“From the Pope on down, through the Vatican and therefore through the lower echelons, the whole organisation, in my belief, is utterly anti-Christian and evil, as proven by centuries of torture, bloodshed, burnings, terrorism, and coverings-up of “the worst crime” known to man.
“And if Jesus Christ is to be seen in the vulnerable of this world, then all the church has done is crucify the man over and over and over again.
“If Christ was here, he would be burning down the Vatican. And I for one would be helping him.”
Via UK Gay News, we’re linked to an excellent article in the Irish lesbian e-zine Gaelick, on the protest at a prey-away-the-gay conference in Northern Ireland that was organized by the London-based journalist and founder of Stop Conversion Therapy Taskforce (SCOTT), Patrick Strudwick.
The newly formed Stop Conversion Therapy Taskforce (SCOTT) protested an ex-gay conference held in Ballynahinch, County Down.
The group was founded by gay investigative journalist Patrick Strudwick who sought to discover the methods used by those therapists who claim they can cure the gay, by presenting himself as seeking to be rid of his homosexuality. In his year-long investigation, he signed up with two therapists, including one man who turned out to be the psychiatrist Iris Robinson famously promoted at the peak of her anti-gay crusade.
According to Strudwick, the message of the protest was simple: “Love needs no cure.”
A number of loony-tunes approaches to converting the gays into the straights are cited in the article. Jacq excerpts a telling exchange from Strudwick’s undercover exposé of conversion therapy in The Independent. Strudwick, posing as a gay man seeking to change his sexual orientation, met with a predatory psychologist affiliated will the International Healing Foundation — a group represented by ex-gay counselorCaleb Brundidge at the anti-gay stadium rally staged in Kampala that fanned the flames of homophobia and is credited with playing a part in the introduction of Uganda’s infamous exterminate-the-gays bill.
Dr Paul Miller, in the course of a therapy session, said to Strudwick:
“Close your eyes and focus on that arousal you’re feeling down in your genitals,” he says. “I want you to hear, as a man, as I look at your body, I see strong shoulders and a strong chest, I see a man who has an attractive body and I want you just to notice the arousal you feel as you hear me talking about that.”
The professionally discredited, as in “permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association,” founder of the International Healing Foundation, Richard Cohen is an advocate of “Touch” therapy, in which the male counselor joins the male client stretched out on the couch, as Cohen demonstrated on CNN:
Ex-gay quack Richard Cohen on CNN’s Paula Zahn Now (video: CNN via YouTube)
The ex-gay conference in Northern Ireland featured a Chicago-based, christianist charlatan by the name of Mario Bergner, who claims to have cured himself of both the gay and AIDS simply by praying both away. “The invisible dude in the sky cured me of AIDS” is common lie among the ex-gay phonies. In this case Bergner was never diagnosed with AIDS, he only imagined the symptoms, so, if his personal sky fairy cured anything, it was hypochondria.
Here’s Bergner’s own account of his miraculous cure:
At twenty-three I was hospitalized with eleven symptoms of AIDS. From my bed, I questioned the Lord about homosexuality and Christianity. Jesus appeared saying, ”I want to heal your whole person, not just your sexuality. Choose.” Not understanding what “choose” meant I just chose him. I recovered and years later tested HIV negative.
As for Bergner’s female counterpart at the prey-away-the-gay-let’s-take-this-dog-and-pony-on-the-road-and-make-a-few-bucks-while-we’re-at-it conference, ex-lez Christine Sneeringer:
The other speaker was Christine Sneeringer who claims her lesbianism stems from childhood sexual abuse and a breakdown in her relationship with her mother. She was ultimately saved from lesbianism by a Christian softball league (really).
Thank you Ms Sneeringer for saving me the trouble of writing a punchline.
Apparently, according to blogger Joe Jervis, there’s a controversy surrounding this video. It’s claimed the video, created for Air New Zealand, “promotes predatory behavior.” Speaking of which …
Here’s to you Mrs Robinson:
I was going to post this video as a Sans Comment item, but decided a dedication was in order. I don’t do this very often, but …
Dean Braithwaite, writing at Pink Triangle – the blog of the Humanist Pink Triangle Trust:
Earlier this week, a Facebook group – Here’s to you Mrs Robinson for number 1 – was set up in “honour” of the disgraced Northern Ireland politician Iris Robinson, with the aim of getting Simon and Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” to number one in the UK singles chart.
People are being urged to purchase the track following revelations that Robinson, a homophobic bigot and self-proclaimed “born-again Christian”, had had an affair with a 19-year-old, Kirk McCambley.
[ ... ]
Robinson caused controversy when she labelled homosexuality an “abomination” and recommended that gay people get psychiatric help!
A police investigation has been opened into claims that former Northern Ireland MP Iris Robinson acted illegally when she procured loans for her teenage lover’s business.
Robinson was alleged to have solicited £25,000 each from the two property developers, Kenny Campbell and Fred Fraser, to help Kirk McCambley, then aged 19, set up a cafe in Belfast.
It was claimed that she kept £5,000 for herself and failed to declare the loan or her interest when the local council, on which she sat, awarded a contract to McCambley.
She was also alleged to have lobbied for three planning applications on behalf of Campbell and Fraser.
[ ... ]
Robinson had compared homosexuality to paedophilia, called gays an “abomination” and suggested they could be cured. Last March the Public Prosecution Service decided she had not committed an offence and the case was dropped.
Robinson has since quit as MP for Strangford and a member of the Assembly. She is said to be undergoing psychiatric treatment in Belfast.
Her husband Peter Robinson, who is Ireland’s first minister, was accused of knowing about the loan but failing to report it.
He denies any wrongdoing and has temporarily stepped aside from his positon in an attempt to clear his name.
Not only were dozens of priests abusing hundreds of children in the Archdiocese of Dublin over five decades, their superiors were either turning a blind eye or conspiring to cover it up, often with the help of Gardai and other state authorities.
The report by Justice Yvonne Murphy’s Commission of Investigation, published today, reveals the true scale of the scandal in a church which considered itself above the law.
The report itself describes in devastating detail how the reputation of the Catholic Church was deemed more important than the welfare of children.
This scandal began with the abuse itself. Dozens of priests inflicted unspeakable cruelty on hundreds of innocent children.
The report describes in often graphic detail how priests used and abused their positions of influence to commit their crimes.
After the abuse, came the cover up. The report details how priests known to be paedophiles were moved around from parish to parish, where they could once again abuse children.
There is a listing of resources for victims raped or abused by Catholic clergy at the link.
The American cousins of these Roman-collared Irish hypocrites, who betrayed the trust of innocents consigned to their pastoral care and then systematically hid the evidence, just signed onto a radical denunciation of American values. The Manhattan Declaration is nothing less than a call for theoFascism in the United States of America. They deserve neither respect nor deference to their made-up titles and silly outfits on either side of the Atlantic.
