Pope makes jokes about women. They're not funny.

Over at Raw Story, we learn that for the first time, the pope was interviewed by a woman. Apparently all his previous inteviewers were male. Odd, that. So how did it go, you ask. Frankie didn't do well, not well at all.

In his first interview with a female journalist since his election to the spiritual leadership of the world’s 1.2 billion baptised Catholics, Pope Francis dodged a string of questions about whether he intended raising the status of women in his church while making a couple of jokes that some may find diminishing.

After he said a few folksy-cutesy things about women, the interview turned a corner. 

But when his interviewer, the Vatican correspondent of the Rome daily Il Messaggero, Franca Giansoldati, asked him whether he did not detect an underlying misogyny in the Catholic church, Francis replied: “The fact is that woman was taken from a rib.” Giansoldati wrote that he then laughed “heartily” before saying: “I’m joking. That was a joke.”

The 77-year-old pontiff went on: “The issue of women needs to be gone into in more depth, otherwise you can’t understand the church itself.” But did he envisage, say, appointing a woman to head a Vatican department?

“Well,” replied the pope cryptically. “Priests often end up under the sway of their housekeepers.”

Ugh. It's like they interviewed a guy from one of those "men's rights" forums that are actually feminist-hating forums. Thanks, Francis, for making us ill by giving male-chauvinist-pig responses when asked serious questions about the status of women in the church. We get it: you don't care.

Thus we learn that the pope is a caveman and the situation of female Catholics will not improve during his reign. It's sad. But the church is known for this, so we shouldn't be surprised. It's just that the old fool elicited hope in so many when he was elected. Now that hope is dashed.

Amanda Marcotte's advice for women-hating male trolls

I love that Amanda Marcotte took the time to create a list of things that men who hate women and troll feminists' blogs can do to improve their chances with women. It's so darned sensible!

If you know one of these pathetic guys who thinks that because he can't get a woman to have sex with him, all women are man-hating feminists, send him a link to Marcotte's article. And tell him to take the suggestions to heart.

Honestly, any guy who spends all his time trying to leave hateful comments on women's blogs is a tremendous, obvious, sickening troll. That's not something you want to be, guys. Think about it: what if, instead of being purposely repulsive, you tried to improve yourselves? Heck, you might even get laid if you take AM's list seriously. As she says in the article:

Being a fun, interesting, likeable person is so much better than being a misogynist bore, both for your soul and for your prospects on the dating market.

So get off your asses and get to work, guys. Before, you didn't know what to do. Now you do. Hop to.

How Great Thou Art

Oddly, I woke up yesterday with a song in my head. It was Dixie Carter singing "How Great Thou Art" (at least I think that's the name of the song). If you were a fan of "Designing Women", you might recall the episode where she sang this hymn.

It's the one where Charlene confronts her pastor about the church's inability to see women as full, valid persons. The episode included a long, sad conversation between Charlene and the pastor. He affirmed the church's position: women cannot be priests. So Charlene told him tearfully that she was going to have to leave the church. It hurt her terribly to consider doing this, but the church's misogyny was too much to bear. She couldn't be a part of that. And she figured a loving god would have nothing to do with a church that viewed women as adjuncts, helpers and servants -- but never equals.

And meanwhile, Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter) worried that she wouldn't be able to hit the high notes in "How Great Thou Art", which she was to sing in church that evening.

Anyway, this episode and that god-awful song were stuck in my head when I woke up to the news that Pope Francis likes gay people. But hiding behind this news, almost unnoticed by the media, was another statement: that the door is closed to women priests. Never. Gonna. Happen.

I think that was the huge news of the day, not that the pope managed to mention gay people without throwing up, but that the church will definitely continue to view women as half-persons, invalid beings who cannot fully participate in the church, by virtue of their vaginas.

I think dog was sending me a message by sticking that song in my head. It was a presentiment, a foretelling. Dog was saying, "The popeyguy's gonna trash women today. Watch out!" And lo and behold, that's exactly what happened.

If I was a Catholic woman who held out hope that the church would finally recognize my existence, I would be terribly depressed by the pope's words. And what is his reason for denigrating women? Because it's always been this way.

That's quite a church they've got there. It's a sickening organization in so many ways. But at least we know for sure now: the Catholic church hates women.

The Vatican's homophobia is based on misogyny

I believe the Roman Catholic church's appalling view of women is the ultimate source of its homophobia. Let's take this step by step.

