Y'all know about the Fortnight for Freedom,
right? It's the sleight-of-hand introduced by the Catholic bishops
group led by Cardinal Timmy Dolan. It has that freedom-ish name, and
it's described as taking place "during liturgical feasts for martyred
defenders of the faith". Oooh, it's freedom-ish and somehow connected to
"martyred defenders". It sure must be important.
Of course, it's merely a Bright, Shiny Thing campaign designed by Dolan and the Vatican to take the wind out of Obama's sails -- because the Roman Catholic Church is the GOP. It is also NOM, the despicable organization whose only purpose is to harass gays.
Timmy tries hard to make the campaign sound plausible. Instead of revealing what it is -- a campaign against the president, against women and against gays -- Dolan describes it this way:
Fortnight for Freedom indeed. Note the GOP newspeak name for the campaign. I wonder why that is. Duh. The church is the GOP. Here's another excerpt:
Of course, it's merely a Bright, Shiny Thing campaign designed by Dolan and the Vatican to take the wind out of Obama's sails -- because the Roman Catholic Church is the GOP. It is also NOM, the despicable organization whose only purpose is to harass gays.
Timmy tries hard to make the campaign sound plausible. Instead of revealing what it is -- a campaign against the president, against women and against gays -- Dolan describes it this way:
"In only the past few years, we've experienced rampant disregard for religious beliefs in this country," wrote New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, in an e-book released for the "Fortnight" effort. Among the examples he cites are approval for embryonic stem cell research, legal justification for torturing prisoners and support for same-sex marriage.Timmy figures if he throws torture in there, no one will notice what he's really doing. This faux campaign is about denying contraception to women, about denying the rights of non-Catholic employees of the church, about deflecting attention from the priest child-abuse scandal and Timmy's own contribution to that scandal: paying off the priests who raped children, and it's about the church's intense, pathological hatred of gay people.
Fortnight for Freedom indeed. Note the GOP newspeak name for the campaign. I wonder why that is. Duh. The church is the GOP. Here's another excerpt:
We've lost our moral norms, eh, Timmy? Ahem. Priest rapists. Have you forgotten about that, Timmy? The man does not own a mirror. But he doesn't go unchallenged in the article:"We can see that there is a loss here of a sense of truth and objective moral norms -- rules of conduct that apply always, to everyone, everywhere -- an infringement of religious liberty and an 'eclipse of the sense of God and of man,'" wrote Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Opponents are unconvinced. "This bishops' project isn't about religious freedom — it's about privilege," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "They are asking for preferential treatment from the government, and if they are successful, it would undercut the rights of millions of Americans."
That's quite a church they've got there. I can't imagine why anyone remains Catholic.
