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Anonymous Threatens Columbus Diocese over Gay Teacher's Firing →
COLUMBUS — The hacktivist group, Anonymous, is threatening to dig up dirt on members of the Columbus Catholic Diocese if a fired gay teacher is not allowed to return to her job at Bishop Watterson High School. The group released a video Friday in support of former phys-ed teacher Carla Hale, who was fired from Bishop Watterson after referring to her partner as her spouse in a published obituary. The Anonymous video includes the group’s trademark Guy Fawkes mask, along with a computer-generated voice that threatens to find “skeletons in the closets” of members of the Diocese if Hale is not reinstated. The video’s release comes after dozens of students gathered outside the Diocese’s Downtown office on Friday morning to protest Hale’s firing.
Read More at: http://abc6onyourside.com/shared/news/features/featured/stories/wsyx_anonymous-threatens-columbus-diocese-over-gay-teachers-firing-1159.shtml
This has been a big topic of discussion around here as of late. I have been following the story and it is amazing just how many people in central Ohio are willing to openly make bigoted statements in public about a woman who did a great job as a teacher for so many years. I’m quite sure that if “Anonymous” does have to start digging up skeletons it won’t be so hard. Catholics have more skeletons in their closets than Superman has capes.
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Pope Evades Criminal Charges by Hiding in Vatican →
This is pretty infuriating. I can’t imagine there are many Catholics out there that don’t feel completely ashamed of the Vatican. Excerpt below:
Feb. 16, 2013 Late breaking news on the real reason why Pope Benedict XVI quit the job as Pope is centered around the fact that he was going to be charged for crimes against humanity by shielding pedophile priests in the RC church.
A statement given to Reuters reveals that the Church has decided to grant Joseph Ratzinger immunity against any and all charges involving his protection of known sex offenders.
As a high ranking member of the Catholic Church, Ratzinger knew priests who habitually were reported as sex offenders with children and shipped them to other parishes where they continued raping children.
Even after becoming a Pope as well he protected priests by denying criminal charges.
When he was an archbishop, J. Ratzinger knowingly and willingly protected the criminal priests and thereby avoiding legal and lawful charges against them. Now the church is willfully breaking the law by giving him sanctuary against the law.
In a statement to the press today, the Vatican announced that:
It will give Joseph Ratzinger, formerly Pope Benedict XVI a permanent residency in the Vatican, which gives him legal immunity to any charges against him.
The entire world is wondering why a Pope would consider such drastic action as quitting while still in the papacy, since historically Pope’s usually die in office.
In a report the church officials indicate they are offering Ratzinger legal protection in connection with any charges that he may have protected known sexual abusers in the priesthood around the world. The Church sources indicates:
“His continued presence in the Vatican is necessary, otherwise he might be defenseless”. By this statement we gather that if Ratzinger steps outside the Vatican perimeter he could be legally arrested and brought to trial for his criminal cover ups. The Roman Catholic Church is basically admitting the former Pope is guilty, they know it and further more they are giving him cover against the authorities.
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Saudi cleric says 'baby burkas' would prevent child molestation →
Even if you’re someone that disagrees with my personal view on the burqa/burka I hope we can all agree that this is a horrible idea. I’m not usually one to post a trigger warning, but all kinds things that make you want to lose hope for humanity in this article. Excerpt below:
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France steps up struggle against religious radicals →
PARIS (Reuters) – France will deport foreign-born imams and disband radical faith-based groups, including hardline traditionalist Catholics, if a new surveillance policy signals they suffer a “religious pathology” and could become violent.
A French Islamist shooting spree last March that killed three soldiers and four Jews showed how quickly religiously radicalized people could turn to force, Interior Minister Manuel Valls told a conference on the official policy of secularism.
His warning came two days after President Francois Hollande announced the creation of an agency to track how the separation of church and state is upheld in this traditionally Catholic country with Europe’s largest Muslim and Jewish minorities.
