This posting is the fifth part of a larger one and was sent out as a US group mailing prior to posting here on the Thalamus Center.
All propaganda must be popular and
its intellectual level must be adjusted to the
most limited intelligence among those
it is addressed to. Consequently,
the greater the mass it is intended to reach,
the lower its purely intellectual level will have to be....
Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1924
The function of propaganda is…not to weigh and ponder the rights of different people…Its task is not to make an objective study of the truth, in so far as it favors the enemy, and then set it before the masses with academic fairness; its task is to serve our own right, always and unflinchingly.
Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1924
Hitler's Basic Principles
Avoid abstract ideas - appeal to the emotions.
Constantly repeat just a few ideas. Use stereotyped phrases.
Give only one side of the argument.
Continuously criticize your opponents.
Pick out one special "enemy" for special vilification.
Read more:
These principles are abstracted from Jowett & O'Donnell.
Propaganda and Persuasion, Fifth Edition 2012
Jowett and O’Donnell’s Definition of Propaganda
“Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.”
Introduction PART 5
The Thalamus Center’s main focus is to address and make public the harm that antigay propaganda causes by creating hostile, even life threatening social environments that harm for life children growing up gay. This being the “age of information” that we are living the authoritative research regarding homosexual sexual orientation from the academic disciplines of science, biblical studies and philosophy (Natural Law) are readily available to anyone on the Internet. The crimes of violence and killings of homosexual adults and children including youth suicide are well documented and are also readily available on the Internet. Yet Benedict XVI and the hierarchy are allowed to relentlessly verbally speak out and publish false and malicious statements that are damaging to homosexuals’ reputations. There is no civil court in the world willing to prosecute them for their libelous and slanderous statements which are severely detrimental to the lives of homosexuals both adults and most especially very young children. The resemblance that Benedict XVI and the hierarchy antigay propaganda has to Hitler and the Nazi propaganda against the Jewish people is in indeed frightful. It is even worst because their attacks against homosexuals are global.
In the previous parts of this series on GAY MARRIAGE the attempt is to help educate by providing resources for further study. In no way is this meant to be an exhaustive listings to all the authoritative research regarding human sexuality or sexual orientation. But hopefully it is a start, a gateway to a fuller understanding human beings and to highlight the importance of protecting children. It is also vitally important to publically address any false and malicious statements made against sexual orientation and gender identity for the protection of very young children growing up. It is most unfortunate and indeed disturbing that Benedict XVI and the hierarchy are constantly attacking homosexuals and gay marriage. They have used the term Natural Law against gay marriage, but in Part 1 and Part 2 it has been established by academics and researchers who have stated that this is an ambiguous term. Researchers of propaganda state that the use of ambiguous terms is a deliberated tactic used in propaganda to keep the attacks vague against their designated group, avoiding the possibility of open debates to find the objective truth. It is also use to keep the intellectual level of the propaganda adjusted to those of the most limited intelligence in the audience and the greater audience in number the lower the intellectual level has to be. Truth is not main objective of propaganda.
What has been so puzzling is Benedict XVI is considered by many to be quite intellectually gifted. If this is so how come he publically comes off being so ignorant regarding the authoritative research on sexual orientation and gender identity. Many researchers of propaganda make stern warnings to remember and not to be fooled into minimizing the intellectual level of those who spread propaganda. The warning is that they are professionals, very sophisticated and quite intelligent don’t be deceived to think otherwise. If Benedict XVI is intellectually gifted, then why does he present this public charade, this absurd pretense regarding homosexuality? What is his motivation behind it?
Part 5 is an attempt to explore Benedict XVI use of false information regarding homosexuals in his relentless antigay propaganda, when it started, and how it may be related to the allegations made against him stating that he globally orchestrated the child sexual abuse cover-ups. Also in Part 5 there is an attempt to explore the research data on propaganda, how it is meant to dehumanize an entire group of people, to strip them of their civil rights rendering them powerless and how it is effective in influencing people. Dr. Philip Zimbardo has study in detail the effects of dehumanization and alarmingly found, as did Dr. Stanley Milgram in the 1960’s that we are all vulnerable to committing the most inhuman act against our fellow human beings. Dr. Zimbardo in his latest book The Lucifer Effect (2008) explains how good people can turn evil, as well as offer ways to avoid this process. Dr. David Livingstone in his latest book 'Less Than Human' explores further the process of humanizing our fellow human beings, how we begin to think of them as subhuman and then treat them as such by excluding them of their civil rights. Dr. Milgram’s experiments on obedience to authority, as Dr. Zimbardo and Dr. Livingstone, offer ways to help us avoid being taken by authority to perform acts that go against our personal consciences.
However, regardless, of Benedict XVI’s motivation behind his public attacks promoting false information against homosexuals they are harmful to adults and most especially children globally. There are many non-violent ways that concern individuals can step to make a difference for everyone. Part 5, has many reference links, and at the bottom of this posting are resource links related to the authoritative researchers related to sexual orientations.
