Tag Archives: church

Spiritually Bankrupt: Catholic Church hiding assets from Abuse Victims

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

This is written with a sense of sadness and some mixed feelings. While not a member of the Roman Catholic Church, I have great respect for the church and its followers. The church has done and continues to do much good in the world. I've seen it among the poor, the downtrodden, and the ill all around the globe. But with a team of other investigative reporters, we uncovered some things that should be brought to light and pondered. Earlier this month, Pope Benedict XVI issued the first apology to priest abuse victims from St. Peter's Square – a gesture intended to show that church leadership is finally ready to confront this growing scandal. But in reporting a recent story, we found that behind the scenes – and in court – the church has taken a much less contrite and more confrontational position. Our investigation found that in various dioceses across the United States, church leaders were going great lengths to avoid making amends with the same victims of abuse they claimed to be trying to make peace with. Facing waves of lawsuits by now-adult victims, we found the church has reacted more like a big business than a sacred institution: Wealthy dioceses have claimed to be broke and taken the drastic act of filing for bankruptcy. Only when forced to open their ledgers in bankruptcy proceedings does it become clear that several of these dioceses were actually flush with assets – cash, real estate, parishes – that it could have made available to victims seeking restitution. Take the Diocese of San Diego: In 2007, just before several abuse cases were scheduled to begin, it filed for bankruptcy. It sought this protection despite owning hundreds of millions of dollars worth of real estate – everything from commercial buildings, to open land, to parking lots. Only after it became clear that the bankruptcy judge was ready to dismiss the diocese's bankruptcy filing did the church seek to settle with victims. At the end of the bankruptcy proceedings, the judge, a Catholic, scolded the church for being “disingenuous.” Story Continues – with DAN RATHER video report http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-rather/spiritually-bankrupt_b_629424.html added by: Stoneyroad

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“Hell Freezes Over” at Westboro Protest

Posted on July 3, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Plans by the notorious Westboro Baptist Church to protest the Resource Center Dallas, a northern Texas nonprofit that offers a variety of programs to LGBT and HIV-positive people, on July 9 have been turned into a fund-raiser. The center has launched an initiative called “Hell Freezes Over” and is asking local residents to donate an amount of money for each minute the protesters plan to picket both the center and Beth El Binah, a mainstream Jewish congregation with a longtime LGBT outreach that meets at the center. The center plans to use funds raised to buy a new ice machine for its meals program, which serves lunches to HIV-positive clients every weekday. “The protesters have been known to abandon their protests when they’re turned into a fund-raiser,” says Bret Camp, associate executive director for the center’s health and medical services. “Whether the church shows up or not, this is a way for the North Texas community to stand with us against hate and help us with a timely need.” added by: TimALoftis

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Atheist billboard on Billy Graham Parkway: One Nation Indivisible (not under God)

