"CHURCH AND STATE"
As you may of learned by now I have a strong opinion on the separation of Church and State. I believe this country was formed by those who believe the separation of Church and State was and is the substance of this great nation. That was the intent, the original intent of the "Founding Fathers" that all men be created equal and be allowed to pray and believe in their own religion. It was also their intent for the Church to be concerned with matters of moral fibre and the State to be concerned with matters of laws we choose to live by.
"THE FETUS"
But they have defined and supported certain political candidates, based on their moral beliefs over their ability to govern and more importantly lead. Choosing support for those who pass the litmus test of belief, the abolishment of the Roe vs. Wade ruling on abortion, and the creation of the United States of Jesus's America.
Leaders of the Catholic Church and Baptist groups strongly anti-abortion base thinking on the mini-bang theory, not to be confused with their maxi-bang theory of creation, that life is conceived at conception and that fetus has rights.
I appreciate their sentiments and feelings but keep it in the Church. Truthfully, I agree with abortion being a last resort, but these folks want everyone to think their way. No abortion period! I can relate to this except when it takes a woman's right to make her own decisions away, or if the woman's pregnancy was unwanted or forced upon, or if it is in the third trimester. Once again, the time defined as to when the fetus has rights is in the question. You can't make laws that take lawful rights away.
When the church goes political they have exceeded their boundaries. That government should stay out of the religious business and the religious business stay out of government. The only time government has to step in is when the religion takes a persons rights away, fraud, physical abuse and cultism.
I hope Mike Huckabee eventually figures this out. He didn't make it to President, not in the top ten of Bass guitarists currently on tour and sold his soul to the devil, Rupert Murdock to be a puppet on the most biased corrupt TV empire. Fox TV. Some candidate for President!
BIGGER PROBLEMS - "The FOUNDLING FATHERS"
The strongest offense comes from the... "FOUNDLING FATHERS", and this one really gets to me because I understand what abuse is. I know first hand, it was the first hand that whacked me with a book because I mispronounced a word while reading the Torah and practicing for my Bar Mitzvah appearance.
Some of the clergy need to be just more than let go by the Church, they were shipped elsewhere, swept under the carpet, given non-public jobs. In my world they would of been castrated, and then shot.
They are the "Foundling Fathers". Corruption, indecency and abuse, physical or mental, in either the political or the clerical arena should not be tolerated.
Because they both have a jurisdiction over people's thoughts and psychological futures. Entire lives forfeited and changed by an indecent act upon a child. And we let the Church police itself. Why are they not behind bars. Because the church itself is corrupt and lives in the dark.
Lest you come up with a better answer, greed and power rule here, by virtue of fear motivation and eventually the excommunication from the club. Play the game or be cast off into oblivion, hell complete with fire and brimstone all on one E-Ticket. "E" standing for Expulsion.
WWW.BISHOP ACCOUNTIBILTY.ORG
Database of Publicly Accused Priests in the United States
According to the John Jay report commissioned by the U.S. Bishops, allegations of sexual abuse were made in 1950-2002 against 4,392 priests. The number is generally believed to underestimate the problem. A few bishops have released the names of accused priests, but no official list exists of U.S. priests who have abused children and vulnerable adults. On the website is the most complete list currently available, culled from media reports and legal documents – with many photos, assignment records, and source articles.
CASES SETTLED, STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS, DO-GOODERS
There are fewer convictions because the legal standards for criminal cases are higher than for civil cases and often criminal statute of limitations has run out for adults who were sexually abused as children by clergy. The accused are often influential and well liked in their communities.
The 'do gooder' citizens are often in denial that such a Godly figure could possibly have committed one or more of these crimes. The clergy that molests children generally do so with children from broken homes or dysfunctional homes or the poor. The churches hesitate to report clergy to police making the police officers jobs extremely difficult to build a case on.
Often parents of the sexually abused child decline to be interviewed and 99% of children abused by clergy will deny it. If a clergy is suspected of the sexual abuses of one or more children they are moved out of state and thus have committed no crime and are innocent.
In Hand of God, filmmaker Joe Cultrera explores the very personal story of how his brother – Paul – was molested in the 1960s by their parish priest, Father Joseph Birmingham, who allegedly abused nearly 100 other children.
Producer Joe Cultrera tells the story of faith betrayed and how his brother Paul and the rest of the Cultrera family fought back against a scandal that continues to afflict scores of churches across the country.
“I was inspired by my brother’s strength of spirit in surviving his abuse,” says Joe Cultrera. “His story was unlike any I had seen in the media. I thought a detailed film about his and my family’s experience would prove healing and freeing for others.”
http://investigatehog.blogspot.com/
LEGALLY THE CHURCH MAY BE AN ACCOMPLICE
I am dismayed at the coverup of this corruptness in the Catholic Church. Is the Catholic Church the only sect to be blamed? NO. But it was the one that was heavily defended and swept under the table by the HOLY SEE. I'm afraid, the answer is yes. Till the media really started banging the stories around. Thats the bad part. It should never of been, nor ever tolerated by the SEE. They knew what was whispered and going on.
Compare it to big business, it is big business. It is probably the most profitable business in the world and when the donations and profits started to dwindle, something happened. You see the "follow the money answer" to most questions is prevalent, everywhere. It never rose high because those in charge may of condoned or performed the same acts themselves.
