The Burning Times Revisited

Feature, By dreadcircus, 14th July, 2008

We’re putting religion under the microscope this month on Same Same, in honour of the Pope’s visit to Australia. This week Jade Starr wades through the history books, only to discover that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

There is no denying that the Catholic Church is still a very powerful organisation. They have stood the test of time in the battle to be the most believed and worshipped religion regardless of any criticism. It is also documented heavily that they played a hand in the destruction of those who opposed the Catholic doctrine throughout the centuries, which explains the lack of criticism. Those who did not follow the Catholic ideals were deemed to be witches or heretics and were then persecuted from the late 1400s to early 1700s. It has been estimated that up to nine million people lost their lives during ‘The Burning Times’ but due to a lack of evidence the exact number is accepted as closer to 50,000 to 1 million. Many of these people, predominantly women, endured unfair trials and were subsequently incarcerated or burned alive at the stake for their so-called crimes against God. Not only were Pagan people segregated, tortured and murdered but they were also robbed of their rituals and practices, which are even now still used in modern Catholicism.

The Catholic Church also has a long history of condemnation toward women; they were also a major target during the witch hunts, particularly independent and homeless women. Women have long been regarded as the nurturers, this is reflected in the goddesses of ancient Greek mythology and Pagan beliefs. Even our planet is referred to as a feminine Mother Earth. Women make up 52% of the population and frankly without them our race would have died out many moons ago. Yet they have been shunned, repressed and dengrated by this male dominated organisation. In recent times we’ve seen female priests begin to emerge, much to the chagrin of many in the Catholic hierarchy. For an organisation that preaches high morality through the word of god, they seem more like instigators of the current problems that plague humanity, through their repression and intolerance.

During the many years of slavery, the Catholic Church also stood by doing nothing until the late 1800s, using the Bible to justify their late intervention. It’s important to note that the Catholic doctrine has changed over the centuries. These changes have been influenced by politics, social and cultural change and public outcry. Things have had to change because times have changed – slavery has been reduced at least in the west, women and indigenous people now vote and have won many battles in regards to equality even though there is still a way to go. It has also been documented that the Catholic Church made a deal to turn a blind eye to Hitler and his hordes of Nazi soldiers as they decimated bloodlines of Jews. Their agreement to keep out of each others business affairs ended in 1937, when the Nazis started to become a greater threat to the church. The then Pope’s death contributed to the end of this arrangement too.

But wait there’s more!

Stereotype or not, paedophilia within the clergy has plagued the Catholic Church’s image in recent times. With advances in communication during the 1900s came allegations toward the clergy, which before the communication boom exploded were much easier to suppress. It became apparent that there had been considerable sexual abuse towards minors within the Church and that it had been covered up for many years. The Church has since paid out billions of dollars in compensation to victims of sexual abuse and has assured us that this is being stamped out internally, yet many perpetrators have not faced court or served prison time, which is as disgusting as the sex abuses that continue to surface. There seems to be a common thread of the Catholic Church taking advantage of those who are most vulnerable, be it due to their gender, sexuality, age or race. These people have been punished all in the name of god and the repression preached within the Church’s fear laden doctrine.

Whilst Catholic leaders have had to budge slightly and change their delivery of god’s morality, another minority group has vocally emerged in the last thirty years, demanding equal rights – the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. With the Pagans hiding away practicing their magic, slavery all but a thing of the past, women and indigenous people enjoying more freedoms and child sex offenders within the clergy being exposed, it seems the Catholic Church need a new vulnerable minority group to attack, defame and rob of their civil basic rights.

Sexuality and gender expression have been one of the biggest taboos throughout the history of the Catholic Church. Sex and the guilt surrounding it has been the largest and most successful fear campaign used against society by repressive religious groups like the Catholic Church – that is unless you are having sex to create another Catholic person. As it now stands contraception, masturbation, abortion and homosexuality remain prime targets and are still deemed abhorrent and immoral, regardless of how many people are dying from overpopulation, poverty, starvation and disease.

I am still amazed by the amount of people who blindly follow a faith which promotes such blatant intolerance and contradicts itself through countless revision and interpretation of words which have no relevance to today’s world. The GLBT community are the modern witches of our time. We seem to be a massive threat to the clergy, though we’re barely mentioned in all forms of the Bible, and even when we are it’s not in a directly negative way. Just like the Pagans, women and children before us, we are vulnerable at present and are easy targets for them to rally numbers against. Current laws keep us disadvantaged – we are not equal and are often targets of humiliation and violence from parts of society. It makes us the perfect scapegoat – we are the minority who are fighting off centuries of pre-programmed negative press and are not likely to gather enough support to win.

Perhaps the Catholic Church has underestimated the GLBT community? As the world spirals out of control in the midst of hunger, financial collapse, terrorism and holy wars our humble little GLBT community continues to battle the system. Already there are significant changes happening for us and just like the others before us, if we remain vigilant and take in every small victory with pride then eventually rewards will follow.

With Sydney set to host World Youth Day, it’s shaping up to be one of the most controversial tours a Pope has ever faced. Police have bought in new laws stopping people from causing “annoyance” or “interference” to the Pope and his pilgrim parade. Expect to see water cannons, people handing out condoms, homosexual displays of affection and general disdain towards the Pope and the police for this outlandish event. After the years of child sex abuses being outed in the clergy, it seems ironic that they should hold an event with the word ‘youth’ in the title.

I will not be staying silent this week. I’m willing to face the $5,500 fine and even possible time in the lock up for protesting, which is not something a transsexual woman says lightly. Let’s all hope that Sydney turns out in huge numbers to scream a resounding “no!” to this Catholic juggernaut and our State Government.

They have tried to do this before to other minority groups but have failed. And they will fail again.

Other articles in the religion series:
God Loves You.
Constant Cravings.
Devil Or Delusion?

Photos: 1. Pope Benedict XVI, 2. Adolf Hitler, 3. A survivor of child sexual abuse at the hands of clergy, 4. The Vatican, 5. An artist’s impression of witches being burnt at the stake.

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