The Hobby Horses of Belief (and assorted hazards)

Hotblack Desiato

Might as well just shag the lot into Bitcoin 😂

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119657103#Comment_119657103

https://www.irishtimes.com/world/middle-east/2022/09/28/irans-morality-police-disappear-from-streets-after-dozens-killed-in-protests/

The white-and-green Guidance Patrol vans, used by Iran’s morality police to monitor and arrest women who defy the Islamic dress code, have in recent days disappeared from the streets of Tehran.

For the past decade a symbol of the Islamic republic’s crackdown on women, the vans are not even visible outside the morality police centre in central Tehran.

Odhinn

"Two women have reported seeing an apparition of the deceased saint, Padre Pio, at a church in Limerick City.

The women, who are involved in a local prayer group which organised a mass to mark the 52nd anniversary of the Italian saint’s death, claimed to have seen the apparition inside St Saviour’s Church, last Friday, September 23."

"Ms Tynan and Ms Cosgrave both attended last Friday’s mass, attended by around 500 people. Attendees also received blessings with a healing glove previously worn by St Pio and which is now safeguarded by the Limerick prayer group."

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/pictured-two-women-claim-they-snapped-apparition-of-italian-saint-padre-pio-at-limerick-church-42030331.html

"healing glove" me eye.

Pherekydes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119686344#Comment_119686344

It's probably a tanning glove. 🤣

Igotadose

Nobel prize, doesn't matter. RCC pederast's gotta do what an RCC pederast's gotta do:

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/29/asia/vatican-disciplined-east-timor-bishop-intl-hnk/index.html

The Vatican on Thursday acknowledged that it had secretly disciplined East Timor bishop and Nobel Peace Prize winner Carlos Ximenes Belo two years ago, responding to allegations that he sexually abused boys in East Timor decades before.

Hotblack Desiato

I don't suppose the police... Nah, stupid question.

robindch

In 2016, Anthony Novak created a parody Facebook page which mocked his his local police department in Parma, Ohio. Over the course of twelve hours, Novak published six posts which derided the police who didn't take long to search, seize, jail and prosecute Novak for a felony under an Ohioan law which prohibits the use of a computer to “interrupt” the cops. A jury acquitted Novak after trial.

The case has now made it to the SCOTUS which has to consider whether the police can suspend the right to free speech, when it's speech which irritates them. The SCOTUS page is at https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/DocketFiles/html/Public/22-293.html and contains all the relevant background.

Yesterday though, The Onion submitted an amicus brief which is really worth spending ten minutes of your life reading:

https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-293/242292/20221003125252896_35295545_1-22.10.03%20-%20Novak-Parma%20-%20Onion%20Amicus%20Brief.pdf

Pherekydes

10 minutes? Well I just spent 10 minutes reading it. Satire is the highest form of intelligence, so said Oscar Wilde. He was probably biased. And an Onion reader.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/social-affairs/2022/10/07/shorter-mass-and-extra-clothes-churches-look-for-answers-to-rising-energy-bills/

A Dublin parish has introduced shorter Masses while parishioners have been advised to wear extra layers of clothing in church as Catholic clergy grapple with rising energy bills.

I never realised that churches had heating - always bloody freezing, you'd keep your full outdoor clothing on anyway.

Hotblack Desiato

Meanwhile on the other side of the street:

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2022/10/08/a-church-of-ireland-schism-sees-an-archbishop-sensationally-hobbled/

For those of us who can penetrate the paywall, it's very lengthy and coded - seems to include CoI grievances going back decades and I'm little the wiser tbh.

Late on Tuesday night, at the annual synod of the dioceses in Taney Hall in Dundrum – the first such in-person meeting since the Covid-19 pandemic – a number of executive powers held by the archbishop were removed from him in 15 consecutive votes.

I've been in Taney Hall a few times - for vintage motorcycle shows, though...

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119724116#Comment_119724116

All their money and a cold winter ahead with parishioners trying to stay warm, you'd think they would warm up their rockpiles and make it attractive to visit and attend their prayfests. But, nahh, money's need it to pay off for the buggery.

Hotblack Desiato

They don't need to raise money for all that compensation because they've stopped paying any... lion's share was of course dumped on the taxpayer... and land sales are doing very well thank you very much, and all tax-free naturally.

Hotblack Desiato

More on the whatever-it-is in the CoI Dublin diocese:

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/editorials/2022/10/11/the-irish-times-view-on-tensions-within-the-church-of-ireland-a-moment-of-crisis/

All is not well in the united dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough, the largest Church of Ireland diocese in the Republic by population. Tensions between Archbishop Michael Jackson and more active laity and clergy have been ongoing for some time. These came to a head last week at the annual combined diocesan synods in Dundrum’s Taney Hall.

The more immediate reason was an address Archbishop Jackson gave to the two diocesan councils of Dublin and Glendalough at a virtual meeting on March 18th last year. He was vigorous in criticisms of both councils.

