I tried posting this a couple days ago & it wouldn't take.
Your e-mails say this group is looking to be politically active. A bunch of religious groups in the US are petitioning the government leaders for religious freedom. They included the rights of atheists in the mix.
Letter & signers below. I gave a copy to my state senator yesterday & will be taking it to our local ecumenical anti-violence group tonight. My local bishop is one of the signers.
April 4, 2019
Dear President Trump, Vice President Pence, Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy, Majority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Schumer:
We are a diverse group of advocates for religious liberty for all. We sometimes differ about what religious freedom requires, but we are united around the bedrock principle of ensuring that all individuals and communities are able to exercise their faith in safety and security. We write to ask you to take action to uphold this principle.
We are grieving over the most recent heinous attacks on houses of worship. The March 15th attack on two mosques in New Zealand during Friday prayer killed fifty Muslims and injured fifty more. In the weeks since, an assailant stabbed a Catholic priest in a Montreal church during Mass, and a California mosque was set on fire and vandalized with graffiti referencing the New Zealand attacks. Moreover, to our alarm, in the aftermath of the New Zealand attacks we have seen the Jewish community falsely accused as somehow being responsible for those attacks— rhetoric that further endangers that community as well.
As you know, other houses of worship have also been targeted for unspeakable violence in recent years. In the United States, these attacks include ones on Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek; Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina; Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota; First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas; and Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The words we use matter greatly, especially the words of our leaders. In 1790, President George Washington wrote a letter to the members of Touro Synagogue, insisting that the government of the United States must give “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance. . . .” All Americans should be able to “sit in safety under [their] own vine[s] and figtree[s],” with “none to make [them] afraid,” Washington said.
We ask you to uphold these principles. As governmental leaders, you have a special duty to ensure that your words comport with the spirit of the Constitution and help to unify, strengthen and keep Americans safe.
Accordingly, we ask you to affirm the following principles in coming days:
• Individuals of all faiths and none have equal dignity, worth and rights to religious freedom.
• A person is not more or less American because of his or her faith. People of all faiths and none are equal and make outstanding contributions to the United States.
• Individuals must be able to exercise their religion, including attending their houses of worship and practicing their faith in the public square, without fear for their physical safety.
• Scapegoating, stereotyping and spreading false information about any person or community, including religious individuals and communities, is unacceptable.
• Americans should never foment fear about groups based on attributes like religion, race or ethnicity, and they should speak against fear-mongering by others.
• The civic and religious virtue of humble dialogue with those with whom one disagrees should be encouraged.
• Leaders should avoid using violent imagery because it can encourage violence, especially among those who are so inclined and those who are impressionable.
• An attack on one religion should be treated as an attack on every faith. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”
We hope you will devote specific remarks to these principles in the days ahead. We vow to work with you to ensure that individuals and communities are able to practice their faith without fear.
Sincerely, William Aiken
President, Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington
Washington, D.C.
Bishop Claude Alexander
The Park Church
Charlotte, North Carolina
Leith Anderson
President
National Association of Evangelicals
Marge Baker
Executive Vice President for Policy and Program
People for the American Way Foundation
Bishop Carroll A. Baltimore
Global Alliance Interfaith Networks
Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera
Bishop of Scranton
Chairman, USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
Jenna Baron
Executive Director
Alliance for Refugee Youth Support & Education
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Rev. Dr. James E. Baucom, Jr.
