[Technicolor Musings] Don't Expect the Pope to Be Progressive

A lot of folks were eager to call the current pope progressive and whatnot based on his willingness to speak up about many issues include climate change and other things. There were big headlines about him saying "Who am I to judge?" when it came to the question of the LGBT community and so a lot of people were quick to declare he represented shift in the Catholic perspective.

But the pope is the leader of a religion, and it's one that is well-known for being conservative and generally dismissive of the LGBT community. The usual Catholic stance is that it's okay to be gay, just don't engage in homosexual acts like, you know, sex. Hello single blessedness.

First, he's only one man. His opinions do not immediately represent the majority view of the entire organization. And Catholicism is not run like a dictatorial government - they also have councils and they need to discuss among themselves what their stands on issues are going to be before they make a statement.

And two, he's pope for a reason. It means he still follows the same general principles and beliefs that the rest of the organization has. And so when he says that government officials in the US should be able to defy the law in line with their religious beliefs, that's just him playing par for the course.

[Books] Costume Not Included (To Hell And Back Book 2)

After my first venture into the To Hell and Back trilogy of books, I was intrigued enough to continue my journey deeper into this story universe. Plus I had already bought the books, so there really wasn't much else to risk as this point - I had to get money's worth, after all. And there are far worse books out there.

Costume Not Included is the second book in the continuing adventures of Chesney, also known as the superhero The Actionary. After causing Hell to go on strike, gaining a demonic companion who has pretty much enabled and now aids his crime-fighting and a possible girlfriend, what else is there for Chesney to do, right?

But of course things do get more and more complicated as the revelations of the first book continue to develop. The character are full agents in this story after all, and thus naturally they want to get a better grip on their own fates and better understand just what the heck is going on. And so we have even more religious figures come into play as Hell tries to take the game to the next level.

[Books] The Damned Busters (To Hell and Back Book 1)

Most of the Angry Robot Books titles that I end up reviewing on this blog are largely because of their NetGalley review program. They're a fun little genre-centric publisher and it's quite the pleasure to support them in this manner. But it seems that even outside the books that they offer up for review, I still end up reading their titles regardless.

Enter The Damned Busters, which I got on sale via the Amazon Kindle Store. I had picked up the full trilogy of books on a bit of a whim since I like supporting superhero fiction, which is a little rare outside the comic book world. So I was genuinely surprised that now that I've finally started to read the books after they've been in my virtual collection for months, I find out that they're Angry Robot Books titles.

And while this is a superhero story, I didn't quite expect this to be a religious book as well. That's what I get for blindly getting a book just because it was part of a trilogy - it's a weird habit that I learned from my mom and it has resulted in some weird book purchases. And I don't regret buying these books - I was just genuinely surprised that it had quite the religious angle to things. Admittedly I probably would have noticed this had I just looked at the coer image more closely or had I even just read the synopsis.

[Movies] Noah (2014)

Admittedly I watched this movie for the laughs. I'm hardly religious, so I know I'm not the movie's target demographic. And quite frankly I can't help but have pretty low expectations when it comes to action-adventure style adaptations of Biblical tales.

Noah is the big budget adaptation of the story about the great flood, or whatever you want to call it. Given how brief the story was in the book of Genesis, I have to admit that I was pretty curious to see how the heck they were going to stretch the tale out to last more than two hours.

What I wasn't expecting was just how weird and strange this movie was going to be given the embellishments to the story. I can take the presence of supernatural rock people, but some of the other stuff was just wrong. I mean really, can we not have a religious movie focus on strange sexual subject matter like what happened here? I'm not even sure if that sub-plot is worth going into detail, but it just got so much attention that I don't really know what to think anymore.

It's just as well that I'm posting this review now, just as we get out of a major religious holiday period.

[Books] Last God Standing

I wasn't fully certain what to expect when I came across Last God Standing among Angry Robot Books' NetGalley offerings. But the publisher has been rather good to me and quite the reliable source for interesting science fiction and fantasy novels. So I took the plunge added this book to my never ending reading queue.

Last God Standing is another book that touches on the notion of the gods of old living among us - akin to books like American Gods and Anansi Boys. But as you can see from the cover, it's only natural to expect a somewhat lighter book given the inclusion of stand up comedy as part of the overall concept.

I'm happy to share that this book was nothing like the Neil Gaiman explorations of the similar theme of gods in the modern world. It certainly had some logical similarities, but on the whole it was an interesting read that certainly had its own path in things. And given this is a story told from the perspective of one of these gods, that also adds to the unique flavor of the book.