Contents Below
· Naturalistic fallacy and Homosexuality
· ANTI-GAY/LESBIAN VIOLENCE IN THE UNITED STATES
· Appeasing Global Outrage - Child Sexual Abuse
· Evading Truth & Responsibility Child Sexual Abuse Cover-Ups
Disregard Authoritative Research
Promote - Constant, Deliberate, Systematic
Libel & Slander - False & Malicious - Damaging Homosexuals’ Reputation
· United Nations Accusations - Vatican’s Cover-ups Child Sexual Abuse “…a complete failure to take responsibility”
· Doublespeak
· Not An Objective Study of The Truth
· Concealed Purpose
· New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie - Vetoed Same-Sex Marriage Bill - Friday, February 17, 2012
· Obedience to Authority - People Willing To Obey Even Destructive Orders That Conflict With Their Moral Principles
· People Are Seduced Into Evil - DEHUMANIZING and LABELING
· We Obey Authority - Out of Fear or Out of a Desire to Appear Cooperative
· Obeying and Resisting Malevolent Orders
· Globally - Promoting Discrimination & Opposing Homosexuals - CIVIL RIGHTS/HUMAN RIGHTS
· Cardinal Law of Boston forced to resign - December 2002 - Exposing - Ratzinger/B16 Ordered Cover-ups
· B16’s Epicenter - Boston 2002
· The Boston “Witch Hunt”
· Dehumanizing Homosexuals - Depriving Civil Rights – Human Rights
· Benedict XVI Fights Against Homosexuals Civil Rights
· Vatican Conference On Child Abuse – February 7, 2012 - Apologising Not Enough - Acknowledgement & Accountability for Past Deliberate Cover Ups & Destroying Lives
· Only One Victim Invited To - Vatican Child Sexual Abuse Symposium – February 10, 2012
· 3 PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTS ABOUT GROWING UP GAY - Reference links: A partial list:
GAY MARRIAGE - Benedict XVI Dismisses Science Reason – Natural Law | Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely | PART 1
GAY MARRIAGE – Understanding – NATURAL LAW & How it can be used? – With or Without - Reason & Rational |To Support - Benedict XVI & Hierarchy’s Vague & Negative Statements Against Homosexuality | PART 2
GAY MARRIAGE – “Doublespeak” Benedict XVI - IRRATIONAL Shift Blame Gays – Evading UN Accusations Global COVER-UPS Child Sexual Abuse “…a COMPLETE FAILURE to take responsibility” | PART 3
GAY MARRIAGE – Non-Violence is Key - Use of Violent Confrontation Strategies - The Moral Arguments of People Who Are Being Unjustly Treated Become Irrelevant – The Use of Violence Only Creates More Violence | PART 4
All tyranny needs
to
gain a foothold
is
for people
of
good conscience
to
remain silent.
GAY MARRIAGE – Propaganda Tactics|B16’s Naturalistic fallacy & Homosexuality - Dehumanizing, Depriving Civil Rights, Silencing Gays - Covering Up B16 Crimes Against Children 30+yrs? |PART 5
Naturalistic fallacy and Homosexuality
Against Nature
James Boyle 1998
Excerpt:
The fight against the naturalistic fallacy was supposed to be over. One of the great achievements of modern philosophy was to undermine arguments from Nature. No longer would educated people argue that homosexuality, powered flight, and the education of women were unnatural. Naturalistic arguments use the multiple meanings of the word "nature" to solder a dubious claim about biology or Divine Plan to a negative value judgement, and then to make the whole thing look like a mere statement of fact. Philosophy would allow us to see the weakness of the join, to pry the argument apart, identify its constituent claims and dispose of them seriatim. In particular, philosophical scepticism would expose the anthropomorphism of arguments that attributed knowledge and insight to a world of brute facts and organic processes…
…Many people who would roll their eyes if told that homosexuality was unnatural and thus should be prohibited would find the same basic argument much more convincing if made about nuclear power, genetic engineering or high intensity farming. Naturalistic argument is alive and well…
Read complete article:
James Boyle is a professor of Law at American University, Washington College of Law and a visiting professor at Yale Law School.
B16: Save the rainforest–Stop gay marriage! - December 22, 2008
…In one respect, the Pope could simply be seen as putting the “nature” in natural law. He didn’t sing Cole Porter, but his theme seems to be along the lines of, “Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it…” The danger, of course, lies in examples like those flaming Central Park Zoo penguins, Roy & Silo, and those peace-loving bonobo monkeys, and such. Just look the other way, kids…
The pontiff’s comments, coming amid the hullaballo over the Vatican’s rejection of a new U.N. move against discrimination (like execution) against gays, or the elevation of gay rights, if you like, is likely not coincidental. The focus on the issue perplexes me, but that’s for another time.
…my central question (apart from why the Pope has to give talks like this right before Christmas–”Happy Holidays, Homosexuals!”) is what seems to be a problematic difference between human rights and natural law. The Vatican (among others) is a great champion of human rights, and rights like religious freedom, the right to life, etc. But it often seems that when it comes to rights they don’t like, natural law is suddenly invoked. What is the relationship between these two? Are human rights “limited” to those that conform to faith’s view of natural law? Or is natural law like a natural revelation, a natural theology understandable (supposedly) to all that is the true human rights “charter”?
Read more:
Peace, Conflict, and Violence:
Peace Psychology for the 21st Century.
Christie, D. J., Wagner, R. V., & Winter, D. A. (Eds.). (2001).
Excerpts:
CHAPTER 2
ANTI-GAY/LESBIAN VIOLENCE IN THE UNITED STATES
STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE AGAINST GAY MEN AND LESBIAN WOMEN
But overt acts of violence against lesbian women and gay men are only the most visible and heinous offenses in a pattern of discrimination and oppression. Gay men and lesbian women face structural violence as well as direct episodic violence. The structural violence against gay men and lesbian women is the result of heterosexism. Herek (1992) defines heterosexism as “an ideological system that denies, denigrates, and stigmatizes any nonheterosexual form of behavior, identity, relationship, or community” (p. 89)…
Only ten states currently offer civil rights protections to lesbian women and gay men. In most states, they have no legal recourse if they are discriminated against. In the last 20 years, with the rise of the gay rights movement, there have been attempts to pass legislation that would protect gay and lesbian civil rights. However, for every effort to increase protections for gay and lesbian civil rights, there have been countermoves to take them away. A recent Vatican statement to U.S. bishops supports discrimination against gay men and lesbian women and urges Catholics to oppose the passage of civil rights for gay men and lesbian women. In 1992, the state of Colorado passed a referendum which prohibits the state and all its agencies from acting on any claim of discrimination by a lesbian or gay man. (Note that the Supreme Court has issued an injunction against it.) That same year, a stronger initiative in Oregon stating that public institutions including the schools “shall assist in setting a standard for Oregon’s youth that recognizes homosexuality…as abnormal, wrong, unnatural and perverse and…to be discouraged and avoided” [italics added] was defeated but received support from 44 percent of the voters. And, in 1998, opponents of lesbian/gay civil rights successfully sought to repeal a gay civil rights law in Maine…
Vatican letter “Jan. 31, 1997” told Ireland's Catholic bishops NOT to report child abuse – January 18, 2011
SOME PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF ANTI-GAY/LESBIAN VIOLENCE
Psychologists have a long history of attempting to understand what causes prejudice and violence. These approaches have focused primarily on intrapsychic and interpersonal psychological processes.
