Texas Approves Chaplains in Schools

Posted on by

When are religious people going to stop shoving their faith down our throats? The answer is never. Just ask non-Christian parent at Grapevine’s Independent School District in Texas. The board recently approved the hiring of chaplains at the school, a move that’s angered many parents. During one recent meeting, a number of them were kicked out, or walked out in protest.

They are angry that these men, who have no training as councilors, are being paid with state funds to proselytize to students during school hours. Despite all the protest, the National School Chaplain Association thinks there is nothing wrong with the move:

“School chaplaincy, just like chaplaincy in other U.S. institutions, is perfectly legal and consistently upheld by the Supreme Court. School chaplaincy programs follow specific regulations that prohibit proselytizing, offering services based on consent. Simply put, chaplains don’t represent religion or the church, they represent God.”

That doesn’t mean anything to people who don’t share your embrace of an imaginary lord. The fact of the matter is that the faithful are in the business of converting people and asserting their dominance, and this is just another form if it. It also is an open visitation for lawsuits, which in the end is only going to cost the taxpayers more money.

Why can’t they just keep their religion to themselves, you may wonder. It seems that while one side of their mouths pretends to want to live and let live, constantly going on about how loving their god is, the other side openly prays for our destruction. The Supreme Court has upheld chaplaincy programs only because its members have capitulated to religion. Their oath to the Constitution is a joke, a minor inconvenience in the quest to make America into a Christian nation. They are slowly succeeding, despite the fact that more and more of Americans are departing from religion. This is the reason why they are fighting so hard to shove it down our throats: they figure that unless they take action now, the demise of religion is inevitable.

French Teachers on Strike over Fears of Muslim Violence

Posted on by

The “religion of peace” has a problem. Various PR departments of Islam are busy trying to convince naïve idiots that the religion is your average, run-of-the-mill faith that is just trying to live and let live. The truth is far more sinister than that. Islam is only interested in one thing: the complete subjugation of free thinking people into their cult of death. It’s in the name itself: Islam means submission, and what good is it when there’s no one to control?

In France, teachers at a school in Paris are on strike, not because they have financial demands, but because they fear for their lives. When one of the teachers of a school near the city of Paris dared to show a nude painting dating from the 17th century as part of their art appreciation class, and the results were catastrophic: mass demonstrations, and threats of violent retribution for the crime of showing this “forbidden” image (which in these parts, we generally just call art).

In order to act even more outraged, students and parents started to spread rumors that the teacher had singled out Muslim students and had made racist remarks. They did this precisely because they knew that by lying, they would stir up sympathy from the left of the political spectrum, which is now dominated by young people who have no real understanding that they are political tools in a clash of civilization. For over a decade, they have used criticism of their faith to be labelled as racist by coining the term “Islamophobia”. When this word is used, they can count on an army of soft headed do-gooders to fall over themselves coming to the defense of Islam, even when the interests of both sides fundamentally conflict.

Let’s keep a few things in mind to give context to this fight. More than 40% of French Muslims support the idea of replacing our legal system with their own twisted one, called Sharia. The situation in most western countries is exactly the same. This is a worrying trend for democracies, who rely on the people to reach a consensus as to how they wish to be governed. The values of that society must be maintained in order for it to survive. The fact that one religious group so thoroughly despises these values should be of great concern.

There is a special word for the deceit used by Muslims when it comes to pretending to share the same values as your neighbor: taqiyya. This is a religious concept that eases the psychological torment of constantly lying to people that are not part of your “clan”. It is this belief that allows extremists to live covertly and unassumingly in our society.

It should be noted that the only way to truly know who honors our society’s commitment to free speech is to continue to express it, and wait for the overreaction from those that do not share these values. What we shouldn’t do as is follow in the example of Denmark. The country is trying to criminalize or censure any behavior that “offends” the worthless religion of Islam. If anything, we need more insults, not less. Let the religious psychos reveal themselves, so that we can see through their lies of wishing to live together with us in peace.

Iowa Capital Satanic Display Causes Outrage

Posted on by

It’s been a banner year for Satan. Not only has he been helping to shut down countless school promotions of religions, but in his spare time, he’s been helping to freak out some poor Iowans, but making them have to put up a display in order to contravene the nativity one that was allowed in the Capitol Building.

The state Governor was less than enthusiastic, but as her Republican colleagues reminded her, the very first amendment of their beloved Constitution does not allow for the establishment or specific endorsement of one religion, and so in order to have their display, there would have to be allowance for others.