[Movies] The Falls (2012)

I have to admit that I'm a bit of a fan of the now classic LGBT  movie Latter Days, which was a peculiar exploration of what is practically a porn sub-genre - that of gay Mormon missionaries. It was pretty decently made and had a good enough story and one hot protagonist in the form of Steve Sandvoss. Oh Steve, I miss you. Why did you quite acting in moves?

But back on point, we're here to talk about The Falls, which apparently is another gay movie that tries to tackle the gay Mormon sub-culture (or whatever you want to call it). And while Latter Days had a predominantly lighter, often comedic tone, The Falls is a more serious drama that tries to address the subject. And this time around, the love interest is not some out and proud party boy.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie, but had gotten curious enough about seeing it given how often it came up among my Amazon recommendations.

[Movies] This Is The End (2013)

It's interesting how the Hollywood comedy world sort of goes through phases of talent. Or maybe phases isn't quite the ideal word - it just involves distinct batches of comedians whose careers seem to coincide and continually intersect for a time until they disappear and make way for the next generation. The same can probably be said about a whole bunch of other things, but today I only want to focus on comedy.

I was prepared to be disappointed by This Is The End since it seems like a forced gathering of a lot of the different comedy personalities that sort of represent the state of Hollywood comedy all in a single movie. These sorts of hodgepodge collections of actors don't necessarily turn out well since they seem to bank on the combined star power more than anything else.

But I wasn't surprised but how fun this movie would actually be and how the gathering of said talent turned out to be the perfect mix of comedians to get this story out there. And as silly as the premise may seem at first, at the end of the day it all just works rather well.

[Technicolor Musings] Jesuit Hope for LGBTs?

A few months ago, Pope Francis stated "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?" - a rather surprising statement for the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The media were all over that story of course, but admittedly I remained rather skeptical about the whole thing. It's a nice statement, but it's not exactly official Church policy or anything like that.

But in a published interview released this week, the new Pope has gone on to discuss a number of controversial topics - or at least those considered rather controversial by the Church. In the most direct statement ever released by a Catholic Pope, he has actually gone on to talk about how the Church needs to adopt a more inclusive approach to dealing with subjects like homosexuality and even the role of women in the Church. And while homosexual acts are still considered a sin, this was a rather public acknowledgement that this is still somehow separate from the orientation.

These views are not particularly new - we've heard them a lot from the Church in general but especially among Jesuits in particular. I had been taught as much during my school years given I had gone to a Jesuit-run school. But it's nice to hear him to make such statements formally in something as concrete as the interview published around the world.

This won't make me become Catholic again or anything like that - I think I'm well and done with organized religion. But the Pope's statements do give me hope for how the Catholic Church approaches members of the LGBT community. Instead of a Church that actively campaigns against LGBT concerns and rights issues, perhaps this will lead to the Church focusing on its ministry instead of negative campaigns and such.

One cannot say for certain how the Pope's statements will translate into actual doctrine and Church policy. But again, even a skeptical agnostic like myself finds reason to hope for the better. And that's a good thing.

[Books] Unholy Night

So when I first read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I was fairly amused by the book and how the author was able to introduce zombies into this classic story. And while zombies continue to rage across mass media these days for some unknown reason, it's nice to see how the Seth Grahame-Smith has continued to expand his range by exploring other story genres.

This book seemed rather interesting at first glance given the fact that we're not playing within some pre-established novel like with the other classics being mashed up with geekier genres. And while the tale of the nativity of Jesus Christ is one known around the world thanks to Christianity, it's not exactly a novel-length epic. And this certainly gave the author a lot more liberty to work with.

And I think this benefited the story a lot. The book still plays on the concept of merging a new story with an older one, but I think the resulting narrative was a lot more thought-out this time around. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did and I think I've gained new respect for this particular author because of that fact.

[Technicolor Musings] The New Catholic Pope

So the Roman Catholic Church has a new Pope - in this case Pope Francis, previously Cardinal Bergoglio. He's the first Latin American Pope (with Italian lineage though) and the first Jesujt Pope, but he is also a rather conservative one at that. He's known for his humility but also known for his stand against both gay marriage and gay adoption rights and his disdain towards contraceptives. In other words, he sounds like another traditional Catholic Pope.