Authoritarian Personalities
In keeping with psychology’s emphasis on understanding individual behaviors, one of the earliest explanations of prejudice was based on individual personality. People who were prejudiced shared characteristics referred to as an authoritarian personality (Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson, & Sanford, 1950). The characteristics included a submissiveness to the authority of the ingroup, a tendency to punish others who violated conventional values, preoccupation with dominance, exaggerated concern with sex and repression of sexual feeling, and rigid thinking. While it may be argued that the leaders of organized hate groups may demonstrate these “authoritarian” characteristics, very little research has been done on the perpetrators of anti-gay/ lesbian hate crimes.
Frustration, Scapegoating, and Realistic Group Conflict
Another early psychological explanation of prejudice and aggression comes from the work of John Dollard and his colleagues at Yale University (Dollard, Doob, Miller, Mowrer, & Sears, 1939). They suggested a theory of scapegoating or displaced aggression: Frustrated people often direct their anger toward members of another group. Racial prejudice, for example, was seen as related to economic insecurity. Between 1882 and 1930, there were more lynchings of African-Americans in the South in years when cotton prices were low (Hovland & Sears, 1940)…
Theories about Anti-Gay/Lesbian Attitude Formation
…Other studies showed that men exhibit significantly more negative attitudes toward homosexuals than do women (Nyberg & Alston, 1976–1977). Men are more negative toward gay men than they are toward lesbian women, whereas women are no more negative toward lesbian women than they are toward gay men. (Kite & Whitley, 1998)
Herek (1984) has defined three functions of attitudes towards homosexuals: ego defensive, experiential, and symbolic. The function of ego defensive attitudes can be seen in the use of the term “homophobia.” It is commonly believed that those who hold negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women do so because they feel personally threatened by their own unconscious conflicts about either sexual orientation or gender identity. From a psychodynamic perspective, prejudiced attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women serve to decrease tension aroused by these unconscious conflicts. Franklin (1998) found that many of the perpetrators in her study reported assaulting gay men and lesbian women “to prove their masculine identity by displaying toughness and an endorsement of heterosexuality” (p. 4)…
Experiential attitudes are based on past interactions with known homosexuals. “Experiential attitudes develop when affects and cognitions associated with specific interpersonal interactions are generalized to all lesbians and gay men” (Herek, 1984, p. 8). Herek notes that most people develop their beliefs about gay men and lesbian women from stereotypes and ignorance without any contact with gay men and lesbian women…
A POLITICAL EXPLANATION OF ANTI-GAY/LESBIAN VIOLENCE
Anti-gay/lesbian violence is complicated and multi-faceted with numerous, interacting causes. Psychological theories provide useful ways of understanding anti-gay/lesbian violence from an intrapsychic and interpersonal perspective. However, psychological explanations are not sufficient. A political analysis of violence against lesbian women, gay men, and other sexual minorities considers power dynamics and social institutions rather than just individual attitudes and behaviors…
Pharr argues that gay men are also perceived as a threat to male dominance by “breaking rank with male heterosexual solidarity” and “causing a damaging rent in the very fabric of sexism,” as they are “betrayers,” “traitors…who must be punished and eliminated” (1988, p. 18). Gay men threaten white male supremacy because they challenge what it means “to be a man.” This idea is supported by the fact that “gay men who described themselves as ‘a little feminine’ or ‘very feminine’ were twice as likely as other gays to experience gay bashing” (Harry, 1992, p.119).
Children learn the penalties of being gender non-conforming at a young age. They are harassed at school and in the playground. The link between gender non-conformity and anti-gay and lesbian violence it quite apparent. “Anti-gay slurs target non-aggressive boys, tomboyish girls, children with lesbian or gay parents, and even children who befriend these youngsters. Surveys of school children indicate that anti-gay slurs are the most dreaded form of harassment” (Franklin, 1998, p. 6)…
Only a small percentage of anti-gay/lesbian violence is committed by members of hate groups (Garofalo, 1997). But, incendiary hate group rhetoric, combined with cultural heterosexism, create the context in which individual acts of violence against gay men and lesbian women occur; a cultural context in which people can “justify” or “downplay” the violent acts they commit.
Many people who would find racist and sexist jokes offensive have no trouble with anti-gay/lesbian humor. Our legal system has said that we must protect the “civil rights” of racial, ethnic, religious, and gender minorities but that gay men and lesbian women do not need “special privileges.” Schools recognize the need to “teach tolerance” but find anti-bias curricula controversial because it is assumed that any conversation about gay and lesbian issues—even anti-bias work—would talk about and thus promote sex…
Read complete chapter 2:
Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology for the 21st Century.
Christie, D. J., Wagner, R. V., & Winter, D. A. (Eds.). (2001)
Appeasing Global Outrage - Child Sexual Abuse
Benedict XVI & Hierarchy - Capitalizing on
Misconceptions of Gays & Gays Lacking Normal Civil Legal Protection -
Safe Scapegoat?
Shifting the blame onto homosexuals was a way to appease the global public outrage first beginning in 2002, then again in 2010, and continuing by the public disclosures of the overwhelming number of child sexual abuse cases that had been covered-up globally. Benedict XVI conveniently focused the blame onto homosexuals, trying to capitalize on the public’s misconceptions of homosexuals and the fact that homosexuals lacked the normal civil protection under the law; they would not be able to defend themselves. Therefore, homosexuals were a safe group to shift the blame onto, because they were a powerless group or so Benedict XVI thought. Benedict XVI has refused for the past 30 years or more to take seriously the wealth of global authoritative research data concerning sexual orientation and gender identity, how it significantly has been increasing the public’s understanding and acceptance of homosexuals and gay marriage. What is interesting to note is as the acceptance of gay marriage been to slowly increase globally Benedict XVI began to fiercely fight against full civil rights for homosexuals globally, instead he favors a justified discrimination of homosexuals.
