OOOh! that durned Rabbit!

Someone is right.  Sometimes change has to be forced.

Recent obligations need to be met, and then it's packin time, it'll take a while but it's a comin.

And so it goes:

 

hgf

fight on...or simply move on?

It's tough to say if I was just discriminated against in hiring, but I think I was.  I can't decide if I want to pursue the issue or just move on.  most of me wants to pursue it to ruin. 

But that's just me.

and so it goes:

The evil of Catholicism

The poor poor Catholics, who have recently cried foul over all the money they've had to spent on lawyers and settlements over all the pedophiles they've harbored for centuries rummaged through the couch cushions and came up with enough spare change to send out over 400,000 dvd's to Catholic Minnesotans telling them how bad gay marriage is, and why they should stand united against it. 

What evil bullying bastards these people still are!  I remember when I was young and a student at a catholic school, the clergy would show up unannounced at your house, and tell everyone to kneel down so they could bless you and then proceed to tell you exactly what you were and were not going to do.  (It really happened in my house I swear.  It did not go well.) These presumptuous bullies think they can teach us to hate each other and that we'll just stand there and accept the indoctrination. 

Fuck You Bennie, and the altar boy you rode in on.

Fortunately for the thousands of gay Minnesotans there are those who understand that their church is preaching evil and they've organized a campaign to return the dvd's (postage due I hope) and then raised over 5k to feed the hungry, which, they say is much more in keeping with the teachings of Jesus Christ. 

This was of course, not the end of the matter.  The bully's had to retaliate and they were given ample opportunity.  A group of students showed up at a Mass officiated by the Archbishop, John Neinstedt, wearing rainbow buttons in protest of the dvd mailings. 

The son of a bitch refused them communion. 

And another thing.  What idiot editor, not that all editors are idiots, mine is a nice guy, thought it a good idea to allow a Rutgers reporter to write an editorial telling one and all that we're exploiting Tyler Clementi's death for our own agenda? 

I was looking at Rutgers as a college for my next Master's but now...

It's unconscionable that this line of reasoning could be encouraged.  The reporter is obviously young, there are rookie mistakes like the statements that celebrities are exploiting the suicide for gain, and the statement that Tyler was barely known since he was  freshman and it's not even mid-terms yet. but the clincher is the plea to allow them to mourn him privately.

How does one mourn someone one doesn't know?  How does one know the motivations of others who have lived with bullying and hatred?  How does one encourage the suicide of gay youth and get it published in a college newspaper?  I'm sure someone will be meting with the President of the college today.   And they will not leave happy.

And so it goes:

 

capriciousness

Oddly, though the employment situation is somewhat dire and things financially, though workable are ridiculously fraught with complication, I find myself feeling rather independent. 

No idea why. 

Political foolishness is abundant, the nutjobs are getting their 15 minutes, and no one seems to care.

I still need to lose 20 pounds and get back into the gym.   No one seems to care.

The temps are going down, and it appears we might just have a nice Indian Summer.  I so hope for glorious fall colors, I love that time of year.  That's when I really love to be on a horse, they're well ridden out from the summer and relaxed on the trail, and I can just enjoy the scenery and not have to wrestle with a horse.  And it means riding in the snow is coming soon, which is even more fun.

Yesterday while I was launching a full scale attack on the disaster that was my apartment (it looked like someone with chronic depression lived here) I ran across some photos I thought should be scanned  so i can stop worrying about their disposition.  The following pic is the view south from my deck in San Francisco back in the day.

Incredibly good  times, and incredibly terrible times were had there.  I was looking at pictures on Flickr this morning and was reminded how much of a young man's town that really is.  Thank the Gods I was there when I was. 

This was the north view:

On the right side of this photo you'll see a church steeple and directly below it the canopy of a palm tree.  It seems that my ex lived under that palm tree at the same time I lived in this apartment.  We didn't meet for another decade and not until we'd both returned to the Midwest.

Thinking of escape again, yet last nights class was so much fun!  I've never found, in any of the 110 jobs I've had in my life, the kind of energy that gets created in a classroom.  How can I give that up?

And so it goes:

"Never forget"...this

The church I was forced to attend as a child was little more than a country club.  It was a place for everyone to come and show off.  They displayed their new Lincoln's and Cadillac's, their new suits, new wives, whatever they had that was shiny and impressive they brought it to Jesus' show-and-tell for a little Sunday gloat. 

And being human they completely forgot the purpose of their visit.

