For more information about the "Virgin of Guadalupe" check Brian Dunning's Skeptoid, especially to this part:
The Virgin of Guadalupe is yet more one mythical story whose believers are missing out on true facts that are actually more respectful and confer more credit upon them than the myth. The image on the Virgin tilma was painted by a native Aztec artist; and the painting had not only an important role in Mexico's early history as a nation, but also a staggering impact upon its culture ever since. Mexicans with Aztec heritage should take pride in the fact that their original culture, specifically the goddess Tonantzin, was a key ingredient in the spread of modern Catholicism. The Juan Diego myth takes that away, and whitewashes part of Mexican history clean of any Aztec influence. That's a disservice to one of humanity's greatest ancient civilizations, and it's a disservice to history.
Christmas is just around the corner, and with it, the complaints from many religious leaders about converting it in a celebration of consumption. For example:
The cardinal lamented that this holiday is used to promote spending among the people.
Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani asked the people not to make the Christmas holiday a celebration of consumption, but to remember that in such day the birth of Jesus Christ.
He basically says “Don’t spend on Christmas. Donate to the Catholic Church.”
I’ve been hearing this since I was a kid. Cipriani, as well as the priest who rage at the spending the people does during the December holidays lament that Jesus is not anymore the center of the celebration.
However, any person in his right mind should already know how wrong is to believe that Jesus was born during that very day. Consider that when Rome made Christianity the official empire religion, many of the pagan holidays were converted into Christian holidays. Moreover, let’s consider how ridiculous is to thing that a woman can conceive a child and remain a virgin. And finally, let’s remember how important the winter solstice was for so many cultures. Even a bishop, when pushed would admit this.
But let’s put that aside for now. Christmas exists no matter if we liked it or not. Just like Halloween, it started as a pagan holiday. And just like Halloween, much of its attractive is in the associated parafernalia. Nowadays, Christmas can be very easily enjoyed with or without Jesus. Just like I don’t believe in Santa Claus, I don’t believe in Jesus.
But there is something I do believe in: the happiness of giving (and receiving) gifts from loved ones. That’s something I will spend money in. The better if the evil capitalist system gives us the option to choose from corporations that fight over their clients.
I don’t think anyone needs and old story to understand and enjoy the happiness of spending time with our loved ones. I am planning to spend it the best I can during these holidays. I won’t be saying “Merry Christmas”, but won’t make a fuzz about it either. I might not like Christmas music, but certainly there are some that deserve to be listened to. In other words, attitude is everything.
The Peruvian cardinal pretends that during Christmas everyone should go to church and listen to that larger-than-life mass. I respectfully decline the invitation, I like my Christmas spending. And if I needed any other reason to not celebrate Christmas like the cardinal wants, well…
Tradition is the idiot’s personality - Maurice Ravel
Today and the next days there will be three especial days to celebrate in different parts of the world. We have Halloween in the US and other parts of the world, The Day of the Dead in Mexico and the Criolla Music Day in Peru.
While these celebrations are not in the same day, they usually come together and, because of their different origin, they cause some controversy.
Halloween (October 31st) started with the Celtic festival called Samhaim with very clear pagan roots. People believed that the door between the real world and the underworld opened and all kind of spirits came to walk among us, so people used masks and costumes to scare them away. Nowadays this is a secular holiday that is mostly about costumes, candy and having a good time. Of course, there are still some fundamentalists that, as if they hadn’t came out from the middle ages, think that this is a satanic celebration.
The Day of the Dead (November 2nd) is Mexican celebration in which families usually get together to remember and pray to their loved ones who have died, through altars and food offerings. This celebration can be traced about 3000 years ago, when the natives used to honor the skulls as a symbols life and death. When the Spaniards arrived, they tried to eliminate this celebration, which they deemed as pagan. They couldn’t, so they made it coincide along with the Day of All Saints.
Finally, the Criolla Song Day (October 31st) is celebrated in Peru since 1944, when it was declared that day to honor and remember the musicians who created the “criollo” musical genre, which are mainly waltzes and black music from the Peruvian coast. Obviously, this produces a strong feeling of identification for the people from this region. This day is celebrated by partying and singing until very late at night, which doesn’t seem to be a problem, since it’s done in the name of one’s country and music.
These three traditions are very important in the places in which they are celebrated. They are festivities that, for many, have been going on since they can remember. This helps the tradition get ingrained in one’s mind and makes it very hard to be erased, since the person can hardly imagine life without such ritual. Just like religion.
Traditions are something we celebrate without thinking much about it. We just think about how important they were for those who were before us, and therefore, must be important for us. Traditions are respected because, otherwise, we show disrespect, not to the tradition itself, but to those who celebrate it, love it an value it. Traditions are a chain and ball around our necks, which prevents us from lifting our heads and wonder “Does it make sense what we are doing”. Just like religion.