Reference links:
Support For Same-Sex Marriage Edges Upward – October 6, 2010
Report | Catholic Attitudes on Gay and Lesbian Issues: A Comprehensive Portrait from Recent Research – March 22, 2011
For Catholics, Open Attitudes on Gay Issues – April 22, 2011
For First Time, Majority of Americans Favor Legal Gay Marriage – May 20, 2011
Will Catholics Take Action on Same-Sex Marriage? – September 27, 2011
Over the past few weeks, two of the most influential figures in the global Catholic hierarchy spoke out, urging Catholics to join together in the moral struggle against same-sex marriage…Catholics are among the most supportive Christian denominations on same-sex marriage
Catholics See Difference In Loyalty To Faith, Hierarchy According To Poll – October 25, 2011
Survey Shows Overwhelming Support for TRANSGENDER Americans – November 4, 2011
Benedict XVI publically with the support of the hierarchy – continue to evade their responsibility for the child sexual abuse cover-ups by promoting the false notion that if homosexuals were punished and deprived of their civil, human rights – the cause and the continuation of the child sexual abuse would be resolved and forever ended (E. Aronson, T. Wilson and R. Akert, (1999). The Role of the Scapegoat. Social Psychology, p.531).
Benedict XVI and the hierarchy publically have made and continue to make unsubstantiated statements against gay marriage. Their antigay and disguised antigay statements are a form of propaganda more specifically called “doublespeak.” Their antigay public statements consists of conflictual terms; often vague never fully explained, and periodically what appears to be a “slip of the tongue” making outrageous antigay statements against known research data but all statements lack any factual evidence.
Reference links:
Double-speak is language designed to evade responsibility, make the unpleasant appear pleasant, the unattractive appear attractive. Basically, it's language that pretends to communicate, but really doesn't. It is language designed to mislead, while pretending not to.
Double-speak is not a slip of the tongue or a mistaken use of language, it's exactly the opposite. It is language used by people who are very intelligent and very sophisticated in the use of language, and know that you can do an awful lot with language.
Read more:
Doublespeak | C- SPAN Video
William Lutz,
Rutgers University Faculty and Staff Experts Directory
Small sample reference links to:
Slip of the tongue or a mistaken use of language? Doublespeak?
Pope likens "saving" gays to saving the rainforest – December 22, 2008
Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican's Number 2: Priest Pedophilia Linked To Homosexuality – April 12, 2010
Vatican 'clarifies' cardinal's homosexuality abuse link - April 14, 2010
Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation
John Jay Criminal Justice Initial Report on Child Sexual Abuse - November 17, 2009 - …sexual orientation is not connected to pedophilia or other sex crimes.
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops - adviser - saying DEVIL makes people gay – November 4, 2011
Chicago's Cardinal George - under fire for comparing gay rights movement to Ku Klux Klan – December 22, 2011
Pope: Gay marriage threatens humanity’s future - January 9, 2012
Propaganda – Definitions
Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda
Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression by specifying the targets for hatred.
Hitler’s Propaganda
Appeal to the masses: “[Propaganda] must be addressed always and exclusively to the masses”, rather than the “scientifically trained intelligentsia.”
Target the emotions: “[Propaganda] must be aimed at the emotions and only to a very limited degree at the so-called intellect.”
Keep your message simple: “It is a mistake to make propaganda many-sided…The receptivity of the great masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous.” Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
Propaganda and Persuasion, Fifth Edition 2012
Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell - provide a remarkable and logical understanding of persuasion and propaganda, including communication history, rhetorical background, cultural studies, and collective memory. The guidelines for analysis are thorough and adaptable for the study of all types of propaganda.
Read more:
Garth S. Jowett, Ph.D., University of Houston
Victoria O'Donnell, Ph.D., Montana State University
Chapter 1, What Is Propaganda, and How Does It Differ From Persuasion?
Brief Excerpts:
Jowett and O’Donnell’s Definition of Propaganda
“Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.”
Concealed Purpose
The propagandist is very likely to appear as a persuader with a stated purpose that seems to satisfy mutual needs. In reality, however, the propagandist wants to promote his or her own interests or those of an organization—sometimes at the expense of the recipients, sometimes not. The point is that the propagandist does not regard the well-being of the audience as a primary concern. The propagandist is likely to be detached from the recipients. Not only does the propagandist not care about the audience, but also may not believe in the message that is being sent. In fact, concealment of purpose may not be the only deviousness. Often, propagandists do not want their identity known.
Read complete chapter:
Chapter 6, How to Analyze Propaganda
A 10-step plan of propaganda analysis is identification of ideology and purpose, identification of context, identification of the propagandist, investigation of the structure of the propaganda organization, identification of the target audience, understanding of media utilization techniques, analysis of special techniques to maximize effect, analysis of
audience reaction, identification and analysis of counterpropaganda, and completion of an assessment and evaluation.
Read more:
Propaganda - Goebbels' Principles
Hitler's Basic Principles
Avoid abstract ideas - appeal to the emotions.
Constantly repeat just a few ideas. Use stereotyped phrases.
Give only one side of the argument.
Continuously criticize your opponents.
Pick out one special "enemy" for special vilification.
Read more:
These principles are abstracted from Jowett & O'Donnell.
Propaganda and Persuasion, Fifth Edition 2012 - Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell
Propaganda - Hitler
"The receptivity of the great masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of these facts, all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points and must harp on these slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan."
--Adolf Hitler (Mein Kampf Vol. 1 Ch. VI)
Hitler on Propaganda
"The function of propaganda does not lie in the scientific training of the individual, but in calling the masses' attention to certain facts, processes, necessities, etc., whose significance is thus for the first time placed within their field of vision.
The whole art consists in doing this so skillfully that everyone will be convinced that the fact is real, the process necessary, the necessity correct, etc. But since propaganda is not and cannot be the necessity in itself, since its function, like the poster, consists in attracting the attention of the crowd, and not in educating those who are already educated or who are striving after education and knowledge, its effect for the most part must be aimed at the emotions and only to a very limited degree at the so-called intellect.
All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently, the greater the mass it is intended to reach, the lower its purely intellectual level will have to be." (Hitler, Mein Kampf Vol. I Ch. 6)
Read more:
Racial Teaching in German Schools under the Nazis
Hereditary and Racial Biology for Students (1935),
a school textbook for German students.
How We Can Learn to Recognize a Person’s Race
Propaganda and Children during the Hitler Years
…Adolf Hitler himself discussed the importance of propaganda in Chapter VI of Mein Kampf. Hitler regarded propaganda as very important, calling it "a weapon of the first order" in Chapter VI of Mein Kampf. The Nazis believed that propaganda should be used to spread their beliefs by focusing the attention of the people on certain facts or opinions. As Hitler put in Chapter VI of Mein Kampf, the function of propaganda was "in calling the masses' attention to certain facts, processes, necessities, etc." The Nazis believed in using propaganda to send simple messages that appealed to emotion rather than intellect.
