Religious Zealotry, Still Good For Nothing

The Iranian justice system version:

The punishment for being an accessory to murder: 10 years in prison.

The punishment for adultery: Death by stoning...or maybe hanging.

Religious Zealotry, What Is It Good For?

The ultra-Orthodox version:

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped up pledges to curb Jewish zealotry in Israel on Sunday after an 8-year-old girl complained of being menaced by ultra-Orthodox men who deemed her dress immodest.

...

The statement appeared to have been prompted by an expose on Israel's top-rated weekend news about intra-Jewish friction in Beit Shemesh, a town of about 87,000 people near Jerusalem.

Naama Margolese, 8, told Channel Two television she was terrified of walking to her moderate Orthodox school because of passersby who want her "to dress like a Haredi" - the Hebrew term for the ascetic, black-coated Jews who are in "awe" of God.

"I'm afraid I might get hurt or something," the girl said.

Margolese's mother Hadassa, an American immigrant who wore a headscarf and skirt in deference to religious Jewish tradition, said the sidewalk abuse could include spitting, curses like "whores" and "bastards" and calls to "clear out of here."

"If that's what happens now, and they (authorities) don't do anything, what will happen in another few years?" she told Israel's Army Radio on Sunday. "This is a terrorist group."

Returning to Beit Shemesh on Sunday, a Channel Two crew was mobbed by ultra-Orthodox Jews who stoned their car, wounded a reporter and stole equipment, police said. The crew was rescued by police, who said they were questioning suspected assailants.

WIDE MARGIN

Separately, police said they had arrested a Beit Shemesh man for spitting at a woman, and that he could face assault charges.

In the report broadcast on Friday, Channel Two showed a Beit Shemesh street sign instructing women to keep to one side, away from a synagogue. A few ultra-Orthodox men who agreed to be interviewed sought to justify their forcible occlusion of women.

Israeli media have debated the impact of religious gender segregation on public transport and the conscript army, where some pious troops prefer to shun female instructors and singers.

The ultra-Orthodox make up only about 10 percent of Israel's population of 7.7 million. But their high birthrates and bloc voting patterns have helped them secure welfare benefits and wider influence. One of Netanyahu's biggest partners in the coalition government, Shas, is a party run by rabbis.

According to Channel Two, its Beit Shemesh story has generated momentum for a demonstration against ultra-Orthodox coercion in the town, scheduled for Tuesday.

Moshe Abutbol, the Shas mayor of Beit Shemesh put the number of townspeople involved in the abuse at between 20 and 50.

Sex Education in the City

Let's see what we learn from this article on sex education in city schools:

1) Some parents and religious leaders are outraged that schools plan to teach evidence-based information.

2) Despite the name, Fox "News" appears to be an entertainment program.

3) City officials are unfamiliar with the abstinence method of birth control.

4) Some parents want schools to offer abstinence-only indoctrination sessions as an alternative to education classes.

5) The Chinese government is incompetent.

6) Our government, not to be outdone in the incompetence department, wasted more than one billion dollars on abstinence-only indoctrination programs.

7) Last, but not least, President Obama magnanimously doled out a $250 million pay off, earmarked to undermine public health, to appease opponents of his health insurance reform.

"It is a disaster for Libyan women"

Rebel Libyan Dude in Charge: We won! Tyrant dead, country free, time to move on. Most pressing order of business ...

Libyans: Um, security, a functioning government?

RLDC: No!

Libyans: Economy?

RLDC: Pfft!

Libyans: Health, education, infrastructure?

RLDC: Don't be silly, people. First and foremost ... wait for it ... here, I'll give you a hint ... has to do with the law of divorce and marriage I've just abolished ... women lose the right to keep the family home if they divorce, huzzah!

Libya Steps Out of Woods, Right Onto Edge of Deep, Festering Well

Talk about an inauspicious start in the newly freed Libya:

The transitional government leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil set out a vision for the post-Gadhafi future with an Islamist tint, saying that Islamic Sharia law would be the "basic source" of legislation in the country and that existing laws that contradict the teachings of Islam would be nullified. In a gesture that showed his own piety, he urged Libyans not to express their joy by firing in the air, but rather to chant "Allahu Akbar," or God is Great. He then stepped aside and knelt to offer a brief prayer of thanks.

