THE CHURCH OF DENIAL

Well its Easter. The kids have probably overdosed on chocolate bunnies by now. Your favorite dinner is cooking in the oven. Did you go to Church Sunday to celebrate the death and the resurrection of Christ? Maybe not! Maybe its because your fed up. Could it be your not feeling very Catholic these days? Maybe you've had enough of the scandals, the denials. Perhaps your tired of watching the church try and explain away or blame away its responsibility. If you are, your not alone. The Catholic institution (yes its no different then any other institution) has been doing serious damage control recently as reports show that the current pope (the guy in the funny hat) leader of all the collard pedophiles had perhaps assisted a Priest accused of pedophilia. This shocking (not really) revelation comes as the Institution continues to come under fire for its total lack of management of this epidemic. It might seem that the issue at hand is the way the Vatican and the institution has constantly handled the accusations of pedophilia but its actually not about the way it has handled it. Its the way it has truly shown that nothing in the religious foundations of this organization can be believed in.

Like many, i have simply waited for one thing and one thing only from the Vatican. I have simply waited for them to take unmitigated and full responsibility for their botched management of the sexual abuse scandals. I have waited patiently for the day a news conference was to be called to have the main man (the funny hat guy) not some Cardinal or Clergy or some PR quacks to stand up and take responsibility for what has been allowed to go on in that institution for hundreds of years. I have waited, as i think the world has waited. I want the leader of the collars to stand front and center. I want him to look directly into the camera and say, ''we have made mistakes, a whole lot of mistakes.We have mishandled those who have gone against the values of God, the bible, of the foundations of the Catholic religion. We have betrayed and failed our followers, we have sadly turned a blinds eye to the pain and suffering the actions of certain of our members (Priests) have caused on those who followed the way of Christ. We have protected and sheltered those who should have been prosecuted under the law. For those things we are sorry, we cannot correct the past, nor undo the pain, we can however begin anew with a resolve to remove this disease from our ranks and here is how we propose to do that''. Then he could go on to outline a plan ( a real one with measurable results) for dealing with those pedophiles within their ranks. He doesn't have to give excuses, no explanation for the mistakes which have been made. Just step up and fess up. Take ownership. Get a set of balls because we know the men in your church have them, we know all to well you have them and at the appropriate (most inappropriate) time like to use them.

The thing i find the hardest to accept however has not so much been the way the Vatican and that whole institution has handled the situation its the way some people (mainly the devote catholics) have tried to defend the church. The thing i find sickening about their defense of the institution is that if it was any other organization, company or entity other then the Catholic church those very same people would be parading in the streets demanding accountability and prosecution of the guilty. What does that say about the institution and those that follow it? What does it indicate to anyone with the slightest level of intelligence. In my case it indicates to me that they are nothing more then a fraud. They rally around a book and a figure and use that to drive social values and social conduct when it suits them. When it goes in direct opposition to it they point fingers and attempt any type of diversionary tactic to play off their responsibility. Take for example Warsaw Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz said, ''the church should take notice of individual tragedies and treat sex abuse cases very seriously, but at the same time, he criticized the media for "targeting the whole church, targeting the pope, and to that we must say `no' in the name of truth and in the name of justice." This was followed by this statement by Vienna's Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn which only goes further in demonstrating just how out to lunch some of these zealots are. "I admit that I often feel a sense of injustice these days. Why is the church being excoriated? Isn't there also abuse elsewhere? ... And then I'm tempted to say: 'Yes, the media just don't like the church! Maybe there's even a conspiracy against the church?' But then I feel in my heart that no, that's not it." It doesn't stop there though,  Pope Benedict XVI's personal preacher said, ''allegations that the pontiff covered up sex abuse cases by Catholic clergymen reminded him of anti-Semitism''. Are you serious? Do you really want the population of the world to take you seriously?

