Ban books, says barmy bishop
If you can’t stand being criticised, instead of engaging with the argument you ban the material that’s criticised you. That’s been the ploy of dictatorships and other oppressive regimes from time immemorial. You don’t get people calling for that sort of thing in civilised countries, do you? Certainly not in dear old Blighty.
Wrong!
Patrick O’Donoghue, Bishop of Lancaster, wants to ban books from school libraries if they criticise the Catholic Church. Yes, he wants to ban them. Remove them from sight. Prevent students from reading them.
He’s been summoned before the Commons Children, Schools and Families Committee to give his views on a document he produced last year that angered some MPs. In “Fit for Mission?” he wrote, “The secular view on sex outside marriage, artificial contraception, sexually transmitted disease, including HIV and AIDS, and abortion, may not be presented as neutral information.”
Presumably, in a Catholic publication they would be presented neutrally, then.
A story in the Independent says,
Fiona McTaggart, the Labour MP for Slough, said she was extremely concerned that Catholic sixth-formers would be denied access to great works of fiction as well as non-fiction if the bishop’s ban were implemented. “I would not expect a school to promote material that was lies but I also would also expect children to encounter a wide range of material even if they then need to be given the tools to criticise them,” she said.
But Bishop O’Donoghue defended his stance. “I think there has to be a vetting of material given the age range of children in schools,” he said. “There is certain material that you do not put in front of them.”
The bishop’s summons to appear before the committee followed a document he produced last year which angered some MPs because of its strict line on sexual morality.
So-called “safe sex”, says the bishop, is based on the “deluded theory that the condom can provide adequate protection against AIDS”. Deluded? Says who? He adds, “Schools and colleges must not support charities or groups that promote or fund anti-life policies, such as Red Nose Day and Amnesty International, which now advocates abortion.”
Considering the Catholic Church’s stance on condoms – which could be real lifesavers as well as preventing the births of many people who then go on to create further unachievable demands on the ecosystem, thereby becoming a further threat to other life – talk of “anti-life” is rich! This evil oranisation that steals from the poor, the weak, the vulnerable and the gullible the world over in order that its prelates may prance about in their camp finary and live the life of Riley has the temerity to accuse Red Nose and Amnesty of “anti-life” policies!
The mind boggles.
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Two things I particularly love about his comments…
First the way he compares critics of Catholicism to holocaust deniers. Guess the irony of the Nazis being bookburners and the Vatican Bank refusing to say if they are hiding their loot would be lost on him.
Second the way he says the Amnesty executive decided against abortion. They didn’t, they asked the members and honoured the majority decision. By the way, that included Amnesty groups in Catholic teacher training colleges ‘Oop North’ overseen by O’Donoghue who, in disobeying his ‘advice’, voted themselves out of existence.
Is the bishop saying you shouldn’t use condoms because he wants people to get aids and die if they have sex? Is this an ecology thing?
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Andy (author) adds: Sorry if not clear, and thanks for pointing it out. If people are already alive, we would want to keep them so. They’re already sentient beings and that’s just ethics. But there’s a difference between this and bringing unnecessary millions into the world to be a drain on the environment. That’s what I was getting at.
Is the bishop saying you shouldn’t use condoms because he wants people to get aids and die if they have sex? Is this an ecology thing?
Comment by jr — 13/Mar/2008 @ 4:51 pm
How can this be a bad thing? The church actively encouraging a reduction in their own mental defectives!
Having had all the joys of attending Catholic schools (many years in the past, thank fuck) I have to say that this nitwit bishop and his opinions are probably fairly commonplace.
Dr Carl Sagan observed, the cure for a bad argument is a better one. Banning stuff just makes it more popular – just look at hard core porn and drugs. Ban away!
If any book is banned then how about the bible & koran, both are full of hate, violence, geneocide,infantcide, incest, rape etc. Would you want your kids reading that filth?
” how about the bible & koran”
You forgot about the kiddie fiddling!