A good example are bullfights.
I think it’s pretty obvious how disgusting they can be. However, it’s still going on in many parts of the world, since it’s a tradition and must be respected.
Just like religious ideas in which a dogma is imposed and leaves no room for asking questions or refuting them, traditions prohibit doubt by telling us “It’s been always like this, why change it?” Usually a tradition was installed because it served a practical reason, but that doesn’t mean that it will be useful forever. And when it’s not like that anymore, tradition doesn’t allow an easy change, even if it is a necessary and useful change.
I certainly don’t want to criticize anyone who prefers to celebrate certain ritual during these days. However, to pretend that someone who doesn’t celebrates certain ritual is someone who losses his identity or is worth less than his or her connationals is certainly idiotic. We can enjoy them as much as we want, but to make them central in our identity is, as Ravel said, for idiots.
After the case of the rescued 33 miners many praises and thanks to God have been chanted along the most religious, especially those who can’t understand how a well developed human-made plan, along with technology could have been successful and end up calling it a miracle. A Colombian newspaper even gets to this:
From "El Espectador" Question: "The Chilean miners's rescue, to you, is more - Miracle -Science
So, to finish the miners’ issue, here is another piece of news regarding miners who suffered God’s negligence and died, with no prayer that could change that,
The corpses of other two miners were found on Saturday at 150 meters below the surface, in a gold mine at the Ecuadorian south-east. This makes three dead people and a fourth one that is still missing.
Please don’t tell me that for those miners no one prayed. Don’t tell me that there was not even one who put his faith in God and asked to live. And even if no one had done that, it shouldn’t be necessary if there actually is a “loving father” who knows what is in our hearts.
The only logical conclusion is that prayer is useless. There is no proof that this works better than a placebo that gives energy and hope to whoever believes in it. But when it comes to change something in the real world (not the person’s psique), it fails. The only thing that will decide one’s success is the strength of those who are willing to fight for whatever they want, with our without prayer, and usually helped by technology (like with the Chilean miners)
In other words, if we want something to be successful, our only option is to believe in ourselves, and make use of the best technology we can get. To trust in God is pretty much believe in dumb luck or bet to lose.
With the miners’ rescue I had almost forgotten about today’s Threesome Thursday. So, let’s talk about disasters in which miners died despite all the prayers and hopes their loved ones had in God.
On February 19, 2006 a coal mine in Pasta de Conchos, Coahuila in Mexico suffered an explosion and 73 miners got trapped inside the mine. 65 died.
I have the impression that Mexicans are more devout than Chileans (after all, the Virgin Mary never appeared in Chile). Imagine all the prayers, petitions, promises made to God, Jesus and all the saints Mexicans believe in.
And then, death.
There was no miracle for the Mexicans, their bodies still there. If God saved the Chilean miners, why not the Mexicans?
Time stopped five days ago for the families of 29 coal miners killed in the devastating explosion at Upper Big Branch mine.
Seven bodies were pulled from Upper Big Branch immediately after Monday's blast, but dangerous gases forced rescue crews out and it took days for them to get back in. They hoped four miners they had not accounted for might somehow have made it to a refuge chamber stocked with food, water and oxygen, but word came early Saturday that all had been found dead.
For these miners there was no miracle either. There was no God who listened to them or the prayers in their honor, to look after them and keep them as a living father should. On the contrary, a horrible dead was reserved for them, either in an explosion, or trapped in the deadly gases.
At least 38 miners have been killed in three separate accidents in China's notoriously dangerous coal mines, according to state-run media.
Twenty eight people died after an electrical cable caught fire inside the Xiaonangou mine in Shaanxi province, the Xinhua news agency reports.
According to official figures, 2,631 coal miners died in 1,616 mine accidents in China in 2009, down 18% from the previous year.
For them, there was no divine salvation either. Maybe the loving father only helps those in countries that believe in Him, but still, He left the Mexican and American miners to die. So, what kind of “loving father” are we talking about?
Today many thank God for saving those 33 miners. However, no one complains about all the others dead in different parts of the world ¿Could it be that, no matter the prayers, God only responds to his own whines and desires?
Or maybe, he doesn’t care about this world.
Or maybe, He just doesn’t exist.
Because, if there were a God, what kind of loving God is this one? And what kind of idiots thank him for a few rescued, but forget about the death of many?
And finally, I haven’t forgotten that God might have saved 33 Chileans, but killed at least 500 during the last earthquake.
Today was celebrated Saint Rose of Lima, and as a tradition, I dedicate today's post to her. I did the same thing last year, presenting facts that "mythbusted" her supposed miracles.
