LATEST WEASELWORDS FOR CHILD ABUSE

From the Telegraph:

Roger Vangheluwe, 74, the former bishop of Bruges, said the abuse he committed was only "superficial".

"I don't have the impression at all that I am a paedophile. It was really just a small relationship. I did not have the feeling that my nephew was against it, quite the contrary," he said.
....

Vangheluwe admitted abusing one of his nephews over a 13-year period, until the boy was 18, and a second nephew for a period of 12 months. (Huff Post says 2 years below.)

More from The Huffington Post:

A former bishop's televised admission that he sexually abused two of his nephews caused an uproar in Belgium on Friday, with the prime minister, senior clergy and a prosecutor expressing shock at the way the ex-prelate made light of his offenses.

In an interview that aired Thursday Roger Vangheluwe, the former bishop of Bruges, spoke of his sexual abuse as "a little game," that involved fondling, but no "rough sex."

"I was never naked" and the abuse was never about "real sexuality," said Vangheluwe, 74.
....

Bruges Prosecutor Jean-Marie Berkvens said Friday the abuse of the second nephew lasted for two years. The victim was younger than 8 at the time.
....

The interview took place in a wooded Catholic retreat in Ferte-Imbault in central France, where Vangheluwe has been sent by the Vatican.

Throughout the interview, he sat relaxed, sometimes smiling and at times shrugging his shoulders as if to signal that the events he spoke of were not very serious.

Oh well. The abuse was only "superficial", only "a little game", with no "rough sex", and "never about real sexuality". And the one nephew did not object. Move along. Nothing to see here.

One of the tragedies of this story is that Vangheluwe is probably not lying. Very likely, he saw what he was doing exactly as he describes it. And the nephews whom he abused? What do they say? How were they affected by the "superficial" abuse? Ah, we don't know, but, from the stories of others who were abused, we can surmise that they were harmed, probably seriously, by abuse from the adult relative whom they trusted.

So. Vanghelhuwe has been sent to a French monastery, while the Vatican decides what to do with him.

The abuse started when the nephews were 5 years old and 8 years old and continued for years. I thought I could not be surprised further with stories about child abuse and denial, but it seems I can. The old mind is boggled.

Thanks to Lapin and Ann V for the links.

ALL THAT JAZZ - NEW ORLEANS EPISCOPAL CHURCHES

Palm Sunday procession in 2010 to St Anna's Episcopal Church in New Orleans







I dunno. Is all that jazz enough? Some might say no. ;-)

Click on the images for the larger view.

From EDoLA, the Newsletter of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana.

MANAWA O TE WHEKE DIOCESAN SYNOD REJECTS ANGLICAN COVENANT

From Christopher Douglas-Huriwai at No Anglican Covenant on Facebook:

The motion rejecting the Anglican Covenant has just passed unanimously at the Manawa o te Wheke Diocesan Synod, the first Diocese in the province of Aotearoa- New Zealand and Polynesia to do so.

Unanimously! Let's hope this is the first of a series of dioceses in New Zealand and Polynesia to reject the covenant.

Wording: That Te Hui Amorangi o Te Manawa o te Wheke, for the purpose of providing feedback to te Hinota Whanui/General Synod, states it's opposition to the Anglican Covenant for the following reasons:

-After much consideration this Amorangi feels that the Anglican Covenant will threaten the rangatiratanga (self determination) of the Tangata Whenua (local people).

-We believe the Anglican Covenant does not reflect our understanding of being Anglican in these islands.

-We would like this church to focus on the restoration of justice to te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi which tangata whenua signed and currently do not have what they signed for.

I can't help rejoicing, because I believe that the adoption of the covenant will not be a good thing for the Anglican Communion. It's worse than a daft idea, because the covenant was conceived for the purpose of discipline and punishment. The covenant "will threaten the rangatiratanga (self determination) of the Tangata Whenua (local people)," and it "does not reflect our understanding of being Anglican" in the islands, nor in other dioceses and provinces. (My emphases)

UPDATE: From Janet M in Canada:

Thanks for the heads up from NZ on the Anglican Covenant. I have spent 6 weeks in NZ each of the last 3 winters(their summer), so have a little understanding of the church polity there. In NZ there are 3 parallel churches-pakaha (white) Maori, and Polynesian (mostly Samoan ).

The diocese that has just voted no to the covenant is a Maori one in the central part of the north island based out of Rotorua. This is the most densely Maori region of NZ. In Rotorua is the incredibly beautiful Maori church, St Faith, which features a glass etching of Christ wearing a Maori chief's cloak, and appearing to be walking on Lake Rotorua, seen in the background of the window.The Maori are by and large fairly conservative, but they have a very strong self identity. The most internationally famous Maori Anglican is Jenny Te Paa.

Below is a photo of the lovely glass etching of Christ in St Faith's Anglican Church.



Photo by Galen Frysinger.

UPDATE: A more detailed picture of the glass etching of Christ may be found here.

LOL! THE JOKE'S ON RICK

From Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin:

Former Sen. Rick “Man on dog” Santorum hosted a town hall meeting where he unveiled his campaign slogan, “Fighting to make America America again.” Turns out, the pithy phrase didn’t come from Santorum’s creative genius. It’s from a pro-union, pro-racial justice, and pro-immigrant poem by that famous Harlem Renaissance gay poet Langston Hughes. The poem, “Let American Be America Again,” goes like this:

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay–
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.

O, let America be America again–
The land that never has been yet–
And yet must be–the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine–the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME–

I stole nearly the entire post. I hope Jim forgives me. I couldn't resist.

You can't make this stuff up.

R. I. P. LINDA LAHME - WE LOVE YOU

Linda, our missionary who worked in Zambia, passed away yesterday afternoon in her beloved Zambia. We received the news last night at a meeting at church.

