Wingnuts Go Berserk Over Obama Gay Marriage Position

Needless to say, the spittle must have been flying by barrel full amongst the Christianist and professional Christian crowd upon the news that Obama finally came out in favor of same sex marriage.  And many of the GOP political whore class were quick to jump on board with the hate merchants.  Time will tell as to whether the black preacher crowd will finally will wake up and stop acting as house slaves to the white supremacist loving Christianist groups that treat black pastors as their trained circus dogs.  In addition to Mitt Romney, the (in my view) likely closeted Rick Santorum had a virtual hissy fit over Obama's announcement.  Here is a sampling of Santorum's verbal coniption fit:

  

"The announcement today by President Obama should come as no surprise to the American public. President Obama has consistently fought against protecting the institution of marriage from radical social engineering at both the state and federal level. The President recently opposed the North Carolina constitutional amendment and, of course, he refused to defend President Clinton's Defense of Marriage Act before the U.S. Supreme court. The charade is now over, no doubt an attempt to galvanize his core hard left supporters in advance of the November election. 

Thankfully the American public, when it has had an opportunity to consider the real world consequences of such a fundamental change to our society, has consistently voted for maintaining one man one woman marriage - the basic building block of our society. I will continue to fight to make sure that the cultural elites don't further undermine the institution that gives the best opportunity for healthy, happy children and a just and prosperous society."

As for the other hate merchants, Right Wing Watch has compilation of some of the hate spewing from professional Christians and hate groups.  Here are highlights:

Tony Perkins of Family Research Council said Obama’s position has handed Mitt Romney “the key to social conservative support”:

The President's announcement today that he supports legalizing same-sex marriage finally brings his words in sync with his actions. From opposing state marriage amendments to refusing to defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DoMA) to giving taxpayer funded marriage benefits to same-sex couples, the President has undermined the spirit if not the letter of the law.

The President has provided a clear contrast between him and his challenger Mitt Romney. Romney, who has signed a pledge to support a marriage protection amendment to the U.S. Constitution, may have been handed the key to social conservative support by President Obama.

Gary Bauer [who strikes me as GAY!!!] later commented in an email to supporters that Obama “may have just lost the presidency”:

President Obama just told ABC News that he now supports same-sex marriage. Surprised? Didn’t think so. Obama is no doubt hoping to energize his leftwing base. And he is betting this will help him to re-energize the youth vote this November. But in fact he may have just lost the presidency.

Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage pledged to defeat Obama and warned, "God is the author of marriage, and we will not let an activist politician like Barack Obama who is beholden to gay marriage activists for campaign financing to turn marriage into something political that can be redefined according to presidential whim.

The Traditional Values Coalition president Andrea Lafferty maintained Obama’s view on marriage equality displays his “radical ideology”:

Matt Smith of the Catholic Advocate said Obama’s support for marriage equality is part of “an anti-Catholic agenda”

Faith and Freedom Coalition chairman Ralph Reed said the announcement shows the President is “tone-deaf and out-of-touch with the time-honored values of millions of Americans”

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League claimed Obama “has fully broken with his Christian moorings” and suggested he also favors polygamy.

 im Campbell of the Alliance Defense Fund said his endorsement “promotes the creation of even more fatherless and motherless homes.”

More Bullsh*t From William Donohue

As noted in prior posts on this blog, the Catholic League is actually a roughly three person operation that nets William Donohue a well into the six figures annual income. Not bad for what's basically a front organization for a non-existent membership. Now, Donohue is trumpeting that "liberal" churches are losing membership within the USA while "conservative churches" such as the Roman Catholic Church are gaining members. Donohue conveniently ignores the fact that without the Hispanic immigrant influx - a group of people Donohue's gay hating conservative allies would deport in a heart beat - the Catholic Church would be DOWN in membership numbers. Oh, and what about the 1 in 3 individuals raised as Catholics who have left the Church as reported by the Pew Form and the Barna Group? As is the norm for Donohue, he cherry picks data and the true facts are irrelevant. Here's what the Pew Form recently found:
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While nearly one-in-three Americans (31%) were raised in the Catholic faith, today fewer than one-in-four (24%) describe themselves as Catholic. These losses would have been even more pronounced were it not for the offsetting impact of immigration. The Landscape Survey finds that among the foreign-born adult population, Catholics outnumber Protestants by nearly a two-to-one margin.
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Major changes in the makeup of American Catholicism also loom on the horizon. Latinos, who already account for roughly one-in-three adult Catholics overall, may account for an even larger share of U.S. Catholics in the future. For while Latinos represent roughly one-in-eight U.S. Catholics age 70 and older (12%), they account for nearly half of all Catholics ages 18-29 (45%).

