RubySoho
Winston
Catherine Deveny Socks It To The Church
June 18th 2008 00:35
This is an edited version of Catherine Deveney's column in The Age today:
Log on for Jesus? You ain't fooling me
IT'S OFFICIAL. The Catholic Church is fully sick. And so is George Pell. And I'm not talking about his health. The man is like massively random in a totally wicked way. Respect!
The Pellmeister has just launched a Catholic social networking site. On the electric computer. I know, futuristic! You heard that right brothers and sisters, the Micks now have their own Facebook. It's called Xt3, which stands for Christ in the third millennium.
On a weekly basis traditional church attendances are dwindling rapidly. Mega churches such as Hillsong, on the other hand, are going off like a frog in a sock. Prosperity teachings, rock and roll and use of the word "awesome" certainly have people taking Christ as their personal saviour and buying a DVD and a caramel mochaccino on the way out. Have you heard about Pillsong? Apparently ravers drop a couple of ecstasy pills and head down to Hillsong for some hugging, loving and rapture. How could you ever come down from that?
You've got to admire the Catholic Church's attitude. They stick to their guns. There will be no backdown on our anachronistic dogma that is at our core, but we will give you an illusion of progress. Back in April the Vatican abolished limbo, which means (apparently) unbaptised babies now have a place in heaven. I don't know whether that includes Muslim babies, Hindu babies and aborted babies. And they've updated their mortal sins to include drug dealing, environmental vandalism and "manipulative" genetic science.
If traditional churches want to stay relevant it's time for them to stop selling the sizzle and start selling steak. Which may be hard for some to swallow.
All I can say is Catherine, you go girl! When I write stuff like that on this blog, I get accused of being a bigot or a hatemonger or an ignoramus or, if I'm really lucky, all three. I love it when people are not afraid to stick it to the Catholic Church.
It is after all, an outdated institution, which as Deveny so eloquently states, refuses to progress to the point where it affords all its adherents equal standing, and chooses instead to give the illusion of progress by adopting modern technology. Well, it ain't fooling Ms Deveny and it ain't fooling me. John Howard tried that too didn't he, what with his painful attempts to reach out to the youth vote by posting videos on youtube. That worked such a treat he later suffered the most embarrassing defeat ever handed to a Prime Minister in a federal election in this country's history.
Deveny mentions that the Church now includes drug dealing, environmental vandalism and "manipulative" genetic science (presumably a nod to hybrid embryonic stem cell research which the Church finds so abhorrent), in its list of deadly sins, but what she doesn't mention is that same list includes pedophilia and, amazingly, obscene riches. yes, you read right. Obscene riches. Oh hypocrisy, thy name is the Catholic Church!
For those of you unfamiliar with Deveny's work, she is a regular columnist for the The Age , a stand up comic and TV comedy script writer. She was raised a Catholic but became an atheist as an adult. This is how she cites the exact moment of her conversion:
I started questioning the existence of God as I explained Bible stories to my children. "So Mary was a virgin and an angel appeared before her and told her she was going to have a baby and he was the son of God. When he grew up he walked on water, fed a massive crowd with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fishes, turned water into wine and then they nailed him on a wooden cross and he died. Then he came back to life. Actually hang on guys, this sounds like a crock." (Its Not My Fault They Print Them, 2007, page 97).
Before I outrage anyone too much I will stress here that Deveny does not go out of her way to attack the faith of other people, she is simply stating how she lost her own and she reserves her criticism for the religious institutions themselves.
She has also railed against everything from 4WD's
The Footy Show to private school education
Predictably, her views and the audacity she has to, you know, express her opinion in the Opinion section of a major newspaper has pissed off a few people. The Herald-Sun's Andrew Bolt been one of the most prominent. Yes, the man who still claims global warming is a hoax takes exception to some (all?) of Deveny's views. Example:
Oh I see Deveny is labelled a "hater" too. Whatever Andrew. Go drive a Landcruiser over the West Gate Bridge or something. In peak hour. And then complain about the traffic.
As you have probably guessed by now, I am fan of Catherine Deveny. I don't agree with everything she says and I don't read her column religiously (haha), but in a world full of hypocrites and apologists, she is a straight talker and of those, we don't have enough.
It's Not My Fault They Print Them, is Deveny's book of The Age columns and is published by Black Inc.
-Ruby
Log on for Jesus? You ain't fooling me
IT'S OFFICIAL. The Catholic Church is fully sick. And so is George Pell. And I'm not talking about his health. The man is like massively random in a totally wicked way. Respect!
The Pellmeister has just launched a Catholic social networking site. On the electric computer. I know, futuristic! You heard that right brothers and sisters, the Micks now have their own Facebook. It's called Xt3, which stands for Christ in the third millennium.
On a weekly basis traditional church attendances are dwindling rapidly. Mega churches such as Hillsong, on the other hand, are going off like a frog in a sock. Prosperity teachings, rock and roll and use of the word "awesome" certainly have people taking Christ as their personal saviour and buying a DVD and a caramel mochaccino on the way out. Have you heard about Pillsong? Apparently ravers drop a couple of ecstasy pills and head down to Hillsong for some hugging, loving and rapture. How could you ever come down from that?
You've got to admire the Catholic Church's attitude. They stick to their guns. There will be no backdown on our anachronistic dogma that is at our core, but we will give you an illusion of progress. Back in April the Vatican abolished limbo, which means (apparently) unbaptised babies now have a place in heaven. I don't know whether that includes Muslim babies, Hindu babies and aborted babies. And they've updated their mortal sins to include drug dealing, environmental vandalism and "manipulative" genetic science.