It's happening today still, yet it's happening on a larger and more morally important scale.  People are forgetting what Christianity is about.  They don't even try to pretend they listened to the sermon.  Come with me on my Sunday morning bike ride and watch them come driving out of the church parking lot. 

Driving out in front of people, cutting them off, and looking as though the only reason they don't flip them off or cuss them out is that others from the mega-church would see. I've mentioned before that there are televangelists who preach to their faithful that God wants to give them stuff.  That their savior is waiting to bestow on them all the material stuff they ever wanted, all they have to do is ask.  No wonder these fools are flocking to the mega-churches.

ESPN has long been a benchmark of LGBT respect, when it comes to broadcasting so it's no surprise to see this article appear on CNN from one of their senior writers.

But it's nice to see nonetheless:

Editor's note: LZ Granderson is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, and has contributed to ESPN's Sports Center, Outside the Lines and First Take. He is a 2010 nominee and the 2009 winner of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) award for online journalism, and a 2010 and 2008 honoree of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) for column writing.
Grand Rapids, Michigan (CNN) -- Long before Focus on the Family, the 700 Club or even the Bible, there was a basic spiritual hunger: A hunger to know where we came from, a hunger to know what happens when we leave, a hunger to know if there is a God.
And somewhere along the line, that hunger was spun into religion, and soon the desire to find God became mutated by the desire to protect a particular belief system about God. Religion became monetized, politicized and militarized as the hunger to know the meaning of life slowly was replaced by rules by which we are to live our lives.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not anti-religion. In fact, I love my church. But as Sen. John Danforth said in his book "Faith and Politics," "If Christianity is supposed to be a ministry of reconciliation, and has become instead a divisive force in American political life, something is terribly wrong, and we should correct it."
Indeed, sometimes Christians get so caught up in the business of being Christians that we lose track of Christ. This was the case in The Crusades. This was the case when the Roman Catholic Church transferred pedophiles from city to city. And this is the case involving the Christian community's response to the allegations surrounding Bishop Eddie Long.

Any church that cares so little about people who might be victims of sex coercion should probably re-evaluate its mission statement.

More than 20 pastors in Atlanta, Georgia, got together to pray for Long recently, but I have yet to hear about an organized prayer group for the four men accusing Long of using his position as their spiritual adviser to coerce them into sexual relationships.
"Be quiet and pray for Bishop Eddie Long" tweeted Grammy-winning gospel act Mary Mary, as if the soul of the man who took the picture of himself wearing what looks like a black sleeveless cat suit is in more need of prayer than the person who might have received the picture. The duo could've easily asked their followers to support all involved in 140 characters or less, but instead only mentioned the pastor.
Why?
Very few people know what, if any, aspects of the accusations are true. But what we do know is the song suggests God has the whole world, and not just embattled preachers and his followers, in his hands. Praying for Long does not negate a person's ability to pray for his accusers, not if being Christ-like truly is that person's desire.
For if Jesus can find it in his heart to pray for Judas, those who claim to be his followers should be able to look inside their own hearts and do the same -- regardless of their view of homosexuality, regardless of how the truth may affect their church, regardless if no one else joins them in such a prayer.
Yes, it would be terribly disappointing if Long is indeed guilty of abusing his power. But what I also find disappointing is the desire to pray that the allegations are not true seems to be equal to, if not greater than, the desire to find out the truth. This hope for Long's innocence is just another example of how people are more comfortable choosing religion -- or in this case, a religious figure -- over the spiritual hunger and desire for truth that supposedly prompted religion to be formed in the first place.
But more damaging to the Christian Church is that this response also communicates a complete lack of compassion for the young people who may have come to Long for help and ended up manipulated, confused and alone.
Again, we don't know if what they say is true, but if you look at the example of Christ's life as it is illustrated in the Bible, when it comes to showing compassion, that's irrelevant. And any church that cares so little about people who might be victims of sexual coercion, regardless of the nature of that coercion, should probably re-evaluate its mission statement.
In the film "Dead Man Walking," the faith of Susan Sarandon's character, Sister Helen Prejean, is pushed to the limit when a death row inmate asks her character to be his spiritual adviser at the same time she's attempting to minister to the needs of the families of his victims. When the father of one of the victims asks Prejean how could she "sit with that scum," she replies "I'm trying to follow the example of Jesus ..." Sister Helen Prejean is a real person. Amen sister.
Now, if only more Christians were willing to do the same ...
The opinions in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson.

And so it goes:

hot guy friday

losing time

How does the internet manage to steal away hours? 


And so it goes:

Who's zoomin' who?

