INQUIRER Volume 3, Issue 10, October, 2000 A Thumbs Up Publication Editor: Gerald Dantone, Art Design: John R. Wilmarth Copyright LISH 2000 (All articles in this newsletter may be reprinted by organizations affiliated with the Council for Secular Humanism with a reciprocating reprinting agreement with LISH, so long as the article is used in full and with complete crediting. Edited versions can be used with written permission.)
Visit LISH on the web: http://www.homestead.com/lishweb and also at http://wwwhumanist.comLISH MEETING INFORMATION
LISH members, our monthly meetings are your chance not only to see and hear a stimulating discussion on an exciting subject, but also to meet with your fellow secular humanists on Long Island. The September meeting featured a capacity crowd who came to see leaders from Ethical Humanism, Humanistic Judaism, Unitarian Universalists, and LISH discuss areas of similarity and agreement. It was revealing how compatible the various forms of humanism really are!
DIFFERENT LOCATIONS: The next regular meetings of LISH will be Friday, October 20, 2000, @ 7:00 PM at the Ethical Humanism center, 38 Old Country Road, Garden City and Saturday, October 21, 2000 @ 2:00PM at the Unitarian Universalist Society @ 28 Brentwood Rd., Bayshore. (For directions call email LISecHum@aol.com. The guest speaker for both occasions will be Edd Doerr, President of the American Humanists Association. DON'T MISS THIS! Also, please be generous in our upcoming fundraising campaign so that we may continue to offer outstanding programs.Why "Faith-based" Charities Cannot Receive Taxpayer Dollars Gerry DTABLE OF CONTENTS
1) Why "Faith-based" Charities Cannot Receive Taxpayer Dollars
2) Letters to the Editor
3) How Does One Get To Be a Moral Leader?
4) BULLETIN! Vatican Claims Other Faiths Are Inferior!
5) Book discussion club!
6) Who's Who in Hell
7) Compassionate Conservatism & Church-State Separation
8) Making The Rounds With Norm
9) Pope Pius IX Beatified
10) Secret Prophesy of Fatima "Revealed"
This fall, two Long Island Catholic high schools have opened their school year without signed contracts between the Diocese and teachers. Money is not the issue. Language proposed by the Rockville Centre Diocese in the contract would require teachers to demonstrate not only professional integrity but also "personal fidelity" to church doctrines, according to a Newsday story.The covered schools are Holy Trinity in Hicksville and St. John the Baptist in West Islip. Teachers are not concerned about being penalized for inappropriate behavior. "Say your son or daughter came out of the closet and declared themselves gay and you backed them up. Then you could lose your job because you're not giving fidelity to the faith" says Harry Kranepool, a teacher's representative.
Who is the judge whether a teacher is rejecting church doctrine? Bishop McHugh, of course.
Now if a private religious organization wants to treat its employees this way, it has the right to do so. However, what better example can there be of why taxpayer dollars must never go to sectarian schools or charities? It is plainly obvious that the Diocese has the right to discriminate on a religious basis - it can refuse to hire non-Catholics, and even Catholics it deems unorthodox! It can literally place ads in the help wanted section of the newspaper, and say "Teachers wanted in math and history, no Jews, atheists, Muslims or Lutherans need apply."
This would be an impossible to excuse use of taxpayer dollars! In fact, although such discrimination is legal as long as the church uses private dollars, it is still reprehensible. It plainly demonstrates that the goal of school voucher plans is NOT better education - if it were, churches would not discriminate against qualified teachers on the basis of religion! Better education is not the goal - public funding of religion is the goal. More amazing is that US Congressional support for allowing Churches to discriminate with taxpayer dollars is strong, even if it is considered unconstitutional. Notably, NY Senatorial Candidate Rick Lazio has in the past voted in support of allowing religious and other discrimination by faith-based charities that would receive taxpayer dollars. As has been noted in the Inquirer, he has never explained his position.
