Gay Rights Group calls for Catholics to be “Integrated” not “Marginalised”
Botherer-of-god-botherers and controversial Editor of The Gutter Trash, reb of Melbourne has softened his hard-line approach to the Catholic Church today suggesting that Catholics should be “integrated into the community rather than be marginalised.”
“Obviously we live in a secular society where this sort of sky-fairy ideology doesn’t sit comfortably with most normal intelligent people, but at the end of the day we have to accept that these so-called “Catholics” are people almost like everyone else,” he said earlier today.
“It’s not a sin in itself, to have a religious orientation, and clearly people shouldn’t be marginalised for being like that,” he said.
“Obviously, actually believing in some sort of sky-fairy remains a fucken stupid idea, and these people need our sympathy and some sort of psychological help, not our scorn” he added.
The news has been greeted with a degree of optimism by the Catholic Church.
“It’s good to see that he’s finally softened his traditional hard-line approach to us Tims,” said The Pope.
“But one can’t help but wonder whether it’s just some cynical ploy to shore up numbers for the homosexual population, given that by their very genetic nature, they are at risk of extinction unless they recruit more members,” said The Pope.
“And Christ knows we’ve got plenty of botty-bandits in our ranks who could be tempted to switch teams,” he added.
theguttertrash.com 
😆
What could I say … Golden Shaft Award 2013 … !
I am reading Jeanette Winterson’s superb memoir about growing up in an impoverished household in the north of England as the adopted daughter of an eccentric Pentecostal mother. Winterson is gay of course. This is what she had to say about religion.
‘I saw a lot of working-class men and women – myself included – living a deeper, more thoughtful life than would have been possible without the Church. These were not educated people; a Bible study worked their brains. They met after work in noisy discussion. The sense of belonging to something big, something important, lent unity and meaning.
A meaningless life for a human being has none of the dignity of animal unselfconsciousness; we cannot simply eat, sleep, hunt and reproduce – we are meaning-seeking creatures. The Western world has done away with religion but not with our religious impulses; we seem to need some higher purpose, some point to our lives – money and leisure, social purpose, are just not enough.
We shall have to find new ways of finding meaning – it is not yet clear how this will happen ‘
I agree with Winterson about the centrality of the search for meaning to the human experience. I believe it is at the heart of great art, music and literature.
“The Western world has done away with religion but not with our religious impulses”
I couldn’t DISAGREE more.
Once you come to the realisation that religion is simply a coping mechanism to avoid facing up to the reality that life is essentially futile, then those “impulses” or “needs” simply disappear.
That’s not to say that Life itself is not a wonderful experience, but often the simple appreciation of the planet, nature and the many wonders and varied types of species on the planet is sufficient enough without having to apply some sort of sky-fairy belief system to it all.
I’ve read a great deal of Oliver Sacks’ books, and generally find myself in agreement with a lot of what he has to say.
In fact he has written a lot about music and how important it is to the human psyche…
“Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears – it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear. But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more – it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity.”
“The inexpressible depth of music, so easy to understand and yet so inexplicable, is due to the fact that it reproduces all the emotions of our innermost being, but entirely without reality and remote from its pain…Music expresses only the quintessence of life and of its events, never these themselves.”
“The brain is more than an assemblage of autonomous modules, each crucial for a specific mental function. Every one of these functionally specialized areas must interact with dozens or hundreds of others, their total integration creating something like a vastly complicated orchestra with thousands of instruments, an orchestra that conducts itself, with an ever-changing score and repertoire.”
“Darwin speculated that “music tones and rhythms were used by our half-human ancestors, during the season of courtship, when animals of all kinds are excited not only by love, but by strong passions of jealousy, rivalry, and triumph” and that speech arose, secondarily, from this primal music.”
“There are, of course, inherent tendencies to repetition in music itself. Our poetry, our ballads, our songs are full of repetition; nursery rhymes and the little chants and songs we use to teach young children have choruses and refrains. We are attracted to repetition, even as adults; we want the stimulus and the reward again and again, and in music we get it. Perhaps, therefore, we should not be surprised, should not complain if the balance sometimes shifts too far and our musical sensitivity becomes a vulnerability.”
“There is certainly a universal and unconscious propensity to impose a rhythm even when one hears a series of identical sounds at constant intervals… We tend to hear the sound of a digital clock, for example, as “tick-tock, tick-tock” – even though it is actually “tick tick, tick tick.”
“The power of music, whether joyous or cathartic must steal on one unawares, come spontaneously as a blessing or a grace–”
― Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
Fascinating Reb. I have to rush out now but I will read again what you have written with great interest when I return.
“All music is what awakes from you when you are reminded by the instruments, It is not the violins and the cornets, it is not the oboe nor the beating drums, nor the score of the baritone singer singing his sweet romanza, nor that of the men’s chorus, nor that of the women’s chorus. It is nearer and farther than they…”
From Walt Whitman (and Nina Simone).
That’s not to say that Life itself is not a wonderful experience, but often the simple appreciation of the planet, nature and the many wonders and varied types of species on the planet is sufficient enough without having to them apply some sort of sky-fairy belief system to it all.
I agree entirely! As I have become older and had the benefit of travel I often say out loud what a wonderful world this truly is … and for that you only need to watch a David Attenborough doco …
A couple of days ago I actually stopped, turned around and went back to look at a small, red leaf, laying on the ground covered in water droplets, with the sun shining through each droplet with all the colours of the rainbow … when I got home I said to The Minister, “I’ve just discovered the true meaning of stopping to smell the roses” … I actually took the time to appreciate …
I have a note in my study desk drawer that says … “we are in heaven right now – don’t waste the experience” … my own personal reminder!
