ALL THINGS DULL AND UGLY (Monty Python) All things dull and ugly,
All creatures short and squat,
All things rude and nasty,
The Lord God made the lot.
Each little snake that poisons,
Each little wasp that stings,
He made their brutish venom,
He made their horrid wings.
All things sick and cancerous,
All evil great and small,
All things foul and dangerous,
The Lord God made them all.
Each nasty little hornet,
Each beastly little squid,
Who made the spikey urchin,
Who made the sharks, He did.
All things scabbed and ulcerous,
All pox both great and small,
Putrid, foul and gangrenous,
The Lord God made them all.
AMEN. For those who don't know, this song is a parody of this Anglican Church hymn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Things_Bright_and_Beautiful
behemot
JoinedPosts by behemot
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Monty Python's "All Things Dull and Ugly": priceless
by behemot inall things dull and ugly(monty python) all things dull and ugly,.
all creatures short and squat,.
all things rude and nasty,.
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Brazil: RC priest bust for child porn
by behemot inpriest bust for child pornarticle by:fri, 09 apr 2010 07:35brazilian prosecutors have charged a roman catholic priest with possession and exchange over the internet of pornographic images of mainly male adolescents in the latest such scandal to rock the brazilian church.. prosecutors in the northeastern state of alagoas on thursday identified the priest as benedikt lennartz (41), the parish priest in craibas, 160 kilometres from the state capital.. "an investigation of the priest's residence revealed the existence of a computer hard drive with 1300 photographs of explicit sex scenes or pornography involving adolescents, most of them males," an official statement said.. the latest charge comes after three other catholic clergymen in alagoas were formally accused of pedophilia, one of them after being filmed in sexual acts with minors.. the brazilian cases were part of a larger wave of child abuse allegations that have raised questions about how the church hierarchy, including pope benedict xvi, has dealt with the problem of pedophile priests.. in march, the vatican recognized that three priests from alagoas state were suspected of abusing minors and were being investigated.. sbt television had earlier aired hidden camera video in which father luis marques barbosa (82) was seen having sexual relations with a male youth.. "it saddens and humiliates us to think of the dramatic situation of the possible victims, and of the church being vilified because of the immoral behavior of one who should have been a teacher of the faith," bishop valerio breda of penedo, alagoas said in a statement thursday.. the bishop called for "justice and reparation" if the accusations of sexual abuse are confirmed.. he said the diocese only learned of the cases of three priests when they were exposed by a local television station, and that they were immediately relieved of their duties.. source: http://news.iafrica.com/worldnews/2348116.htm.
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behemot
Priest bust for child porn
Article By: Fri, 09 Apr 2010 07:35Brazilian prosecutors have charged a Roman Catholic priest with possession and exchange over the Internet of pornographic images of mainly male adolescents in the latest such scandal to rock the Brazilian church.
Prosecutors in the northeastern state of Alagoas on Thursday identified the priest as Benedikt Lennartz (41), the parish priest in Craibas, 160 kilometres from the state capital.
"An investigation of the priest's residence revealed the existence of a computer hard drive with 1300 photographs of explicit sex scenes or pornography involving adolescents, most of them males," an official statement said.
The latest charge comes after three other Catholic clergymen in Alagoas were formally accused of pedophilia, one of them after being filmed in sexual acts with minors.
The Brazilian cases were part of a larger wave of child abuse allegations that have raised questions about how the church hierarchy, including Pope Benedict XVI, has dealt with the problem of pedophile priests.
In March, the Vatican recognized that three priests from Alagoas state were suspected of abusing minors and were being investigated.
SBT television had earlier aired hidden camera video in which father Luis Marques Barbosa (82) was seen having sexual relations with a male youth.
"It saddens and humiliates us to think of the dramatic situation of the possible victims, and of the church being vilified because of the immoral behavior of one who should have been a teacher of the faith," Bishop Valerio Breda of Penedo, Alagoas said in a statement Thursday.
The bishop called for "justice and reparation" if the accusations of sexual abuse are confirmed.
He said the diocese only learned of the cases of three priests when they were exposed by a local television station, and that they were immediately relieved of their duties.
