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What do you do when confronted by a pack of snarling dogs? Stand your ground, look for stones, sticks, or any other weapons, and be prepared to fight them off. Above all, don’t show fear and don’t back off – that signals weakness and vulnerability and emboldens the mongrels. Once they feel they have the advantage they will attack and try to rip you to shreds.
George Pell must know this now, as do many others who have been targeted by the left and its allies, the victim groups, social justice warriors, PC police, moral crusaders, Twitter Trolls, the ABC and Fairfax soviets, and the rest of the rabid pack.
Pell was attacked in the most outrageous fashion on the Channel 10 leftist propaganda vehicle, The Project, on Tuesday night when a so-called “comedy singer/songwriter”, Tim Minchin, was given several minutes of prime viewing time to berate, slander, and obscenely abuse Pell over his inability to travel from Rome to give further evidence to the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse.
Unlike Steve Price, who was on the panel and condemned the performance, the rest of the gang applauded Minchin’s vicious attack on Australia’s most senior Catholic cleric, a man who, 20 years ago, initiated comprehensive measures to counter predatory behaviour amongst a small minority of evil priests, and has been cooperative and conciliatory ever since.
It was especially notable that an enthusiastic defender of Minchin was the The Project’s high profile Muslim advocate, Waleed Aly, prompting online comments asking whether he would have the same attitude if the song attacked Muslim clerics or others guilty of the rape of children and the genital mutilation of young girls.
The answer is, we can guess, of course not! Muslims now have government ministers such as the egregious Craig Laundy, and entire government departments, dedicated to defending them and denouncing critics. And The Project panellists know only too well what would happen to their careers if they offended the multicult militia, the PC police, the Twitter trolls, or the hacks professing to be journalists at the ABC and Fairfax.
The Catholic Church is a different matter, it is weakened and vulnerable and is being targeted by the left generally as part of its campaign against all the traditional institutions that hold our society together. Moreover, the persecution and murder of critics of Islam has become commonplace throughout the world and neither Aly or co-panellists Peter Hellier and Carrie Bickmore want to be targeted for shooting, stabbing, and beheading by the Muslim fanatics easily mobilized to carry out such murders. This goes double for Minchin, who would never risk performing a similar song in prime time attacking a high profile Muslim cleric or any of the atrocities committed in the name of Islam.
Attacking a weakened target is a different matter. Beating an old, sick man when he’s down is much easier, especially when you’ve got the mob behind you. That’s when Minchin, a pantywaist, can posture as the big, tough man of his dreams.
Pell made a serious mistake in trying to accommodate his attackers and there is a lesson there for everyone who dares to oppose the fascist left in this country. The cardinal and his advisors have been proactive, sensitive, and conciliatory with those people (and their lawyers) who claime they had been sexually abused by priests.
It is now clear that this was a major strategic error. The Minchinesque scum have capitalized on Pell’s submissive posture and made him the target of one of the most brutal character assassinations in Australian history. He is to be murderously vilified to further the interests of those who have come forward claiming victimhood and demanding massive compensation payments, possibly totalling billions of dollars.
The lesson is clear for those confronted by the fascist left: a submissive defence, no matter how well intentioned, is not an option. Right from the outset, never give an inch, never take a backward step, because they will only attack you if you do — destroy you if they can, brutally, wilfully and pitilessly — and then dance on your remains to the piano accompaniment of the likes of Minchin.
“Sue me!”, cries Minchin. And there, unlike Cardinal Pell, He reveals his total lack of interest in the victims of sexual abuse. For Minchin, it is all about proclaiming his self-righteousness and obtaining the necessary publicity and acclamation from obedient lefties.
From what I can see, Merv, your recommended “never give an inch” has been the policy of the Catholic hierarchy all along. Have a look at the following from the (gasp, choke, retch) ABC website:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-08/victoria-police-covered-up-allegations-of-abuse-inquiry-told/7010442
Etc.
But I am sure that if you took your concerns along to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, they would give you a hearing.
Just seek leave to present this whole Quad piece, with comments, as evidence.
PS: It’s not Christ’s fault. There is no evidence that He was ever in favour of clerical celibacy. Or clerical anything for that matter.
The veracity of your critical stance towards Cardinal Pell notwithstanding, you responded not at all to the fact that neither Minchin nor his ilk would ever dare mention, let alone attack, anything concerning Islam. That subject is of far more concern to western civilisation than Pell’s alleged misdeeds.