This morning I, quite by accident, found a piece on CNN from Anderson Cooper 360, which by the way, I never watch, the piece disturbs me on more than one level.

For nearly six months, Andrew Shirvell, an assistant attorney general for the state of Michigan, has waged an internet campaign against college student Chris Armstrong, the openly gay student assembly president at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.-CNN

And then I see on Slog, Dan Savage's blog, that the holy are responding to a youtube channel called "it gets better" created by Savage.

What I'm starting to wonder is this; Is it smart to engage the insane?  Does is really behoove us to stand up and give credence to nutjobs like this guy in Michigan or the bag o bile that talks about mythological eternal damnation as though, 1.) it actually exists. and 2.) he's the arbiter of all things holy.  (yes I'm coming dangerously close to engaging them myself here)

I think that sane people everywhere, and there are lots of us, know that people like this are not mentally healthy.  I believe that all we really do by engaging this insane behavior is to give it credence. 

This is not to say that the threat of violence from a wingnut like the ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL of MICHIGAN, isn't real.  I'm sure that is a very real possibility, but did Cooper really uncover anything in his interview other than give this guy a public forum to display not only his hate, but his lack of sanity?

Yes this needs to stop, and yes it's a concern that there are people out there openly talking about these things and creating blogs etc.

I've always been of the mind that if one is going to defeat such an enemy all one need do is walk down the street with one's head held high. 

Truly if there's a judgement to be made on these people it'll be made by a being other than us mortals.  So let them protest our existence, let them march and legislate and harrass.  In the end they can't win that way and we all know it.  Especially if we don't acknowledge the insanity of their actions.

And so it goes:

a little help!

Hey!

C'mon guys!  I spelled Dr Seuss' name wrong on the header three weeks ago and I have to discover it myself?  Help me out here folks.

and the torture never stops...

It's been many years, and sometimes if I try to remember being bullied or tormented at school I have to really think to remember specifics, but there are some incidents I remember very clearly. Mind you I graduated high school in 1975, and I'm 53 today. This stuff makes a lasting impression.

I have to admit that I did consider suicide at times in reaction to the relentless attacks I sometimes endured. I was once told that a teacher watched me leave school sick one day and turned to the class and said "I feel so sorry for him, he has no friends." While this was not entirely true, it wasn't altogether inaccurate.

Time of course, being the great equalizer, I infrequently see some of my tormentors at the grocery, it being in the very neighborhood where I grew up. And though I speak with them and pretend nothing happened 40 years go, I often think of grabbing them and banging their heads against the wall and ask "What the fuck were you thinking doing that to another kid?" They didn't know then and they certainly wouldn't know now.

This is all a reaction, of course, to yet another suicide at the hands of bullies. Please look in the right sidebar for the article regarding the death of Asher Brown of Texas, where all evil resides. Well not all evil I guess. After all Dick Cheney was from Montana or Wyoming or some other homo internment camp.

There is also an article on cnn.com regarding bullying of kids with allergies. Who is teaching these kids this is ok? More importantly who isn't teaching these kids this is not ok? Wiping peanut butter on a kid with peanut allergies? And parents have the nerve to say that the schools aren't doing their job.

There are incredibly responsible parents out there, some who would never allow their child to even entertain such a thought for a second. And these incidents are not as common as the media would have us believe, I'm sure. But the fact that it's happening often enough to be a nationwide issue should concern us all.

Schools can't replace parenting. That notion is creating exactly the kind of government run world the teabaggers are supposedly afraid of. There is more to raising a child than education, and accomplishing that seems to be out of our grasp.

Shame on us.

Oh! I decided on the t-shirt "religion=mythology"

And so it goes:

If I could just stay in the house...

I was all set to write this lovely post talking about how we're all in this together and in the end that's how we'll get through it.

And then I left the house.

I forgot I had an appt this morning with the chiropractor and when I was waiting this guy walks in wearing a t-shirt that says "You must repent" on the front, and "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" on the back.  Now there is always the possibility that he could be wearing it tongue-in-cheek, but that's quite the risk isn't it?   I decided then and there I need one that says something to the effect of "Care for your fellow man, religion is mythology and God doesn't exist."

That should start a few conversations.

And when I returned I looked at Joemygod, which I'm starting to think I should never do, it just raises my ire. And he has a post that contains the following:

 




And yes in truth we stand to lose a lot.  There are those of us who won't be able to go back in the closet an- those of us who will feel compelled to fight no matter the cost. But let's hope the battle's won are many.