I don't fully understand queers who continue to claim to be Catholic when the religion in itself frowns on queer sexual activity. I don't understand why there are those members of the LGBT community who are against gay marriage in general either. But these people continue to exist and claim to be devout Catholics.

Given how the Philippines is perceived to be a predominantly Catholic country by many, we just can't ignore the opinions of the new pope since his pronouncements will naturally affect a lot of what our local priests will be proclaiming from their respective pulpits. So while I consider myself to be agnostic, I pay careful attention to such religious leaders since they will go out of their way to make LGBT rights their business, and typically in a bad way.

So how do you feel about the new Pope? Does he give you hope? Do you believe he's going to help address a lot of the issues that the Catholic Church has been facing in recent years? Or do you think he's going to be worse than Ratzinger and will continue to fight gay rights, but now on a global scale?

And I think I've made it clear that I think we need to stand up for truly equal representation and protection in the eyes of the law and not just mere tolerance. 

So what about you?

[Technicolor Musings] A Doctrine of Prejudice And Ignorance

I got into a minor argument with a more conservative friend of mine this week. Well, I felt it was an argument - I think he only sees it as a misunderstanding or me not respecting the need for the culture of his Facebook Wall or whatever he wants to call it.
It all started when he posted Katy Perry's latest video, Firework, on his Wall to celebrate how much he liked it and how he envisioned it as a song to carry along with his friends headed to World Youth Day next year. Given the content of the video includes a wonderfully poignant moment of a young gay man finding the courage to make his feelings known for another guy. For those who haven't seen the video, you definitely should - check it out:


Katy Perry - Firework

I replied with a short message of "Go gay love!" or something like that, fully knowing the irony of the video that he had posted. I didn't actually expect an acknowledgment - that would have made total sense to me given the beliefs he so publicly espouses. But instead he sends me a personal note to explain why he had to delete my comment given his other friends and how as much as he respected "my views", he needed to think about his other friends and how this might affect their opinion of him.

So yeah, naturally I flipped out, replied with a lengthy email about bigotry, hypocrisy and how he doesn't get to celebrate a video that prominently features support for gay relationships then turn around and tell me I shouldn't post stuff like that on his wall because of everyone else. Yeah, he only has a problem with "my views."
And thus we get to today's Technicolor Musings post about my continuing beef with the Catholic Church and how I don't expect us to peacefully co-exist if they keep up their currently practices.

[Technicolor Musings] The Contradiction Of Religion

Angel of Grief - William Wetmore Story and Emelyn Story by Francis Mariani / designwallah via Flickr.

In light of the recent back-and-forth (exaggerated) media war regarding the CBCP's stand on the Reproductive Health Bill, naturally expressions of everyone's stands on the matter has led to a polarizing of the public into different groups. And as we cut through all the usual socio-economic definitions of groups, denominations and factions, it's interesting to note how people choose to view the recent events, especially the somewhat scandalous protest of Carlos Celdran.

Amidst all the statements, blog posts, status updates and comments being posted on various websites left and right, I find it interesting to know how many gay people still identify with the Catholic Church in one way or another. I have no issues with what people choose to believe or how they define faith for themselves, but I do find it odd to still identify with a religion that (1) condemns us for how we choose to live our lives as gay men and women and (2) has obviously overstepped its bounds in terms of their role in local politics and need to learn to back down and focus on their congregation.

And thus I ask the question - how can gay people still identify as being part of the Roman Catholic Church when the Church does not recognize us in turn? Even if you try to claim some higher ground of wanting to adhere to the principles of the religious beliefs of Catholicism, that doesn't make you the kind of valued member they like to count as part of their flock.


Pride 2009 by Carine Rhoden / carinemily via Flickr.

Thus in a country that loves to claim to be the largest Catholic population in Asia, isn't it about time that we checked their math? How does one actually count the number of truly active Catholics in the country today?

[Philippines] Fed Up With Our Political Catholic Church

square the circle1 by spentpenny via Flickr.

Today marks the last day of Banned Books Week in the US. This unusual event was started in 1982 by the American Library Association to celebrate our freedom to read and the protections offered by the First Amendment. Thus history is littered with strange lists of some of the most banned books of all time, or even the Top 10 Banned Science Fiction Novels to boot. These represent the attempts of groups of individuals to impose their world view on the greater majority. Thus our continued efforts to fight for our right to free exchange of ideas and information as we see fit.

