Why the HECK don't we hear about this from our western Catholic media? Quite possibly the most perverse headline I've read all year.
Or this?
On this night of all nights, please spare a thought and a prayer for the (mostly Palestinian) Christians of the Holy Land.
Sorry to end before Christmas on a depressing note. Nollaig Shona agus Beannacht libh!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
I don't much like the Irish Times ...
... but it does print good articles sometimes.
Read it, if you can get past the eurobabble. Turns out if the Lisbon Treaty does constitute a military alliance between member states.
Read it, if you can get past the eurobabble. Turns out if the Lisbon Treaty does constitute a military alliance between member states.
As the media continue to churn out condemnations of the Pope by gay activists you have to wonder ...
... have any of them read the Pope's words at all?
Giles Fraser, for instance, a pro-homosexual Anglican, claims that "this is the sort of religious homophobia would be an alibi for all those who would do gay people harm."
Well, read for yourself the offending words and see if they fill you with a desire to rush out and attack homosexuals:
"It is necessary to have something like an ecology of man, understood in the right sense. It is not outdated metaphysics when the Church speaks of the nature of the human being as man and woman, and asks that this natural order be respected.
"This has to do with faith in the Creator and listening to the language of creation which, if disregarded, would be man's self-destruction and therefore a destruction of God's work itself.
"That which has come to be expressed and understood with the term "gender" effectively results in man's self-emancipation from creation (nature) and from the Creator. Man wants to do everything by himself and to decide always and exclusively about anything that concerns him personally. But this is to live against the truth, to live against the spirit creator." (Translation by Teresa Benedetta.)
That, believe it or not, is it. That's what has prompted Ann Louise-Gilligan to accuse the Pope of "denying her humanity" and Senator David Norris (in today's Indo) to call the Pope "an appalling man". A single mention of "gender", no mention at all of homosexuality.
What a lot of media-engineered hysteria. Damien Thompson has a wry take on the situation here.
Giles Fraser, for instance, a pro-homosexual Anglican, claims that "this is the sort of religious homophobia would be an alibi for all those who would do gay people harm."
Well, read for yourself the offending words and see if they fill you with a desire to rush out and attack homosexuals:
"It is necessary to have something like an ecology of man, understood in the right sense. It is not outdated metaphysics when the Church speaks of the nature of the human being as man and woman, and asks that this natural order be respected.
"This has to do with faith in the Creator and listening to the language of creation which, if disregarded, would be man's self-destruction and therefore a destruction of God's work itself.
"That which has come to be expressed and understood with the term "gender" effectively results in man's self-emancipation from creation (nature) and from the Creator. Man wants to do everything by himself and to decide always and exclusively about anything that concerns him personally. But this is to live against the truth, to live against the spirit creator." (Translation by Teresa Benedetta.)
That, believe it or not, is it. That's what has prompted Ann Louise-Gilligan to accuse the Pope of "denying her humanity" and Senator David Norris (in today's Indo) to call the Pope "an appalling man". A single mention of "gender", no mention at all of homosexuality.
What a lot of media-engineered hysteria. Damien Thompson has a wry take on the situation here.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Pope reiterates age-old Christian teaching, incurs wrath of (yawn) homosexual activists
The Irish Times (sort of) has the story here. Note a.) the melodramatic headline, b.) the lack of any kind of context - we are only told that the Pope was addressing the Curia, not when or for what reason - and c.) the absence of any quotation from his address except a few general and inoffensive words which are about as intolerant as a bowl of trifle. This didn't stop a certain "Rev." Sharon Ferguson, Chief Executive(!) of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, claiming that "It is comments like that that justify gay bashing."
But here's something that might give people pause for thought before rushing out to accuse the Pope of fomenting intolerance. The first I heard of the remark was this morning, when Ann Louise Gilligan gave out about it on the radio, claiming that the Pope was denying her "humanity." I had heard nothing about it before then. I trawled through various Catholic news agencies on the internet, but was unable to find a reference to the Pope's remark. The only mention of it on the web that I could find were reports that various homosexual groups had "slammed" it. If the media hadn't kicked up a fuss, virtually no one would have heard of it at all. My question is: if the homosexual lobby was genuinely fearful that the Pope's words could lead to violence against them, would they be publicising those words so dilligently? Or is their goal simply to have another dig at the Pope and portray him as a befuddled reactionary?
