The city of San Francisco is to hold a ballot on the issue that involves de facto legalizing of prostitution. A measure to be voted on aims to keep prostitutes from facing criminal charges. This would not mean full-blown freedom to engage in the trade as in most of Australia and countries like New Zealand but would be an advance on the present situation.
The Erotic Service Providers Union collected the 12,000 signatures necessary to put the measure on the ballot.
San Francisco's Mayor, Gavin Newsom, claims the measure would hurt the city's ability to investigate and prosecute sex-trafficking crimes. But Carol Leigh, Director of Bayswan (the Bay Area Sex Workers' Advocacy Network), told Fox News' Bill O'Reilly that the measure aims to provide protection fo sex workers.
The measure would also end a local program that allows those caught soliciting a prostitute for the first time to avoid charges if they attend a class and pay a fine. The vote will take place in November.
COMMENT: The measure doesn't go far enough. For too long the USA, which claims to be the bastion of freedom, has oppressed men and women by making it illegal to employ their own bodies as sex workers. This is an appalling abuse of human rights that needs correcting.
News briefs. www.piperpost.net - 09.08.08
CHRISTIAN GROUP URGES
CONTROLS ON ART. Following the outcry over artworks featuring
naked children (as reported in earlier issues of Piper Post) a
religious organization known as The Australian Christian Lobby is
urging Government action to control such art. Meanwhile the
Classification Board approved the July edition of Art Monthly magazine, which
featured a naked Olympia Nelson, then aged six, on the cover, taken by
her mother Pollixeni Papapetrou. Earlier the Board had also approved
images of naked adolescents by Bill Henson.
VATICAN
APPOINTMENT. The new Rudd Labor Government is early showing its
pro-Christian colours. On top of pouring huge sums of money into the
promotion of the Catholic Church through World Youth Day, it has now
announced that Australia is to have its first Ambassador to the
so-called Holy See. The ambassador is a well-known conservative
politician and a Catholic - Tim Fischer. [Comment: Why do
we need such an ambassador? It is an unnecessary expenditure of public
moneys.]
ISLAMIC PARTY'S WIN IN TURKEY. Moves
to shut down Turkey's ruling Islamic party have failed for the time
being. The Justice and Development Party has been accused of
undermining Turkey's secular constitution. Legal moves were put in
train to shut it down but the Constitutional Court opted instead for a
rebuke of sorts - the party is being stripped of state funding.
Godbotherer sullies US Justice Department's hirings. www.piperpost.net - 09.08. She was good looking and she was a blonde but 34-year-old Monica Goodling will not go down in history because of her physical charms but because she chose to use a position of great responsibility to inject her Christian views into the procedures of a US Federal office.
A newly-released US Justice Department report asserts that Goodling -
with others - used a position of great influence to effectively veto
appointments, allegedly ensuring that only those who toed a
conservative line on issues such as abortion and gay rights should be
approved.
Ms Goodling is a lawyer from the Republican National Committee who
became an aide to the former US Attorney-General, Alberto Gonzales,
well-known as a godbotherer. Sunday, 3rd August, was
celebrated by Australia's gay and lesbian activists as the National Day
of Action - marking the fourth anniversary of amendments made to the
Commonwealth Marriage Act 1961, specifically excluding same-sex couples from
marriage. Once again worshippers have died in a mad
stampede - a common occurrence in some religious festivities. The
latest occurred during a Hindu festival in India when over 140
pilgrims, including 30 children, died in a stampede. Iran's judiciary has announced a halt to
execution by stoning - one of the modes of punishment employed by the
hardline Islamic state. Iran is reluctant to admit publicly to such
executions but it is believed a number have occurred in recent times.
Such a punishment has been applied in cases of adultery, incest and
prostitution. Hillsong cult seeking more converts. www.piperpost.net
- 26.7.08 Catholic Church to be sued by Templars. www.piperpost.net
- 16.08.08
Seven centuries after Pope Clement 6th dissolved the Knights Templar a
legal suit has been instigated by their successors again the Catholic
Church. Yet
another Bible version! www.piperpost.net - 16.08.08 The oppression of women continues apace in the Islamic
kingdom of Saudi Arabia. No Saudi women will participate in the current
Olympic Games. It is reported that powerful clergy oppose women's
participation in sport. Women in the country are often forced to
resort to playing behind closed doors. In
neighbouring Gulf states there is some participation in sports by women
but they are required to remain clothed in some sort of full body
covering and headscarf. In 2005 it was
proposed to introduce physical education into girls' school in the
kingdom but the Ministry of Education - controlled by conservatives -
voted against the scheme.
Goodling herself refused to cooperate with investigators but interviews
with 34 candidates disclosed the information that they had been
questioned by Ms Goodling or her deputies on moral issues. When one job
applicant told the lawyer he admired the Secretary of State,
Condoleezza Rice, Ms Godling 'frowned' and responded: 'But she's
pro-choice.' Monica Goodling gained her law degree at Pat
Robertson's Christian Regent University.
Couples gathered in a number of major centres, including Melbourne,
Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Hobart, to conduct illegal 'marriage
ceremonies'.
Australia, both at a Federal level and at the state level, has been
slow to legalize same-sex relationships, although the Victorian
government provides for civil registration of such unions, but stopping
short of actual marriage.
Tens of thousands of people had flocked to the Naina Devi temple in
Himachal Pradesh, India, to participate in a nine-day festival to
honour the Hindu goddess Shakti ('Divine Mother'). At some point
rumours began to spread through the crowds that there had been a
landslide and panic caused pilgrims to flee. The fleeing crowd then
collided with crowds coming towards the temple on a narrow pathway.
Over the years similar occurrences have seen mass deaths at the
Muslim's Haj pilgrimage in Mecca and at other Hindu festivals. In 1996
at a Hindu festival over 60 people died. And Christians are not exempt.
In 1995 a huge crowd of Catholics gathered around a church in the Congo
to hear a 'miracle-working' preacher. A stampede occurred and 142 died,
the majority of whom were children.
The Guardian newspaper
reported one father, Jawahar Khurana, describing how he searched among
the bodies for his three children. They had gone to worship but had he
could not find them them. 'I fail to understand why God was so cruel to
us,' he cried out in his anguish.
COMMENT: Well might a devotee cry out in anguish. It seems
that it can be a very dangerous activity to take part in a mass
pilgrimage. The gods are a fickle lot and sometimes fail to protect
their devotees on such occasions.
It is reported that a number
of people facing death by stoning have had their sentences commuted.
They now face instead either long prison terms or flogging.
The details of execution by
stoning are medieval in nature: burying the woman in a hole in the
ground up to her breasts where she helplessly awaits her slow death.
The Iranian criminal code specifies the size of stones used - designed
so as not to be 'large enough to kill the woman by one or two strokes'
- in other words, designed to make her death as drawn-out and painful
an affair as possible.
Pressure from the EU and from
human rights organizations is acknowledged as affecting Iran's
actions. But the country is well-known for its capital and
corporal punishment regime, which it has not abandoned.
Over the years even young
girls have been hanged for so-called 'moral crimes'. In 2004 a
notorious case saw a teenage girl, 'Leila' facing public hanging.
