Pell: -˜I’m a victim of intolerance’
Catholic Archbishop of Sydney George Pell has claimed anti-Christian persecution is rising as gay activists push for anti-discrimination laws and same-sex marriage.
Giving the inaugural Hilary Tern Lecture at Oxford University’s Divinity School earlier this month, Pell said religious exemptions in anti-discrimination laws were being eroded by the courts in Australia and abroad.
The legalisation of same-sex marriage has momentous potential to curtail religious freedom, he said.
Believers should not be treated by government and the courts as a tolerated and divisive minority whose rights must always yield to the minority secular agenda, especially when religious people are overwhelmingly in the majority.
Pell went on to attack the sexual liberation of the ’60s for creating confusion over God’s role in the world.
He also accused gay rights advocates in the US of using violence, vandalism and intimidation against religious groups over the Prop 8 same-sex marriage ban.
info: Read Cardinal George Pell’s full speech online at the Archbishop’s website.
This man makes me cringe – thank God (no irony intended) Australia is a secular society at present & power junkie creeps such as George Pell are hopefully fading into the misty mire of bigotry, hipocrisy & self aggrandizing drag ups. He’s so self important. Trust The Australian Newspaper Mr Murdoch to be on his side
I can’t believe the hate that comes from the homo community! All I keep reading about is how the church hates gays but I’ve never seen that stated by the church officials anywhere.
I’ve heard that God hates homosexuality but it’s equally true that he hates pedophilia as well.
At the same time God LOVES homosexuals as well as pedophiles but hates them doing what they do.
If there is any intolerance it is clearly coming from the homo community as they venomously spew lies about what Christian opinion is and try to turn someone’s personal opinion into a dog fight by claiming it is inciting hatred.
Take a good look at yourselves. I thought this was a land where we have free speech. Hardly possible when you guys try to pick a fight everytime someome has something to say you don’t like!
A clever piece of sophistry elevating faith to an astonishingly hypocritical and undeserved status of victimhood at the same time as proclaiming it as a righteous majority (oh, that poor majority, will it ever cease to be “persecuted”?).
Hey, George, practice what you preach! Disbelievers should not be treated by religion as a tolerated and divisive minority whose rights must always yield to the imposing religious agenda, especially when belief in free choice and a fair go is overwhelmingly in the majority.
Australians for Separation of Church & State
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54429760859
James – “Peter – here’s a sobering thought for you; muslims make up 19.2% of World population and Catholics 17.4%.
I don’t think either of these religions are dying out” – James the australian population is aprox 21,007,310, so how roughly how many Catholics attend church services each week in Australia, so is religion dying in Australia or not ? Do even close to half of the population attend weekly church services ?
Henry, sadly theres an older generation in the world who still donate out of fear. “If they dont give money to the Church when the little basket goes around, they wont go to heaven!”
Stop giving the churches money … take away their tax privileges. If they want to be in the business of bothering their god, then let them pay taxes like every other business. George Pell feeds on the public purse. Stop funding the hate and the bigotry of the church with tax revenues better spent on infrastructure.
I suspect the good archbishop is having a small crisis of faith to resort to this very old ploy of blaming his victims. His freedom to practice his own religion is unsullied, unlike his utterances. On the other hand, if by persecution he means that he can no longer as effectively dictate what is the right thing for others, then I am a whole hearted supporter of his persecution. If by persecution he means that Australians, including those that do not agree with him or his church,should have no right to work for a free and just society for all, as they see it, then he deserves to be rebuffed and rebuked. If by persecution he thinks it intolerable that the church should have no special consideration for its point of view over and above ordinary Australians, then he has become self seeking and has lost sight of whatever vocation he may have once had.
i have denounced my Catholicism because of scum like pope Benedict and george pell. And i sleep soundly at night Knowing they will one day join Pope john paul in HELL.
Hells Pells, Oxford University is lowering its standards.
In the 80s, as our demonstrations for gay rights took us past the Gothic pile in College Street, we chanted ‘dykes and fairies hate Saint Mary’s’. Somethings change, some things stay the same.
I got these words to say to Cardinal George Pell – “fuck off you stupid clown to an island so we can never hear from you again”.
It’s such an old trick; present the victim as the oppressor, the best response would have been if his audience had just laughed at him à la the Jews in the Life of Brian when Michael Palin tells them -œWome is your fwiend .
Peter – here’s a sobering thought for you; muslims make up 19.2% of World population and Catholics 17.4%.
I don’t think either of these religions are dying out.
Pell is the archetype religious bigot of our age – an iconic example of the dying Catholic church out-of-touch with modern thinking.