Senior Pastor
Columbia Baptist Church
Falls Church, Virginia
Thomas C. Berg
James L. Oberstar Professor of Law and Public Policy
University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)
Anju Bhargava
Founder
Hindu American Seva Communities
Rev. Dr. Steve Bland
Michigan Baptist Association
Detroit, Michigan
Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
President
Buddhist Association of the United States
Rev. Brendolyn Boseman
African American Ministers Leadership Council
Augusta, Georgia
J. Mark Brinkmoeller
Vice President, International Interfaith Peace Corps
Former Director, USAID Center for Faith-based and Community Initiatives
Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio
Archbishop for the Military Services, USA
Chairman, USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace
Rev. Paul Bush
Concerned Clergy Fellowship
Aiken, South Carolina
Rev. Jennifer Butler Chief
Executive Officer Faith in Public Life
Rev. Bruce A. Cameron
Retired Lutheran Minister (LCMS)
St. Louis, Missouri
Sister Simone Campbell
Executive Director
NETWORK Advocates for Catholic Social Justice
Galen Carey
Vice President for Government Relations
National Association of Evangelicals
Dr. John D. Carlson
Associate Professor of Religious Studies and
Interim Director, Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict
Arizona State University
Angela Carmella
Professor
Seton Hall University School of Law
Patrick Carolan
Executive Director
Franciscan Action Network
Rev. David B. Carver
First United Presbyterian Church of Crafton Heights
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Rev. Dorothy Chaney
VASHTI Women of Faith
Miami, Florida
Bishop Harry Chaney
MICAH Leadership Council
Cairo, Georgia
Dr. Arturo Chavez
President
Mexican American Catholic College
Rev. Dr. Michael Couch
MICAH Leadership Council
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Rev. Dr. Jill Y. Crainshaw
Interim Dean
Blackburn Professor of Worship and Liturgical Theology
Wake Forest University School of Divinity
Rev. Alan Cross
Southern Baptist Convention Minister
Writer/Author, Missional Strategist, Baptist Association of Montgomery, Alabama
Rev. Dr. Chuck Currie
Director, Center for Peace and Spirituality
University Chaplain
Pacific University
Rev. Fred Davie
Executive Vice-President
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Rev. Delisha Davis
MICAH Leadership Council
Alexandria, Virginia
Dr. David DeCosse
Santa Clara University
Co-editor, Conscience and Catholicism: Rights, Responsibilities, and Institutional
Responses (Orbis 2015)
Dr. Sabrina E. Dent
Director of Programs and Partnerships
Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute
Dr. Miguel Diaz
U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See (ret.)
John Courtney Murray University Chair in Public Service
Loyola University of Chicago
Dr. John DiIulio
Frederic Fox Leadership Professor of Politics, Religion, and Civil Society
University of Pennsylvania
Former Director, White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives
Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas
Dean
Episcopal Divinity School at Union
Rev. Dr. Pam Durso
Executive Director
Baptist Women in Ministry
Atlanta, Georgia
Rev. Dr. R. Guy Erwin
Bishop
Southwest California Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Rev. Kristen Farrington
Executive Director
Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute
Todd Fetters, Bishop
Church of the United Brethren in Christ
Richard T. Foltin
Senior Scholar
Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute
Dr. Curtis W. Freeman
Research Professor of Theology
Director of the Baptist House of Studies
Duke University School of Divinity
Dr. Nicole Baker Fulgham
President
The Expectations Project
Rev. Dr. Willie Gable
Interfaith Ministers Alliance
New Orleans, Louisiana
Richard W. Garnett
Paul J. Schierl / Fort Howard Corporation Professor of Law
Director, Notre Dame Program on Church, State & Society Concurrent Professor of Political Science
University of Notre Dame
Dr. Robert P. George
McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence
Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions
Princeton University
Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson
General Secretary Emeritus
Reformed Church in America
Dr. Steven Green
Fred H. Paulus Professor of Law
Director of the Center for Religion, Law & Democracy
Willamette University School of Law
Jonathan A. Greenblatt
Chief Executive Office and National Director
Anti-Defamation League
Dr. R. Marie Griffith
John C. Danforth Distinguished Professor in the Humanities Director, John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri
Anjleen Kaur Gumer Executive Director National Sikh Campaign
Rev. Dr. David P. Gushee
Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics
Director, Center for Theology & Public Life, Mercer University Immediate Past President, American Academy of Religion & Society of Christian Ethics
Ken Hackett
U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See (ret.)
President and CEO of Catholic Relief Services (ret.)
