Miscellanea Agnostica

Ultra-orthodox Jewish men in Israel apparently decided they’ve had enough of those insolent, “uppity” females who don’t believe as they do and whom they think can never be seen in public. They’re no longer resorting to bullying schoolgirls; instead, a bunch of them ganged up on and viciously attacked a lone woman in Beit Shemesh, as the Jerusalem Post reports (WebCite cached article):

Beit Shemesh resident Natalie Mashiach, 27, was hanging up flyers for the national lottery in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet on Tuesday afternoon, when she was approached by haredi man who she said cursed her and spat in her face.

According to Mashiach, she retreated to her car, when dozens of men started pelting her vehicle with stones, punctured her tires, poured bleach on her inside the car and stole her car keys. She then fled to a nearby building chased by the mob, before the police arrived and dispersed them.

Mashiach sustained a light injury from a rock which was thrown at her head during the incident.

How manly of these guys to attack one woman. What an accomplishment! Why, they must be so proud of themselves for having taken on such a mighty foe!

Fucking cowards … !

Photo credit: Alexbip.

Tags: assault, beit shemesh, beit shemesh bet, crime, criminal, haredi, haredim, israel, jew, jewish, jews, judaism, misognyist, misogynists, misogyny, nachman segel, natalie mashiach, ramat beit shemesh bet, refael ekstein, ultra-orthodox, ultraorthodox, vandalism, vandals, woman, women, yehoshua mordechai bloi

The latest example of what I like to refer to as “the Christian martyr complex” comes in this pronouncement by Pope Benedict XVI. The Catholic News Service reports that the Holy Father has declared Christianity — and even religion itself — to be in danger of extinction (WebCite cached article):

Christianity and even religious belief are in grave danger across the globe, risking oblivion, Pope Benedict XVI said.

“Across vast areas of the earth, faith runs the danger of extinguishing like a flame that runs out of fuel,” he said.

Last I knew, religious faith was still going strong. The vast majority of people in the world are religious, and while religious fervor is fading in a few places such as Europe, in most regions religion is going strong and is nowhere near dying out.

It almost goes without saying that, in those few places where religion is becoming less common, the Roman Catholic Church’s own conduct has very likely contributed to this trend. “Charity begins at home,” or so the saying goes, so maybe the Pope should look in his own mirror and figure out how he might try to reverse this trend that so alarms him? My guess is he’ll refuse to do so and continue to wail about the evils of “secular humanism,” rather than examine and ferret out the evils within his own Church.

The article includes an additional quote, though, which I find remarkable:

“Without faith, the whole ecumenical movement would be reduced to a form of ‘social contract’ that’s adhered to out of common interest,” the pope said.

I’m not quite sure what the problem is with a “social contract” that people embrace “out of common interest.” Wouldn’t that be the best thing … for people to get along with each other, because it’s in their own best interest? And isn’t this precisely how the Ethic of Reciprocity works — a principle which, ironically, none other than the founder of the Pope’s own religion promoted? If this is something Jesus taught, why would the Pope find it objectionable?

None of this should be news to any Vatican-watcher. As the clerical child-abuse scandal has hammered the Catholic Church around the world, the current and prior Popes both staunchly refused to acknowledge any part in it; they both tried to prevent bishops from allowing abusive clergy to be investigated by local authorities; and Benedict remains committed to a policy of evading responsibility for it, becoming offended when he’s forced to face it. He could, in one moment, restore the credibility of his own Church — and by extension, that of Christianity and of religion generally — by dealing with the scandal in a contrite and moral manner. But he never will. Count on it.

Hat tip: CNN Belief Blog.

Photo credit: Catholic Church (England & Wales).

