Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in central London on Saturday with banners and blown-up condoms, angered at the Pope’s response to the child abuse scandal, his homophobic comments about gay relationships and his claims that condoms spread rather than prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Organisers believe that up to 20,000 activists took part in the demonstration in Hyde Park. Protesters included the author of ‘The God Delusion’, Richard Dawkins, and gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
Protesters unfurled banners with statements including:”Pope’s opposition to condoms kills people”, “Keep the Pope out of women’s’ reproductive rights” and “F**K the Pope … But wear a condom”. Others simply called the Pope a “bigot” or a “homophobe”, while others balloons made up of blown up condoms, while some protesters displayed their anger at the Pontiff’s apparent role in covering up the child abuse scandal within the church.
Full story over at the Pink News
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Let’s not forget the “Down with this sort of thing!” posters.
Father Ted works on so many levels. It’s scary how accurate it is about the Catholic Church :\
All stemmed from his bad take on the child abuse scandals. That’s what made him stand out more than any of the other things he said. Poor guy let religious beliefs make his views way too skewed to be acceptable. That’s how religion causes wars and whatnot.
Some of the crap the pope came up with just made me want to punch him right in the popmobile
The fact that it’s the Pope makes people think this has something to do with intolerance towards religion. It doesn’t. He’s covered up gods and goddesses knows how many cases of child abuse. If he was anyone else, he’d have been arrested.
I like this one: “F**K the Pope … But wear a condom”
what’s this?
someone’s herded cats?
It was a strange occasion, stranger still because both crown and government welcomed him with open arms.
I find the church’s philosophical, theological and ethical stance tragic and deplorable, namely that truth must exist and must reside with one faith, superior to other faiths and all sciences e.g. medicine, physics… Such a pompous disregard for reason gives them no rights to preach their own. Their immunity from the law is equally baffling to anyone who values the rights of the individual.
One could go on. For a few days it was a timewarp to darker times but sadly they are times we live in.
If only there were more moderate, considerate, rational voices being heard. I don’t mean Mr’s Fry and Dawkins, who occupy the opposite pole of supporting religious hatred as freedom of speech.
wish i could have been there, glad people did this
Ah, lovely. Sometimes things turn out just the way you hope for. Peace and good humour, some devastating speeches (a Dawkins classic!), and a fine show of how secular Britain does it’s business. Makes me proud
<3 u Derrrrreeennn!!! XD
This might be a dumb question, but exactly what are the militant secularists calling for and how will this help society as a whole? To dismantle the church? Good luck. Turn the Pope into a powerless figurehead like The Queen – perhaps.
Hahaha love it, i hate that man, really do, the most manipulative man in the world!
Second most manipulative and controlling man ever to step foot in Britain.
And if you need ask who the first is; then why are you on this site?
Multi facet,what you want, a belief that is true to you, religion evolves. The more people that call a truth a truth the sooner it is. One day the tolerance we dream of will be the standard of the day.
Every day is a step forward.
@ Codifier
I would imagine that they want to show that no one is above the law. If they can manage to strip the pope of his religious armor, then it sends the message that “it doesn’t matter what your beliefs are, some things are just unacceptable.”
But even without that motivation, they still have a very good reason; he’s a criminal!
@ Jimmy “Every day is a step forward.”
Surely at the costs of the fabric of values in society that everything and anything goes. Not even to mention the mental cases that have come forward in it as role-models to follow, like Lady Gaga or Marilyn Manson. Imagine we would walk with that kind of stuff around or behave like them. How can you function in a job, school, train-station, government building, the inland revenue, police station, public swimming pool and the like. It would be a complete madhouse.
Why is the bible so bashed ??? If you just would follow up some things in there like “love your neighbour than yourself “? Don’t steal, Don’t lie, Don’t kill, etc. Why is it so bad to do the right thing ? Is being too liberal not the source of our problems today, which we cannot resolve.
One of the favourite placards that I saw was “Commandment XI – Thou shalt not protect paedophile priests.”
20,000 is a small number to be given this much publicity. I thought there were more rabid secularists in Britain than that. For the sake of perspective, at least four times that number attended the Mass for the beatification of John Henry Newman. Fundamental secularists are a noisy mínority. Nothing more.
@ Amadan Mor
Have you listened to what Dawkins and Fry say? The term Militant Atheism was coined by the mad religious right. Respect has to be earned. Speaking the truth does not make you strident. The pope effectively said that non believers are Nazi’s. Apart from the fact that this is a blatant lie, designed to deflect attention from his crimes against children, is this not militant? The days of turning a blind eye to religious bigotry are over. We just need the media and establishment to get on board.
@Julien S.-R.
Guilty of breaking which law? I’m genuinely curious.
He didn’t perpetrate the abuse and I’m not even sure he was pope when it occurred. I’m struggling to see how attacking one man who, if he falls will be replaced by someone else, advances the atheist agenda?