Gary Burns, I would have loved to have been there when you confronted George Pell. It was a typical response of him pointing to the sky. Thats how Catholics justify hatred.
I went to the Archdiocese website and read Cardinal Pell’s speech.
Nowhere in the speech did Cardinal Pell admit that homosexuals had suffered persecution, in all its forms, as the direct result of the doctrines of the Catholic church, for the last 1700 years.
From Cardinal Pell’s speech;
“Clearly, there is an urgent need to deepen public understanding of the importance and nature of religious freedom”
I say that there is an urgent need to deepen public understanding of the effect that church doctrine (all denominations) has on the members of the church (all denominations)
Members of all denominations are taught that homosexuality is a disgusting and evil thing.
The effect of that doctrine is that members of all denominations regards homosexuals as disgusting and evil people.
The effect of church doctrine on church members is to cause church members to regard their homosexual children as disgusting and evil things.
The effect of church doctrine (all denominations) is to cause parents to hate their own homosexual children.
Cardinal Pell is an old man. He knows about the persecution of homosexuals in Australia by Christians because he has lived and worked with and amongst Christians all his life.
He denies his own knowledge of the persecution of homosexuals by Christians by not admitting that knowledge in his speech.
The reason that we need anti-discrimination laws is because some groups in our society indoctrinate their members with dogmas, which proscribe certain practices. The members of the group are taught that anyone who engages in those proscribed practices are disgusting and evil people.
The effect of those doctrines is to inspire the members of those groups to hate people who engage in those proscribed practices. The doctrines go so far as to cause parents to hate their own children if their children engage in the proscribed practices.
In his speech Cardinal Pell asserts that;
“Clearly, there is an urgent need to deepen public understanding of the importance and nature of religious freedom”
I assert that Cardinal Pell and people who think like him have an urgent need to deepen their personal understanding about the effects church doctrine has on church members and the people those church members persecute in the name of religion.
Look who’s talking! He’s the one teaching intolerance! Have absolutely zero sympathy for him. I’m rolling over laughing at the thought of him claiming to be a “victim”. Oh please!!!
LOL I didn’t know George had a sense of humour – goes with the camp sensibility I guess.
Oliver, what do you mean what purpose does George Pell serve. No-one takes any notice of Fred anymore so we need a new community hero. I agree with Shayne that he has done more to motivate our community than most of its leaders. Well done George.
Such venom from a community who supposedly champions free speech, tolerance and diversity.
But then what should society expect given the “paybacks” that have been occuring in the US when, for the second time in less than a decade, liberal Californians rejected gay marriage.
If Christian churches didn’t own 95% of persecution of gays then there would much less need for anti-discrimination laws. When same-sex marriage finally arrives in Oz no one is going force Pell, his Catholics and other Christians (or Moslems etc.) to marry another bloke. Medievalists like Pell do more harm than good to their businesses.
I met George Pell once in Queen Street at Woollahra,of all places.
It was one of the most momentous moments in my life thus far.
I pulled him up on the Catholic Church’s stance on homosexuality.
I said,”why are you and the Catholic Church ostracising homosexuals”?
He finger suddenly pointed to the sky as he said “it’s not me, it’s God”.
I responded quickly and said,”does God tell your priests to molest alter boys”?
All of a sudden George Pell was gone like a puff of smoke from a Bette Davis chain smoker puffing away.
All I could see was his black smock blowing in the breeze as he scurried out of view.
What purpose does George Pell serve in 2009? Answer, none at all.
Ah, standing outside that Cathedral chanting, “dykes and fairies hate St Mary’s.” What fond memories. I wonder if George is aware that people like him have done more to motivate this community than any of our own ‘leaders’?
St Mary’s Cathedral is one hell of a closet.
Ha ha ha! Here’s a soft target if ever I saw one. Look up hypocrisy on wikipaedia and I’m sure this lady in red will have his photo there. Isn’t this the same church who’s Xmas message of love and peace was that gays are as much of a threat as climate change? The same church that told African wimmin they should not use a condom even if there spouse was HIV+…and if they died from AIDS they’d go to heaven as martyrs?
A victim of his OWN intolerance, more like.
When I read this I cried with remorse at my intolerance towards George Pell and his fellow Catholics and the injustices they have suffered. The number of times I’ve assaulted innocent folks just for being Catholic, all the times Catholics have been unable to marry the partner of their choice, how they can’t see their children because of their religion and how often Catholics are shunned by their families simply because of their religious beliefs.
I could go on but just looking at Pell brings tears to my eyes…