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JWs fall prey of yet another financial scam
by behemot inis spokane home to the next bernie madoff?rob kauder | internet content manager, kxly.composted: 11:35 am pdt april 6,2010updated: 6:03 pm pdt april 6,2010.
-- a woman suspected of running a ponzi scheme out of her spokane-based payday loan business which may have bilked more than $100 million from investors had her company raided by fbi and irs agents .
federal agents executed a search warrant and seized assets at the offices of team spirit america located at 1800 w. broadway in spokane tuesday morning.
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behemot
Is Spokane home to the next Bernie Madoff?
Rob Kauder | Internet Content Manager, KXLY.com
Posted: 11:35 am PDT April 6,2010 Updated: 6:03 pm PDT April 6,2010
-- A woman suspected of running a Ponzi scheme out of her Spokane-based payday loan business which may have bilked more than $100 Million from investors had her company raided by FBI and IRS agents
Federal agents executed a search warrant and seized assets at the offices of Team Spirit America located at 1800 W. Broadway in Spokane Tuesday morning. Authorities with the FBI and IRS by the Washington State Patrol executed the warrant against businesses owned by Doris Nelson, which runs Team Spirit America out of the West Broadway location.
Nelson is the owner of more than a dozen different limited liability companies (LLC) including LLS America, LLC, a payday loan company that filed for bankruptcy in Nevada last year claiming that it owes more than $100 Million to over 1,300 creditors from as far away as Florida, Ontario and Switzerland.
As the search warrant and seizures were executed approximately a dozen employees of the company were questioned by federal agents and then released. Near the building a black Mercedes was seized by federal agents.
In an order to cease and desist filed by the Washington State Securities Division in late January the state has Nelson started a short-term payday loan business in British Columbia in 1997. Four years later in 2001 she expanded south of the border with a new company in Spokane called Little Loan Shoppe, LLC.
Starting in 2005 Nelson began establishing two foreign corporations, registered in Utah, that would contract their work to a third company, Spokane-based Team Spirit America, which is located in the office building federal agents raided Tuesday.
While Nelson was in the payday loan business through storefronts and a website, authorities say that as far back as 2000 she began issuing initial investors up to two-year term promissory notes and guaranteed interest rates varying between 33 and 60-percent on their investments.
Investors later on were offered similar rates of return but on longer notes that generally lasted anywhere from five to ten years. Officials allege that, “Nelson told those investors that their funds would be used to fund her payday loan business.”
Between 2001 and 2008 Nelson created more than a dozen limited liability companies that she offered promissory notes to investors. At first early investors received interest payments each month but as time went on the payments shifted from monthly to quarterly, semi-annually, annually to finally every 20 months.
As Nelson continued to do business she had 300 investors sign 650 promissory notes worth $29 Million US and $26 Million Canadian dollars, the money wired to both US and Canadian bank accounts. In Washington State alone there were at least 35 residents who sank more than $6 Million into promissory notes with Nelson.
Many of the investors who bought promissory notes from Nelson were turned on to the investment opportunities through word-of-mouth advertising. Word spread from friends and family members; the state also claims a number of the investors were Jehovah’s Witnesses that heard about the investment from fellow Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The state goes on to assert that Nelson was continuing to bringing in more investors on claims that her business “defied financial gravity” even as the national economy was edging closer to a recession and she continued to solicit new investors as well as going back to current investors to see if they wanted to invest more.
Then in October of 2008 the money paid out to investors started drying up. Nelson initially offered a reduced interest rate payment of 10-percent on promissory notes but within five months she stopped paying altogether. In March 2009 the payments ceased.
By last July a group of investors had had enough and filed an involuntary petition for bankruptcy against Nelson’s businesses, which was followed in short order by Nelson’s own bankruptcy filing in late July in Nevada.
While the offices of Team Spirit America were raided Tuesday morning it’s not known yet if Nelson’s Colbert home was targeted by a similar raid.
