Regular readers of Sparrow Chat will be aware of the contempt and disgust frequently leveled, via these pages, at those who – whether through weak-minded self-delusion or sheer malicious greed – attempt to gain power and control over others in order to manipulate their lives.
The use of religious dogma as a means of political control has been practiced since time immemorial. It still flourishes today; nowhere more successfully, perhaps, than on the North American continent.
Flagellating the faithful with the whips of Divine wrath is most useful in curbing the free-thought of congregations. It also eliminates the holy clerics from criticism. After all, who – apart from the heretic at Sparrow Chat – would dare to question the Word of God?
God is most useful for crowd control, but when matters go awry a specialist is called for, and there’s no more ideal specialist than the Devil.
Not only does Old Nick form the other half of the equation that keeps the faithful in line, but when the true character of the clerical hierarchy occasionally seeps out from behind pious, semen-stained, cassocks, Satan can quickly be summoned to act as whipping boy for their vile indiscretions.
Hence, it comes as no surprise to view the latest headlines from around the world, proclaiming the Devil has taken up residence in the Vatican.[1]
Surprisingly, this is no reference to the present physical incumbent, but a wraith-like, horned, ethereal presence, like smoke drifting lazily through Vatican bedchambers.
Benedict XVI has invoked the Angel from the bottomless pit to carry the can for decades of priestly abuse on small children.
The pedophile priesthood is off the hook. They can no longer be held to blame. Satan made them do it. Apparently, it wasn’t Father John, Brother Ted, or the Bishop of Connemara, who ripped the underwear from innocent altar boys and stole their souls. It was Lucifer.
All this from the pen of Friar Gabriel Amorth, the pope’s chief illusionist.
They come no better than Friar Amorth, who at eighty-four has performed 70,000 exorcisms, causing the hapless victims to spew forth ‘pieces of iron as long as a finger’ and ‘rose petals'(!), among other articles of hardware and botanical interest.
The friar has named many possessed by the Devil. Among them, Hitler, Stalin, and J.K. Rowling.
While, at first glance, the inclusion of the latter may seem a trifle incongruous, the pope’s man is in no doubt this lady was under the influence of Diablo himself when she wrote the Harry Potter books. Magic is the domain of the Devil. Harry Potter was his handiwork.
Friar Gabriel Amorth loses all credibility with this statement – if he ever had any in the first place. The Harry Potter books brought enjoyment and pleasure to millions of children worldwide.
It’s hard to quantify, but perhaps that’s a measure of exchange for all the heartache, grief, and ruined lives perpetrated on those many, many, children who fell victim to the pedophile priesthood of Roman Catholicism.
[1] “Catholic sex abuse scandals are ‘evidence the Devil is in the Vatican’, says Pope’s chief exorcist” Daily Mail, March 11th 2010
Filed under: Sins of the fathers