-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
The Vatican went to court to obtain a temporary injunction against the German satirical magazine Titanic in regards to its July cover, shown at left. The translation is: “Hallelujah in the Vatican: The leak has been found!” The cover refers to the Vatileaks scandal.
The Vatican claims that the covers are illegal and “harm the holy father’s legal rights.” That must refer to the right not to be offended.
A state court in Hamburg issued the temporary restraining order under which Titanic is not allowed to distribute the July issue or publish it on the internet. Issues already in circulation will be snapped up as collector’s items.
This is a perfect example of the Streisand Effect, where the publicity surrounding the suppression exceeds the publicity originally generated. The use of blasphemy laws to censor speech and the press is of greater concern than the fact that Benedict likes Fanta.
There is an inherent conflict between the dogma of the Catholic Church and the freedom of expression displayed by the Titanic cover. As the arguments against religious dogma become easily available via the internet, the rational part of the human mind will be inexorably drawn away from the irrational beliefs that religion demands.
As Martin Luther said:
Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but — more frequently than not — struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God.
From www.jesusandmo.net:
H/T: Secular News Daily, Der Spiegel.
you’re embarrassed by something. What is the best response?
Ignore it and let it fade away quietly and only seen by a relatively small number of people.
or
Make a huge international fuss so that everyone on the planet knows about it. Make it into a legal matter so that it gets discussed and discussed be made a permanent logged evidence.
America doesn’t get everything right but our unique law of true freedom of speech is one area we are spot on. Laws of blasphemy are insane and unmanageable in countries with true freedom of religion. Anything can be a religion. Any belief can therefore be protected from insult, ridicule, or questioning.
OT; I guess. But I didn’t start it mom!
Further on Romney, states’s right assisted by ALEC, etc.
Do sometimes failures succeed better than intended?
Of course the billion that the Koch brothers are investing in a total breakdown of democracy, MAY have had some influence.
Things matured and gave effect sooner than expected, like the ALEC’s use of states’ rights contesting previous high court rulings and feeral laws.
Why the hell did not the Prez call out one of his active divisions and depose the rebellious leadership…..state by state.
Obama would certainly have done so IF it had been a genuine peoples’ rebellion.
The Feds got Wallace out of the schoolroom door with a federal marshal. They got black kids, escorted at bayonet point, into schools.
How is it difficult to do the same as was done in the reconstruction? The laws as enacted are open declarations of independence, or NOT. “The South shall rise again”, they say. Well, squash them again is what I support.
We’ve got an imperial President. Let’s avoid the local despots. Shall we?
A desired result? Establishment of a newly and fairly elected legislature; and an “overcoat” guiding the hand of democracy in the seized state.
Obama has seized powers before. Can’t he do what Andrew Johnson did after Lincoln?
Or does he sit at the disposition of others?
Unsure sits the head of Caesar. Or Louis seize.
I said previously and repeat….no not Obama speaking, just me.
The Repubs had actually figured that Obama was a shoo-in and picked a loser in Romney.
—-“Him!?, he came in second to Sarah”!
—-“Yeah, but we need the four to develop a winner for next time. They get their eight, and then we get ours. They’re doing our line pretty well anyway, and keeping their stooges duped. So shut up and do it.”
But then the sheeple with rightist sympathies proved
more active than expected. Etc, etc.
AY, you are welcome. One lives to be of service.
Thanks OS….. I also want to thank you for the Slate link….. It’s great…..
Speaking of outrage, here is a short video made by my friend Louie Ludwig, who is a musician from New Orleans. He has entitled this, “The Wink.” Humor can be a more vicious skewer than anything The Serious People inside the Beltway can say.
wait, i see the virgin mary in the yellow stain.
David,
The big business of the church would be harmed by the Pope being the butt of a joke. It isn’t about religion, it is about money.
Great article!
When I read the headline….. I big smile broke out on my face….. ;-O) Pope-A-Dope…. you deserve everything you are about to receive……. In fact, you deserve to be in Prison, where some big men could Abuse your Butt until the day you die!!!!
This is actually good. Victims of pedophile priests in Germany can now sue the Pope himself under his same theory. The Pope has injected himself into Germany as one who was offended by a German. He can thus be sued by a anal rape victim as one who was offended when the rapist told the victim he was doing the deed in the name of the Pope; where the Pope and the Vatican allowed the Pedophile Priest to escape Germany and go off to some other Pedo-field in another country. This is great. And since the Pope has established this theory in Germany we can use it here in the USA. Name the Pope in your lawsuits you attorneys for anal rape victims. Thank Dog.
So now the Pope can spend some of the Church’s money as a plaintiff in this damnfool lawsuit rather than spending it as defendants paying out the big bucks in the many pedophile lawsuits. Let’s see, if I’m a Catholic somewhere giving 20 pesos when the collection plate comes around right before or right after Holy Communion, which way would I like that 20 pesos to be spent?
Wow. That’s nasty, and under-the-top. LMAO!
In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection of his own.
~Thomas Jefferson, Letter to H.G. Spafford, 1814
The greatest mistake of those with pretension is that they can control everything that bursts their bubble. Their efforts only make them look sillier. I wonder at times if there is such a thing as a “German Character”, where the cultural forces in that society slip into oppressive behavior even when they are trying to be fair. That is probably the lingering, irrational feeling of a Jew remembering the “Shoah”, but contrasted to their recent ruling banning circumcision, some religious sensitivities seem more equal than others.
Sharting at any age is only humorous to others……must be the judge was a victim of his own circumstance……