http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:53:40 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/faith-religion/117674-gay-priests-no-more-likely-abuse-children-than-heterosexuals.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:36:26 GMT A study commissioned by the US Roman Catholic Church has found no evidence that gay priests are more likely to sexually abuse children than heterosexual clergy.
Researchers at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice said their full report won't be available until next year but added so far, nothing had suggested that homosexuality was likely to lead to abuse.
The suggestion that only gay priests abuse boys within the church is often repeated. In October, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's permanent observer to the UN, said that between 80 to 90 per cent of all abuse of boys aged between 11 and 17 was by gay men.
In May, Father John Owen, the former chaplain for Cardiff University, said that gay men are the main perpetrators of such abuse. He has sinced resigned.
Addressing the US Conference of Catholic Bishops yesterday, John Jay College researcher Margaret Smith said: "What we are suggesting is that the idea of sexual identity be separated from the problem of sexual abuse.
"At this point, we do not find a connection between homosexual identity and the increased likelihood of subsequent abuse from the data that we have right now."
It is estimated that 80 per cent of child abuse is suffered by boys.
Another researcher, Karen Terry, said bishops should be cautious when equating this to gay abusers, saying: "It's important to separate the sexual identity and the behaviour. Someone can commit sexual acts that might be of a homosexual nature but not have a homosexual identity."
She added that one reason for the skewed ratio is that paedophiles have much easier access to boys rather than girls.
The study was commissioned by bishops after the child abuse scandal in 2002.

Gay priests ‘no more likely to abuse children than heterosexuals’ - from Pink News - all the latest gay news from the gay community - Pink News# ]]> Faith and Religion Honey http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/faith-religion/117674-gay-priests-no-more-likely-abuse-children-than-heterosexuals.html http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/faith-religion/117331-catholic-diocese-gives-d-c-ultimatum.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:24:32 GMT Didn't see this posted yet...


Catholic Church gives D.C. ultimatum

Same-sex marriage bill, as written, called a threat to social service contracts


By Tim Craig and Michelle Boorstein
Thursday, November 12, 2009


The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.

Under the bill, headed for a D.C. Council vote next month, religious organizations would not be required to perform or make space available for same-sex weddings. But they would have to obey city laws prohibiting discrimination against gay men and lesbians.
Fearful that they could be forced, among other things, to extend employee benefits to same-sex married couples, church officials said they would have no choice but to abandon their contracts with the city.
"If the city requires this, we can't do it," Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said Wednesday. "The city is saying in order to provide social services, you need to be secular. For us, that's really a problem."
Several D.C. Council members said the Catholic Church is trying to erode the city's long-standing laws protecting gay men and lesbians from discrimination.

The clash escalates the dispute over the same-sex marriage proposal between the council and the archdiocese, which has generally stayed out of city politics.

Catholic Charities, the church's social services arm, is one of dozens of nonprofit organizations that partner with the District. It serves 68,000 people in the city, including the one-third of Washington's homeless people who go to city-owned shelters managed by the church. City leaders said the church is not the dominant provider of any particular social service, but the church pointed out that it supplements funding for city programs with $10 million from its own coffers.

"All of those services will be adversely impacted if the exemption language remains so narrow," Jane G. Belford, chancellor of the Washington Archdiocese, wrote to the council this week.

The church's influence seems limited. In separate interviews Wednesday, council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) referred to the church as "somewhat childish." Another council member, David A. Catania (I-At Large), said he would rather end the city's relationship with the church than give in to its demands.

"They don't represent, in my mind, an indispensable component of our social services infrastructure," said Catania, the sponsor of the same-sex marriage bill and the chairman of the Health Committee.

The standoff appears to be among the harshest between a government and a faith-based group over the rights of same-sex couples. Advocates for same-sex couples said they could not immediately think of other places where a same-sex marriage law had set off a break with a major faith-based provider of social services.

The council is expected to pass the same-sex marriage bill next month, but the measure continues to face strong opposition from a number of groups that are pushing for a referendum on the issue.