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Commonweal similarly reported statistics that ought to have the Vatican trembling - not that the current crop of bitter old men in dresses seem to be getting the message:
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[O]ne out of every three adult Americans who were raised Catholic have left the church. If these ex-Catholics were to form a single church, they would constitute the second largest church in the nation. . . . . Thomas Reese, SJ, the former editor of America, recently described this loss of one-third of those raised Catholic as “a disaster.” He added, “You wonder if the bishops have noticed.”
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“Catholicism,” the Pew study found, “has lost more people to other religions or to no religion at all than any other single religious group.”
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Catholics becoming unaffiliated stressed disagreement with church teachings, both general teachings and church positions on specific issues like abortion, homosexuality, and treatment of women, and to a lesser extent clerical celibacy. In open-ended questioning, they also stressed hypocrisy and other moral and spiritual failures of church leaders and fellow Catholics.
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The track record is that as populations become more educated and socially assimilated, their church affiliation drops. With the Catholic Church increasingly seeing growth only in newly arrived Hispanic populations, the long term prospects are exactly the the opposite of what Donohue would have Kool-Aid drinking Catholics believe.

Catholic League's William Donohue Proves to be Another Self-Enriching Bigot

Even before I left the Catholic Church a decade or more ago, I found William Donohue and the Catholic League to be liars and professional victims. Now, new financial information indicates that Donohue - like Maggie Gallagher and other professional homophobes - is living very high on the hog living off of demonizing gays, claiming that anti-Catholic bigotry exists under every bush, and unquestioningly kissing the asses of the corrupt and disingenuous members of the Church hierarchy. Like his professional Christian cohorts, Donohue makes the tawdriest of hookers look virtuous. According to Catholic United - a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the message of justice and the common good - Catholic League President William Donohue receives $399,156 in annual compensation. Meanwhile, the Catholic League holds some $26 Million in assets. Indeed, Donohue proves himself to be just as arrogant and corrupt as the members of the Church hierarchy to whom he prostitutes himself. Here are highlights from the Catholics United website:
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Controversial Catholic League president William Donohue – whose work has now gained the support of the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops – earned a salary of $342,500 in 2009, with an additional $56,656 in fringe benefits. According to annual IRS Form 990 filings, the organization spent more than $2.6 million in 2009, despite the fact that its program work constitutes little more than the issuing of inflammatory press releases.
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The Catholic League masquerades as an official ministry of the Catholic Church while engaging in heavyhanded tactics that many Catholics find distasteful. Donohue recently threatened a media campaign against state governors who didn't display nativity scenes in state capitol buildings.
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Despite this, New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, authored a blog post last week expressing support for Donohue and his organization. . . . “Across the country, Catholic dioceses are closing parishes and everyday Catholics are struggling to make ends meet. Bill Donohue is clearly out of touch with this reality,” said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United. “Now we know why Donohue is so intent on ignoring social justice, concern for the poor, and other actual teachings of Jesus Christ: focusing on these issues is not good for the bottom line.”
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As organizations go, the Catholic League is a “non-profit” in name only. In 2009 it pocketed $943,516 in excess revenue, down from $1.35 million in 2008. As of the most recent filings, the Catholic League reported $26.2 million in net assets.

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The Catholic League's recent 990 filings can be found here.

