Pope Francis Met Kim Davis In DC... In Secret

Only today was that fact acknowledged by the Vatican... and the Catholic Church's history of doing bad things in secret is too long and too egregious to assume anything other than that they, and probably Kim Davis, have something to hide in this case, not sexual in nature but nonetheless abusive of the goodwill of the Pope's American hosts. And to think I was just about to have some positive feelings toward the Church... what folly on my part. Sigh!

"... however, we will listen to Kim Davis,
but only in complete secrecy..."

Morning Misc.

• Charles Davis at The Intercept: UNDER THE BRIDGE: The Crime of Living Without a Home in Los Angeles
• Ian Reifowitz at Kos: STUNNER from Pope: Church Should Stop Being "Obsessed" with Abortion, Gay marriage and Contraception
• Leslie Salzillo at Kos: New Study Ranks 50 States By Gun Sense And Gun Deaths -- Gun Extremists Arrive in 5-4-3-2-1
• Violence Policy Center (VPC): State Firearm Death Rates, Ranked by Rate, 2011 [NOTE: no, Texas is not even in the top half among states. Put that in your pipe and... uh... dump it out of your pipe; please don't smoke it! - SB]

And one for fellow Texans...

• Texas Secretary of State: Important 2015 Election Dates

ADDENDUM: "We have to find a new balance," the Pope is quoted as saying. I am sorry to hear the Pope has lost one of his athletic shoes... <grin_duck_run />

‘ACLU Loses Lawsuit In An Attempt To Force Catholic Hospital’ To Save Tamesha Means's Life

The post subject is my deliberate and hostile parody of the hed at LifeNews (sorry, no link from here) which concluded "to do abortions." Personally I have zero problems with the notion that a hospital should be "force[d]" to take all medically responsible measures to save a woman's life... or take down its bloody shingle and get out of the medical business. Yeah, I know: YMMV...

Here is the ACLU's page on the lawsuit they lost, Tamesha Means v. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops... that is, if you're even looking for another possible interpretation. The guys in the reddish robes and beanies, the ones with huge chips on their shoulders, certainly aren't.

Some will doubtless say I am hostile to religion and to religious rights. F^<k that; I have even been an official member of a denomination that included several US presidents in history. No, what I am hostile to is hospitals that knowingly deprive women of treatment, of knowledge about their condition, of even the ethical minimum... referral to another hospital or clinic where they will be helped... hospitals that send women home to die without medical care. THAT is what I am hostile to, and proud of it.

For your consideration, here is an opinion piece about "The Top 5 Scariest Things Catholic Bishops Have Said About Women." It is written by a woman, not an old man in a beanie... you gotta problem with that?

Naomi Klein Speaks To Meeting In Vatican Re: Climate Change

Here. Scroll down to the middle of the page for a video of a meeting on July 1 among five people convened by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, or watch the same video on YouTube. Klein's main presentation starts at around 39:25 into the video. Most of the council members speak Italian; Klein's presentation and occasional comments are in English.

It is good to see that the Catholic Church recognizes its considerable responsibility to communicate with people of all faiths (or no faith at all) on the matter of climate change. Either everybody starts talking to everybody else, or humankind may well not survive. Yes, it's that important.