Read more:
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group...
Propaganda is a powerful weapon in war; it is used to dehumanize and create hatred toward a supposed enemy, either internal or external, by creating a false image in the mind. This can be done by using derogatory or racist terms, avoiding some words or by making allegations of enemy atrocities. Most propaganda wars require the home population to feel the enemy has inflicted an injustice, which may be fictitious or may be based on facts. The home population must also decide that the cause of their nation is just.
Propaganda is also one of the methods used in psychological warfare, which may also involve false flag operations. The term propaganda may also refer to false information meant to reinforce the mindsets of people who already believe as the propagandist wishes. The assumption is that, if people believe something false, they will constantly be assailed by doubts. Since these doubts are unpleasant (see cognitive dissonance), people will be eager to have them extinguished, and are therefore receptive to the reassurances of those in power. For this reason propaganda is often addressed to people who are already sympathetic to the agenda. This process of reinforcement uses an individual's predisposition to self-select "agreeable" information sources as a mechanism for maintaining control...
Read more:
…Propagandists love short-cuts -- particularly those which short-circuit rational thought. They encourage this by agitating emotions, by exploiting insecurities, by capitalizing on the ambiguity of language, and by bending the rules of logic. As history shows, they can be quite successful.
Propaganda analysis exposes the tricks that propagandists use and suggests ways of resisting the short-cuts that they promote. This web-site discusses various propaganda techniques, provides contemporary examples of their use, and proposes strategies of mental self-defense…
Read more:
PROPAGANDA CRITIC – Website - Aaron Delwiche, Ph.D.,
Aaron Delwiche, Ph.D., Department of Communication
Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas
More - Propaganda – Definitions
Propaganda is a term that causes unease in many people. But just what is it? Making a persuasive argument? Telling lies? WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY defines it in the following ways:
1. The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.
2. Material disseminated by the advocates or opponents of a doctrine or cause: wartime propaganda.
3. Propaganda — Roman Catholic Church. A division of the Roman Curia that has authority in the matter of preaching the gospel, of establishing the Church in non-Christian countries, and of administering Church missions in territories where there is no properly organized hierarchy.
The origin of the word comes from third definition — specifically from the New Latin Sacra Congregti d Prpagand Fid, or Sacred Congregation for Propagating the Faith which was established 1622 to convert, or propagate, the faith.
Read more & reference links:
Propaganda and History PBS
Webster’s Dictionary
What is Propaganda? Scholars, journalists, and politicians have long argued about how to properly define propaganda and distinguish it from other forms of mass communication. Propaganda is biased information designed to shape public opinion and behavior.
The word comes from Latin and originally referred to the biological reproduction of flora and fauna, that is, to the propagation of plants and animals. It took on new meaning in the 17th century when the Papacy established a special division within the Catholic Church, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (propaganda fide), to systematically spread Catholic doctrine throughout the world to win new converts and stem the rising tide of Protestantism. Propaganda thus came to connote the dissemination of religious ideas in order to shape the opinions and behavior of mass audiences…
Read more & referenced links:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
What Is Propaganda, And What Exactly Is Wrong With It?
By Douglas Walton
PUBLIC AFFAIRS QUARTERLY, Volume 11, Number 4, October 1997
Excerpts:
…Propaganda…is a mixed type of dialogue…but seems to be a distinctively different…it is directed towards recommending a course of action…it works by using the commitments of the audience to gain their acceptance for a standpoint, and like eristic dialogue, it is aggressively partisan and emotional…
3. Goal-Directed Structure. Propaganda is essentially goal-directed as a type of dialogue exchange…The general purpose is to support the existence, aims and interests of a particular regime, organization, viewpoint or interest group…
5. Indifference to Logical Reasoning. The goal of, propaganda is to move a mass audience in a certain direction…Thus propaganda is not, as a structure of discourse, either for or against using logical reasoning and relevant evidence…
6. One-Sided Argumentation. …Propaganda is not an attempt to rationally deliberate on the wisdom or prudence of a course of action by looking at all the alternatives and weighing them judiciously or fairly…
8. Justified by Results. Because the central purpose of propaganda is to get action, propaganda as a socially organized activity is justified by the results it is supposed to achieve…Propaganda is generally justified by citing a danger to the group, and then stressing that the adoption of a particular point of view is needed to combat or guard against that danger. Such a justification balances the costs of engaging in one-sided or even deceptive argumentation against the danger or loss of life that might result from an open-minded rational discussion that might turn up good arguments for the other side.
9. Emotive Language and Persuasive Definitions. An essential part of all propaganda is the use of emotively charged words and phrases that make the advocated viewpoint take on a highly positive coloration, and any opposed viewpoint take on a highly negative coloration…
10. Eristic Aspect. Propaganda has a structure of argumentation like that of the quarrel, or eristic type of dialogue. It postulates a dichotomy for the audience: "We are the good guys. If you are not for us, you must be against us. All those opposed to our view are the bad guys." Often the words 'fight' or 'struggle' are used in propaganda. The implication is that any means required to fight against the "evil" or danger posed by the "enemy" is justified…
Read complete paper:
Douglas Walton, Ph.D., University of Windsor, Canada
Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication
George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Evading Truth & Responsibility Child Sexual Abuse Cover-Ups
Disregard Authoritative Research
Promote - Constant, Deliberate, Systematic
Libel & Slander - False & Malicious - Damaging Homosexuals’ Reputation
It seems the way that Benedict XVI and the hierarchy have been able to continue to evade their responsibility for the child sexual abuse cover-ups is by promoting the false notion that homosexuals are to blame – even against authoritative research that have found that homosexuality is not related to child sexual abuse. Relentlessly they verbally speak out and publish false and malicious statements that are damaging to homosexuals’ reputations and create hostile social environments not only to adult homosexuals but even more severely to children who are growing up (reference links found below). This is frightfully reminiscent of Hitler and the Nazi propaganda against the Jewish people. This authoritative research regarding homosexual sexual orientation from the academic disciplines of science, biblical studies and philosophy (Natural Law) are readily available to anyone on the Internet this being the “age of information” and yet no civil court in the world will hold them responsible and prosecute them for libelous and slanderous statements that are life threatening to adults and children. The crimes of violence and killings of homosexuals are well documented and are also readily available on the Internet. The symptom of turning a blind eye seems clearly to be a global phenomenon. Their global organizations like the United Nations and the nations who have joined together (including the USA beginning 2009 Obama) have spoken out in protection of homosexuals, which unfortunately Benedict XVI and the Vatican have spoken against.