I don’t often comment but I feel I should on this
F*ck the pope
That is all
Come on guys, if you’re going to talk about things like this you should get your thoughts across a bit more clearly. You are mixing up secularism and atheism and liberalism. It just ends up sounding reactionary and, sorry, kind of lame.
Let’s not forget, we are all secularists, or at least we are obliged to behave as such. That’s why you are free to practice any or no religion, rather than forced to follow the majority, or the ruling bodies. Secularism is a GOOD THING whatever you think about atheism. Unless you want a theocracy, but you don’t. Hopefully.
Oh and all this “militant atheism” and “fundamentalist secularism” is pretty funny too. What violence is being referred to? Is it a sort of old testament never-really-happened violence?
@Jasper Matthews
I take your point Jasper – but I’d rather sound reactionary and lame than arrogant and condescending, which you seem to have perfected.
I equate religion to smoking: you partake in something that causes harm; it’s a bloody expensive ‘hobby’; a tremendous feeling of guilt comes with it; it’s hard to find the inner-strength to it give up; and, really, it should just be banned immediately.
Codifier, that’s exactly the point. He protected abusers back when he was a cardinal, and now he’s suddenly above suspicion because he happens to have been made pope.
Also, atheist agenda? I think the main point here is that it’s ridiculous to make tax payers fund a visit from a very dubious ‘head of state’ (both morally dubious, and dubious in the sense that the Vatican is one of the most bizarre ideas of a state ever). He’s free to come preach wherever, but when the UK makes its people –including the non-religious and otherwise religious — pay for the visit of what is basically just the head of one religion, that’s not a good thing.
KJ: Oh, postmodern or avant garde styles are dangerous and insane now? Let’s all dress in uniforms, see how well that goes…
Codifier
You’re right, Ratzinger was not Pope at the time of the sex scandal revelations – he was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and was responsible for the investigation of these cases and for the enforcing of canon law.
I believe the church should lose the right to deal with these cases internally and that it’s members be made answerable to the laws of the land – just like everybody else.
@codifer
If you are genuinely curious about the pope’s guilt you should read “The Case of the Pope” by Geoffrey Robertson QC. It’s available at Amazon. The then cardinal Ratzinger sent a memo to all bishops around the world telling them to keep secret all information concerning paedophile priests in their parrish. he also had these predators moved to other parrishes where they continued to abuse more children. It seems his motivation was to protect the churches image ahead of the victims. All religious leaders are politicians (Liars). The faithful are just gullible sheep.
Reply to:
Codifier says:
September 20, 2010 at 5:18 pm
@Julien S.-R.
Guilty of breaking which law? I’m genuinely curious.
He didn’t perpetrate the abuse and I’m not even sure he was pope when it occurred. I’m struggling to see how attacking one man who, if he falls will be replaced by someone else, advances the atheist agenda?
If he’s been pope for more than a few years, then he’s been pope when child abuse has occured.
But you’re quite right, most of the cases coming to light now happened in the past, probably when the pope himself was a young un in the hitler youth.
Sounds like a charming man!
@sircodifier
Yep, sorry. I do that a lot. Point stands though. A better man than me should have made it.
Or woman! Again, sorry. Every time I post something my inner monster is revealed! And I try really hard to be nice. Crap at it.
Regarding accusations he protected abusers. I’ve been reading up on his supposed “hush” letter of 2001 letter “De delictis gravioribus” and it seems to me it’s simply been grossly misinterpreted by the media. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story, huh?
You may have seen secular Britain doing it’s business, but all I saw was Dawkins whipping an angry mob into a frenzy.
In resorting to this sort of character assassination you risk galvanizing his followers against you and signaling that you’re unable to form a reasoned argument to support your point of view.
If you disagree with the religious ideology then I think we’d all be better served by offering a compelling alternative to the faithful than hurling insults at each other.
@ Berber Anna,
No, Avantgarde dresses do not effect that, the persons in the dresses affect it. I believe their behaviour cannot function in the workplace of society. It also affects the persons that watches such persons behaviour of copying their erratic behaviour. Erratic behaviour “copied” results in dysfunctional results.
Try to find out what their source is as in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWMsFokdBWU&p=0A48143B337EC15D&playnext=1&index=12
Please copy and paste in your browser and watch what many people are unaware about. Subconcious messages changes behaviour of people. Just watch on the TV a rock concert and see how mechanical roboyd everyone becomes when someone (Rockstar) exercises power over them by telling them to do as they are saying. They can say anything.
@ Berber Anna,
It is called “Altered Conciousness”. Copy catting. Copying someone you admire does not mean you are on the right course to make something right. Important moral Values are shattered and become acceptable in someone’s mind. The true result in the society is showing. Deplorable things are ok, borders are being destroyed of the fabric of society and create such immense problems that you can now see around you how huge the problems have become that are complete out of control. The excuse is now the excuse for something that something needs to be excused for. Many changes are suggested, but the root cause does not change. The root cause festers on because of moral degradation. Do you think being liberal is an answer to these problems ? It only proves it got worse than ever.
@Berber Anna – If you disagree with the way the UK government spends money then you have democratic recourse on this matter.