When Linda left to return to Zambia she said:

“I’m going back because I can’t get any medical care here,” she said Friday.
....

But last week, she said she had run out of options. Medicaid had found out about a bank account she set up in Africa to pay for Kunda’s [Linda's adopted daughter] education and said the asset made her ineligible for the program, Lahme said. Lahme refused to tap into the account, opting to return to Zambia and limited medical care rather than compromise Kunda’s future.

“To qualify for Medicaid, I would have to spend all the money I set aside for my daughter’s education,” Lahme said.

There's our health care system for you.

Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant Linda. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen.

May her soul and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

My earlier posts on Linda are here and here.

SEN. DAVID VITTER WRITES

What Sen. Vitter wrote:

Dear Friend,

If you didn't get a chance to watch President Obama's address on fiscal policy yesterday, you might be better off. It was nothing more than a partisan campaign-style speech that doubled down on raising taxes.

What the president has failed to realize is that the problem isn't that our taxes are too low – it's that the current spending habits in Washington have created a recipe for disaster. The answer is not increasing taxes or perpetrating ugly class warfare, but to make bold spending cuts so we don't leave this fiscal mess for our children and grandchildren. Increasing taxes during this economy would seriously hurt America's job creators.

If it weren't such a serious problem, it would almost be comical that the president claims that Obamacare will help reduce the deficit yet fails to acknowledge how much his failed bailouts, stimulus and other reckless spending have contributed to the fiscal mess we're in....

What I wrote:

Dear Sen. Vitter,

I watched the speech, and I thought the president's suggestion that the rich pay their fair share of taxes for the privilege of living in this great country was one of the best parts of the speech.

I also noted that the president placed the blame for blowing the budget squarely where it belonged, on the tax cuts for the rich and two off-budget wars that were never paid for during the presidency of George Bush and his Republican cohorts running wild, including you.

You have a nerve, Sen. Vitter. Do you think I'm stupid?

June Butler

And if asking the richest amongst us to pay their fair share is "perpetrating ugly class warfare", then I quote George Bush and say, "Bring it on!"

UPDATE: My friend Counterlight reminded me in a comment of Warren Buffett's words in a CNN interview with Lou Dobbs:

BUFFETT: Yeah. The rich people are doing so well in this country. I mean, we never had it so good.

DOBBS: What a radical idea.

BUFFETT: It's class warfare, my class is winning, but they shouldn't be.

The interview took place in 2005! The inequities are even greater today.

LET'S NOT FORGET...

...who blew the budget. The best of Obama's speech yesterday, in my humble opinion:

America’s finances were in great shape by the year 2000. We went from deficit to surplus. America was actually on track to becoming completely debt free, and we were prepared for the retirement of the Baby Boomers.

But after Democrats and Republicans committed to fiscal discipline during the 1990s, we lost our way in the decade that followed. We increased spending dramatically for two wars and an expensive prescription drug program — but we didn’t pay for any of this new spending. Instead, we made the problem worse with trillions of dollars in unpaid-for tax cuts — tax cuts that went to every millionaire and billionaire in the country; tax cuts that will force us to borrow an average of $500 billion every year over the next decade.

To give you an idea of how much damage this caused to our nation’s checkbook, consider this: In the last decade, if we had simply found a way to pay for the tax cuts and the prescription drug benefit, our deficit would currently be at low historical levels in the coming years.

But that’s not what happened. And so, by the time I took office, we once again found ourselves deeply in debt and unprepared for a Baby Boom retirement that is now starting to take place. When I took office, our projected deficit, annually, was more than $1 trillion. On top of that, we faced a terrible financial crisis and a recession that, like most recessions, led us to temporarily borrow even more.

Others, such as Kevin Drum at Mother Jones and Duncan Black at Eschaton, agree with my humble opinion.

Let's not forget.

KATE DIDN'T NEED TO DO IT, BUT SHE DID

From the Guardian:

She probably didn't need to do it, but when one is about to marry a chap who will one day become Defender of the Faith, it is probably just as well to tick all the boxes: Clarence House has announced that Kate Middleton was confirmed last month by the bishop of London into full membership of the Church of England.

Middleton's confirmation at a private service – she had already been christened into the CofE as a child – serves to dot the Is and cross the Ts of her allegiance to an institution in which she will inevitably spend a lot of time in coming years, especially when Prince William eventually becomes its supreme governor.

Alright then. Everything is in order. No chance at all that anyone will harbor doubts that Kate is a closet Roman Catholic, thus making her ineligible to marry an heir to the throne.

Unlike the dead-ender birthers here in the US, including the man with the awful comb over, Donald Trump, who continue to shout loudly that President Obama was not born in the US and is thus ineligible to be president. The Donald now speaks of running for president. Oh joy!

"THESE SHORTAGES WILL AFFECT YOU"

From the Borowitz Report:

Exporting Democracy Has Led to Shortages of it in U.S., Experts Say

Wisconsin, Florida Hardest Hit

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) – The U.S. policy of exporting democracy abroad has meant that there is very little of it left at home.

That is the grim assessment of a new study commissioned by the University of Minnesota, which predicts that if the U.S. continues to export democracy at its current pace it may completely run out of it at home by the year 2015....

Read the rest over there. Borowitz has a special treat for you, a picture of the man with the tan, John Boehner.

Let me think. That's only 4 years away. Grim, indeed. I could still be around. The predictions that jump ahead to 2025 or 2040 don't worry me much, because know I will have left this good earth, but for my ashes. I do feel a bit sorry for the rest of y'all, though.

ALL CATS ARE BAREFOOT

see more So Much Pun

Thanks to Lapin.