Iftekhar A. Hai
President
UMA Interfaith Alliance
Rev. Cynthia L. Hale
Senior Pastor
Ray of Hope Christian Church
Decatur, Georgia
Diana Bate Hardy
Executive Director and Co-founder
Mormon Women for Ethical Government
Elder Lee Harris
African American Ministers Leadership Council
Jacksonville, Florida
Hoda Hawa
Director, Washington, D.C. Office
Muslim Public Affairs Council
Rev. Jennifer Hawks
Associate General Counsel
Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
Dr. Charles C. Haynes
Founding Director
Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute
Rev. Dr. Katharine Rhodes Henderson
President
Auburn Seminary
Dr. Dennis P. Hollinger
President & Colman M. Mockler Distinguished Professor of Christian Ethics
Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary
Shirley V. Hoogstra, J.D. President
Council for Christian Colleges & Universities
Rev. Amiri Hooker
MICAH Leadership Council
Columbia, South Carolina
Pastor Carolyn Hurst, MD
Seventh-day Adventist
Cleveland, Ohio
Pastor Jerome Hurst
Seventh-day Adventist
Cleveland, Ohio
Dr. Amir Hussain
Professor of Theological Studies
Loyola Marymount University
Dr. Trung Huynh
Enlightened Buddha Temple
Sugar Land, Texas
Rev. Charles Foster Johnson
Pastor, Bread Fellowship, Fort Worth, Texas
Executive Director, Pastors for Texas Children
Rev. Louis Jones, II
Washington, D.C.
Rev. Dr. Serene Jones
President
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Pardeep Singh Kaleka
Board of Trustees, Sikh Temple of Wisconsin
Co-Founder, Serve 2 Unite
Bishop Lawrence Kirby
Racine, Wisconsin
Douglas W. Kmiec
Professor of Constitutional Law & Human Rights
Ambassador of the United States (ret.)
Steven A. Krueger
Catholic Social Justice Advocate
Boston, Massachusetts
Most Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D.
Archbishop of Louisville
Chairman, USCCB Committee for Religious Liberty
Rev. William H. Lamar IV
Pastor
Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church
Washington, D.C.
Rachel Laser
Executive Director
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Jason Lemieux
Director of Government Affairs
Center for Inquiry
Skip L’Heureux
Executive Director Emeritus
Queens Federation of Churches
Shapri D. LoMaglio, J.D.
Senior Vice President for Government & External Relations
Council for Christian Colleges & Universities
Jacob Lupfer
Committee on Religious Liberty
Rev. Jo Anne Lyon
Ambassador
General Superintendent Emerita
The Wesleyan Church
Daniel Mach
Director
ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief
Rev. Carlos L. Malavé
Executive Director
Christian Churches Together
Benjamin Pietro Marcus
Religious Literacy Specialist
Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute
Rev. Dr. George A. Mason
Senior Pastor
Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas
President, Faith Commons
Rev. Isaac McCullough
Jacksonville, Florida
Rev. Timothy McDonald
First Iconium Baptist Church
Atlanta, Georgia
Nipun Mehta
Founder, ServiceSpace
Arno Arr Michaelis IV Director, Serve 2 Unite
Co-Author, The Gift of Our Wounds
Dr. Vincent J. Miller
Gudorf Chair in Catholic Theology and Culture
University of Dayton
Elliot Mincberg
People for the American Way Foundation
Jack Moline
President
Interfaith Alliance
Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. Pastor Emeritus
Olivet Institutional Baptist Church
Cleveland, Ohio
Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy
Executive Director
Catholic Mobilizing Network
Rev. Rich Nathan
Senior Pastor
Vineyard Columbus, Columbus, Ohio
Carl Nelson
President, Transform Minnesota: the evangelical network
The Honorable Thomas P. O’Neill III Chief Executive Officer
O’Neill And Associates
Dr. Aristotle “Telly” Papanikolaou
Professor of Theology
Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture
Co-founding Director, Orthodox Christian Studies Center
Fordham University
Suzii Paynter
Co-Director
Pastors for Texas Children
Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell
Pastor
First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C.
Rabbi Jonah Pesner
Director
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Dr. Daniel Philpott
Professor of Political Science
University of Notre Dame
John D. Pierce
Executive Editor/Publisher
Nurturing Faith Publishing
Dr. Soong-Chan Rah
Milton B. Engebretson Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism
North Park Theological Seminary
Shahid Rahman
Executive Director
American Muslim Institution
Curtis Ramsey-Lucas
Editor, The Christian Citizen
American Baptist Home Mission Societies
Rev. Dr. R. Mitch Randall
Executive Director
Ethics Daily
Nancy Ratzan
Former President
National Council of Jewish Women
Stephen Reeves
Associate Coordinator of Partnerships & Advocacy
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
Melissa Rogers
Visiting Professor, Wake Forest University School of Divinity
Former Director, White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships
James Roosevelt, Jr.