“Today, faithful Iowans gathered in the Capitol rotunda to display the Nativity and pray for peace,” she wrote on social media. “Free speech is a right afforded to all. But how we use it matters. Today’s event is proof that in the battle between good and evil, good will always prevail.”

The way religious people speak always drives me crazy. This isn’t a battle between good and evil; it’s a fight to keep religious nonsense out of government. The whole reason this satanic display exists in the first place is to act as a counter to all the Christian propaganda that pops up every holiday season. These morons actually think that the folks who put up the Satanic display praise the dark lord. They can’t fathom that it’s simply epic trolling.

How can we ever win when people are that deluded? Sometimes it all feels like a gigantic waste of time trying to change their minds. Still, there’s bound to be a few people that realize the hypocrisy at work. It might be the push they need to throw off the shackles of this ancient superstition. That’s all we can hope for at this point!

Denmark Criminalizes Koran Burning

Posted on by

Denmark is failing as a nation. It is failing for the same reasons many other European countries are struggling right now: the rapid influx of Muslim immigrants has ramped up sectarian tensions, and now, as a response, the government has reacted in the most cowardly way possible to the mounting violent rhetoric of Islamic fundamentalists: they are kowtowing to the faithful, ensuring that hurt feelings take precedence over liberal values. So, now if anyone has the balls to express their free speech right by burning the Koran, they face up to two years in jail for causing a disturbance that could lead to violence.

The purpose of the law is to counter “the systematic mockery” that, among other things, has contributed to intensifying the threat of terrorism in Denmark, the Ministry of Justice said.

Allow me to translate this sentence, as it failed to properly provide context to what is happening: in order to prevent Muslims living in their own country from committing violent acts of retribution, the government has decided that instead of honoring its commitment to free speech, it would rather cower to a religion that respects neither free speech nor secularism. What are we fighting for, if not our own downfall?

Denmark had previously gotten rid of its blasphemy laws, but it seems now that their society is regressing, thanks to an immigration policy that puts their own values at risk. This means that the counter-reaction of the population will undoubtedly make matters worst. We are sure to witness the resurgence of far right political candidates, who favor anti-immigration stances in response to these kinds of laws. This will be especially true after the next terrorist attack, which given the current political climate, seems almost like an inevitability.

The broader problem in my opinion, is that progressives are too naïve to understand the threat that Islam poses to modern civilization. The conflict in Israel has created a litany of confusing and contradictory alliances, such as “Gays for Palestine”, who unknowingly betray their gay brethren for the sake of appearing welcoming and open minded. The fact that Hamas has openly called for, and participated in the murder of young gay men seems more than a minor inconvenience. Even a few decapitated heads doesn’t seem to register much of a response from the LGBT community, if only because it threatens to make everyone’s lives messy by acknowledging it. The world is a complicated place. The idea that gay Palestinians often seek asylum in Israel, out of fear that they will be killed by their fellow man because an ancient barbaric tome claims that same sex attractions are wrong, conflicts with the narrative that there is a good guy and a bad guy.

I’ve often said that liberalism is under attack; not by without, but from within. Soft-headed liberals who sacrificed integrity for intersectionality have allowed vile religions like Islam to benefit from their protection, all the while oblivious that their benefactors secretly plot to destroy them. If countries like Denmark are an indication of how things are going, the news is not good.

Religious Terror Attack in Australia had US connection

Posted on by

In May of 2021, a man named Gareth Train began a correspondence with an American called Donald Day. Day is a premillennialist, a Christian sect that believes that Jesus will physically return to earth, ushering the end time. Day’s correspondence fed Train and his wife Stacey conspiratorial beliefs, including claims that the government is run by Satan and his minions.

When police were called last December the Train property for a routine welfare check on Gareth’s brother Nathan, two of the officers were gunned down in an ambush, with two other officers forced to flee for help. Nathan and Gareth then lit a grass fire in an effort to smoke the officers out, which prompted a neighbor, Alan Dare, to investigate. He was also shot and killed. The two men then posted an online video of themselves, claiming that “devils and demons” had attempted to kill them, but that they had struck first.

What followed was a tense six hour siege which ended with the death of all three suspects. In all, half a dozen people lost their lives, and all because of unhinged conspiracy theories. Now, police in the US have arrested Day for his connection in the shooting.

Premillennialism is mainly an American invention, and ever since the Covid-19, religious groups have been getting more extreme. The toxic combination of Q Anon, MAGA supporters, and the slow decline of religion has created dangerously primed groups of believers that think the end times are just around the corner. When the stakes are risen so high, you can count on things turning violent.