This year, thanks to Rocio Silva Santistevan's blog, we will learn how this girl, with an insane liking for masochism, became one of the best know Latin American saints.
Some years ago, Jorge Rivero conducted a study for the Somos magazine with some psicoanalists to diagnose Rose of Lima. I think it was an interesting study, since beside some preconceived ideas that portray her as a masochist, we were able to understand some searches, even though, without leaving behind the "pathology" aura that is greater than the one of sanctity.
Obviously, someone has to pretty dumb to think that someone who thinks can talk to baby Jesus and flagellates herself continuously is mentally stable.
Luis Millones also has many articles about the importance of Santa Rosa's stay in Quives, where she learned how to use herbs from the native population
That's interesting and very commendable, to use folk medicine to help sick people (remember that, at that time, medicine wasn't very advanced), but that eventually became a "miracle"thanks to the catholic propaganda. This portrays Rose of Lima as a nice person, something I have never denied, by the way.
Also, Eduardo Adrianzén wrote the play "Espinas" based precisely in Saint Rose of Lima and her fellows who did similar things to her at that time. The other "illuminated" girls didn't depend from any ecclesiastic hierarchy but from their confesors. This is the reason some of them ended in the Inquisition and were not "saints", but even were considered heretics. Saint Rose of Lima had as a confesor a Dominic, and the Dominics, let's not forget, were those in charge of the inquisition in Lima. She went to the tribunal and was acquitted.
In other words, Saint Rose of Lima had "people inside" and didn't end up like the other girls like her, accused of heresy. Instead, since she was not accused, she was used as propaganda for the highly religious and credulous population of Lima at that time. Her sainthood and miracles were happily embraced by the people, who were happy to have their own saint. Of course, the catholic church didn't bother to disprove such claims. Instead, they have been using her fame until today, even in the most ridiculous ways:
The Archbishop of Lima has opened a "virtual mailbox" so that the faithful from everywhere can send her petitions to the "Patron of the Americas" during her day
In the address grupo_sntarosa@hotmail.com, the archbishop receives the petitions from those who can't go to her sanctuary in Lima Downtown and promises to put those messages in her "Well of the wishes" in which every year thousands of people give their wishes to the saint
The title itself is a joke. It makes me think of something like...
Yeah, something like that. The archbishop is so desperate to get young people's attention and involve them in child-like games like throwing letters with wishes in a well with hopes that Rose of Lima will read them. That is a tradition I followed during all my years in my private catholic high school. A kids game, game that persist among many grown ups. Pitiful and sad show.
Hopefully one day that will change and more people will start thinking critically and put religion and its irrational beliefs aside. Hopefully, one day.
This blog won. Thanks to you all. To you all who voted for my blog, even if the instructions were confusing and hard to understand.
Especial thanks to Neece for correcting the first posts, to Angie for retweeting the petition for votes, and to all the English-speakers who voted for a blog that tries to do something for those who need critical thinking the most.
Thank you all for for showing that there is no need to gather around a set of beliefs in order to have a loving and supporting community. This is the real spirit of the "You are not alone" posters. You just made it real.
Also, it's interesting that no one will say "Thank God" for this. In fact, it should be said " Despite God, and His fans, we won".
My blog might not be well known as those of Hemant Mehta, or PZ Myers. I want it to be. But what I want the most is that if someone reads this, if just one person reads this blog and start thinking about how religion is not what was sold to us, not the source of love and comfor, but a facade for hatred and intolerance, will reconsider his or her way of thinking. I hope that's not too much to ask.
Anyway, thank you all. Let's keep up with the good work
What happened with "update #2" well, I didn't write the English version, just the Spanish. If I had, it would have said that there was a blog dedicated to the iPhone that had around 3000 votes. Well, that blog is not anymore in the race.
It doesn't matter really much, since, as long as we are in the three first places, we go to the finals. So, that blog's absence does not mean we automatically win. It just means that we will go to the finals with the most votes.
After that, the judges will choose the winner in the category. If we win, I think it will be a great success regarding the attention the non-believers receive, especially in Perú, where it's not that common that someone stands up to religious authorities and their dogmas.
And if we don't win? Well, we fought well. Maybe this is not what the judges were looking for. But we were there, and showed that it's not necessary to have faith ina higher being to achieve something. I had faith in all of you who gave a vote, I had faith in the community of non-believers that desire to live in a world that appreciates critical thinking.
Anyway thank you all for your votes. The contest will finish in less than a week. You can vote by clicking in THIS LINK. It will take you to a page in which you have put your email address. Then click on the button that says "envienme..." After that, got to your inbox and open the email from "20blogs". There, just click in the confirmation link. Otherwise, the vote will not count.