While not directly related to this US event in itself, recent developments in the local scene have been interesting given how they also reflect the efforts of a particular group to impose their views on the majority. What's worse is that we're talking about the views of a religious group, namely the Catholic Church, being imposed on the Government. We always talk about the constitutional protections that require the separation of Church and State and yet more and more it seems that this may not necessarily be the case.

More and more the Church is trying to throw its weight around in matter of public policy, but now they're faced with a President who has decided to take a harder stance against them. And I'd like to join the chorus of voices in support of the President's more enlightened view of things as opposed to the narrow-minded and irresponsible opinion the Church is trying to pass on as fact.

[Movies] Latter Days (2003)

I've watched a fair number of LGBT movies in my time and yet I never consistently got around to writing reviews for them. As much as I'm enjoying my more editorial-style writings under the Technnicolor Musings banner of entries, I still want to get back to posting more LGBT movies reviews, if only to continue to support the industry and generate more awareness for some of the great films made.

Of course even I have to admit that a lot of LGBT movies play out like corner store romance paperbacks with very little intellectual substance and a more than liberal interpretation of nudity as an art form. You have to forgive us for such indulgences - the combined feelings of pride in just talking about gay relationships plus the glee of shocking conservative audiences never gets old. Still, there also those LGBT movies out there with a serious message to convey and a striking way of doing so.

One of the first higher quality LGBT movies that I've seen has to be this one involving none other than the infamous Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-day Saints. Yeah, now you know what I'm talking about, right?

[Viral Video Chart] Instruction Manual for Life

When I noticed this video on the Viral Video Chart, at first I thought it was some fundamentalist religious propaganda. It's hard not to make that association given the beginning of the video, seriously.

But then it evolved into a rather interesting of not highly veiled and metaphorical look at any number of things. It could be about differences in religion. It could be about differences in beliefs. It could be about differences in gender identity and sexual orientation. The creators did a great job of being deliberately vague about it, leaving the viewer free to determine what learning or meaning he can glean from the video.

It's worth the time to check it out, if you're not overly busy. Plus the who thing just makes you stop for moment and think about things.


#5 - Instruction Manual for Life

[Fashion] Religious Accessorizing

Image via Wikipedia I admit that despite being a gay man, I'm hardly within that stereotype where we're supposed to all be good at interior design and fashion. However that doesn't mean I'm not entitled to my own opinions about such matters. Like with art and the criticism of such, I may not be an educated expert, but I do know what I like.

One thing that always irks me about the "fashion" scene locally is the obsession with with the use of items associated with religions as accessories. You know what I mean - people take an item with religious significance or association and turn it into an every day faux fashion accent. I think it's even worse with the local gay scene since obviously most of us aren't religions since in one way or another, we're breaking some religious convention here or there. So why deliberately use a religious icon - why flaunt the trappings of religion and not mean it?

I think my irritation started with Buddha Beads - mainly the extra-large necklaces that people would drape around themselves as they went shirtless at clubs. Clearly these items had religious significance in terms of Buddhist culture and yet people just used them as some way to try and get people to look at their chests as they danced to songs clearly not espousing the values of Buddhism. At the same time, most of the guys I've encountered weren't even the least bit inclined towards this particular faith.

Then came the giant rosaries, which seemed even more ironic and insulting. True, I was raised Catholic and perhaps that's where some of my indignation lies despite my being Agnostic these days, but that doesn't dispel the fundamental truth that there's a lot of meaning put into rosaries as icons and here we are using them as another chest-directing item. These people (1) aren't trying to tell the world their Christian, (2) aren't deliberately making some sort of statement against the Christian faith and (3) in most cases just thought it looked cool or that it was "in" somehow. Good grief.

These days my current fashion pet peeve has to be the prevalence of Muslim scarves or Hijabs. Again, it's an item with a strong religous association (whether or not it deliberately relates to a religious activity such as rituals or prayer). The true usage of this of course is to cover women and espouse virtues of purity and modesty but these days guys around the metro wear them like...*shudder*...scarves. In a tropical country. Freaking scarves! Clearly, the weather hasn't gotten that cold (and probably won't until the islands return to the sea) and so there can't be a practical purpose to the wearing of such items nor are they trying to claim to be modest in anyway.

Whether in the middle of the night or in the heat of the morning sun, the sight of a person wearing this piece of fabric in a scarf-like fashion just doesn't make sense to me. They're not Muslim, in most cases, nor are they trying to make a political or religious statement nor are they trying to associate with the plight of Muslim Mindanao or something to that effect. It's just what "seems" to be cool.