But here's something that might give people pause for thought before rushing out to accuse the Pope of fomenting intolerance. The first I heard of the remark was this morning, when Ann Louise Gilligan gave out about it on the radio, claiming that the Pope was denying her "humanity." I had heard nothing about it before then. I trawled through various Catholic news agencies on the internet, but was unable to find a reference to the Pope's remark. The only mention of it on the web that I could find were reports that various homosexual groups had "slammed" it. If the media hadn't kicked up a fuss, virtually no one would have heard of it at all. My question is: if the homosexual lobby was genuinely fearful that the Pope's words could lead to violence against them, would they be publicising those words so dilligently? Or is their goal simply to have another dig at the Pope and portray him as a befuddled reactionary?
Monday, December 22, 2008
With all this talk of the credit crunch, some people still haven't lost sight of their priorities
The Irish Daily Mail of 22 December reports on page 2 that Joe Biden has warned that the US economy is in serious danger of "tanking".
Another report on the same page carries the headline: "Obama's inauguration set to draw millions and cost taxpayer €21m".
Another report on the same page carries the headline: "Obama's inauguration set to draw millions and cost taxpayer €21m".
Friday, December 19, 2008
Surprise! Israel signs a truce and then doesn't abide by its terms
... thus provoking Hamas to end the truce, as Israelis must have known would happen, and fire rockets into Israel.
And while Catholic neocons in the west continue to swoon over Israel and pledge eternal fidelity to her, Israel shows characteristic gentleness and respect for Catholicism by barring priests from entering the Gaza strip, ensuring that Palestinian Catholics blocaded in there have no one to say Mass for them.
Don't expect to read about that in First Things.
End the blocade.
And while Catholic neocons in the west continue to swoon over Israel and pledge eternal fidelity to her, Israel shows characteristic gentleness and respect for Catholicism by barring priests from entering the Gaza strip, ensuring that Palestinian Catholics blocaded in there have no one to say Mass for them.
Don't expect to read about that in First Things.
End the blocade.
Fotterel rambles confusedly about homosexuality in Ireland
he makes the odd claim that in Ireland there is a "public climate of fear-mongering, hate crimes and and intolerance" towards homosexuality. Rrright. I suppose that's why he is able to pontificate about the matter in the country's most respectable newspaper. And it must be why Rocco Buttiglione was not allowed become EU Justice Commissoner.
There is a curious ambivilence about his article. He claims the homosexual community is "full of joy", yet a bitter, aggrieved tone pervades the entire piece. He complains that the topic of homosexuality was discussed on Questions and Answers by an all-heterosexual panel, apparently seeing this as evidence of institutional homophobia (in RTE no less!). Then he triumphantly stresses just how accepted homosexuals have become in Irish Society, with a homosexual choir even being allowed sing in St Anne's Church on Dawson Street. He can't seem to make up his mind whether he and his fellow homosexuals are tolerated as equals or not.
The answer is that they are and they aren't. They are fully accepted, indeed celebrated, by liberal sections of the media, liberal Protestant clergy and people who have simply been brought up to tolerate them. But the rest of the the western world has not been deluded into seeing homosexuality as either normal or healthy. Hence Proposition 8, and the fact that homosexuals don't make up a significant enough portion of the population to be on the panel of Questions and Answers every time a discussion of their rights comes up.
There is a curious ambivilence about his article. He claims the homosexual community is "full of joy", yet a bitter, aggrieved tone pervades the entire piece. He complains that the topic of homosexuality was discussed on Questions and Answers by an all-heterosexual panel, apparently seeing this as evidence of institutional homophobia (in RTE no less!). Then he triumphantly stresses just how accepted homosexuals have become in Irish Society, with a homosexual choir even being allowed sing in St Anne's Church on Dawson Street. He can't seem to make up his mind whether he and his fellow homosexuals are tolerated as equals or not.
The answer is that they are and they aren't. They are fully accepted, indeed celebrated, by liberal sections of the media, liberal Protestant clergy and people who have simply been brought up to tolerate them. But the rest of the the western world has not been deluded into seeing homosexuality as either normal or healthy. Hence Proposition 8, and the fact that homosexuals don't make up a significant enough portion of the population to be on the panel of Questions and Answers every time a discussion of their rights comes up.
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