But first, a backstory. Years ago I watched a documentary about the Irish Magdalene Laundries where unmarried, pregnant women were abused by the Roman Catholic church. I'll cut to the chase. There was a segment where a woman who had been imprisoned there spoke about the abuse the women suffered. She said it was commonplace for priests to hear the confessions of these "fallen women" and then request a blowjob.

I could never put this together in my head. How could someone who calls himself a priest do such a thing? But I think I understand it now.

The Roman Catholic church does not see men and women as equals. The male is "made in the image of Christ" -- the females, not so much. Women exist to "service" men, produce babies, cook and clean. They are not allowed to enjoy sex. As far as the church is concerned, the only sexual activity women may engage in is when they submit joylessly to the sexual whims of their husbands. Now, combine this with the Irish laundy story. Those women got pregnant without marriage. Horrors! That means they didn't have the kind of soulless sex that wives are supposed to have; they had fun. And that means they were damaged goods, unfit, unclean. The priests who abused these women believed they were merely demanding their due, as men, from fallen women. It's sickening, but tell me this doesn't have the ring of truth.

Now let's consider the church's homophobia. I believe it arises directly from the church's split view of humanity, where men are seen as full, valid, "authentic" human beings, while women are mere chattel.

"Of course women can't be priests," these men think. "They're not fully human! They cannot represent Christ, who was, let us recall, a wondrous, lustrous, fully manly man." Oh, how virtuous these men are! And they didn't have to earn their laurels. This manly virtue comes from, uh, being men. From the day of his birth, a man is a member of the chosen sex.

Enter same-sex relationships. Why, they go against god's plan! And why is this true (in the church's eyes)? Because these relationships involve true equality. I alluded to this in a post a few days ago. The church says there can be no "authentic" marriage for a same-sex couple. After all, how could it be a marriage when there is no god-approved inequality? There is no suffering woman; there is no dominant man. Such a thing couldn't possibly be a marriage.

The female must suffer in the process of the sexual act in order for it to be god-approved "authentic" sex. I'm using the Vatican's own terminology here -- and it suddenly makes (sick) sense. This must be how they think.

In a male-male or female-female relationship, no one suffers. They're just a happy couple, having a good time, enjoying sex and living their lives as they see fit. This disturbs the Vatican tremendously. There's just something wrong about that, in their eyes. Where's the suffering? There is none, so the relationship is obviously sinful!

I truly believe this is why the church is so opposed to marriage equality. It's all about the equality.

PS: Remember the nitwit church that put a graphic on its signboard? The one that showed a cross, a larger-than sign (with the larger end pointing toward the cross), and an equals sign. It meant "Christ is greater than marriage equality". Think about this. That truly is their message: there can be no marriage if there is equality. It's a contradiction in terms for the church.

And this whole stinking mess arises "naturally" from their religious-caveman view of women. This also explains why the church can't state clearly the basis of its venomous opposition to gays and gay marriage. As I've said many times on this blog, they just babble when the question is asked. And now we understand why. To explain their opposition adequately, they'd have to admit how the church views women. Such a revelation would bring about the total collapse of Christianity (except in countries where women are literally chattel under the law; in such areas, they'd probably be fine with it).

The Roman Catholic church hates women. That's the whole story, right there.

Japanese conservatives as appalling as US counterparts

An outspoken nationalist mayor said the Japanese military's forced prostitution of Asian women before and during World War II was necessary to "maintain discipline" in the ranks and provide rest for soldiers who risked their lives in battle. 

That's the main thrust of this story, but you have to read the article to understand just how creepy this guy is. And it goes further than this mayor. He represents a conservative movement in Japan that is every bit as backward as U.S. southerners who think they fought a northern "war of aggression" over the "rightful" ownership of slaves.

Just go read it. It's scary because it makes you realize the US isn't an anomaly. The crazy is sprouting everywhere.

It's about time

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli court has instructed police to stop detaining women for performing religious rituals that ultra-Orthodox Jews say are reserved for men. 

Why are religious men -- no matter the religion -- consistently appalling? Why must they attack women all the goddamn time? Why is that? Unfortunately, the article ends with this:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently gave preliminary support to a compromise plan to create a new section for mixed-gender prayers. 

I'm sorry but that won't do. There are no special places in this world where only men can talk to imaginary beings. That can be done anywhere. These guys must think that god adores penises. And why would that be, I wonder? Didn't their imaginary overlord create everyone, including women?

Twits. And remember, this attitude spans most religions. Muslims hate women. Fundamentalists hate women. The Vatican hates women. And Orthodox Jews hate women.

I guess the "truth" is that god hates women. There's no other moral that can be gleaned from these attitudes. What a weird imaginary creature god must be. Personally, I like Santa Claus much, much better. At least he's not a bigot.