Vatican OPPOSES UN Declaration on DECRIMINALISATION of HOMOSEXUALITY – Dec.12, 2008
VATICAN: GAY DISCRIMINATION Document Released - July 24, 1992 “…that said homosexuals could legitimately be discriminated against in employment, housing and the adoption of children.”
Tony Blair says Pope's views on homosexuals is wrong – April 9, 2009
The former prime minister said Pope Benedict XVI's "entrenched attitude" towards homosexuality is less tolerant than the views of ordinary Catholics.
What the social science research has found
In fact, any alleged link between pedophilia and homosexuality is completely unfounded. A 1998 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association notes one study that found that 90 percent of pedophiles are men and that 98 percent of these individuals are heterosexual.5 Michael Stevenson, Ph.D., a psychologist at Ball State University, explains this statistic by noting that “gay men desire consensual sexual relations with other adult men. Pedophiles are usually adult men who are sexually attracted to pre-pubescent children. They are rarely sexually attracted to other adults.”6 Stevenson also observes that cases of pedophilia by adult lesbians are “almost non-existent.”7
Read more:
PFLAG: Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays
Fortunate Families
In 1978, Dr. Nicholas Groth, conducted research on Adult sexual orientation and attraction to underage persons. What he found at that time was that heterosexuals are more of a risk to children than homosexuals. “All regressed offenders, whether their victims were male or female children, were heterosexual in their adult orientation. There were no examples of regression to child victims among peer-oriented, homosexual males. The possibility emerges that homosexuality and homosexual pedophilia may be mutually exclusive and that the adult heterosexual male constitutes a greater risk to the underage child than does the adult homosexual male.”
Anti-gay groups including Benedict XVI and the hierarchy try to promote the public idea “that more homosexual men are sexual abusers than heterosexuals, on the grounds that a third of abusers target boys rather than girls. This is far in excess of the proportion of gay men in the population. It is thus falsely argued that gay men are disproportionately likely to offend…According to child abuse specialist Nicholas Groth, this is not the case,
Homosexuality and homosexual pedophilia are not synonymous. In fact, it may be that these two orientations are mutually exclusive, the reason being that the homosexual male is sexually attracted to masculine qualities whereas the heterosexual male is sexually attracted to feminine characteristics, and the sexually immature child’s qualities are more feminine than masculine...The child offender who is attracted to and engaged in adult sexual relationships is heterosexual. It appears, therefore, that the adult heterosexual male constitutes a greater sexual risk to underage children than does the adult homosexual male (A. Nicholas Groth, William F. Hobson, and Thomas S. Gary, “The Child Molester: Clinical Observations,” in Social Work and Child Sexual Abuse, eds. Jon R. Conte and David A. Shore (New York: Haworth Press, 1982), p.136.).”
Read more:
Research studies regarding lesbians and gay men raising children found that there is no scientific basis that they are unfit to raise children because of their sexual orientation. “On the contrary, results of research suggest that lesbian and gay parents are as likely as heterosexual parents to provide supportive and healthy environments for their children (American Psychological Association, Sexual Orientation, Parents, & Children 2004, 2005).”
American Psychological Association, Sexual Orientation & Marriage, 2004, 2005
United Nations Accusations
Vatican’s Cover-ups Child Sexual Abuse
“…a complete failure to take responsibility”
On September 22, 2009, the Vatican was accused by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, of covering up the child sexual abuse cases, and allowing the child sexual abuse of children to continue violating their obligations under Intentional Law. It was called “…a complete failure to take responsibility.” The Vatican’s UN representative Archbishop Silvano Tomasi’s response was incoherent that stunt many people as recorded, by several media news reporters, “Tomasi alarmed observers by reading an official statement that claimed up to 5 percent of the Catholic clergy worldwide had been linked to sexual abuse and that this was primarily the result of homosexual attraction not pedophilia…”
Doublespeak
Again, the established authoritative research regarding child sexual abuse and sexual orientation, which clearly for decades have found that homosexual orientation is not related child molestation is ignored by Tomasi and those who advised him in the Vatican. Instead Tomasi continues tries to shifted the blame onto homosexuals. The blame, as the UN was pointing to was the negligence and the systematic cover-ups child sexual abuse cases globally by the Roman Catholic hierarchy and including Cardinal Ratzinger/Benedict XVI. Tomasi’s attempts to shift the blame onto gay people stills continue by members of the hierarchy and the Vatican. It is this type of ongoing distortion of the truth about homosexuals made by hierarchical members, which seem to be a systematic strategy, because they are periodically made like clock work, blatantly against known authoritative research that mirrors the propaganda of the “big lie” tactic. (The Big lie – is a deliberate gross distortion of the truth used especially as a propaganda tactic.)
This is one of the same propaganda tactic Hitler used against the Jewish people. The fact that Tomasi was giving this prepared speech at the United Nations, what some might call a global stage, that is why it seems this speech was deliberate and carefully planned, in what William Lutz calls “doublespeak.” Lutz warns that “doublespeak” is consciously made. Lutz states that “Double-speak is language designed to evade responsibility, make the unpleasant appear pleasant, the unattractive appear attractive. Basically, it's language that pretends to communicate, but really doesn't. It is language designed to mislead, while pretending not to.” He continues “Oh, yes! Very consciously. Double-speak is not a slip of the tongue or a mistaken use of language, it's exactly the opposite. It is language used by people who are very intelligent and very sophisticated in the use of language, and know that you can do an awful lot with language.”
