{"id":9699,"date":"2006-05-08T11:23:33","date_gmt":"2006-05-08T18:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2006\/05\/08\/suing-for-respect.html"},"modified":"2006-05-08T11:23:33","modified_gmt":"2006-05-08T18:23:33","slug":"suing_for_respe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/05\/08\/suing_for_respe.html","title":{"rendered":"Suing for respect"},"content":{"rendered":"

As annoying as that whole Free Speech and Free Press thang in our Constituion is, there are times when I’m damned glad it’s in there. Because it helps avoid most of this kind of goofiness<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the latest Vatican broadside against \u201cThe Da Vinci Code,\u201d a leading cardinal says Christians should respond to the book and film with legal action because both offend Christ and the Church he founded.<\/p>\n

Cardinal Francis Arinze, a Nigerian who was considered a candidate for pope last year, made his strong comments in a documentary called \u201cThe Da Vinci Code-A Masterful Deception.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mercifully, in this country you have a pretty hard time suiing because you’re “offended” by something someone has written. Even libelous misrpresentations of fact (something a bit hard to establish when talking about divine matters) require showing damages<\/em>, not just disrespect or offense.<\/p>\n

Arinze\u2019s appeal came some 10 days after another Vatican cardinal called for a boycott of the film. Both cardinals asserted that other religions would never stand for offences against their beliefs and that Christians should get tough.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

See? I have no problems with boycotts. Commercial ventures are open to commercial pressures. If people don’t like it, they shouldn’t pay money to go see it.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristians must not just sit back and say it is enough for us to forgive and to forget,\u201d Arinze said in the documentary made by Rome film maker Mario Biasetti for Rome Reports, a Catholic film agency specializing in religious affairs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yeah, cause the next thing you know, someone’s going to suggest something un-tough like “turn the other cheek,” or forgiving others as we expect to be forgiven, or other ridiculous concepts like feeling “blessed” when someone ridicule you for your belief in Christ. I mean, what wuss came up with those namby-pamby ideas? No, by gum, we gotta be tough <\/em>and sue the snot out of folks that look at us crossways, dagnabbit! They’ll know we are Christians by our tort claims!<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of the fundamental human rights: that we should be respected, our religious beliefs respected, and our founder Jesus Christ respected,\u201d [Arinze] said […].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No. Being respected is not a fundamental human right, at least not one that can be forced on others. And even if it were, I’m not aware of human rights extending to the dead (or, to the extent not dead, the divine). Jesus does not <\/em>need lawyers and legal judgments to be respected — if He does, then what the hell is He good for?<\/p>\n

(via Les<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As annoying as that whole Free Speech and Free Press thang in our Constituion is, there are times when I’m damned glad it’s in there. 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Cool","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 12-Mar-12 11:20am","format":false,"excerpt":"And in the Palazzo Vecchio -- hey, I've been there! Even more cool! #ddtbReshared post from +Breaking NewsArt experts may have found lost Da Vinci muralFlorence, ItalyMon Mar 12, 6:03 p.m. CET: +FRANCE 24 reports that art experts have announced that they have found evidence that a work by Leonardo\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49383,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/01\/27\/because-catholic-churchs-problem-is-that-it-doesnt-have-enough-men.html","url_meta":{"origin":9699,"position":1},"title":"Because Catholic Church's problem is that it doesn't have enough men","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 27-Jan-15 4:59pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Of course.Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke decries the \"feminization\" of the Catholic Church, which apparently has spent so much time in the last fifty years coping with the troublesome womenfolk that they haven't had the time to deal with men and their needs. 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