Leila had been sold by her own parents into a life of prostitution at
the age of 8 years. From then on she was forced to service clients and
eventually became pregnant, bearing twins at the age of 14. For giving
birth to 'illegitimate children' Leila was punished with 100 lashes.
And although Leila was known to be mentally challenged the judicial
system ground on.
Earlier another young girl,
16-year-old Atefeh Rajabi was convicted or moral crimes and sentenced
to death. She was dragged screaming and crying to a waiting crane from
which she was to be hung. The judge who presided over the trial put the
rope around the girl's neck himself. The body was left hanging for some
hours as a warning to others.
Footnote: In 2006 two young Iranian
women living in exile in Paris, Ladan and Roya Boroumand, whose father
was assassinated by an Iranian death squad, released a database they
had compiled - of 9,400 confirmed cases of victims murdered and
executed by the Islamic regime.
Australia's Minister for
Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, is well-known for being
openly gay. Senator Wong, Born in Malaysia, came to Australia when she
was aged eight and became a lawyer. She has had a distinguished career
in law and the trade union movement and was elected to the Senate of
the Australian Federal Parliament in 2001 and upon re-election in 2007
was given a ministerial appointment in the new Rudd Labor government.
Although openly gay herself
Senator Wong disappointed many gays and lesbians when during a recent
Q&A program on ABC-TV she claimed that the Australian public as a
whole believed marriage was a matter between a man and a woman. Her
government, she said, respected this view.
However, Senator Wong was
roundly criticized by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. 'The
statements made by Senator Wong on Q&A . . . were out of touch with
the view of the majority of Australian,' asserted Hanson-Young. Recent
polls clearly showed a majority of Australians were in favour of
same-sex marriage.
'These
polls back up what the Greens have known for a long time – the
community is way ahead of the old parties when it comes to this issue.
Australia is ready to honour the basic human right of allowing adults
to marry whomever they love, regardless of their gender or sexual
orientation,' she said.
Like most Evangelical and Pentecostalist sects Sydney's
Hillsong Church has an aggressive program of what is known as
'outreach'. Recently the church's attempt to establish a large presence
in an inner-city suburb was foiled as a result of opposition from local
residents. But the church will not give up so easily.
Recently The
Sydney Morning Herald drew attention to one of the cult's
outreach programs - one that has penetrated publicly-funded
schools. Under the guise of providing information to teenagers in
such useful areas as skin care, natural makeup, hair and nail care and
general behaviour, the program called Shine clearly has a hidden
agenda, as do all 'missionary' programs initiated by Christians.
Quite simply, 'conversion to Christ' is the ultimate goal behind the
cheery smile and outstretched hand. What is worse, such 'conversions'
take place in an atmosphere where no real questions are asked about the
truth or otherwise of the claims made by the godbotherers. It is so
easy to peddle 'the Bible says' but ask the preacher why we should take
the Bible as 'the word of God' and the answer might not trip so glibly
off the tongue.
Parent groups from Queensland and the Northern Territory have
complained that their schools have tried to sneak Shine in almost
unnoticed. 'In our view, this is a way of getting religion into schools
through subterranean means,' said one parent, Hugh Wilson. 'The
principal or the chaplain decides it's a good idea and, next thing you
know, your kids are being taught about make-up by the Hillsong Church.'
But Shine is not the only 'outreach; program of the cult which is
determined to brainwash young people. The
Sydney Morning Herald also reports that the Shine program was
being used in other schools in a different way. Students who opted out
of Scripture classes (and who could blame intelligent young people for
doing so?) were being invited to attend 'personal development' classes,
i.e. Shine classes. A case of out of the Scripture lesson frying pan
into the Hillsong fire? A parent at one Sydney school said students
there were automatically enrolled in the Shine program is they opted
out of Scripture. 'It's an alarming situation, because most of the
parents don't even know i's happening.
The NSW Greens have called for Shine to be suspended while allegations
were investigations, among them that during Shine programs Christian
'testimonies' were given.
Members of the Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of
Christ have launched legal moves in Spain for compensation for the vast
portfolio of businesses and properties seized upon the disbanding of
the Order. It is estimated that between 8,000 and 9,000 entities
were involved in the seizure.
The Knights Templar, otherwise known as the Red Cross Knights (and
other names), was a military order founded by Baldwin 2nd, King of
Jerusalem, in 1118 CE. They took vows of obedience to a Grand Master,
and also bound themselves to purity of life, mutual assistance and to
fight against the infidel (Islam). They wore a white robe with a red
cross. In time they grew very powerful and wealthy and by the year 1250
the Templars had added to their material holdings to such a degree that
they owned thousands of properties from Denmark in the north to Spain
in the south.
But trouble was looming; in France from 1287 onwards Philip 4th set out
to curtail their power. For a time he was restrained by his own
problems and actually received financial support from them. The
Templars were, in fact, the chief financiers and money-lenders of
medieval Europe, outdoing the Jews. But Philip acted with duplicity for
he coveted their wealth for himself and he eventually turned on them.
As a result of Philip's actions the trial of the Templars stands in
history as an outrageous miscarriage of justice.
Informers in Philip's pay reported to the Holy Inquisition that the
Templars had preached heresy and were, in fact, secret Muslims.
Some alleged the knights were in league with the Devil. It was
easy to play on these beliefs and accuse the knights of worshipping
idols, spitting on the crucifix and engaging in 'unnatural crimes',
especially sodomy, 'obligatory' at that.
In October, 1307 the Grand Master, Jaques de Molay, and 60 brethren
were arrested in Paris. They were all put to torture to extract
confessions of guilt and 36 died under torture in the first attack on
the order. More were arrested. Templars in other countries were
also seized and tortured.
Pope Clement 5th, by now had issued a bull calling on monarchs
everywhere to arrest the Templars within their borders. Although the
Pope had his doubts about the guilt or otherwise of the Templars in the
end he sided with Philip, upon whom he was dependent to a great degree,
and many Templars were judged guilty of heresy and condemned to be
burnt to death. The Pope eventually abolished the order and most of the
Templars' possessions were transferred to the Knights of the Order of
St John. In 2007 the Vatican released trial records which
indicated Clement did not believe the men to be heretics.
A statement issued by the successors of the Order comments: 'We are not
trying to cause the economic collapse of the Roman Catholic Church, but
to illustrate to the court the magnitude of the plot against our order.'
The Templars
Desperate
church = desperate measures. www.piperpost.net
- 16.08.08
Desperate to stem the tide of lapsing Catholics,
the Church in Italy has developed a blow-up church building which will
be sited on beaches in summer months, staffed by priests 'ready to take
confessions'.
An initial experiment with the inflatable worship centre on the island
of Sardinia had to be abandoned when strong winds intervened.
However, the dedicated evangelists have not given up and, especially
during the midsummer month of August, the blow-up church will be in
operation.
Meanwhile nuns from a convent near the city of Naples have also set
their sights on beachgoers. Working from cabins on the beachfront the
nuns are joining holidaymakers 'saying the rosary'. An altar was also
set up at the beach.
COMMENT:
Where did those strong winds come from?
And still they come! The Christian Church continues to try to make
whatever sense it can out of the tangle of myth and pseudo-history
called the Bible.
Project Number 1000001 is the New Community Bible published in India.
