That thou be not judged

The year is almost over and the annual Fogg Award for the most sanctimonious hypocrite of 2006 is likely to go to Pope Benedict XVI. It’s hard to imagine anyone surpassing the recent Vatican statement of “bitterness” at the planned gay pride parade in Jerusalem. The Roman Catholic Church, which has presided over and protected more gay activity of the non-consensual and non-consenting adult variety, is adamant that freedom of expression ends where the sensitivity of religious people begins.

"The Holy See has reiterated on many occasions that the right to freedom of expression, sanctioned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is subject to just limits, in particular when the exercise of this right would offend the religious sentiments of believers,"

said a November 8^th letter from the Holy See to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

Think about it. Many of the Gospel stories offend the hell out of me. The passion plays, the blood libels, the continuous little digs at the character and inborn nature of Jews I’ve personally heard from the mouths of priests: such things and such negative characterizations of Jews and other heretics have been intrinsic to the dogma for so long that no simple proclamation by any pope will make them go away. They offend me. School prayer offends me, the mistranslated Ten Commandments on walls offend me; the twisted interpretations of Jewish scripture offend me. The sticky, maudlin professions of faith that fall on my ears every day offend me.

Where are my rights here, Holy Father? Where are the rights of anyone who wishes to do any harmless thing that might offend the great authors of bigotry and sanctimonious self promotion to moral authority? Has anyone forgotten how your predecessors fought against Democracy, against science, against tolerance for other beliefs no matter how small the transgression?

Earlier this year, the Vatican said that gay marriage, abortion, lesbians wanting to bear children and a host of other practices it saw as threats to the traditional family, were signs of "the eclipse of God." What the Vatican means is the eclipse of impotent and epicene old men in gold dresses who pretend to speak for God and protect him from things he doesn't know how to handle.

And while I'm on this tack; It's not only the Vatican that's all agitated about allowing people to deny the authority of men in black, the Israeli Religious right have their beards all in knots over this as well. They've been setting fires and throwing stones and acting as badly as they know how to act out of some conviction that they also have the right to keep people under their moral bootheel. So I got your sensitivity right here, Ratzy. If anyone ever hated anyone for their freedom, it's you.