My core point is that as much as I respect the quirks of fashion, I don't think we should be using religious icons and artifacts to dress up our outfits. These are items of importance and meaning to their respective cultures and organized religions and we have no place belittling them and turning them into items of no meaning nor should we be trying to constantly use them as some sort of a statement against the religion in question (which is not often the case). People, think about what you're wearing! Think about what it's supposed to mean?

Respect for other beliefs is key, in my mind. Tolerance begins with treating other views (opposing or otherwise) with the respect they deserve in order to get respect in turn. What's happening with such religiously-associated fashion trends is just plain wrong and downright tacky.

[Philippines] Population Policy Problems

Image via WikipediaFor the most part, the limited division between Church and State in the Philippines has always been more of a suggestion than an actual rule - much like our traffic laws, as a friend of my once quipped. While many will contest whether or not it's accurate to say that we are a predominantly Catholic country, what is highly evident that at least our government does seem to be very friendly to the Church and often lets major religious groups in the country clearly influence if not outright dictate national policy.

This has never been clearer than cases when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself is caught pandering to the likes of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) beyond just religious concerns in the public view. To have the Chief Executive herself allowing the Church's views to somehow curry more favor tells us how much their political favor is more important than the actual needs of the country from her trained economists' perspective. I think I can forgive most issues that aren't truly of consequence, but for something as sensitive as population control, I don't think I can forgive that.

As a third world country (and yes, that's what we are), very high population growth rates, especially considering the significant percentage of these gains to fall with families well below the poverty line, are definitely more bane than boon for the country's progress. All this does is increase the demand for all basic commodities without the needed growth in supporting industries to address the increasing demand. Thus in this setup, the poor get poorer as they try to support larger and larger families well beyond their means, thus further plunging them into the depths of poverty.

And all this being done to avoid issues that the CBCP and Catholics in general stereotypically frown against - artificial contraceptives and abortion. For the most part, I can't fault the Church for their views and opinions. As a religious organization following certain precepts and beliefs, they're well within their rights to be for or against certain things like these issues. However, it's not the government's place to take these views and use them as basis for national policy or whether or not laws should be crafted in support of such religious opinions. Former President Fidel V. Ramos has slammed President GMA's population policies at a recent forum for World Population Day given she has clearly taken in the Church's stand as her own.

As a way to side-step the issue, the President has pretty much copped out of making an Executive decision on this issue by passing the decision down to the level of the Local Government Units, claiming that there isn't a strong enough clamor for a change in national policy.

What is foul though is the Church going as far as trying to determine which politicians they deem to be "anti-life" in their perspective because of their support of legislation supporting artificial contraceptives and abortion practices in order to deem them unfit to receive communion. Now that's an unfair use of their religious influence to try and drive government action and national policy by playing the religion card in this manner.

As a nation, we seem to be very far away from coming to an actual solution in this matter. I doubt that our religious leaders are going to mature anytime soon and they will continue to be a driving political force in the country for years to come. At the same time, I doubt that we'll see significant changes from our political leaders either. While it can be argued whether or not they are truly concerned for their eternal salvation in making their decisions, it's more likely that they're perceived by their constituents in light of these issues and continued support of Church views is their way of ensuring their political futures.

And people wonder why I don't support organized religion anymore?

[Philippines] News of Interest 07.07.08

Well, I've been going over the local news again and still we're stuck with some pretty annoying items here and there. Sometimes we get stuck in very strange places.

Pretty much everything these days are revolving around either the recent ferry disaster involving the MV Princess of the Stars or ever-rising prices for gas and other commodities.

BMI asks 1 week more for ferry disaster probe

Image via WikipediaAs is typical of the Philippine government, Congress has decided to conduct their own hearings into the Sulpicio Lines ferry disaster. It's a wonder that we get any actual legislative work done with all the special hearings, blue ribbon committees and whatnot. We all know nothing will really come of it and it's just a way for them to get their names attached to the initiative for future election propaganda fodder. Ugh.

What's worse is that Congress is also ganging up on PAGASA, our weather bureau, about the Doppler radar equipment they should have had in place by now. Sometimes they forget just how stringent the bidding and selection process can be on paper but of course in the end such processes can be greased as needed.

Sulpicio asks court to stop BMI probe on ferry disaster

Of course with all this going on in terms of the post-Frank investigations, Sulpicio lines is getting pretty desperate and have already filed a lawsuit against PAGASA. Now they're trying to get a TRO on the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) since they're also suing them. I mean really, is this is how they plan on ending all of this? Somehow trying to finish off with guns blazing and such?