Australia is has enacted strict gun control laws after a massacre that occurred in 1996. When 35 people were slaughtered, the government decided that it was time to enact stricter gun control laws. The results were a dramatic decrease in not only mass shootings, but also in accidental gun deaths as well. The conclusion from this three decades of reform is clear:

Removing large numbers of rapid-firing firearms from civilians may be an effective way of reducing mass shootings, firearm homicides and firearm suicides.

Following this tragedy, there may be more gun reforms on the way. Over 80% of Aussies think that gun laws are still too lenient. It’s almost as though the country wants to do something to stop these kinds of shootings. Isn’t that weird, America?

Day was arrested by the FBI as a result of his involvement in the shootings. How the rest of this plays out remains to be seen.

Activist Gets High School to Remove Sectarian Banners

Posted on by

The Church of Satan is the gift that keep on giving. When it comes to freaking out religious rubes, there’s nothing quite like “Satanism” to scare the living daylights out of believers.

When high school student Chaz Stevens noticed that his school was displaying a banner promoting a house of worship called “Calvary Chapel Parkland”, he decided that it would only be fair if other “faiths” were promoted as well. He created his own banner graphic, and forwarded it to the Broward County School Board, and stated that since they were proudly displaying a religious ad, he wanted his Satanic “Ministry of Chaz the Bropostle” to have a prominent display as well.

“Considering that the school has accepted a banner from one religious group, I’m hoping our banner will be seen in the same light, especially given that the government emphasizes no favoritism,” Stevens wrote in an email to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Principal Michelle Kefford on Oct. 2.

The school reacted the way all government institutions do when faced with potential lawsuits: they took the original banner down. All it took was the fear of having “satanic” displays everywhere. It just goes to show that sometimes, the only way to fight fire is with fire. Stevens is a gigachad for doing this, but nothing is stopping other atheist students out there from doing the same. All you need is a good idea and a pair of brass balls to boot.

So, what’s stopping you listeners out there from doing the same thing?

New Orleans Catholic Orphanages were sexually torturing children

Posted on by

The depravity of Catholicism knows no bounds. It seems as though no institution run by this sinister cult is safe. Regardless of whether they are priests or nuns, the Church attracts the most disgusting and vile human beings known to man. How else can you explain the endless array of victims of their abuse?

Recently, a group of survivors in New Orleans have been trying to get some form of justice for the decades of abuse they sustained in catholic orphanages. In order to contravene the statue of limitation on child rape (which were the result of churches lobbying, incidentally), they are using a recent law that allows victims who are older than 28 the sue their victimizers, since the justice system deems these crimes to old to pursue. Unsurprisingly, the Church is also fighting this law as well.

The two orphanages in question are called “Madonna Manor” and “Hope Haven”. The church which ran these nightmare gulags have filed for bankruptcy protection, as over 100 abuse claims stemming from the two orphanages alone. The victims had other names for these hellholes:

“They’d bring you over to the Dark Tower – that’s what we called the church, the cathedral they had on the property. Running away from Madonna Manor you just wanted to be someplace else. You’re still going to an abusive environment, but it was the horrors of being sexually assaulted, like the devil was in the building.”

The lawsuits detail countless beatings and sexual abuses suffered at the hands of their caretakers, who treated the students as though they were sex toys instead of human beings. Sometimes it would be difficult to know who was doing the abuse, since they treated the place like it was that creepy sex cult in Eyes Wide Shut:

“Brother Harold was like the boss,” Leon continued. “Once you’re targeted they got lockdown units. They’d put a pillow over your face so you can’t hear what’s going on. Sometimes they wore masks to conceal [their] identity so you didn’t know who raped you.

Churches all over the country have been declaring bankruptcy in order to shield themselves from having to pay lawsuits to victims of abuse. For nearly 20 years, countless organizations have avoided responsibility by using a legal tool that is meant to protect businesses from going under. It also allows the church to group lawsuits together, and more importantly, avoid pesky legal entanglements like discovery, which prevents victims from finding out how much information about the abuse where known to church leaders.

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 346

This week, we discuss how Christianity is a death cult, the Catholic Church and how it defends pedophiles, and Mormon leaders being accused of covering up abuse.

The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 346
Loading
/

Panty Sniffing Priest Splinters Family

Posted on by

There is something unique about the nature of priestly abuse. For starters, in some families, “holy men” are often seen in a different light than others. The church paints itself as bridging the gap between mortals and the divine, and for some folks, this represents the most important job anyone can have. Some people are so enamored with the priestly class that they will defend them, even at the cost of their own family.