Allowing sectarian institutions to receive tax dollars is a Pandora's Box: the division that will be created in society will be enormous as the government tries to dole out monies that will fund Catholic only jobs, Protestant only jobs and Jewish only jobs. The only groups that will be expected to treat all persons fairly, of course, will be the secular, who will have less money available for their efforts. [TOC]
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
8/7/00 Sorry that you could not attend the picnic. It was a numerical and "spiritual" success! Maria and Carl produced a terrific spread of food. Sherm C., Commack, NY
Response: I wish I could have been there but I have been recovering (forever) from surgery. G.D.
8/15/00 I'd like to know if you hold meetings and what exactly your organization does. I'm a former Jehovah's Witness. To make a long story short, I basically went from being a devout Christian who "knew" the answers to the basic questions people have asked for millennia to a person that sees no logical reason to believe in a creator and much less God. If you do hold meetings I'd be interested in meeting people, especially former JWs, that hold similar views. There are plenty of former JWs but most have left the JWs to join other Christian groups. I don't see the reason to leave the JWs to join some other group. Thanks, Hugo via Internet
Response: Yes we do have meetings and have many former Christians but JWs in particular, I'm not sure. I hope you come on down. G.D.
9/8/00 To Gerry D, and his followers of Secular Humanism...
In response to the following excerpt (which you MOCK) from a pamphlet which you published in your newsletter: "From a rational perspective, it must be concluded that if unfathomable joy awaits us for accepting god's plan of salvation, then eternal punishment must be ours if we reject the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for the redemption of the human race. This truth makes all other events of no consequence. Unsigned, Harrisburg, PA."
I have this reply: YOWZA! It's all so true! I discovered this myself in a roundabout symbolic way when I gave my dog a biscuit and saw such joy in her happy little eyes. (Bear in mind the reverse spelling of DOG and think of the biscuit as a holy wafer, or Christ's flesh in a Christian communion rite).
It is clear that my pup's acceptance of this biscuit brings love, devotion, and conformity. This ensures my dog's happiness and continued ability to stay fed and sleep in a warm doggy bed. It thusly goes without saying that by her refusal to eat the biscuit, my dog wouldn't be as happy, perhaps in most religions, and perhaps would wind up wandering the streets until picked up by an animal control warden, impounded, and eventually "put to sleep".
My friends, we must all eat the biscuit of GOD. If you don't, you will clearly die in a kennel! Scott M., Long Island, NY via Internet
Response: It all makes sense now! G.D.
9/11/00 (Re: Elton John's criticism of Cardinal Winning) An additional comment: Aren't Cardinals first Priests? And aren't Catholic Priests pledged to celibacy? Wouldn't celibacy certainly have to be classified as "a lifestyle that can never respond to the deepest longings of the human heart?"
I mean, at least gays are having loving sexual relationships with SOMEbody! And then there is the huge scandal in Cardinal Thomas Winning's own church regarding pedophiliac Priests molesting choirboys. They always seem to go after the boys, never the girls. This sounds to me like there are a substantial number of gay Priests in the Catholic Church. So where does this Winning guy get off condemning people for being gay? "By their fruits shall you know them..." Oberon via Internet
Response: Well, as far as I know, altar girls are quite rare and that may explain why its boys we usually hear about. G.D.
9/11/00 (Re: Bob Barr responds to LISH) Barr's office apparently sent you a canned letter regarding this situation. I have read that particular response many times before. As one of his constituents, I attended, as part of the WPEA, the Town Meeting he held here in Smyrna back in April of 1999 -- at a time closest to this whole Pagans-in-the-Military brouhaha. We made a rather impressive showing at the meeting, and he fielded -- with typical political double-speak -- several of our questions, including that of a Pagan in the military, carrying his medal case. I jumped up to the podium after the meeting, and asked him some rather pointed questions: (these are not ACTUAL quotes, just the gist of the conversation):
Me: "You state that you are against military support of Witchcraft. How much money is ACTUALLY being spent at Fort Hood for the Pagan group there?"
Barr: "I have no idea."
Me: "Yet this is one of the cornerstones of your complaint against Pagans in the military...."
