In the name of Jesus...

The nature of religious difference seems to be based on that old sing-song school-yard taunt...na, na, na, na, na, na...."my God is better than your God."

Or maybe, "my make-believe friend is better than your make-believe friend."

Whatever the interpretation, the following quote demonstrates why differences based on religious belief seem to be irreconcilable in nature.

"I contend that we are both atheists.
I just believe in one fewer god than you do.
When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods,
you will understand why I dismiss yours."

-Stephen F. Roberts

Whether one believes in God or not, should not determine how one thinks about the following. In the name of Jesus...

Church 'lied without lying'

The four archbishops of Dublin during the period covered by today's report into the handling of allegations of clerical child sex abuse. Clockwise (from top left) John Charles McQuaid, Dermot Ryan, Kevin

Commission finds Church covered up child sex abuse

One of the most fascinating discoveries in the Dublin Archdiocese report was that of the concept of “mental reservation” which allows clerics mislead people without believing they are lying. A formal investigation of Dublin’s Catholic Archdiocese concludes that there is “no doubt” that child sexual abuse was covered up by Church authorities over four decades.

Read more here and here.

h/t The Aristocrats, "worthless piece of sanctimonious shit"

In the Name of God

Here’s the most repugnant thing you’ll read...

A 9-year-old girl in Brazil was impregnated with twins after being repeatedly raped by her stepfather. Doctors decided the child’s uterus was too small to safely carry a baby, let alone two, and with the mother’s permission performed an abortion.

The Catholic Church not only tried to stop the procedure, but announced today that all the adults involved in terminating the pregnancy will be excommunicated from the Church -- including the doctors and the girl's mother.

So far Church officials have been silent on what judgment they plan to mete out to the man who impregnated a small child.

From the BBC:

A Brazilian archbishop says all those who helped a child rape victim secure an abortion are to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

Abortion is only permitted in Brazil in cases of rape and where the mother's life is at risk and doctors say the girl's case met both these conditions.

Police believe that the girl at the centre of the case had been sexually abused by her step-father since she was six years old.[...]

Her stepfather was arrested last week, allegedly as he tried to escape to another region of the country.

He is also suspected of abusing the girl's physically handicapped older sister who is now 14.

Intervention bid

The Catholic Church tried to intervene to prevent the abortion going ahead but the procedure was carried out on Wednesday.

The Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, told Brazil's TV Globo that the law of God was above any human law.

He said the excommunication would not apply to the child because of her age, but would affect all those who ensured the abortion was carried out.

While the action of the Church in opposing an abortion for a young rape victim is not unprecedented, it has attracted criticism from woman's rights groups in Brazil.