregation that would still idolise such an abusive, deceitful person would probably believe anything and fall for every con that comes their way. I mean, they've already fallen for the biggest confidence trickster of all.

Big Long - Big Bad Long

FALSE PROPHET SLAPPED DOWN BY LOVE

This is a truly inspiring video. The young man who stands up to the homophobe preacher in a crowded subway train is a hero and good on the passengers for backing him up. But my favourite bit of the video is the film of the man sitting there, reading a book, pretending that nothing out of the ordinary is happening. I fear that being an Englishman and, therefore, having an extremely low embarrassment threshold, I would be that man if I was travelling on that particular coach.

SON OF HINN BEATS UP ONDISABLED MIRACLE SEEKER

From THE DAILY MAIL:

The son of American evangelist Benny Hinn was arrested in Brazil after allegedly beating up Hestephenson Araujo, 21, a deaf and dumb man, on Saturday night during a religious crusade in Manaus, northern Brazil, led by his father. Araujo needed hospital treatment after the incident.

According to police, Mr Araujo, a local pastor, was sitting in the front row of seats at the event, in the city's Povos da Amazonia arena when, during Mr Hinn's sermon, he got up and approached the stage. Mr Araujo said he only wanted to receive a blessing from the famous evangelist, who claims he can heal the sick. But he was pounced on by Mr Hinn's son Joshua and two bodyguards who claimed they thought he was about to throw water at the preacher. The men took Mr Araujo to a trailer parked near the stage where they allegedly held him captive inside, beating and punching him as they demanded to know who he was. Because the man could not hear or respond to their demands, the physical aggression continued, police said.

Tactical squad officers burst into the trailer after concerned members of the public called police.

Here is actual live video of Barry Hinn on stage whilst the incident was taking place captured by OCICBW...'s Brazil correspondent, Sergio Padrelouco on his iPhone.

DON'T BLAME ME, BLAME MADDAD

A man and his wife walked into a dentist's office. The man said to the dentist, "Doc, I'm in one heck of a hurry I have two buddies sitting out in my car waiting for us to go play golf, so forget about the anesthetic, I don't have time for the gums to get numb. I just want you to pull the tooth, and be done with it! We have a 10:00 AM tee time at the best golf course in town and it's 9:30 already... I really don't have time to wait for the anesthetic to work!"

The dentist thought to himself, "My goodness, this is surely a very brave man asking to have his tooth pulled without using anything to kill the pain." So the dentist asks him, "Which tooth is it sir?"

The man turned to his wife and said, "Open your mouth Honey, and show him."

"QUOTE OF THE DAY"

“I have said that eHarmony really ought to put up $10 million and ask other companies to put up money and do a really first class job of figuring out homosexuality." (eHarmony CEO, Neil Clark Warren)

Good idea. And when they've figured out teh gays perhaps they could put up a similar amount of money to figure out women. Although, to be honest, I think it will cost a lot more to work out where women are coming from than it will to figure out the gays.

PROPHET WARS

From GHANA WEB:

The founder and leader of Glorious Word Ministry International, Rev. Isaac Owusu Bempah has lambasted the Presiding Bishop of the Word Miracle Church International, Bishop Charles Agyin-Asare, for speaking out against a prophecy he (Owusu Bempah) gave about President John Dramani Mahama.

Bishop Charles Agyin-Asare at a sermon on Sunday February 10 at the Perez Dome of the Word Miracle Church in Accra, declared that “President Mahama will not die a premature death” as prophesied by Rev. Owusu Bempah.

Rev. Owusu Bempah prophesied that President John Dramani Mahama will die this year unless the President and his advisers take steps to reverse it.

Oh, for goodness sake! They need to make their mind up. I mean, the president will want to know if he should book his Christmas shopping trip to Harrods this year or not.

HEADLINE OF THE DAY

GOT A COCKROACH PROBLEM?CONTACT YOUR LOCAL EXORCIST!