When a young girl in Miami Oklahoma accused her pastor, Fred McCoy Gammon Jr,  her sister and mother turned against her, accusing her of lying. They even testified in court that the abuse was impossible, since “his character is amazing”, as one put it. These poor brainwashed fools threw their family member under the bus rather than admit the man is a panty sniffing pervert.

There is plenty of evidence to convict Gammon, including text messages he sent the teen telling her how “hot” she was. His wife tried to downplay the whole affair, admitting that while her husband showed troubling behavior, he was repentant the whole time, which meant that everything was fine. When he confessed to her that he couldn’t get the girl out of his mind, they fasted. This, according to her, was enough to get a pedophile to stop fantasizing about a young child. It obviously had no effect.

The trial is still ongoing, but I think it’s safe to assume a few things. Firstly, this family is finished. You cannot survive something like this. Having your mother and sister take the side of the abuser is not something a person can really forgive. The father, to his credit, didn’t doubt his daughter, and when the scumbag tried to confess to him, Gammon was repeatedly beaten in retaliation. He faces no charges. How he feels about his wife is unknown.

Secondly, we can reasonably assume that once Gammon is found guilty, there will still be plenty of people who will come to his defense, even when he’s a disgraced priest. This is the power of religion. It can make you turn your back on your child and side with her rapist. There’s not a lot of ideologies that can claim such a powerful degree of control over a human being.

Lastly, I think another tragedy in this story is the fact that the girl, now a young woman, is still interested in missionary work. Somehow, getting assaulted by one of God’s representative wasn’t enough to convince her that religion is an obvious con job. One wonders what it takes to get people to jump ship from such an organization. So long as religions continue to claim that they hold the keys to the afterlife, you can bet that desperate individuals will continue to let these organizations get away with murder.

Religion Makes Accountability Impossible

Posted on by

One of the hardest things in life is taking accountability for your actions. For whatever reason, this simple and powerful act is abhorred by all. In order to relieve this psychic tension, religions offer an easy solution: none of your problems are your fault, because an evil conspiracy is at play. For Christianity and Islam, their favorite bugbear is Satan, the supposed prince of darkness that meddles in human affairs. This does away with a person needing to accept any blame for their own situation. Just don’t forget to pay the tithe.

According to one victim of a conspiracy to destroy his life, when his kids refused for the 4th year to even call him for Thanksgiving, Georgia lawyer L. Lin Wood blamed the only ones he could: Satan and his cronies in the deep state of course!

“What evil explains the last 4 years???” Wood said. “The devil and his minions in earth. The deep state and its operatives.”

“Their time is coming,” he said. “I just have to wait on the LORD and trust the LORD. And I also look forward to the day when President Trump OBLITERATES the Deep State. I believe he is in the process of OBLITERATING the Deep State right now.”

Who wouldn’t want to call this bundle of joy for the holidays? I can just imagine his poor children having to listen to his mad rantings at the diner table. It probably got to the point where they all agreed that his presence in their lives was encouraging this type of behavior. I bet part of them hopes that the silent treatment might force him to take a look at his own actions, and how they contributed to his alienation.

With a man willing to blame outside forces for his own kids hating him, I doubt he’s ever taken personal responsibility for anything in his life. Religion feeds into the ego of people, making them sanctimonious, holier-than-thou sociopaths who have no empathy for those who do not share their view. There is nothing worst than the combination of religious fanaticism and civil service. How is a person who is blinded by their own zealotry supposed to serve the people who do not share their beliefs? We’ve often seen the type of final solutions they have towards these types of problems. If we aren’t careful, they are bound to try and implements them again.

 

Christian School Diplomas Are a Joke

Posted on by

How much should a good education cost? How much is it worth? Well, in Louisiana, the answer is quite simple: it’ll be 465 dollars, please. That’s how much it costs a person who hasn’t done a day of learning in their life to buy a high school diploma from one of it’s religious unaccredited institutions. They should simply be called diploma mills, where the right price gets you the air of legitimacy.

There’s been a growing home schooling movement in the US ever since the outbreak of Covid-19. Religious organizations have been busy lobbying the state to drop any form of certification process, which means that if you open up a “private school”, which also has no real requirements for size, you can hand out diplomas without a “student” ever having to step into a classroom. All you need is a wallet and a heartbeat.

