The dangers of religious privilege

Rhinox said:

Absolutely galling. And demonstrative at how the religious in America have a damning hold over our politics. What can we do to remedy this?

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You know how the Amish are kind of charming in their own retrograde way, but you would NEVER want them running our entire society and government?

That applies to all religions, not just the Amish.

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Church Sex Scandal Widens: Hundreds More Catholic Clergy Accused Across CA

Plaintiffs’ attorneys say 1500 new lawsuits have been filed against the Roman Catholic Church in Northern CA alone. The Investigative Unit has independently reviewed nearly 700 of them.

www.nbcbayarea.com

An NBC Bay Area analysis of nearly 700 lawsuits filed against Catholic institutions across Northern California over the past three years suggests the church’s child sexual abuse scandal in the region is significantly worse than the public previously knew.

More than 200 of the clergy and lay employees of the Catholic Church named in the wave of lawsuits have never been publicly accused of being sexually abusive towards children and teenagers until now, NBC Bay Area’s investigation found. Some of the newly accused continue to work as priests.

Other alleged perpetrators named in the civil filings have faced previous accusations but now face new claims, some of them dozens.

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Delaware bill would force priests to ‘break seal of confession’ for child abuse

One sponsor says current law turns “a sacred space into an unsafe space.” A lawyer who opposes the bill calls it “anti-Catholic bigotry.”

whyy.org

Morrison said he’s undeterred by the expected pushback.

“This is not a freedom of religion issue because no one’s being prevented from practicing their religion,’’ Morrison said. “This is an extreme example, but if someone says, ‘My religion says that I have to perform human sacrifice,’ that is not allowed. Freedom of religion is not necessarily absolute, whenever you’re talking about protecting people and the rights of people and especially vulnerable people.”

Sen. Poore had harsh words for those who oppose the bill.

“I feel like anybody who fights this, it’s a little crazy,’’ she said. “We are talking about the protections of children. We’re talking about someone that could have done something to harm another human being. And we’re going to utilize the sacrament of confession to give a protection. That doesn’t sound right.”

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People need to stop acting surprised that the fundamentalist Christian Right doesn't care about democracy. How many times does the word "democracy" appear in the Bible? I'll give you a hint: it's a number less than 1. And it's not because the concept wasn't around at the time: Athens had democracy in the 6th century BC.

Meanwhile, the word "king" appears 2552 times in the Bible (NIV).

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Judaism: God and I have a complicated relationship. I'm in therapy over it.

Christianity: God and I have the most amazing relationship ever! He loves me, and I love him! And I know you've heard some things, but don't believe them! This relationship is perfect.

Islam: God is a controlling authoritarian who tells me what to do every second of every day, and I will insist until my dying days that this is what a healthy relationship looks like.

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