religion

Canada's Shame: Generations of Children Kidnapped and Brutalized In The Name of "Civilization" and "Christianity"

Yesterday was truly a great day for Canada. After years and years of waffling and procrastination, the federal government finally did what everyone knew had to be done: The Prime Minister, on the floor of the House of Commons, apologized to the Native People of Canada for the horrific and racist residential school system that this country ran for more than a century, a system that destroyed tens of thousands of lives. It's the single most shameful chapter in this country's recent history and an official apology simply had to be made. So, it's certainly not very often that you'll find me heaping praise on Stephen Harper, but today he most definitely deserves it.

Is it just me or is this whole Rev. Jeremiah Wright Scandal a bit of a farce? I mean, besides the fact that it's simply ridiculous to try and smear Obama with the words of his former pastor, the bigger issue, if you ask me, is that Wright is right. The man is telling it like it is. He may be saying some things that certain people don't want to hear, but, hell, I'd say that's a good thing. The man's not crazy. Nor is he the raving lunatic the media is trying to make him out to be. He's simply a guy speaking some truth.

or Iran vs Saudi Arabia in "The Ascendancy of Asininity"

Ok, so two weeks ago you heard about the delightful tale of the 19-year-old woman in Saudi Arabia who, for the crime of being gang-raped, was sentenced to be tortured and permanently disfigured - to call flogging by its real name - followed by 6 months in prison. Well, today we're reminded that, when it comes to full-on barbaric, feudal, Dark Age Mentalities, the Saudis are relatively timid and moderate compared to their brothers in asininity in the Iranian judiciary. I can almost hear the Iranian taunts now: "Hey, Saudis, you call that a sentence? How about death to an 18-year-old for the crime of being raped by her brothers and forced into sex slavery by her parents? Bet you can't beat that, you pansies!"

As a heroic fighter against apartheid, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, now 76 years old, knows bigotry and discrimination when he sees it. And he doesn't mind speaking up, even when he sees it in his own church.

Imagine being sexually and emotionally abused, raped and/or sodomized, and completely traumatized as a young child by someone you thought you could trust more than anyone else, your priest. Then, when you finally overcome your shame and tell someone about it, your church, the same one you were raised to have faith in as a holy institution, not only fails to punish your attacker, but does everything possible to cover up the crime while offering you no comfort whatsoever. And then, amazingly, those running the church actually go on to transfer that same sick rapist to another church where he can violate more victims and destroy many more young innocent lives.

And then imagine you find out they did the same despicable thing in hundreds of different cases.

Now imagine you wait decades to finally get a payout and an apology from the local diocese in a settlement that in no way returns your lost childhood or any of the lost happiness, self-esteem and/or mental stability you forfeited, only to find that some new sickos are right there waiting to take advantage of you in a whole different way.

Did you hear the latest one by that Pope guy? You must have heard how, earlier this week, he decided to once again demonstrate his prowess at pomposity with his latest message to the world. And as far as pathetically pompous pontifications go, this one was a definite keeper.