Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Fortnight for Freedom and Nuns on Bus: Protest Signs, Real and Fantasized



The U.S. Catholic bishops have kicked off their "fortnight for freedom" hoopla, and the graphic above shows how at least one American Catholic, Brandon Vogt, is choosing to celebrate his and the bishops'  freedom.


As some of the men of the church celebrate their freedom, some American religious women are touring the nation to point to deprived areas in which celebration seems . . . misplaced and unseemly. . . and to point out that the budget proposed by Rep. Ryan, a Catholic, is . . . more than a little skewed away from core Catholic values of justice and solidarity with the poor.  The nuns' bus tour is being greeted enthusiastically in the places they visit,  and seems to be making such an impact that right-wing Iowa talk radio host Jan Mickelson opined several days ago that some "guys" should "pistol whip" the religious women for daring to call the Ryan budget into question.  

Iowa Rep. Tom Latham, to whom Mickelson opined said opinion, guffawed in response and opined back as to how it's such fun to be on Mickelson's show.

And as these events happen, I want to share with readers a nice cache of proposed protest signs a reader of Bilgrimage has sent me.  Some of these, he's seen in use at rallies protesting the bishops' religious freedom initiative.  Others are his own invention.  

Many of these are rather clever, and I offer them for readers' entertainment on a hot early summer day when many of our spirits may be flagging due to the heat, the scorched earth of the American political landscape, etc., etc.  (Any favorites?  I have to admit liking the one about religious liberty reading better in the original German, though I'm also taken by the one about the bishops not playing with a full eucharist.  The final sign seems prescient, in light of Mickelson's remark, which came down the pike a number of days after the reader sent this list of signs to me.)

So here they are:

Religious Liberty !

From the same folks who
brought you pedophilia !!
_______

Bishops  :

Pillars of moral authority ?
Or stunningly ugly failures ?
______

Bishops are always right !
Even when they're wrong.
_______

Refuse to accept moral superiority
from an institution
that has never exhibited it.
_________

I stay warm at night
Knowing the Bishops
Always act in my best interests.
_________

All policy must be set
By elderly celibate men
______

Jesus wasn't focused on doctrine
Jesus focused on ministry
________

Jesus didn't die on a cross
To justify self-righteous old men
________

Christianity means nothing
Unless it is Christ-like.
_________

"Religious liberty" actually reads
Better in the original German
________

Ecclesiastical hypocrisy
Will continue at increasing levels
Until the suspicion of hypocrisy is wiped out.
_________

Any God
whose will can be thwarted
by a piece of latex
is not worth worshipping
_________

The road to hell is paved with the skulls of Bishops
________

Does the male hierarchy have
any real sense of lived Christianity ?

O do they they just operate as politicians and CEO's.
________

Are the Bishops defending the Church ?

Or defending whatever cloaks
their own fears & weaknesses ?
_________

Bishops aren't stupid.
Or Liars.

It's just that they  work really hard
At not finding things
That contradict what Rome thinks.
_________

Crusades !
Soldiers for Christ !
Secret Warrior Societies !!

Let Benedict's year of Faith begin !!
_________

Obama is a hologram
projected by a chinese satellite.
And he's under your bed right now !
_________

Behold the moral authority
Of the Bishops !!
________

Since 1978
natural selection
within the Church
has been based solely on obedience.
________

Obama could die.
Then rise on the third day.
And still not win over the Bishops.
_________

The Bishops aren't playing with a full Eucharist.
_________

So when did it all stop being Clinton's fault ?
I'm so confused.
__________

The Bishops' Conference ;
A creepy little circle-jerk of self-righteousness.
_________

If God had wanted us
To learn from the enlightenment
He wouldn't have given us the Vatican
__________

I distrust the people
Who know so well
What God wants them to do

Because I notice
It always coincides with their desires.
_________

The Papacy is not the work of Christ
_________

I don't want my Church back.
I want my Church forward.
_________

Men
Who Bully Nuns.
Aren't Men

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