Tag Archives: abuse

Priest Arrested for Abusing Train Passenger

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What is with all of these abusive priests? From the sounds of things, it seems as though religious leaders are so insatiable that any opportunity to abuse people must be acted upon. How else can you explain this guy: Father Daniel Doherty, aged 61, was arrested after he admitted to abusing a man who was passed out from drink. When staff confronted him about sticking his grubby hands inside a stranger’s pants, claiming he was “affirming him”

…(one woman) saw the accused lean forward and start to kiss the complainer on the face and lips. The accused then began rubbing the complainer’s hand before holding his foot and rubbing it. He started grabbing the complainer’s genitals over his clothing. The behaviour continued and by this time she thought something was not right about this and was increasingly concerned. The accused continued his behaviour on and off over the next hour or so and did not appear to care that anyone could see his behaviour.

So brazen! Given the fact that when the incident first occurred, the victim was initially reluctant to testify as to his experience out of embarrassment. This is why these pieces of human trash often get away with it: victims are too afraid to come forward out of humiliation. Thankfully, the man found his courage later on, and now police are involved. Considering there are witnesses, this is a pretty open and shut case.

Naturally, the Church that employs him has issued their standard press releases and claimed they are committed to the safety of their parishioners. Not so much for the rest of us, it seems, since no one is bothering to ask the important questions: why does this keep happening with their employees? If Starbuck baristas were constantly sexually abusing random people, we would demand some answers from their CEO. With religions, we roll out the red carpet for these fucking guys.

LA Archdiocese charged 880 million to victims

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After victims of sexual abuse fought the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for decades, they have finally claimed victory. It took so long in fact, that many of the plaintiffs had died of old age before the final verdict.

So, after getting their asses handed to them, what did the church do? They issued a statement that baffles the imagination:

After the announcement of the agreement in principle on Wednesday, Archbishop José H. Gomez said in a statement, “I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart. My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered,” the archbishop added. “I believe that we have come to a resolution of these claims that will provide just compensation to the survivor-victims of these past abuses.”

If they were so concerned about the suffering of these people ,they wouldn’t have tried to fight them for over 25 years. These kind of crocodile tears impresses no one. We know they couldn’t give a rat’s ass about all the pain they caused. If they did, perhaps they would have done a bit of soul searching. It seems the only way to actually hurt these people is to take away the one thing they truly care about: money.

Indian Government Opposes Criminalizing Marital Rape

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What do you get when you mix religion and politics? Only the hellish nightmare that is theocracy, a toxic mixture of the worst aspects of both. In India, this has resulted in the government fighting countless petitions to criminalize the practice of women being forcibly raped during marriage. They consider punishing these rapists to be “excessively harsh“.

A number of petitions have been filed in recent years calling for striking down Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which has been in existence since 1860. The law mentions several “exemptions” – or situations in which sex is not rape – and one of them is “by a man with his own wife” if she is not a minor… But the Indian government, religious groups and men’s rights activists have opposed any plans to amend the law saying consent for sex is “implied” in marriage and that a wife cannot retract it later.

You hear that ladies? You signed a contract, which means you have to put out whenever your partner wants it. Wow, isn’t love grand?

In all seriousness, it’s appalling that in this day and age, women in a democracy are still being assaulted, and the legal system they live under does not give one iota of a crap for them. It’s terrifying. It’s also a reminder that there are still groups of people out there who want to continue to normalize inhumane activities, all in the name of some deity they worship. It’s disgusting, and depressing. Who needs a drink?

Saudi Arabia Sentences Woman to 10 Years for Social Media Post

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I know that some of you may sometimes feel uncomfortable when I say that Islam has a profound fear of women. Perhaps it’s because you buy into the idea that criticizing the religion is perhaps racist. This is because of all the psyops that has been carried out on you with the word “Islamophobia”. It’s defined as an irrational fear of Islam, but I am here to tell you that the fear of this religion is no irrational. It is logical. You need only trust your senses, and undoubtedly come to the same conclusion.