Yeah, that was an earthquake. So, it's very probable someone is going to say:
"It is a sign that Jesus rose from the dead"
More over, if that someone is a staunch catholic:
"It's a sign that God is angry at the people who are trying to destroy His church"
Well, if you hear that, it's very probable you are going to want to say something back. Here are some ideas:
"God is angry at the pedophile priests"
Pretty easy, right? And just as true as the "God is angry at the people accusing the pedophile priests".
"The goddess Eostre is angry at the world for celebrating Jesus and not her".
Myth against myth. Oh, who is Eostre you ask? Well, in few words, it's the Anglo-saxon Goddess that is said to have originated the celebration of Easter, way before Jesus came on the scene.
"Americans are trying their earthquake-making weapon to separate Mexico from the United States, just like they tried it on Haiti"
This is going to be a favorite for my anarchist/communist friends who advocate that the United States is the Antichrist.
"The Mayans predicted it"
Mayans FTW!
Anyway, those are some I can think of. The truth is, no matter what you do or what you believe in or to what you attribute the quake, quakes happen. It doesn't matter if you went to church today, or for the last 3 days, or for the last 40 days. It doesn't matter if you didn't go at all. There are quakes and the only ones who will give an educated explanation are geologists. They studied, therefore, they know, at least more than you and I.
What can we do? Be prepared, of course. Plan ahead, have some canned food, buy a radio, get a weapon. And help others, you might need their help later.
Sounds a little bit weird, it will piss off conservatives, not to mention religious zealots, but when thinking about it, it makes sense. Just as there is a day to remember soldiers who serve our country out there facing lots of difficulties, it is only reasonable to at least thank doctors who provide abortions.
I’m really no big fan of abortion. I don’t like the idea of a couple having unprotected sex and then going to fix the problem after 5 or 6 months. But I am a big fan of freedom, freedom to choose and freedom to get educated. Abortion , while a not very nice solution is a solution to be taken into consideration, especially in cases that don’t involve irresponsibility from the couple.
I’ll quote two cases that depict why a day such as today is necessary.
Last year, in Brazil, a 9-year-old girl had been repeatedly raped by her stepfather, who got her pregnant with twins. According to the doctor, to carry on the pregnancy would have meant the little girl’s death, so the doctor determined that the best solution was to get her an abortion.
How did the catholic church react? By opposing to the abortion and threatening the doctor and the girl’s family with an excommunication. Apparently, for the catholic church the only thing that is important is the life of the babies that, very probably, would have had a very miserable life, since it’s very unlikely that the catholic church would have taken care of them. It doesn’t matter if the little girl dies, that’s “God’s law”:
The Church excommunicated the doctors who performed the procedure as well. "God's laws," said the archbishop, dictate that abortion is a sin and that transgressors are no longer welcome in the Roman Catholic Church
Notice that, the doctor and the girl’s family were excommunicated, but not the stepfather. I can’t help but to think that the catholic church is kind of a fan of rape.
The doctor who performed the abortion was pressured not do his job, he was threatened with “excommunication”, which is not really a big deal, but there is always the danger that a Christian terrorist would take God’s law in his hands and attack the doctor.
Thank you catholic church. Thank you from discouraging a doctor from saving a life and putting his own in danger.
But the Catholics are not the only crazy about abortion. That’s a title that evangelicals have.
David Gunn never set out to be a symbol. He wanted to deliver babies. But then an abortion clinic asked for help, and because no other doctor would do the job, performing abortions in the rural South became Dr. Gunn's life. There were wanted posters with his name on them, people following him late at night, hate mail, death threats, protesters yelling "Murderer!" Dr. Gunn kept three guns in his car -- one in the glove compartment, one under the seat and one in the trunk.
I don’t think that doctors Tiller, Gunn and the Brazilian doctor like to do such a job. But someone has to do it when the circumstances arise. Christian fanatics don’t think further than the fact that life is being terminated and refuse to see other factors playing a role in the case. That is the kind of thinking that religion considers a virtue: A lack of critical thinking and a sheep-like mind that just does what it is told to do, regardless of how sense it makes and (in this case) without minding that another person’s life is at risk.
We all have a crazy aunt or in-law that states, after a disaster, that it has been "God's punishment". Usually that relative is an uneducated asshole who never went out of his/her own town.
But in this case, the asshole has a TV show popular with millions of Christians.
I present to you Pat Robertson
So, according to Robertson, this earthquake happened because Haiti (not just one person or town, the whole country) made a pact with the devil. And it is a "true story."
He offers the same idiotic solution that was offered (by another christian commentator) to Tiger Woods: Turn to God, become a christian, because that religion of yours is not the true one, Christianity is the true one, right? In other words, my fairy tale is more real than your fairy tale.