Catholic Health Care Advocate
Boston, Massachusetts
Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero
President
National Association of Latino Evangelicals
Rev. Alexia Salvatierra
Faith-Rooted Organizing UnNetwork
Rabbi David N. Saperstein
U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom (ret.)
Brett G. Scharffs
Rex E. Lee Chair and Professor of Law
Director, International Center for Law and Religion Studies
Brigham Young University School of Law
Dr. Stephen Schneck
Retired Director, Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies
The Catholic University of America
Rabbi Julie Schonfeld
Chief Executive Officer
The Rabbinical Assembly
Dr. Timothy Samuel Shah
Senior Fellow and Director of the South and Southeast Asia Action Team, Religious Freedom
Institute
Non-resident Research Professor of Government at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of
Religion
Rev. Dr. Robert Shine
African American Ministers Leadership Council
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Suhag Shukla, Esq. Executive Director
Hindu American Foundation
Ambassador Islam Siddiqui
President
American Muslim Institution
Dr. Ronald J. Sider
Distinguished Professor of Theology, Holistic Ministry and Public Policy
Palmer Seminary at Eastern University
Rev. Dr. Susan Smith
African American Ministers Leadership Council
Columbus, Ohio
Stephanie Summers
Chief Executive Office
Center for Public Justice
Sayyid Syeed
President
Islamic Society of North America
Dr. Matthew A. Tapie
Assistant Professor of Theology
Director, Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies
Saint Leo University, Florida
Amanda Tyler
Executive Director
Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
Asma Uddin
Senior Scholar
Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute
Dr. Corey D. B. Walker Visiting Professor University of Richmond
Freedom Forum Institute Senior Fellow for Religious Freedom
Rev. Jim Wallis
Founder and President
Sojourners
Colin P. Watson, Sr.
Director of Ministries and Administration
Christian Reformed Church in North America
Michael Wear
Chief Strategist
The AND Campaign
Debbie Weinstein
Coalition on Human Needs
J. Patrick Whelan, MD PhD Academic Advisory Council
Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at University of Southern California
Rev. Dr. Cathy Williams
VASHTI Women of Faith
Raleigh, North Carolina
Rev. Merchuria Chase Williams, PhD
African American Leadership Council
Atlanta, Georgia
Rev. Leslie Marie Wilson
Director
African American Ministers Leadership Council
Waldorf, Maryland
Rev. Melvin Wilson
St. Matthew AME Church
Orange, New Jersey
Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson
Metropolitan Community Churches
Rev. Patrick Young
Mobilizing Preachers and Community (MPAC) New York
E. Elmhurst, New York
* Titles and organizational affiliations listed for informational purposes only
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"• Scapegoating, stereotyping and spreading false information about any person or community, including religious individuals and communities, is unacceptable."
THIS IS BULLSHIT! IT IS AN ATTEMPT AT LIMITING THE FIRST AMENDMENT. Bad ideas need to be brought out into the open. The Catholic Church has been responsible for Hiding and Protecting pedophiles for centuries. The Protestant faiths are no better.
We already have Religious Freedom in the USA. We need nothing indicating it is not okay to outright attack religious ideology for the idiocy that it is. If a criminal attacks a church, that is a legal matter and should be dealt with legally. That is not the same thing as attacking an idea.
"we have seen the Jewish community falsely accused as somehow being responsible for those attacks— rhetoric that further endangers that community as well." And we already have laws that prohibit false accusations. Either you can not prove your assertion and so you have not sued or you are just making shit up.
"Defamation is an area of law that provides a civil remedy when someone's words end up causing harm to your reputation or your livelihood. Libel is a written or published defamatory statement, while slander is defamation that is spoken by the defendant."