Barr interrupts me with something about lack of belief in God.
Me: "But Pagans DO believe in God ... we see many faces of the same Divine...".
Barr interrupts me again with something about minority religions.
Me: Interrupts HIM with the fact that the majority of religions world-wide have multiple Deities... like Hinduism, Buddhism.
Barr: "I am done talking with you." He walks away from me.
The basic fact is that while MANY Pagans have sent Barr information about our Faith, including myself, he has NO interest in being educated. He is using this as a political ploy to further his standing with his conservative Christian constituents and the Religious Right -- standing up for truth and morality against the face of Satan and liberal tolerance (the same thing)? Barr knew we would be there to confront him... he asked a fire and brimstone preacher to open the Town Hall Meeting, with a VERY pointed message about salvation through the Christian God. His biggest supporters were out in force as well... even inviting the attendees to a Pat Buchanan Presidential Campaign Fundraiser ("Go Pat!"). These are the forces and reality we are dealing with.
The good news is that Barr has his hands full with a powerful Democratic competitor this coming November, and even if he manages to survive THIS race, his time in Congress is very much in jeopardy -- his district is being re-zoned next year, and his new constituents will consist heavily of Hispanic voters, who are sure not to support him and his intolerance. Barr is running scared -- as well he should be. Bendithion Mawr, Jhenah, Sisterhood of Avalon via Internet
Response: Thanks for the follow-up information. G.D.
9/16/00 Re: The baseball player who believes that dinosaur bones are man-made, and the supposed origins of crude oil: That is easy to explain. Crude oil was a side effect generated in the process of creating man-made bones. Since those men were sinners committed to fool humanity, they generated many gallons of crude oil while attempting to make those "funny bones" (pun intended). Because sinners created crude oil, the price is now very high so we pay for their sins. It is soooo easy to explain if one has faith. Praise the Lord!!!!! Abel via Internet
Response: Oil = sin! G.D.
9/16/00 Re: quote in Sept. Inquirer: "Science cannot tell us about God because it cannot get Him under the microscope, so to speak. But this does not mean that science presumes the rejection of God." Silly statements like this irritate the hell out of me since they tacitly admit there is a "god." Science cannot tell us anything about all brands of nonsense simply because it is nonsense. Korn via Internet
Response: If not reason and science, what convinces others of God? A coin flip? G.D.
9/16/00 I enjoyed your meeting (Sept. 15), which was my first since I joined only in June. We were at the picnic also. It was great. I am looking forward to being a part of this group. Charlotte, Amityville, Long Island, NY
Response: I'm glad you are pleased. This will be fun! G.D. [TOC]
How Does One Become a Moral Leader? Gerry D
Exactly how does one get the job of Moral Leader? Does one have to have a specific pet prejudice against gays, non-believers or some other scape-goated group? Must a Moral Leader be in uncontested possession of the Absolute Truth?No particular religion has had a monopoly on a severe style of leadership it seems and Judaism is no exception. According to Newsday, and his website, in Israel, powerful rabbi Rav Ovadia Yosef pontificates about things big and small and the whole country listens. (The Rabbi's website is http://www.ovadia-yosef.com. ) Sometimes it's almost comical and sometimes it's tragic.
"Is it permissible to fold one's pants on Shabbat before going to bed?" is a question I'm sure we have all been asking ourselves. Of course it depends on whether they are already creased!
This would not be such a big deal if he kept his views to tailoring, but no, he expounded on weighty matters to the former Prime Minister, Netanyahu, who listened! Why? Because the Rabbi's political party held the swing votes in the Israeli government, in the form of the Shas party!
Party faithful claim that Shas' goal is to "establish a world of Torah." As one might imagine, secular Jews in Israel do not even want a country of Torah!
