Author: R J Adams

There was a time when the Roman Catholic confessional was sacrosanct. A murderer could confess remorse for his crime, secure in the knowledge the priest would never reveal the facts to anyone. It seems those days are no longer with us. Today, there is money to be made from the spiritual doubts and human frailties declared in confidence to the Catholic confessors who play at being God, and now pay only lip service to that long-retired human dignity once called ‘honor’.

Mother Teresa was an icon to some, a prime example of how goodness can manifest in human form, to many. Now, ten years after her death, the woman who devoted her life to caring for those in need, is being betrayed by the Church of Rome, a church she faithfully served for nearly sixty years.

Letters she wrote to her confessors, pouring forth her doubts, the spiritual darkness and loneliness in which she spent most of her life, were no different from the outpourings of any Catholic parishioner confined within the confidence of the confessional. Mother Teresa recognized that fact, leaving strict instructions that all her letters be burned, destroyed, and on no account made public.

The Church of Rome has chosen to disregard Mother Teresa’s last wishes and is selling the letters to the highest bidder. Heading the queue, having secured first serial rights, is Time magazine.

It has to be wondered why the Church of Rome has chosen this time to publicize its stunning portrayal of Judas Iscariot. Could it, one ponders, have anything to do with the empty coffers following recent heavy payouts after the “little boys for Catholic clergymen” scandals that erupted like suppurating sores all over the body of the Roman Church?

The late nun’s letters disclosing her spiritual agonies, her isolation from the savior she dutifully served, are worth plenty on the open market. Catholics worldwide will rush to savor the intimate disclosures. Amazon will undoubtedly thrust it high on their bestseller list. El Popey’s coffers will once again resound to the tinkle of silver; this time, no doubt, many more than thirty pieces.

It would seem, despite all her manifest good works, Mother Teresa, the “Saint of the Gutters”, is worth more to the Roman Catholic church dead, than she ever was alive.

No doubt any peripheral feelings of guilt will be easily assuaged when they proclaim her a Saint.

Filed under: Is nothing sacred

It was Charlie Chaplin who said – “In the end everything’s a gag.”

I suppose, taken to extremes, everything or anything, can be.Now don’t get me wrong, I love Jon Stewart and his Daily Show. At least, given that I only watch it once or twice a week, I love it. Every night might prove over-exposure.

Just occasionally, for me at least, Mister Stewart oversteps the mark. A few weeks ago there was a comedy routine based around the Palestinian situation. Now I accept that, as a Jew, Jon Stewart perhaps has less sympathy for the Palestinian cause than I do, but to sit comfortably in a cosy American studio and attempt to create humor from the suffering and death of innocent human beings caught up in a worldwide political web in which they are the flies, and Western nations allied to Israel are the spiders, fails to stimulate my chuckle-muscle.

Similarly, this week’s abortive attempt to wring humor from the Iraq war left me equally cold. Sending the Daily Show’s intrepid reporter, Rob Riggle to Iraq was, in my humble opinion, neither a humorous venture, nor an essay in good taste.

And what was the purpose of interviewing the military writer of the “Counterinsurgency Field Manual” on Friday night’s offering? It almost makes one begin to wonder if Jon Stewart has been got at by the corporate controllers. First, let’s make light of the Iraq war, then turn the army’s counterinsurgency manual into a best-seller by advertising it on the Daily Show. It is, apparently, on the bookshelves of all major retail outlets, including Amazon, though who the hell would want to read it – other than violent perverts and sick macho types…….ok, ok, say no more, it’s already destined to be a best seller.

Filed under: Laughter, whose best medicine?

It’s all so cosy. After headlining the floods in the mid-West, the suffering of thousands of Americans whose homes are now under four or more feet of water, the subject matter turned political as American generals in charge of the “surge” in Iraq argued whether troop levels should be maintained or reduced, in view of the impending presidential elections now only fourteen months away.

Throughout it all we waited, expectant, feeling sure it was just a matter of time.

The subject matter moved on from presidential hopeful John Edwards and his sudden belligerence towards Democrat front runner, Hilary Clinton, to the two jets in Florida six months ago that failed to collide, despite the best efforts of those determined never to upgrade the air traffic control systems, so woefully out of date a catastrophe in American airspace is now just a matter of time.

Surely now was the moment, we thought, still expectant, only to watch in amazement the segment illustrating an American woman arranging an artificial turf football field in Alaska, and a couple of old ‘YouTube’ videos of otters making love.

While the sad news is generally at the start of the program, occasionally a really heart-wrenching item is kept back for better effect, so optimism failed to deflate totally until the final segment – an interview with some unknown, overweight, American soul singer whose claim to fame was…….well, frankly, we didn’t wait to find out.

Was it expecting too much? Is it a lot to ask?

Last night, the NBC Nightly News spewed forth an abundance of sanctimonious claptrap about a mother who had, apparently, “earned” the right to stick two gold stars in her window because she had lost two sons in Iraq. We remember, in school years ago, earning two gold stars for writing good punctuation in an English class. It felt good, even though we were branded “swot” by the rest of the school. It was a lot easier than losing half one’s family in a wealthy egomaniac’s war.

And so it ended, with the unknown, overweight, soul singer. There was no apology; no moment of sadness. Not even a mention.

In Afghanistan today, the news that three British soldiers were killed when an American bomber pilot dropped his bomb in “the wrong place”, was not deemed worthy of broadcast on the NBC Nightly News. The artificial turf on a football field in Alaska; the jets that never collided in Florida, and otters making love on ‘Youtube’, were deemed more important to the American people than the lives of three British soldiers sacrificed to the carelessness of an American bomber pilot, probably high on amphetamines.

It’s not the first time. Since 2003, twelve British military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan have died as a result of American “friendly fire”.

What an utterly grotesque phrase that is.

Can there ever be such a thing as “friendly fire”? Not if you’re on the receiving end. Is it coincidence that the Americans have killed so many of their allies? They’re quite adept at killing their own, as well. Only it takes them a while to own up to that.

The American people are taught that their military is the best in the world. It’s a lie. In fact, they are ill-disciplined, badly trained, and trigger-happy.

It was just such amateurish behavior that cost the lives of three British service personnel today.

Was it asking too much? Would the reputation of the great Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News be irretrievably tarnished were he to utter the words, “We’re sorry.”

Does he really believe his interview with the unknown, overweight, soul singer was more important than reporting the facts. It is, after all, what a news anchor is supposed to report.

But then, it’s not in the American psyche to say, “I’m sorry.” Why, after all, should this so perfect of nations feel the need to apologize? So it killed a few foreigners, what the heck! They got in the way.

What does it matter? After all, it’s not as though they were Americans.

Filed under: Not ours, not important