Really, even if Robertson was right, we would have a God who punishes a whole country because of a pact made by some people, more than 100 years ago. If that is the case, God is really a dick.
It was predictable. Some days ago Mexico City approved a law that would allow gays to get married. Of course it would be long until the Mexican catholic church, very powerful in that country, would say something condemning the approval of such a law.
Considering all that is wrong in Mexico and that makes the Mexican people suffer, the Mexican catholic church aims at gay marriage, as if it were a huge threat to that country. Cardinal Norberto Rivera said:
"This law has opened the doors to the perverted possibility that these couples might adopt innocent children, who will not have their right to have a family formed by a mother and a father, with the following consequences as psychological and moral damage that would provoke such injustice. Such pretension is no more than pride and it will inevitably will lead society to its ruin, which concerns us enormously.
This cardinal is not just wrong. This guy is an idiot. If he were just some lay person who has no more knowledge than what he has just seen in his life he would just be wrong. But because he has the means to learn, but instead chooses to remain an ignorant following his own biases and stereotypes, he is an idiot.
First of all, according to the American Psychological Association (a group of scientists who rely on facts and studies instead of faith) "sexual and gender identities (including gender identity, gender-role behavior, and sexual orientation) develop in much the same way among children of lesbian mothers as they do among children of heterosexual parents. Few studies are available regarding children of gay fathers." In other words, children of lesbian couples have very little difference to those of heterosexual parents. And since there is no enough regarding children of gay parents, we can and should remain agnostic about this. But the catholic church keeps following its laws and outdated beliefs against gays. Ignorance, arrogance and stupidity, all in one.
Second, the Cardinal says that this decision would ruin the society. I haven't seen that happening in the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Spain, Norway, Sweden, and South Africa. On the contrary, countries that outlaw and demonize homosexuality (such as Iran) have a lot of problems in their society. But the catholic church doesn't want to see that.
Third, the cardinal is concerned about the children. Yes, they might have some problems, especially in a society with a huge catholic influence, which demonizes and ridicules homosexuality. The catholic church is the one causing the problem and then blames the victim .
I support gay marriage because gays should have the same right I have to marry the person I love.
I support gay marriage because I don't find it threatening, since I will not marry another man or become gay.
I support gay marriage because I want my children to grown in a society with equal rights for everyone, in which no one is discriminated.
I support gay marriage because it is usually opposed by those who have hold the power on the basis of fear and superstition. Yes, I mean the churches.
It has been more than a month since my last message, shame on me. I apologize to the (few?) who read me. Anyway, I’m back
Today in my country and, I guess, in many others, it is celebrated the “Immaculate Conception”. This is basically the idea that the Virgin Mary was born without sin so she could be able to give birth to Jesus. A nice story, a nice fairy tale, that just made me look at the Virgin.
The Virgin Mary, Jesus’ mother, our Lady of somewhere and many other titles she has, she is one of the greatest celebrities in the catholic pantheon. In some places she is even more prayed to than Jesus. So, it’s not hard to find here in many places.
The cases in which the Virgin Mary has appeared are the Virgin of Guadalupe and the Virgen de Fatima. But there are many other, less known and much more hilarious and ridiculous, given the place and circumstances in which her devote and smart followers have seen her.
The virgin Mary has appeared in:
... a puddle, in Mexico
... a Parking lot, in Colombia
... glass in a building, in Clearwater, Florida
... a turtle
... a building, in Samoa
... a pretzel
... a wound
... a pankake
... a condom (she was advocating in favor of the use of condoms)
Sunday woke me up with a wake up call from the front desk. Half zombie, I put my clothes on and went down looking for Gerardo so that I could tape his speech and share it for all the atheists in Mexico who, just like the Peruvians and atheists from all around the world, must have a hard life.
At first there were some problems with the audio, but after finding a solution, Gerardo gave a great speech about what it is to be an atheist in Mexico and what kind of activism he and his group does. I was able to videotape the whole speech and give it to him before leaving. As soon as he finished, I went to my room, passed it from the camera to the computer. Meanwhile, I was picking up all my stuff, for I had to leave the hotel that day, and check out was at eleven. At 10:45 I went down, met Gerardo and gave him the video and finally say good bye to him and to all the good people I had met during that weekend. All of them happy to see fellow nonbelievers that would not think of them going to hell or being immoral people. Moreover we were happy to meet people with whom we shared a mutual element: our stories, all of them interesting and most of them painful of our way from believer to nonbelievers. That is who we are and we are proud of having got to that conclusion by ourselves, despite all the adversities we had to face.