If traditional churches want to stay relevant it's time for them to stop selling the sizzle and start selling steak. Which may be hard for some to swallow.
All I can say is Catherine, you go girl! When I write stuff like that on this blog, I get accused of being a bigot or a hatemonger or an ignoramus or, if I'm really lucky, all three. I love it when people are not afraid to stick it to the Catholic Church.
It is after all, an outdated institution, which as Deveny so eloquently states, refuses to progress to the point where it affords all its adherents equal standing, and chooses instead to give the illusion of progress by adopting modern technology. Well, it ain't fooling Ms Deveny and it ain't fooling me. John Howard tried that too didn't he, what with his painful attempts to reach out to the youth vote by posting videos on youtube. That worked such a treat he later suffered the most embarrassing defeat ever handed to a Prime Minister in a federal election in this country's history.
Deveny mentions that the Church now includes drug dealing, environmental vandalism and "manipulative" genetic science (presumably a nod to hybrid embryonic stem cell research which the Church finds so abhorrent), in its list of deadly sins, but what she doesn't mention is that same list includes pedophilia and, amazingly, obscene riches. yes, you read right. Obscene riches. Oh hypocrisy, thy name is the Catholic Church!
For those of you unfamiliar with Deveny's work, she is a regular columnist for the The Age , a stand up comic and TV comedy script writer. She was raised a Catholic but became an atheist as an adult. This is how she cites the exact moment of her conversion:
I started questioning the existence of God as I explained Bible stories to my children. "So Mary was a virgin and an angel appeared before her and told her she was going to have a baby and he was the son of God. When he grew up he walked on water, fed a massive crowd with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fishes, turned water into wine and then they nailed him on a wooden cross and he died. Then he came back to life. Actually hang on guys, this sounds like a crock." (Its Not My Fault They Print Them, 2007, page 97).
Before I outrage anyone too much I will stress here that Deveny does not go out of her way to attack the faith of other people, she is simply stating how she lost her own and she reserves her criticism for the religious institutions themselves.
She has also railed against everything from 4WD's
The Footy Show to private school education
Predictably, her views and the audacity she has to, you know, express her opinion in the Opinion section of a major newspaper has pissed off a few people. The Herald-Sun's Andrew Bolt been one of the most prominent. Yes, the man who still claims global warming is a hoax takes exception to some (all?) of Deveny's views. Example:
Leftist Age columnist (oops, tautology) Catherine Deveny discovers yet another hatred in heart filled with them - this time a hatred of private schools and the losers who use them:
If you want your child to go to a school where they wear blazers so you can get over your own insecurities, or the chip on your own shoulder, you should pay for it. Every single cent.
And it should be compulsory for all politicians to send their children to government schools.,,,
The independent and Christian schools are divisive, discriminatory, reliant on hand-outs and implicitly teach children that some kids deserve nicer playgrounds than others.
Speaking of insecurities and chips on shoulders… trust a lapsed Catholic to be an expert in them.
And don’t give Deveny any excuses, like simply wanting to give your child an education of the highest standard:
I’m hoping that my kids will all be tradies. Because the happiest blokes I know are the tradies.
Deveny, obviously, is not a tradie herself.
If you want your child to go to a school where they wear blazers so you can get over your own insecurities, or the chip on your own shoulder, you should pay for it. Every single cent.
And it should be compulsory for all politicians to send their children to government schools.,,,
The independent and Christian schools are divisive, discriminatory, reliant on hand-outs and implicitly teach children that some kids deserve nicer playgrounds than others.
Speaking of insecurities and chips on shoulders… trust a lapsed Catholic to be an expert in them.
And don’t give Deveny any excuses, like simply wanting to give your child an education of the highest standard:
I’m hoping that my kids will all be tradies. Because the happiest blokes I know are the tradies.
Deveny, obviously, is not a tradie herself.
Oh I see Deveny is labelled a "hater" too. Whatever Andrew. Go drive a Landcruiser over the West Gate Bridge or something. In peak hour. And then complain about the traffic.
As you have probably guessed by now, I am fan of Catherine Deveny. I don't agree with everything she says and I don't read her column religiously (haha), but in a world full of hypocrites and apologists, she is a straight talker and of those, we don't have enough.
It's Not My Fault They Print Them, is Deveny's book of The Age columns and is published by Black Inc.
-Ruby
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Comment by Jeff Musall
Secular Humanity
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
She is straight foward, honest and very, very funny.
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Pillsong eh? Probably the only way you'd get me to church voluntarily...........
Oh and Andrew Bolt.......seriously, the biggest TOOL in Australia. I can't even read his columns anymore, they make me too angry with his George W/John Howard right wing racist loving views that I had to decide to just never read his stupid columns (actually, I find it best to stay away from the Herald Sun altogether).
Comment by Morgan Bell
Deep Pencil
Current Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Morgan, it's absolutely unbelievable isn't it? How on earth did they do that with a straight face?
Comment by Leonard Marlborough
Racing Write
I have a friend (Dutch but) living in Greece who reads her columns regularly. Catherine's observations, humour and insights, can travel beyond Melbourne and the 'Toorak tractors', Footy Show and Wayne Carey. Okay, maybe I explain some things...
She doesn't 'hate' so much as 'highlight'. If the Emperor has no clothes she describes the flesh in detail. Wickedly.
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
I like this:
She doesn't 'hate' so much as 'highlight'
So true...'hater' seems to be the new buzzword doesn't it? It's just an attempt to demean someone's legitimate views by making them sound irrational.
Comment by Morgan Bell
Deep Pencil
Current Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
Really Long Link
although i think he was saying he thought the american currency should keep Gods name on it?
Comment by Winston
Small Thoughts on Big Questions
Somebody had to say it.