Roman Catholicism kills woman in Ireland

You probably know that a Hindu woman died in Ireland because the hospital wouldn't provide an abortion -- even though there was no chance that her fetus could survive. They simply let her die along with the unborn child. The case is now at trial.

DUBLIN (AP) — The husband of a woman who died after being denied an abortion in an Irish hospital accepted an apology Thursday from a midwife who, when explaining why the plea was rejected, said Ireland was "a Catholic country."

(snip)

Halappanavar was 17 weeks pregnant when, hospitalized for pain, doctors informed her that the fetus would die. As her miscarriage pains worsened over the next three days, doctors refused her pleas for a termination because they could still detect a fetal heartbeat. By the time the fetus did die, Halappanavar was suffering from blood poisoning and died of organ failure 3 1/2 days later. 

Roman Catholicism killed this woman as surely as if the pope positioned her head in a guillotine. Religions don't like women. They don't like them at all.

Women are not safe in Egypt

Appalling news from Egypt this morning. From the NYT:

“A woman needs to be confined within a framework that is controlled by the man of the house,” Osama Yehia Abu Salama, a Brotherhood family expert, said of the group’s general approach, speaking in a recent seminar for women training to become marriage counselors. Even if a wife were beaten by her husband, he advised, “Show her how she had a role in what happened to her.”

“If he is to blame,” Mr. Abu Salama added, “she shares 30 percent or 40 percent of the fault.” 

Nice, huh? And Morsi's spokesperson sounds little better. (And let's remember that Morsi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood party.) But perhaps the most awful thing about this report is the reaction of most women in Egypt:

But Mr. Abu Salam also argued that husbands should keep their wives under tight control. “It’s the nature of the weak to overstep the required framework if she is given the space and the freedom, like children,” he said in the seminar. Most of the women nodded in agreement. 

If you read the linked story, you will be sickened -- guaranteed. That is, if your morals aren't already skewed by religion or other vile notions.

Sickness in Saudi Arabia

A Saudi cleric says even girls who have not yet reached puberty should be covered from head to toe, citing instances of child molestation in the ultraconservative kingdom and elsewhere. 

Yes, child molestation is the little girl's problem. It couldn't have anything to do with the sex-mad, sex-segregated, sexist male population of the country. Nope, it's the little girl's issue and she has to deal with it. Saudi males are a sickening species of humans.

Saudi Arabia reminds me of North Korea. They're both sick fantasy nations designed to please males -- or in the case of North Korea, one male. Neither country is real. Neither country deserves the slightest respect. If only we could free the North Korean people and the Saudi females from their captors. It would be a much finer world. And then we could house Kim Jong-Un and all the Saudi males in a single, dreadful prison where they are denied just about everything. Doesn't that sound delicious?

Ultra-Orthodox pigs

Did you think oppression belonged solely to the Roman Catholic church and Muslims? Not so. Orthodox Jews in NY have their own oppressors. In fact, they are their own oppressors. Read all about it and be disgusted. Ugh.

These are the people who gave a young girl to the pedophile Nechemya Wasserman, who was sentenced to 103 years in prison for what he did to the child. Orthodox "modesty patrols" handed her over to this pedophile for her own "good". And then he raped her for years. Disgusting!

Someone needs to go through Brooklyn and rip down the suffocating rules these pigs post on trees. And the police need to prosecute them for threatening store owners who show "revealing" mannequins. This is the Jewish mafia and it should be treated as such. Every one of these oppressors belongs in jail.

Fun times ahead

There's not much more to this article than the excerpts I include below. I hope this turns into a big, juicy, the-bishops-are-clearly-idiots type of thing. Phew. They must stay up late at night trying to come up with the next big mistake they can make. It's an amazing, hateful crew, this U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Last week, the nuns; this week, the Girl Scouts -- and always, the gays.

The Girl Scouts of the USA have long been a lightning rod for conservative criticism. Now they're facing their highest-level challenge: An official inquiry by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

I wish they said more. There's this tidbit:

At issue are concerns about program materials that some Catholics find offensive, as well as assertions that the Scouts associate with groups whose stances conflict with church teaching.

Excuse me, but I had no idea the Girl Scouts were an official arm of the Roman Catholic Church. Are they the Roman Catholic Girls Scouts of the USA? Their Wikipedia entry makes no mention of a direct link to His Popeyness.

The Girl Scouts of the USA can't associate freely with others? Can't create their own program materials? What on Earth are these prissy old men regurgitating now? I can't wait to find out! Good times!