"As you know, other houses of worship have also been targeted for unspeakable violence in recent years." MORE RHETORICAL BULLSHIT. If it is unspeakable, then it did not happen. We can not discuss it. Still you do not get to win by default. Is it only unspeakable because FRIGGING LAWS WERE VIOLATED? We already have laws in place to prevent such behaviors?
JUST PROVED MY POINT: RELIGIONS ARE ALREADY PROTECTED. NOTHING MORE NEED BE DONE.
"President George Washington wrote a letter to the members of Touro Synagogue, insisting that the government of the United States must give “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance. . . .” All Americans should be able to “sit in safety under [their] own vine[s] and figtree[s],” with “none to make [them] afraid,” Washington said." THEY HAVE ALWAYS HAD PROTECTION IN THE USA.
A COMPLETELY ASININE ASSUMPTION:
We ask you to uphold these principles. As governmental leaders, you have a special duty to ensure that your words comport with the spirit of the Constitution and help to unify, strengthen and keep Americans safe. THEY ARE ALREADY UPHELD. WHAT THEY MEAN IS KEEP RELIGIONS SAFE FROM CRITICISM. FUCK THAT!!!
Accordingly, we ask you to affirm the following principles in coming days:
Scapegoating, stereotyping and spreading false information about any person or community, including religious individuals and communities, is unacceptable.
A foot in the door to limit religious criticism and free speech.
Americans should never foment fear about groups based on attributes like religion, race or ethnicity, and they should speak against fear-mongering by others.
BULLSHIT., NOTICE PAIRING RELIGION WITH RACE? THIS IS NOT ABOUT RACE IT IS ABOUT RELIGION AND SOME RELIGIOUS IDEAS ARE FUCKING SCARY NO MATTER WHAT RACE PEOPLE ARE. MORE BULLSHIT TO HOLD RELIGION TO THE SAME STANDARD AS RACE. BULLSHIT!!!!
WHO WROTE THIS SHIT?
The civic and religious virtue of humble dialogue with those with whom one disagrees should be encouraged.
WHEN THE FUCK IS RELIGION VIRTUOUS? WHEN IS A DIALOGUE BETWEEN OPPOSITES HUMBLE. MORE BULLSHIT TO LIMIT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION.
THIS IS THE MOST IGNORANT OF ALL.
An attack on one religion should be treated as an attack on every faith. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” LET'S NAME DROP. AN ATTACK ON A RELIGION IS NOT POSSIBLE. THE ATTACK IS ON THE PEOPLE OF THAT RELIGION AND WE HAVE LAWS IN PLACE FOR SUCH ATTACKS. RELIGIONS DO NOT GET SPECIAL STATUS.
It's a bullshit letter that was put together by some ignorant dweeb who does not understand or appreciate the country he or she is currently living in. I hope it finds the circular file in each and every case. The letter says NOTHING AT ALL and only serves to make religion stand out as if it is somehow special and deserving of extra rights from the government. It's not. It is not special and it deserves no special treatment.
I will pass along to the bishop.
When your bunch of pedophiles stop their immoral activities, then I will start listening to them.
The bishops didn't start the letter. The people signing have been from multiple different groups from faiths around the world. Don't discount everybody.
I agree about listening to the bishops though. They are all proud, pagan, pedophiles incapable of conceiving of anything holier than their extra special ontologically endowed penises that allow them to rape whomever they want with impunity; a doctrine they have proudly & meticulously documented in Canon Law!
Mrs. Paul Owczarek because you have indicated that you are a practicing Roman Catholic, I am assuming that you attend mass and pay a tithe. I am also assuming that you are attempting to affect change from within.
We hold the same position on this disgusting issue, that many in authority within the Roman Catholic church are actively covering up this disgusting practice. And I applaud you for that.
But as long as you walk through the doors of your church with bowed head, you are an enabler, and part of the problem instead of one attempting to find the solution.
@David Killens re Mrs. Paul Owczarek I fully agree. "You are part of the problem. "
If you really want to do something, drag your congregation outside and refuse to step inside until someone does something to make things better. If Christians all across the world started holding their religious accountable. WOW what a wonderful place this could become. But aren't we asking the sheep to hold their shepherds accountable? And what a silly thing to do when the shepherds have convinced the sheep that they are protected by the very shepherds who feed off of them. It's a sick parasitic relationship.
