Blame

I was just about to write a blog post about something nice, but then I saw this pop up:

Here’s the link.

As is often the case with these religious things, I’m struggling a bit here.

Presumably, there are some bad things which happen which are sent to test us, and then there are other bad things which happen which are actually sent from the devil. It would seem that someone somewhere upstairs (no, not that high) in the Catholic church has decided that the sexual abuse scandals have now slipped into the latter category, and can be attributed directly to Beelzebub himself.

Sunshine? Moonlight? Good time? No, it woz Lucifer wot dun it.

This new-found allegation has two very convenient results: firstly, that the Catholic church wasn’t at fault here – it was, after all, entirely the work of Satan. And who (other perhaps than God’s representative incarnate on Earth) could have known that? Blameless, innit?

And secondly – like a microbiologist diagnosing an infection – now we know what is responsible, be can do something about sorting it out. The microbiologist would use an antibiotic, the Pope is going to use a daily prayer to St. Michael the Archangel. And that should clear up the discharge in just a couple of days.

So yeah – same same, when you think about it. Except that the infection doesn’t usually leave altar boys with PTSD.

I am, as ever, unimpressed.