The Real Betrayers of Catholicism

As the Roman Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal continues to widen across Europe - a former bishop in Norway has now confessed to abusing an altar boy - the Vatican continues to blaming the media and "anti-Catholic bigotry" for the Church's horrific problem that is continuing to dismay members of the Catholic laity. Some of the laity and pundits try to defend their faith by stating that "the hierarchy is not the Church" or that "the Church is comprised of its members who adhere to their faith." While there is some truth to these statements, they ignore the fact that the Church's leadership structure is based on a feudal monarchy where the Pope is the monarch and the bishops and cardinals are the feudal lords appointed by the monarch. The laity has ZERO power to challenge the hierarchy. While the Pope has disingenuously claimed that bishops "do not work for him" the truth is that the Pope appoints and removes bishops and cardinals who in turn appoint priests to parishes and other positions. Again, the laity has NO POWER to stop this system other than to leave the Church and take their financial support with them. As a Catholic for nearly 50 years myself, I know all too well the realities of the Church's governance.

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So what is one to do? If you leave the Church and take your faith with you as I did to the ELCA or if you speak out and condemn the Church leadership, you are accused of "betraying" or "attacking" the Church. Blowhards like William Donohue of the Catholic League purport to be protecting the Church when in fact all they are doing is protecting the corrupt system that created the problem in the first place. So who are the true betrayers of the Church? The Pope - and a number of his predecessors -and the majority of the cardinals and bishops in the hierarchy who closed their eyes, enabled and covered up for predator priests and, of course, the predator priests themselves. Even where members of the hierarchy recognize that the problem was not caused by critics of the Church - Archbishop Martin of Dublin and recently the Archbishop of Johannesburg are two examples - they fail to go to the root of the problem: the Vatican.

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How will it all end? Frankly, I do not know. I do know, however, until the laity raises up and DEMANDS change, nothing will really change. There will be insincere apologies and efforts to punish individual priests, but the enablers and obstructors of justice will remain in their exalted positions. True defenders of Catholicism are those who refuse to relent in their criticism and who may vote with their feet and refuse to support the evil amidst the hierarchy from the current Pope on down. In her recent column Maureen Dowd quotes some of her brother's views. I found some to be most on point others not. Here are some highlights of what I agree with:
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In pedophilia, the church has unleashed upon itself a plague that threatens its very future, and yet it remains in a curious state of denial. The church I grew up in was black and white, no grays.
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A boy in my class told me much later that the same priest climbed into bed with him in 1958 at a rectory sleepover, but my friend threw him to the floor. The priest protested he was sleepwalking. Three days later, the archbishop sent the priest to a rehab place in New Mexico; he ended up as a Notre Dame professor.
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Vatican II liberalized rules but left the most outdated one: celibacy. That vow was put in place originally because the church did not want heirs making claims on money and land. But it ended up shrinking the priest pool and producing the wrong kind of candidates — drawing men confused about their sexuality who put our children in harm’s way.
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The church is dying from a thousand cuts. Its cover-up has cost a fortune and been a betrayal worthy of Judas. The money spent came from social programs, Catholic schools and the poor. This should be a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance. I asked a friend of mine recently what he would do if his child was molested after the church knew. ‘I would probably kill someone,’ he replied.
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We must reassess. Married priests and laypeople giving the sacraments are not going to destroy the church. Based on what we have seen the last 10 years, they would be a bargain.
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Sadly, the Vatican and hierarchy just continue to complain about an anti-Catholic media and people listening to "gossip." They need to look in the mirror and admit that it is they themselves who are destroying the Catholic Church.

Catholic League Blames the Gays Instead of Vatican and Hierarchy

Click image for larger view.

The ever delusional William Donohue of the Catholic League is on another rant blaming gays for the Catholic Church's huge sexual abuse scandal that is becoming increasing a worldwide phenomenon. Now Donohue - who has been well depicted in South Park episodes - has taken out a full page ad in the New York Times (see above) attempting to shift blame from the Pope and Church hierarchy to gays and the New York Times. Never mind that the Vatican operated a worldwide conspiracy of cover ups and shuffling predatory priests from parish to unsuspecting parish. In any other context, such a conspiracy would lead to criminal charges and likely racketeering charges, but somehow in Donohue's crazy world, it's the Vatican and the Church that are the victims.

