Tuesday, April 05, 2011

The Vilification of the Vatican

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said the Roman Catholic Church deeply believed that human sexuality was a gift reserved for married heterosexual couples. But those who express these views are faced with "a disturbing trend," he said.

"People are being attacked for taking positions that do not support sexual behaviour between people of the same sex," he told the current session of the Human Rights Council.

See Reuters: Vatican tells U.N. that critics of gays under attack

Attacked? How?

"When they express their moral beliefs or beliefs about human nature ... they are stigmatised, and worse -- they are vilified, and prosecuted.

And that is a bad thing?

"These attacks are violations of fundamental human rights and cannot be justified under any circumstances," Tomasi said.

Mr. Tomasi, it seems in your last sentence that you are attempting to stigmatize, vilify, and perhaps advocating the prosecution of people who are guilty of expressing their moral beliefs or beliefs about human nature. Yet, you say that this cannot be justified under any circumstances. How do you live with the guilt?

It should come as no surprise that your views are wildly incoherent, irrational, and self-serving. You are in the business of incoherent, irrational, self-service. By this, I do not mean Catholics in general, but the specific church/business you belong to. While I am not questioning your faith in the particular snake-oil your company sells at a tax-free profit, it is, in fact, snake-oil.

It is perfectly legitimate to stigmatize, vilify, and, where words turn into harmful actions, prosecute the person who "expresses" moral attitudes like those that your company tends to express.

You said:

"Throughout the world, there is a consensus between societies that certain kinds of sexual behaviour must be forbidden by law. Paedophilia and incest are two examples."

See. Even you agree that, when people express certain "moral beliefs", it is perfectly legitimate to stigmatize and vilify them. You do so yourself, and you are more than happy to endorse the practice when you are not the one being vilified.

I suspect you would even support the prosecution of these individuals where words turned into harmful actions.

What you do not yet realize is that your attitudes towards relationships between consenting adults deserve the stigmatization and vilification you receive. The fact that you take this bigoted hate-mongering and assign it to God does not change the fact that it is bigoted hate-mongering. Similarly, finding quotes that defend slavery in scripture or the killing of apostates and blasphemers does not give the members if your club a right to own slaves or kill apostates or blasphemers.

In the past, your company has conveniently forgotten about those passages in it's holy book that more enlightened came to question. It's time to conveniently forget those passages on homosexuality as well.

Otherwise, you will discover more and more people will come to realize that this hateful bigotry could not possibly be the work of a divine benevolence. It stinks far too much of barbaric human "different is evil".

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very well put...reminds me of this: http://realitybong.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/quitsquirming.jpg

Dan said...

The reality is, people who merely want to engage in same sex relationships are actually attacked all over the world, with actual violence, resulting in actual physical harm, and in plenty of situations death. The people who argue that homosexuality should be classed as criminal behavior aren't helping that.

Forgive me if I lack sympathy for people being "attacked" by verbal/written criticism for essentially supporting that status quo.

Randy said...

You are missing the point here. What Catholics want is exactly what atheists claim to want. That is a rational discussion of societal norms and morals. When you stigmatize and vilify people you disagree with you shut down rational discussion. The people in power get to control the debate. If they can use their power to silence Catholics they can use the same power to silence you. Not just on this issue but on any issue.

Yes, gays are attacked all over the world. When they are true Catholics should be their greatest defenders. We are called to respect the dignity of every human person regardless of their sin.

But what is best for society is another question. Society needs to bring up the next generation as well as possible. Marriage as an institution centered on child-rearing might be something we want to think twice about giving up.

Anonymous said...

How dare you call homosexuality a sin? You, who has the ignorance to vilify my existence? You echo your idealistic views across borders for your own amusement and think not of those you attack. But I will not be attacked by you without giving as good as i get, the crimes of homosexuals to humanity to nil, the crimes of your lofty catholicism is uncountable. The oppression of science has left our western world crippled compared to its would-be glory, you have howled of sin to protect yourselves from the crimes you commit. Humanity must mean nothing to you if you associate with a pack of baying animals so readily. The bible is a fable for the weak so they may have a rock to cling to because they are too weak to swim for themselves. You, who are so protected by your false beliefs take a look at us who struggle with oppression from your kind with pity or malice, but ignorance is bliss and we may be ill with sin to you but we see no sin, and know it to be false. You are simply to reliant to function and too weak to process the truths of the world around you. I am an atheist and proud to be so enlightened, the catholic church has never wanted peace, they just know now that they do not have the power to wage war on homosexuality without being utterly humiliated for their stupidity and foolishness.