coming out of my shell

coming out of my shell

Saturday, October 10, 2015

A Bald Faced Lie


The little girl in me wanted to believe in Pope Francis, but she also wants to believe in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. I try to keep her in check because she is still a child and liable to get us in trouble. Still, I have to admit I have liked a lot of what Pope Francis has said and done since becoming Pope. I was following Francis in the media, with hope even, wondering what he would do next. Many of us ex-Catholics had been keeping an eye on him. Then he met with Kim Davis. 

For those of you from outside the States who may wonder what I am talking about, Kim Davis is an Evangelical Christian who is a minor elected official, a county clerk.  Among other things she is responsible for issuing marriage licenses in Rowan County, Kentucky.  In June, the U.S. Supreme court made the decision allowing gay people in all 50 States to get married. That has been problematic for Evangelical Christians in the so-called Bible Belt. After the ruling, Kim Davis refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples in Rowan County because she would have to sign her name to the official document. She decided to break the law and ignore that fact that she was elected to perform a specific job because she does not want to break “God’s Law.” Hmmm, I do have an awful lot to say about religious arrogance and know-it-all-ism, but not right now.


Interestingly, because of the way the law works in Kentucky she cannot be fired for refusing to perform her duties.  She earns a lot of money for that relatively underprivileged part of the county ($80,000/year!) and refuses to just do the right thing and simply quit a job she feels she cannot perform.  Instead she wanted the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky to allow her to refuse to perform that portion of her job based on religious liberty.  The court refused and ultimately threw her in jail for contempt of court when she continued to deny gay couples marriage licenses.  She was released when she agreed to allow her underlings to issue licenses without her signature.  Unfortunately, she has not just gone away.  She is hanging on to the notoriety and keeps working her 15 minutes of fame. 

Perhaps most troubling is that she has allowed herself to become a poster child for the political aspirations of the extreme end of the religious right. Her lawyers belong to a firm that is officially listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.  


Before I go on let me just say that I am absolutely in favor of religious freedom.  I disagree with her refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay people, but I support her right to believe otherwise.  However, we live in a country that believes in the separation of church and state. She cannot choose to disobey the law of the land because of her religious beliefs. Polygamist sects would have a fit if she got do do that and they didn't.

In my humble opinion, since her job duties have lawfully changed and the job now offends her religious sensibilities she should quit the job. I think that would be the honorable and obvious thing for her to do.

Instead, Kim and her legal counsel used the recent visit of Pope Francis to the U.S.A. to manipulate the American public, to disrespect and embarrass both the Pope and the Catholic Church, and to further her cause. How did they do it? They tricked and blindsided the Grand Poobah of a major international religious institution. Wow!


Because of the liberal ideas Francis has been spewing there are many conservative elements within the Church hierarchy who dislike him.  Apparently they are also actively working against him.  A treacherous priest in charge of arranging meetings for him while he was in the USA seems to have colluded with Kim’s lawyers and got her a meeting with Francis. Then Kim and the lawyers went public with the meeting, making it appear that Pope Francis agreed with and was supportive of Kim. It is possible he did not even know who she was.


They lied and ruthlessly used the head of a world religion to further their cause.  Why would they feel comfortable doing something like that?  With all their self-righteous God talk, didn't they feel even a smidgeon of guilt about lying to millions of people?  How would they feel if a Catholic lied and used the Grand Poobah of their religion in a similar way?


In my opinion that is not their biggest transgression. Their biggest "accomplishment" was sewing seeds of doubt in the minds of untold numbers of non or ex-Catholic people about Pope Francis. Some will never fully believe in his sincerity again.  Some, like me, continue to feel foolish and gullible even after the revelation that Francis had been deceived and used.
It was a bit of a wake-up call.