It has been approved by the Conference of Catholic Bishops and includes
words from the Bhagavad-Gita and some of the teachings of Mahatma
Gandhi. Drawings depict common Indian cultural themes and the 'Holy
Family' appear as poor Indian villagers.
News
briefs. www.piperpost.net - 16.08.08
CHINESE PROTEST.
An American Christian group comprising two men and one woman protested
at the Beijing Olympics against 'religious repression' and 'the
abortionist policy' - as they called it - that limits Chinese couples
to one child. They had with them a banner bearing the slogan 'Jesus
Christ is King'. As the trio knelt to pray police moved in and dragged
them away. Their fate is unclear.
THE JOY OF RELIGION (Islamic). Shi'te
pilgrims en route to the 'holy city' of Karbala in Iraq died when two
female suicide bombers blew themselves up. At least 19 Islamic
worshippers died at the hands of their fellow-Islamics in this attack.
THE JOY OF RELIGION (Christian).
A gang armed with AK-47 weapons murdered nine people
during a Mass in the town of Ciudad Juarez, in northern Mexico.
BREASTFEEDING SUPPORTED. A
campaign has been mounted by the Australian Breastfeeding Association
to persuade businesses to be 'breastfeeding-friendly' venues. It is
reported that many businesses are supporting the campaign. It is well
known that breastfeeding is the best form of nutrition for young babies
but mothers are often deterred from feeding their babies in public
places.
(COMMENT;
Long overdue move. I cannot understand why some people find the
practice in any way offensive.)
It has been reported that Australian Federal police raided the Sydney
offices of an Islamic charity, Muslim Aid Australia, late in July.
There are suspicions that the organization allegedly channelled funds
into groups involved in terrorist activities.
The website of Muslim Aid lists funds being raised for projects such as
relief of China's earthquake victims, aid for victims of the Myanmar
cyclone, and projects to provide clean water supplies for Nigeria and
other countries. However, Government concern is for a link the
organization has with the charity Interpal, believed to help fund
Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group.
The Federal police are refusing to comment on the raid.
Catholic sex treatment facility closed.
www.piperpost.net - 26.7.08
In 1997, at the height of the scandals
over sex abusing priests, a treatment facility known as Encompass was
opened by the Australian Catholic Church. The centre provided
counselling and assistance for clergy suffering 'psychosexual and other
mental disorders.'
During the decade or so since then more than 1,100 priests and other
workers passed through its doors. However, it is reported the church
hierarchy were unwilling to spend a further $200,000 required to
maintain the treatment program.
Father
Paul Raymond Evans, 57, was remanded in custody after a Sydney jury
found him guilty of 18 sex offences involving seven boys.
In the NSW District Court the priest was found guilty on nine counts of
homosexual intercourse by a teacher, seven counts of indecent assault,
and two acts of indecency. He was found not guilty on two other charges.
Evans was a Dormitory Master at Boys Town, in the Sydney southern
suburb of Engadine. Boys Town is a Catholic institution. The offences
occurred between 1977 and 1988. The defendant admitted 'sometimes
hugging and comforting' his teenage charges but denied touching them
sexually. Sentence submissions are to be heard on 19 September.
Father Frank Moloney SDB, the Australian head of the Salesian order, of
which Evans was a member, later issued a statement apologizing to
victims. 'The fact that a professed Catholic priest was capable
of [sexual abuse] is just disgusting,' he said.
The myth of Evangelical strength? www.piperpost.net - 26.7.08
Christine Wicker is an American reporter who once reported on religion for the Dallas Morning News. She also grew up in the hothouse atmosphere of Southern American Christianity. She was 'saved' at the age of nine years in a Southern Baptist church. Christine Walker now describes herself as a Christian but not an Evangelical. And she has written an explosive book laying bare th myth of the strength of Christian fundamentalism in the USA.
The Fall of the Evangelical Nation (Harper) is a detailed study of the true situation. The author says that the standard story is that there are 54 million adults and 21 million child Evangelicals. These people, generally described as the Religious Right, supply a powerful bloc of potential voters and are actively courted by US politicians.
But, says the writer, there is a big disparity between those who describe themselves as 'Evangelicals' and those who are active church attenders. But even this does not reveal the true picture. Wicker says attendance at some sort of prayer group is necessary before a person can be categorised as a fervent conservative of the sort conjured up by the notion of the powerful Religious Right. Her own careful calculations lead her to believe the true number is around 7 percent of the American population and this figure is substantially lower than it was in 1991 - 12 percent.
The book has much more of interest but one other fact is of great interest to us. Wicker says that the fastest growing belief category in the USA today is: non-believers. From 1990 to 2001 their numbers increased from 14 million to 29 million.
COMMENT: Much the same, in principle, would apply to Australia. I have always said that the censorship numbers mean nothing. The only measure of a true Christian believer is regular attendance at Christian services.
News briefs. www.piperpost.net - 26.7.08
TEACHER SUES OVER SACKING. Lynne Tziolas, 24, has reportedly instituted legal action against the NSW Government over her sacking from a teaching position. As reported in an earlier issue of Piper Post Ms Tziolas posed with her male partner for discreet nude photos in the magazine Cleo. She had been a teacher at Narraweena Public School on the Sydney northside and was sacked by the Education Department because of the photograph.
PRIME MINISTER'S SPIRITUAL ADVISER. The Reverend Jim Wallis, an Evangelical clergyman and head of the Sojourners movement, has been advising the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, over the past three years, according to press reports. He previously acted in a similar role for Mr Gordon Brown in England. It is claimed that an analysis by a former Labor senator, John Black, indicated that Evangelical and Pentecostalist support had been a decisive factor in up to four seats won by the Labor Party in the elections.
Afterword - World Youth Day. www.piperpost.net - 26.7.08
The tumult and the shouting has died. The pilgrims and the priest have departed. The positives of this big event: excellent behaviour both on the part of the pilgrims and on the part of the protesters. There was on the whole very little trouble and certainly the NSW Government received a hefty smack in the face for its doltish action trying to muzzle protests. Even many Catholics were outraged at this attempt to stifle free speech. And in the end the court stepped in, declaring the law invalid.
The NoToPope Coalition had expressed outrage at the Government's high-handed action. Two activists, Rachel Evans and Amber Pike, who wanted to hand condoms and leaflets to pilgrims, took their case to the Federal Court and won. The judges said that, in their view, none of the items the activists proposed to distribute were proscribed articles within the meaning of the act. Nor were 'symbolic coat-hangers' they planned to hand out to draw attention to the backyard abortion problem.
Further, clause 7.1 of the act, which purported to regulate action deemed to cause 'annoyance', was invalid because it 'affects freedom of speech in a way that, in our opinion, is not supported by the statutory powers.' Stephen Blanks, secretary of the NSW Council of Civil Liberties, commented that the episode highlighted the need for Australia to have a Bill of Rights.
Other notes: A Catholic who wrote to The Sydney Morning Herald pointed out that a huge quantity of food was wasted. Every pilgrim received a 'green bag' with enough packaged food for three meals. The writer said he estimated only about half the food was eaten, and afterwards the racecourse was 'a sea of bags and rubbish' with no evident program to recycle packaging or distribute leftover food to the needy.