Tags: benedict xvi, catholic church, catholicism, christian martyr complex, christian persecution complex, ethic of reciprocity, golden rule, holy see, persecution, persecution complex, pope benedict, pope benedict xvi, religionism, religionist, religionists, roman catholic, roman catholic church, vatican, vatican city

Yesterday’s post on the latest reprehensible excuse for child abuse by priests — and for hierarchs doing nothing to stop it — offered by the Roman Catholic Church, got me to thinking about the number of excuses the Church has made over the years, concerning its handling of the vast worldwide child-abuse scandal that has dogged it for around a decade. Here are some of the ones I’ve blogged about:

1. What’s wrong with abusing children?
2. Claims are claims, so we don’t care
3. The Devil within the victims caused the abuse
4. The Devil lurking in the Vatican caused the abuse & the scandal
5. The scandal is a plot against the Pope
6. The Bible forbids anyone to “judge” the Church
7. The scandal was falsely cooked up by “masonic secularists” and “great newspapers”
8. The scandal is a conspiracy of the Jews
9. Admitting wrongdoing would cost too much money
10. The scandal is an attack by “the world”
11. Sexually assaulting children is not pedophilia & there’s nothing wrong with it
12. The priestly-pedophilia scandal is all society’s fault
13. The victims liked it, so it was OK

The above are all serious statements offered by current or former Church officials, accused clergy, or the Vatican’s defenders. In addition to all of these, there’s also a widespread assumption among lay Catholics that allegations of child abuse are all fabricated, made up in order to extort money from dioceses.

The aforementioned excuses are all depraved evasions of the truth, which is that Roman Catholic clergy around the world abused children in their care; they sometimes did so systematically; abusive clergy were aided and abetted by the Church’s hierarchs; and to date the Church still tries to keep its clergy from being prosecuted.

And yes, folks, the abuse absolutely did occur. While it’s not reasonable to assume each and every individual allegation is true, a long line of independent reports in many countries have all verified that the abuse happened, it happened on a wide scale, and it took place over the course of decades; see e.g. reports from Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands, to name just three.

I’m sure more excuses will be offered in the future, but at this point I expect they’re likely to be variations on the above … along the lines of “it wasn’t all that serious” or “it’s a conspiracy!” More’s the pity.

Photo credit: Demotivators blog (defunct).

Tags: catholic church, catholic clerical abuse scandal, catholic clerical child abuse, catholic clerical child abuse scandal, child sexual abuse, christian, Christianity, christians, conspiracies, conspiracy, conspiracy theories, conspiracy theory, excuse-making, excuses, holy see, papacy, pope, priestly pedophilia, roman catholic, roman catholic church, sexual abuse, vatican, vatican city

I already blogged about some ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel who bullied a girl because they subjectively interpreted her attire to be “immodest.” They then reacted to criticism over their behavior by hurling a reductio ad Hitlerum at their critics. In spite of the outcry against that, they’ve continued their assault on women in Isreal, as the AP reports via the Boston Globe (locally-cached article):

A small group of ultra-Orthodox Jews has prevented some women from voting in local elections in Jerusalem. It’s the latest step by the extremely pious Jews to try to force their practices on others.

Israel’s Channel 2 TV video showed the men screaming at a few dozen women, demanding that they leave a voting station Wednesday. Then the men pushed them away.

The article makes one final point:

The vast majority of Israel’s Jews object to such measures.

If this is truly the case, one wonders why this stuff is even happening at all, not to mention accelerating in frequency and militancy. Hmm.

Hat tip: Unreasonable Faith.

Photo credit: vicki wolkins.

Tags: democracy, elections, israel, jerusalem, jew, jewish, jews, judaism, misognyist, misogynists, misogyny, ultra-orthodox, ultraorthodox, voting, woman, women

I’m not sure how much this really has to do with “religion” per se or anything metaphysical, but here it is. The BBC reports that the Swedish government has decided to recognize a church whose sacrament is file-sharing (WebCite cached article):

A “church” whose central tenet is the right to file-share has been formally recognised by the Swedish government.

