What's in the News? 2.0

[Beorning]

Here's a news piece I just have to share, even though I have no English link for it (why aren't foreign media writing about this stuff..?)... It's just too infuriating to ignore.

Polish state-owned TV network, TVP (which was turned into the government's propaganda outlet after 2016), is currently running one of these celebrity dance shows. One of the participants is a teen star Roksana Węgiel.

In a recent episode, Węgiel had a dance number that recreated Sia's video for "The Greatest". That included Maggie Ziegler's make-up from that video, which included rainbows.

After the episode aired, some higher-ups realized that these rainbows might've been intended by Sia as LGBT symbols. So...

... it was decided that all photos of Węgiel taken from the episode and published in social media, websites etc. need to be retouched. With the rainbows being removed. Because, you know, the evils of LGBT. We can't have this stuff in Polish state media.

The most cynical thing? In the official statements that followed, it was claimed that it was all done for the good of Roksana Węgiel. Because she's underage - so, she should be protected from being involved in any "ideological disputes" etc...

Aaaaaaargh.

[Sara Nilsson]

This isn't the Onion. I repeat this ISN'T satire.

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/05/unhinged-gop-lawmaker-arrested-trying-substitute-teacher-terrified-students/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/02/mark-samsel-arrest-videos/

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article251069219.html

All hell broke loose when a conservative elected official in Kansas served as a substitute teacher at a high school in his district. Kansas state Rep. Mark Samsel (R) berated the teens all day, pleading with them to follow God, asking them about their masturbation habits, demanding that the children he’s teaching “make babies” because “it feels good,” and claiming that a sophomore at the school is contemplating suicide because they have lesbian parents.

That was all before he allegedly grabbed one student and pushed him against the wall, and attacked another by invoking the “wrath of God,” intentionally hit him in his genitals, then invited others in the class to do it too. He has since admitted that he planned his actions but claimed that he did nothing wrong.

I just.. wtf.. no WTF!!!! that deserves caps lock and multiple exclamation points.

What in the name of everyfuckingthingever is wrong with this man?! And why isn't he locked up for his and others safety already?!

[Haibane]

My God... indeed WTF? And he hasn't resigned yet or been fired? That's almost equally scary.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? That isn't religion, its cultist insanity. Lock the nutjob up.

[TheGlyphstone]

We're talking about a man who voted to repeal a marital rape law, because  of 'implied consent'. I'm not sure even his cult can be balked for that degree of awful.

[Beorning]

Speaking of insanity:

https://notesfrompoland.com/2021/05/02/priest-apologises-after-school-lesson-on-treating-homosexuals-with-electroshock-therapy/


Also: I read today that Polish government tried to pressure the legislators from Czech Republic into not passing a law that would make it easy for Polish women to have abortions there. Basically, our government seems to believe they not only have the right to ban abortions here, but to also demand that other countries ban abortions for Polish women... This is sick 

[TheGlyphstone]

Other parts of the presentation included information on marital sin. The priest claimed that contraception, IVF and surrogate mothers violate the teaching of the Sixth Commandment, which forbids adultery. He added that homosexual intercourse was sinful because it cannot lead to procreation.

Wat.

[Beorning]

Wat.

... I'd say that's the least controversial part of that "lesson".

[Kathadon]

Yeah that last part is the baseline Judeo-Christian belief. The other stuff is just pulled outa his ass.

[TheGlyphstone]

Yeah, it was the first bits of that part that confused me - how exactly does birth control count as adultery?

[Oniya]

Yeah, it was the first bits of that part that confused me - how exactly does birth control count as adultery?

It allows women to have sex without worrying about getting pregnant.  That's it, that's the tweet.

[Beorning]

Hm. I'm surprised he put it under adultery... but the Catholic Church (at least here) has long been opposed to IVF and most of forms of contraception. The former because it supposedly unnatural and leads to frozen embryos, the latter because it means that the person (or pair) using it is not "open to receiving life". It's nonsense, but this is what the CC teaches.

The really scary stuff is promoting the idea that it's possible (and advisable) to "cure" homosexuality by electroshocks and surgical intervention... I wonder what the mainstream Catholicism's opinions on that are. I know that Polish CC *is* in favour of conversion therapies (at least the bishops are... I recall one well-known Jesuit priest here who is also a cerfified therapist and he had some harsh words not too long, when the bishops spoke up in favour of conversion therapies).

[TheGlyphstone]

Yeah, I'm well familiar with the CC's anti-contraception stance. It was specifically defining it as adultery that make me wonder what version of the Bible he's been snorting, cause it doesn't line up with any definition of adultery I know of.

[Oniya]

Yeah, I'm well familiar with the CC's anti-contraception stance. It was specifically defining it as adultery that make me wonder what version of the Bible he's been snorting, cause it doesn't line up with any definition of adultery I know of.

It's a little less 'actual' adultery, and more 'gateway to' adultery.  As it prevents the woman from getting pregnant, it makes it possible (conservatives translate this to 'guarantees') that the woman will have sex with men who they aren't married to.  If they are married, it's adultery, if they aren't, it's premarital sex, and it's a sin either way.

[Beorning]

It's a little less 'actual' adultery, and more 'gateway to' adultery.  As it prevents the woman from getting pregnant, it makes it possible (conservatives translate this to 'guarantees') that the woman will have sex with men who they aren't married to.  If they are married, it's adultery, if they aren't, it's premarital sex, and it's a sin either way.