Then there was the secret mass held for just four sex abuse victims. The mass was conducted by the Pope himself in a chapel at St Mary's Cathedral. The church's NSW Director of Professional Standards, Michael Salmon, said he had chosen the participants after a request because they had been through the church's internal processes, had achieved a level of healing, and would be comfortable attending Mass. None had pursued civil legal actions but one had pursued criminal charges. All were abused as minors - one by a lay person in a school context and the rest by priests.
The event sparked outrage from many other victims and families. Chris MacIsaac of Broken Rites said it was cowardly to hand-pick people who were happy with the church's response to victims. 'If they want to fix this, they must listen to the people who have grievance with it.' Mike Fabbro, of the Child Sex Abuse Survivors' Collective, said the meeting was 'secretive and typical of the church's manipulative approach.'
COMMENT: Will this massive promotional event, heavily funded with Australian taxpayer moneys, do much to halt the declining fortunes of the Church? I doubt it. With a few upward blips here and there, most of the signs point the other way. Declining congregations, declining vocations for the priesthood, coupled with a rebellious laity that defies Church teachings, using contraceptives and resorting to abortion when there is failure, who divorce and remarry at will, or, worse, don't bother marrying at all but live (as they would say in the old days) 'in sin', enjoying sex not just for procreation but for - dare we say it - pleasure!
Vatican financial crash. www.piperpost.net - 26.7.08
The loss came in spite of a rise in property income. The Holy See has large property holdings in and around Rome. In 2007 many rents were raised, resulting in an outcry. Several thousand tenants who objected were threatened with eviction. There were accusations that people's homes were being turned into hotels.
The outcry occurred a short time after Archbishop Bagnasco had made a widely reported speech in which he deplored a shortage of low-cost housing for people. He said: 'I am referring in particular to the tragedies of those such as pensioners or single-income families who are served with eviction orders and cannot find alternative [accommodation].' One newspaper opined that up to 4,000 properties could be repossessed.
Like many Christian bodies, including those in Australia, the Catholic Church does not pay property taxes. The Holy See has a total wealth estimated by some at over 8 billion US dollars.
Polygamist sect leader facing more charges. www.piperpost.net - 26.7.08
Warren Jeffs, the notorious leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a breakaway from the official Mormon church, is facing more charges.
Jeffs had earlier been found guilty of two counts of being the accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl who had been ordered to marry her 19-year-old cousin. (Reported in an earlier issue of Piper Post). Other charges are still pending against Jeffs is in an Arizona jail where other charges against him are pending.
The new charges are being laid in Texas and as well as Jeffs five other men are also being indicted although no details have been given in regards to the latter.
The 400-plus children who had been taken from the cult by Texas authorities have since been returned but investigations are continuing. Jeffs himself has a huge number of wives and has fathered many children. In recent court hearing Teresa Jeffs, 16, one of the prophet's daughters, testified. She was reportedly married off to a 34-year-old man one day after she turned 15.
U.S.A. may change 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy. www.piperpost.net - 26.7.08
The longstanding policy followed by the US Armed Services of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' - designed to avoid difficulties in relations between heterosexual and homosexual service members - is now being questioned.
The US Congress is re-examining the policy which is linked to a 1993 law prohibiting gays and lesbians serving in the Forces. Opponents of the policy draw attention to the fact that several recent polls show Americans are now more accepting of gays and lesbians joining the services. The atmosphere has been helped by the 'coming out' of many high-profile gays and lesbians, such as Ellen DeGeneres.
The conservative presidential hopeful John McCain opposes any change in the law but Democrat aspirant Barack Obama is in favour of a change. Democratic congress members say the process of dismantling the policy is long overdue. Legislation to do so was initially introduced in 2005, but the Republican control of Congress at the time ensured it would fail. The bill was reintroduced last year. Commented the bill's sponsor, Democrat Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher: 'We have figured out how to deal with racial integration and gender discrimination. This is the last frontier.'
COMMENT: A recently-released book, The Fall of the Evangelical Nation, by Christine Wicker (Harper) records a decline in the real (as against the supposed) strength of America's Bible-believing Evangelicals and a marked increase in the number of people describing themselves as 'non-believers'. There's hope for the USA yet!
Honour
killings continue. www.piperpost.net
- 26.7.08
The
scourge of so-called 'honour killings' has spread in recent times from
primitive areas of the world to Western nations. Inspired by distorted
views of 'morallity' linked to religious belief, people often murder
their own family members.
One of the worst cases in recent history occurred in the USA where the
hunt continues for Yaser
Abdel Said, alleged to have murdered his own teenage daughters in an
'honour killing' in January 2008.
Sarah (17) and Amina (18) Said had the misfortune of being the
daughters of an Egyptian Muslim, Yaser Abdel Said, but were living in
the freedom-loving society of the USA. Neither girl wanted to wear the
traditional oppressive hijab and both had American boyfriends.
It is alleged Yaser beat and sexually abused
his daughters over the years. And Amina was facing an arranged
marriage. Whatever had gone before, their lives came to a miserable end
in
January 2008 when Amina and Sarah were lured into their father's taxi
and taken for a one-way ride. They were shot by their father and left
to die in his abandoned taxi.
Yaser Said is a fugitive and still on the run. A
FOX news reporter, Greg Jarrett, recently had a run-in
with the fugitive's brother. Jarrett says he believes the brother knows
where accused man is hiding.
Young girls are not the only ones murdered. More recently in Turkey
Ahmet Yildiz, 26, a gay man, was shot dead as he left a cafe. It is
believed the action was an 'honour killing'. Yildiz was a high-profile
activist in a country where many still regard homosexuality with
horror. Although the Turkish government decriminalized homosexuality in
the 19th century gays have still suffered in many ways over the years.
The dead man's relatives had urged him to see a doctor to be 'cured,'
according to the Independent
newspaper, Yildiz reported to a prosecutor that he was receiving death
threats five months before the fatal attack, but the case was not
pursued. When he died, relatives refused to claim the body, friends
told the Independent.
A reminder of the horror and misery inflicted by misguided morality. A photo of the late Amina and Sarah Said from their MySpace entry. What sort of mind distortion could prompt the cold-blooded killing of these two beautiful girls?
Pro-life pharmacies create dilemma for country folk. www.piperpost.net - 26.7.08
The rising number of pro-life pharmacies in the USA is posing a dilemma for many people in country areas. With only one source of drugs and medical supplies in town consumers may be denied access to certain goods frowned upon by pharmacy-owners.
There is a movement for some chemists to refuse to stock or sell contraceptives. In areas where there are many outlets this poses no problem but in more remote areas consumers are left unserved. Objecting pharmacists refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control pills, morning-after pills and other forms of contraception. The pharmacists involved claim such methods can cause an abortion and that contraceptives 'promote promiscuity, divorce, and the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases.'
The move by some pharmacies to limit what they sell has raised a storm of protest. Critics are drawing attention to the legal status of pharmacists and the fact that in rural areas they supply the only source of medicines and pharmaceutical goods.
Writing in Southtown Star newspaper, columnist Marlene Lang says: 'This branch of the pro-life movement has expanded its mission to include butting into your lifestyle choices. Also absent from the drugstores of the Superholy may be porn mags, cigarettes and even rolling papers, because certainly no good can come of them. Phallic-shaped shaving gel containers may be next.'