A Shas Knesset member, Shlomo Benizri is quoted by Newsday as saying, "I would want the laws of Israel to go by the laws of the Torah. Why be ashamed of them? They are the laws of God, not laws of man that are changed with every era ... For us the rabbi is the great authority. Whatever he decides, we are happy to accept." How would a Christian religious-right citizen like to live under the rabbi's pants folding rules and his other opinions? If they wouldn't mind the pants folding stuff, how about; cigarette smokers should be whipped 40 times; wig wearing women will burn in hell, with their wigs; David Ben-Gurion, the first PM, was an "evil crook"; Ariel Sharon loves pork; a man walking between two women is like walking between "two donkeys"; when secular former education minister Aloni dies, "we should celebrate"; reform and conservative Jews "have abandoned Judaism"; a Jew who desecrates the sabbath will "be killed"; and so on.
These kinds of detail-oriented religious rules have not caused problems for the Rabbi, and in fact, such views have been taken seriously. However Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's recent sermon in which he said the Nazi Holocaust was God's retribution against Jewish sinners, and that Prime Minister Barak should not be negotiating with Palestinian "snakes" for peace has attracted much criticism! Theologically, the Holocaust is a difficult topic for fundamentalists such as the Rabbi. Either God has broken his covenant with the Jews, or they deserved their fate. He obviously has chosen the latter option though he is now trying to back track. Can God break a covenant? The Rabbi originally thought not since he was clear in claiming that the victims of the Holocaust were souls who "sinned time and time again...". Oh.
In the Barak government, Shas continues to have a swing party role. The rabbi was described as a moderate, primarily because he would consider a peace process with the Palestinians, whom he now thinks of as snakes! However if you're not a member of his sect, the word moderate might not come to mind. But what does this say of followers who hang on his every word. I for one would have loved to hear him expound, as Newsday reported, on a recent topic: should a Jew pick his nose on the Sabbath?
Maybe it depends on if it the booger were already hanging out. Or maybe I'm just not cut out for a Moral Leader's job. [TOC]
BULLETIN! Vatican Claims Other Faiths Are Inferior! Gerry D
In a statement designed to save most of us time and effort in determining the Truth, Cardinal Ratzinger has delivered a declaration of the primacy of the Catholic Church. The goal, according the explanation in a Washington Post story is to "combat the 'so-called theology of religious pluralism' which suggests that Catholics are on par in God's eyes with, say, Jews, Muslims or Hindus." Other Christians might be added to this group as well.In part, the declaration reads, "This truth of faith does not lessen the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions of the world, but at the same time, it rules out, in a radical way, that mentality of indifferentism "characterized by a religious relativism which leads to the belief that 'one religion is as good as another'"... We believe that this one true religion continues to exist in the Catholic and Apostolic Church, to which the Lord Jesus entrusted the task of spreading it among all people."
This is not really news. The Catechism clearly states that "the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church... Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it."
Actually it is reasonable to suppose that only one true state of affairs exists in the universe. If two things are contradictory, they cannot both be equally true. If belief in Jesus as God is Truth in one religion and blasphemy in another, they cannot both be right! The problem is, of course, that only "faith" is offered as evidence in both cases. The most reasonable belief would be to doubt that the historically nebulous Jesus created the universe. In fact it is most reasonable to doubt the existence of any Creator who then did not need creating itself!
The World Council of Churches thought it would be a tragedy if Christian cooperation were hampered by disagreements over authority and relative status. However, it did not seem that they would be willing to abandon the idea that Christianity is necessary for salvation.
It is clear that the Catholic Church needs to assert its authority, and spread the fear that without it, one is damned! What else does it have to offer? Evidence of its veracity and authority in a demonstrable way? Proof that the Church guarantees a better world? Its only marketing tool is fear of damnation, and the Church is dropping the hammer once again. For all the hype concerning its apologies an reaching out to other religions, the Catholic Church cannot hide what it truly believes - it is right, and others who disagree are not merely incorrect or mistaken, but will not be saved and in fact will be damned. (For the entire declaration, go to: <http://www.cin.org/docs/dominus-iesus.html>) [TOC]
Book Discussion Club!