Subsequently, a nine-page letter of complaint was sent by members to Archbishop of Armagh John McDowell, who initiated a mediation process. It concluded last December when Archbishop Jackson apologised. Coincident with the mediation process, a working group in consultation with Lyndon MacCann SC, also a member of the Dublin diocesan council, prepared a Bill to bring the united dioceses, as a registered charity, into line with updated charities legislation.

This was described as unnecessary by Archdeacon of Dublin David Pierpoint in debate on the Bill last week. He also said it would have “the effect of removing much authority from the office of Archbishop”. The Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, Dermot Dunne, said the Bill came “from dysfunctional councils” with “an underlying agenda”. There was, he added, “an elephant in the room that is not being mentioned at all”.

Rector of Taney Nigel Pierpoint said there was “a power struggle going on”. Director of DCU’s Church of Ireland Institute of Education Prof Anne Lodge said part-time ministers like her “hold a licence given to us by the Archbishop, not diocesan councils”. Despite such opposition from senior figures in the united dioceses, the Bill was passed comfortably by show of hands in all 15 votes, presided over by Archbishop Jackson himself as chair. This is a moment of crisis for Dublin and Glendalough where the authority of Archbishop Jackson and his senior colleagues are concerned. It needs to be resolved.

Still no idea...

Odhinn

We need protestant atheists to explain it.

Hotblack Desiato

At least when the presbyterians were tearing strips off each other we all knew what it was all about (teh gheys)

smacl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119734411#Comment_119734411

Not that different perhaps. You have a very strong divide between liberal and conservative viewpoints withing the CoI, see https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/church-of-ireland-bishop-says-he-will-vote-to-repeal-eighth-amendment-1.3445725 for an example of this.

Hotblack Desiato

Burkes in the news again the other day.

It just occurred to me that it appears one of Mr. Burke's issues is that he objects to calling a child by a name other than their name assigned at birth - but didn't at least one of the apostles change their name...? Would Burke find that objectionable, too? It couldn't possibly be the H-word, now, could it?

robindch

Burkes in the news again the other day.

Aye, you get the impression reading the IT report that, in the face of splendid reasons to do so, the judge was doing his best not to imprison the lot of them.

https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2022/10/14/enoch-burkes-mother-escorted-by-gardai-from-appeal-court-after-heated-exchanges-with-judge/

It just occurred to me that it appears one of Mr. Burke's issues is that he objects to calling a child by a name other than their name assigned at birth - but didn't at least one of the apostles change their name...? Would Burke find that objectionable, too?

Wasn't there a Simon who was called Peter - presumably to set up the 'Peter, thou art rock and upon this rock, I will build my church' gag? And then there was Saul of Tarsus who self-identified as Paul in Latin.

robindch

PSA

If you are Jesusing this week, then please Jesus safely:

https://mobile.twitter.com/PastorAlexLove/status/1581569542110973959

robindch

For those of us who can penetrate the paywall, it's very lengthy and coded - seems to include CoI grievances going back decades and I'm little the wiser tbh.

Hard to say without closely following the twists and turns, but reading in between the lines, it seems that Archbishop Jackson is not a man to back down, where a ready means of escalation presents itself. Referring to the diocesan councils of Dublin and Glendalough, Jackson...:

Quoting from Scripture, he said the story of the “evil, very evil” Jezebel offered “a cautionary tale to everyone about how evil desires corrupt individuals and destroys them”, warning that “where dogs licked the blood of Naboth [whom Jezebel had executed], there dogs will lick your blood.”

...which, I can't imagine, left either of the councils feeling well-disposed towards their chief exec.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119754972#Comment_119754972

He wasn't even nailed to the cross. Pathetic.

Hotblack Desiato

Thought someone was going to get zapped given the forest of overhead wires...

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/26/pope-francis-warns-seminarians-against-dangers-of-online-pornography

Pope Francis has warned seminarians against the “devil” of digital pornography, while admitting that watching online porn is also a vice of priests and nuns.

Maybe if the priests and nuns could... nah, stupid idea.

robindch

^^^ More on that fine story from the BBC:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63405119

...in which Pope Francis is quoted as saying:

"The pure heart, the one that Jesus receives every day, cannot receive this pornographic information," he said and advised the group to "delete this from your phone, so you will not have temptation in hand".

Boom, boom.

Hotblack Desiato

So Grindr is right out, then? Especially in the Maynooth area 😉

Hotblack Desiato

You may be familiar with Douglas Adams' rather excellent concept of the Electric Monk:

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Electric%20monk

But these were literally electric monks:

https://spark.iop.org/electric-monks

One of the first estimates of the speed of travel of electrical currents was made from a bizarre experiment carried out by the French clergyman and physicist, Jean-Antoine Nollet.