Bioethicists and women's rights advocates are also outraged. 'We may find ourselves with whole regions of the country where virtually every pharmacy follows these limiting, discriminatory policies and women are unable to access legal, physician-prescribed medications,' said R. Alta Charo, a University of Wisconsin lawyer and bioethicist. 'We're talking about creating a separate universe of pharmacies that puts women at a disadvantage.' Women who have been raped, or who simply want to avoid the consequences of a one-night stand, are left without help.
News briefs. www.piperpost.net - 26.7.08
NO GAY ADOPTIONS FOR QUEENSLAND? The Australian State of Queensland has initiated moves to make it easier for adopted children to discover information about their original parents. However, in announcing the changes in the law, the Premier, Anna Bligh, stated that gays and lesbians would not be allowed to adopt children although de facto heterosexual couples in long-term relationships would be allowed to adopt.
The truth about World Youth Day.
www.piperpost.net - 19.7.08
From front page of Sydney Morning
Herald, 18 July 2008:
From the Christian Bible,
Matthew 6:23:
'If
therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the
darkness!'
Sydney
has witnessed an unprecedented outpouring of the enthusiasm of
religion. The city has been effectively brought to a
near-standstill as thousands of pilgrims from around the world
celebrated their faith, a faith they share with one billion other
like-minded Catholics worldwide.
Surely one billion people cannot be wrong! Surely the central elements
of the Gospel, enacted out in Sydney's streets through the Stations of
the Cross, are true, their transforming power inspiring the masses of
believers.
But they are all wrong! Hopelessly wrong, deceptively wrong. If
only these young enthusiasts would take the time and trouble to study
for themselves the origins of the faith they follow, they would find
that just about every aspect of the birth, life, death and supposed
resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is subject to uncertainty.
There is no light in the Catholic Church nor in any other religion.
Religion is, in plain and simple language - superstition. Christianity
is a massive fable, largely arising from the fevered imaginings of one
man - Paul of Tarsus.
Bishop brushes family's concerns aside?
www.piperpost.net - 19.7.08
Anthony Foster and his wife Christine flew all
the way from Scotland to attend World Youth Day, but not as pilgrims.
They wished to remind the Church and the world that both their young
daughters, Catherine and Emma, were raped by a priest, Father Kevin
O'Donnell, in their primary school. In later life Emma suicided.
Speaking from the podium, Bishop Anthony Fisher warned people against
'dwelling crankily, as a few people are doing, on old wounds...' The
Fosters believe the remark was directed at them. They have expressed
dismay at the Bishop's comments. They say that their compensation claim
was stalled for years by Cardinal George Pell, then Archbishop of
Melbourne.
The
story of the abuse of the two girls is one of the most appalling in the
many stories that have emerged from that era. Emma and Katie
(Catherine) were pupils of Sacred Heart Primary School, Oakleigh, a
suburb of Melbourne, between 1988 and 1993. Father O'Donnell was both
parish priest and school chaplain. The girls were repeatedly abused. A
long legal battle followed with a reluctant Church, under Dr Pell,
virtually threatening to send the Fosters broke fighting them in court
cases.
It has since emerged that Father O'Connell, now deceased, had a long
history of sex abuse, attacking both boys and girls. Broken Rites says of him: 'Father Kevin O'Donnell was a child abuser for 50 years —
from 1942 to
1992. He fitted Masses, weddings and funerals in between his sex-abuse
activities. His victims probably amounted to hundreds, mostly boys,
with some girls . . . During his career, the Melbourne church
authorities were told of
O'Donnell's crimes but chose to keep him in the ministry, thus
inflicting him on further victims.'
See a lengthy, detailed report about this priest at the Broken Rites website: http://brokenrites.alphalink.com.au/nletter/page124-odonnell.html
With a little help from The Cross? www.piperpost.net
- 19.7.08
One has to wonder if the producers of the Stations of the Cross pageant at World Youth Day got a little help from someone in a King's Cross bondage parlour.
A bizarre scene showing a near-naked Jesus being raised and lowered into some sort of deep hole (presumably Hell?) bore all the hallmarks of an S-M 'scene'. But then the whole episode of Jesus' death on the cross - as depicted by the Church - reads like a chapter in an S-M porno novel. This was never made more evident than by Mel Gibson in his horror movie, The Passion of the Christ (2004).
COMMENT: There appears to be some deep-seated pathology at work in the Church's obsession with the (supposed) sufferings of Jesus.
Shock! Horror! Mormon torsos bared. www.piperpost.net - 19.7.08
Officials of the Mormon Church have reacted with horror at the sight of good Mormon young men baring their upper bodies for a calendar. The calendar was produced by Chad Hardy and promoted through a web site (http://mormonsexposed.com). It is published under the slogan 'Men With a Mission' and features shirtless male Mormon missionaries in varied poses.
Hardy says that his goal was to show 'there is a different side to Mormons.' The models were all former Mormon missionaries and Chad Hardy himself is a former missionary and a sixth generation Mormon. The calendar sold 10,000 copies in 2008, its first year. A new edition is planned for September 2009 and a further edition is planned for 2010.
For his bold actions Hardy brought down the wrath of Church authorities on his head. After various contacts between the parties Hardy has now been formally excommunicated. For his part Hardy says he is done with organized religion and has not been attending services anyway.
Strenuous efforts are being made within the Anglican communion to head off a final split. The big issues threatening Church unity - the ordination of women and the recognition of gay unions and the ordination of gays - see a major split between 'traditionalists' and the liberals. Curiously the ranks of the former bring together to some extent two groups who in other respects are opposed to one another - Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals.
In June traditionalists in Britain were outraged when two male priests exchanged vows and rings in a ceremony using the traditional wedding rite of the Church of England. The service was held at St Bartholomew the Great in London - one of England's oldest churches, which featured in the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral - and was conducted by the parish rector, the Reverend Martin Dudley. The couple, the Reverend Peter Cowell and the Reverend Dr David Lord, had registered their civil partnership before the ceremony.
There was more controversy when Bishop Gene Robinson, the openly gay Bishop of New Hampshire USA, was snubbed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was not among the 800 Anglican bishops invited to attend the Lambeth Conference meeting about now.
In the face of the various controversies, a group of renegade bishops from several countries, including the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, has worked on plans to form a conservative group within the Church. The dissidents are trying hard to avoid splitting from the Church but many refused to attend Lambeth as a mark of protest.
Islamic warriors execute two women. www.piperpost.net - 19.7.08
The world has just witnessed a graphic demonstration of what awaits the people of Afghanistan if the NATO forces fail to subdue the Taliban. Two women were publicly executed by firing squad because they had allegedly engaged in prostitution.
An Afghan journalist, Rahmatullah Naikzad, stirred up controversy when he took still pictures and videos of the women. He was not allowed to film the actual execution but took before-and-after photos and recorded the screams of the women as they died. Naikzad has been accused of having tied to the Islamic terrorists but has been cleared of any involvement by the Afghan government.
Large areas of Afghanistan are still controlled by Islamic militants who subject the populace to harsh laws, oppress women as of old and employ cruel punishments in the case of whose who transgress.
