Former Alberta Education Minister, David King, has put together a summary of why Alberta has a separate school system (both public and Catholic school districts) and whether the system can be changed. (Hint: yes, and other provinces have done it already.)
By Daniel Mallett
Over the past week there have been several major stories that broke about this evil institution:
1. The Pope’s advisor on pedophilia has a priest in his diocese who pays money and drugs for sex with boys.
2. A report, issued by and funded by Catholics, essentially blames the high rate of child rape by Catholic priests on the free-loving culture of the 60’s. The rate is high even after they try to redefine pedophilia as being only boys 10 years old and under (as though if they are over 10 it is somehow mutual!). http://mirandaceleste.net/2011/05/24/a-worthless-and-dangerous-report/
And yes for good measure let’s throw in:
3. An Irish story of abuse of 30,000 women thanks in no small part to the Catholic church http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/world/europe/25iht-abuse25.html?_r=3
Before I get rolling, let’s remember that a conservative estimate makes it 100 times more likely that a Catholic priest is a pedophile than any other adult from the general population. These facts alone make it painfully obvious that there is something institutional at work here that makes the raping of children and the cover-up /white-washing of these crimes a necessary by-product part of the Catholic system.
So, why, oh why, are there still Catholics? Ok, obviously, but sadly, the question must be qualified. I understand that there are poor, uneducated Catholics out there — in fact, they tend to be favoured targets for evangelization — whose opportunity to know the truth about this evil institution is extremely limited and whose lack of education and resources makes leaving the fear-based system of Catholicism an almost impossible task. Even then, there probably are some that do. But let’s take the question as: why are there still educated, intelligent, adults of good-conscience who at least pay lip-service and more importantly give their hard-earned cash to the Catholic church?
Answer: Faith. In particular, faith that claims to know things that no human can possibly know. To an outsider, it is painfully obvious that a misogynistic system of sexual repression and guilt will inevitably lead to a culture of abuse. But in the eyes of faith, the Church is the bride of Christ. The pope is the Vicar of Christ. The BVM (Blessed Virgin Mary) protects her Church with a mantle of magic invulnerability. So these priests, some of these bishops, and maybe even the pope can basically do whatever heinous evil acts they want. Faith cannot be challenged. It is impervious to evidence. In fact, some believers will say that even if you could prove Jesus did not exist they would still believe in him ( http://www.markmallett.com/blog/2009/12/jesus-the-myth/)!
It is hard to imagine a greater evil that institutionalized pedophilia and yet, here we are, asking the question, “Why are there still Catholics?” Because the faithful will believe no matter what. Sure, they’ll say there might only be a remnant flock. It might even come down to just one single priest who is good and true. But this is God’s church and the gates of Hades will never prevail (though they might beat the snot out of it).
It is the ultimate hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil.
By Daniel Mallett
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2072613,00.html?xid=rss-world
I don’t even know what to say anymore. This is institutionalized evil. It breaks my heart.
By Daniel Mallett
Perhaps an advantage the side of reason has is that no matter how much we disagree with the religionists, they’re too busy fighting amongst themselves to worry too much about us: http://www.markmallett.com/blog/2011/04/on-the-archdiocese-of-edmonton/ Mark is a Catholic evangelist with roots in Edmonton who preaches and speaks throughout North America. He has a cult-like following of believers he “feeds” through regular podcasts and blog posts. He places a strong emphasis on end times prophecy, the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) and following whatever various popes both dead and alive have said. Apparently, this makes him too crazy for our local Catholic bishop. Censorship — ya — that’ll fix it. Maybe the bible had something right after all:
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.
Doesn’t persecuting believers usually backfire?
By Daniel Mallett
A Catholic bigot, who also happens to be the Pope’s right-hand man, will be preaching in Edmonton this weekend about atheism, secularism, rationalism… http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/Pope+preacher+visit+Edmonton/4702517/story.html This is the guy who compared criticism of the Catholic hierachy’s cover-up of the rape and torture of innocent children to be on par with “the most shameful acts of anti-Semitism.” Here is a link to his outline: 
http://www.newman.edu/Index.aspx?SitePageId=%2fVI4Q4TCJRLr%40HDJpJ4dqw%3d%3d
I can almost guess what he’ll say. Us atheists are just as irrational because you can’t prove his particular imaginary sky-daddy Yahweh doesn’t exist. Science can’t know everything therefore zombie-Jesus is real. Rationalism is not rational unless you have an invisible Daryl Katz like omniscence in the background holding it up. And look at how secularism is destroying society what with all the baby killers and lesbian sex.