For all LISH members and others who can read, LISH board member Bill W has formed a book discussion club!The Friday, Nov. 3rd, 8PM meeting will take place at Minnie L's home, Amityville, Suffolk County. The book will be "Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine.
The Friday, Dec. 1st, 8PM meeting will be at Warren R's house, Patchogue, Suffolk County. The book will be "The Search for the Historical Jesus" by Albert Schweitzer.The Friday, January 5th, 2001, meeting, at a place to be determined, will feature the book "Did Jesus Exist" by G.A. Wells, (Prometheus Books.)
If you are interested Email LISecHum@aol.com [TOC]
Help Wanted! We are seeking volunteers to assist the leaders of the following committees: 1) Membership growth, 2) Fund raising, 3) Mailings, 4) LISH Picnic, 5) Social events, 6) Campus Freethought outreach, 7) Secular Organizations for Sobriety, 8) Public Access TV (Riverhead, Queens), 9) Humanist Coalition, 10) Meeting programs, 11) Book club and more!
Seriously, if you have never been an activist, the pride one feels when helping the community is startling and real. Email LISecHum@aol.com if interested.! [TOC]
"Who's Who in Hell" by Warren Allen Smith
A book review by Innaiah Narisetti (reprinted from WASHline, Washington Area Secular Humanists)This is the first encyclopedic, A-to-Z listing of humanists, atheists, rationalists, agnostics, skeptics, secularists and unbelievers throughout the world from ancient times until the end of the 20th century.
Smith also includes correspondence about humanism and interviews with several individuals and explains the philosophic terms of humanist free thinking. The uniqueness of the listing, with brief bio-data, is the inclusion of some web sites and e-mail addresses of individuals.The listing includes: Democritus, Epicurus, Lucretius, Protagoras, Erasmus, Diderot, Voltaire, John Dewey, A.J. Ayer, David Hume, Bertrand Russell, Pierre Boulez, Marlon Brando, Noam Chomsky, Sir Arthur Clark, Richard Dawkins, James Randi, Gore Vidal, Salmon Rushdie, Taslima Nasrin, Katherine Hepburn, 50 Nobel Prize winners, and contemporary humanists of all countries who have gone unnoticed hitherto. (Ed.: And also LISH!)
The book makes a case not only for respectability but also for the positive and creative outlook of humanists, freethinkers, rationalists, and non-theists. Smith is a retired teacher and recording studio entrepreneur who lives in Greenwich Village, New York. His contributions and reviews in Free Inquiry, full of satire and wit, are well known. This book is the effort of five decades by Smith. [TOC]
Compassionate Conservatism and Church State Separation Gerry D
Much has been made of vice-presidential candidate Joe Lieberman's invocation of God and religion on the campaign trail. Though he has occasionally supported the concept of vouchers and a moment of silence legislatively, that has been the extent of his activism. Since Al Gore does not support vouchers, the Democratic ticket does not represent an overwhelming threat to separationism, though they are not great champions of it either.The Republican ticket is another matter. Candidate George W. Bush wrote a preface to a 1999 book by Marvin Olasky, Bush's "religious advisor", called "Compassionate Conservatism," according to Americans for Religious Liberty (ARL). In the book, Olasky reportedly writes that "God does not forbid women to be leaders in society...but when that occurs it's usually because of the abdication of men...there's a certain shame attached to it." Olasky also claims it is perfectly ok for government to fund religious charities even if it pays for evangelism! He urges a "multiple establishment" of religions (all Christian?) and rejects the concept of separation. Which religions and churches would be the recipients of government money? Which would be established? According to ARL, Olasky's list of favored charities is almost entirely of the same religious persuasion. What a shock!
Bush adds the following statement to the book: "We will never ask an organization (receiving tax dollars) to compromise its core values and spiritual mission to get the help it needs." He pledges "to ensure that charities are not secularized or slighted." I'm sure the Nation of Islam will be comforted to know that as President, George W. Bush would never, ever, ask them to not discriminate against Jews in hiring and delivering services and in order to be eligible for Federal funds!