Perhaps the long standing denials, cover-ups and attempts to talk your way out of every accusation of sexual  impropriety may explain why people no longer have any confidence in anything you say and why the media has pursued you. The constant word play and excuse making lends as much credability to the institution as to the existance of the Easter Bunny. Perhaps the media and the public in general are waiting. Waiting for the leader (the funny hat guy) to do what i mentioned above. Maybe the press and the public is waiting for the Vatican to release the files of all those in their institution who have been accused of inappropriate conduct. Perhaps were waiting for you to release all the cases you have covered up and those in your institution responsible for those cover ups. Do any of you in the Vatican or the management of the Church believe that the public believes you are above the law? Does the Pope believe he is above the law? Of course he does and so do all the Cardinals and anyone else related to the church. You believe that you do not in fact owe an explanation. More importantly you do not believe that those within your institution deserve to be prosecuted. In fact your more likely to believe in the Eater bunny then you are in justice.

Its not a wonder that the ranks of the Catholic Church continues to shrink. Without the churches major surge into Africa the number of followers would have shrunk beyond its ability to write off the declining numbers to the aging population. The Catholic Institution is in total denial. Every Sunday morning the followers gather to hear the word of God preached and celebrated to them by men supposedly of God. What has become clear is that many of these ''men of God'' preach one principle and practice another. There is no confidence in an institution which can not even follow its own covenant. Whose representatives demand a specif alignment to scripture and rules but have no respect for them themselves. Nowhere in other institutions in our society would that be acceptable but for some reason the leaders and the followers of this institution continue to believe that they are not only above the law but above the word of the God they claim to worship.

When challenged by anyone from outside the church, its followers and leaders first tool is to claim anti-semitism. To call those wanting answers non believers and enemies of God is a sad attempt at deflection. To claim that the sexual abuse scandals are not the fault of the church but of a small percentage within it simply shows the length to which its members will go to avoid holding the institution and its leaders responsible. The Vatican has time and time again worked against prosecuting and dealing with those who have committed these atrocious crimes. They have covered them up, hushed up those who might speak and have tried to purchase innocence. No i am not a believer in God but i am not an enemy of God either. I believe everyone should have the choice to follow whatever religion they best believe represents their core values. I personally do not follow any organized religion. I am however a believer that there is some higher power. I like to believe that the power which i believe would never tolerate such abuse. Such indignation, such shameful denial. When an institution cannot or will not abide by its own doctrine then how in the world can you expect others to? Do you believe you maintain credibility in a mode of denial? That you pull people towards you as you point blame outwards? Judging by your actions or lack thereof you believe the answers to those questions are. Yes.

Christian theology condemns blasphemy. One verse from the Bible that directly concerns the sin reads as follows: “ Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7 KJV). Blasphemy was written into the bible by the writers to protect the Catholic institution from attack. To give the institution this sense of being to holy and important to attempt to bring down. It was designed to protect the institution from those seen as non believers or those from the outside who might want to challenge it. In essence it was to protect and ensure the survival of the Institution, the entity of God and his words. The current situation and the way the Vatican has handled the whole sexual abuse scandal does one crucial thing. All to simply, It shows that it was not those from outside the church which they needed protection from. It was from those directly at its helm.

DRIVING ME CRAZY

OK you had to figure it was only a matter of time before i pulled out a blog concerning driving skills or lack thereof. Yes every day I like all of you head out of the house and get in my car. I do this mainly without even thinking of it. I rarely, if ever ponder the, ''what ifs''. I simply open the door, slide behind the wheel and off i go to whatever destination is required for that particular moment. Recently though i have come to realize that making it to and from my destination has become so frustrating that i am truly considering sending my car to the scrap yard and buying a life time bus pass.