From THE TELEGRAPH:

Father Gabriele Amorth, the founder and head of the International Association of Exorcists, said the German pontiff had "done many things for exorcists" during his eight-year papacy. He said Benedict had "allowed exorcists to administer the sacrament of exorcism not only to people who are suffering from demonic possession, but also those who suffer other evil disorders, such as diabolical infestations."

Watch out, Father Gabriele! He's behind you.

SEAL IT WITH THE RAWLPLUG PROVIDED

From THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:

Hornsby residents Lynne Klanbida and Chad Martin wed at Tempe's Ikea on Thursday, having won the flatpack fairytale ahead of 500 other applicants.

"We got an email asking if we'd like to say our I do's at Ikea and we said that sounds like us. They asked for a photo of us and 100 words of why we thought we should win," said Chad.

Discount Nordic furniture holds a special place in the couple's relationship, as well as their home.

"The first time Chad put the TV unit together, I knew he was the one," Lynne said.

Fair enough. If it makes them happy, why not? It is legal after all. But I would like to know why people getting married in a furniture store, that opens on Sunday and exists only to make money for its shareholders, has less of a detrimental effect on the institution of marriage than two people of the same gender making their promises of eternal devotion to each other in Church, before the God they truly believe in.

ABOVE AND BEYOND THE LAW

From REUTERS:

Pope Benedict's decision to live in the Vatican after he resigns will provide him with security and privacy. It will also offer legal protection from any attempt to prosecute him in connection with sexual abuse cases around the world, Church sources and legal experts say.

"His continued presence in the Vatican is necessary, otherwise he might be defenseless. He wouldn't have his immunity, his prerogatives, his security, if he is anywhere else," said one Vatican official.

I understand their worries. I mean, look what happened to that mass abuser of human rights, General Pinochet, when he left Chile to visit his friend Margaret Thatcher in England that time for afternoon tea.

HE'S GOING TO HAVE TO GO- OH GOOD, HE IS

From THE TELEGRAPH:

Just two weeks before he steps down as pontiff, Benedict XVI told a group of priests in the Vatican that as a result, some church services had become little more than community meetings. The 85-year-old Pope blamed the media for twisting and misrepresenting the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, presenting them as the beginning of a transfer of power from the Vatican to individual bishops and their congregation. As a result, some churches had perhaps misunderstood the intent of the Second Vatican Council, losing their focus on the liturgy "as an act of faith" and instead trying to make it "understandable, similar to a community activity, something profane."

Heaven forbid the Church would try and make something understandable! You let the laity understand something and the next thing you know they'll be asking you to explain why women can't be priests, priests can't have sex and same gender couples get married.

It's a shame the pope didn't call the media profane word-twisters earlier on in his reign. If he had have done perhaps newspapers like The Telegraph wouldn't have been so far up his arse for the last eight years.

GOD GETS PISSED OFF THAT THE POPERESIGNS AND BLAMES THE RUSSIANS

From THE TELEGRAPH:

Thousands of Russian emergency workers sent out to clear up the damage from a meteor seen breaking up over Ural mountains have failed to find fragments of the rock, sparking conspiracy theories about secret weapons and acts of God.

Nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky told reporters in Moscow it could have been "war-mongers" in the United States. "It's not meteors falling. It's a new weapon being tested by the Americans," he said.

A priest from near the explosion site called it an act of God.

My guess? It's both. It's that bloody American God again. And, to be honest, the Russians have got off pretty lightly. Nobody was actually killed and the damage can be easily repaired. The American God has been known to get people to fly planes into skyscrapers and drown thousands under tidal waves just because two men touch each others cocks or white people vote for a black president. Yes, although he's obviously annoyed that the pope has resigned he's not in too much of a bad mood. I mean, that thunderbolt he flung at Rome the other night was small fry compared to the one he flung at York Minster when Bishop David Jenkins went all liberal on that UK TV programme.