I am glad I went to this convention. The next one will be in Canada. I don’t think I will be able to go, but as soon as I get an opportunity, I’ll be in the AAIC.
The person I had just met was Gerardo Romero, one of the leaders from Ateos Mexicanos, a forum in Mexico that serves as a community for atheists in that country. But not only that, he also helped organized the Atheist March in 2008 and 2009 in Mexico. Besides, he hosts a podcast, Masa Crítica, which is about, you guessed it, atheism. And last but not least, he contributes to the E-zine Hidra, a web magazine about atheism. In few words, a real mexican atheist activist.
During that lunch (those were the most expensive noodles I have ever had) we talked about what had brought us to atheism, the dangers and bigotry that religion brings, his activism, our relationship with our parents, how we got there, etc. It is interesting how most of us non-believers had to go through a process of self discovering to get to where we are now. Both Gerardo and me had been catholics in our youth, but after going though that process of questioning and critical thinking, we ended up noticing that we did not belong with the church crowd. His story was more painful than mine, but he has used to go full force into the atheist activism.
We talked so much that I missed more than half the PZ Myers speech. Dammit.
When we got there, the room was crowded and I could only get a little bit of what he was taking about. I taped some but not enough to be proud of. Besides, later that day, the presentation of Richard Dawkins and Bill Maher was going to take place, so I better saved my tape.
Ater the PZ Myers event, Gerardo got a picture with a philosopher he admires a lot and had recommended to me, Daniel Dennett. So I also got a picture with him. The next day I would hear him give a speech, which would demostrate why Gerardo admires him
I don’t usually have a very good image of priests. Most of those I’ve known are proud and self-righteous, ready to judge you and teach you “what is good”, as told by Vatican.
However, there are priests and priests, and a priest who is able to break his vow of obedience in order to do something actually good is someone to admire.
That priest is the Padre Martin. Sorry, Ex Padre Martin.
Padre Martin, o Martin Sanchez Terán used to be a priest who worked trying to improve the life conditions of poor children, something Perú really needs. He had a bakery in which he employed poor children and youngsters. He started building a name and gaining reputation.
Father Martin Sanchez, director of the organization "El Hogar de Cristo" was detained during the night along with 3 other people in the Costa Verde shore.
[...]
The policemen who stopped him said they found him drunk and in a romantic attitude with his personal assistant, who was sitting in his legs.
Being a priest, that was very hypocritical. Being himself gay, he belonged to an institution that discriminates and demonizes gay people. At least he did not do it with children, but with adults.
Then came the suspension. Cardinal Cipriani (the Peruvian Bill Donohue, a total catholic douchebag) suspended him. I don’t know to what extent he did it, but apparently, the Padre Martin cannot call himself “padre” since he is not a priest anymore.
“I broke Cipriani’s schemes. As a priest I used to do aerobics, I danced Marinera (one of Peru’s most awesomest dances), drank pisco sour and promoted ethnic parties at a restaurant. This kind of stuff upsets a conservative”
After Cipriani suspended him, his work, the “Hogar de Cristo” (Christ’s Home) stopped receiving 70% of the donations it used to have. Martin studied business and kept working in it.
There was also an accusation for child pornography, which ended up being false and product of some people trying to destroy Martin’s good name. There is no information about who was behind that.
Also, Martin is a very liberal and inteligent person:
Martin supports the ending of celibacy and also supports gay marriage, which are ideas he wouldn’t be able to say while being a priest. He considers that “a sexual option is as valid as any other”, but in his case, he is very clear: he doesn’t deny having a relationship with a woman (he had a girlfriend before being a priest). “I treasure the image of being incredibly happy with whatever God puts in front of me. By now, my priority is to be a successful businessman” he says.
As I said before, it was hypocritical of him to be a priest while also gay. He was suspended from the church, which is an understandable punishment. But here is where the catholic church shows its true colors: after he was suspended, his foundation received much less donation, which affected the poor children. The catholic church cares more about its own pride than the lives of those in need, who are supposedly those who Jesus would have cared the most. It’s the same old catholic hypocrisy.
Martin keeps working for the poor children, even after being shunned by those who were supposed to help him to help those children. Now free from that despicable institution, he is able to say what he thinks is right without having to obey nonsensical and hateful positions. Martin committed some errors, but now works for those in need and is able to think freely.
That’s what makes him cool. If more people were like him, the world would be different.
Today the world remembers the hijacking of the planes that ultimately hit and destroyed the WTC. More than 3000 people died because of the holy mission the hijackers had in order to please their god.
Well, almost 8 years after, another hijacker who counted with god’s help hijacked a plane. The difference is while the 9/11 incident was tragic, this year’s hijacking is just ridiculous.