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Malta: 45 priests (out of 855) involved in child abuse
by behemot inpope visits malta mid-month, sex abuse cases awaitby george cini (ap) 1 day ago.
valletta, malta pope benedict xvi visits malta in two weeks, and some victims of sex abuse by priests on the predominantly roman catholic island say they want him to use the trip to apologize for their suffering.. the trip is the first foreign visit that benedict will make since the clerical abuse scandal tore across europe.
noting that he has met with victims and denounced clerical abuse on previous foreign trips, the vatican on monday didn't rule out that the pope might break his recent silence on the matter in malta.. lawrence grech, a 37-year-old man who says he was abused as a child at a church-run orphanage, has written to the vatican demanding an apology.
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behemot
Pope visits Malta mid-month, sex abuse cases await
By GEORGE CINI (AP) – 1 day ago
VALLETTA, Malta — Pope Benedict XVI visits Malta in two weeks, and some victims of sex abuse by priests on the predominantly Roman Catholic island say they want him to use the trip to apologize for their suffering.
The trip is the first foreign visit that Benedict will make since the clerical abuse scandal tore across Europe. Noting that he has met with victims and denounced clerical abuse on previous foreign trips, the Vatican on Monday didn't rule out that the pope might break his recent silence on the matter in Malta.
Lawrence Grech, a 37-year-old man who says he was abused as a child at a church-run orphanage, has written to the Vatican demanding an apology. He said the pope should use the two-day trip April 17-18 to address himself to victims as he did in his letter to Irish Catholics last month.
"He should recognize that these things happened in Malta, reflect about the victims' suffering and issue a formal apology," Grech said.
Grech is one of 10 people who have testified behind closed doors in a case against three priests facing charges of child abuse. The proceedings have been going on for seven years.
Last week, as the European church, the Vatican and pope were under fire for accusations of covering up sex crimes by its priests, a response team in Malta announced that it had received 84 allegations of child abuse allegedly involving 45 Maltese priests since it was established by the Maltese Catholic Church 11 years ago.
Vatican statistics list 855 priests on the island as of 2006.
A spokesman for the Maltese church, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said the response team's work is carried out in secret.
The spokesman did not say how many of the priests investigated were found guilty. He said disciplinary action was taken by the bishops or superiors of religious orders when allegations were proven true, but did not say whether any priest had been defrocked.
Retired Judge Victor Caruana Colombo said last week that no criminal action could be taken — even when police were informed — against an abusive priest without the victim's consent. He said he did not feel an obligation to refer sexual abuse cases to the civil authorities because in most cases victims prefer not to involve police and make their suffering public.
Grech says he was sexually abused in the 1980s and early 1990s as a youngster at St. Joseph Home, an orphanage for boys.
A Vatican spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was premature to know what the pope would say in Malta. But he noted that Benedict has issued apologies and met with victims while traveling in the U.S. and Australia.
On Monday, Benedict again didn't refer directly to the scandal in his public remarks. Speaking from the papal summer retreat in Italy where he is resting after busy Easter Week services, Benedict urged priests to be messengers of love that conquers evil and said Christ supports the church at times of difficulty.
All Christians should be like angels, he said, messengers of Christ's "victory over evil and death, the bearers of his divine love." He added that this was especially true for priests.
The Maltese church is traditionally powerful on the island of 400,000 people, 98 percent of whom are Roman Catholic. Divorce and abortion are banned.
One prominent case in Malta involved a U.S. congressman, Rep. Mark Foley.
The Florida Republican resigned from Congress in 2006 after he was confronted with sexually explicit computer messages he had sent to male teenage congressional pages. His attorneys have said that Foley is gay, suffers from alcohol addiction and was molested by a Catholic priest as a teenage altar boy.
The Rev. Anthony Mercieca, who has retired to Malta, has admitted having inappropriate encounters with Foley, including massaging him in the nude and skinny-dipping together. He denies ever having sex with Foley.
source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h2oBy1ZpSXOTQSO-qmFSZdb1KLTwD9ESVQKG0
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How much of a religion's doctrine can one disavow and still consider himself a member?
by behemot inits a good question: how much of your religions actions do you have to disavow before you feel comfortable just walking away from the whole damn thing altogether?.
what aspects of your faith did you eschew before you finally stepped away from it for good?.
source: http://friendlyatheist.com/2010/04/06/if-you-dont-agree-with-that-are-you-still-religious/.