I will admit I was charmed by the pre-Kim Davis Pope Francis. That little girl in me really wanted to like him.  She wanted to forget that he was the head of a religion that does not allow women to become priests, sees human sexuality as a necessary evil, is adamantly against birth control, and more things I do not agree with. What was I thinking?  Well, of course I was not thinking.  I was letting the little girl inside my head take charge, which is never a good idea.  I’m thinking she might have some Daddy issues…


When the lie first hit the media, Francis-friendly liberals all over the country were howling with indignation that they had been "played" by Pope Francis.  Smug conservatives kept saying, “What did you liberals expect?  This is the Catholic Church.  Francis is the head of it.  He has not changed any Church Doctrine.”  Yeah, well, you made your point. Shut up already! I hear you!


So anyway, if Kim and her lawyers had not met with the Pope and tried to use his words to manipulate the media, the modern world might have become a little different.  Imagine!  Some people may have continued believing Pope Francis was a sincere holy man, a heroic figure.  Some might eventually have found their way back to the Church, for better or for worse.  But The Vatican would have us believe that Kim and her lawyers did lie.  If that is true, as a direct result of Team Kim lying and deceiving us the world has now changed in an altogether different way.  Standards have been lowered.  The ministry of Pope Francis has been diminished after his ambush by Kim Davis and her Merry Men.


For the fun of it, let us imagine there is life after death and we will all have to account for our actions while we were on earth.  Man, I would hate to be in their shoes and try to explain and justify THOSE particular sins to St. Peter at the pearly gates.  I am waiting for the graphic novel.  It should be epic.

 



21 comments:

  1. I keep coming back to "all gods have clay feet." As I'm reading through my blog list, (and enjoying this well reasoned statement immensly), I'm downloading Bill Clinton's "My Life," to listen while I weave. I remember watching him on TV saying "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," and to the shock of all in the room I burst into tears. "Don't lie, don't lie," the little girl in my head screamed out loud. "Don't lie; it's impeachable. Tell the truth, to hell with your ego." So long ago. The fabric of the stories goes on an on. Pope Paul, passing out papal blessings and Volkswagon spewing lies, all in the same week. No wonder we pay attention and become cynics.

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    1. Too true. Yeah, I always figured Clinton was a bit of a hound dog, but I didn't really care. I still don't. It was the lies that broke my heart. I'll have to read the book.

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  2. Such a well presented post. I feel much the same way, although I don't believe in any religious authority figure whatsoever. They're good people - most - have the right to present they're religious views, but authorities...not so much. Francis's cowardice in not effectively changing any policy is deeply disappointing, he keeps hanging a carrot of liberalness out there and I think it's only a very pretty blowup carrot. However, I do think that Francis is a very nice old man... :), I might like him for a gentle but irritatingly conservative uncle.

    I think all the answers are inside of us - if we just pay attention. But that means listening to the quieter voice over the louder.

    You cracked me up about the "daddy issues" part - who doesn't have them?!

    And $80,000 a year? She is robbing Kentucky blind. Any by the way, what is this "one man, one woman" thing? Gay couples don't reproduce anywhere near as much as straight, especially religious couples, they do of course, but in a much more responsible and conscientious way for the most part as do a growing number of straight couples. (global warming is real folks!) AND they adopt in far larger numbers. A wonderful thing in this insanely over populated world!

    Oh yes, and those sneaky guys behind the scenes - they have a LOT of power - a LOT...

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    1. Thanks Liv, I enjoyed your comments. Presenting Francis as a "gentle but irritatingly conservative uncle" is a good reality check. I am trying to listen to the quieter voice in my head, but you know - there are just so many of them talking at once! :)

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  3. Well yes to all of it.

    I have no religious background and my first contact with catholics was when I met my future in-laws, who were of the deeply conservative Irish type. I loved them dearly but we had our arguments esp. about baptising that grandchild, the preposterous wealth of the Vatican and the various popes in their ermine coats and red velvet cummerbunds and silk shoes, and - obviously - the role of women etc.

    That was in the 1980s and a lot has come to light since then, not just in Ireland and some days I am relieved that these two kind people did not have to witness any of the scandals, the laundries, the illegal adoptions, the abuse and the cover-ups but then again, like many good catholics around the world, they probably knew all about it on a level that was beyond communication.