The Pope Benedict XVI refused to defrock an American priest who confessed to molesting numerous children and even served prison time for it, simply because the cleric wouldn't agree to the discipline. The case provides the latest evidence of how changes in church law under Pope John Paul II frustrated and hamstrung U.S. bishops struggling with an abuse crisis that would eventually explode.
Documents obtained by The Associated Press from court filings in the case of the late Rev. Alvin Campbell of Illinois show Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, following church law at the time, turned down a bishop's plea to remove the priest for no other reason than the abuser's refusal to go along with it. "The petition in question cannot be admitted in as much as it lacks the request of Father Campbell himself," Ratzinger wrote in a July 3, 1989, letter to Bishop Daniel Ryan of the Diocese of Springfield, Ill. The paperwork denial excuse.
With the church still recovering from a notable (number) departure of priests in the 1970s to marry, John Paul made it tougher to leave the priesthood after assuming the papacy in 1978, saying their vocation was a lifelong one. A consequence of that policy was that, as the priest sex abuse scandal arose in the U.S., bishops were no longer able to sidestep the lengthy church trial necessary for laicization.
PRIEST VIOLENTLY KILLS NUN
(CBS/AP) Prosecutors suggested that the Rev. Gerald Robinson had a strained relationship with the nun, a strict taskmaster, and that he reached a breaking point that day. Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was stabbed 31 times through an altar cloth, with the punctures forming an upside down cross, and her killer then anointed her with a smudge of her blood on the forehead to humiliate her in death, prosecutors said.
Robinson, now 68, had worked closely with Sister Pahl at the Mercy Hospital chapel, where her body was discovered on April 5, 1980. Robinson was a popular priest, reports CBS affiliate WTOL-TV in Toledo.
He was especially well-liked in the city's Polish neighborhoods because he delivered some sermons in Polish and heard confessions in Polish. But he left killing to English.
THE HOLY SEE IS BLIND AT TIMES
The Holy See (Latin: Sancta Sedes) is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, led by the Pope. It forms the central government of the Church. As such, legally diplomatically, and in international law as a sovereign entity, the Holy See acts and speaks for the whole Catholic Church.
So lets once again, call it what it is, in financial terms, a profitable business. Thus, where do we put this blame for the damages done by their salesmen and regional manager representatives. Lets put the blame on the CEO, you can't blame the manufacturer.
As my attorney would say, go for the money. If the Church has all this power and control and globally is the recipient of many claims from many countries then lets get to the source. It all comes down from the top. The CEO, his General Sales Managers and his staff.
Just like in politics, the standing leader is the target of opportunity. Anything the last administration did that is now failing is still blamed on President Obama. The difference, Obama had little to do with it. It took the last guy eight years to screw things up this bad.
The present Pope may of been involved. The investigators have written proof. That old, "a few bad apples ruin the bunch is a dose of well....three bulls". The SEE controlled their worthless lives, hid them, swept it under the expensive carpet, gave them a new sales territory, worse, a new base to draw from, and in some cases outright lied.
There was coverup from the Vatican to the streets of Boston and many many other US and International cities.
WE ALL USE GOD AS A TOOL OF CONTROL
I have seen a lot of abuse and misuse of both of these foundations of our culture. There is a grey mass forming where some would merge the laws of the land and the laws of GOD. It is not new, it is the reason for our existence. The reason those pilgrims left the old world and ventured into the unknown for a better way.
Mans freedom's, and beliefs, have been challenged down during the ages, and in some cases led to the great declarations of our time. The Magna Charter literally established a middle class, the Declaration of Independence let to the establishment of the United States. On the other side of the coin, the Inquisition, the Pogroms, the Crusades, all challenged free belief. Today the theocracies, the FAR RIGHTEOUS in our world like the Taliban all seek to control.
No, no, no, I'm not just picking on the followers of the Catholic Church, it's a very hot topic now as some groups intend to sue the Vatican to the world court. It will play out when it does. But the pain of thousands needs to be answered and it is found in all religions. All religions have extreme factions in one way or another. Muslims have ten or eleven extreme movements, but so do the Christians.
My beloved Florida has more Youth Ministers, Choir leaders, and pedophiles per capita in the jail for molesting minors than many other states, and they are all over the map in the various Christian denominations, sects, specialties, beliefs, dialects, languages, or D&B ratings. All of them have participants but unfortunately one group dominates the field.
Thinking out loud, it's about time they let the Priests marry. It's a strange belief that has "those coaching marriage have had nothing to do with it". The answer lies in the book, the Da Vinci code. After reading it and seeing the excellent movie by Tom Hanks, one understands the secrecy, and mystery of the Church and it's goal to sublimate women.
The usual Church answer is that if the Priests were to marry, they would not be able to service the spiritual community as they would have marriage duties and devotions of their own. Well, thats possibly a hard three or soft four bulls.
Every other religion has enough staff to handle things in time of need and the simple answer is it would bring more into the realm and they might have to pay or provide for them. Follow the money. Another thought comes to mind and that is the counseling Priest give to those getting married... what experience does the Priest have? None, nada, nicht, not a clue. Not qualified in my book