In general there is not anyone reading this who does not take their car out every day. For that matter most of us use it more then just once. If you have children then you probably spend more time in your car, SUV, or van then you do in your own home and probably log more miles then the average cab driver in your city. In my case due to my work and for pleasure I have had a unique opportunity to drive in many places around North America. No i am not a truck driver. I have crossed the country from PEI to Alberta twice. Once using the Canada route and once using a US route. I have driven from Montreal to Florida and back half a dozen times. I have driven to Houston, Texas and back. I have driven through California, Colorado, Montana, Arizona and just about every other state you can name. I have spent time living and driving in British Columbia. So in essence i have covered most of the US and Canada via rubber tire.

People often ask me. Rob in your opinion who drives best and who drives worst? I have often had a hard time answering that question. My easy fall back used to be drivers from Ontario were the worst and drivers from Quebec were the best. QUEBEC! WHAT? You say QUEBEC!!! Now calm down and I'll explain. I learned to drive in Quebec. I went to driving school and got my permit when i was 18 years old. I grew up driving the mad streets and highways of this province. The thing i always loved about driving in Quebec was that the drivers here were predictable. Yes predictable. They drove fast, they drove on the edge, they did questionable things but they were predictable. You knew that if there was a major traffic jam on a highway and you were trying to merge you were most likely to encounter a car coming the wrong way up the on ramp trying to escape traffic and expecting You to get out of the way. No surprise. If you were in a major traffic jam you were for sure going to see a bunch of cars racing down the shoulder of the road like it was just another lane on the highway and probably saw a cop sitting in one of those U-Turns letting it all happen. Best of all you knew that if you planned to get into the passing lane your speedometer better not indicate anything less then 140 KM Hr (75 miles per hour). I loved driving here. I always knew what to expect. When i travelled to the US, Ontario or Western Canada i often found myself extremely frustrated and frequently stunned by what i encountered on the road. In most of the US and Western Canada i found out quickly that driving 57 miles per hour in the passing lane to pass a car traveling 55 miles per hour was normal practice, often resulting in a 5 mile traffic jam on a two lane road as the person in the passing lane took 15 minutes to pass the the slower vehicle by 2 miles per hour. That driving along in the passing lane with not another car insight was perfectly reasonable and screw you buddy you just pass me on the right cause Willy Nelson is playing and i ain't moving. I was always surprised to be sailing down a road a 40 Miles per hour only to have a person merge onto the road 50 feet in front of me like i wasn't even there; and when i laid on the horn i was greeted by a finger and a rear view mirror look which said, ''you don't own the road dip shit''. I was stunned to see people burn through stop signs like they didn't even exist, driving the wrong way down the Highway cause the big Red sign that said, ''DO NOT ENTER'' really meant nothing. Yes i saw allot of stuff crossing North America but i always felt safest driving in Quebec. That was until about 5 years ago.

Something happened in Quebec over the last 5 years and i have no idea what it was. Everyone just threw out what they used to know and choose to apply what was wrong everywhere else. Driving here has become a nightmare. I guess its probably a nightmare everywhere else also seeing as if it got this bad in Quebec i a can only imagine what its like in Ontario or New York. So here goes my rant and stick with with me if it gets ugly because i just cannot figure out what the heck has happened.

1. BLINDER. They bozo! That little blue light on your dash showing a light means your high beams are on, NOT YOUR REGULAR LIGHTS. That light shouldn't be on unless your traveling through the forest of middle earth in a demented version of Lord Of The Rings. But thanks cause now i need laser surgery and i did enjoy spending 2 hours in the ditch from being blinded.

2. GAS IS ON THE RIGHT. If your going to drive in the left hand lane (passing lane) could you do it with some speed. No, me and the 4000 other people coming home from work following behind you have no interest in watching you pass the vehicle in the right lane by 4 miles and hour, the car in the center lane by 2 miles an hour and oh by the way you don't need to be half a mile in front of the middle lane vehicle before turning into the centre lane. YOUR NOT DRIVING A TRAIN!