Bishop Robert Finn and His Merry Band of Catholics: A Timeline

Rev. Shawn Ratigan

(via CBSNews)

In 2009

Bishop Robert Finn settles lawsuits with 47 plaintiffs in sexual abuse cases for $10 million and agree[s] to a long list of preventive measures, among them to report anyone suspected of being a pedophile immediately to law enforcement authorities.

May 2010

Parish principal raises concerns, in a written report, that the Rev. Shawn Ratigan [is] behaving inappropriately around children.

Monsignor Robert Murphy, the diocese's vicar general, receives the principal's concerns, speaks with Ratigan about setting boundaries with children, and gives Bishop Finn a verbal summary of the concerns and his meeting with the priest.

[Finn acknowledged that the parish principal raised concerns in May 2010, and admitted that he didn't read the principal's report until Spring 2011.]

December 2010

A computer technician finds on Ratigan's laptop hundreds of what he called "disturbing" images of children, most of them fully clothed with the focus on their crotch areas, and a series of pictures of a 2- to 3-year-old girl with her genitals exposed. (emphasis mine)

Diocese officials report the photos -- hundreds of them -- to Monsignor Robert Murphy.

Murphy does not report the hundreds of photos to the police. Instead he called a police captain who is a member of the diocese's independent review board and described a single photo of a nude child that was not sexual in nature. (emphasis mine)

The police captain, without viewing the photo, says he was advised that although such a picture might meet the definition of child pornography, it probably wouldn't be investigated or prosecuted.

[Finn has acknowledged that he knew of the existence of the photos last December but did not turn them over to the police until May.]

May 2011

Murphy tells police Ratigan's laptop had contained hundreds of photos.

Rev. Shawn Ratigan is charged with three state child pornography counts, and in June with 13 federal counts of producing, possessing and attempting to produce child porn, [most recently during an Easter egg hunt in Spring 2011].

August 2011

A civil lawsuit is filed that asserts that between December 2010 and May 2011, Father Ratigan attended children’s birthday parties, spent weekends in the homes of parish families, hosted the Easter egg hunt and presided, with the bishop’s permission, at a girl’s First Communion.

October 2011

Bishop Robert Finn and the Kansas City-St. Joseph Catholic Diocese are charged with one count each of failing to report suspected child abuse, a misdemeanor. The indictment says the bishop failed to report suspicions against the priest from Dec. 16, 2010, when the photos were discovered, to May 11, 2011, when the diocese turned them over to police:

During that period Bishop Finn and the diocese had reason to suspect that the priest, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, might subject a child to abuse, the indictment said, citing “previous knowledge of concerns regarding Father Ratigan and children; the discovery of hundreds of photographs of children on Father Ratigan’s laptop, including a child’s naked vagina, upskirt images and other images focused on the crotch; and violations of restrictions placed on Father Ratigan.” (emphasis mine)

Currently

Rev. Shawn Ratigan has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed.

Lawyers for the diocese and Bishop Robert Finn pleaded not guilty. Finn said that he and the diocese had given “complete cooperation” to law enforcement. He also pointed to steps he had taken since the scandal first became public, which included commissioning a report to look into the case and reinforcing procedures for handling allegations of abuse.

Bottom Line

Fingers crossed Bishop Finn beats the charge and is soon back to being given a prominent role, together with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in crafting women's reproductive health legislation. Because who better to protect women from themselves than men whose religious beliefs make them competent to do a bang up job protecting children from pedophiles?


(source articles here and here)

Ah, the Things Religious People Do For Love...

Of God, that is:

In the most horrifying terror scheme, al-Asiri created a bomb that was strapped between the legs of kid brother Abdullah - who blew himself up in a suicide mission.

The surviving brother was hardly shaken by his sibling's explosive end in a failed try at assassinating Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Nayef.

"Come see my brother Abdullah's body parts," al-Asiri told an AQAP Web magazine after the death. "May he enjoy it, he was killed the way he hoped for and his body was torn for the love of God."