Josmar Flores Pereira, told authorities he hijacked the Boeing 737 jet because the date -- September 9, 2009, or 9/9/9, and 666 reversed -- held some significance for him, said Genaro Garcia Luna, the secretary for public safety.
"He said that because of that divine reference, he wanted to alert Mexico City of an earthquake," Garcia told reporters.
Basically, this guy wanted to alert Calderon (Mexico’s president) that a huge earthquake was coming. To do so he told the flight assistant he had a bomb, which actually was a cardboard box. Few of the passengers were aware of this. No guns, no knives, no yelling, only a cardboard box.
Is this guy crazy or not? I’m tempted to say yes. But, wait, he was acting because god told him to do it, just like many other believers. Maybe not in the same extreme way as to hijack a plane, but is still their acts are going to be “guided by god.”
Want an example? Iraq.
According to Bush and Palin, the US intervention in Iraq was commanded by god. And these are known and respected people, there are many others, less known, who attribute their actions to something they think god wants them to do. I’ve been told many times by believers to “listen to the voice of god, but to listen with an open heart.” I wonder if they do the same and if what they hear (or think they hear) is taken with as much seriousness as Josmar took what god told him to do.
Today, august 30, Peru (and surely many other countries) celebrate the festivity of Santa Rosa de Lima. I remember 10 years ago I was at the sanctuary of Santa Rosa, along with my whole school, to attend a mass in her honor. I don’t remember if I was ok with that or hoped (as most of my classmates) the celebration finished quickly.
That’s one of the memories I have about Santa Rosa, going every year to the sanctuary. Another is an old nun singing a song in her honor in a squeaky voice when I was in elementary school.
As you can notice, children are taught to revere these saint figures since they are very young. No wonder some adults keep revering those figures. I think part of the fascination one feels about it are the miracles that those saints supposedly did.
One of the miracles Santa Rosa is credited for is praying for the corsair Jorge Spilbergen not to attack Lima. Well, thanks to El Utero de Marita and Amautacuna de la Historia, that miracle has been busted.
From Amautacuna de la Historia:
When the corsair Spilbergen, a Calvinist, arrived to Callao (the principal port in Peru, very near Lima, the capital) everywhere in Lima was the rumor that his men would enter the Santo Domingo Convent to desecrate the Sacrament in the Altar. When Santa Rosa heard that, she run to the temple and “climbed up the altar to protect the eucharist with her own body”, eager to die defending it. At the same time she prayed to the Virgen del Rosario to protect the city
Being a corsair, I’m sure Spilbergen had better things to do than going to a church and desecrate whatever was there. His men might have had a good time with 29 year-old Rosa, but that’s just my speculation. After all, they weren’t pirates.
Coincidently, Spilbergen did not disembarked in Callao, neither attacked Lima; he went to Paita and Acapulco and then to Molucas and never came back. The people from Lima attributed their salvation to Santa Rosa de Lima and to this day many remember the episode as one of her principal miracles.
However, checking some books, I found some facts that allow us to understand better why Lima was not attacked that Tuesday, July 21, 1615:
- In the Cerro Azul combat, Spilbergen lost a ship and other 5 were left very damaged - In that same combat, the corsair lost 25% of his men. - When Spilbergen arrived to Callao and commanded the disembarkment, his ships were attacked by a canon that protected the port. - Spilbergen only had 300 men and did not
IN OTHER WORDS, Lima was NOT SAVED because Santa Rosa’s prayers (as if prayer ever worked), but because a particular reason.
On a certain way is understandable that people pray when they have no other options and all hope is lost. But those prayers won’t change anything. Your beloved ones may be dying and you can gather the entire town to pray, but that won’t work. Sorry, that’s how it is. Santa Rosa may have prayed all she wanted, but she doesn’t deserve any credit for Lima no being invaded.
I don’t hear much mention about Uruguay, and when thinking about that country, I usually think of actress and singer Natalia Oreiro. In other words, Uruguay is a country that doesn’t seem to receive a lot of attention, at least not like the rest of the “barrio”, like Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Chile, etc. But today there are good news coming from that small country.
The initiative got green light in the House of Representatives and now will go to the Senate, where a quick acceptance is expected. If that happens, it would be the first Latinamerican country that allows adoption by same-sex couples
So many times I think of Latinoamerica as a ghetto neighborhood in which neighbors are often yelling and fighting with each other. But it’s nice to see that in that ghetto, there is an intelligent, loving and tolerant neighbor that makes a difference and gives us hope for a better future.