To quote ARL, "Bush and Olasky fail to see that government subsidized religious charities will soon become just another branch of the bureaucracy.... Individual citizens who do not wish to pay for the expansion of religious groups whose views they do not share will lose their freedom of conscience.... Religious groups will fight for the... ever-expanding distribution of Federal Funds.... That's what "Compassionate Conservatism means." "Note": Edd Doerr is editor of the Voice of Reason, newsletter of ARL, phone number 301 260 2988. [TOC]
Guest Editorial JFK Campaign Speech, 1960 "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute... where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference... where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials..."
Making the Rounds with Norm Norm R
CENTER FOR INQUIRY INSTITUTE, July l4-l6: A rather impressive array of Humanists converged on the home of secular Humanism. We had young High school and college students as well as elder statespersons. We looked at issues of the separation of church and state as well as education concerns. Paul Kurtz also expressed concern about corporate power. Many of us however were more optimistic but constant vigilance and maybe staying on top of some of these threats.
I appeared on the TV show and will soon receive the tapes to be shown locally. A highlight was the meeting with young people as well as a visit to the Chatauqua Institution to see many luminaries such as Paul Kurtz and Bishop Spong, an Episcopalian Bishop who has warned of the impending doom of Christianity.
CENTER FOR INQUIRY NJ NY, Aug l9, 2000: A fine turnout showed up for a program on About "How to think about Weird Things." Three fine speakers spoke to us about dealing with people who present to us belief in strange things. The use of good logic and induction was presented us as tools to use against such claims. There was ample opportunity to have good exchanges with the speakers. The folks in NJ are doing a fine job with these workshops. Soon we hope to work with these good folks for cooperative efforts. It is a pain in the neck to go to Jersey and therefore the need for major programming on Long Island is indicated.
MULTIFAITH FORUM OF LONG ISLAND: I attended a couple of meetings involving numerous major faiths of the world on Long Island. I hope to be a Humanist voice among world faiths. We have here potential for a wealth of support for a great number of our own issues such as anti-discrimination for gays agnostics and maybe even atheists. Presently I am the Humanist-Atheist voice among world religions.
A COALITION OF LONG ISLAND HUMANISTS? Sept. l5, 2000: I hope so! A stellar panel of Humanists of different associations was gathered at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library. Panelists from Unitarian Universalism, Ethical Culture (Humanism) Humanistic Judaism and of course Secular Humanism. A fine crowd appeared to hear many voices of Humanism in many areas of agreement with a few areas of disagreement however, diplomatically put. We, however, see a great opportunity for coalition and already plans are under way for coop programs beginning with the gala Humanist weekend in October. Here the American Humanist Association takes center stage with AHA President Ed Doerr featured.
Other Humanist groups will also sponsor exciting events during this weekend. We hope for further support from our loyal supporters both financially and in attendance. I stand ready to give generously to our program funding to continuing future top level programming. Stay tuned for further announcements in future newsletters and other releases. More info will appear in future rounds with Norm. So long for now! [TOC]
Pope Pius IX Beatified Gerry D
Pope John Paul II, perhaps paving the way for sainthood some time in the future beatified the longest reigning of all Popes, Pope Pius IX. Pope Pius IX, whose papacy lasted from 1846 to 1878, was honored despite protests from Jewish and others groups who noted his anti-Semitic attitudes and actions.Among Pius IX's deeds were the confinement of Jews in Rome to a walled ghetto, stripping them of their property and referring to them as "dogs." On other fronts, according to a Newsday story, he "castigated modern thinking, dividing the world between Catholic faithful and diabolical enemies." He is the Pope who proclaimed "papal infallibility." He called the first Vatican Council to define the doctrine of papal infallibility in matters of faith and morals. "I am the Church, I am the tradition," was one of his favorite phrases.