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The reality is that Donohue cannot come to grips with the reality that the institutional church which he has sought to protect is morally bankrupt and that the Church hierarchy - including the Pope - have played the laity for suckers. This link shows a great animated cartoon from the Washington Post that depicts how the Church deals with messengers of the truth.

Cardinal Mahony Under Federal Investigation

The other day I wrote about a possible federal investigation of the leadership of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, one of the largest dioceses in the USA based on a Wall Street Journal story. Now, the Los Angeles Times has more information and it is clear that Cardinal Roger Mahoney is one of the targets in the probe. Perhaps my views are colored by the fact that I have three children - and was an altar boy myself for 10 years - but in my view, nothing demonstrates more the moral bankruptcy of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church more than the fact that none of the bishops and cardinals who enabled and/or covered up the sexual abuse of children and youths have been punished. True, Cardinal Law of Boston resigned his position, but then he was rewarded with a plum assignment at the Vatican. Not exactly my idea of punishment. If the Vatican will not take the steps needed to hold bishops and cardinals accountable, then I am all in favor of the civil authorities stepping in a doing the job. Here are some story highlights:

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The U.S. attorney in Los Angeles has launched a federal grand jury investigation into Cardinal Roger M. Mahony in connection with his response to the molestation of children by priests in the Los Angeles Archdiocese, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the case.

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The probe, in which U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien is personally involved, is aimed at determining whether Mahony, and possibly other church leaders, committed fraud by failing to adequately deal with priests accused of sexually abusing children, said the sources, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.

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Mahony has repeatedly apologized for the church's sex scandal and asked for forgiveness for not acting sooner to remove priests who abused minors. He has declared that the archdiocese handles abuse allegations seriously, notifying police when complaints are made and removing priests from active ministry when allegations are deemed credible. As the Catholic Church's highest-ranking official in Southern California, Mahony has been dogged for years by allegations of covering up the sexual misconduct of priests.

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The cardinal was accused of transferring priests who molested children to other parishes rather than removing them from the priesthood and alerting authorities. One priest, Michael Stephen Baker, told Mahony in 1986 that he had molested children, but he was allowed to remain in active ministry. Mahony sent Baker to a treatment center in New Mexico and later reassigned him to other parishes, where he allegedly victimized children. Prosecutors later filed criminal charges against Baker. He pleaded guilty to molesting two boys and was sentenced in 2007 to more than 10 years in prison.

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Mahony also came under fire for vigorously fighting attempts by prosecutors, victims and the victims' attorneys to gain access to the church's personnel files, which tracked the problems of accused priests and the church hierarchy's reaction to them.

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I will not be surprised to hear next that William Donohoe of the Catholic League is whining about the persecution of Catholics. Meanwhile, Donohue has been utterly silent in terms of demanding that bishops and cardinals involved in the abuse cover ups be held accountable.

Gay Jesus Christ Superstar

“Corpus Christi,” which depicts a gay Christ-like figure and 12 gay apostles has returned the stage in New York City and this time without protests and bomb threats as occurred in 1998 when the play first premiered. The plays producers at the time described the play as recounting the tale of a young gay man named Joshua on his spiritual journey,'' in which the audience becomes acquainted with ''the twelve disciples who choose to follow him. Not surprisingly, professional Catholic victim, William A. Donohue, president of the perpetually whiny Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, called the play an act of bigotry. I guess no one knows more about being a bigot than Donohue who routinely seeks to trample on the civil rights of others, particularly gays. Here are some story highlights from the New York Times:

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Not one angry protester showed up at the first performance of the New York revival of Terrence McNally’s notorious “Corpus Christi.” There was no talk in the aisles of free speech or the First Amendment. I didn’t even walk through a metal detector. Times have certainly changed.

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Only a decade ago this fragile, heartfelt play, which portrays Jesus as a young gay man, sparked hysterical protests from religious groups, leading to bomb threats at the Manhattan Theater Club, which canceled the show. Outrage ensued, and before you knew it, a culture war had erupted, before anyone had seen one scene. When the production finally opened, it turned out that it was an earnest and reverent spin on the Jesus story, with some soft-spoken, gay-friendly politics thrown in.