Cardinal Pell wants more babies. www.piperpost.net - 19.7.08
During the World Youth Day event Sydney's Cardinal George Pell called for more babies. 'Populate or perish,' cried the Archbishop. 'No Western country is producing enough babies to keep the population steady,' he added.
COMMENT: Dr Pell ignores the fact that overall world population is continuing to grow at an alarming rate. What Dr Pell and his Church should do is change their appallingly short-sighted attitude to contraception and abortion. The latter would be far too hard for the Church but the former is surely possible. In any event, millions of sensible Catholic laity around the world ignore their Church's teachings on both.
Sydney's Festival of Superstition and Shame. www.piperpost.net - 12.7.08
This coming week will see the streets of Sydney taken over by a mammoth promotional slugfest as the Catholic Church, largely funded by Australian taxpayer money, tries to claw back some of the ground it has lost in recent years.
But the Church has been unable to stifle the voices of dissent, especially in regard to the appalling sexual abuses perpetrated by many Catholic priests (and even a few nuns).
A defensive Cardinal Pell had to fend off criticisms right on the eve of the big event. Anthony Jones, a former Catholic educator, accused Dr Pell of writing to him saying claims he had been sexually assaulted by a priest, Father Terrence Goodall, could not be substantiated. It later transpired that the original claims had been proved by the church's own investigator and further, that the priest was alleged to have been involved in other abuse cases.
The visit of Pope Benedict 16th for the misnamed World Youth Day has stirred up controversy on many levels, not least the enactment by the NSW Government of draconian legislation to protect the pilgrims from criticism or other 'offensive' actions (see previous issue of Piper Post). In addition hundreds of businesses and thousands of individuals will experience massive disruptions to their daily lives.
There were last-minute attempts through court action to stop the use of public money to support the Church. Unfortunately legal technicalities may stop this move in its tracks.
PS: Was Monty Python involved in organising that bizarre event - worshipping a closed coffin?
Footnote to World Youth Day. www.piperpost.net - 12.7.08
What an amazing spectacle: Politicians condemn beautiful art but support the Church that harboured so many criminal child abusers.
The Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the NSW Minister for Community Affairs, among others, have publicly denounced the publication of the photo of a naked child in an art magazine (see previous issue of Piper Post).
Rather than accuse the makers and publishers of this photo of harming the child (which is patently a nonsensical claim) these gentlemen should explain to the Australian people why they are pouring millions of dollars of our money into promoting the Catholic Church - a body that has harboured hundreds of child-abusing priests over many years, and worse, has covered up that abuse, shielding many of the abusers from prosecution.
Let them tell us - why so many bishops and cardinals in many countries escaped prosecution when they had clearly failed in their public duty to report abusers to the police? Did some politicians and officials turn a blind eye to this dereliction of duty?
In the last few days we have seen the child in question, Olympia Nelson, an intelligent, well-adjusted young girl, appear with her family. Olympia, now aged 11, quite rightly expressed dismay that our Prime Minister should describe the beautiful photograph taken by her mother as 'offensive'.
Watching Olympia and thinking about earlier reactions to Bill Henson's photographs as also to the magnificent photograph of Miley Cyris taken by Annie Lebovitz I finally realized what it really bugging the critics. For all their talk of protecting children and not 'sexualizing' them (as they quaintly put it) the hidden core of their objections, the one they dare not admit, is the fear of human nakedness! Thus in such circumstances it is so often claimed, 'the model will be sorry when she gets older.' Sorry for what? For being naked in public?
Clearly human nakedness frightens the Christians who are so quick to condemn the photographers who find beauty in the nude body. Obviously they are still in thrall to the primitive fear expressed in the Genesis fable (chapter 3). Adam and Eve were 'naked and afraid'!
So we have the contrast - on the one hand, children like Olympia who are not being abused and who, in fact, live wonderfully full lives and who share something precious of themselves with the rest of us - freely and happily. And on the other hand, children (droves of them, too, remember) whose lives were forever blighted by being forced into sexual activities unwillingly at an early age by the representatives of the very Church that parades itself blatantly through Sydney's streets, supported by Government largesse.
Channel W adds more dead-talkers to schedule. www.piperpost.net - 12.7.08
Australian pay-TV channel W has added to the roster of dead-talkers. Along with well-known performer John Edward (reported on in an earlier issue of Piper Post) the channel now has English clairvoyant Lisa Williams, with her program titled Living Proof. The show reportedly takes viewers through a day in Lisa's life as she gives readings to clients.
Lisa also apparently collects messages from the Beyond and some of these are conveniently made available on the Channel W site: (http://www.wchannel.com.au/)
If your name is Michael you may find a message there for you, but which out of hundreds of Michaels is the message intended for?
And Channel W hasn't finished with the dead-talkers. It plans to run a series hosted by James Van Praagh, aka The Ghost Whisperer. Mr Van Praagh is a psychic and medium. Wikipedia has this to say of the seer: 'Van Praagh was wrong . . . when he suggested to the parents of the abducted Shawn Hornbeck that the boy's body might be found in a railroad car. Hornbeck was found alive four years later, having been abducted but not killed, and the kidnapper was not a railroad plant worker as Van Praagh had suggested.'
Hospital bills expose dangers of intermarriage. www.piperpost.net - 12.7.08
The long-established habit of the American Amish and Mennonite communities of maintaining the purity of the cult by intermarriage has had an unwonted result in the 21st century.
The community is susceptible to genetic diseases which are now raging through the populace. The 'Old Order' Amish and Mennonites refuse to buy health insurance or participate in government-assisted schemes. As a result they are running up huge bills in the over-priced US hospital system.
The London Telegraph reports on one farmer, Jesse Martin, an Old Order Mennonite with 11 children, nine of whom are suffering from serious diseases. Mr Martin has paid hospitals $US400,000 for treatment in recent years and owes another $US288,000, but says he is no longer able to pay. He is being sued by at least one hospital.
Another Mennonite farmer was charged $11,800 for the single day that his two-year-old son spent at Pennsylvania's Lancaster General Hospital for a respiratory virus. Dr D. Holmes Morton, who is deeply involved in the problem of genetic disorders in Amish children, claims the hospital bills are grossly inflated.
COMMENT: Misplaced faith again!
More
Catholic priests in the news. www.piperpost.net - 12.7.08
The Sydney Morning Herald
reports that Father Paul Raymond Evans of the Salesians, a dormitory
master at Boys Town, a Catholic shelter for youth, has been charged on
20 counts of acts of indecency, homosexual assault and indecent assault
against eight boys between 1977 and 1988. Father Evans strenuously
denies the charges.
The court was told that when one victim, aged about 13 or 14 at the
time, complained about being forced to engage in mutual fondling of
penises. But, he claims, he was told by the Rector, Father Flemming
(since deceased) to forget about the incident because 'men have urges.'
Evans claims any physical contact with the boys in his charge was
simply a case of comforting them or settling them down. He denies
sexually touching his students or lying in their beds.
In May of this year Father David O'Hearn, of St Michael's parish,
Nelson Bay (in the Newcastle region of NSW) was stood down pending
investigation of 'a professional conduct matter.'
