Catholic church spreads homophobia in Croatia

Things like this happen because...the Christian god is love personified. You may all kneel now.

Croatians on Sunday are voting in a referendum that could ban gay marriages after conservative groups, backed by the Roman Catholic Church, demanded that the country's constitution defines the matrimony as a union of a man and a woman.

Seeking to add something completely irrelevant, a cardinal said:

"Marriage is the only union enabling procreation," Croatia's Cardinal Josip Bozanic said in his message to the followers. "This is the key difference between a marriage and other unions." 

I'm sure all the old, childless, Catholic married couples agree. Marriage has nothing to do with loving another person and wanting to share your life with them. Nothing at all. Move along now; nothing to see here.

Thankfully, young people grasp what's wrong with arguments like this.

"I will vote against because I think that the referendum is not a festival of democracy, but a festival of oppression against a minority, which fights for its rights and which does not have its rights," Jura Matulic, a university student, said. 

Catholic conservatives are the worst of the worst -- and this hasn't changed with the installation of a new pope. Their attitude, I'm sure, is that popes come and go. I think they're waiting for Francis to die and be replaced by another gay closet case like Ratzi. They liked him a lot because he had the good sense to hide his awful gayness.

(Okay, so his love for the red shoes and his, you know, prancing, was a dead giveaway. But he didn't talk about it. That's the thing. He hated himself quietly while lashing out at gays all over the world and appointing anti-gay loons as cardinals in areas with large gay populations. Now, that's a pope!)

Gay marriage triumphs despite church efforts

There's an article at the NYT today about the grand failure of the Roman Catholic church's efforts to stop gay marriage in the United States.

(BTW, I think the most amazing thing is that, to date, Catholic leaders haven't been able to provide one rational reason for their hatred of gays. This two-page article, although it quotes hateful priests left and right, provides no further understanding about the church's motivation. As far as the rational world is concerned, the church's effort to stalk and harm every gay person it encounters is based on simple meanness. It's wild that this is the case. Their nonexistent "loving god" apparently supports this behavior!)

There are a many gems in the article. Here are a few:

Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin warned Rhode Island lawmakers: "It is only with grave risk to our spiritual well-being and the common good of our society that we dare to redefine what God himself has created." The Legislature overwhelmingly voted days later to support same-sex marriage. 

[T]he archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, likened gay marriage to male breastfeeding...

Silk suggested that some Catholic leaders in the United States may be eroding their influence by "jumping up and down" to fight gay marriage despite strong public support. 

62 percent of American Catholics think same-sex marriages should be legal.

The thrust of the article is positive: despite the hatred that priests express for gay marriage, equality is winning the battle in legal chambers nation-wide. It's kinda fun. Take that, jeebus!

More on Timmeh

I've now read several versions of what dear, sweet Cardinal Dolan said about gays on Easter Sunday. The man doesn't seem to be mentally or emotionally equipped for his job. That's my take on the situation.

Here's a lovely passage from Think Progress' account of the exchange. After reporting what Timmy said (we can be "friends" but must never ever allow our genitals to touch; thanks, Timmy!) they note the following:

After lobbying against New York’s marriage equality law, Dolan prohibited by decree any Church personnel or property from being utilized for same-sex marriage ceremonies under penalty of “canonical sanctions,” calling the state’s law “irreconcilable with the nature and the definition of marriage as established by Divine law.” He has also compared the “threat” posed to marriage by gays and lesbians to that of polygamy, adultery, forced marriage, communist dictatorships, and incest. [Note: the actual text has many links, for those who wish to document his inhumane statements.]

Let's focus on the section I bolded above. Exactly when and where did Jesus mention "the nature and the definition of marriage as established by Divine Law"? Ahem. I'm waiting. Jesus never said one goddamn thing about this. Timmy Dolan is just damaged goods.

It would be heavenly if the pope countered this nonsense. I wonder what Timmy would say then? He's the original suck-up-to-power guy. It would truly be fun to hear his tortured words, if this ever came to pass.

But we must remember that Argentina's gays hated Bergoglio, who morphed into Popeyguy Francis. So perhaps this is a pipe dream. It's a lovely one, though.

Irony no one seems to notice

The headline of a NY TImes piece today is "Benedict Takes Message of Tolerance to Lebanon". I burst out laughing when I saw it. The man who fosters anti-gay hatred in every country on Earth is taking time out of his busy schedule to bring his extra-special message of "tolerance" to Lebanon. Indeed. These are times of high irony.

Offering thanks to Dolan this Sunday

The smiling face of evil.

I want to openly offer my thanks to Archbishop Timothy Dolan. I firmly believe that his vicious and relentless remarks against gay people and gay marriage literally brought about the passage of the bill to legalize same-sex marriage in New York last week.

Everyone heard the terrible things he said and they saw the viciousness of the man. Here is a higher-up in a trillion-dollar mega-church whose power spans the globe -- and yet he took the time to denouce the right of two people to formalize their loving relationship. And he made believe he was speaking for god as he vomited forth these words. It was sickening -- and people were watching.

This is a man whose church closed adoption agencies in areas that began to allow gay couples to adopt. They kept children in orphanages rather than allow gay couples to offer them a loving home. This single act reveals so much about the empty "morality" of the Roman Catholic church.

For years, Dolan has used his bully pulpit to rail against same-sex marriage. He has equated the love between two men or two women with polygamy and bestiality. And he always tells his listeners that these are not merely his words, but the wishes of a "loving" god.

People, including lawmakers, saw this evil man express hatred for an entire class of people for no intelligible reason. This made them think, though not the way Dolan intended. The foolish archbishop's words caused lawmakers to see the stark inequity before them, perhaps for the first time. And they couldn't countenance it so they voted for fairness and equality.

You did this, Timothy Dolan. And for this I offer you my thanks this Sunday. You lowered the status of the church with your rank, indefensible actions, while simultaneously raising gays to official status. Your vicious words actually helped gay marriage become a reality in our state. And know this: when you uttered those words, you also destroyed your church's credibility.

Keep it up, Timmy. Because if you do, there won't be a Catholic church in New York twenty years from now -- and that will be a very good thing.

That popey guy's quite a guy!

Evil personified.

I saw this today in the NYT:

NEW YORK (AP) — A Maryland Episcopal parish will be the first in the United States to join the Roman Catholic Church under a streamlined conversion plan created by the Vatican.

Isn't that sweet? The popey guy has opened his fragrant arms to the most hateful Episcopal parishes that want to retain the "right" to act viciously toward gay people. The popey guy essentially said to them:

"If your church is becoming too humane and moral, come -- be with us! You can be as hateful as you want on our side of the street because it is the Catholic god's glorious mission to spread bigotry over the Earth. Rejoice!"

Watta guy! So now the Episcopal church can continue to act as immorally as they want -- because the popey guy's got them covered. Hooray!

In other church news today:

"Three current or former priests and a former Roman Catholic school teacher in Philadelphia are rejecting a proposed plea offer to serve 7 1/2 to 15 years on child-rape charges."