@PJ – Canon law is not civil law. From my reading, at no point has the CDF sought to supplant the laws of the land. The abused have always had the protection of, and the abusers have been answerable to, the same laws as you and I.
@Kevin – thank you for the book recommendation.
@Andy – if you want to try and argue that a 14 y.o. boy in WW2 Germany conscripted into the Hitler Youth had any choice in the matter, then be my guest.
It was a good day; wonderful atmosphere and some pertinant and inspiring speeches. A few more photographs of the march and some of the speakers on my blog at http://nicknakorn.wordpress.com along with my views about secularism (and other stuff).
best wishes
Nick
Codifier, I can hardly vote in another country’s election, but I can sympathise with fellow humanists.
KJ, I suppose as someone who likes goth, electro and metal music and loves to dress up, I have been well and truly corrupted. Even though I’d never dream of harming anyone, including myself (as I said on another post, I don’t drink alcohol, smoke, or use any recreative drugs). All I sin against is people’s idea that everyone has to believe the same stories as them, or behave the same way they do. Speaking of which, isn’t religion the ultimate form of copycatting? Take Christianity, which started in the Middle East and has been copycatted the world over…
@Berber Anna – Sorry, my bad. I assumed from your concern over what the UK government chooses to fund that you were a tax-paying citizen.
Codifier, didn’t my name clue you in?
It’s not a nickname, it’s my actual name, in case you were wondering.
And I’m concerned about the separation of church and state everywhere, not just in my own country. The UK just happens to stand out to me because I have a lot of friends there.
Derrren! Eeekkkkkk I hate the pope with passion!! I dont hate him based on no reason, I hate him because he is manipulative and EVIL IN HIS TRUE FOOOORM!!!! Eeekkkkkk but my only belief is YOU and PROFFESOR RICHARD DAWKINS!!
plus….religion causes war right…? (: looove you derren!
Ian, this was posted by Phillis, not by Derren…
@Berber Anna – Actually I have to confess I was utterly ignorant of the significance of your name. Sorry! A quick trip to Wikipedia has enlightened me, although not fully I suspect. Do you mind me asking which country you live in?
@ Berber Anna,
I have to say this, not drinking, using drugs, does not mean you are a free person from anything that comes your way or going someone else’s way. Your identity should be you and you alone. Not copy catting someone or some religion. It is the identity that makes you as an individual. Which could mean you can just be a normal dresser but still being a highly personal individual with character. Character is what counts. Character is love, kindness, truth, reality…. etc. Even if you say I don’t harm anyone, you still could harm someone by being the example that you are without knowing. About religion “copycatting” you say, I can say this, it is not about copy catting a religious behaviour, it is about a relationship with the “Entity and Person what I call God Almighty.
@ Berber Anna,
How do you do a relationship ? You maintain it, by meditation of the values of someone and for example prayer and breathing, not breathing as normal breathing, but breathing as in pneuma, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatology This breathing causes a connection to the Presence of God. In that supernatural Presence you can experience all kinds of things. Things can change, healing can take place, comfort, revelation, prophetic, future related things, breakthroughs, visions, unusual miraculous things that cannot be understood by the natural mind and so many more things. You cannot “copycat” this. You have to spend time on it. Nor it can be seen by the natural senses, unless it manifests itself in the natural. It’s more a way of living by trial and error and learn from it.
Berber,
I agree with you. Here in S.W. UK I live in a village of only 3000 people and we have two Church of England churches, a Methodist church, a Catholic church an Anthroposphical (Steiner) Christian community building, a nearby Steiner School, a Camphill Community and a host of new-age inhabitants. I fully support their secular rights to exist but I also fully exercise my secular rights to be critical of them. As far as I know there is not one Atheist/rationalist organisation in the area and the various church’s views that secularism is aggressive are an astounding bunch of untruths – lies in other words. Rational voices are drowned out ruthlessly here in Devon because the ‘spritual’ people run absolutely everything.
Codifier, I am Dutch, and my dad is from Frisia (a province in the north of the Netherlands that has its own language and culture). Berber is the Frisian form of Barbara.
Coincidentally, it’s also the name that the Greeks gave a tribe in Morocco (the Amazigh in their own language), but that has nothing to do with me apart from the fact that my brother-in-law is half Moroccan.
KJ, let’s just agree to disagree, as I can’t quite follow your arguments.
@ Berber Anna,
I am Dutch too, born and bred and my ancestors come from Friesland. I am not asking whether you agree or disagree. Your life as anyone else’s is at stake. I believe it is about who you are not who you follow, behave or dress like.
@ Nick
“Spiritual” people do not run everything. The evidence is there. There is a difference between “spiritual” and true spiritual people. Many are “spiritual” but make no difference to their environment for the better. True spiritual people impact their environment to make it better as like in: help the weak, the sick, the lonely, the poor, the elderly, the lost, the mentally ill, etc.
You would not want those spiritual people to stop doing what they are doing are you, Nick ? I am sure you would not take up their many a times voluntary job.