The diocesan authorities have not stated the reason for their actions
but in 1999 the priest was involved in a court action when he was
allegedly punched in the face by the Principal of the Catholic Primary
School, Mike Stanwell.
Italian
court heeds appeal to allow death. www.piperpost.net - 12.7.08
For
16 years Eluana Englaro has been in a vegetative state, her body being
kept alive only by a feeding tube. Englaro was involved in a horrendous
car accident when only 20 years of age. He father had sought for 10
years to have the feeding tube removed but only now has an appeals
court decided in favour of this action.
The court states that it is believed the vegetative state is
irreversible and that the removal of the girl's life-support would
conform to her own will. Evidence was given that shortly before
her own accident Eluana had visited a friend who was in a similar
condition in hospital and she had then expressed the view that she
would refuse treatment under the circumstances.
News Briefs. www.piperpost.net - 12.7.08
HUGE CHURCH PAYOUT. The
Catholic archdiocese of St Louis, Missouri (USA) has agreed to pay out
large sums of money to six men molested by priests from the 1960s on.
The largest payout was $94,200, the smallest $20,935.
NZ GOVERNMENT SUPPRESSING TRUTH?
Dr Philip Nitschke, the campaigner for voluntary euthanasia, has been
threatened with a huge fine if he tries to import into New Zealand a
movie in which an elderly woman shows people how to use an oven bag to
end their lives. The film, Doing It
With Betty,
if screened could see Dr Nitschke fined up to $A7900. The film is not
yet classified in New Zealand. It has been banned by the Australian
authorities where the so-called 'classification' system avoids
difficulties by simply failing to classify a movie the censors don't
like.
NSW Government muzzles anti-Catholic protests. www.piperpost.net - 5.7.08
Not
content with pouring huge sums of public money into the World Youth Day
church promotion, the NSW Government has instituted draconian measures
to assure any dissenters are silenced.
As reported in our last issue a number of groups
planned to protest during the five-day event which begins on 15 July.
They include atheists, gay and lesbian activists, and feminists. Among
other activities it was planned to hand condoms out to pilgrims. Now,
however, the protesters could find themselves arrested, strip-searched
and prosecuted, with heavy fines - up to $5,500 - for anyone found
guilty.
Police and volunteers from the State Emergency Service and Rural Fire
Service will be able to direct people to cease engaging in conduct that
'causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants in a World Youth Day
event.' This means that even wearing a t-shirt with an 'offensive'
anti-Catholic message could result in arrest or handing out condoms as
planned would also be deemed an offence.
The Sydney Morning Herald
reports that outrage is being expressed by lawyers and civil
libertarians. Greens MP Lee Rhiannon points out that the fine is five
times the fine imposed on someone who exposes themselves in public! The
President of the Bar Association, Anna Katzmann, SC, called the
regulations 'unnecessary and repugnant.' The President of the NSW
Council of Civil Liberties, Cameron Murphy, commented that the term
'causes annoyance' is far too broad and potentially encompasses just
about anything 'offensive' to the Catholic Church.
Ms Rhiannon said the regulations were about 'shutting down protests and
quarantining the Pope and visiting Catholics away from messages World
Youth Day authorities don't approve of.'
FOOTNOTE: A last-minute
attempt to have the High Court of Australia examine the legal
implications of the massive expenditure of public moneys to promote the
Catholic Church seems to have failed.
Some
headlines taken from The Sydney Morning Herald:
Private Member's Bill on Euthanasia. www.piperpost.net - 5.7.08
The Australian Federal Parliament will again see the subject of euthanasia debated when sittings resume. Parliament is currently in its winter recess. Greens leader, Bob Brown, will introduce a private member's bill and leaders of the major parties have given permission for a 'conscience vote' to be held.
Any positive decision will not directly allow for euthanasia. This remains a state issue. Debate will centre of permitting the territorial governments, that of the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, to legislate if they desire to do so. The Northern Territory originally instituted a regime of voluntary euthanasia but the Conservative Federal Government overturned the NT law. Catholic parliamentarian Kevin Andrews led the charge against the NT law.
Even if the Federal parliament moves to revoke its previous action there is considerable doubt whether the Northern Territory will move to restore its voluntary euthanasia legislation
Barack Obama plays to the Christian Right. www.piperpost.net - 5.7.08
The USA may cherish the notion of the separation of Church and State but large numbers of church members believe the State should bow to the Church's will on many fronts, especially on issues such as marriage and women's reproduction rights. Thus politicians often feel compelled to pay attention to the Christian bloc.
Barack Obama, an Evangelical Christian himself, has expressed support for the 'faith-based' programs instituted and/or supported by President George Bush, a fellow Evangelical. Huge sums of public money have been funnelled into these programs. Although the work done might be of a charitable nature the largesse bolsters the coffers of the Christians organization and in the end allows them to grow yet larger and more powerful.
The one positive note struck by the candidate is that he has promised to ensure charity groups receiving government funds would be carefully monitored to prevent them using the money to proselytize and to prevent discrimination against potential employees on a religious basis, which has occurred in the past.
Most ridiculous story of the week: Puppy Phobia. www.piperpost.net - 5.7.08
What must undoubtedly be the most ridiculous story of this week - and maybe many weeks - comes from Britain where Muslims are objecting to a police poster (see below) featuring a small black puppy sitting on a policeman's hat. The puppy is Rebel, a recently trained police dog.
The poster advertises a new police phone number and was issued by Tayside Police in Scotland. Cute the photo might be, especially in the eyes of dog-loving Britishers, but in the eyes of superstitious Muslims dogs are considered to be ' ritually unclean'.
Police later apologized, describing their action as an 'oversight'.
A spokesman for Tayside Police said: 'Trainee police dog Rebel has proved extremely popular with children and adults since being introduced to the public, aged six weeks old, as Tayside Police's newest canine recruit. His incredible world-wide popularity - he has attracted record visitor numbers to our website - led us to believe Rebel could play a starring role in the promotion of our non-emergency number.'
COMMENT: The police should not have apologized. People may foolishly believe ridiculous things about 'clean' and 'unclean' animals - as do both Muslims and Jews - but they shouldn't expect to impose their silly notions on their adopted country.
Fight over naval prayers. www.piperpost.net - 5.7.08
In yet another fight to maintain the separation of Church and State the American Civil Liberties Union is threatening legal action against the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland. The Academy has long held prayer sessions during the noon meal break.
Nine midshipmen complained to the ACLU about the practice. One recent graduate, an agnostic who objected to the chaplain-led prayer, said she felt pressured to take part in it. 'Everybody else is participating with their heads bowed and their arms crossed. It became very obvious that you aren't participating.'
In 2003 a Virginia appeals court struck down the Virginia Military Institute's mealtime prayer as unconstitutional. The ACLU and the Anti-Defamation League have asked the Navy to stop the lunch prayer at the Naval Academy based on this ruling but the Academy is refusing.
Hillsong expansion delayed. www.piperpost.net - 5.7.08
As reported in an earlier issue, Hillsong Church, the aggressive Australian Pentecostalist group, has planned the development of a megachurch in the inner-city suburb of Rosebery - south of Sydney.