Catholic bishops seek review of oil deregulation law, EVAT

The headline alone should be enough to make you cringe - what place do priests have in terms of evaluating government policies, practices and procedures, especially when it comes to the economy and gas prices? We expect the same group that tries to manage our spriritual development be allowed to cross past their coverage, involve themselves (as always) in politics and dictate / influence economic policy? These are the same people who don't endorse birth control as a way of managing population size since it's against their beliefs.

Why can't the priests and bishops just stay in their churches and limit themselves accordingly to their core functions and responsibilities?

[Philippines] Birth Control in a Catholic Country

TeamHannah by The Carmichael Family.

More often than not, it turns out that I tend to follow international news more than local news, and thus in recent times I've been trying to make more of an effort to remain in-the-know when it comes to the local scene, albeit without buying a newspaper.

As I scanned the headlines today on Inquirer.net when I came across this headline:

CA asked to void EO 003 banning contraceptives

If you know me, then of course it comes as no real surprise to find out that I just had to click on the article.

So it turns out that twenty residents of the city of Manila have filed a petition with the Court of Appeals to overturn Executive Order 003 made by then Mayor Lito Atienza back in February 2000. The families filing the petition were predominantly from depressed areas and thus dancing around the poverty line in terms of income.

One of the petitioners cited that because of the order, the local Health Centers were no longer dispensing free contraceptives and this lead to her having 6 children over the years that this order has been in effect. As much as I want to laugh at a family blaming the government for them getting pregnant, I really can't because she actually has a point.

The Philippines remains to be a predominantly Catholic country in one way or another and even though we always say the the Church and the State are highly separate, that doesn't stop government officials from proposing laws or putting ordinances into effect based on religious beliefs instead of secular ones. This is a prime example of that behavior given how the Church frowns on the use of contraceptives and instead natural family planning and abstinence.

I can't blame the families entirely for being mad - birth control pills are one of the most effective ways of preventing unwanted pregnancies without denying couples their right to have sex with one another and apparently for husbands not to bother with condoms either,which remain pretty cheap still, albeit not as effective statistically speaking. At the same time though...six kids? Geez, someone has been busy over the years and has no idea how to time these things a little better. I may not be a big fan of the "rhythm method", but when left with no other alternative, you think they'd at least try that, right?

Regardless of all that, I sincerely hope the petition gets somewhere. They're trying to push fro a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the order while the case is being heard and I'm not sure if that's going to fly. As is the case with all legal proceedings in this country, it's bound to take a few years still before this case gets anywhere near a resolution and in the meantime, I assume these poor families will continue to, well, procreate. Boo on you Atienza!

[US] Worldly Concerns for the Catholic Church

The Catholic Church in the US always seems to be under fire these days. Just look at the news and you're going to find one thing or another about the clergy being far less than holy.

Who can blame them? At the end of the day, they're only human and we have a tendency of putting such figures on a moral pedestal that any misdeeds are blown out of proportion. The again, we might be justified in doing so given their duties and responsibilities as caretakers of a religious faith.

Topping today's of most-read articles over on the TIME Magazine website is a rather in-depth look at another Catholic crime beyond the "normal" cases of sexual-abuse allegations. This time it's about parish priests taking more than their fair share from Sunday collection baskets everywhere and funneling this cash into worldly needs like lavish vacations and education for their *gasps* CHILDREN. Pardon my sarcasm.

While some churchs are losing money due to dirty priests, others are going bankrupt due to rising legal expenses related to numerous sexual-abuse lawsuits challenging their pastors. The San Diego Diocese has announced that it is considering declaring chapter 11 in order to avoid more than 140 pending lawsuits directed at them.

Whatever happened to forgiveness, eh? This is not to say I'm siding with their activities - it's just interesting how to note that the reason these things make headlines, especially given the US, is probably because of the strength of evangelicals in recent years, especially in terms of influencing government policy and how people deal with national issues. While some might argue it was all of us who put them up so high, when you look at it again you might come to see that they themselves defined their roles such that the pedestal is their natural place.

It's a rather disturbing thought either way. Thank god I'm not overly religious, hehe.

Related Links:

• TIME Magazine: When Priests Pilfer
  
• TIME Magazine: San Diego Dicese May Go Bankrupt
  
• TIME Magazine: The Religious Right's Era is Over