Valls and two other cabinet ministers told the conference on Tuesday evening the Socialist-led government would stress the secularist policy called “laicite” that they said was weakened under the previous conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy. (click the link for the full article)
Personally I’ve been very excited and very happy with the work France has done to push back against religious extremism and fundamentalism. France has done a great deal of work to approach topics and issues that most countries in the world shy away from. France should be commended for the work that it is doing, and it is already starting to show that the way it is approaching religion is being adapted in some ways by other countries such as the Netherlands and Germany.
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Pakistan film protests: Eight die in Karachi and Peshawar →
This is a very sad story and goes to show that even if the events in Libya were planned by Al-Qaeda as a front to commit terrorist acts that there is real unrest in the world over this “film”. It is extremely sad that people lose their life over this film, but what is even more sad is that people have this type of reaction.
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U.S. 46 Percent Creationist →
Only 15 Percent of the US ‘Believe’ in Evolution: According to a recent Gallup poll, the proportion of the US public that believes God had a hand to play with the ‘creation’ of humans has remained unchanged for 30 years. In 1982, 44 percent of the US public polled said that they believed God created humans in our current form; today, that proportion has risen slightly to 46 percent. Only 15 percent said that they believed that humans evolved as science intended, and that God had no part to play in the process. Although this number is small, it was smaller in 1982 — back then only 9 percent of the US public held this view. The poll was taken by “1,012 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia,” says Gallup.
46% of the country chooses on their own accord to be complete ignorant idiots. People who wonder “are the religious really that bad in America”, the answer is it is probably worse than you imagine. No one needs to believe in evolution, it is true regardless or who does or does not believe it. When we have such a large portion of the population actively going against science in their “beliefs” it shows we have a problem. People don’t trust science, but they’ll still use it. Hypocrites on so many levels.
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Soldier shot and killed for being an Atheist →
I don’t know the details of this situation beyond what this article provides but I hope that it is charged as a hate crime. If he targeted this individual specifically because of his Atheism it fits the qualification of being a hate crime and as a result will likely carry a stiffer penalty. Atheists do face real discrimination in their lives. It is simply so much easier for people to marginalize discrimination against Atheist because it is “not as bad” as what other groups receive. This is clearly dismissive, justifying, and helps to perpetuate the existence of discrimination against Atheists. No group should be discriminated, it’s not a contest of who has it worse, it simply shouldn’t happen.
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Vatican becomes latest Anonymous hacking victim →
Apparently the article from yesterday was only the tip of the iceberg so to speak. The more I consider this the more I am thinking that a direct confrontation like this is not going to work in the way Anonymous most likely intends. If anything it is going to rally the “soldier of Christianity” when they perceive an actual attack going on against them. We will not move people away from religion through force, it must be something people come to on their own and that is the trend we are showing. Yet a call for an “attack” against Christianity may make many people dig in even deeper to prepare for the upcoming “war”. I absolutely appreciate what Anonymous is attempting to do but I honestly don’t think it is the best way to approach the topic.
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Atheist Temple Being Built In London →
I am not entirely sure yet how I feel about this news, but felt I should share it for those interested.
Atheists have long criticised devout followers of faith. But now it seems Atheism is stealing from that very religious tradition by erecting a temple of worship.
Author Alain de Botton announced plans to build an Atheist temple in the U.K., reports DeZeen magazine.
A collaboration with Tom Greenall Architects, the structure will be built in the City of London.
Dedicated to the idea of perspective, the black tower will scale 46 meters (150 ft), with each centimeter honoring earth’s age of 4.6 billion years, notes Wired.
But a place of worship isn’t the only attribute from organized religion that Atheists can benefit from, says de Botton. In his newly released book “Religion For Atheists,” the author points to design, art and community to inspire and attract a following.
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If man is god than an Atheist state is as brutal as the thesis that it rests upon and there is no longer any reason for us to gather in this place. We should just let anarchy prevail because, after all, we are just worm food.
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