The archdiocese's statement follows a vote Tuesday by the council's Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary to reject an amendment that would have allowed individuals, based on their religious beliefs, to decline to provide services for same-sex weddings.

"Lets say an individual caterer is a staunch Christian and someone wants him to do a cake with two grooms on top," said council member Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 6), the sponsor of the amendment. "Why can't they say, based on their religious beliefs, 'I can't do something like that'?"

After the vote, the archdiocese sent out a statement accusing the council of ignoring the right of religious freedom. Gibbs said Wednesday that without Alexander's amendment and other proposed changes, the measure has too narrow an exemption. She said religious groups that receive city funds would be required to give same-sex couples medical benefits, open adoptions to same-sex couples and rent a church hall to a support group for lesbian couples.

Peter Rosenstein of the Campaign for All D.C. Families accused the church of trying to "blackmail the city."
"The issue here is they are using public funds, and to allow people to discriminate with public money is unacceptable," Rosenstein said.
Rosenstein and other gay rights activists have strong support on the council. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), chairman of the judiciary committee, said the council "will not legislate based on threats."
"The problem with the individual exemption is anybody could discriminate based on their assertion of religious principle," Mendelson said. "There were many people back in the 1950s and '60s, during the civil rights era, that said separation of the races was ordained by God."

Catania, who said he has been the biggest supporter of Catholic Charities on the council, said he is baffled by the church's stance. From 2006 through 2008, Catania said, Catholic Charities received about $8.2 million in city contracts, as well as several hundred thousand dollars' worth this year through his committee.

"If they find living under our laws so oppressive that they can no longer take city resources, the city will have to find an alternative partner to step in to fill the shoes," Catania said. He also said Catholic Charities was involved in only six of the 102 city-sponsored adoptions last year.
Terry Lynch, head of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations, said he did not know of any other group in the city that was making such a threat.
"I've not seen any spillover into programming. That doesn't mean it couldn't happen if [the bill] passes," he said.

Cheh said she hopes the Catholic Church will reconsider its stance.
"Are they really going to harm people because they have a philosophical disagreement with us on one issue?" Cheh asked. "I hope, in the silver light of day, when this passes, because it will pass, they will not really act on this threat."

Catholic Church gives D.C. ultimatum on same-sex marriage issue - washingtonpost.com

Now how exactly is refusing charity the christian or catholic thing to do??? :nono: ]]> Faith and Religion Laxmobster http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/faith-religion/117331-catholic-diocese-gives-d-c-ultimatum.html http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/faith-religion/116252-sweden-church-allows-gay-weddings.html Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:42:55 GMT Sweden's archbishop is broadly supportive of the move

The Lutheran Church of Sweden - the country's largest - is to conduct same-sex marriages from next month. Around 70% of the church's 250-strong synod, or church board, voted to back the move, making it one of few global churches to allow gay marriage.
Sweden's government introduced a new law in May allowing gay couples the same marriage rights as heterosexuals.
Three-quarters of Swedes are members of the Lutheran church, though church attendance is low.
The Lutheran Church says gay couples can now get married by any of its priests from the beginning of November.
Individual priests will not be "forced" to perform same sex ceremonies, though substitutes will have to be found if they refuse.
The church - which split from state control in 2000 - backed the government's decision to legalise gay marriage in May.
But some clergy had questioned whether church ceremonies - and the term matrimony - should be reserved for heterosexual unions. Others opposed the move on the grounds it contravened the scriptures.
Limited opposition
In response, the Archbishop of Sweden, Anders Wejryd, told reporters: "For my part, the right decision was taken, but I can empathise with the many who believe this has gone too fast."

GAY MARRIAGE IN EUROPE
Netherlands, legalised in 2000
Belgium, 2003
Spain, 2005
Norway, 2008
Sweden, 2009

Sweden's largest gay rights group, the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (RFSL), welcomed the move.
"[We] congratulate the Church of Sweden for its decision. [The church's] homosexual and bisexual members will finally be able to feel a little more welcome within society," the group said in a statement.
Sweden was one of the first countries to give gay couples legal "partnership" rights, in the mid-1990s, and to allow gay couples to adopt children from 2002.
It become the fifth European country, after the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Norway, to recognise same-sex marriage.


