My Wet Coast Life

I guess i've finally had it and seen enough articles in the press to feel the need to lay in on this topic and put out my point of view on this issue. For years we have been hearing case after case of child abuse at the hands of the Catholic clergy and i'm sickened even more each article that shows more cover ups, secrecy oaths and lack of respect for the law, let alone the the number of innocent victims themselves, when it comes to this topic.

I ask myself, what is wrong with the Catholic religion? It seems to be the only religion facing these accusations as well as being just as diligent in covering them up. All you need to do is search the net or read the paper and voila, you have articles about child abuse occurring for decades, priests and bishops covering up the allegations, moving the offending priest to another location thinking that would solve the problem at hand (and in a lot of cases re-offending). On top of that, they were/are not reporting it to authorities, or if they did, the authorities in some cases would turn a blind eye, which i can only assume religion had a hand in that, which hindered this situation even more.

Seriously, WTF?

Does this religion not state the fact that child abuse is a sin as is homosexuality? Regardless of anyone's religion, i doubt many would accept child abuse as a privilege or right. The fact that for decades, or possibly centuries (one can only hope not), this has been going on and being covered up, just astonishes me but they still let it happen.

Now before i go any further, i am not for organized religion but i am for everyone's right to choice for the religion they believe in and sexual preference. It's your body and as a consenting ADULT, you should have that choice. But what grinds my gears is when people abuse their privilege and power to cause harm to innocent children and then hide behind their religion.

In my opinion, this shows me a couple things about the religion:

1. It is two faced depending on the issue at hand and what suits its needs, with morality and common sense thrown out the window.
2. It accepts violations of its own guidelines, principles and beliefs instead of condoning the actions and being pro-active in preventing it. What ever happened to practice what you preach? Religion or otherwise.
3. It is willing to cover up issues instead of identifying them, addressing them and being pro-active in preventing them from re-occurring
4. For anyone who was aware and did nothing to stop it and/or aided in the cover ups, they indirectly supported these actions of child abuse for not speaking out and are just as guilty.

Now why do i say that? Well, let's look at a couple examples and you can decide for yourself?

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After writing about the hateful Gil LeBreton's article comparing us to Nazi Germany, i assumed it would be the last attack i would hear or read for awhile against Canadian Pride. I guess with the Olympic's "modified" version of our anthem at the openning and closing ceremonies has given our own government an idea. Our "wonderful" Conservatives, 3 days after the Olympics ended and after proroguing Government for a second year in a row, announced in the throne speech it will ask Parliament to examine the original wording of the Canadian anthem. They want to change O'Canada lyrics. What? Come on....do they have nothing better to do than waste tax payers dollars to change our anthem? It was proclaimed Canada's national anthem on July 1, 1980, 100 years after it was first sung on June 24, 1880. Now for those unfamiliar with the lyrics and to show the current version adopted pursuant to the National Anthem Act in 1980, it reads as follows:

"O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North, strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee."

The basis for the change is the phrase "In all thy sons command" has some women calling for a gender-neutral version. Now wasting our tax dollars, they will create a parliamentary committee to study whether the phrase "In all thy sons command" should be changed to "Thou dost in us command", which the Prime Minister’s Office says is the wording from the original version, which they are at least correct on that.

Now I understand it was the original wording, BUT you need to keep in mind the version on which the official English lyrics are based on was written in 1908 by Mr. Justice Robert Stanley Weir. Key word is BASED ON. By the way, the French lyrics remain untouched to this day. Even Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff doesn’t object to a more "gender-sensitive" anthem, but said the government should take serious steps to improve the status of women. WOW, Liberals are agreeing with the Conservatives. Well if that is the case, why not join forces and spend the money where it will be useful and have a much larger visible and beneficial impact? Can we say health care? what about education?

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