If that isn’t enough, these fake schools will also lie for you. For instance, you can have the diplomas backdated, so that it looks like you graduated in any year you wish. They will also put false information, like “approved by the Louisiana Board of Education”, even when this is a blatant lie. These schools advertise themselves on being “state-approved”, even when they aren’t.

Now you might be wondering what the state of Louisiana is doing to stop these obvious fraudsters. I’m glad you asked. Since Christians have been lobbying so heavily for the right to lie, the state has no power whatsoever to stop them. Lawmakers occasionally try to repeal laws that allow for this ludicrous insult to education, but as soon as they do, well funded lobby groups will ensure that these efforts are in vain.

At least two unapproved institutions have had abuse scandals, but the state Department of Education says it has no authority to do anything in response.

One of the most infamous is T.M. Landry in Breaux Bridge. A 2018 New York Times investigation found the school abused kids and made up transcripts to get students into Ivy League schools. It was still open as of last school year with 15 children, according to state records. Another unapproved school in Baton Rouge, Second Chance Academy, has come under scrutiny since its head teacher was arrested on charges of sexually abusing students.

Is that all you need to do to get away with abuse these days? Simply make sure that you’re unaccredited, and then you needn’t worry about pesky things like governmental oversight. Talk about perfect for religious organizations! No longer do you need to worry about police involvement when you abuse the children in your care. Who wouldn’t want to keep their flock stupid, uneducated, and primed for abuse?

Sexually Abusive Liberty University Dean Kept his Job

Posted on by

If you thought that it was only churches that protect their abusers, then allow me to correct this view. The desire of religious organizations to protect sexual misconduct extends not only to priests, but to school administrators as well.

Liberty University is under fire for ignoring all of the allegations against former dean Keith Anderson. For the last decade, Anderson has been accused of a variety of offenses, ranging from inappropriate sexual behavior to full on assault.

Anderson, who was her supervisor, arrived at her home with medication described as “a single, unmarked and unwrapped tablet,” the suit said. She initially refused to take it but relented, she said, to try to get Anderson to leave. She became woozy and fell asleep. She woke up to Anderson’s hands around her neck, the suit says. She then threatened to  scream and he finally left.

“While doing so Anderson forcefully kissed her, on the lips, against her will,” the civil suit reads.

Liberty University receives millions of dollars in federal aid, which has prompted the government to get involved once the school failed to properly address the allegations. It’s believed that it will issue a multi-million dollar fine, although the exact amount is not yet known. A dozen women are also separately filed a suit against the school, with two victims settling for an undisclosed amount. It’s believed that more suits will be coming once the federal government is done conducting its investigation.

Is this not all vaguely familiar for those of us that report on churchly abuse? Protecting men in power is their default state of being, so it never surprises me when yet another Christian organization is caught doing something wrong. For them, forgiving sin is more important than protecting innocent people. Why we as a society continue to give these groups money is beyond me. How many more rapists and abusers do they need to keep protecting before we finally learn our lesson?

Mormon Leaders accused of Covering Up Abuse

Posted on by

There’s an unspoken rule in large religious organizations: if you’re ever caught abusing someone, the church will go above and beyond to protect you. Now, as a decent human being, you might be curious as to why religions are so fond of covering up abuse. The reason is simple: it all boils down to money.

As we recently reported on TGA a few days ago, when the Mormon Church was threatened with a lawsuit for allowing the continued abuse of a young girl, despite having heard the confession of her abusive father, an Arizona judge decided that the church’s right to confession was more important than the good of society. Who knows how many millions of dollars they would have lost in such a suit.

Abusers are naturally attracted to organizations like Mormonism that provide not only fresh victims, but also give them the full authority of church doctrine to excuse their behavior. They also benefit from laws that protect them from legal ramifications. In the case of the Church of Latter Day Saints, it’s especially easy to get in:

Victims who spoke to DailyMail.com said [spiritual confession] was repeatedly used as an excuse for bishops to hide abuse from authorities, often allowing it to carry on for years.

Women claimed church culture acts as a breeding ground for abuse, pointing to the belief within Mormonism that local bishops – laymen with no pastoral training – are divinely called by God and led by spiritual revelations, meaning their authority cannot be questioned.

The DailyMail released a pretty scathing report on Mormon abuse, supposedly inspired by the case in Arizona. They interviewed a number of people abused by their priests, and all of them shared a familiar story: The church is more interested in squashing potential lawsuits than stopping rapists.