In 1746, Nollet arranged for 200 Carthusian monks to form a circle. The monks held 7.5 m brass poles in each hand, creating a circular chain with a circumference of about a 1.6 km. When he connected a Leyden jar (an early charge storage device) into the circuit, the unfortunate monks’ muscles contracted as they experienced an electric shock.

Nollet had intended to measure the speed with which the current travelled, but he observed that the monks at different places in the circle reacted at the same moment, leading him to the conclude that conduction occurs with “unlimited rapidity”. Nollet also discharged a Leyden jar through 180 Royal Guards in the presence of King Louis XV.

Nollet’s work has a modern application. He observed that, when a person was connected to a high voltage supply, and cut, rather than bleeding normally, blood would spray from the wound. The rather gruesome discovery, known as electrostatic spraying, is now applied to the more prosaic process of electrostatic painting.

Odhinn

Priest rants, gets clatter of a crozier for trouble....

"A priest has said Irish politicians who support same sex marriage and are openly gay, like Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, are “absolutely” going to hell if they “don’t repent on sin and seek forgiveness”.

https://www.independent.ie/news/suspended-kerry-priest-says-leo-varadkar-is-absolutely-going-to-hell-if-he-doesnt-repent-for-sin-of-being-gay-42113236.html

Hotblack Desiato

Fair chunk of his colleagues are going to hell in that case 🙄

Radio Kerry is worse for giving him another platform to spread his hatred.

He's OK with sex offenders though:

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/priest-who-attacked-homosexuality-during-mass-previously-supported-convicted-sex-offender-42111954.html

Thirteen years ago, Fr Sheehy supported convicted sex offender Danny Foley and gave him a witness statement. 

The then 35-year-old Foley from Meen was convicted on December 4, 2009, at Tralee Circuit Criminal Court of sexually assaulting a 22-year-old woman on the morning of June 16, 2008, in a car park at the back of Mermaids nightclub, in the centre of Listowel. 

He received a sentence of seven years in prison with the two final years suspended, and was released from Arbor Hill in September 2013 after serving less than four years. 

Fr Sheehy, along with reportedly around 50 other people, who were mainly men, marched into the courtroom and shook hands with Foley. 

The priest even hugged the convicted sex offender, saying afterward: “I just wanted to support him, just let him know he was not alone”.

During an interview, Fr Sheehy said Foley got “an extremely harsh sentence” that he was a victim of a “miscarriage of justice” and that his only wrongdoing was the he engaged in a sexual act outside of marriage on the night in question. 

Speaking about the victim, Fr Sheehy said: “I don’t want to make any judgment on her at all, but obviously the whole situation must have been embarrassing, for the police to happen upon them and what-not.

"She’s the mother of a young child as well and, you know, that in itself doesn’t look great.”

Lovely chap.

Hotblack Desiato

Good article here (can be read without a sub if you disable javascript and cookies 😉 ) in the IT from Patsy McGarry about religion's problem with sex...

https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/social-affairs/2022/11/04/has-ireland-become-a-foreign-country-for-dogmatic-religion/

Religion, from the Latin religare, means to bind/bring together. Yet, whatever the religion, no sooner do they bring people together than they prise them apart again, by gender. Sex, you see. Religions find it troubling.

Women bear the brunt of this, of course. For instance, when Fr Seán Sheehy was growing up in Listowel, Co Kerry, women had to have their heads covered in St Mary’s Church and they sat on their own side of the aisle, away from the men. Just in case.

Fr Sheehy hardly needs to be reminded. Clearly, as we saw from his sermon in St Mary’s last Sunday, he is still back in the Listowel of his youth. Back then when there was rock-solid religious certainty, God was Catholic and in his Heaven with all Protestants in Hell, John B Keane was an upstart publican with notions, the Rose of Tralee was unheard of and there were only two genders.

The average Irish Catholic is not having it anymore, and she/he who pays the preacher calls the tune.

This lingering “anti-sexual terrorism”, as Augustinian Fr Iggy O’Donovan put it in reference to Fr Sheehy’s sermon, has had its day. It was a form of Catholicism that was always out of kilter with Catholicism generally, which tended to be more relaxed on issues of sexual morality.

That peculiar 19th-20th century Irish Catholic Church was a creature of Victorian respectability driven, politically, by those puritanical Welsh non-conformists who forced Gladstone to abandon Parnell in the infamous divorce action of 1890. With a finger to the wind, Ireland’s Catholic bishops soon followed suit and helped create that odd sex-obsessed, sentimental hybrid which became Anglophone Catholicism, spread by the Irish throughout the English-speaking world.

So we should [allow religious freedom and freedom of expression], but it has to be said that because of the growing tolerance and compassion of its laws, Ireland is fast becoming a foreign country for dogmatic religion.

Igotadose

Protest at the Church in question today @11:35.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/demonstration-to-be-held-outside-listowel-church-following-priests-controversial-sermon-1387806.html