The fact that this type of seemingly gross ignorant public statement of the truth, a blunder did not begin or end here at the United Nations, but has been ongoing, to name a few; “Pope likens "saving" gays to saving the rainforest, ”Dec. 2008, Tomasi’s 2009 United Nations speech blaming gays for the child sexual abuse, “Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican's Number 2: Priest Pedophilia Linked To Homosexuality” 2010, “U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops - adviser - saying DEVIL makes people gay” 2011, Pope: Gay marriage threatens humanity’s future - January 9, 2012,- these type of ignorant statements looks like Hitler’s propaganda tactic about “All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently, the greater the mass it is intended to reach, the lower its purely intellectual level will have to be (Hitler, Mein Kampf Vol. I Ch. 6).”
Reference links to the above:
Not An Objective Study of The Truth
This is a speculative thought about Benedict XVI and the hierarchy perceived attacks against homosexuals and gay marriage. However, it is difficult to think otherwise, given that fact that Benedict XVI’s antigay teachings are all unsubstantiated. He does not have the authoritative backing of world scripture scholars, as well as that of the medical and mental health associations globally. Benedict XVI and the hierarchy’s use of the term Natural Law against homosexuality is vague and ill defined, again this mirrors Hitler’s propaganda “The function of propaganda is…not to weigh and ponder the rights of different people…Its task is not to make an objective study of the truth, in so far as it favors the enemy, and then set it before the masses with academic fairness; its task is to serve our own right, always and unflinchingly Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1924.”
GAY MARRIAGE – Understanding – NATURAL LAW
PART 1 gives an overview of different perspectives and critiques of the concept of Natural Law. It is noted that Natural Law is ambiguous and is often misunderstood and incorrectly applied to situations. Natural Law is considered by some to be unchangeable and any changes would cause destruction of the humanity. Others flatly refute such statements declaring that Natural Law is “rhetorical nonsense,” and “nonsense upon stilts.” Others argue that the understanding that all Law is rooted in Natural law is a false impression that instead it based on the arbitrary will of a sovereign. The validity of Natural Law is challenged, because the idea that “natural law founded on reason and rational inquiry has been virtually lost.” To “…stress that the very existence of a natural law discoverable by reason is a potentially powerful threat to the status quo and a standing reproach to the reign of blindly traditional custom or the arbitrary will of the State apparatus.”
Hitler's Basic Principles
Avoid abstract ideas - appeal to the emotions.
Constantly repeat just a few ideas. Use stereotyped phrases.
Give only one side of the argument.
Continuously criticize your opponents.
Pick out one special "enemy" for special vilification.
Read more:
These principles are abstracted from Jowett & O'Donnell.
Propaganda and Persuasion, Fifth Edition 2012
Concealed Purpose
It is also speculative (likely not) to suggest that Benedict XVI the hierarchy although they want to be perceived as caring for the well-being of children by maintaining a strict witch hunt and condemnation against gays, but a serious detail assessment of the facts will reveal that gay are not remotely a threat to children, therefore, their efforts against gays is really a cover-up for all their criminal negligence of all their cover-ups of the child sexual abuse cases globally for decades. The John Jay College of Criminal Justice a 5-year study commissioned by American Bishops to research the Roman Catholic Church child sexual abuse cases found, which agrees with the above research “The report notes that homosexual men began entering the seminaries “in noticeable numbers” from the late 1970s through the 1980s. By the time this cohort entered the priesthood, in the mid-1980s, the reports of sexual abuse of minors by priests began to drop and then to level off. If anything, the report says, the abuse decreased as more gay priests began serving the church…”
Read more:
After a thorough assessment of Benedict XVI and the hierarchy child sexual abuse cover-ups, the research data finding that homosexuals are not a threat to children and their antigay teachings are unsubstantiated – it exposes a very disturbing realization that seriously questions their activities, as well as our responsibility to protect children. Do we just turn a blind eye to their behavior? It is important to remember that this all is about child sexual abuse and condemning gays perpetuates social environments that are detrimental to the well-being and safety of children who grow to be.
Concealed Purpose
The propagandist is very likely to appear as a persuader with a stated purpose that seems to satisfy mutual needs. In reality, however, the propagandist wants to promote his or her own interests or those of an organization—sometimes at the expense of the recipients, sometimes not. The point is that the propagandist does not regard the well-being of the audience as a primary concern. The propagandist is likely to be detached from the recipients. Not only does the propagandist not care about the audience, but also may not believe in the message that is being sent. In fact, concealment of purpose may not be the only deviousness. Often, propagandists do not want their identity known.
Propaganda and Persuasion, Fifth Edition 2012
Jowett and O’Donnell’s Definition of Propaganda
“Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.”
Read more:
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
Vetoed Same-Sex Marriage Bill - Friday, February 17, 2012
The New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill allowing same-sex marriage, Friday, February 17, 2012. With the above proven facts regarding homosexuality and Benedict XVI and the hierarchy exposure, one wonders on what facts he based his reason to veto the same-sex marriage bill. Such a violent action committed against children who grow up gay and adult gay lesbian people and their children, as well as, their family friends, clearly indicates he may have not thoroughly study all the facts regarding homosexuality. Meaning that is to do all regarding what is involved to be a good Catholic, which is being responsible to acquire a well-informed conscience. His judgment by God because of the position he holds could be more severe than others not in his position. No one can judge another person’s intentions or how the circumstances that surround a person impact their behavior and judgment. However, for anyone of us to say that we blindly obeyed Benedict XVI and the hierarchy most likely will not do much to save our soul. If it is a case of “passing the buck” to the people is not an excuse that will excuse Gov Christie or anyone of us if we were to do the same, from our responsibility before God. In the following sections we will look into what is involved in obeying authority and how anyone can be seduced into following destructive orders even if these orders are in conflict with moral principles.
WELL-INFORMED CONSCIENCE
Protect Religious Freedom – but not Tyranny in Religion - June 20, 2011
The way to begin for us all, not only the NY State Senators, to protect Religious Freedom and not Tyranny in Religion is by obtaining a well-informed conscience. We start by individually approaching and studying in (great detail because it involves the lives of children) from the best and the brightest (1) scripture scholars regarding the references related to homosexuality and (2) scientists in the field of study of human sexuality, in particular, but [not] limited to, the onset of sexual orientation. The prerequisite to the formation of a well-informed conscience is making a thorough study of all sides of the issue from all available authoritative data and research, including opposing views. Then in this way we are better equipped to decide who and what needs government protection in regards to the gay marriage bill. This exhaustive procedure follows to the letter the Gospel quotation about the “plank” and the” speck.”
