What good is it then, when a pope – as in July 2015 – travels to South America and asks the Indians to forgive what was done to them by the Church? Why does he not revoke the brutal teachings, which prompted his predecessors to such action?

At decisive turning points during the expeditions of conquest, the priests personally took command, for example, in the year 1533 in Peru, when, according to eyewitness reports, on the market square of Cajamarca, a Dominican priest approached the Inca chief Atahualpa, a cruci x in one hand, a Bible in the other.

When the Inca angrily threw the book on the ground – which, of course, he couldn’t read – the priest called to the Spanish soldiers: Attack him – I give you absolution!

And the slaughter began. (Gert von Paczensky, Verbrechen im Namen Christi – Mission und Kolonialismus, p. 67)
Murder and cruelty in the name of “God”! But what did this trigger in the Indians? The following has been passed down from Mexico:

A chief was executed by the Spaniards. Before he was set on re, he was asked whether he wanted to be baptized, in order to at least go to heaven. He replied, asking whether Christians also went to heaven. This was af rmed. Immediately and without further re ection, the caci ue [the chief] replied “that he didn’t want to go there, but rather to hell, so that he would not have to see the same cruel people anymore nor be anywhere they would be.” (taz, Tageszeitung Newspaper, Feb. 21, 1987)

The craziest financial schemes that the Vatican Bank tried to cover up

BUSINESS INSIDER

Stephanie Yang Feb. 27, 2015

The new elected Pope Benedict XVI greets thousands of pilgrims from the balcony of the St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

From running on donations to becoming an international holding company, the Catholic Church’s financial past is littered with secrets.
So much that author Gerald Posner wrote hundreds of pages chronicling the institution’s financial scandals in his new book, God’s Bankers.

A little history:

Years ago, the Vatican financed its operations with donations and indulgences, free passes for sins in exchange for money. In the early days, the Vatican made little effort to keep track of finances, which meant the institution was rife with extravagant spending and embezzlement.

After teetering on the edge of bankruptcy several times, the Vatican appointed Bernardino Nogara as its new financial advisor in 1929, who straightened out the church’s finances and grew a $92 million investment from Benito Mussolini into almost $1 billion.

12 Rules for Mixing Religion and Politics

People For the American Way Foundation

August 2012

Note: While the principles staked out in “12 Rules for Mixing Religion and Politics” are enduring, information on the legal landscape and the scope of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is out of date since the Supreme Court’s 2013 Hobby Lobby ruling, which in our opinion dramatically misinterpreted RFRA in ways that could cause far-reaching harms. You can find more up-do-date information about the post-Hobby Lobby reality here, and information on the problems with state “religious liberty” laws here

Foreword by Bill Moyers
“Have you ever delved into the mysteries of Eastern religion?” one California weirdo asked another in the comic strip Shoe. “Yes,” came the reply. “I was once a Methodist in Philadelphia.”

For a long time that was about the extent of Americans’ exposure to the varieties of religious experience. As the scholar Diana Eck reminds us, for most of our history our religious discourse was dominated by a culturally conservative European heritage—people like me. Alternative visions of faith rarely reached the mainstream. That has changed markedly as we steam deeper into the twenty-first century. Almost 80 percent of Americans still identify themselves as Christians, but they are a far more motley lot than the mainstream media understand or report. Other faiths are now making their presence felt, and our religious landscape is being re-created right before our eyes.

Mixing politics and religion is not a good thing

Shreveport Times

Prentiss Smith
Published  AM EST Dec 31, 2017

There are a lot of Americans, especially millennials and other young people, who don’t believe religion and politics mix very well, and I agree with them. The notion of separation of church and state has served this country well for almost 240 plus years. I am not saying there is no place for God in the public square, because I understand that the Constitution was written by men who believed in God or who believed that God exists, but I am saying that these men did not believe that there should be a state religion or that one religion was more important than another religion. They were all about freedom of religion and freedom from religion. The operative word for the founders was freedom.

Pope Francis – a wolf in sheeps clothing

news24

31 July 2013,
Lately there has been an astounding PR campaign from the pontiff in order to claw back some of the Catholics who have begun to become disillusioned with their faith. While on the surface it appears to be a loving and inclusive doctrine, below the surface lies a hidden and immoral truth. I find this so repulsive, that it astounds me that so many people do not realise the Pope is peddling his message of lies, without notice.
The facts: So far we have seen the Pope declare seemingly that Homosexuality isn’t so bad with his famous quote “Who am I to Judge?” and that atheists can go to heaven with the paraphrased “Being an Atheist is alright as long as you do good”. In addition, how could we fail to forget his instance of carrying his own bag while travelling and his simple choice of clothing – shunning the fine raiment traditionally worn?
Who could hate such an accepting and revolutionary voice, so badly needed in the Vatican? We see people falling over themselves in an almost worship of this divine entity challenging false doctrine and commanding the perfect word of God. Big mistake. Big, big, mistake.

Violence against women at ‘epidemic’ levels worldwide, say experts

News

By Aisha Majid and Anne Gulland

The UK government has announced plans to toughen up laws on domestic violence, including tagging perpetrators and forcing them to attend alcohol or addiction treatment programmes.

Anyone breaching these tough new orders imposed by the courts could face jail.

Unveiling the plans, prime minister Theresa May highlighted the toll on the two million women in the UK subject to domestic abuse.

“Domestic abuse takes many forms, from physical and sexual abuse, to controlling and coercive behaviour that isolates victims from their families and has long-term, shattering impacts on their children,” she said.