BBC NEWS | Europe | Sweden church allows gay weddings ]]> Faith and Religion Honey http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/faith-religion/116252-sweden-church-allows-gay-weddings.html http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/faith-religion/115870-how-choose-your-religion.html Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:39:47 GMT Image: http://cdn.holytaco.com/www/sites/default/files/images/2009/10/Religion-Flowchart_1.jpg ]]> Faith and Religion Grimmlok http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/faith-religion/115870-how-choose-your-religion.html http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/faith-religion/115687-fastest-growing-religion.html Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:43:41 GMT ...no religion, at all. *New survey: growing number of Americans claim no religious affiliation* Image: http://media.counton2.com/wcbd/img-story/images/uploads/NoReligion10_23.jpg The only religious tradition that’s growing in the United States seems to be no religion. “Nones,“ or those people who don’t identify with a religious tradition, are growing in number. A growing number of Americans simply answer “none” or “no religion” if anyone ever asks and research shows they are the fastest-growing segment of the national religious landscape. “You do see more people moving more to non-denominational churches that don’t identify necessarily with a denomination, versus a religion,“ said Dallas resident Kevin Canida, “So no, it doesn’t surprise me at all.“ *These people tend to be skeptics, not outright atheists, and some experts say churches are at least partly to blame.* “When they began looking for someone that they could lean on and they could articulate spiritual values and talk about spiritual paths and prayer,“ said theologist Dr. Frederick Schmidt, “what they found was that Oprah was closer to being prepared to talk about those spiritual issues than the average clergy was.“ A new survey by Trinity College shows that within 20 years, a quarter of Americans will claim no religious affiliation. *Some say people are just tired of church politics.* “I think people often want to have their relationship directly with God,“ said Dallas resident Nancy Blake. *“Organized religion gets so, so organized that they feel as though they have to fulfill a number of requirements with their time and do things that are maybe uncomfortable for them.“* Experts says these trends likely mean the debate about spiritual and religious values will get more complex in the decades ahead New survey: growing number of Americans claim no religious affiliation | WCBD (http://www2.counton2.com/cbd/news/national/article/new_survey_growing_number_of_americans_claim_no_religious_affiliation/77898/) ...no religion, at all.


New survey: growing number of Americans claim no religious affiliation




The only religious tradition that’s growing in the United States seems to be no religion.

“Nones,“ or those people who don’t identify with a religious tradition, are growing in number.

A growing number of Americans simply answer “none” or “no religion” if anyone ever asks and research shows they are the fastest-growing segment of the national religious landscape.

“You do see more people moving more to non-denominational churches that don’t identify necessarily with a denomination, versus a religion,“ said Dallas resident Kevin Canida, “So no, it doesn’t surprise me at all.“

These people tend to be skeptics, not outright atheists, and some experts say churches are at least partly to blame.

“When they began looking for someone that they could lean on and they could articulate spiritual values and talk about spiritual paths and prayer,“ said theologist Dr. Frederick Schmidt, “what they found was that Oprah was closer to being prepared to talk about those spiritual issues than the average clergy was.“

A new survey by Trinity College shows that within 20 years, a quarter of Americans will claim no religious affiliation.

Some say people are just tired of church politics.

“I think people often want to have their relationship directly with God,“ said Dallas resident Nancy Blake. “Organized religion gets so, so organized that they feel as though they have to fulfill a number of requirements with their time and do things that are maybe uncomfortable for them.“

Experts says these trends likely mean the debate about spiritual and religious values will get more complex in the decades ahead

New survey: growing number of Americans claim no religious affiliation | WCBD ]]> Faith and Religion NicoleWasHere http://www.gossiprocks.com/forum/faith-religion/115687-fastest-growing-religion.html