The Yorkshire Atheist

My Faith in Humanity is Slipping!

Earlier today we heard the news that the UN was focusing it’s attentions on the Vatican in an attempt to save children around the world from the systematic abuse that has been ongoing now for decades (I would advise watching the fantastic documentary “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God” for an insight into how horrifying the issue is). As I often do with most news stories I decided to browse through some comments sections from various sites to see what the public opinion was.

On the whole the responses were surprisingly good, most people were lambasting the Vatican and calling out for justice for those abused, a sentiment I wholeheartedly share. However there were several comments that really got under my skin, they all shared the same theme:

“Why aren’t the BBC or British schools being investigated by the UN since this has been happening in those institutions too, why are the UN focused on the Vatican”, this logic devoid and self serving attitude made me want to scream, guess what morons, the British criminal justice system and Parliament have investigated both the BBC and Schools, they have worked tirelessly to bring those responsible to justice. Not only this but these organisations you mentioned are not sovereign states like the Vatican and therefore fall under the judiciary of the nations criminal justice system, not the UN.

At the end of the day it boils down to one thing, these people would rather the UN looked the other way, let the church keep their horrific secrets hidden and avoid scandal for their beloved church. If your church is more important to you than the protection of children then you and your church sicken me!

Pope Francis…Great or Just Human?

Since his ordination pope Francis has been all over the media, and for once, the story coming from the Vatican is a positive one. We have heard him speak out about many of the negative aspects of the Catholic church; their anti condom approach (specifically in Africa), pedophilia in the church and the Vatican’s attitude towards amassing wealth. Not only this but pope Francis it appears is attempting to give a friendlier image to the Catholic church; claiming that atheists and homosexuals can in fact get into heaven. On top of all this it appears he also practices what he preaches; you may well have seen images of pope Francis sneaking out of the Vatican to feed the homeless, washing the feet of prison inmates and so on.

So surely the pope is a great man, isn’t he? Well, when compared to his predecessors he is an absolute legend, even when compared to most people I think it is undeniable that he is a good man, but is he as great as most of the news stories might indicate? I would suggest not. Although his actions are decent, I cannot bring myself to call him a great man for one simple reason: I believe that any half decent person would do exactly the same things, if not take it even further. Not only this, but in my personal opinion it seems somewhat coincidental that after all the horrific news that has appeared from the Vatican over the last few years that such a progressive pope has appeared; Ratzinger was the face plastered above horrific stories of child abuse, Francis is the face of the new and improved Catholicism. It draws images to my mind of the fictional “Catholicism WOW” campaign from Kevin Smith’s Dogma, a good way to re-vamp the church and get positive press (for a change).

I’d like to point out that although I have a suspicion that this could be the case I am by no means certain and I do genuinely think that Pope Francis is a progressive, intelligent and caring human being; however I do not think that the positive news stories of today will make us forget the horrible stories of yesterday (nor should it). You may disagree but I believe that pope Francis is merely a good man in an atrocious institution.