The church plans called for a 2,700 seat worship area and a seven-storey office block. The total value of the development was said to be nearly $80 million and was being supported by several politicians and business leaders. However, it was vigorously opposed by residents of the area.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that an independent assessment commissioned by the City of Sydney found the proposal would exceed the Council's height, parking and floor space limits. A public meeting was to be held where opponents and supporters would be given the opportunity of expressing their viewpoints in the light of the report. However, at the last minute Hillsong announced it was withdrawing its proposal for the development.
A spokesman for the residents' action group, Graeme Grace, said Hillsong should have withdrawn its application earlier, rather than putting residents through stress and worry and then withdrawing at the last minute. The church would continue to pursue options for a church in the Green Square area, said George Aghajanian, the Hillsong general manager.
Call for legalization of polygamous marriage. www.piperpost.net - 5.7.08
A prominent Australian Muslim, Keysar Trad, has called for the legalization in Australia of polygamous marriage. Trad is President of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia.
The immediate responses to this suggestion were mostly negative, the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, being adamant that the law would remain as it is - not legally recognizing plural marriages. But Lisa Pryor, a Sydney Morning Herald columnist, wryly commented: 'Australia has been well-served by the Judaeo-Christian interpretation of marriage, in which two people fall in love, commit themselves to each other for life, pop out some sprogs, get divorced, shack up with someone younger and bitch about child support.'
There are of course some relationships in our community involving multiple partners but while not a cause of legal action -provided the partners are consenting adults - these relationships have no legal standing.
COMMENT: I've never understood why people object to polygamous marriages provided that the partners are all consenting and not coerced (as often happens in cult communities, e.g. in the USA). Seems to me to be nobody's business but the people involved. Not that I'd want a second wife. One was quite enough!
Art magazine stirs up child nudity issue. www.piperpost.net - 5.7.08
In a follow-up to the storm over Bill Henson's photographs of naked children (detailed in an earlier issue) the latest issue of Art Monthly Australia has appeared with a photo of a naked child on its cover (see below).
The NSW Minister for Community Services, Kevin Green, immediately waded in, claiming the images are 'distasteful and inappropriate.' He added: 'We've now reached a sad point where naked six-year-olds are being used to make some sort of artistic comment. It's totally inappropriate in any sense to be using naked six-year-olds on the front cover of any magazine whether it's an art magazine or a general magazine.'
COMMENT: As a photographer myself who has taken thousand of photos of children (alas, none nude) I can't believe Mr Green finds the image 'distasteful'. Frankly, I find it neither 'sexy' nor even sensual. And it is not even revealing! But it is not distasteful. What is all the fuss about? Some years back a book appeared on the Australian market (below) that showed far more of a naked small boy. This book was freely sold in bookshops and as far as I know was never criticized.
News in brief. www.piperpost.net - 5.7.08
PREACHERS GET PARKING PREFERENCES. In 2003 London instituted a scheme to control traffic in the busy city by levying a 'congestion charge' on motorists who enter the central London district. Recently city authorities have announced they will give preferential treatment to religious ministers - issuing one-year permits to allow them to park without charge.
James Dobson canes Obama. www.piperpost.net - 29.6.08
The Reverend James Dobson doesn't believe in
'sparing the rod' when rearing children. The preacher has now turned
his paddle in the direction of presumptive presidential candidate
Senator Barack Obama.
Like most American politicians, Mr Obama is a believer. But, in a
Keynote Address given in Washington on 28 June Obama said: 'I think we
make a mistake when we acknowledge the power of faith in our lives.'
Then he added: 'I think it's time
that we join a serious debate about how to reconcile faith with our
modern, pluralistic democracy.'
This statement appears to have upset Dr Dobson mightily. Compromise or
accommodation with those who differ from the hardline fundamentalism of
Dobson's Focus on the Family group is not on the preacher's agenda.
Especially in relation to abortion. Nothing
gets the American religious Right worked up into a lather more than
this topic. Senator Obama suggested that
religious organizations
opposed to abortion should make their case in terms accessible to
secular organizations, calling it a 'fruit cake' interpretation of the
law.
COMMENT:
I keep track of much of the American scene on Fox News. I happen to
like the channel in spite of itself. Its claim to be 'fair and
balanced' is, however, a bit far-fetched. My own assessment, after
years of viewing, is that it is about 60 percent conservative and 40
percent liberal.
It is
hard for Fox News to be truly objective when so many of its star
performers are admitted Catholics - among them Bill O'Reilly, Sean
Hannity and Laura Ingraham. (Curious when Rupert Murdoch is not of that
faith.)
Thus we
get a parade of godbotherers endlessly spouting religious
nonsense. Franklin Graham, Father-this-and-that, James Dobson,
and many more, all seriously debating issues as if they are dealing
with reality rather than fantasy. And when someone intones: 'The Bible
teaches us . . .' who is there to ask the burning question: but why
should be follow the Bible? They just babble on interminably as if God
is a real person and the Bible really does have some authority over
humans when in fact the Bible is a mishmash of fable, pseudo-history,
distortions, and outright lies.
The award-winning stage show Jerry Springer: The Opera was scheduled to run in the Sydney Opera House in September this year. It has now been cancelled but Opera House officials stress the cancellation has nothing to do with the work's controversial contents.
When the BBC broadcast a performance of the opera in 2005 a huge volume of complaints, reportedly 55,000, hit the organization. Street protests were also held outside theatres and offices of the BBC.
The plot of the opera involves the famous talk-show host staging a special edition of his show in hell with guests including God, Jesus, Mary, Adam and Eve. Jesus is depicted describing himself as 'a little bit gay'. The plot so incensed critics that one British group threatened to bring blasphemy charges against the producers.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the chief executive of the Opera House, Richard Evans, promising the show would be staged eventually. Asked if it was appropriate for the Opera House to be staging a show that bills itself as 'blasphemous' Mr Evans replied: 'We're not a religious institution, we're a performing arts centre. Do I think it will generate a lot of conversation? Yes. Am I happy about that? Yes.'
The forthcoming Catholic promotion known as World Youth Day (which actually spans six days) is sure to see a number of protests. Many Sydneysiders are unhappy with the way the event is being staged. Businesses are being affected with disruptions to transport and the delivery of goods, streets are being closed, and residents' live disrupted.
But there is organized protest planned by groups such as Community Action Against Homophobia, Atheists Sydney, Resistance, the Socialist Alliance, and others. At least one mass rally of protesters is planned - for Saturday, 19 July, in Taylor Square in the city area.
Pastor Karl Hand, of the Metropolitan Community Church, comments that the Catholic Church misrepresents Christianity and is 'uncompassionate towards people who need condoms, abortions, recognition of their relationship.' Pilgrims en route to the Papal Mass at Randwick Racecourse will be handed condoms by the protesters.
News briefs . . . www.piperpost.net - 29.6.08
CHRISTIAN LICENCE PLATES. South Carolina has given permission of vehicle licence plates to bear a design including a cross and the slogan 'I believe'. The plate design joins many other specialized plates including one which substitutes 'In God We Trust' with the slogan 'In Reason we Trust'. However, critics claim the Christian plate violates the principle of separation of Church and State. 'There's a fundamental difference between these plates and the 'I believe' tag,' wrote Rob Boston, the Assistant Director of Communications of Americans United for Separation of Churc