So this weekend the collective “we” celebrate Easter. It is important to note that the roots of Easter go back to ancient anglo-saxon pagan practises. 
Rabbits are a symbol of fertility. It is no coincidence that as the vernal equinox brings fertility to the earth (at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere) we celebrate a holiday of new life and fertility. Easter has pagan roots, although the exact details are uncertain. It may have been the case that the entire month of April was devoted to the anglo-saxon goddess Eostre: 
Eggs are a symbol of rebirth. The use of eggs may also stem from the fact that many Catholics abstained from eggs during Easter. Also, the Zoroastrians celebrated their new year at the Spring equinox by painting eggs. The point is that don’t buy any nonsense about Easter being a “Christian” holiday. Enjoy the time with friends and family. Eat some chocolate bunny’s ear off and watch the snow melt. And hey, if you’re looking to spend time with someone, call up an Atheist — they’re probably not busy!
By Daniel Mallett
The week leading up to Easter Sunday is traditionally celebrated as “Holy Week” in the Christian calendar. To honour holy week, Jerry Coyne over at whyevolutionistrue.com has been featuring a “Sin of the Day”. So far we have:
What immediately struck me is how none of these “sins” is necessarily anything that actually harms self or others. Yes, taken to excess they could cause harm — what can’t? But when committed by responsible consenting adults there is absolutely nothing immoral about masturbation, fornication, blasphemy, divorce or homosexuality. So why does religion such as Catholicism forbid these things? For one it is the general obsession of religionists concerning sex. It is only one of these so far (blasphemy) that does not involve human sexuality in some way. And since sexuality is such a fundamental part of being a human being, perhaps controlling sex is a way of controlling people. What fascinates me is that I do not believe that some Catholic bishop just sat down some day and randomly pulled these sins out of his pontificating hat. These memes evolve from complex tapestries of cultural and religious history. 
Let us know in the comments what your favourite sin is!
By Daniel Mallett
So a taxpayer funded public institution in Alberta gets away with discriminatory employment because they’re Catholic. Hooray for religion! You rock! http://www.edmontonsun.com/comment/columnists/mindelle_jacobs/2011/04/11/17954591.html What is really creepy is the following statement that implies there is nothing wrong with being transgender so long as nobody knows:
“It’s not acceptable to demonstrably let that be known to the community as part of your engagement within our organization,” he said. Kind of like ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ I guess.
Does this not reminisce of the pedophilia scandal? It’s not a problem so long as nobody knows. I can’t put it much better than the commenter on this article:
Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools superintendent David Keohane knows all about turning a blind eye hey? That’s what catholics do. They also feel quite absolved after they confess their sins to a ‘priest’. The catholic system should be turfed. Shelby Mack, April 12th 2011, 9:40am
It is the 21st century people! This is our tax money at work?!?
By Daniel Mallett
It cannot be denied that the high rates of child rape by Catholic priests directly relate to the Church’s faith and morals. Beliefs inform actions. When you believe that homosexuality is a sin and just as bad as raping innocent children — you get these kind of consequences. The true prevalence of this horrific act will never truly be known; but until the Catholic Church takes care of the root causes of this evil it is doomed to continue. The church has no right to accuse anyone of immorality or anti-Catholicism as long as this scapegoating and denial continues. What frustrates me to no end are those educated Catholics who continue to support this institution and thus condone the abuse. I could understand to some degree how they might cherish their beliefs but surely they could practice them elsewhere. I cannot understand how any person of good conscience who is aware of these facts could put even a penny into the collection plate of a Catholic Church. Religion is evil because it makes true morality impossible – otherwise decent individuals are blinded by dogma to see how their beliefs influence and harm even the weakest members of society — our children. http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/03/the_catholic_church_still_does.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienceblogs%2Fpharyngula+%28Pharyngula%29
By Daniel Mallett
My daughter, through no impetus of mine, calls “Saint” Patrick’s Day “Leprechaun’s Day” instead. Ah, the wisdom of babes. I’m all for any excuse to hang out, party, and drink beer. But using the name of this proselytizer of Christianity to party will not be on my agenda for the day. Ireland knows all too well the poison of religion. Let’s not celebrate the person who helped make possible some of the worst religious induced violence the world has known; and who contributed to the destruction of ancient European paganism. So by all means raise a glass of green beer, and remember that there is as much evidence for Leprechauns as there is for Yahweh!
