Update from Richard Dawkins

As you can see the Times rather sensationalized the "Arrest The Pope Story" story, however Richard Dawkins was instrumental in setting in motion proceedings to entertain the idea of legal action against the pope.

He made the following statement on his website:

from Richard Dawkins...

"Needless to say, I did NOT say "I will arrest Pope Benedict XVI" or anything so personally grandiloquent. You have to remember that The Sunday Times is a Murdoch newspaper, and that all newspapers follow the odd custom of entrusting headlines to a sub-editor, not the author of the article itself.

What I DID say to Marc Horne when he telephoned me out of the blue, and I repeat it here, is that I am whole-heartedly behind the initiative by Geoffrey Robertson and Mark Stephens to mount a legal challenge to the Pope's proposed visit to Britain. Beyond that, I declined to comment to Marc Horme, other than to refer him to my 'Ratzinger is the Perfect Pope' article here: http://richarddawkins.net/articles/5341

Here is what really happened. Christopher Hitchens first proposed the legal challenge idea to me on March 14th. I responded enthusiastically, and suggested the name of a high profile human rights lawyer whom I know. I had lost her address, however, and set about tracking her down. Meanwhile, Christopher made the brilliant suggestion of Geoffrey Robertson. He approached him, and Mr Robertson's subsequent 'Put the Pope in the Dock' article in The Guardian shows him to be ideal:
http://richarddawkins.net/articles/5366
The case is obviously in good hands, with him and Mark Stephens. I am especially intrigued by the proposed challenge to the legality of the Vatican as a sovereign state whose head can claim diplomatic immunity.

Even if the Pope doesn't end up in the dock, and even if the Vatican doesn't cancel the visit, I am optimistic that we shall raise public consciousness to the point where the British government will find it very awkward indeed to go ahead with the Pope's visit, let alone pay for it."

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Richard Dawkins & Christopher Hitchens to arrest Pope Benedict XVI

RICHARD DAWKINS, the atheist campaigner, is planning a legal ambush to have the Pope arrested during his state visit to Britain “for crimes against humanity”.

Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the atheist author, have asked human rights lawyers to produce a case for charging Pope Benedict XVI over his alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic church.

The pair believe they can exploit the same legal principle used to arrest Augusto Pinochet, the late Chilean dictator, when he visited Britain in 1998.

The Pope was embroiled in new controversy this weekend over a letter he signed arguing that the “good of the universal church” should be considered against the defrocking of an American priest who committed sex offenses against two boys. It was dated 1985, when he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with sex abuse cases.

Benedict will be in Britain between September 16 and 19, visiting London, Glasgow and Coventry, where he will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, the 19th-century theologian.

Dawkins and Hitchens believe the Pope would be unable to claim diplomatic immunity from arrest because, although his tour is categorized as a state visit, he is not the head of a state recognized by the United Nations.

They have commissioned the barrister Geoffrey Robertson and Mark Stephens, a solicitor, to present a justification for legal action.

The lawyers believe they can ask the Crown Prosecution Service to initiate criminal proceedings against the Pope, launch their own civil action against him or refer his case to the International Criminal Court.

Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, said: “This is a man whose first instinct when his priests are caught with their pants down is to cover up the scandal and damn the young victims to silence.”

Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great, said: “This man is not above or outside the law. The institutionalized concealment of child rape is a crime under any law and demands not private ceremonies of repentance or church-funded payoffs, but justice and punishment.

Last year pro-Palestinian activists persuaded a British judge to issue an arrest warrant for Tzipi Livni, the Israeli politician, for offenses allegedly committed during the 2008-09 conflict in Gaza. The warrant was withdrawn after Livni canceled her planned trip to the UK.

“There is every possibility of legal action against the Pope occurring,” said Stephens. “Geoffrey and I have both come to the view that the Vatican is not actually a state in international law. It is not recognized by the UN, it does not have borders that are policed and its relations are not of a full diplomatic nature.”

Story from: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7094310.ece

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Time for Sinners to ban together against a real evil.
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My Easter Letter to the Catholic Church - Sexual Abuse: A Worldwide Epidemic

OMG the shit has really hit the fan with Our Father who Art in Rome.

Sex Scandals abound the countrysides of Ireland, the United States, Germany and more, as the Catholic Church tries to urgently scurry into action to stop more victimizing...oh I mean make changes to their policies...ur I mean write letters. That's right, thousands upon thousands of children, women, and men all over the whole have been and continue to be molested, sodomized, raped, bullied, mentally & physically abused by their patriarchal authority figures and mentors and all that the Pope can think to do is...write a letter. Well this is MY letter.

Not only is this traumatizing and ruining the lives of thousands of people, but it's creating an abuse cycles that will be hard broken. Trauma creates trauma. Many people who are sexually abused (on average 1 in 4 people), will in some way continue the abuse cycle onto their children, in their relationships with lovers and with their friends, and many form drug & alcohol addictions to cope with the trauma and un-channeled anger and feelings of worthlessness and despair.

So... If I was the pillar of a religious organization, one who preaches to be "the word of God", and your god is an awesome, loving, and/or jealous God. I think that after hearing one instance of such abuse, I would be so sickened. Outraged that a "man of the cloth" had abused his power, had performed things that we call sinful & heinous, had performed what the church would call homosexual acts that we condemn, and had also performed all of these things to God's children, the Lambs of God. I would be compelled by fury of God himself to not only deliver an immediate worldwide speech to my congregation, condemning this man and immediately excommunicate him, but also to punish him as biblical but as legal as possible. A letter...decades, years, weeks, or days after such event...doesn't quite suffice in my book.

Now. It's up to the people. Put down your Health Care banner, and pick up this one. I implore you. If you are a Catholic. Ask yourself WHY. WHY am I a part of this organization? That's all it is. A Non-Profit Organization that rapes, beats, sodomizes, intimidates, steals, & murders. And if it's because you are afraid to die? Guess what. You're gonna die. We all are. We are all going to fucking die. Get over it. Live your life NOW. Be a good Person, be kind to all, do your best to reach your goals, have empathy for people, and just do your fucking best. If you need to pray, PRAY! It's also called Meditation or Positive thinking and it works. You have the power to create your own destiny and make decisions about everything you do. If you're a serial killer or sociopath, that's another story, but don't worry, we'll find you eventually. Or maybe You should stay in the Catholic Church and everyone else can leave.

Still not convinced? Still want to go pray in the brick building on Sunday? If this helps YOU be a better person, then so be it. If you believe what you believe, you don't need this church. A building or an organization doesn't make you go to heaven, if you believe in heaven, God does. But you wont stop. You'll continue to go, just as your parents did, and their parents. You'll continue to say the chants, bow to the men in the robes, and look up in fear of the big wooden cross. Hoping that one day, this will all pay off. The ultimate spin on the religious roulette wheel. In that case, Happy Easter and Don't forget to bring the kids.

For a list of all of the current world-wide abuse scandals of the Catholic Church. Read this article on BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8576268.stm


Until Next Time Sinners,
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