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One wishes the playwright had delved deeper into the love story between Joshua and Judas (Steve Callahan), who is the most interesting of the apostles here. A soulless yuppie, he’s starved for Joshua’s attention and love, and bitter when unable to get them.

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At one point, two men ask Joshua to marry them. When he agrees, they want him to be sure, bringing up the scriptural passage that says man shouldn’t lie with man. Joshua responds, “Why would you memorize such a terrible passage?” Later he strikes a priest for denouncing him, and a follower asks about turning the other cheek. “Do not take everything I say so seriously,” Joshua replies, revealing a wit rarely seen in the Bible.
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The play clearly does not appear overly threatening, but then again, it takes very little to rattle the fragile, artificial, form over substance faith of most Bible beaters.

Belleville Catholic Diocese Knowingly Put Children at Risk

I previously commented about Bill Donohoue, president of the Catholic League, whining about the Democratic Party granting credentials to liberal blogs, including Towleroad which I link to this blog, since those blogs demand accountability on the part of the Church. Sadly, I expect that Donohoue will as is typical for him be utterly silent as more news comes out about the cover up of sexual abuse of minors by members of the Catholic Church hierarchy. Church officials in the Belleville, Illinois diocese showed an utterly callous disregard for the safety of children as know predator priests were foisted on unwary parishes. Nonetheless, despite such evidence of the moral bankruptcy of the Church hierarchy from the Vatican on down Donohoue continues to keep his nose so far up the Vatican's ass that it's a miracle he doesn't suffocate. Here are some highlights on the new revealations from the Belleville News-Democrat:

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BELLEVILLE --While reports that the Rev. Raymond Kownacki was sexually molesting minors were piling up, Belleville Diocese bishops and other top church officials failed to investigate and routinely reassigned the priest six times to unsuspecting parishes, former vicar general Monsignor James Margason testified Wednesday.

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Under questioning by Wisniewski's attorney, Mike Weilmuenster, of Belleville, Margason testified that the late Monsignor Bernard Sullivan knew numerous details of allegations that Kownacki sexually molested youths in Guatemala, brought twin boys from that country to Illinois and molested one of them and for years raped a 16-year-old girl at a Washington Park parish after befriending her at a church in eastern Illinois. Margason said Sullivan did not investigate or call civil authorities.

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High-ranking church officials "aided and abetted" and "enabled" Kownacki to engage in criminal sexual molestation by ignoring reports of his abuse, Weilmuenster told jurors in opening statements, adding at one point, "You know folks, they left a paper trail. It will speak louder than any witness." pecific bishops mentioned in connection with failing to investigate were John Wurm and Albert Zuroweste, both deceased.

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While on the witness stand, Margason, who was not in a leadership position when some of Kownacki's alleged abuse occurred, testified that:

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• Detailed reports kept by Sullivan, which were kept in a secret archives, were kept from the review board.
• A key 1982 report from a Salem family complaining that their son was molested by Kownacki and mentioning Wisniewski for the first time, was kept from Margason and the review board.
• If diocese officials had acted when the reports about the molestation of one of the twins and the 16-year old girl and others had been investigated, Kownacki might never had met Wisniewski.

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If blowhard Bill Donohue wants the Catholic Church treated with kid gloves, perhaps the Church should first do a much needed house cleaning of the hierarchy. Until that happens, the Church deserves not respect or deference whatsoever.

Catholic League: Democrats Must Nix "Offensive" Blogs

Professional self-nominated victim and disingenuous whiner, Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, has sent out an press release on behalf of the League having a hissy fit over the fact that the Democratic National Convention has granted credentials to two blogs that do not kiss the Roman Catholic Church's corrupt, disingenuous ass. The two blogs are Bitch Ph.D., which looks at current events from a feminist perspective, and Towleroad, a gay blog which I have had linked in my blog roll for almost the entire life of this blog. Here are some highlights from Bill "Let's Kiss the Pope's Ass" Donohue's hyperventilating:

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The two most offensive are Bitch Ph.D. and Towleroad. “On the home page of Bitch Ph.D. there is a picture of two children: one of them is shown flashing his middle finger. Today’s lead post, which was written August 17, is called ‘Jesus Christ.’ It begins with, ‘I’m a really crappy Catholic who hasn’t been to mass in ages because most parishes around here ‘will’ insist on being aggressively anti-abortion….’