And yet the sense of smell evokes the deepest and most vivid memories and emotions …
Just so we stay on topic … this thread does relate to a church … one of the things that trainers are advised to do to assist in learning is to use as many of the senses as possible and of course repetition may help …
Consider the senses churches use … taste, touch, sound, sight and smell … all found particularly in catlike churches during holy communion … clever , hey?
“Consider the senses churches use..”
Guilt, fear, retribution, intimidation, punishment…
All in the name of dog.
Chuckle! 🙂
Best Reb Post ever !
Love it.
So many fail to see the inherent bias’ of their stances until it’s the same script with key words strategically inserted in place of…
The blogmasta is on fire at the moment.
Should we put him out?
Not on your life, its terrific satire.
Give reb a walkley, excellent laugh! 🙂
Thank youse.. 🙂
The idea struck me while I was on the train to work this morning.
The media and some gay rights activists (Rodney Croome specifically) are celebrating the new Pope’s remarks as some sort of new gay-friendly approach, but really it’s the same old stance dressed up in a less hardline approach.
No one, at least as far as I could see, seemed to realise just how ridiculous his comments are.
For one thing, gay people don’t need to be “integrated” into society. We’re already here. Secondly, since when did the Catholic Church become the arbiter of who should be “accepted” in society versus those who shouldn’t?”
If anything, it’s the talking snake advocates who should be justifying why they should be “integrated” into society and not locked up in some mental institution, and kept at a safe distance from otherwise reasonably sane people who just want to live a normal life.
Indeed.
Dianne__ ‘ ‘ I am reading Jeanette Winterson’s superb memoir ‘ ‘
Dianne, l understand where you`re coming from but l tend to be more in agreement with reb`s reply. The Winterson stuff you quote is often written by true believers, that while they are not `lying`, they only see the half of the story of dog-bothering, and they romantesize this, and totally over-look things like `crusades`, `inquisitions` and child molestation, with the cover-ups too. l am not saying all dog-botherers are bad people, just not critical or questioning.
*
TB David Attenborough doco /
his are the best by far
Well I don’t know if Winterson is a believer as I am not far into her book. I suspect she is not. I think she was looking back at the Pentecostalism of her childhood and early girlhood as something which provided human bonding and meaningfulness in a desperately impoverished part of England in the fifties and early sixties.
I remember reading a book about the Kennedys. The point was made that Boston’s catholic Cathedral was a mecca, to mix my religions, for the near starving Irish immigrants, catholic of course, because it was the only place which provided them with a sense of belonging, beauty and music.
If I am making any point at all it is that I think religion is strongest when practiced by the marginalized, the poor and downtrodden. I think Christianity does not have that influence in prosperous societies. That said new mega churches like Hillsong attract huge numbers to their services for many reasons including community bonding and because these evangelicals seem to deliver a message that God wants his followers to be prosperous. Very palatable in today’s consumer society. I find the whole thing fascinating.
“I find the whole thing fascinating.”
Yes. Fascinating and disgusting.
A bit like suburban swingers’ parties.
You know it goes on, but it’s probably something you’d rather have nothing to do with.
‘ ‘ really it’s the same old stance dressed up in a less hardline approach.’ ‘
*
l agree. He`s dog`s chief rep on earth. lf he really wanted to be `gay-friendly` he would just gather the admin team and push for the reforms, not just spout about it.
What’s it all A B O U TTT ttttttt? . I have no answer. But I think about it all the time. Searching for answers which will never be found. Infinity and BEYOND!!!! as Buzz Lightyear says. I loved the Oliver Sacks’ snip on music you provided. I have been meaning to read him for years and now I am encouraged Reb.
I don’t like the idea that life is futile Reb although you may be correct of course. I would love to be a confirmed atheist or believer. I am condemned to wonder and seek. This might seem perculiar but a bout of pondering is often promoted by potatoes. Being a mildly slovenly house-keeper I will often discover that the spuds in the darkened corner of the pantry will have sent out long knobby sprouting arms before I get to them. I could dissect a Pontiac and find nothing which impelled that potato to activate. What is it all about? Btw I am receiving no mockery or insults from anyone on this subject
“A bit like suburban swingers’ parties.
You know it goes on, but it’s probably something you’d rather having nothing to do with.”
…and with that statement, Fifi has removed reb from the guest list for the September “get together”
“What is it all about? Btw I am receiving no mockery or insults from anyone on this subject”
I think you receive no insults because you make lucid & considered statements in a non aggressive tone which only an arsehole would take exception to. 😉
As for “what is it all about?”…I personally think that it is all about nothing & that is fine; certainly better than misattributing meaning where there is none. Not that searching for meaning is a bad thing; it is a universal trait of most people.
All of the best ideas & motivations we have are human…not divine, divinity doesn’t exist but within the minds eye; it is a wistful concept.
What I take from all of that isn’t that life is futile, quite the contrary. It is that life is fleeting…and there is no second go if you fuck it up the first time (as we all do to some extent, I suppose). There is nowhere but entropy to go after death.
I’m serene about that. I think the world is awesome, without needing to be mystical or overseen by metaphysical imaginings.
Each to their own of course. Just my 5cents worth. 🙂
“What is it all about?”
I discovered what it’s all about during an interesting experiment late last year.
If its the one I think you are referring to, it involved a trip down “memory lane” with positive outcomes ???
Yes, that’s the one TB.