Ian MacDougall, are making that hoary old error of connecting pedophilia with celibacy? This is what I infer from the P.S. in your post. I would disabuse you of this notion. I was a student for the priesthood myself for a number of years. Had I ever wanted to gratify my longing for sexual intimacy with a woman, I would have found a woman. If Catholic seminarians or priests want to have sex, they can take some money from the weekly offerings and have it with a professional service provider. There’s no need to bother with the altar servers. Besides, what of the myriad pedophiles found in wider society who are not living under the constraints of voluntary celibacy? The fact is that priest do not become pedophiles. Rather pedophiles become priests, teachers, scout masters, etc. They will take up any position where they have the community’s trust and access to children.
Merv, you must really have it in for mongrel dogs to compare them with Tim Minchin.
Minchin is a pompous arse! He gets pleasure out of “slagging off” Christians. That’s what this Pell business really is all about. I noticed the Royal Commission didn’t investigate claims made against State Schools either.
Minchin is just another unwashed, largely talent-free jerk sans manners. But that doesn’t excuse Pell for not acting upon complaints about child sexual abuse. That stain will never leave him nor the Church, nor many other myriad organizations where these kinds of appalling acts took place. Minchin has trivialized it because he’s, well, just not very bright. You don’t have to be to appeal to the mob, btw.
Why do you say that Pell did not act upon complaints about child sexual abuse? Which complaints? When? Where?
I just read this about Minchin on Wiki:
“In 2015, he was awarded a second Honorary Doctor of Letters from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.”
What the hell is the Mountview Academy? Is it anything like the Paris Conservatoire or the Juilliard School in New York? You know, places where fabulously talented classical musicians continue studying beyond the 15 or so years they’ve already been hard at it!!
People who think Minchin is clever or talented just need to get out more.
I am an atheist and think that all religions are basically mystical nonsense, however the hypocrisy involved in this episode has induced me to think that Cardinal Pell has been subject to a witch hunt that seems more suited to medieval times than the 21st century. When there is a truly dangerous religion, founded by a pedophile and which practises female genital mutilation even now, and yet is not even mentioned in the Royal Commission, it is enough to stir an atheist to action. The very same hypocrites comparing Pell to Christopher Skase are those who make excuses for Julian Assange in his quest to avoid facing judicial processes in a truly civilised country.
I agree with Merv that Pell should take these cowards on, or more to the point somebody from the Catholic Church should take them on. Julia Gillard set this RC up to get at Abbott, not to investigate child abuse. That is why there has been no mention/investigation into the child abuse still occurring in many aboriginal communities or that occurring in some Islamic situations where female genital mutilation is practiced.
But it’s not really equivalent, is it? The Catholic Church and its priests are based on trust and faith. I see no such situation with the abuse of aboriginal children which resulted in the ‘intervention’ from government. As for Islam, there is a legal case to answer to FGM and some of these have been prosecuted in the courts. We expected much much better behaviour than this from the Catholic and other churches. And when priests (and Pell) failed to act upon what they were told about sexual abuse this is tantamount to ‘accessory after the fact’. Though Pell has not been found guilty in a court of law – yet – he has the stain of lost reputation and credibility.
I disagree that all religions are ‘mystical nonsense’ because millions of people use Christian teachings to inform their own ethics and behaviour. Having largely discarded religion, I don’t see the western world offering us a better one in doing so. Far from it; we have more violence, uncivil and boorish behaviour, drunkenness, drug-taking, greed and aggression. Thanks, but no thanks.
I don’t quite see the point about the relationships within the Catholic church being “based on trust and faith”. Weren’t relationships between abused Aboriginal children and their abusers also based on trust and faith?
When there’s supposed to be a link between the faithful and God via the priest I think trust has a lot to do with it. Point taken about the aboriginal children and their carers, but we are living in the fear of another ‘stolen generation’ so these children must bear the cost of political correctness. And in doing nothing about their abuse we are showing we expect less from them anyway. This is what happens when you ‘anti-discrimination’ a race of people. Nothing at all like the predicament for the church, IMO.
Jody, why should the expectation of civilised behaviour not be required from everybody, and not just catholic clergy or ‘old white people’ etc. etc? The left have lectured us for a long time [for me personally well over 60 years]that everybody should be equal before the law and treated ‘equally’, but they then enact laws and create social ‘conditioning’ by ‘affirmative action’ and other ‘social engineering’ mechanisms which make this impossible. The hypocrisy by the left involved in this and many other instances is what annoys me the most.
Please correct me if I am wrong but as far as I am aware, Cardinal Pell has not been found guilty of anything after several appearances at the Royal Commission and is not being accused of anything by the Royal Commission. We should therefore refrain from doing so and leave that sort of approach to the bandar-log of the left.
From what I have read Cardinal Pell he was the first to take child abuse seriously and to take action to stop it. I am reminded of the warning from Jesus ” Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”. Are all these “mongrels” as pure as the driven snow or are they covering their own inadequacies by projecting on a strong and good man. Do not forget that the same crowd crucified Abbott for being a better man than they could be. If you can’t beat them defame them seems to be the method of the Left.