Keep in mind that this is the same church that has over 100 billion dollars in the bank. They could obviously afford a few lawsuits. Can you even imagine any other organization in the world that would survive this level of corruption and evil? Just imagine if a modern corporation was guilty of silencing employees, preventing them from going to the police when they find out their colleagues are raping kids. We even allow religious organizations to file for a special type of bankruptcy protection in order for their money to be protected even when they lose judgements against them!

Will there even be a time when we wake up from this abusive con game? I have a question for believers out there: how many of your kids need to be raped before you decide that maybe, just maybe, you should stop financially supporting these guys? I mean for fuck’s sake, people have boycotted companies over not liking how someone identifies, but they can’t do it for an organizations that knowingly allows the sexual abuse of children? I will never understand why the blinders of religion allows them to get away with murder. It’s a moral failing I hope to see corrected in my lifetime.

Nigerian pastor faked kidnapping to extort parishoners

Posted on by

Nigeria has a big problem: the country is cursed with a recent glut of kidnappings. For enterprising criminals, this has become a daily activity. Just last month, 50 people were kidnapped in a raid in the village of Bagega, a small mining town in the north of Nigeria.

There are so many kidnappings, in fact, that people now have to contend with fake ones instead. There’s a cottage industry of fakers who use the fear of death to extort people they know out of money. One such scammer is Pastor Adegoke Adewuyi, who decided that the best way to get rich was to kidnap himself, and trick his flock into paying for his “release”. His congregation was actually in the middle of getting the money together when the police busted down the door to Adewuyi hotel room, and arrested him, along with his accomplice.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has condemned pastor Adewuyi’s conduct, saying it was ungodly and unbiblical. Chairman of the association, Rev. Joshua Orikogbe said such conducts bring Christendom into disrepute.

Meanwhile, a church member of pastor Adewuyi revealed that he was in the habit of engaging in fraudulent activities, including forging signatures to withdraw money from the church’s accounts.

Let’s recap: a known thief, elevated to a position of authority, abused his power and scammed his own flock. When that wasn’t paying the bills, he kicked it into high gear. This time, it blew up in his face.

Honestly, this sort of thing doesn’t surprise us nonbelievers. Taking people’s money by offering them a place in the afterlife is already a con. You are literally charging people to sell them piece of mind. Orders of weirdos in outfits have been making large claims and demanding people’s money for a long time. It’s not that much of a stretch to imagine someone taking this deceit to the next level. Who knows what kind of innovations pastors like Adewuyi have in store?

Did anyone learn a lesson in all of this? No. If you hoped that perhaps Ademuyi getting arrested might have taught him a lesson, then allow me to dispel such illusions. He’s blaming Satan for what happened. You see, it had to be the devil that possessed the poor man, since the only alternative would have been to take accountability for his actions.

I got 10 bucks that says he’ll eventually be forgiven, and goes right back to preaching once the heat has died down. I mean, his living appears to rely primarily on stealing money from his own church to enrich himself. Since Christians are always falling over themselves to forgive scumbags, all he has to do is say he’s repented, loves god, and they will give him the red carpet treatment.

Vatican forced to reveal secrets in UK court

Posted on by

The Vatican is often portray themselves as a religious order, but it’s important to remember that they operate much more like a corporation that a religious order. However, there are often times when they like to blur the lines, and in the process of enriching themselves, some of the deals the Church involved itself in occasionally go bad. When that happens, they suddenly require the intervention of the secular legal system.

In a recent ruling in the UK over a real estate deal gone bad, the court is forcing the Vatican to turn over communication between two pontiffs who spoke about the deal over a variety of phone application. The Vatican had tried to argue special privilege, but the court was not having it:

In a landmark ruling in the High Court, a judge, Mr Justice Foxton, overruled the Vatican… and ordered that they should disclose the highly-sensitive correspondence.

The documentation is at the centre of what is known as the Vatican’s “trial of the century,” where British financier Raffaele Mincione is seeking to clear his name after being accused of defrauding the Catholic Church over a property deal.”

It’s quite hilarious that two of the priests involved tried to argue that their communication over electronic apps somehow fell into the sacred realm. They went so far as to claim that revealing the documents that the court requested in discovery would amount to “a grave sin”.

Imagine having to do business with a mega rich organization that will pretend that their special rights, which I have argued strongly has absolutely no business existing in the first place, extends also to business dealings. It just goes to show how little they value it moralistically. It is simply a tool to be used to their advantage, whenever possible. Only a gullible fool would believe that the intention of these protections are solely for the faithful. They are instead used to shield a secretive and sinister organization that covers up countless crimes.