Posts Tagged 'Religion'

Yours Truly on 4Thought

This week  on 4Thought – those little films aired after the Channel 4 News – the topic is “Do we Need Religion“.  My slot is on Thursday evening (23rd February) at 7.55pm.

Needless to say, I don’t think we do need religion any more – indeed, I wonder if we ever did.  We managed to survive, as a species, before most of the “modern” mono-theistic religions were conjured-up.  We managed to thrive, indeed.  Perhaps part of the reason for our success was the ethical basis of our relations with our fellow human beings: reciprocal altruism, to lapse into Dawkins-speak.

Atheists and Humanists tend to be better at articulating ethics, these days, than people of faith.  Part of the reason is that – as the evidence shows – free thinkers tend to be more intelligent.  But, also, Atheists tend not to claim membership of a tribe or gang that assumes moral superiority over others.  Unlike religionists, Atheists don’t have to sign-up to a tithe-based club, stick to a liturgy, or issue repetitive chants.  Free thought is our only mantra.

Check out 4ThoughtTV to watch some of the previous episodes.  I recommend Trevor Moore’s film. He does an especially good job at explaining that religion of the noodly appendage: The Church of the Flying Spaghetti.  You’ll have to wait to later in the week to see mine.  Or watch it on Channel 4, 7.55pm, Thursday.  Let’s hope the edit gets my best side.

Catholic Church and Child Abuse

The publication of the 2,600 page report of the inquiry into Ireland’s church-run paedophile and child abuse ”reform schools” has done little to restore any confidence in the Catholic Church.  The failure of the inquiry to name and shame the perpetrators of these abuses is a national disgrace.  It also shows the extent of the Irish state’s culpability.  Such was the internecine relationship between church and state in Ireland during the years when these institutions were run, naming and shaming may have resulted in the state itself coming under too much scrutiny. 

However, the reaction from the Catholic Church itself is supine and insulting to our collective intelligence – and especially to the victims.  This is an institution that repeatedly and systematically produces paedophiles.  Indeed there appears to be a causal relationship between the very fibre of the institution of the Catholic Church in Ireland and its ability to produce child abusers and bullies.  Therefore the response from Sean Brady, the Cardinal of Ireland, rings very hollow.  He talked about restoring trust in the Church.  But let’s look at the facts.  This is an institution that cannot demand a restoration of trust – because when it had that trust it systematically abused it.  Not just a little:

A climate of fear, created by pervasive, excessive and arbitrary punishment, permeated most of the institutions and all those run for boys. Children lived with the daily terror of not knowing where the next beating was coming from.  Commission Report.

The Catholic Church should not be asking for trust to be restored.  Rather it should be conducting a root and branch review of what it stands for and the people it attracts into service.  Its insistence on priesthood celibacy, its creation of sex-starved orders, and its insistence that it knows all the answers to moral questions runs counter to common sense and logic.  Because it patently provides the wrong answers, the wrong people and the wrong structures to provide any degree of care or love to children.  It is an institution that is so flawed it deserves no trust whatsoever.


Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 32 other followers

Musings on things political and secular…

This is my site where I share my world views for anyone who might be remotely interested. Visit only if you think the content is interesting. Oh and comment is free. So go right ahead and agree or disagree. But, please, be kind and polite (especially to me).
Add to Technorati Favorites

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 32 other followers