On the other hand, just like many comments in the page suggest, there are many who are not going to be happy with that. I bet my arm that the Catholic Church is not happy with this decision either (I just checked and I was right). That’s good. When it comes to gay people, the catholic church usually behaves as if it hasn’t changed in 1500 years, still full of hatred and superstition. It’s nice to see how some of the Uruguayan congressmen are different:
“What is important is love and the quality with which a home is built for the kid, and not the sexual option of his or her parents”, said Pablo Alvarez, congressmen for the party that is now in power to El Espectador radio.
1. Do children of lesbian and gay parents have more problems with sexual identity than do children of heterosexual parents? For instance, do these children develop problems in gender identity and/or in gender role behavior? The answer from research is clear: sexual and gender identities (including gender identity, gender-role behavior, and sexual orientation) develop in much the same way among children of lesbian mothers as they do among children of heterosexual parents. Few studies are available regarding children of gay fathers.
Of course, not everyone agrees:
“All children have a right to be adopted by a father and a mother and should have, from our point of view, a clear reference of father and mother’, said congressmen Pablo Abdala, from the opposition party”
Well, his point of view is wrong. Just because it has been happening for centuries doesn’t mean it’s right.
Some days ago I had a very interesting conversation with a friend who asked me about this blog, which sparkled a very intense discussion about what I criticized about religions and what she perceived in them. I don’t know if we got to an agreements or just got bored of discussing with each other, but I got to understand something kind of interesting about her: she, a catholic, did not give so much importance to the institution (this is, the Catholic Church), but to what she interpreted and made her feel good, which doesn’t include despising homosexuals, denying the effectiveness of contraceptives and surely many other things. This, to my eyes (and I’m sure, to the Catholic Church’s eyes) make her bad catholic. But I also see her as a very nice person who, with the qualities and defects every person has, lives her life without bothering others and never despising anyone for being different.
In other words, she could be defined as a “liberal catholic” who feels good by believing some catholic ideas and discarding those with which she does not agree, wheteher because they seem morally incorrect to her or are just nonsensical
“We are catholics who chose to use contraceptive methods” To say sexuality and Catholic Chruch in the same phrase, usually, represents conflict, moreover if it’s women we are talking about, in which case we talk about sin and guilt. Eliana Cano is a representative of Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir, women who, without leaving their faith, question church policies.
We have to admit that one needs courage to question the policies of their own church,, a church that since the beginning convince its followers, specially if these are young, that it is the true path to God, to salvation, to being good, etc. That’s even worse when the person is a woman in a world and church dominated by men. But yet, even having the strength to say “this is wrong” to their church, these women are still there.
The Catholic Church is all of us who consider ourselves Catholics. The church hierarchy, the Vatican is, let’s say, the “officers”. But inside the church there are many voices, including our. It’s true that for the “officers” everything related to reproductive regulation and living sexuality is a questionable field: it’s sin. There are some of us who consider us Catholics, who have grown up in this and who use contraceptive method, because we want it that way.
It’s interesting the sentence with which the paragraph starts. Is it true that catholic is that one who just “feels” that way If it were like that, the rites, the customs and all the paraphernalia associated with that wouldn’t be necessary. Can a person really call him or herself a catholic without being baptized, receiving the communion, being confirmed, married by the church or, worse, dissobeying the church commandments? I don’t think the “officers” would be too happy about that. The idea of democratic catholic church is very nice and very comfortable, but, sadly, it’s not that way. The catholic church demands obedience to its pastors, in a chain of command very similar to that of the military, in which the Pope has the final word and the power do say something and declare it “infallible”, supposedly through the use of the holy spirit. Being so, hand having the Pope clearly expressed his views about contraceptives, to go against his word must be near heresy.
Of course, to the people who keep their reason, to agree with the nonsensical posture the Pope has against contraceptives, must be horribly hard.
Isn’t it easier to forget the church?No. It’s just that the Catholic Church is not only church hierarchy. The are some who break off, but they do so with resentment and anger. But I had other encounters in my faith, simple things in life, nothing theoretical, nor complicated, nor corporate. Because of that I thought that it would be better to stay in this side of the river and propose an alternative. And we find ourselves with many men and women who think alike, but don’t have the position or the courage to talk about it openly.
It’s just natural to move away from the catholic church (just like from any other cult) with some animadversion after realizing what kind of institution it is, after noticing how absurd, megalomaniacal, extravagant and perverted it as, and seeing that was the flag we have been carrying all the way. To me it’s hard to understand how a group of well-meaning people can still be carrying the label of an institution that looks at them as sinners and, if they keep doing so even though it’s a rational and practical posture, they won’t achieve salvation.
To forget the church is never easy, to forget the beliefs with which one grew up, to forget the rites usually associated with good memories and warm feelings is in no way easy. But to realize in what kind of team one has being signed in most part of one’s life not only helps, but gives us a moral burden that requires for us to make a choice, choice that will definitively affect one’s destiny.
