Some Thoughts On The Pope's Visit To The UK

A few things struck me about the Pope's visit to the UK, from the way it's funded, the complaints about being marginalised, or the anti-Christian bias in the media, to the constant denial of the real issue of paedophile Priests.

They wanted it to be funded by the UK tax payer on the basis that the Pope's visit is a "state visit" by the leader of the Vatican, not a religious tour. I don't remember any other heads of state doing tours of crowds, giving speeches that have NOTHING to do with political issues in their own countries, or common ground between the two. If the US President arrives for a state visit it's a political visit, where the PM and President discuss common political ground around a series of dinner parties etc. Yes I know the US does not get a "state visit" in technical terms, being a republic but you get the idea. All the Pope has done in that regard is meet a few politicians and the Queen, then go off and do his religion thing.

They use the fact that it's a state visit, and therefore should be treated just like any other in terms of "the tax payer pays", but yet flip the cards when it applies to other things. Keep in mind that the cost of the visit does not just cover the travel and accommodation costs, but the security and Policing of the various events and protests the Church's actions have brought upon themselves.

The House Of Lords has Bishops sitting permanently, being involved in the diplomatic activity of the UK. They sit as "religious figures". The if the Pope is the chosen leader of an independent state like any other, then the various Bishops, Archbishops etc could be seen as Envoys or Ambassadors for the Vatican. In which case, why are they sitting in the House Of Lords? What other countries have their Ambassadors permanently sitting in our law making bodies?

They complain that religion is being marginalised from UK society, that Atheism is an increasing problem. They complain at the lack of religious coverage in the mainstream media, and an anti-Christianity bias. They also try to spin the angle that only the religious can be good moral people, who know right from wrong, and can be of some benefit to their fellow humans. It's not unlike the recording and movie industries attempts to enshrine themselves as a required part of the chain knowing they're the middlemen who more and more people are happily bypassing.

This is the same group of people who lobby, threaten and blackmail the government into allowing them exceptions from various laws, allowing them to legally discriminate against gay people, women, unmarried mothers etc. They want to marginalise and outcast various groups of the UK society who have done broken no UK laws, yet complain and whinge when they perceive themselves as being on the other foot.

Religion in general is based on ancient beliefs and superstitions that people believed in the absence of any other explanations. The problem is that as time passes, and man-kinds knowledge of the world around him increases, scientific knowledge builds to answer a lot of the questions, while opening up even more questions. Those repeatable, provable explanations often counter what the ancients believed. Remember that the people who wrote the Bible also thought the world was flat. All of this leads society to treat religions, and especially the religious organisations as a quaint hangover from the past.

The Church does take it upon itself to take the moral high ground, and try to indoctrinate it's beliefs into the laws governing the entire country. The way they've handled and continue to handle some issues shows they have no credibility in the modern world in taking that stance. They continue to believe that women and homosexuals should be denied the top jobs within their ranks. They continue to believe that paedophile Priests are "ill" and not "criminals". They continue to preach abstinence as the cure for HIV and AIDS, instead of condoms. Even now, after all the evidence of child abuse from around the world, the Church STILL has it's head in the sand.

When you take these positions, and try to spread them via the media, it's hardly surprising that sane people take issue with them, and you to the point of having a go at you, and your antiquated hypocrisy. The world has changed, people are thinking for themselves, they're not being reliant on some bloke in a dress, who may well have a taste for kids, putting answers into some context that suits the Church. People who see through the indoctrination and speak out against it is not "anti-Christian". Demanding to be exempt from equality legislation however IS "anti-homosexual". It allows you to discriminate along your own rules of who should be treated as an equal or otherwise.

If you're a paedophile, what is the best possible career move for you? Become a Priest. Your bosses will not only continue to move you into new areas with lots of new prey for you to abuse when the whim takes you, but they will cover up behind you, threaten and bully your victims into silence and refuse to co-operate with the Police if any allegations are made to them. All of this time, the worst you'll get is told that "you're ill, you need to pray for healing". No other profession would ever provide this. Every other profession would shun you if an allegation is made, let alone proved. If you're lucky your employer would stand by you until you're proven guilty. In all likelihood an allegation would mean at the very least suspension.

The Church have no intention of voluntarily doing the right thing. They need to be forced to. This is not a group which has any right to preach morality to anyone else, let alone have access to try and put their opinions into laws.