Back in 2005, Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen set the gold standard on defending free speech when, on being approached by perpetually aggrieved Islamic ambassadors hoping for official redress against Jyllands Posten (Cartoon Rage was just kicking in), he refused to hear their plaints, explaining to them and the world that it was not his place, as prime minister, to interfere with free speech in Denmark. Once again Belgium is in shock. Yesterday Professor Adriaenssens, the man who headed the committee that was established to collect and investigate instances of sexual abuse and pedophilia in the Catholic Church in Belgium, presented his report [pdf] and conclusions. The extent and degree of abuse that turns out to have been widespread, is horrifying. The Belgian Cardinal Danneels’s response to the report is entirely in character. This man will never change. His spokesman said that Cardinal Danneels “once again expresses sincere sympathy with the victims and their families for the suffering that they experienced…” and adds some platitudes about structures and institutions. Yet for decades he was responsible for the fact that complaints by the victims and their families were ignored. He made himself scarce whenever churchgoers who encountered abuses appealed to him. If a medical doctor prescribed a treatment for a patient that only worked in theory, and the patient did not get better, the doctor could rightly be sued for medical malpractice if tried-and-true cures were known. When members of Congress and a president engage in economic malpractice, the patient's (i.e., the American public's) only recourse is to vote them out of office.Free Speech, Then And Now
“This is a matter of principle. I will not meet with them [the ambassadors] because it is so crystal clear what principles Danish democracy is built upon that there is no reason to do so...As prime minister, I have no power whatsoever to limit the press – nor do I want such power.”
Cardinal Danneels Responds In Character To Pedophilia Report
Risky Freedom Or Safe Servitude
1. Some of the insiders of our lording power elites attempt to convince us that we need to choose between competing versions of collectivism. A related complementary message is that the alternative we face is risky freedom or safe servitude under their protective command.
Economic Malpractice
Sunday, 12 September 2010
From the desk of Diana West on Sat, 2010-09-11 15:48
From the desk of Alexandra Colen on Sat, 2010-09-11 15:27
From left to right: Roger Vangheluwe, pedophile bishop; Godfried Danneels, former archbishop; Peter Adriaenssens, head of investigative committee.
From the desk of George Handlery on Fri, 2010-09-10 17:11
From the desk of Richard Rahn on Wed, 2010-09-08 20:02
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