If you need more proof, look no further than Saudi Arabia, where the religion reigns supreme. The women who live there are getting a little tired of being second class citizens, and a few of them have taken to social media to argue for their rights. This has been deemed unacceptable, and one young woman, by the name of Manahel al-Otaibi, who was particularly active on social media, was arrested and has a secret trial that sentenced her to 10 years for “terrorist offenses”. Recently, she was attacked in jail by another inmate:

This week, Manahel told her family she had been stabbed in the face with a sharp pen by an unknown assailant and required stitches. Her family said they had tried to report the attack to the Saudi government’s Human Rights Commission, but were ignored. Along with her sisters, Maryam and Fawzia, Manahel had been targeted with a campaign of arrests, threats and intimidation after posting messages about female empowerment.

This is what the face of bravery looks like. A woman standing up to an entire society that wants to impose its values upon her. Now her life is in constant danger is a system that is designed to oppress women, and make them no different from chattel slaves. This is to be expected in any country where the world’s most hateful and violent religion is allowed to reign supreme.

So, remind me again: what part of Islam is it irrational to be afraid of?

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 361

After a long Summer break, TGA is back, baby! This episode, we have more drama coming out of America, the tragic death of a young woman in a forced marriage, and Iran trying to legalize child brides! It’s an episode you won’t want to miss.

The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist
The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 361
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Abuse Allegations for Supposed Saint Abbe Pierre

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If you live long enough in the catholic church, you’ll finally be revealed as the villain you are. Take for instance Father Abbe Pierre. Although he died a few years ago, he was so beloved that there had been talk of his sainthood. Those plans are in jeopardy now that a number of women have come forward with credible accusations of abuse.

“We are in a state of shock, very hurt and very angry,” said Christophe Robert, who heads the Abbé Pierre Foundation. “We extend our fullest support to all the victims who have had the courage to speak out.” .. More perplexing to many is growing evidence that colleagues in Emmaus – and in the Catholic Church – were aware of Abbé Pierre’s sexual behaviour, but failed to speak out.

This is “perplexing” to exactly no one familiar with the M.O. of this sinister organization. Need I remind the reader that it was only a few years ago that we learned of a secret memo from the head of the Inquisition (renamed “Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith”) Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, who specified that any priest caught talking with police would be excommunicated from the church.

So, even if someone had wanted to report that despicable behavior of this sex pervert, they would have risked their livelihood, their social circle, and their immortal soul. While I think it’s worth it if it saves anyone from being a future victim, this is not a sentiment held by a institution that claims to be the living avatar for an all powerful creator god…it just makes you want to burst out laughing saying such silly things, doesn’t it?

Thousands of Women Victim of Witch Hunts in India

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I am not a cultural relativist. It’s become a bit of a fashion for my friends on the hard left to adopt the idea that all cultures have some inherent value, and that to judge these cultures is to impose our own morality on others, which is another form of colonialism. I call bullshit on this idea. This isn’t to say that there hasn’t been abuse in this sphere, or that people in the West are not guilty of brutalizing the culture of others in order to make them fit into our societies. However, to ignore that there are still aspects of sheer barbarism that still exists in human cultures is simply wrong, and ignores the real suffering of oppressed people.

I propose that there should be a few criteria to judge whether or not a culture tradition is valid or not. The most obvious of these would be how a culture treats women. For thousands of years, the female of our species have been abused in countless societies. It’s a redress that we have yet to full implement here in the West. While things have vastly improved, women are still harassed and abused in our societies. The rates of domestic violence, rape and harassment only demonstrate the fact that as a society, we are still a work in progress.

But progress is not the same in every country. Take India as an example. The world’s largest democracy also happens to be it’s most volatile, with women being treated in much the same way as they were in Europe during the Dark Ages. In particular, single women are often the target of wild accusations of sorcery, usually born out of a desire to steal their land, and their lives.

Battles over land and property are common starts to witch hunts, says Soma Chaudhuri, a sociologist at Michigan State University who studies gender violence in India. Chaudhuri says witch hunts and beatings provide an outlet for men living in poverty to vent frustrations over their own lack of power.