Exactly. It's all about "OMG, these women will be able to have sex whenever they want, this would be awful!".

[TheGlyphstone]

Out of curiosity, does the CC have any official position on a theoretical male contraceptive, and/or surgical procedures like vasectomies and hysterectomies, not counting this nut?

[Kathadon]

I know the Catholic Church, a few Evangelical sects, all of Islam, and Jewish Orthodoxies have long had issues about birth control being against the will of God, and going against the will of God is a sin itself. When you view sex as divinely meant only for makin' babies the entire concept of birth control (and alot of fun sexual activities) is out the window. That said, the Vatican seldom has wanted to die on that hill in the past few decades, so it has gone the same way as divorce mostly in the West. Shame on you for sinning, but say your contrition and we'll just ignore it.

I actually find it harder to understand surrogate mothers and IVF being tied to adultery. Those are the furthest thing from adultery as no sex is involved. And looking it up, the Vatican's official stance is: Even though surrogacy is present in the Book of Genesis with the story of Sarah and Abraham, the Catholic Church does not advocate for surrogacy. Instead, the Church teaches that children are a gift from God, only to be conceived and carried naturally by a married husband and wife. Ofcoarse.... They just will not call it a sin.

And in addition, the church opposes IVF because it might cause disposal of embryos; Catholics believe an embryo is an individual with a soul who must be treated as a such. The Church singled out in-vitro fertilization, saying the procedure reduces the human embryo to “simply a mass of cells to be used, selected, and discarded.” So they are being pro-life by being against IVF because of the unviable embryos. Ugh! I guess props on being consistent?

[Kathadon]

@TheGlyphstone The CC has not updated their views on contraception period since 1968. So no male contraception either.

[The Lovely Tsaritsa]

@TheGlyphstone The CC has not updated their views on contraception period since 1968. So no male contraception either.

[Beorning]

I actually find it harder to understand surrogate mothers and IVF being tied to adultery. Those are the furthest thing from adultery as no sex is involved. And looking it up, the Vatican's official stance is: Even though surrogacy is present in the Book of Genesis with the story of Sarah and Abraham, the Catholic Church does not advocate for surrogacy. Instead, the Church teaches that children are a gift from God, only to be conceived and carried naturally by a married husband and wife. Ofcoarse.... They just will not call it a sin.

And in addition, the church opposes IVF because it might cause disposal of embryos; Catholics believe an embryo is an individual with a soul who must be treated as a such. The Church singled out in-vitro fertilization, saying the procedure reduces the human embryo to “simply a mass of cells to be used, selected, and discarded.” So they are being pro-life by being against IVF because of the unviable embryos. Ugh! I guess props on being consistent?

The issue of disposed / frozen embryos is the most understandable part of it - I admit it's the one thing in IVF that makes me feel uneasy, personally. But the CC also has the issue with the embryo being created in a lab, which the CC considers unnatural and "against what God intended" (to which I say: wheelchairs are unnatural and "unintended", will they preach against them, too???). Also, I think there's the issue they have with the fact that a man needs to masturbate to get the sperm for IVF... which is absurdly dogmatic.

As for surrogacy: against, unnatural and all that.

And yes, as far as I know the CC is against male contraception, either. Funnily, though, there were no attempts here at legislation to ban condoms...

[Kathadon]

Condoms are birth control so, bad. The only allowed birthcontrol from the CC is following the woman's menstrual timing and pulling out. And that, of coarse, is only okay for married couples.

[Oniya]

Amusingly enough, the 'pulling out' method is what the actual Bible story of Onan describes.

https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0138.htm#8

[TheGlyphstone]

Amusingly enough, the 'pulling out' method is what the actual Bible story of Onan describes.

https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0138.htm#8

Wait, so Onan chooses to not commit adultery, and gets lightning bolted for it? Or is it that he does cuckold his brother but pulls out?

[Beorning]

Condoms are birth control so, bad. The only allowed birthcontrol from the CC is following the woman's menstrual timing and pulling out. And that, of coarse, is only okay for married couples.

And the Church claims it's not actually contraception... Because, apparently, the married couple is still "open to life" when using this method. Even though the fact they use it means they want to avoid getting pregnant. Go figure.

Nevertheless, this stuff really is the less scary part of what that priest was saying. Do note that, among the "methods for curing homosexuality" he listed things like *removing the woman's clitoris*. Or ovaries. Or uterus. Seriously, this is monstrous - and this guy is teaching this stuff to kids...

And the scariest thing? It's not that one priest said these things, it's that government-level politicians are now defending his insane views against "leftist attacks"...

[Skynet]

There's a Biblical verse saying that abortion is fine, if forced upon a woman believed to have gotten pregnant from adultery.

So it's pro-abortion, but not exactly for the most progressive of reasoning.

[Oniya]

Wait, so Onan chooses to not commit adultery, and gets lightning bolted for it? Or is it that he does cuckold his brother but pulls out?

No - Onan's brother was 'wicked in God's eyes' (for unspecified reasons) and was struck down.  Then God invoked this tradition where, if a man dies without an heir, his brother gets his widow, and the first son is then the dead man's heir.  Onan was like 'I don't want to have a kid that's not going to inherit my family name, so I'm going to pull out.'  And then God was all 'Right then.  Bzzzzzt!'

(Also, I have to say that until I saw the word 'priest' in your 'Wat' post, I wasn't sure which incident you referred to - Beorning's, or Sara's.  This isn't a comment on your post, just the world in general.)