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“Towleroad describes itself as ‘A Site with Homosexual Tendencies.’ Accordingly, it shows men in jock straps and underwear. It also has a post on Pope Benedict XVI that takes him to task for wearing a cape with ermine. Some of those who commented on this described the pope in a vile and profane way.

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“Both of these blogs should be cut immediately from the list of credentialed sites. Neither functions as a responsible media outlet and both offend Catholics, as well as others. To allow them access to the Democratic National Convention sends a message to Catholics they will not forget. We look for Leah Daughtry, CEO of the Convention, to nix them ASAP.”

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If Donohue doesn't like Towleroad, I guess he'd have an aneurysm if he read this blog, although the blog has had at least two visitors from Vatican City (Were they viewing the "male beauty photos? Or gathering evidence for a decree of excommunication?). To fix this problem, I sent the Catholic League the following e-mail:

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I would suggest that if Catholic League president, Bill Donohue, spent as much time and effort demanding a thorough house cleaning of the Catholic Church hierarchy of those bishops and cardinals who facilitated or covered up the sexual abuse of minors, the Catholic League might me taken more seriously by thinking, rational individuals. His disingenuous cries of anti-Catholic discrimination, etc., truly are getting old. Particularly when the League continues to kiss the posteriors of a corrupt hierarchy many members of which sold out children and youth to "protect the Church".

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The Church's refusal to hold bishops and cardinals accountable was the final straw in my decision to leave the Church. Sadly, I believe only large numbers of Catholics leaving the Church for other less corrupt denominations will bring the much needed changes the Church needs so desperately.

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Needless to say, I'm not holding my breath for a response. :)

McCain Gladly Accepts Endorsement of Gay-Hating Anti-Catholic

While calls are going out from many quarters - including from National review - for John McCain to repudiate the endorsement he received from Rev. John C. Hagee, pastor of the evangelical Cornerstone Church mega-church, if he does so, he is in effect repudianting the mind set of what has become the cornerstone of today's GOP. Anyone who knows about Rev. Hagee knows that he's - in my opinion at least - a fucking lunatic. Here's a few highlights from the New York Times (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/mega-church-pastor-in-texas-backs-mccain/#more-4374)on just who and what McCain is embracing in his effort to painder to the Christianist base of the GOP:

Mr. Hagee, who argues that the United States must join Israel in a preemptive, biblically prophesized military strike against Iran that will lead to the second coming of Christ, praised Mr. McCain for his pro-Israel views. Asked about Mr. Hagee’s extensive writings on Armageddon and about what one questioner said was Mr. Hagee’s belief that the anti-Christ will be the head of the European Union, Mr. McCain responded that “all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee’s support.'’

The fact that people like Hagee now dominate the GOP is one of the principal reasons I left the Republican Party a number of years ago. He/they is/are ltittle better than the Taliabn when it comes to being complete hate-filled. Here's yet more on Hagee from the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-hamsher/mccain-proud-of-endorse_b_89227.html):

Hagee was, if you'll remember, the guy who said that Hurricaine Katrina was God's revenge for a gay pride parade. He thinks war with Iran is essential so as to bring about Armageddon (when you can say bye-bye to the Jews). But as Glenn Greenwald says, he's a white Christian evangelical bigot, and therefore entitled to respect from the pundit class:

[W]hite evangelical Ministers are free to advocate American wars based on Biblical mandates, rant hatefully against Islam, and argue that natural disasters occur because God hates gay people. They are still fit for good company, an important and cherished part of our mainstream American political system. The entire GOP establishment is permitted actively to lavish them with praise and court their support without the slightest backlash or controversy. Both George Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sent formal greetings to the 2006 gathering of Hagee's group.

By contrast, black Muslim ministers like Farrakhan, or even black Christian ministers like Rev. Jeremiah Wright, are held with deep suspicion, even contempt. McCain is free to hug and praise the Rev. Hagees of the world, but Obama is required to prove over and over and over and over that he does not share the more extreme views of black Ministers.