The Church of Kopimism claims that “kopyacting” — sharing information through copying — is akin to a religious service. …

The church, which holds CTRL+C and CTRL+V (shortcuts for copy and paste) as sacred symbols, does not directly promote illegal file sharing, focusing instead on the open distribution of knowledge to all.

Kopimism is less of a spiritual movement, and more like a transparent effort to protect file-sharing, as admitted by its founder:

It was founded by 19-year-old philosophy student and leader Isak Gerson. He hopes that file-sharing will now be given religious protection.

The effort here is to use laws religious-freedom laws as a facade behind which to share files. Not being a lawyer, I have no idea how well this will work.

In case you feel like finding out more about it, the Missionary Church of Kopimism has a Web site, with this introductory page in English. Photo credit: kopimi (aka “Copy Me”).

Tags: church of kopimism, computing, copy, copy paste, copying, file copying, file sharing, kopimi, kopimism, Religion, sweden, tech, technology

I blogged yesterday about ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel who’ve been harassing other Israelis who aren’t religionistic hard-liners like themselves. They’ve taken some heat lately, but apparently are not mature enough to handle the criticism. They’ve shot back by hurling the old reductio ad Hitlerum at those who dare tell them to keep their vicious religionism to themselves, as the Jerusalem Post reports (WebCite cached article):

Approximately 1,500 ultra-Orthodox men gathered at Shabbat Square in the capital’s Geula neighborhood on Saturday night to protest what they called the “oppression” and “incitement” of the “secular community” against them.

Dozens of men wore yellow Stars of David on their jackets with the word “Jude” in the center, and banners bearing slogans such as “Zionists are not Jews” and “Zionism is racism” were paraded at the rally.

They’ve even asked for protection, because this criticism — as they see it — is no different than a genuine, physical attack upon their persons:

“Orthodox Jews demand the presence of international forces to protect them,” another sign read.

So not only are these people hyperreligionistic and immature, they’re also delusionally paranoid. What a wonderful combination. (Not unlike the Religious Right in the US!). These ultra-orthodox Jews view the insolence of secular Israelis who won’t give up being secular and abide by their dour ultra-orthodox standards as the equivalent of an active campaign to destroy them.

Sorry people, but in this world, no one is entitled never to be criticized, and to be criticized is not the same as being physically attacked. Time to fucking grow the hell up, OK? Wah wah wah.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Tags: argumentum ad hitlerum, geula, haredi, haredim, israel, jew, jewish, jews, judaism, reductio ad hitlerum, religionism, religionist, religionistic, religionists, shabbat square, ultra-orthodox, ultraorthodox

I’ve blogged numerous times about religious extremism. Most of the examples I cite deal with Christian extremism, and less often, Islamic extremism. But that’s not to say that other religions don’t have extremists, or that I don’t mention them. The latest example I’ve come across, is one of Jewish extremism. The AP reports via USA Today that some ultra-orthodox Jewish men have been harassing a little girl as she walks to school in Israel (WebCite cached article):

A shy 8-year-old schoolgirl has unwittingly found herself on the front line of Israel’s latest religious war.

Naama Margolese is a ponytailed, bespectacled second-grader who is afraid of walking to her religious Jewish girls school for fear of ultra-Orthodox extremists who have spat on her and called her a whore for dressing “immodestly.” …

The girls school that Naama attends in the city of Beit Shemesh, to the west of Jerusalem, is on the border between an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood and a community of modern Orthodox Jewish residents, many of them American immigrants.

The ultra-Orthodox consider the school, which moved to its present site at the beginning of the school year, an encroachment on their territory. Dozens of black-hatted men jeer and physically accost the girls almost daily, claiming their very presence is a provocation.

The problem with harassing people over “immodesty,” of course, is that “immodesty” is both subjective and relative. Almost any kind of outfit can be labeled “immodest” if one wishes to do so. And the context in which an outfit is worn can make it seem more or less “immodest.”