Sadly, this is one of the perversions of the Roman Catholic church. The Pope, bishops, and other clergy have somehow injected themselves as the middleman between believers and their god. Which is weird because when I was a theist, I always believed that my attempts at communications with my supreme being was always direct.
But for Roman Catholics, if you do not follow what the clergy tell you to do, they will shut you off from your god and you become a lost soul.
If anyone wants to grasp the neck of this evil chicken, cut off the flow of money and support. When you speak with your attendance and wallet, even the pope listens.
I tried picketing outside my local parish & picketing the Bishop's women's conference. No response locally, except for getting the lecture from the young, gay man that the Church didn't have a pedophile problem, it had a homosexual problem. I felt like I dropped into an episode of the Twilight Zone. The bishop called the cops & had me escorted off the property. I hadn't realized I was on Church property. I thought I was on a public street.
WELL... Screw the young gay man and I applaud your effort. If you managed to get just one person to question your comments, your actions were successful.
Are you sure he wouldn't LIKE that?
I did get one woman to sign my petition protesting Philadelphia archbishop Slap You's appointment to the youth Sin Nod. All I had to do was mention that he is one of the biggest supporters of Bill Donahue's 'Catholic' League. The man standing next to her said, "I LIKE Bill Donahue!"
The PA bishops, led by Slap You, forced all the priests to blatantly lie about PA Bill 1947, which sought to extend the statute of limitations on pedophilia. They state that it ONLY targeted non-profits. If you actually read the bill, it explicitly stated that sovereign immunity was to be waived so that both public & private organizations could be sued.
Bill Donahue's response was that" the bill had only ONE purpose - To stick it to Catholics." So, he believes pedophilia is a right and privilege exclusive to Catholics?! I wrote & told him that and that he was shredding whatever credibility the Church had left. He took down the post.
I complained to my local priest about the bishop's lying. His response was to praise bishop at Bible study & the hand out was Bill Donahue's - WOMEN's Moral Descent,; with its theme that men have the RIGHT and MORAL OBLIGATION to decide which WOMEN DESERVE TO BE RAPED!
I WILL NEVER SET FOOT IN A CATHOLIC CHURCH AGAIN! It isn't safe. I felt safer walking solo after dark in downtown Baltimore last November at the bishop's conference with my protest sign!
I don't actually believe that religion can be made better. Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu. It's all a cover for corruption and taking advantage of the poor and ignorant. When religion becomes transparent, open, non-judgmental, and fully accountable to the people they are supposed to serve, then it will be a better thing. (I can't get to good; however, I can applaud your efforts.)
I have not been to mass since 2016 & I DO NOT WANT TO SET FOOT IN A CATHOLIC CHURCH AGAIN!. It isn't save. I feel like I am in exile until the proud, pagan pedophiles can be exorcised.
Thank you, you are doing the right thing
I sincerely wish more Catholics felt like you. It's one thing to believe in a religion and a god. It's quite another to use that religion as a screen to commit crimes and protect criminals. Child abuse is not the only issue with the Catholics. I imagine a world where both Government and Religion were forced to be exposed, accessible, fully disclosed to the public, and transparent. Thank you for your effort.
@ Mrs. Paul Owczarek
I certainly applaud your stance against paedophillia in the churches and the curruption, from the pope down, to try to cover it up and I certainly don't agree with violence against anyone, religious or not, but I won't sign up to your letter.
That letter does not represent the right to freedom of expression. It is anti freedom.
It seeks to shore-up the defenses of religion and thus shut down debate and avoid being open to question. It's an attempt to pressurise politicians to give even greater protection and power to religious institutions against anyone who disagrees with them.
When I start seeing religious leaders start spreading the message that you can question god and you can question the church without making people feel they are committing a mortal sin then maybe your letter may have a little more legitimacy.
What's really amazing is that if more "Good Christians" / "Catholics" were actually good and stood up against the Church, the Church would clean house tomorrow to keep your business. It would be like the inquisition. Anyone who ever had an accusation against them would be handed walking papers. But people keep going to church and keep supporting the pedophiles and it is business as usual, so nothing ever need change.