How come Tim Russert -- in all the times he sits and chats with Lieberman, McCain and various high Bush officials -- never reads all of the inflammatory, disgusting, crazed "Rapture-is-Coming/ All-Jews-will-Burn/ Kill-All-Muslims/ Hurricanes-are-Punishment-against-Gays" pronouncements from John Hagee and James Dobson and Pat Robertson and demand that John McCain and George Bush and Joe Lieberman "denounce" those views and "reject" their support? What's the difference, exactly?

Enter...Bill Donahue. Yes, Mr. Catholic League/Chocolate Jesus himself, who is (justifiably) miffed that Hagee refers to Catholics as "'The Great Whore,' an 'apostate church,' the 'anti-Christ,' and a 'false cult system.' Glenn Greenwald interviewed him yesterday:

Donohue was particularly insistent that McCain's behavior would severely harm his standing with Catholic voters -- the group of voters which Karl Rove maintains is the key group for enabling the GOP to win: "This thing seems to be to be blowing up in his face. McCain has stepped in it big time."

It's significant that this is not a partisan issue, both sides of the political spectrum are in agreement that McCain should be forced to account for this. Even the National Review is applauding Glenn Greenwald's efforts on this front.

Los Angeles Archdiocese Settles Sex Abuse Casea for $660 Million

The Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese has finally settled more than 500 lawsuits against the Archdiocese for sexual abuse of minors by priests and other religious order members. The settlement came on the eve of the commencement of the trial in the first of the hundreds of cases. Here are highlights of the Los Angeles Times coverage:

The settlement will effectively end a chapter in the sad saga of clerical abuse that has spanned decades, the resolution will come at a huge cost to the church. More than $114 million has been promised in previous settlements, bringing the total liability for clergy misconduct in the Los Angeles Archdiocese to more than $774 million. The figure dwarfs the next largest settlements in the U.S., including those reached in Boston, at $157 million, and in Portland, Ore., at $129 million. Hennigan said the archdiocese expected to pay $250 million in cash, with the balance coming from insurers and religious orders.

Cardinal Mahony had previously fought victims, their attorneys and prosecutors demanding confidential personnel files that tracked the problems of accused priests and the church hierarchy's reaction to them. As part of the settlement, the archdiocese agreed it will no longer contest the release of files to the public, one of the attorneys in the lawsuits said.

In Orange County, the Diocese of Orange two years ago paid out $100 million to 90 alleged victims who had filed lawsuits. As part of the settlement, the diocese released thousands of documents indicating a high-level cover-up of priest abuses.

Although Mahony has removed at least 17 priests from ministry over accusations of sexual abuse, his credibility has been called into question by cases like that of defrocked priest Michael Stephen Baker.In 1986, Baker told Mahony that he had abused two or three boys several years before. Instead of calling police, Mahony sent the priest to New Mexico for treatment and over the years transferred him to nine different parishes, where he allegedly molested 23 boys and girls.

To get a better picture of how corrupt the Catholic Church was in covering up the sexual abuse of minors, here are some figures the Los Angeles Times put together:

Major clergy abuse settlements nationwide since 2002
Archdiocese/Diocese-number of claimants-settlement amounts (in millions)
Los Angeles 570+ $764
Boston 983 $157
Portland, Ore. 315+ $129*
Orange 90 $100
Covington, Ky. 350+ $85
San Francisco 113 $73**
Oakland 56 $56
Spokane, Wash. 175 $48
Tucson 60 $36
Sacramento 33 $35
Louisville, Ky. 250+ $30
Hartford, Conn. 44 $23
Milwaukee 10 $17

That comes to $1.463 Billion in the USA alone. If Cardinal Mahoney has any integrity left, he will now resign, as should EVERY priest, bishop, cardinal and, if applicable, Pope, who participated in any way in the cover up of these horrendous crimes. No doubt William A. Donohue of the Catholic League will accuse me of anti-Catholic bigotry for making such a statement. Meanwhile, the knights of Columbus will continue to be the groveling lap dogs of the disgustingly corrupt hierarchy. For the full LA Times story see: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-priests15jul15,0,7511378.story?page=1&coll=la-home-center