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behemot
It’s a good question: how much of your religion’s actions do you have to disavow before you feel comfortable just walking away from the whole damn thing altogether?
What aspects of your faith did you eschew before you finally stepped away from it for good?
source: http://friendlyatheist.com/2010/04/06/if-you-dont-agree-with-that-are-you-still-religious/
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Cartoons from around the world on catholic church abuse crisis
by behemot inhttp://blog.cagle.com/daryl/2010/03/31/catholic-church-crisis-and-cartoon-circus/.
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Anti-abortion extremist Scott Roeder sentenced to 50 years in jail
by behemot inscott roeder sentenced to life in prisonthe man who murdered abortion doctor george tiller receives the maximum possible life sentence of 50 years.
scott roeder, the anti-abortion extremist who murdered dr george tiller, shouted "the blood of babies is on your hands!
" as he was led from the courtroom in wichita, kansas after receiving a life sentence without parole for 50 years.. roeder was also sentenced to 24 consecutive months for aggravated assault after threatening to kill two church members who confronted him as he left the reformation lutheran church where he shot dr tiller in may last year.
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behemot
Scott Roeder sentenced to life in prison
The man who murdered abortion doctor George Tiller receives the maximum possible life sentence of 50 years
Scott Roeder, the anti-abortion extremist who murdered Dr George Tiller, shouted "The blood of babies is on your hands!" as he was led from the courtroom in Wichita, Kansas after receiving a life sentence without parole for 50 years.
Roeder was also sentenced to 24 consecutive months for aggravated assault after threatening to kill two church members who confronted him as he left the Reformation Lutheran Church where he shot Dr Tiller in May last year. Dr Tiller operated a clinic in Wichita where late-term abortions were performed.
During the trial Roeder made lurid threats that God "will avenge every drop of innocent blood, " and that God's judgment against the US would "sweep over this land like a prairie wind."
The judge opted to sentence Roeder to the "hard 50" of 50 years without parole, rather than a lighter sentence of 25 years, because of evidence that Roeder had systematically stalked Dr Tiller before killing him.
Earlier, Roeder had attempted to turn the hearing into a platform for an anti-abortion diatribe, but was stopped by the judge, who said: "It is your opportunity to convince me you need a lesser sentence. It is not a soapbox for your political views."After the sentence was announced, the prosecuting district attorney, Nola Foulston, said: ''This was an act of terrorism, an act of brutality.''
Dr Tiller's family made a statement through their lawyers welcoming the verdict and sentence:
This crime was cruel and heinous not only because it took our husband, father and grandfather; but because it was a hate crime committed against George – but also against all women and their constitutional rights.
We only can hope that this sentence will serve as a deterrent to those who have conspired and continue to conspire to murder abortion providers. Certainly everything possible should be done by the prison system to insure that this man does not continue to foment hatred and violence from his prison cell.
Dr Tiller's story is being told every day in the lives of the women he helped. His legacy cannot be diminished by the act of a single terrorist.
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1963 letter indicates former pope Paul VI knew of abuse
by behemot invatican was told 50 years ago to act against paedophile priestsexpert's warning proves catholic church should have known about failings in dealing with abuse cases, says lawyer.
a senior church official swiftly dismissed the claim, suggesting it was unlikely the document would have been seen by the then pope nearly 50 years ago.. the letter has been released as plaintiffs in kentucky attempt to sue the vatican for allegedly failing to alert police or the public about priests who molested children, part of a series of abuse scandals that have rocked the catholic church and left the current pope, benedict xvi, struggling to defend its reputation.. the document, produced by anthony demarco, a lawyer who acted for plaintiffs in a separate us compensation claim settled in 2007, was written by the rev gerald mc fitzgerald, the head of the servants of the holy paraclete, an order based in new mexico.. his submission appears to have been drafted at the request of the pope.
fitzgerald opens the five-page letter by thanking the pope for an audience the day before and says he is summarising his thoughts at the pope's request on the "problem of the problem priest" after 20 years working to treat them.. he tells paul vi that treatment for priests who have succumbed to "abnormal, homosexual tendencies" should include psychiatric, as well as spiritual, counselling but goes on to warn about the dangers of leaving those individuals in ministry.. "personally, i am not sanguine of the return of priests to active duty who have been addicted to abnormal practices, especially sins with the young," fitzgerald wrote.. "where there is indication of incorrigibility, because of the tremendous scandal given, i would most earnestly recommend total laicisation [defrocking]," he wrote.