Posted on June 27, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The billboard features an American flag background and quotes the original phrase from the Pledge of Allegiance, before “under God” was inserted after “one nation,” in 1954. That was at the height of the Cold War and the addition was meant to distinguish the United States from the Soviet Union, which officially embraced atheism. Set to be up for four weeks, the billboards – costing a total of $15,000 – are a July 4 project of the N.C. Secular Association, a coalition of groups such as Charlotte Atheists & Agnostics, the Ethical Humanist Society of the Triangle and Western North Carolina Atheists. Their message: non-religious North Carolinians are patriots, too. “We’re doing this to raise the consciousness of the people of North Carolina,” said Warren, 29, an electronic technician who served in the Marines from 1999-2004. “We want to let them know that not everybody here is religious. There are atheists in North Carolina and we expect to be recognized and treated like everybody else.” The Pledge of Allegiance was penned in 1892 by a Baptist minister who left out any mention of religion. For generations, the Pledge has been recited by schoolchildren as they gazed at the American flag with their right hands over their hearts. President Eisenhower signed the “under God” addition into law on Flag Day, June 14, 1954. Over the years, the courts have been asked to rule on the constitutionality of the Pledge. Jehovah’s Witnesses, who swear loyalty to no other power but God, challenged the requirement that kids deliver the oath. And atheists have said that adding “under God” amounted to a violation of the constitutional ban on government endorsement of a particular religion. “When the words ‘under God’ were inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance between ‘one nation’ and ‘indivisible,’ they made a lie out of both those ideals,” Joseph McDaniel Stewart, vice president of FreeThoughtAction and one of the N.C. coalition founders, said in an e-mail. “You can’t have an indivisible nation if you draw a line between the godly and godless. We all belong here.” The billboard project is the latest sign that atheists – nationally and in North Carolina – are trying to boost their visibility and challenge conservative Christians in public forums. A recent series of assertive books by atheist authors such as Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and British biologist Richard Dawkins have climbed national bestseller lists. And when Dawkins came to Charlotte this year to speak at Queens University, local atheists sponsored a fundraiser for the Richard Dawkins Foundation. Warren said more than 600 people have signed up on his group’s Web site ( www.charlotteatheists.com ). And its monthly gatherings usually attract about 50 people. The Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association declined to comment. The Rev. Mark Harris, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in uptown Charlotte, said he was grateful that the local atheists’ financial resources “are so limited” that they could afford only one billboard here. He called the decision to place that one on Billy Graham Parkway “at best, in poor taste and, at worst, a disgrace.” Harris, who’s a leader in the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, also quoted Psalm 33 – “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” “Anybody who looks at the United States or looks at countries like Great Britain, which have been governed by a succession of godly (officials), will see why I personally believe that that’s why these nations have been so blessed,” Harris added. “And any decline of Great Britain and America will be in step with a growing independence from God.” http://www.thestate.com/2010/06/24/1348246/charlotte-atheist-groups-billboard.ht… added by: Stoneyroad

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Bozell Column: Bigotry Central

Posted on June 26, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

It’s been two months since Comedy Central censored Mohammed out of their cartoon “South Park.” Even the utterance of the name was bleeped. The blog Revolution Muslim quoted the world’s most notorious terrorist as an inspirational figure. “As Osama bin Laden said with regard to the cartoons of Denmark, ‘If there is no check in the freedom of your words, then let your hearts be open to the freedom of our actions.’” But there has been no ceasefire in Comedy Central’s war on Christianity. The attacks on Catholic Americans just keep coming. On “The Daily Show” on June 17, fake correspondent Samantha Bee interviewed two priests and two nuns who are watchdogging Goldman Sachs for a liberal interfaith group. Jon Stewart started the Catholic-bashing in his introduction: “Sometimes it’s easy to spot the villain in a story. Sometimes it’s not.” Bee joked to the priests and nuns: “Jesus wants us all to be rich. The Pope gets it. Have you even seen his ceiling?” Later, she joked that these “churchies” are “maybe not the best messengers.” When they suggested Goldman Sachs needed more transparency, Bee stressed with a laugh track: “Hold on. The Catholic Church wants more transparency.” Referring to this spring’s round of media investigations and church statements on priest sexual abuse, she said “Wouldn’t it be better to just lay low for a little while?” She narrowed her eyes and lectured a financial analyst: “Goldman Sachs is losing a P.R. war to the Catholic Church . That is not easy to do.” Christians should and do allow themselves to be the objects of good-natured comedy, but there is clearly a nasty, even vicious undercurrent here. In an interview on the National Public Radio show “Fresh Air” on June 2, Bee revealed that she loves the church-mocking as a “terribly lapsed” Catholic. “So it is joyful for me to do that. That is pure pleasure for me, I will say.” The comedians appearing on Comedy Central are also piling on Catholics. On June 11, the Catholic Church was mocked in a special featuring comedian Paul F. Tompkins . “Things started to just kind of unravel for her and it made less and less sense,” Tompkins said of his mother turning to atheism. “She said, ‘One day I woke up and I realized it was all just s–t.’ Very eloquently put, mother dear.” He described the steady, subtle erosion of faith. “And so years and years go by and then one day you wake up and say, ‘Hey, what happened to all that crazy junk I used to believe in? Boy, I sure like having my Sundays back.’” That was mild compared to the comedian calling himself Louis C.K., who appeared on “The Daily Show” on June 16 . Jon Stewart promoted him as “one of my all-time favorite comedians.” Late in the segment, as they were joking about being bleeped by censors, Louis said “I was going to say that the pope f—ed boys and I didn’t have time.” After the laughs, he insisted he was serious: “I do think he does. Can I defend that before we go away?…Well here’s the thing. He lets other people do it,” and you are either outraged, or you are participating in it. In this bigot’s mind, and many virulent anti-Catholic minds, Pope Benedict’s myriad of apologies and denunciations don’t display an ounce of outrage. He was not kidding. On YouTube, there’s a five-minute video he made for his own website LouisCK.com where he interviews a fake “church spokesman” in priestly garb. The man declares “The Catholic Church is an ancient, worldwide organization dedicated to the constant goal of f—ing young boys.” Louis C.K. presents a fake letter from the Pope that says “We at the Catholic Church f— boys all day long. That’s all we ever do. Signed, the Pope.” The “spokesman” he was interviewing proclaimed that “we’re very thorough” and the priests have raped every Catholic boy who’s come through a church door. With a smile, this alleged comic, a lapsed Catholic, “remembers” that why, yes, he was raped. You don’t make a skit like this for laughs. You make it to propagate a lie and unleash your personal hatred. But these Catholic-bashing comedians aren’t even controversial or “edgy.” Apparently, smearing the global leader of the world’s largest church just makes you a “truth” teller. Louis C.K. had a sitcom on HBO, and he’s now publicizing his new one for FX. He is so mainstream that CBS News just used him for a largely warm and fuzzy Father’s Day commentary on their show “Sunday Morning.” That’s how acceptable anti-Catholic bigotry has become.