Its the smug eye rolls that raise my bile, the “look at me I am a good person and he is not” crowd all the while sharing a desk with Aly.
If Mr Pell is a monster or not is between the law, him and his god, he has been charged with nothing although todays paper claims he is under investigation for 5-10 counts of abusing minors, the police inquires ought be finished and if criminal acts found prosecution for those acts to the full extent of the law must be undertaken.
I am hardly a defender of the Catholic faith but I do support the legal process, one that has to be allowed to run its course without the media or holier than thou bastards turning it into a circus.
Merv:
So we have a legal inquiry, the NSW Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse which we should all respect while the matters are sub-judice. But you, Merv, are clearly attempting to deflect the blame for everything onto ‘The Left.’ For you it’s ‘don’t look at the Catholic Church, don’t look at Pell, or his alleged sins of omission and commission; look over there to the left, at The Left.’
Well, it was a try; though it would be a stretch to call it a nice one. But it just won’t do. IMHO Jody is right on the money. (Good on you, Jody.)
I have a friend who was an orphan child in just such a holy institution, where he was systematically and repeatedly abused by clerical wolves in sheep’s clothing. Now, aged about 60, he remains very bitter about the experience and the institution responsible. He has never married, and it has in great part, destroyed his life. The focus of his attention is on those responsible for his care and welfare as an orphan, and who instead just took advantage of him; for their own short-term perverted pleasure and ends, leaving him to deal with the long-term consequences. Real happiness has always eluded him.
Before these latest child-abuse allegations appeared in the media today, (http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/19/cardinal-george-pell-hits-back-at-claims-he-is-under-investigation-over-child-abuse-allegations) Pell made a serious mistake, true enough. It was clearing out to Rome around the time this Royal Commission was first mooted. Not a good look. Another mistake was showing a remarkable reluctance to return and face cross-examination.
And you claim the real villains are a bunch of musicians who in your view can represent ‘The Left’.
“A bunch of musicians”! You make them sound so innocuous! They command the attention of large audiences, pour out filthy abuse in the proclamation of their righteousness, have at their command the ABC and the Fairfax press to ensure that their message gets the best coverage – that is not innocuous.
And, what’s more, playing honky-tonk on three chords does not make one a musician.
Bernard:
So how many chords makes one officially a musician?
Such attention-seeking noise generators get nowhere unless and until they find an audience large enough to form a reliable and continuous market for their product, however severely it might affect your ears or mine. It is pure free-market capitalism at its purest and free-est. And nobody is forced to listen to them; so to that extent they are innocuous.
By contrast, Pell has worked his way from lowly novitiate up through the ranks of a clerical hierarchy that has been in business for around 2,000 years: in what is very much an established and captive market. He has not exactly been out on his own, working the crowds, dodging flying beer cans full of God only knows what; while trying to remember where the hell those three chords exactly are.
And to give him his due, Minchin IMHO is a quite clever lyricist; if one is into that sort of thing.
I am sure that it took Minchin a long time to come up with the lyrics for his Pope Song.
The Catholic church is not a captive market, as you argue. People can and do come and go as they please and don’t need to pay a cent if they don’t want to, in order to attend.
I am not arguing that nothing untoward happened in the Catholic church, only that it is incorrect to blame Cardinal Pell for it. The same standards are not being applied elsewhere. There is great interest in child sexual abuse in the Catholic church but very little interest in child sexual abuse elsewhere. Nobody is calling for investigations of Ministers for Education because of what happened in public schools. Nobody is calling for Aboriginal boards to resign.
By the way, unless I am wrong, it is a federal government Royal Commission, not a NSW one.
One of my son’s classmates was abused by a priest called James Fletcher from Maitland Diocese. Fletcher died in jail and was accorded a full Catholic requiem funeral. Appalling. The 39 y/o man who was abused has a shattered life, has made multiple suicide attempts and his absolutely distraught parents have contributed to a major inquiry on child sexual abuse in Newcastle, instigated by a journalist at the “Newcastle Herald” and the subject of a “4 Corners” program. There was also a picture in the library of St. Peter’s junior HS, Maitland, of a man known then (early 2000’s) as “Nester the Molester”. They didn’t even take down that picture at the height of those rumours (which lay teaches knew about) and widespread talk about Nester’s appalling alleged criminality!!! This doesn’t even minimally conform to the ‘do no harm’ principle. The dogged attitude of ‘continue on regardless’ is coming undone. The losers are the abused and millions of practicing Catholics. I knew Fletcher – he was odd, to say the least of it, completely devoid of humour and not at all interested in talking to me about religious matters. His eyes glazed over!!