3. NOT A PSYCHIC. I wish i was cause then i wouldn' t have rammed into the ass end of your car. That little arm sticking off your steering column on the left side is for indicating your intention to turn. Now i know between deciding to have potatoes or corn for a side plate is more important then telling EVERYONE else what you intent to do with that 4500 LBS vehicle your driving but could you just try. I guarantee you won't break your finger or anything. Oh by the way, up means your going to turn right and down means left. I know that's hard to remember. Kinda like; righty tighty, lefty loosey. Think you can handle that? Didn't think so!

4. HEY MULTI TASKER! You are barely qualified to drive. I can promise you you are not qualified to talk on your phone, eat a Big Mac and fries and try to read that file. Your wife can attest to your lack of multi- tasking capabilities (wink) Your being more interested in not getting special sauce (wink) on your shirt is not really important to the guy who's lane you just swerved into cutting him off and almost causing a 15 car pile up. The best part is you didn't even notice, cause you were to busy concentrating. One thing at a time. RIGHT?. EEH GAD.

5. OK GRANDPA i know your retired and you deserve to enjoy the rest of your life with your sweetie pie. Just not on the road. What in God's name made you think your qualified to drive a 35 ft motor home when the largest vehicle you ever drove when working was a Toyota Tercel. How do i know you drove a Tercel? WELL, cause its attached to the back of your motor home making the total length of your vehicle slightly less long then the empire state building.

6. CAPTAIN CAMPING! Listen your Ford F150 4x4 is really not qualified to substitute for a freight train locomotive. That 22 ft camper attached to your pick up with the 17 ft boat trailer attached to it making your total length about 51 ft is a hazard. Cause you might be in the right lane but if the wind is blowing the wrong way your boat is in the left lane and those foolish oversized mirrors won't even allow you to see that. Your kinda like an out of control anaconda except your on the highway not in the swamp. Suggestion. If you need to transport that much stuff to your destination might i suggest loading it all on a train or a flat bed 18 wheeler.

7. HEY MEGAN FOX! Your beautiful. That mirror hanging in the center of your windshield is NOT for applying your make-up or doing a last minute verification of your beauty before meeting that guy you met online. That mirror and the ones attached out side your driver side and passenger side door are for ensuring that you don't side swipe the family van that just passed you in the centre lane cause your going 100km Hr in the passing lane.

8. SPEED DEAMON! If its rush hour and traffic is backed up in every lane going 20 km Hr it won't matter how far you try and stick your front bumper up my ass i can't go anywhere. If your into that kinda thing i just want you to know i don't play for that team but I'm sure they have a bar in town somewhere where guys hang out that could satisfy that need you seem to have.

9. FENDER BENDER. In Quebec we have a thing called no fault insurance. Its like if your husband cheats on you and you cheat on him...its really no ones fault. NO it doesn't matter who did it first. You wanna take your little BMW and that little Audi out of the centre lane and go over to the shoulder to figure out who did what to who cause the police nor your insurance company cares about the 200 dollar scratch on your bumper or how it got there. GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!

10. TAXI DRIVERS. Your all a bunch of idiots. Not one of you knows how to drive regardless of the needless time you spend sitting in your cab eating salami sandwiches.

11. HE'S ALREADY BUSY! Hey when you see a police car with his lights flashing and another vehicle stopped in front of him its cause the policeman is busy. He's already giving a ticket so he isn't likely to jump back in his car cause he thinks you might have been going 121 Km Hr. So no need to slam on the brakes to slow down he isn't coming to get you anyways.

Got anymore? Please feel free to add them. The simple fact is you could probably go on forever. The sad fact is that its gotten down right dangerous to be out on the road. Everyone gets into their car and closes the door and something really, really bad happens. They forget about everyone else. Yes we all are guilty at one time or another of doing things on the road that we should not. But if everyone just spend 5 minutes thinking and realizing that they are not alone on the road things might just get a little better. So ask me again who has the best and worst drivers. HA!

Happy driving everyone!