There's one thing that I think needs to be made clear regarding my opposition (and I'm sure many others') to the Pope's State Visit to the UK this week, and that is this:
It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I'm an atheist and he believes in a god. My reason for protesting against him has nothing to do with theology.
It has everything to do with the fact that he has actively encouraged the cover-up of child abuse scandals in his Church, commending bishops who refuse to turn in paedophile priests and threatening abuse victims with excommunication if they go public with their accusations.
It has everything to do with the fact that his Church's opposition to (and in some cases, blatant lies about the effectiveness of) condoms causes untold suffering throughout the world due to HIV/AIDS and other STIs, not to mention increasing poverty (impoverished families having even more children because contraception is "evil") and overpopulation. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/sep/11/bad-science-pope-anti-condom
It has everything to do with the fact that he and his Church continue to vilify gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transexuals (http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE4BL2FE20081222) leading to untold guilt and depression in any Catholics (and often people outside the Church) who discover they may not be heterosexual, and contributing to the fact that lesbian and gay youth are more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers.
It has everything to do with the fact that his Church's fetishising of the small cluster of cells known as the embryo holds back embryonic stem cell research, one of the most promising fields of medical research. Their concern for potential human beings outweighs their concern for fully grown humans in pain. In the past they've shown their opposition by not only threatening Catholic scientists who carry out such research with excommunication, but also similarly threatening politicians who support legislation allowing such research to ahead.
It has everything to do with the fact that he and his Church use their priviliged position (gained on the shaky premise that the Vatican is a state) in the UN to prevent consensus on women's rights and reproductive issues, often aligning themselves with radical Islamic states in order to do so. http://www.seechange.org/media/News%20Releases/UNfulfilled.htm
It has everything to do with the fact that he and the Catholic Church oppose abortion and a woman's right to choose, even in cases of incest and rape, meaning that in some Catholic states around the world a woman found to have had an abortion can be jailed. In 2009 in Brazil when doctors carried out an abortion on a nine year-old girl carrying twins after she'd been raped over several years by her stepfather, the Catholic Church immediately excommunicated the doctors (as well as the mother of the girl, who'd approved the procedure, necessary to save the girl's life), yet took no such action against the rapist. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/07/2510130.htm?section=world
And finally, it is because of the fact that, in a time when government services, as well as funding to the sciences, arts and education are being cut, the UK government is spending over £12 million to honour this man.
That is why today, I'll be protesting the Pope. I hope to see you there.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=130662863635445
http://www.protest-the-pope.org.uk/2010/07/march-and-rally-main-event-for-the-protest-the-pope-campaign/
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