Posts tagged catholic church
Born Okay The First Time In Lower Alabama
The Use and Abuse of Religious Freedom
An interesting piece by Peter Singer discussing the unnecessary cruelty involved in ritual animal slaughter on the grounds of tradition and religious freedom and the reproachful claims by Catholic bishops that President Barack Obama is violating their religious freedom by requiring all big employers, including Catholic hospitals and universities, to offer their employees health insurance that covers contraception.
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In Memoriam : Robert G. Edwards (27 September 1925 – 10 April 2013)
The Nobel Prize-winning scientist Robert G. Edwards has died. He was a physiologist in Britain who helped develop the techniques used for in-vitro fertilization, or IVF. His work led to the birth of the first test tube baby, Louise Brown, in 1978, and millions of babies since.
Read more or listen to this story here.
Remember when this beautiful child was condemned as an abomination by the Catholic Church and millions of believers around the world? Although Edwards was “accused of playing God” and became the focus of a “storm of criticism and controversy,” the pioneering work he and Patrick Steptoe did enabled “millions of infertile couples to bring children into the world and women to have babies even in menopause.”
It’s sad that even today, over 30 years later, many religious leaders and their follows all around the world still condemn this procedure and the children it produces.
Also see:
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Today, a new leader has been chosen to take control of one of the most important institutions in the world. This man will lead this historical organization through its ongoing pursuit and support of the betterment of all humanity. He will look down over the people and make huge contributions to the promotion of understanding, reverence and human cooperation. Yes, there is a new leader. He is Commander Chris Hadfield, and today he takes over command of the International Space Station.
What? You were expecting a Pope?
Via the Southeast Alabama Freethought Association facebook forum.
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Pope dismisses child rape as normal back in the day. Is this really a shocker?
Victims of clerical sex abuse have reacted furiously to Pope Benedict’s claim yesterday that paedophilia wasn’t considered an “absolute evil” as recently as the 1970s.
How any parents or government agency can continue to justify entrusting children to the care of this organization is very perplexing.
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Vatican Training Classes
I know, I know, this is very tasteless… at least that’s what the priests say.
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Lady Liberty Defends America’s Schoolchildren
Thomas Nast was the creator of Santa Claus, Uncle Sam, the Republican elephant and Democratic donkey.
In this 1875 political cartoon Nast depicts Lady Liberty standing guard over America’s schoolchildren who are threatened by two Catholic priests. One of the priests holds a decree which states: “Surrender your American Godless Infidel Education to the Infallible Roman Guidance…”.
Now, almost a century and a half later, Lady Liberty, battered and beaten, still stands tall, defending Americas public school system from the the religious rights ceaseless assault.
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Clergy Declares War on “New-Atheists”
It appears that the Church of England feels that its influence on society is under threat from the current “less tolerant attitude towards religion” so it has vowed to fight the “new atheism” in an attempt to combat the rise of secularism in Britain. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury seems to think the Church is under threat from the arguments laid out by atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens who paint faith as being “a social problem.”
According to a report commissioned by Williams and John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, the Church must be “explicit about the need to counter attempts to marginalize Christianity and to treat religious faith more generally as a social problem.”
The document goes on to complain that intolerance towards religion is becoming more widespread and can be seen in public bodies attitudes of “suspicion or hostility towards churches and other faith groups.”
“Drawing particular attention to the threat posed by a new movement of militant atheists, led by Dawkins and Hitchens,” the report “says the Church must respond if it is not to be pushed from the public square.”
According to The Telegraph, this “rallying call comes amid fears that Christians are suffering from an increasing level of discrimination following a series of cases in which they have been punished for sharing their beliefs.”
Wow, I wish the influence of Dawkins and Hitchens was that strong here in the states. It would be great for America if our society became less tolerant of the intolerance advocated by many churches and religious groups in this country.
I’m not sure what the English think about this news but I find it a bit disingenuous that the Church of England is complaining about intolerance considering its track record. Also, I wonder if Christians in Britain are really being punished for sharing their beliefs or if it is rather their continuing refusal to cease proselytizing in the work place that is being rebuked?
On a side note, I should also mention that the same Archbishop of Canterbury who is alleging a growing secular intolerance towards religion is also on record for advocating the use of Sharia Law in Britain. 
As a secular humanist, I believe in tolerance; however, that does not include tolerance of intolerance.
Note: Originally posted at blogspot on 02/16/2011.
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<3 This song!
“Sure As Hell Not Jesus” by Cosmo Jarvis: This is a very catchy tune; although, the subject is a bit dark. Nevertheless, it touches on issues the Chatholic Church, and those who support it, are constantly trying to downplay or ‘sweep under the rug.’
Below is a description of the video from its YouTube page:
The video for “Sure As Hell Not Jesus” is about sexual abuse scandals that have involved the followers and preachers of the catholic faith and its leaders’ frequent insidious dealings with them. It is also about the pressure that family members of victims, that become aware of the misconduct, sometimes have to endure due to the way in which the powerful sexual perpetrators use the faith of their victims and victims’ families to justify their actions or, in the case of protest or the possibility of a revelation, threaten them with religious penalties. It also glances at the effect on priests of rules introduced by the church forbidding them to partake in sexual intercourse. This is a dumb rule I think, I’m not catholic but a penis does fit in a vagina. I wish that the rules could be changed.
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Self-explanatory really.
Ha!
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