Israeli Court Grants Citizen Right to Self-Determine His Religious Identity

Did you know that Israel registers the religion and ethnicity of its citizens?

Israel registers its citizens according to both their religion and their ethnicity, although it does not include an "Israeli" ethnicity, labelling its Jewish citizens as of "Jewish" ethnicity.

And while newborns, apparently, can be registered as "without religion", it's not enough for adults to just ask to have their religious registration changed from "Jewish" to "without religion":

Kaniuk [an author and veteran of the of the 1948 War of Independence], 81, sought to equate his standing to that of his grandson, born last year, who is registered as "without religion" at the Population Registry.

The infant was originally classified as a Christian American, like his mother. Kaniuk's daughter was born in Israel but is defined by the Interior Ministry as an American Christian because her own mother was born in the United States and is a Christian.

After some discussion, Population Registry officials agreed to change the baby's status. When Kaniuk requested the same change be made to his own religious status, officials said he needed to obtain court approval for the amendment.

Mr. Kaniuk asked the court to allow him to change his religious status and the court granted his request:

After brief deliberations on the eve of last week's Rosh Hashanah holiday, a Tel Aviv judge ruled that Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk could register his official religious status as "without religion."

"Freedom from religion is a freedom derived from the right to human dignity, which is protected by the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom," Judge Gideon Ginat of the Tel Aviv District Court wrote in his unusual ruling.

He went on to say that he believed that the Basic Laws, which function as constitution law in Israel, and in particular the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom, alleviates from the plaintiff the burden of proof in demanding to be defined as religionless.

"The only question that must be weighed is whether the plaintiff proved the seriousness of his intentions ... I see no need to impose on the plaintiff any burden with the exception of bringing his request before the court," Ginat wrote.

Understandably, Mr. Kaniuk was thrilled with the decision:

"This is a ruling of historic proportions," Kaniuk said to Haaretz yesterday, with audible emotion. "The court granted legitimacy to every person to live by their conscience in this land, in ruling that human dignity and freedom means a person can determine their own identity and definition. In this way I can be without religion but Jewish by nationality.

So a win on the [non-] religious front but a continued lack of clarity ("Jewish" vs. "Israeli"), at least for me, on the nationality one.

Subway Out-of-Town Jesus

Rev. Eric Rapaglia On Ideas to Benefit Minorities

Mount Carmel pastor, the Rev. Eric Rapaglia, hires [a] firebrand educator with ties to a white supremacist group, Frank Borzellieri, to run a Bronx Catholic school where most of the students are black and Latino:

Mount Carmel pastor, the Rev. Eric Rapaglia, said he knew of Borzellieri's views, but didn't "see any cause for concern" when he hired him to run the 200-student elementary school.

"I knew of him from my last parish," he said. "Do I agree with all of it? No. But I think much of it is valuable and logical and reasonable.

"A lot of his ideas would actually benefit minorities," he added.

Ideas like, for example, this one:

In 2004, Borzellieri wrote the book "Don't Take It Personally: Race, Immigration, Crime and Other Heresies," in which he declares "diversity is a weakness" and says the rising black and Hispanic populations in America will lead to the "New Dark Age."*

*I haven't read Mr. Borzellieri's book.

The Word of God

When God tells people to warn airport workers that there's a bomb aboard an airplane, they are promptly taken to a mental health facility for evaluation.

On the other hand, when God tells people to run for president, those people are considered legitimate contenders for the job.

Why is that?

Dog Condemned to Death by Stoning

This "Religion, what is it good for?" story better be a joke:

JERUSALEM (AFP) – A Jerusalem rabbinical court condemned to death by stoning a dog it suspects is the reincarnation of a secular lawyer who insulted the court's judges 20 years ago, Ynet website reported Friday.

According to Ynet, the large dog made its way into the Monetary Affairs Court in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, frightening judges and plaintiffs.

Despite attempts to drive the dog out of the court, the hound refused to leave the premises.

One of the sitting judges then recalled a curse the court had passed down upon a secular lawyer who had insulted the judges two decades previously.

Their preferred divine retribution was for the lawyer's spirit to move into the body of a dog, an animal considered impure by traditional Judaism.