And so it goes:

hgf

forest? trees? hmmm

Noticed today that the checks seem to be getting smaller each week.  This is of course not good, and I had to weed out yet another creditor this week.  It seemed more important to have electricity and insurance than be able to buy a new desk chair on credit. 

There doesn't seem to be a lot of gnashing of teeth over the failure of the repeal of DADT.  It certainly went out with a whimper this time.  One pundit calls the whole thing political theater, which is likely true.  The good mena and women serving our country while secretly loving people of their own gender wouldn't be the first to be used by congress for political gain.  Everyone in Washington gets to go back and campaign with a clean slate on the issue.  John (crazy boy) McCain gets to tell all the blue  hairs in Arizona he kept the fairies out of the military, and the Democrats get to tell the rest of us that "well...we tried, but the big bad Republicans blocked us." 

I'm suer this fight isn't over, but there will be a brief respite.

Feeling stymied by lack of motion of outside forces regarding the job search, and solvency.

Keeping my fingers crossed about jobs, they're few and far between these days.  It's best to go directly to the company if you really want to talk to them about a job.  These websites and referrals are empty promises.  I find in unconscionable that careerbuilder not only has jobs listed that no longer exist, but that they then try to make money off the unemployed by offering resume services and the like at an extra cost.  How have we let it come to this? 

Oh well we're to blame for out own mess.  We'll clean it up or not.

And so it goes:

Start the sanity!

Jon Stewart proposes we start a new movement. Not that there's a shortage of those anymore, but this one would be worthy of the rest of us.  Those of us who aren't nutjobs, and who believe that America isn't being taken over by aliens or that September 11 wasn't an inside job.  (actually I'd never heard that one until today, how crazy is that?) 

In a world where televangelists are routinely accused of sexual misconduct, like Eddie Long, an accusation which for some reason I don't really believe.  Perhaps it's because his accusers were recently arrested for breaking into his offices.  Anything is possible, he could be guilty of this, and in light of the way things turn out in this world his fight against equal rights for gays may well be the typical cover we see so many adopting in an effort to hide their gay not only from the faithful, but from themselves as well.  It's an enormous risk cause that's a long fall. But somehow I don't think Eddie is the bad guy here.  I think he might just be too smart to risk all that bling on a couple of hustlers.  I'm just sayin'


Stewart's rally scheduled for the weekend before the election is poetry. I particularly like the suggestions he's offering for signs to carry in this rally.

My favorite:

"I'm not afraid of Muslims, Tea Partiers, Socialists, Immigrants, Gun Owners or Gays ... but I am scared of spiders."

So in an effort to stop all this one-sided debate we hear and read nowadays, and in an effort to lower my own blood pressure when I read all the crazy shit some people say about not only us, but almost everything else, Let's START THE SANITY! 

I will note that on joemygod today there is mention of a conference in Samoa about global warming at which the accusation is made that we're (gay people) responsible for global warming.  (I mean we're hot and fabulous and all but seriously.)

But in closing today let me offer this little prayer penned  (I think) by a commenter at joemygod regarding Eddie Long's little alleged pecadillo:

O Heavenly Substitute for Personal Responsibility, you arrived at my door with the promise of eternal life and I called the police.  Hear my prayer.

Begin anew, O Majestic Ascending One Trailing a 15th Century Silken Ribbon on Which in Latin is Inscribed "Behold the Lamb Who Will Be Severely Disrespected."

Create us without the baggage of bigotry, O Huge and Nattily-Robed One.  Shape us in the image of a reasonable ideal that we can obtain without years of yoga and other time-consuming exercises.  Wean us from psychic dependence on Internet blogs that eat at our free time and result in less time for personal hygiene.

We pray this in the name of the Flying "All Televangelists are Scum" Monster, who makes all things tax-exempt.

Amen.

And so it goes:

That old rockin' Chair is callin'

With more than enough to do today, and little enough time to accomplish it all I find what I really want to do is sit here and just...well, sit here.

Not one thing I have planned for today can't wait.

I think this is my primary destination for today.

And so it goes:

 

Why all the railing? It's over.

I don't know why it never occurred to me before, the railing at the stupidity and the insistence on educating ourselves, and the constant need to shout at the populace to get smart, is a complete waste of time.  America, is already gone.

The America I knew, and the America my parents knew is no more.  What's left is a different animal created by  Beelzebub, i.e. Ronald Reagan and those who came after him. Though we heard what he said and knew what his policies were we never really understood what he was doing.  And now that he's no longer around to burn at the stake as he should be, we realize what he wrought.