    I have no patience, no respect and no admiration for any representative of that church, no matter how kind and gentle he may come across.

    This here is a really good novel (I know, fiction, but still) on the subject:
    http://www.johnboyne.com/fiction/adult-fiction/a-history-of-loneliness/

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    1. Thanks Sabine. I hear you loud and clear. T and I also had arguments with my Dad about baptizing our daughter. I assume Dad probably baptized her himself when we were not around for a few minutes. And I will definitely follow up on the novel.

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  4. Like others have said, I recognise no religious authority. As a woman, that makes about as much sense to me as supporting the Republican party. Having said that, Ms. Davis and her lawyers have lied about more than just this: http://www.handlebarindy.com/

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  5. Ack, wrong url, sorry! http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/09/29/lawyer-admits-picture-of-kim-davis-rally-in-peru-is-fake/

    This is the correct url.

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    1. Thanks, I'll check it out.

      Don't you wish blogspot.com had an edit feature?

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    2. Just read it. Sheesh. They are just shameless.

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  6. My by this time widowed father in law got our daughter baptised without our consent. The family priest arranged two fake parents and a white veil (she was 11) and organised a grand show at midnight mass before easter Sunday. My daughter came home with a bag full of holy pictures and gold medals (??). We wrote a nasty letter to the priest after he punblished her picture - veil and fake parents and all - in the parish newsletter. No reply. Water under the bridge now.

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    1. Proof positive that religion drives some people stark raving mad.

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  7. I can't say much about the meeting with Kim Davis, as no one on the outside knows the why and how and what of those circumstances. But I do know that while I think this current Pope is a fine human being in many ways, he's still the head of an institution that I object to heartily. So, yea, What some of your other commenters have said!

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    1. Yep! Hey, your most recent post is brilliant (Get a Job). I keep trying to comment, but the signature for the comment section is set to reveal me as my personal Facebook page. That blows the whole paranoid old-lady privacy thing I have going on, so I just chicken out. However, I have recently set up a Facebook page for my AFBB persona. As soon as I figure it all out I will try again. In the hope of passing as normal I am inspired to start signing comments on my own page with my first name like so many other bloggers. Let's see if it works.

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  8. Love your perspective, as always! (I am told that my grandma baptized me in the kitchen sink, since my dad wasn't raising us Catholic...or any religion, for that matter!!!)

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    1. Mrs M, it is tempting to say "My Dad and your Grandmother would have liked each other," but of course they did. She was my mother's favorite sister, and one of the few aunts on my mother's side who could stand my Dad. He adored her. She had a special gift for accepting people for who they were rather than who the rest of the world wanted them to be. Reminds me of someone.

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    2. I wish I had gotten the chance to know my grandma, adult to adult ~ Grimmer woman to Grimmer woman! I am often told that I resemble her in looks and some mannerisms. I guess I share more with her than I could ever know. Thank you!

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  9. What I find amusing is that Pope Francis ALSO met with an old student of his, a gay man and his partner, for over a half hour. That is TWICE as long as Kim Davis says her meeting lasted. So, I think, if we are going to split hairs (and those conservative types ALWAYS do...), we can safely say that Pope Francis likes gay people twice as much as Kim Davis. I was also appalled to find out that Kim NEVER met privately with the pope, but was actually with several others in a processional line and that they ALL received rosaries and were told to have courage. Oh, Kim....did you REALLY think that this meant that the Pope was "on board" with you. Honey, the Catholic Church does not recognize your last three marriages and any children produced from them are considered bastards in the church's eyes.....

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    1. It cheers me up considerably to think PF likes gay people twice as much as Kim Davis.

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  10. I'm not catholic but I do like this pope. He seems like a genuine man, honest and compassionate. It's good to know that people like him exist in the religious world.

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    1. He is certainly more likable than Pope Benedict.

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So, whadayathink?