The most infamous story about Pius IX is the story of his ordered kidnapping of a 6 year old Jewish child from his family on the basis that he had been baptized, surreptitiously, by his 14 year old family maid. According to an Associated Press story, it was on June 24, 1858, that papal police dragged young Edgardo from the arms of his weeping father, head of a Jewish merchant family in Bologna. Under Church law it was the duty of any Catholic to save the soul of any unbaptized child in danger of death. Bologna at that time was part of the Papal states and church law was the law of the land as well. Despite many appeals from the boy's family and from international interests, the child was not returned. Supposedly, the pope once ordered the kidnapped Edgardo to lick the floor with his tongue drawing a cross in front of his visitors to affirm his faith. Pius IX complained of a "worldwide storm of protest... And in the meantime, no one showed any concern for me (the Pope), father of all the faithful." The child grew up to be a Priest under Church guidance. Eventually, with the outrage of the kidnapping as partial impetus, the papal states were abolished by Italian nationalist armies.
Pope John Paul II justified the beatification of Pius IX because he set "an example of unconditional adherence to the unchanging depository of revealed truth," giving "absolute primacy to God and spiritual values... By beatifying one of its sons, the church does not celebrate particular historical choices he made, but rather points to him for imitation and veneration for his virtues, praising the divine grace that shines in him." In other words, it's not what you DO that counts, it's what you BELIEVE!
It is utterly amazing what an institution can get away with as long as it religious. Imagine a secular institution honoring such an anti-Semite, particularly if it is ethical and/or moral leadership that is the primary concern! It is in their victory of faith over reason that the Church can actually boast of "adherence to the unchanging depository of revealed truth" in defending a bigot. It would seem that this "truth" did not do much good for Pope Pius IX's ethics, and its' "unchanging" nature should alarm future generations of Catholics. So much for the (non) apology, earlier this year, of the Church to persons of Jewish ancestry.
(For more information about Pope Pius IX and Edgardo Mortaro, read "The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara" by David Kertzer, a professor of history in Brown university in Rhode Island. In his 1997 book he writes elaborately about the moving case of the kidnapped boy. Edgardo Mortara, the boy who was forced by Pius IX to lick the floor to draw a cross, later became a Catholic priest and died in Berlin in 1940 at the age of 88.) [TOC]
The Secret Prophesy of Fatima "Revealed" Gerry D
The Vatican originally disclosed, in the Spring of 2000, that the secret the Virgin Mary is said to have told three children, including the still-surviving Lucia de Jesus dos Santos, more than 80 years ago near Fatima, Portugal, was a description of the shooting of Pope John Paul II. On instructions from the Pope, who was in Fatima to officiate at the beatification of the children, Cardinal Angelo Soldano announced that the prophecy had foreseen the 1981 assassination attempt on the pope and the persecution of the church by communist regimes.Did the prophecy really predict the assassination attempt accurately and specifically?
Here is a portion of the actual text of Cardinal Soldano's statement: "That text contains a prophetic vision similar to those found in Sacred Scripture, which do not describe with photographic clarity the details of future events, but rather synthesize and condense against a unified background events spread out over time in a succession and a duration which are not specified. As a result the text must be interpreted in a symbolic key. The vision of Fatima concerns above all the war waged by atheist systems against the Church and Christians, and it describes the immense suffering endured by the witnesses to the faith in the last century of the second millennium. It is an interminable Way of the Cross led by the Popes of the twentieth century. According to the interpretation of the 'little shepherds,' which was also recently confirmed by Sister Lucia, the 'bishop clothed in white' who prays for all the faithful is the Pope. As he makes his way with great effort towards the Cross amid the corpses of those who were martyred (bishops, priests, men and women religious and many lay persons), he too falls to the ground, apparently dead, under a burst of gunfire..."The successive events of 1989 led, both in the Soviet Union and in a number of countries of Eastern Europe, to the fall of the Communist regime which promoted atheism. For this too His Holiness offers heartfelt thanks to the Most Holy Virgin...
In order that the faithful may better receive the message of Our Lady of Fatima, the Pope has charged the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with making public the third part of the secret, after the preparation of an appropriate commentary.
