Divers articles fournis par Patrick BENS.
(En anglais)
L’auteur participe à différents sites athées aux Etats-Unis et m’a envoyé un certain nombre d’articles qui critiquent notamment le président BUSH (messie des temps modernes, paraît-il !!!). A lire ne serait-ce que pour se convaincre que les Etats-Unis sont bien une démocratie et que la religion a, là-bas aussi, ses opposants.
By Ginelle G. Torres
Miami Bureau
August 18, 2005
A Fort Lauderdale man has accused the Rev. Neil Doherty of drugging and raping
him several times in the late 1960s when he was about 11, according to a
lawsuit filed Wednesday against the Archdiocese of Miami.
The man, referred to as John Doe No. 21, met Doherty while receiving counseling
through the Catholic Welfare Bureau, the lawsuit said.
"It's been difficult my entire life living with this," the man said
via speakerphone at a news conference.
"I cannot imagine how he was not stopped from doing this to other
people."
According to the suit, Doherty took the boy to numerous houses in Broward
County and to his mother's home in Palm Beach County, where the priest took
other boys.
Doherty gave the boy marijuana and alcohol and after the child passed out,
sexually abused him, the suit said.
"He would wake up and find Doherty abusing him," said Jeffrey Herman,
an Aventura attorney who filed the suit. "Now, he's facing the
demons."
Herman's client said Doherty, who went by "Gus," first formed a close
relationship with him.
"He came across as my friend and that I could trust him," said the
man, now 47. "But he took so many things away from me, and I had been
struggling with what to do about it."
As a result of the abuse, the man said he is no longer a practicing Catholic.
So far this year, Herman has settled three cases against the Archdiocese of
Miami for about $4 million.
Doherty has been accused of raping other boys in the 1970s.
In one case, Broward prosecutors said they could not file criminal charges
because the statute of limitations had expired.
"Doherty was accused of abuse before and the Archdiocese put him in charge
of dealing with children," Herman said. "Doe's father was sick, his
mother was mentally ill and [Doherty] took advantage of that."
Doherty, who is retired, is not active in the ministry, Archdiocese spokeswoman
Mary Ross Agosta said.
"Any allegations against Father Doherty will be addressed according to our
policy and the laws of the state of Florida," Agosta said.
"The Archdiocese has been a front-runner in establishing policies and
procedures regarding allegations against members of the clergy."
Ginelle G. Torres can be reached at ggtorres@sun-sentinel.com or
305-810-5029.
Copyright ©
2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Even in Catholic RP, youth drifting away
from Church
First posted 10:38am (Mla time) Aug 11, 2005
By
Agence France-Presse
|
IT may be
home to some 65 million Roman Catholics, but even the Philippines is
struggling to maintain young people's interest in the Church, with the
marginalized poor leading the drift from its fold. While the
Church still wields enormous influence over this Southeast Asian archipelago
nation, Catholic dogma on contraception and divorce is causing a less
conservative younger generation to shun the Church. Ironically
it is the high birth rate attributed to fervent Catholics in the older
generation that has given the Philippines its youthful demographic and in
turn is responsible for much of the apathy towards the Church. With one of
the highest annual birth rates in Asia, the Philippines has a young
population with an estimated 17 million people aged between 15 and 25,
according to government data. These young
Filipinos, especially in the cities, want more than their parents'
generation, have more materialistic lifestyles and ambitions and are being
more assertive on social issues such as contraception and divorce. It is this
changing face of society that the Church has had to confront in recent years
to keep young people true to their faith and stop the drift away, especially
among the poor. A survey
conducted by the Church in 2002 found 45 percent of young Catholics were
"nominal Catholics," that is to say they seldom attend services. The study
found that while the teachings of the Church had a "moderate to
strong" influence on the values of young people it had a "minimal
to moderate" influence on their lifestyle. A recent
report by the Episcopal Commission on Youth found young Catholics were
divided when it came to faith. "We
have young people who actively live their faith. Then there are those who are
baptized Catholics, yet remain nominal in their faith," the report said. One of those
who does feel left behind is Catalino Torres, 25. He has never worked in his
life and lives in a slum that backs on to the main Manila railway line. "I was
born a Catholic but I don't consider myself religious. There is not a lot to
be thankful for," he says casting his eyes across the squalor that he
calls home. |
Bush says schools should teach intelligent design alongside evolution |
|
ASSOCIATED
PRESS 8:06 p.m.
August 1, 2005 WASHINGTON –
President Bush said Monday he believes schools should discuss
"intelligent design" alongside evolution when teaching students
about the creation of life. During a round-table
interview with reporters from five Texas newspapers, Bush declined to go into
detail on his primitive views of the origin of life. But he said students
should learn about both theories, Knight Ridder Newspapers reported. "I
think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of
thought." Bush repeated: "You're asking me whether or not people
ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes." The theory
of intelligent design says life on earth is too complex (for Bush) to
comprehend, implying that a higher power must have had a hand in creation. The
Christian conservative clan, Bush's voting base – has been pushing for the
teaching of intelligent design in public schools. Scientists have rejected
the theory as an attempt to debase science education. |
|
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Irish bookmaker Paddy Power was fending off the wrath of Christians in
overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Ireland over an advert depicting Jesus and
the Apostles gambling at the Last Supper.
The billboard posters, on display in the Irish capital, adapt Leonardo
da Vinci's famous painting of the event to show Jesus with a stack of poker
chips, Judas with 30 pieces of silver and other apostles clutching hands of
cards.
"There's a place for fun and games," says the caption.
Father Micheal MacGreil, Jesuit priest at St Francis Xavier's Church in
central Dublin, branded the advert "grossly inappropriate and
vulgar."
"This is an insult to the religious sensitivities of a lot of
people and should be withdrawn immediately," he told Reuters.
"To abuse this image, which is central to Christian beliefs, in a
vulgar advertising campaign is totally and grossly inappropriate and Paddy
Power should apologize to the people." Paddy Power acknowledged it had
taken a "load of flak" over the advert.
"We didn't mean to offend anyone so if anyone takes offence
apologies for that," said a spokesman for the bookmaker, also called Paddy
Power.
"It's a tongue-in-cheek situation -- people aren't supposed to take
it as seriously as some people seem to be," Power said.
There were no plans to withdraw the posters, he added.