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behemot
Vatican was told 50 years ago to act against paedophile priests
Expert's warning proves Catholic church should have known about failings in dealing with abuse cases, says lawyer
A senior church official swiftly dismissed the claim, suggesting it was unlikely the document would have been seen by the then pope nearly 50 years ago.
The letter has been released as plaintiffs in Kentucky attempt to sue the Vatican for allegedly failing to alert police or the public about priests who molested children, part of a series of abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic church and left the current pope, Benedict XVI, struggling to defend its reputation.
The document, produced by Anthony DeMarco, a lawyer who acted for plaintiffs in a separate US compensation claim settled in 2007, was written by the Rev Gerald MC Fitzgerald, the head of the Servants of the Holy Paraclete, an order based in New Mexico.
His submission appears to have been drafted at the request of the pope. Fitzgerald opens the five-page letter by thanking the pope for an audience the day before and says he is summarising his thoughts at the pope's request on the "problem of the problem priest" after 20 years working to treat them.
He tells Paul VI that treatment for priests who have succumbed to "abnormal, homosexual tendencies" should include psychiatric, as well as spiritual, counselling but goes on to warn about the dangers of leaving those individuals in ministry.
"Personally, I am not sanguine of the return of priests to active duty who have been addicted to abnormal practices, especially sins with the young," Fitzgerald wrote.
"Where there is indication of incorrigibility, because of the tremendous scandal given, I would most earnestly recommend total laicisation [defrocking]," he wrote. "I say 'total' … because when these men are taken before civil authority, the non-Catholic world definitely blames the discipline of celibacy for the perversion of these men."
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles defended the church, insisting it was unlikely Paul VI had ever seen the 1963 letter. "The fact of the matter is, the prevailing ideas at the time about how to deal with abusive behaviour were not adequate," he said. "Clearly, society and the church have evolved new understandings of what causes sexually abusive behaviour and how to deal with it."
The Catholic church has come under sustained criticism across Europe and in North America for its practice of transferring priests accused of sexual abuse to other parishes, rather than reporting the abuse to civil authorities and removing them from ministry.
DeMarco maintained that Fitzgerald's letter showed the pope had known how pervasive and destructive the problem was. "He says the solution is to take them out of the priesthood period, not shuffle them around, not pass them from diocese to diocese," the lawyer added.
Fitzgerald's views about how to treat abusing priests have been highlighted before. At one stage he proposed buying an island where priests attracted to men and boys could be segregated. He even made a $5,000 down payment on a Caribbean island.
In 1960, he sent two priests from the Paracletes to the island of Tortola to investigate the location but his dream ended when the new archbishop of Santa Fe overruled him.
source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/01/catholic-priests-abuse-warning
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Is it just me or do people who think they have some special inside relationship with God come off like self-absorbed lunatics?
by gubberningbody ini mean, i know i'm self-absorbed, however i don't think i have or ever will have some relationship with god that everyone else doesn't likewise have.. .
and geez!
knock off the paragraphs upon paragraphs of blah, blah, blah..."and that's how i know i'm so special.
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behemot
If you talk to God, you are praying; If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia.
- Thomas S. Szasz, The Second Sin, Anchor/Doubleday, Garden City, NY. 1973, page 113
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Is it just me or do people who think they have some special inside relationship with God come off like self-absorbed lunatics?
by gubberningbody ini mean, i know i'm self-absorbed, however i don't think i have or ever will have some relationship with god that everyone else doesn't likewise have.. .
and geez!
knock off the paragraphs upon paragraphs of blah, blah, blah..."and that's how i know i'm so special.
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behemot
Lunatics get along well with one another
;-)