The numbers are terrifying. From what Scientific American has gathered, thousands of women have been accused of witchcraft, being beaten, or even killed by mobs of ignorant and violent men intent on stealing their goods. It’s despicable, and an example of what happens when you hold women in such low regard. It’s wrong, and needs to be discussed without fear of being accused of “colonialism” for standing up for the rights of women.

Southern Baptist Church Can’t Be Trusted

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Religions are always protecting their own. There is an unspoken rule in sectarian circles (or in the case of some churches, actual memos): you don’t rat out your fellow Christian, no matter the crime. You see, to hard-core believers, it is the outside secular world that is to be feared. The fact that there are countless wolves in sheep’s clothing amongst their ranks is less terrifying to them than the prospect of the secular world interfering with their affairs.

Still, news often leaks of the countless instances of child rapes, and other horrid crimes. In order to try and pretend that they are doing something about it, The Southern Baptist Church had pledge a few years ago to create a website meant to track individual abusers within the church. With hundreds of cases, it should have been a breeze. Instead, they’ve been stalling so bad that not one single name is on their pathetic excuse for a website.

To date, no names appear on the Ministry Check website designed to track abusive pastors, despite a mandate from Southern Baptists to create the database. The committee has also found no permanent home or funding for abuse reforms, meaning that two of the task force’s chief tasks remain unfinished…Instead, she said, SBC leaders do just enough to make it look like they care, without any real progress.

Do you mean to say that a religious organization, which had previously done everything in it’s power to either ignore abuse or protect abusers, would only offer empty platitudes instead of solutions? What a shocker! Next thing you’ll try and tell me is that water is wet, and that fire burns. So, what’s behind the veil of secrecy, you may wonder? Why, it’s the most important thing to any church of course: money!

SBC leaders have long sought to shield the denomination and especially the hundreds of millions of dollars given to Southern Baptist mission boards and other entities from liability for sexual abuse. The 12.9 million-member denomination has no direct oversight of its churches or entities, which are governed by trustees, making it a billion-dollar institution that, for all intents and purposes, does not exist outside of a few days in June when the SBC annual meeting is in session.

There’s more employee oversight for Uber than there is for Southern Baptists pastors. Pathetic. The SBC even tried to stop an independent couple from posting their own list, sending them a threatening email. Luckily, because the names they publish are for convicted felons, they are immune from being sued for essentially telling the truth.

Anyone who still thinks that billion dollar evil organizations give an iota of care for their flock, beyond the ability to fleece them, is officially a moron. Thanks for helping these clowns make the world a worst and less safe place to live!

Taliban To Resume Stoning Women

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Most religions have a deep distrust of the vagina. It’s almost as though the authors of their screeds were the very first incels. That’s not that surprising, really. In the history of mankind, bookish nerds tend not to get the girl, and after a few centuries of this, you can imagine their ire at not getting laid. How else can you explain such deep hatred and distrust of women in the Abrahamic faiths?

It would be difficult to find a more sexually frustrated faith than Islam. This particular group of undersexed, and repressed men have decided that the biggest threat to humanity is the vagina, and the tendency for those who have one of trying to live their own lives. The nerve.

Thanks to the Taliban, the practice of stoning is being revived in Afghanistan.

The Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, announced at the weekend that the group would begin enforcing its interpretation of sharia law in Afghanistan, including reintroducing the public flogging and stoning of women for adultery.

Over the past few years, over 400 people (mostly men) have been punished by either stoning, lashing, or even Crucifixion (no, I am not making this up). The crimes ranged from drinking alcohol to murder, with the sentences being carried out for the general public to witness. Some even took place in local football fields to ensure maximum visibility, although the use of cameras or other recording equipment is forbidden. Luckily, we know of these because of a few brave souls willing to ignore this edict.

Within the Taliban’s justice system, Sharia punishments are often presented as a religious ceremony, which aligns with the Islamic notion that many of these punishments are considered to be forms of divine justice. One observed pattern, which illustrates the significance of these punishments is the frequent attendance of national and local Taliban officials, judicial staff, police commanders, intelligence staff, religious scholars, ethnic leaders, and residents. The attendance of these figures adds legitimacy to the punishments, providing implicit religious, administrative, and social approval.

All of these public displays were carefully calculated to help make these kinds of punishment seem more and more acceptable. Now, it’s practically become mundane. This has emboldened them to begin to target more women in an effort to undo all of that “western” influence they hate so much, such as the belief in human rights, the idea that torture is unacceptable, and other moral progress that contradicts their favorite little book of horrors, the Koran.

Threesome Obsessed Priest Protected by Vatican

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Those Christians sure do love their trinity. Because they believe that their deity exists in three parts, this often means that anything that comes in threes is often considered to be divine, regardless of what it is. For example, when Father Marko Rupnik was trying to satisfy his sexual urges, he pressured his female colleagues into having a threesome with him, because it would bring him closer to the trinity. If he wasn’t a creep who abused of his power, you’d almost have to admire the set of brass balls to pretend there was anything sacred to his nasty little habit.

“He said that I would not grow spiritually if I did not meet his sexual needs. We had another nun have sex with us because he said it was like the Trinity,” said Ms Branciani, referring to the Holy Trinity, a central tenet of Christianity.

This isn’t his first rodeo either. Rupnik started his “spiritual growth” sessions back in the early nineties. Over 20 former nuns have come forwards with claims of abuse, all of which would have surfaced sooner were it not for the fact that the Vatican was quick to cover things up. When he had used up all the victims in his native Slovenia, he was whisked away to Rome where he continued unabated for another 30 years. It helped that Rupnik is a talented artist, which is a rare commodity for a community that is rapidly shrinking.

Why was this guy even a priest? With his bohemian tastes, he should have been making wacky art in a hippie commune somewhere near San Francisco, not the stuffy halls of St. Peter’s Basilica. If you’re into threesomes, there are plenty of places for you to go, but none of them have a big ugly cross in the front.

Just remember kids: if you’re sexual preferences are a little outside the norm, just find like minded people instead of illegally coercing them just to get your rocks off. Why does everything sexual always get all twisted and fucked up when religion is involved?

 

Sexually Abusive Liberty University Dean Kept his Job

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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?

Police Failed to catch abuser because he belonged to their church

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Religion makes you blind and dumb. Believers always assume that people who share their faith must also share their morality, with devastating consequences. Take for example the case of Roc Anthony Byrd, recently accused of rape, and a number of other sexual battery charges. He would have been caught sooner, but when some of his victims came to the police, they were sent away because Byrd was a fellow member of their church.

One other woman said she attempted to file a report around 2004 to 2005 after being touched inappropriately but the officers involved reportedly said, “oh he would never do that he goes to our church… why would he do that?”

The 52 year old chiropractor had been inappropriately touching his female victims for years with impudence. He must have believed himself invincible, what with the police believing him an upstanding member of society simply because he showed up to their church ceremonies. So strong was the indoctrination of faith that even his victims were in denial about the whole thing”

Court records said another anonymous victim trusted Byrd because she believed he was “such a great Christian man.” When she was touched inappropriately, she thought to herself that the chiropractor surely couldn’t’ve been doing what “he was doing.”

This and other more heinous crimes are perpetuated every day, and the faithful close their eyes to it all. Even when all of their instincts tell them that something is wrong, the power of their indoctrination makes it almost impossible for them to see evil for what it truly is. It’s no wonder pastors and other men of the cloth have gotten away with the rape and mental torture of their flocks’ children; when their victims are in this level of denial about reality, it’s easy pickin’.

Catholic Priest blames women for bringing violence on themselves

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Do I even need to continue to speak out against religion? Seems like these days, these guys are doing a better job convincing Catholics to leave in droves than I ever could, and all they need to do is speak openly about their shitty beliefs. Take the words of Father Piero Corsi, who during his Christmas address to his Italian congregation thought it would be the perfect time to accuse abused women of bringing violence and abuse on themselves for dressing immodestly and not doing enough housework. Here’s a sample from his pamphlet:

“How often do we see girls and mature women going around scantily dressed and in provocative clothes?” Piero Corsi said in a Christmas message posted on the door of his church in the small town of San Terenzio in northwest Italy.
“They provoke the worst instincts, which end in violence or sexual abuse. They should search their consciences and ask: did we bring this on ourselves?” it read.

See ladies? It’s your fault if your trusted male friend drugged and raped you (most sexual assaults are by people you know, sadly enough), because you were dressed in a miniskirt and didn’t do any housework, and we all know that’s an invitation for sexual abuse, girls! Why else would you wear it if not to provoke our pulsating male urges, which apparently are uncontrollable and totally not our fault?

Luckily, the whole town is rather shocked by his views, with the bishop even condemning him. For what, though? If one takes the Bible literally, it does seem to indicate that a) women are property, b) the crime for raping a woman is marrying her and paying off her father, and c) they should shut the fuck up and not hang around when they are on the rag.

Seems to me like Corsi actually believes the shit the Bible says. Everyone who acts surprised or shocked has obviously never read the book, have they? Remember, this is the same book that demands a woman be stoned to death because she was raped and didn’t scream loud enough to alert anyone.

Judge finds Catholic Church can be held responsible for abuse

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You’re probably familiar with the Vatican claim that they are not to be blamed for abusive priests that sexually assaulted any children (which allows them to claim zero responsibility for the things people do while in their employ). What you may not be aware of, however, in that in July of this year, they attempted to use this defense legally, and it seems to have backfired. When the Church attempted to use this “We didn’t do nothing” defense in court against a woman who had been abused by Father Wilfred Baldwin in the 1970′s, the judge would have none of it.

The judge said although there had been no formal contract between the church and the priest, the late Father Baldwin, there were “crucial features” that should be recognized.

It is the first time a court has ruled that the relationship between a Catholic priest and his bishop is akin to an employment relationship. It sets a precedent for similar cases, by providing further guidance for such trials in the future, while also putting the church in uncharted territory

The landmark case has just rejected this argument, paving the way for other victims of abuse to start holding the Holy See responsible for their complicity in the abuse. In other words, it means that the rich coffers of the Vatican are up for grabs for their many victims who cannot seek any other form of justice (Father Baldwin had been dead for many years by the time the trial happened). The war isn’t over yet, folks, since they can appeal the decision. Still, I feel as though we’ve won this battle.

Life imitates Art for woman in Iran

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It’s hilarious how most Muslims are convinced that their restrictive religious repression of women is somehow intended to protect them. You hear this all the time in Islamic countries; they think we let our women “run around unprotected” while they “bravely” restrict every part of their lives in the misguided belief that it’s really all for their own good. The culture of Islam makes women seem like dangerous, seductive weapons that cloud the judgement of men. Why else would they execute victims of rape, if not to vindicate the idea that it is always the woman’s fault for seducing the rapist in the first place?

In the light of this prism, the slavery of women is viewed as an extension of man’s submission to God, but as the old adage goes: ladies first! Rebelliousness, seen in any light, is to be extinguished, as was the case with actress Marzieh Vafamehr, who found out herself living out the plot of her new movie “My Tehran for Sale“. The scenario involves a young woman struggling to live in a country of contradictions, where young people live secret lives together in a brutal religious theocracy. This important movie is currently being distributed on the sly, since the country has banned it.

According to an interview with the director of the movie, the government sought a number of bogus charges, including failure to cover her hair with a hijab, consuming alcohol on set, and being part of the production (she wasn’t). The sentence is the kind of thing you’d expect from a theocratic and misogynistic society: 90 red-hot lashes and a whole year of rotting in jail, all for the “crime” of acting in someone else’s movie. Considering the number of women that often fail to survive the aftermath of such unnecessary brutality, I hope she’s made of tougher stuff.

The contradictory nature of Iran is why there are really two pictures of this place: one filled with young women who live out their lives in a secret world that resembles our own, and the other populated by religious thugs who patrol the streets looking for these secret places. When these worlds clash, the only ones to bother talking about it tend to be Persian Christian Missionaries operating out of the Alpharetta, Georgia. Their presence there only exacerbates the situation of course; religion is precisely the problem in Iran. Another faith is hardly the solution.

We have to ask ourselves what we can do ourselves to expose the evils of this religion outside of the sphere of influence of Christianity. It’s our duty to see that the injustices of any faith are given the proper attention they deserve. Until we do, how can we continue to claim the moral high ground?