Clearly still offended, one of the judges sentenced the animal to death by stoning by local children.

The canine target, however, managed to escape.

The Catholic Church and Convicted Sex Offenders

Admit to, and be convicted of, sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy you met at an after-school program:

• Spend six months in jail, and

• Work with kids at not one, not two, but three Catholic schools as a volunteer, while on probation.

Make a few bogus 911 calls and steal $7,700 from one of the three Catholic school where you work with children while on probation for sexually abusing a boy:

• Get sentenced to up to 10 years in jail.

Any questions?

Russia's Orthodox Church Uses Women's Brains and Uteri as Stepping Stones to Power

Russia's Orthodox Church is seeking a more muscular role in society. What to do, what to do to achieve that goal?

How about support proposed legislation aimed at infantilizing women of reproductive age and denying them proper medical care:

MOSCOW – Russia's Orthodox Church teamed with Conservative parliamentarians Monday to push legislation that would radically restrict abortions in a nation struggling to cope with one of the world's lowest birthrates.

The legislation would ban free abortions at government-run clinics and prohibit the sale of the morning-after pill without a prescription, said Yelena Mizulina, who heads a parliamentary committee on families, women and children.

She added that abortion for a married woman would also require the permission of her spouse, while teenage girls would need their parents' consent. If the legislation is passed, a week's waiting period would also be introduced so women could consider their decision to terminate their pregnancy, Mizulina said.

Religion, What Is It Good For?

Apparently, kosher cell phones (phones that block access to services frowned upon by ultra-Orthodox rabbis) and photoshopped history.

Christians Are Exempt From Insurance Mandates

Did you know that if you are a Christian you are exempt from the taxes, penalties and regulations imposed by the recently enacted health insurance law?

All you have to do is to affirm a statement of Christian beliefs and pledge to follow a code that includes no tobacco or illegal drugs, no sex outside of marriage, and no abuse of alcohol or legal medications and pay a monthly fee to join a religious health care sharing ministry plan, a plan that specifically does not guarantee the payment of your medical bills in any fashion and holds members solely responsible for payment of said bills.

And the reason for this exemption? According to the spokeswoman for the Senate committee responsible for writing much of the legislation, lawmakers granted the exemption out of respect for religious freedom.

So, to recap, if you're a religious person the government trusts and respects you enough not to oversee or regulate your health insurance decisions, no matter how misguided they might be or how much taxpayers' money they may end up costing. Meanwhile, if you have the misfortune to be a pregnant woman, there aren't enough hours in the day for politicians to micromanage, regulate, and restrict your health insurance.

Religion, What Is It Good For, Part...I Lost Count

Islamic officials in Malaysia, fighting the righteous fight against Valentine's Day:

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – As couples around the world ready for Valentine's Day, Islamic officials in Malaysia have warned Muslims against celebrating something "synonymous with vice activities."

The warning follows plans announced last week by several Malaysian states who are planning a crackdown on "immoral acts" during Valentine's Day as part of a campaign to encourage a sin-free lifestyle.

"In reality, as well as historically, the celebration of Valentine's Day is synonymous with vice activities," Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, head of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM), which oversees the country's Islamic policies, told state media.

...

JAKIM officials will carry out a nationwide 'Mind the Valentine's Day Trap' campaign, he said, aimed at preventing Muslims from celebrating the day.

Nasrudin Hasan Tantawi, head of the Islamic party PAS's youth wing said Wednesday that authorities in the opposition-controlled northern states of Kedah, Penang and Kelantan as well as central Selangor state will also carry out "immorality checks" on February 14.

...

"We have identified spots in these states which are used by lovers and we are deploying local religious department officials as well as party members to stop such sinful acts like casual sex, which violates Islam," he told AFP.

Always with the "morality police" at the ready! Why religious leaders don't trust people to worship as they see fit remains a mystery.

'De-baptism' in Belgium

An interesting article on what some Belgian Catholics are doing to stand up to the criminal activities of the Catholic Church:

BRUSSELS (AFP) – The child abuse scandals rocking Belgium's powerful Catholic Church are also shaking the faith of followers, with more and more people asking to be struck off baptism registers -- a global movement known as "de-baptism".