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Bozell Column: Bigotry Central

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Lou Engle and TheCall: Vanguard Extended Footage

Posted on June 22, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

This exclusive, extended footage from Vanguard's “Missionaries of Hate” shows American evangelical leader Lou Engle at a rally in Uganda this May. Engle, founder of TheCall Ministry and a chief campaigner for Proposition 8, the measure that outlawed same sex marriage in California, traveled to the east African nation to headline a prayer event. “We know that Uganda has been under tremendous pressure,” Engle said at the rally. “I felt like TheCall was to come and join with the church of Uganda.” In “Missionaries of Hate,” correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Uganda, where many question whether the growing influence of American religious groups has led to a movement to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death. “Vanguard,” airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories. For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard . added by: MarianaVanZeller

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Media Praises ‘8: The Mormon Proposition,’ But Admit Film is One-Sided

Posted on June 18, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

“ 8: The Mormon Proposition ,” is a documentary detailing the large role the Mormon Church played in passing California’s Proposition 8 in 2008.That ballot initiative added an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman. While the media has naturally been praising the documentary, the movie is so biased that even some reviewers couldn’t avoid pointing out how one-sided it is. Directed by Reed Cowan, the film first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. “8: The Mormon Proposition” is narrated by Lance Dustin, who was the screenwriter for “ Milk ,” the movie about California’s first openly gay elected official. The trailer features protestors, people upset about the passage of Proposition 8, and paints the Mormon Church negatively for influencing the outcome of Proposition 8. Cowan has not attempted to hide his bias in the documentary. He stated, “The separation of church and state in the USA is a sacred value. It’s what keeps us from being a theocracy. We are a democracy and should forever stay that way. ‘8: The Mormon Proposition’ is a crucial piece of documentary film making because it puts on record what I believe to be the greatest encroachment into matters of state by a church in American history.” Mormon Church spokesperson Kim Farah told the Washington Post in January that although she has not seen the film, “judging from the trailer and background material online, it appears that accuracy and truth are rare commodities in this film. Although we have given many interviews on this topic, we had no desire to participate in something so obviously biased.” Farah is not the only one who has noticed the film’s obvious bias. In a June 18 article, The Boston Globe’s Mark Feeney labeled the film as “numbingly partisan.” He explained that while over 30 people were interviewed in the documentary, only two are against same-sex marriage and he called one of them “a bombs-away bozo.” But Feeney made sure readers knew he was no apostate from the gay agenda, explaining, “It’s so one-sided you hardly care after a while that the side it’s on is so clearly the right one.” The Chicago Tribune also noticed how one-sided the documentary was. Author Michael Phillips stated the film, “emanates empathy for gay and lesbians who are also Mormons, or were, or are related to them, and whose relationship has been thwarted by the preachments and political influence of the Latter-Day Saints.” Some reviewers didn’t feel the need to mention the film’s propagandist bent. In a June 18 New York Times’ review, author Stephen Holden praised the documentary as being “highly emotional.” He detailed how the, “movie shows the depth of religion-based loathing of homosexuality, like that of abortion, to be primal. In the meantime the struggle to repeal Proposition 8 is under way.” Strange, but Holden wasn’t so receptive to another film’s depiction of “religion-based loathing” when he panned “The Stoning of Soraya M.” But then, that movie was critical of Islam, not a dangerous creed like Mormonism. The Los Angeles Times’ review labeled the documentary as being a “straightforward presentation” and “outstanding.” The movie review continued to state how, “The words of the church’s leaders and its activists could scarcely be more homophobic.”