SO HOW IS THIS NOT FASCISMIN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST?

Posted by THE FRIENDLY ATHEIST:

Earlier this week, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati fired Mike Moroski, an assistant principal at Purcell Marian High School, for showing “poor judgment” and violating the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

His crime?

Posting on his personal website about how he has no problem with gay marriage

"Furthermore — I unabashedly believe that gay people SHOULD be allowed to marry. Ethically, morally and legally I believe this. I spend a lot of my life trying to live as a Christian example of love for others, and my formation at Catholic grade school, high school, 3 Catholic Universities and employment at 2 Catholic high schools has informed my conscience to believe that gay marriage is NOT something of which to be afraid. To me, it seems our time would be much better spent worrying about the economy, our city’s failing pensions, retaining our big business neighbors and finding creative, efficient, effective ways to fund our excellent Cincinnati Public Schools."

For having the courage of Christ before Pilate and not being intimidated by the Roman Authorities, Mike Moroski is our:

BRICK OF THE DAY

Not that it will pay his bills. And he could be thrown out of his house onto the streets and allowed to starve to death as far as the powerful men of Roman Catholic Church are concerned. Fortunately, those who Jesus loves a lot more than the pharisees of his church, are prepared to at least try and help their teacher. Moroski’s students have held demonstrations at the Archdiocese’s downtown office asking them to bring him back to school.

STOLEN OFF A FACEBOOK FRIEND

IS IT SOMETHING TO DO WITH BEING WELSH?

From THE OBSERVER:

Is Welsh secretary, David Jones, attempting to lead some kind of double political life from within the Conservative party? After a TV interview and a clarifying statement, he still doesn't seem quite sure what he's talking about. Jones says that his reason for voting against gay marriage was that "clearly" gay couples "cannot provide a warm and safe environment" in which to raise children. His clarification: "Since same-sex partners could not biologically procreate children, the institution of marriage, in my opinion, should be reserved to opposite-sex partners." However, Jones says that he is not against civil partnerships, or gay couples adopting, and he has "people in my life who are important to me who are gay". What kind of skewed mindset thinks gay couples should have civil partnerships and adoption rights, then balks at marriage?

Exactly. It's illogical. You canot be completely in favour of something when it's called one thing and then be completely against the same thing when it is known by another name.

Yet...

... this is exactly the same claptrap that the Welsh druid, Rowan Williams came out with and which now most of the Church of England's talking heads spew out whenever someone in the media implies that maybe they're being a little homophobic.

If the Church of England believes that you can only have sex within marriage it cannot at the same time approve of civil partnerships for same gender couples. If it is okay with same gender couples having a sexual relationship within a civil partnership then it is saying that civil partnerships are exactly the same as marriage because they are only in favour of sexual relationships within marriage.

Quite honestly, if that isn't blindingly obvious to you then you must be a Welshman, boyo.

PEOPLE ARE NOT NICE

I was watching a documentary about penguins the other day. They really are amazing creatures. They persevere against incredible odds each year to raise their young in some of the most inhospitable places on earth. They are loving and loyal to their mates and their young. They do group hugs to keep each other warm and join together to risk their lives seeing off predators. All in all, they are everything that human beings say they want to be but are not. I thought, wouldn't it be lovely, when the human race inevitably wipes itself out, if the penguins became the new dominant species on earth rather than the rats (who are far too similar to humans to make any difference for the better).

From THE INDEPENDENT:

Spanish politicians have thrown the (so-called) sport of bullfighting a lifeline by voting in favour of plans to declare it part of Spain's cultural heritage.

The vote the came after 590,000 enthusiasts signed a petition calling for a change to bullfighting's legal status. The vote in favour of bullfighting will eventually allow fight organisers to apply for tax breaks and could reverse the bans already in place in Catalonia and the Canary Islands.

Then there is this...



No wonder God is throwing bloody great bits of space rock at us.