PISS OFF POPE! [ by Clara ]
(published November 2009)
Whatever was Gordon Brown thinking of, inviting Benedict XVI to Britain at this time? Not that the Pope rushed to accept the invitation – he no doubt sees Britain as a bastion of the ‘dictatorship of relativism’, which he has described as the main problem facing the 21st century.
Against relativism (and secularism) he poses the ‘reason’ and objective truth of Christianity – ‘the Enlightenment is of Christian origin and it is no accident that it was born precisely and exclusively in the realm of the Christian faith.... It was and is the merit of the Enlightenment to have again proposed these original values of Christianity and of having given back to reason its own voice’.
As to what he thinks of Islam – he famously quoted a 13th century opinion that the sole contribution of Mohammed to religion was to spread it by the sword = ‘things only evil and inhuman’. And as for Judaism: he has re-introduced into the Mass a prayer for the conversion of the Jews 'from darkness to the light of the Catholic faith’.
So what are the values of this Catholicism he promotes, as the creator of the Enlightenment, and its heir? – just a sample: the remedy for HIV/AIDS is chastity, not condoms; homosexuality is an ‘objective disorder’ and it is not incorrect to discriminate against homosexuals; dissident gender roles are a ‘violation of the natural order’.
The recent row about his rehabilitation of Bishop Williamson, a notorious holocaust denier, was part of his mission to establish and promote a conservative front in Catholicism; Williamson was one of five bishops in the ultra-right Society of Pius X (linked with Le Pen in France) whom he de-excommunicated. Less widely publicised was his launching last November of the Joseph Ratzinger Foundation, fronted by some of his ex-students, to provide scholarships to poor students worldwide. The purpose of the Foundation is to spread his teachings.
His is a fundamentalist view of the political world and its divisions – for example, he urges Europe to return to its Christian roots, and Turkey to ‘seek its future in an association of Muslim countries’ rather than in the EU.
This man is not welcome here – and if he accepts the offer to visit, I’m sure all good and true anti-fundamentalists (including WAF) will be letting him know this – loud and clear. I’m hoping SBS will compose one of their special songs for the occasion.
WAF is a member of the Protest the Pope Coalition. Clara Connolly of WAF and Pragna Patel of Southall Black Sisters will be speaking at the rally on September 18.
See also Clara's and Pragna's speeches at the Protest the Pope! rally.
KEEP MY UNIVERSITY SECULAR! [ by Eva ]
(published March 2009)
I firmly believe that we must live in a democracy where freedom of expression must be upheld and where expressing one’s belief in a public space must be allowed for purposes of discussion or proselytising. For me, a secular society is not an atheist society or an anti-religious society. A secular society, and by implication a secular institution, is one which tolerates non-believers and believers alike, in which religion is a private activity, not dominant and not used or supported by the society (institution) in order to advantage / disadvantage one group against any others. Thus only a secular society can be democratic.
I work at a secular state-supported university, which witnessed, at the start of Ramadan, a large atrium being taken over by two groups of people, segregated by gender at either end of the space. Everybody who used the space of the atrium was exposed to religious videos, calls to prayer, copies of the Koran and huge billboards displaying religious quotations. The purpose of this exercise was purely religious. Then, on the last day of teaching before Easter, a group of Evangelical Christians set up a tent and preached in the open space within the university courtyard.
The university’s communal space is not a public space, and as I work there I do not have the option of walking away from these activities. Thus I believe not only that our atrium must remain a secular space, but that the whole university must remain available as a social space which does not segregate men from women and in which I am not preached to. I find the activity intimidating and believe also that Muslim women who choose not to be completely covered, or non-evangelical Christians, will find these activities to be intimidating, particularly because they, too, are not afforded the freedom of walking away.
It is great that our students have every right to religious freedoms. However, I consider this selective segregating (these students sit side by side in classrooms) of our students on particular occasions to be a religious activity. There is, quite rightly, a room allocated to students who want to pray during Ramadan, Pesach, Easter or any other religious holiday and that must be an appropriate place for it.
The fact is that orthodox and fundamentalist Muslim and Christian groups (in this case, other groups elsewhere) use public spaces for proselytising and aggressive preaching. This makes people of the same religion who observe differently, or those who observe a different religion, feel guilty. Fundamentalist groups suggest that they are the “good observers of the religion” while the others are the “bad observers”. That is what I call intimidation and there is no place for it at a secular university!
It is vital that all forms of oppression are debated otherwise we are in a serious danger that in the name of fighting racism we collude in other forms of oppression from within the communities that practice it.