"When you don't agree with an organisation that you never chose to join in the first place, the healthiest thing to do is to leave," Damien Spleeters told AFP.

In this mainly Catholic country of 10 million people, the 24-year-old is among a growing crowd exasperated by church policy on issues such as AIDS, and angered by revelations last year of massive child abuse by priests and lay workers.

After reports in April that the Bishop of Bruges had sexually abused his own nephew for 13 years, starting when the boy was five, a church-backed commission in September issued graphic testimony of nearly 500 cases of child abuse by priests and lay workers, including 13 victims who committed suicide.

Spleeters last year wrote to the bishop overseeing the parish where his parents had him christened as a baby to announce he no longer wanted the church "to speak in his name" so was requesting to be struck off the baptism register.

"Whilst we deplore your decision," replied Abbot Jean-Pierre Lorette, "the Catholic Church respects each individual's freedom and will not hold back against their will those who wish to leave it."

Spleeters, the priest added, was in consequence "logically" excommunicated.

In an interview, the young Brussels resident said "I don't consider myself an atheist" but explained he turned to de-baptism due to growing irritation with the Catholic hierarchy.

The move was not uncommon, said Daniel Leclerq of the group "Friends of Secular Morality".

"Pope Benedict XVI's statements against condoms, the appointment of a conservative -- Andre-Joseph Leonard -- to head the Belgian church in early 2010, and the child abuse revelations have led to a hike in de-baptisms," Leclerq said.

...

The church itself played down the phenomenon.

"The percentage is tiny compared to the size of Belgium's Catholic community," said Tommy Scholtes, spokesman for the country's bishops. "It's only understandable that people will come into conflict with an institution, but one incident can't topple the entire institution."

...

In practise, de-baptism consists in writing to the church where the christening took place. The name is not actually struck off but noted on the baptismal registry, meaning that those who decide to leave cannot be married in the church or expect a Catholic funeral.

The trend has gained a substantial following worldwide with atheist groups and secular societies backing online de-baptism for people who see churches as being increasingly out of tune with modern life.

But in Belgium the chord struck hard amid last year's child abuse scandals, the latest country after the United States, Ireland and Germany to face fallout over paedophilia priests.

While the church has apologised for the abuses and admitted "inadequate" handling of the cases, victims complain it has not proposed compensation.

Last month, Archbishop Leonard, the Catholic primate who is a conservative close to Pope Benedict XVI, drew further fire on telling a parliamentary inquiry that compensation was a decision for the courts to take.

Civil authorities should decide whether an institution must pay damages when its leaders "are not personally implicated in the crimes," he said.

"They have become masters in sweeping the dirt under the carpet," said Spleeters.

Bill Donohue Provides Comedic Relief

Start 2011 with a hearty laugh, courtesy of noted Catholic clown Bill Donohue (emphasis mine):

Sandra Lee is the glamorous, live-in love of Gov. Cuomo - and nobody seems to mind that they're not married.

...

Even outspoken Catholic activist Bill Donohue of the Catholic League passed on a chance to decry what some religious conservatives would deem as "living in sin."

Donohue declined to be interviewed, saying through a spokesman, "We're not one to pass judgment" on how people conduct their personal life "or how people celebrate their religion."

Tree Threat Against Jewish City

Photo by andydr

NAZARETH ILLIT, Israel (AFP) – The mayor of a Jewish suburb of Nazareth sparked outrage on Wednesday after refusing to allow Christmas trees to be placed in town squares, calling them provocative.

Predominantly Jewish Nazareth Illit, or Upper Nazareth, is adjacent to Nazareth, where Jesus is said to have spent much of his life. It has a sizable Arab Christian minority, as does mostly Muslim Nazareth itself.

"The request of the Arabs to put Christmas trees in the squares in the Arab quarter of Nazareth Illit is provocative," Mayor Shimon Gapso told AFP.

"Nazareth Illit is a Jewish city and it will not happen -- not this year and not next year, so long as I am a mayor," he said of the northern Israeli town.

"Nazareth is right next door and they can do what they want there," he said.