The tension between the hard-line Haredi Jews of Beit Shemesh and their more moderate neighbors is not new, though:

Beit Shemesh’s growing ultra-Orthodox population has erected street signs calling for the separation of sexes on the sidewalks, dispatched “modesty patrols” to enforce a chaste female appearance and hurled stones at offenders and outsiders. Walls of the neighborhood are plastered with signs exhorting women to dress modestly in closed-necked, long-sleeved blouses and long skirts.

In other words, they’ve carried on a campaign intended to force others — not of their sect — to act as though they believe as they do.

(Gee, sounds a bit like the Religious Right here in the US, no?)

Christian readers of my blog have complained previously that they feel I don’t criticize other religions. This blog entry — like a number of others — proves them wrong on what score. Moreover, even if I only pointed out examples of Christian extremism, that in itself does not make me wrong. Extremism is not relative; it doesn’t become acceptable in one religion just because it happens in another; and I don’t have to talk about the extremism of other religions in order to remark on Christian extremism.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Tags: beit shemesh, charedi, charedim, haredi, haredim, immodesty, jew, jewish, jews, modesty, naama margolese, ultra-orthodox, ultraorthodox

I blogged a long time ago about the Roman Catholic clerical child-abuse scandal hitting the Netherlands. The AP via CTV relates the release of a report into the abuse of children by Catholic clergy there, and the numbers are staggering (WebCite cached article):

Thousands of children suffered sexual abuse in Dutch Catholic institutions over the past 65 years, and church officials knew about the abuse but failed to adequately address it or help the victims, a long-awaited report said Friday. The release of the report was followed by an apology to victims by the archbishop of Utrecht, who said the revelation “fills us with shame and sorrow.” …

The Dutch report said Catholic officials failed to tackle the widespread abuse, which ranged from “unwanted sexual advances” to rape, in an attempt to prevent scandals. Abusers included priests, brothers, pastors and lay people who worked in religious orders and congregations, it said. The investigation followed allegations of repeated incidents of abuse at one cloister that quickly spread to claims from Catholic institutions across the country.

The suspected number of abuse victims who spent some of their youth in church institutions likely lies somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000, according to a summary of the report investigating allegations of abuse dating back to 1945.

It’s nice, I suppose, that Archbishop Wim Eijk apologized and expressed remorse over this, and compensation will be offered to victims, but once again I must ask why it took so long — the culmination of a thorough examination and investigation — for the apology to be forthcoming? Would it have been so fucking hard for the Dutch Catholic Church simply to have owned up, right at the start? Why does the Catholic Church, which claims to be the sole remaining arbiter of morality in the world, to show some damned courage and moral fortitude, just once? They love telling everyone else what they ought to do, but refuse to be held accountable for their own actions, or inaction as the case may be, and must have all concessions of wrongdoing dragged out of them. Hypocrites!

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Tags: archbishop wim eijk, archdiocese of utrecht, catholic church, catholic clerical abuse scandal, catholic clerical scandal, child abuse, child sexual abuse, christian, Christianity, christians, clerical child abuse, clerical child sex abuse, holland, netherlands, priestly pedophilia, roman catholic, roman catholic church, utrecht, wim eijk

It seems I leaped to conclusions about Saudi Arabia entering the 21st century. That country remains mired in medieval thinking, as exemplified in this ABC News report about a Saudi woman who was beheaded for having engaged in “witchcraft” and “sorcery” (WebCite cached article):

A Saudi woman was beheaded after being convicted of practicing “witchcraft and sorcery,” according to the Saudi Interior Ministry, at least the second such execution for sorcery this year.

The woman, Amina bint Abdulhalim Nassar, was executed in the northern Saudi province of al-Jawf on Monday.

The “evidence” against her?

A source close to the Saudi religious police told Arab newspaper al Hayat that authorities who searched Nassar’s home found a book about witchcraft, 35 veils and glass bottles full of “an unknown liquid used for sorcery” among her possessions. According to reports, authorities said Nassar claimed to be a healer and would sell a veil and three bottles for 1500 riyals, or about $400.

