Monday, February 22, 2016

Musical Monday - Come Home (Cardinal Pell) by Tim Minchin


Earlier today, it was reported that the Robert Carlson, the Archbishop of St. Louis, urged Catholic parishes in his area to cut ties with the Girl Scouts. It seems that the Archbishop discovered that the organization, dedicated to teaching girls to become leaders, was filled with ideas about treating women as actual people who could control things like their own reproduction. Carlson's admonition questioned whether the Girl Scouts did a good job of "forming the spiritual, emotional, and personal well-being of Catholic girls?"

Let's take a moment to remember what kind of organization Carlson is part of, and what kind of morally bankrupt shit stain he actually is. While being deposed concerning his time as the chancellor of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of a lawsuit against the Twin Cities archdiocese and the Diocese of Winona, Minnesota, he was asked whether he had known it was a crime for an adult to engage in sex with a child. His response was, "I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not." Let me repeat that: Carlson, who questions whether the Girl Scouts are doing a good job at teaching girls, claims that he didn't understand that adult priests having sex with children was a crime. Just think about that for a minute.

Which brings us to Tim Minchin's song about Cardinal Pell, the current cardinal of Australia and formerly the Archbishop of Sydney, who is currently hiding in Rome so he doesn't have to explain the child abuse he is alleged to have excused under his watch in front of a commission of inquiry. Pell claims to be too ill to travel, and the commission will question him in Rome, far from where his alleged crimes took place, forcing the victims of child abuse to travel to attend. In short, Pell is compounding the abuse suffered by people at the hands of priests under his supervision by making them travel for justice, pretty much because he is too scared to return to his home country to face the music.

At some point in history, the Catholic Church may not have been a force for evil. That time has long passed. From their opposition to contraception and gay marriage, to their imposition of ridiculous and life-endangering standards for use in their hospitals, to their cover-up of systemic child abuse, the Catholic Church has revealed itself to be a corrupt and morally bankrupt organization. As a result of both his own bullshit claim to not know it is illegal to have sex with children and his membership in an organization that long since proved itself to be vile, the human garbage pile named Carlson has zero standing to criticize the guidance the Girl Scouts are giving to its members. More than that, Carlson isn't even as good as the shit that a Girl Scout might scrape off of the bottom of her shoe.

Previous Musical Monday: Tomorrow Belongs to Me by Mark Lambert
Subsequent Musical Monday: Beam Down by Five Year Mission

Tim Minchin     Musical Monday     Home

2 comments:

  1. I cheered when Minchin released this song, seriously. I hate HATE that Pell is being such a coward and hiding out in Rome and the Church is helping him. UGH. UGH.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Verushka Byrow: I agree completely. At this point, the Catholic Church has no moral standing left.

      Delete