I look at articles like the one I saw this morning about people in their late 50's who are still looking for jobs after 4 years. Who are of the foolish notion that applying for a job on the internet will land them an interview. Never!

Sites such as Careerbuilder, Monster and the like are farces.  If those jobs exist they've long since been filled,  and  anyone applying will never hear from the prospective employer.  The categories they use "excellent match" etc. are useless.  I was recently called an excellent match for a job as a counselor.  The job requires a Master's in counseling which I do not have.  And that's just one example.

I read the comments about these stories and the rate of illiteracy is astounding.  The English language is murdered by these people.  Cliches such as "hard breaking," (heart-breaking) or "something's got to give in" (something's got to give) or today's winner in which the author says something unintelligible comparing longer lifespan and death panels to the current employment climate tell me that if these people even bothered to go to college at all, they got through because the instructor's are too lazy and/or stupid themselves to demand good work of their students.

We say we place such value on education and we pride ourselves on getting a college degree, which we are told is the key to success, and we're the stupidest nation on earth.  When the going gets tough we start to point fingers and blame each other and those who would replace us as an economic power are more than willing to exploit that chink in our armor. 

No, America has met it's enemy and it is us.  It didn't go out with a bang nor a whimper.  It went out and didn't even know it.  Until it was too late. 

And so it goes:

hgf

Cleanup on Aisle Three!

From themsmokinggun.com-


SEPTEMBER 15--What kind of a guy goes into Walmart, takes a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue from the magazine rack, heads to the store’s toy section, and proceeds to masturbate to completion in the aisle?
Meet William Tyler Black.
The 28-year-old Floridian, a substitute teacher, was arrested yesterday afternoon by Sarasota cops on battery and exposure of sexual organs charges, according to a probable cause affidavit, a copy of which you’ll find here.
A store employee told cops that Black “ejaculated onto the floor and wiped his hand on a toy along with rubbing his foot in the suspected semen on the floor.” Employees reported that Black “discarded the magazine behind some toys and proceeded to the front of the store.”
A police source told TSG that the toy in question was a light saber (apparently of the Star Wars variety), and that the magazine Black used was the 2010 SI swimsuit issue with model Brooklyn Decker on its cover. Though published in February, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue can still be found on sale months later at many retailers.
When cops confronted Black, pictured in the above mug shot, he said he was in the store “shopping for a toy for his daughter.” He was hit with the battery on a child count since investigators concluded that a “reasonable person would believe that a child would come in contact with the fluid on the toy being that it was left in the toy aisle of the store.”

Even if it's only temporary this lightened my mood this morning.  Of course he's a teacher.  

And no one thinks  we need to take a look at our education  system. 

Borrowing from the British

Due to the fact that I appear to be passing through one of those phases of life in which the universe is throwing things at me both figuratively and literally, I have decided not to whine today.  Well at least not on the blog.

I'm puzzled at all that's happening and the continuity of seemingly unconnected things collectively conspiring to make me just a wee bit miserable.  So, rather than attempt to sort it all out I've decided to just smile smile smile, uncharacteristically, and persevere.

So today I'm borrowing both the editorial content of the blog, from Australian Activist Peter Thatchell's speech in London not long ago regarding the pope's impending visit to England, and I'm borrowing the image from an admired blogger Leduc, whose profile describes him as a "Raging Narcissist and Pompous Know-It-All, with a Tendency towards Wind-Baggery."

How can you not like him when he knows all that?

And now in an attempt NOT to run into the bedroom and start packing a bag for places unknown, I give you the Borrowed from the British blogpost.