This execution received a stamp of approval from the entire Saudi court system:

According to the ministry, Nassar’s death sentence was upheld by an appeals court and the Saudi Supreme Judicial Council.

Are we quite clear, now, on how barbaric it is to kill people over mere metaphysics?

Note: Any Christians out there who are thinking how superior their religion is to Islam, in this regard, had best be careful: I’ve already blogged about Christians in Africa who’ve gone after supposed “witches.” Christians would do well to keep in mind how much harm their own religion has inflicted on people in the name of eliminating witchcraft. Christianity certainly does not have clean hands in this matter — even now.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Tags: al-jauf, amina bint abdulhalim nassar, arabia, arabs, Islam, muslim, muslims, saudi, saudi arabia, saudis, shari'a, shari'a law, sorcerer, sorceress, sorcery, witch, witch-hunt, witchcraft, witches

Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker and current GOP candidate for president, is surging in the polls. Part of the reason is that he’s been cultivating the Religious Right, which largely ignores the fact that he’s been married three times, having cheated on two of his wives, including while he was trying to get Bill Clinton run out of the White House for having had an affair.* As part of his effort to build his reputation as a dutifully and devoutly Christian Rightist, the Newtster decided to court the Christian Zionist movement. Unfortunately, the way in which he chose to go about it, demonstrates conclusively that he’s a brazen ignoramus. CBS News reports on his idiotic spew (WebCite cached article):

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said this week that Palestinians are an “invented” people, a position that could be seen as putting him at odds with the U.S. push for a two-state solution in the Middle East.

“Remember, there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire,” Gingrich told the Jewish Channel, which posted portions of the interview online on Friday [cached]. “And I think that we’ve have invented the Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs and are historically part of the Arab community, and they had the chance to go many places.”

Here’s video of this part of the interview, courtesy of the Jewish Channel and Youtube:

His criterion for what makes the Palestinian people “invented” and therefore ineligible to have their own state — i.e. that their land once had been part of the Ottoman Empire — is more than a bit strange. After all, many countries that exist now, and have existed for a very long time, were also once part of the Ottoman Empire. Most of the Balkan states, for example, had once been under the Ottoman regime. The same goes for countries like Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Tunisia, Armenia and even Hungary … just to name a few. By the standards the Newtster has laid down, these nations are all “invented peoples,” and none are entitled to statehood.

In spite of his error, Gingrich is far too ideologically-driven (and too desperate to hold onto Christian Zionist primary voters) to admit his error. He maintains he’s factually correct, even though quite obviously he’s not (cached).

Yes folks, even though he’s a history professor, Newt Gingrich doesn’t actually know anything about history. I only have a B.A. in the field, yet I know how catastrophically wrong the man is. His lie about the Palestinian situation places him in my “lying liars for Jesus” club.

One last thing: During the interview, Newt says:

And for a variety of political reasons we have sustained this war against Israel since the 1940s.

I have no idea who this “we” is that the Newtster claims has been waging a “war against Israel” all that time. Is he referring to the US? Somehow I doubt it, but I can’t imagine who else that “we” could possibly be.

Photo credit: Eliel.

* The R.R.’s fondness for hypocrisy is well-known, but is strange, considering the founder of their own religion clearly, explicitly, plainly and specifically forbid his followers to be hypocritical, ever.

Tags: 2012 campaign, 2012 election, christian, christian right, christian zionism, christian zionist, christian zionists, Christianity, christians, gop, israel, israelis, jewish, jews, liar for jesus, liars for jesus, lying liar for jesus, lying liars for jesus, middle east, newt gingrich, ottoman, ottoman empire, palestine, palestinian, palestinian arab, palestinian arabs, palestinian people, palestinians, religious right, republican, republican primary, zionism, zionist, zionists