Let us thank Our Lady of Fatima for her protection. To her maternal intercession let us entrust the Church of the Third Millennium." (End of statement.)
Please note that the "Prophecies" of Fatima consist of the following: A claim that a miracle would happen at the last vision in Fatima on October 13, 1917. Thousands of persons came to the town in Portugal and many claimed to see a miracle that stormy day, involving a spinning or dancing sun. Others did not see the "miracle."
Nowhere else in the world did anyone experience this "miracle." It was confined to this particular crowd of persons. Mundane explanations exist, of course. Was the vision a "sundog," an unusual but not miraculous atmospheric occurrence? Were people staring at the sun in expectation of the miracle causing temporary illusionary results? The children were directing the pilgrims to the sun as being the potential miracle after all! Finally, mass hysteria is a very plausible explanation. The conditions were ideal! Lucia's mom is quoted as saying that she was "nothing but a fake who is leading half the world astray." (For more information on Fatima from a skeptical point of view see Joe Nickell's "Looking for a Miracle.")
What are the other amazing prophesies coming from Fatima? None! The prediction by Lucia that her two childhood friends would die soon was not revealed, for example, until 1927, 7 years after the actual deaths!
The other "secrets" were not revealed until Lucia's memoirs, starting in 1935! The first secret told of the horrors of hell. Ho-hum! The second secret (1941) "predicted" World War I would end (as it had many years before!) and that Russia (now a communist country) would be a danger to the world. Nazism missed the radar screen apparently! Nothing would get better until Russia specifically was consecrated, an act that requires a uniform act by Catholic clergy all over the world, an act that has never been done. Russian-phobia still exists among Fatima-believers even in post-communistic days.
Sister Lucia has said that the Virgin Mary told her the message of the third secret should not be made public until 1960, but the Pope at the time decided against it. Speculation involved various apocalyptic scenarios, involving Russia and the end of the world.
Finally, under tremendous pressure from believers the world over, the last secret was made public, 40 years after the Pope read the secret in 1960, via a posting to the website of the Vatican of a scanned image of the "secret." Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote that the "felled bishop in white" was a purely symbolic statement, not necessarily meaning John Paul since Lucia never named the Pope. In fact, the third "secret," as written, speaks of many corpses being killed by soldiers with the "bishop in white" one of many victims. Angels, crosses and other apocalyptic images were involved. It was hinted that the whole vision may been inspired by devotional books the nun had read. Cardinal Ratzinger also added that the real-life-attempted assassin of the Pope was not an "instrument of God" as the assassin now claims.
The events as described in the "secret" have never happened. No new information have come out of Sister Lucia's prophesies, particularly if you realize that the events she predicted had already occurred by the time she revealed them! The third "secret" is interpreted with an eye on past events and still, the interpretation is tortured! For the whole story including the English translation of the text go to www.vatican.va/roman_curia.../rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_en.htm
"Those who expected exciting apocalyptic revelations about the end of the world or the future course of history are bound to be disappointed. Fatima does not satisfy our curiosity in this way, just as Christian faith cannot be reduced to an object of mere curiosity," said the Cardinal summarizing the whole episode.
After all the hoopla and hype, the third secret is no big deal, unless the Vatican is not telling the truth as some Christian mystics are claiming, and basically is one more failed prophesy in a long list of failures. This has not stopped the Church from using it to promote the faith, however, and use it as another means to attack "atheism" and by extension, non-believers. [TOC]
Humanist Music Competition The New Jersey Humanist Network (NJHN) is sponsoring a Music Competition to encourage the creation of new secular humanist works. Information can be found at http://www.freespeech.org/njhn/music.htm. For more info, feel free to contact New Jersey Humanist Network, PO Box 51, Washington, NJ 07882 or email: hbrown@nac.net or call H. Brown: 908-689-2813.
Can you feel it? The air is cool and crisp, the hot dogs have been cooking sense April and the Mets and Yanks are playing for their league championships. Either the weather and food is making me sick or I've got "World Series Fever". Anybody have a spare ticket and Subway token? [TOC]