Editor's Note: Australian activist Peter Tatchell campaigns for human rights, democracy, lesbian and gay freedom and global justice. He supports the Protest the Pope campaign and he gave a speech containing the views below to a campaign meeting in Richmond, London in August.
London, England (CNN) -- As a democrat, I defend the right of Pope Benedict XVI to visit Britain and to express his opinions. But people who disagree with him also have a right to protest against his often harsh, intolerant views.
The Protest the Pope campaign is calling on the British government to disassociate itself from the pope's opposition to women's rights, gay equality and the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV. On these and many other issues, Benedict is out of step with the majority of British people, including most Catholics.
We do not believe that the pope should be honored with a state visit, given his role in the cover up of child sex abuse by Catholic clergy. Even today, he is refusing to hand the Vatican's secret sex abuse files to the police in countries worldwide. He is protecting the abusers. This makes him complicit with sex crimes against children. Such a person does not deserve the honor of a state visit.
We also object to part of his visit being funded by the taxpayer. The British public never funds visits by the Grand Mufti of Mecca or the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. Why should the pope's visit get privileged financial support?
On many important social issues, the pope rejects equality and human rights.
Pope Benedict opposes women's ordination. Women are deemed unfit to be priests. This is an insult to the whole female sex. The implication of the pope's teaching is that women have no moral capacity for spiritual leadership as clergy. This is pure patriarchy and misogyny.
The pope says artificial contraception is a sin. He condemns poor parents in developing countries to have large families that they can't care for adequately. In some countries, priests promote scare stories that contraception makes women sick and will kill them.
Benedict XVI opposes IVF fertility treatment. He wants to deny childless couples the chance of parenthood. This is odd. The Catholic Church says having children is God's will yet it rejects giving the option of parenthood to infertile couples.
The pope rejects potentially life-saving embryonic stem cell research, which could help find cures for fatal illnesses like motor neurone disease -- saving lives and improving people's quality of life. Surely this research is fulfilling Christian values and ideals?
Benedict XVI has denounced the use of condoms, even to stop the spread of HIV. A husband with HIV must not use a condom to protect his wife from infection, according to Papal doctrine. He has also claimed that condoms "increase" the rate of HIV infection. His dishonest teachings discourage a proven way to reduce HIV transmission; thereby putting millions of lives at risk.
The pope has colluded with the Vatican's promotion of the lie that condoms spread HIV because latex is porous (sic) to the virus. This is an outrageous falsehood and has been condemned as untrue and irresponsible by scientists and medical professionals. Yet Benedict has never withdrawn or repudiated the Vatican nonsense that condoms have tiny holes through which HIV can pass.
In 1986 and 1992, when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he authored a Vatican document that condemned the homosexuality as an "objective disorder" and the mere fact of being gay as a "strong tendency ordered towards an intrinsic moral evil" -- even if a gay person never has sex. Rejecting the concept of gay human rights, the document asserted that there is no "right" to laws protecting homosexual people against discrimination, suggesting that the civil liberties of lesbians and gay men can be "legitimately limited for objectively disordered external conduct."
The pope has attacked same-sex marriages as "evil" and vilified supporters of gay equality as "gravely immoral." He has also denounced homosexual equality as a "deviant trend" and condemned same-sex love as being "without any social value." He even threatened to excommunicate Catholic legislators who voted for gay rights laws.
While condemning loving, consenting adult same-sex relations, the pontiff played a role in shielding Catholic clergy guilty of child sex abuse from prosecution.
In 2001, Pope Benedict wrote a letter to all Catholic Bishops, which ordered "Papal secrecy" concerning allegations of child sex abuse. He instructed the Bishops to report all such cases to him in Rome, so the idea that he did not know about sex abuse by priests is nonsense. His letter did not tell Bishops to report the abusers to the police.
The esteemed Catholic theologian, Hans Kung, said the pope bears co-responsibility for the cover-up and that Benedict has failed to apologize for his own personal shortcomings during the child sex abuse scandal.
For more than two decades, as a Cardinal and as a Pope, Joseph Ratzinger has attempted to reverse the liberalizing trends of the Second Vatican Council -- pushing the whole church back to a more orthodox, conservative agenda. He's strengthening the hierarchy and autocracy of the Vatican and the Papacy.
This has prompted a grassroots Catholic revolt -- the "We are Church" movement -- which seeks a more democratic, transparent, accountable Church. It asserts that the people are the Church, not the pope.
The Pope has condemned liberation theology, as espoused by Catholic theologians such as Gustavo Gutierriz and Leonardo Boff, and he has opposed the worker priest movement. He preaches social justice but attacks those clergy who advocate political action to reform society and make it more just.
Last year, Pope Benedict rescinded the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson who, in 2008, denied key elements of the Holocaust; claiming that a maximum of 300,000 Jews died in concentration camps and that none were gassed by the Nazis. Williamson remains a part of the Catholic church, with the Pope's blessing, despite the furore over his holocaust denial.
Benedict has also paved the way for eventual sainthood of Pope, Pius XII, despite the war-time pontiff's failure to speak out publicly, either during or after the Holocaust, against the Nazi mass murder of six million Jews and millions of others, including Russian, Polish, disabled, gay and Roma people -- and many more.
Pius XII was no saint. The fact that Pope Benedict wants to makes him a saint shows how far he has strayed from the moral and ethical values of most Catholics and most of humanity.

And so it goes: