THY NEIGHBOR'S ASS

I've NEVER, EVER seen the Ten Commandments posted in front of ANY church in my life.

I found a story of an attempt made quite some distance from the church, in New Jersey no less. Not the Bible Belt exactly, and they got them wrong! (There's an extra-points bonus error that the author of this amusing tale missed.) A search around brings up a smattering of these monuments actually in front of churches!

The above is an example of the standard boilerplate black granite, again being unveiled in front of some unsuspecting court house. I think there's a factory, since the blocks of rock all look the same. Note that the Tenth Commandment is shrunk down into, "Thou shalt not covet." This is clearly a big error, and a bearing of false witness in and of itself.

I thought that coveting is what makes people buy shiny new cars. Coveting is the very basis for the advertising industry. Good conservatives believe in coveting as a supreme value, above almost all others. Greed is God in Ayn Rand's world. Knock over those old ladies and grab that brass ring.

So, why do fundamentalist Christians INSIST these slabs be placed in front of court houses? Why not just slap them up on their own grounds, facing outward? Perhaps because that could be bad for business, especially that tiny one about adultery. Without breaking that Commandment, no soap opera would exist. What? The members might get a little squirmy if they had to walk past that holy suggestion every Sunday? Not possible!

The good Christians here have gone out of their way to avoid all that "thy neighbor's ass" wording, which might make 13-year-olds shriek in hysterics. The link above lists a number of translations, only one of which substitutes "donkey" for ass. Donkey? Guffaw.

But no, these people haven't even taken that coy approach, coveting is coveting and they don't like it. Covet a seashell you see all gleaming and pink down the beach, which is free and owned by no one? Stop it this instant. Drop that seashell and run from the wrath of Yahweh.

CHICAGO ARSON AT 'VELVET ROPE' GAY CLUB

The wave of domestic terrorism continues, this time at THE VELVET ROPE, in Oak Park.

The blaze Sunday morning gutted the Velvet Rope, at 728 Lake St. The club's owner, Frank Elliott, said derogatory messages were scrawled on the wall inside the burned-out club. Authorities were seen removing a piece of a wall and loading it onto a truck.

Authorities have not said whether they believe the business was targeted because it was a gay club.

I have no idea whether any of these arson events are connected, or if there's a copycat factor. Even one individual acting alone is committing terrorism when the intent is to cause terror in any community. Period.

SEE ALSO: ATLANTA ANTICHOICE ARSON
ANTIGAY HATE MURDERS UP YEAR-OVER-YEAR

MORE DOLAN DETAILS SURFACE. TWO CONFIRMED PAID OFF SO FAR.

AP has the report of two Milwaukee priest payoffs:

The archdiocese acknowledged it paid suspected pedophile clergy to leave the priesthood after an abuse victims' group produced a court document that references a 2003 proposal to pay $20,000 to "unassignable priests" who agree to leave the ministry. The document from the archdiocese's bankruptcy proceedings includes minutes from a 2003 meeting of its Finance Council, which included then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan, now a cardinal and head of the New York archdiocese.
...
The archdiocese acknowledged in 2006 that it gave $10,000 to former priest Franklyn Becker to help pay his health insurance until he became eligible for Medicare.
...
Dolan asked then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 2003 to defrock Becker after allegations of repeated sexual abuse of children that dated back to at least 1970. Dolan wrote the letter about two weeks after Becker was arrested in California in connection to a sexual assault there in the 1970s. Becker was removed from the priesthood in 2004.

Odd timing, that last one. Perhaps he had never been accused until 2003? I don't have those details. So, Cardinal Dolan was getting the guy booted, by the now-Pope, no less. Then he either claims not to know about the payoff, or considers it "charity." Which is it? I think the press needs to press him on this issue.

I guess by labeling it as "charity" that changes what it is? Awfully slippery, and I don't buy it.

Cardinal Dolan still has the ability to change course here and do a world of good to repair many wrongs. A semantic squabble seems a bit petty at this stage. I think his dignity of office would be better served by trying to fix things.

DOLAN'S DENIAL: SNAP IS LYING

WNYC reports on Dolan's press gaggle. He denies something about the $20K payoffs to accused priests.

"SNAP has no credibility whatsoever," Dolan said. “To respond to charges like that that are groundless and scurrilous in my book is useless and counterproductive.”

[...]

Dolan’s comments Sunday seemed to contradict a statement made to WNYC by a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York last week, which said that the cardinal "has read and supports the statement from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee."

Working his best to keep the story alive, Dolan denies a proposal that seems to have gone forward during his leadership. Wait, we have it from a court filing. Is the document the Catholic Church provided a fake? Is that what he's claiming? Doubtful.

Is he saying the program never went forward? He doesn't say as much.

Does he deny he knew about any of this, or fall back on the old faulty memory syndrome? Not here he doesn't.

Is he withdrawing what his spokesman said? WNYC said they didn't get a response here.

The best answer he has is "Snap has no credibility whatsoever."? Good work. Attack the victims! Unleash the hounds. Works every time.

Groundless and scurrilous charges? When they are based on an internal church document? That's a ground, sure as there's earth beneath all mortals' feet.

Update to: DOLAN'S 20K PAYOFFS TO ACCUSED PRIESTS

ARCHBISHOP DOLAN PAYED ABUSING PRIESTS TO LEAVE CHURCH

According to CNN and a bit of discovery in the Catholic Church's bankruptcy case in Milwaukee, our own Archbishop Dolan approved a program of $20K payoffs to priests leaving the church for abusing children.

On Thursday, the archdiocese confirmed that it had offered payoffs to abusive priests as "the most expedient and cost-effective way to have offenders laicized or removed from the priesthood."

Having an abuser volunteer to go through the process known as laicization - formally leaving the priesthood - "was faster and less expensive. It made sense to try and move these men out of the priesthood as quickly as possible," the archdiocese said in a statement.

Lovely. How expedient. The abuser cash-out. I guess there were enough of them to push the Milwaukee church into BANKRUPTCY. Yeah, right, the Catholic Church is bankrupt. Sell a few bejewelled gewgaws and diadems and the like. Have a damn tag sale. Hell, donate all future bingo proceeds to a fun.

One Catholic church source defended the payment plan on Thursday, saying, “You either pay them to leave and give them money for food and clothes and shelter as they look for a job or you have a drawn out trial that could take years.”

“Wouldn’t that be preferable than to keep them as priests and paying their salaries,” the source, who would agree to speak only anonymously. “And wouldn’t it be better than a trial and to have victims testifying and cross examined?”

Er, better for WHOM? Exactly whom would that be better for? Can someone clue me in? Laicized indeed.

Update: DOLAY DENIES, DENIES, DENIES

SEE ALSO: PRIEST STANDS UP TO WA CATHOLIC CHURCH ANTIGAY PETITION DRIVE

ANTIGAY HATE MURDERS UP 11% LAST YEAR

Sad news, with a mixed "upside" from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs:

NCAVP documented a 16% decrease in hate violence incidents from 2010 to 2011 but an 11% increase in murder. This year many NCAVP members saw a decline in reports of violence linked to a corresponding increase in murders. “In Detroit, an increase in the severity of violence and particularly murders made it challenging for us to find the capacity to do outreach which can lead to a decrease in reports,” said Nusrat Ventimiglia at Equality Michigan. This increase in murders consumed a great deal of organizational capacity. “NCAVP members across the country have spent a tremendous amount of time and resources responding to murders and the tragic, ongoing suicides of our LGBTQ youth,” said Rebecca Waggoner from OutFront Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The 2011 report also highlights a number of disturbing trends concerning the severity of violence experienced by LGBTQH people. This year’s report shows that LGBTQH youth and young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 years old were 2.41 times as likely to experience physical violence compared to LGBTQH people age 30 and older. As in the case of the murder statistics, transgender people and people of color were more likely to experience physical injury in a hate violence incident. The report found that transgender people were 28% as likely to experience physical violence compared to non-transgender people, and that LGBTQ people of color were two times as likely to experience physical violence compared to those who were not LGBTQ people of color.

The actual number of murders is 30. Of course, the groups realize that many incidents go unreported. They say they are so strained by responding to individual incidents that perhaps some people are discouraged in reaching out for help.

Not good news at the beginning of Gay Pride Month.

See also: TODDLER SINGS ANTIGAY JINGLE IN CHURCH