I have one question for the church

Cardinal Timothy Dolan's handling of the child sex abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church will soon be public...

All of the documents relate to the alleged sexual abuse of children by clergy in Milwaukee.

"I think the Catholic Church has learned a very painful lesson on what not to do in terms of dealing with sexual abuse," said Joseph Zwilling, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New York.

Yes, the church learned a painful lesson -- not the kids but the church. As usual with such remarks, there is no grasp of the tremendous harm done to children by priests. It's all about the church and its mad game of hiding sexual abuse under the rug.

So here's my question, Zwilling:

Why is it that the Roman Catholic church, sole arbiter of Christian virtue and morals, had (and has) no clue that the abused children are the important end of the sexual abuse equation? Why, when the church got wind of the rampant sexual abuse of children by priests, did the church not immediately report the crimes to the police and try to help the children? And why are they still not trying to help the children?

That's the big question and the church has no answer, none at all. And they never will. This church knows nothing about moral behavior. It is a cesspool of evil. You only have to view Zwilling's final quote in the linked story, to understand this:

The sexual abuse of minors, Zwilling said, is a societal problem not just confined to the church.

They still don't understand what they've done. It's amazing and mind-boggling. There isn't a shred of morality in this church.

If I should die

There will be no need for this post until the year 2052. Yes, it's all settled -- I will live to the age of 103. (I thought about living till 104, but something tells me that will be a very bad year for me. So 103 it is.) Obviously, there's no need to read this right now. I just want it to be posted so my biographers and the media can look it up when the time comes.

There's one thing that you know and I don't: the method of my death. Was it a missile from North Korea? I knew it! Well, it was quick (I assume). The luck of the half-Irish.

I want everyone to know that I had a great life. Sure, it sucked. But it was great, too! The big problem was drugs and alcohol. Hoo boy. Really did me in. And before they invented SSRI's, I was a disaster. But here's the thing. They did invent SSRI's and I finally stopped getting high. That this happened at all is very, very cool.

After those magical events occurred, I had a terrific life. I helped raise two boys, wrote books, blogged and enjoyed my days thoroughly. As far as I'm concerned, a good ending obliterates the pain of a tattered beginning. I won! That's the deal: I won!

As for this idea of an afterlife, there'll be none of that for me (or you). I'm fine without it. Dying seems an appropriate ending for a life. We see creatures die all the time. Humans, animals, fish, insects and every other creature -- they all die. I think that's okay and I truly don't mind the fact that I'm dead and gone forever. I'm just happy to have been here.

I mean, think about the odds. If a different spermatazoa reached your mother's egg, you wouldn't be you. Another person would have lived in "your" place. Really, it's a miracle that you're here at all, which means you're very lucky. You are the latest in a line of successful creatures that reaches all the way back to unicellular life. You come from an unbroken line of winners. The luck involved in all this should amaze you -- and it certainly amazes me. To have been a part of creation -- that's the ultimate prize. And every one of us snagged a place in creation. We were very, very lucky.

And if you can write a book or two, to boot, you won. And I did. Thanks for reading my stuff, guys. You made it all so much better.

Going, going, gone.

Rosenhouse dishes Gutting

I wrote disparagingly the other day about the vague nonsense Gary Gutting pushes in his NYT column, The Stone. It seems Jason Rosenhouse is also not impressed.

As always, I love the way Rosenhouse dissects mushy-brained practitioners of apologetics. Go read it if you enjoy such things, as I do. (Perhaps "enjoy" is too mild a term. I relish JR's posts.)

Good argument in favor of gay marriage

Ed Brayton's post, "How the Bigots Slander Adoptive Parents", is wonderful. It links to an Esquire column written by Tom Junod. You really have to read Junod's piece. It's a great counter to the idiotic arguments people keep making against gay marriage. I won't even excerpt from it. Just go read the whole thing.

Judge speaks up, if a bit late

Justice Stefan Lindskog, chairman of the Supreme Court of Sweden, spoke highly of Julian Assange of Wikileaks in a speech he delivered in Australia.

Lindskog praised Assange's public information campaign.

"He'll be thought of as a person who made public some pieces of classified information to the benefit of mankind," he said.

"It should never be a crime to make known (a) crime of a state," he added. 

How do ya like them apples? There's also this:

Lindskog suggested that Sweden's extradition treaty with the United States would not apply to Assange.

"Extradition shall not be granted when alleged crimes (are) military or political in nature," he said.

Things are looking up for our hero, Julian. It's about time.

Sweeping out the Curia

As Pope Francis' PR initiative continues, I suspect there's a lot going on behind the curtains of the Vatican. It's time for Francis to sweep out the Curia and install new members.

Curia is a word denoting "a group of officials who assist in the governance" of a church, according to Wikipedia. The Roman Curia is the central government of the Roman Catholic church. Another way to put this is that the Curia is a group of evil, corrupt, old priests who run the Vatican.

If the reports about Benedict's spirit collapsing after he learned the extent of corruption within the Vatican are true -- and I believe they are -- Francis has one hell of a job on his hands. These "conservative" priests won't go down without a serious fight. Try to remember that "conservative" is a label often connected with crime. Crime and god are typically intertwined in the words and actions of conservatives. We see this in America all the time. And criminals always try their damnedest to hang onto a scam.

If I was Francis, I'd appoint someone to taste my food before I ate. And I wouldn't work my way through the crowds without protection. I believe the Curia is a group of dangerous men. Even though I'm an atheist, I'd like to see Francis straighten out this church. Mind you, Roman Catholicism is always going to be based on a lie. There is no god and this inconvenient fact can't be massaged away. But perhaps Francis can make his church a little less disgusting. I want him to have that opportunity.

Three things

1. It's not that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. It's that men are children and women are grown-ups.

2. If you have size 14 feet, you'll never be the victim of a nighttime burglary. All you have to do is leave your shoes outside the front door.

3. The danger posed by wolves, bears, lions, hawks and other natural predators is the basis of the devil myth. It is our heritage from our animal ancestors. This is so obvious, it shouldn't need to be stated.