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Media Praises ‘8: The Mormon Proposition,’ But Admit Film is One-Sided

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REVIEW: Emotions Get the Better of 8: The Mormon Proposition

Posted on June 15, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Scheduled to be released on the second anniversary of California’s legislation of gay marriage, 8: The Mormon Proposition marks the occasion with a furious requiem. Mournful and righteous in its retracing of the months between the bill’s passage and election night in November 2008, the film assembles a damning case against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS), which spearheaded a massive campaign to revoke gay marriage rights. Directors Reed Cowan and Steven Greenstreet make their agenda clear from the first frames, which depict a Mormon “prophet” calmly denouncing gay marriage in extreme close-up, his face distorted with scary, Poltergeist -style pixilation. The opening impression — that the LDS acted villainously with regard to Prop 8 — will soon be supported by a raft of facts; that the Mormon church couldn’t have done it alone is a complication the film sidesteps almost completely.

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REVIEW: Emotions Get the Better of 8: The Mormon Proposition

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Touchdown Jesus On Fire in Monroe, Ohio

Posted on June 15, 2010 by Benny Hollywood

The Famous Giant Statue of Jesus Christ which also goes by the names: Touchdown Jesus, King of Kings and Big Butter Jesus that was built beside that the Solid Rock Church in Monroe, Ohio near the Interstate highway 75 and just above Cincinnati due north has been struck by lightening during the thunderstorm last Monday night, June 14, 2010, about 11:15 PM and it immediately turned into a blaze of fire and have eventually consumed itself and burned to the ground. The said six story tall statue of Jesus Christ with His arms raised was built more than half a decade ago in 2004 was actually made of fiberglass and plastic foam that have been put over a solid steel frame which explains why the fire consumed the whole statue leaving only the solid frame. Also beside the statue was the amphitheater that has also caught on fire but reports states that no injury of any sort have been involved in this incident. Below are some pictures and a video of the Solid Rock Church and Touchdown Jesus: Solid Rock Church Interstate 75 Touchdown Jesus on fire King of Kings steel frame Continue reading →

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Lady Gaga Wants To Offend With ‘Alejandro,’ Experts Say

Posted on June 11, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘Gaga would probably be disappointed if no one was offended,’ says EW ‘s Simon Vozick-Levinson. By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Jayson Rodriguez Lady Gaga in “Alejandro” Photo: Interscope Records While the religious imagery in Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro” video has gotten a mixed reaction from fans, many in the music industry are anything but surprised by the images in her dark, moody clip for the track. Much like Madonna did in “Like a Prayer,” Gaga co-opts Catholic symbols, dressing like a nun while performing sexy dance routines and ingesting rosary beads in the video, angering some members of the church. And several music journalists see it as a move calculated to cause a stir. “I think it’s funny there’s obviously a lot of religious imagery,” Entertainment Weekly correspondent Simon Vozick-Levinson told MTV News about the clip. “Gaga wants to offend people. She’s a provocateur. Gaga would probably be disappointed if no one was offended by her latest video. She’s doing that stuff for a reason.” But it may not be provocative enough to grab as much attention as the incredibly colorful, decadent video Gaga made with Beyonc

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Best of Celebrity Pics: May 29-June 4, 2010

Posted on June 5, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Welcome, all, to The Hollywood Gossip . Click to enlarge some of our favorite celebrity pics that accompanied our news stories during the past week, then follow jump for dozens of additional images …

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Best of Celebrity Pics: May 29-June 4, 2010

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