It gives me no pleasure to see the Catholic Church in crisis over this. But we cannot turn a blind eye to culpability or shunt the blame to somebody else – and not speaking up or acting to redress that wrong is culpability. Sorry, but there it is.
I’m sorry for Pell, but as a high-ranking Catholic the buck stopped with him.
I share PT’s concern about State Schools not being scrutinised. Surely the Commission has to look at them. In the late 90s my wife and I caught a cab from Brisbane airport into the CBD. The taxi driver struck up a conversation (as they are wont to do) and told us that he had been a secondary school teacher in Brisbane for quite a few years but had got out recently when his reporting of sexual abuse on young teenage girls by male teachers was ignored by the powers that be. He explained the grooming techniques employed by these teachers and how they exploited their position of trust to have sex with the teenagers. He was thoroughly disgusted not only at his colleagues’ behaviour but also at the lack of official response to his complaints. He said the abuse was “rampant”. So it looks like if the Commission does not investigate State Schools or Muslim institutions, it really is a witch hunt as some of the other commentators are alleging
I remember in my last year of Primary School. An allegation was made regarding a male teacher having “inappropriate dealings” with one of the girls. I didn’t go on the camp, and don’t know the full nature of the claims. However there was a “student strike” demanding he be kicked out of the school. Our class teacher (a woman) admonished us, declaring we cared nothing for future pupils, and that the next year he’d be the only teacher with camp experience etc.
Now he may have been completely innocent. But I’d have thought those claims would have as much credibility as those made against figures in the Church. There’s plenty of stories of students running of with High School teachers.
Why does the ‘buck’ stop with Pell? Was he ever in charge of anything in NSW, or more specifically anything near Maitland, or Newcastle or the Hunter region? Why not hold the Pope, or the NSW government responsible, or even your God or Allah? Or perhaps ‘Global Warming’?
Pell was the ‘managing director’ of the Catholic church in NSW, the same as the boss of BP when all that oil was spilled in the Gulf of Mexico. And it’s the ‘business as usual’ attitude which is appalling. The Maitland Diocese covers the whole of Newcastle right up to the Liverpool ranges and the abuse continued unaddressed for generations up to as recently as the late 1990s. Don’t tell me the boss hadn’t heard about it, especially when the Bishop was under the gun.
BTW, here is the very villain whose picture was proudly adorned in the library of the local Catholic high school in Maitland (which used to be run by Marist Brothers). I saw it there myself in the late 1990s!
http://www.brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/349
Jody:
Followed your link:
http://www.brokenrites.org.au/drupal/node/349
I think you’re on to something here Jody. Many people view Pell as the Church’s head honcho in Australia, since he was a cardinal. The media routinely call him “Australia’s senior Catholic cleric.”
The facts though, are different. Bishops answer to nobody but the pope. Pell had jurisdiction in Melbourne for a few years, and then in Sydney after that. But no more.
Heads should roll in Maitland, but Pell’s isn’t one of them. Ditto in Ballarat, where Pell was only ever a junior priest.
Thanks for clarifying that. But perception is all in this media-dominated world. This Ballarat issue is very serious indeed. As I’ve said before, it gives me no pleasure to see the Church going through this. I lived in Vienna and one of my joys there was attending Augustinerkirche and their Hochamt in German each Sonntag with 5 Priests and a huge entourage, full symphony orchestra, conductor and choir and magnificent organ playing the best music ever written. The whole ritual moved me tremendously and I want those to be my recollections, going forward, of the Catholic Church and my experience of it.
Jody:
What you experienced was the Counter-Reformation in all its full quadraphonic glory. The Protestants (eg Luther(1483-1546) & Calvin) wanted to strip the Church of all the Gothic ornamentation and feudal-era artistic trappings, and return it to the bare simplicities of an earlier Christianity. Very Methodist, and very boring.
The Church fathers responded by pulling out all the stops and going for baroque (or what became baroque) artistically. The result was the music of Palestrina, JS Bach(1685-1750) GF Handel (1685-1759, though he was technically a Protestant, and had a burial in Westminster Abbey.) As well, the painting of Caravaggio, El Greco, Rubens and the rest.
See also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_in_the_Protestant_Reformation_and_Counter-Reformation
http://www.hymnary.org/text/a_mighty_fortress_is_our_god_a_bulwark
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/baroque-painting.htm
Jody:
I posted a (positive) response to your comment, but the Quadrant censor for some reason best known to itself has nobbled it.
Contact me at charlie.honk@live.com and I will email it to you.
Jody:
I just posted a (positive) response to your comment, but the Quadrant censor for some reason best known to itself has nobbled it.
If you contact me at charlie.honk@live.com and I will email it to you.