Morning Wood, Damage Control and Spinning the Church's Sexual Abuse Issues
Warning, religious rant dead ahead, be forewarned.

Ahh, nothing like a sick day to revitalize one's motivations. And it would appear that leblanc over on intellectual properties could have done with another day added to the weekend and subtracted from the work week.

Yesterday was spent gathering up a whole bunch of project threads and finishing many of them off. It felt good to cross a few things off of my lists. Of course, the list continues to grow with each passing moment but working towards the end is an end in and of itself.

We're now knee deep in invitation planning and design. There will be a pre-invite mailing to a bunch of folks to make sure they have the day saved or marked off or something. We're planning the favors, entertainment, food and about five thousand other things, each of which costs money, money, money. Loads of fun, this whole wedding thing, really.

But it is coming together and we're both enjoying ourselves thus far. It does strike me from time to time just how short the time we've been together really is. Half a year now. That's amazing to me, where we started and where we are now.

By this time next year I would expect that we'll be way further down the tracks.

Another nice thing that's happening right now is the old house I was in, the place I'm supposed to be the property manager for, yeah, that's being taken out of my hands altogether which is just fine. I just don't have the time or inclination to do it, nor the patience to deal with a house full of 20 something guys who don't really notice that their mommas ain't there to pick up their shit. There will be a walk through today to determine if they will be allowed to stay or whether the house will be cleaned out, cleaned up and re-rented to a bunch of new people. Which is a bummer on some levels because I love the house but I just can't do it there anymore.

So, onto the other topics in the headline.

I saw the Boston Archdiocese replaced Cardinal Law (should have been in Judge Dredd comics with that name) for his mishandling of the Church's little sodomite problem it was having with the preacher men. Umm, how hard is it to deal with men molesting children? Take them out back and beat them senseless with ax handles until they denounce their actions. Come on now.

Anyway, the news said that the replacement Cardinal is going to have a sit down meeting with the molested kids (and, I would assume, their families as no self respecting parent would fall for that trick twice). I imagined what he might say, italics are his internal dialogue.

"Well now, folks, thank you very much for coming." oh God, did I just say coming, oh shit, they're going freak on me
"I know there have been some horribly actions undertaken in the Lord's house in the past but those days are behind us." holy shit, I just said behind, now they think I'm talking about the boy's backsides, those lovely and lucscious buttocks, oh shit, shut up and talk
"I would like to be the first to tell you that things have changed, the bad people have all been removed and we can all get back to the matter at hand, that is the worship of Jesus Christ, our lord and savior. That's the one thing I would like all of you to take home with you today. The unspeakable actions taken by the Lord's agents were not done with his permission, they were done in direct opposition to the teachings and ways of the Lord. Please don't hold God responsible for what these men have done in the past."

To which, Timmy asks, "But if they work for God and God knows everything then how could he have not known and somehow made it okay for Father Angry Inch to touch my bottom?"

And Cardinal Spin Doctor replies, "The Lord works in mysterious ways, son. The only thing I can tell you is that these men were not men of God and their actions were reprehensible. But do not let their actions change how you feel about the Lord, he has not foresaken you, his love for you is greater than ever before. He needs your love as much as you need his. Please don't leave, don't allow the tremendous body of scientific knowledge, theory and experimentation to penetrate your skulls to the fact that God's merely a construct, a facade created by man to explain the unexplainable which has since been explained and now the Church is the societal equivalent of the coccyx, the vestigal tailbone. It sits at the base of the spine and is a reminder of our past but really has no bearing on who and what we are today. No, the Lord needs you more now than ever before. And as payment for your continued faith, we offer a permanence, an eternity in heaven. Sure, there's no proof that there's a heaven or that all your efforts in this lifetime will grant you entry to the realm but we can offer it safely and securely in the knowledge that its not possible to disprove the existence of heaven because you've got to die before you get in. And dead people tell no tales which is what I told the priests that were buggering parishioners. Anyway, don't allow the weak willed men who fondled you in the name of the Lord break your faith in the Lord, it wasn't the Lord commanding them, it was their own perverted (and mutated) sexuality that drove them to it, that and the draconian laws of sexual practices forced upon men of the cloth."

Maybe it wouldn't be quite so drastic but what can he say to these people that have already been so damaged by the Church? He doesn't want them to leave the Church but he's caught between a rock and a hard on here.

And yeah, on that excellent pun I will leave this off as I'm just rambling and really need to get to work!

Happy July 1!