“How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye”. Luke 6:42
The “plank” for us is ignorance. If we satisfactorily resolve this ignorance, then together we will be able to see more clearly, whether or not, as NY State Senators (government officials) and as citizens we are colluding with the Catholic Hierarchy and are harming children, as was found to be the case in the Ireland Murphy Report.
Written by Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
Obedience to Authority
People Willing To Obey Even Destructive Orders That Conflict With Their Moral Principles
Most people want to be obliging concerning authority because we are trusting and believe in the need for authority. We do not spend time second-guessing the motivation behind authority, because normally our lives are quite full and busy. In fact, we automatically obey authority, do what is needed or is asked of us so that we can get back to managing our daily lives. However, those of us with type of attitude need to stop and check into the workings and motivation behind authority, if only asking questions and looking for answers. Because mindlessly, blind obedience to authority has allowed some of the most devastating human atrocities to take place, which makes us accomplices sharing the responsibility for all the harm caused.
Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo, a notable Stanford University social psychologist has research extensively human behavior in relation to authority. His prison experiment at Stanford has remained one of the most insightful experiments, which is so clearly show how good people can turn evil and harm innocent people. Dr. Zimbardo, in his latest book “The Lucifer effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil”
he explains his experiment in detail and offers how we might be able to create the reverse effect of his experiment. For me while at the University of Michigan, studying Dr. Zimbardo’s experiment along with Milgram’s experiment on obedience to authority, it was humbling and frightening at the same time. As much, as I wanted to hold onto my belief that I could never, ever turn and be that evil to innocent people – I could not. Believe me I tried and tried in every conceivable way but I could not. At that time, I commuted to take courses at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI from Sparta, MI, which is 150 miles one way. This means I was trapped in my car for 3 hours driving back to Sparta, I could not run away from those thoughts. Those thoughts still haunt me to this very day, and as unpleasant as it is – I think maybe that is not such a bad thing. Only now as I am writing this, in fact, reliving the experience again, more vividly than I care to, I wonder how much of that experience, along with numerous other variables, was behind my “coming out” to my parishioners in March of 1997. I can still feel those frightening and humbling feelings all over again.
People Are Seduced Into Evil
DEHUMANIZING And LABELING
Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo, is a former president of the American Psychological Association, he briefly explains the process that leads people to turn evil in APA Monitor. He explains that dehumanizing a human being leads others to use increase aggressive behavior against that person. The same is true if the person causing the harm to another is disguised (identity hidden). Here is a short excerpt:
"That line between good and evil is permeable," Zimbardo said. "Any of us can move across it....I argue that we all have the capacity for love and evil--to be Mother Theresa, to be Hitler or Saddam Hussein. It's the situation that brings that out."
Seduced into evil
In fact, the classic electric shock experiment by social psychologist Stanley Milgram, PhD, showed that when given an order by someone in authority, people would deliver what they believed to be extreme levels of electrical shock to other study participants who answered questions incorrectly.
Zimbardo said the experiment provides several lessons about how situations can foster evil:
· Provide people with an ideology to justify beliefs for actions.
· Make people take a small first step toward a harmful act with a minor, trivial action and then gradually increase those small actions.
· Make those in charge seem like a "just authority."
· Transform a once compassionate leader into a dictatorial figure.
· Provide people with vague and ever-changing rules.
· Relabel the situation's actors and their actions to legitimize the ideology.
· Provide people with social models of compliance.
· Allow dissent, but only if people continue to comply with orders.
· Make exiting the situation difficult.
Particularly notable, Zimbardo said, is that people are seduced into evil by dehumanizing and labeling others.
"They semantically change their perception of victims, of the evil act, and change the relationship of the aggressor to their aggression--so 'killing' or 'hurting' becomes the same as 'helping,'" he said.
For example, in a 1975 experiment by psychologist Albert Bandura, PhD, college students were told they'd work with students from another school on a group task. In one condition, they overheard an assistant calling the other students "animals" and in another condition, "nice." Bandura found students were more apt to deliver what they believed were increased levels of electrical shock to the other students if they had heard them called "animals."
People's aggression can also increase when they feel anonymous--for example if they wear a uniform, hood or mask, Zimbardo said.
"You minimize social responsibility," he explained. "Nobody knows who you are, so therefore you are not individually liable. There's also a group effect when all of you are masked. It provides a fear in other people because they can't see you, and you lose your humanity."
Read complete article & access related links:
We Obey Authority
Out of Fear or Out of a Desire to Appear Cooperative
Dr. Stanley Milgram, a social psychologist, at Yale University in the 1960’s focused on studying what circumstances led to the cooperation of so many human beings becoming accomplices in committing the magnitude of human atrocities during the Nazi Holocaust. It is an unbelievable phenomenon that has stunned the world and continues to stun the world. What causes human beings to be so willing to obey authority even when the orders are to perform acts that are so destructive, inhumane killing millions of people? How can authority be so seductive that causes human beings to obey and commit mass murder that is in direct conflict with their personal conscience? Dr. Milgram conducted experiments to study the relationship between obedience to authority. Milgram found from his experiments that we obey authority either out of fear or out of fear or out of a desire to appear cooperative. Below are links and short excerpts about his experiments, what he found and from Dr. Milgram’s paper published in 1963 explaining his reasoning for studying obedience to authority:
Behavioral Study of Obedience 1963
By Stanley Milgram, Yale University
Stanley Milgram’s classic research into obedience was in large part inspired by the World War II crimes of the Nazis and those who obeyed them. As you will see in the opening paragraph of his article, his experiment was part of a body of research that was conducted to try to answer the question, Who were the people who assisted in the construction and operation of the Nazi gas chambers that accounted for the deaths of millions of innocents? Who were these people who placed obedience ahead of life and humanity? Is their psychology different from yours or mine? Is their psychology foreign to you and me? Or could these people be you and me?
Stanley Milgram
Obedience is as basic an element in the structure of social life as one can point to. Some system of authority is a requirement of all communal living, and it is only the man dwelling in isolation who is not forced to respond, through defiance or submission, to the commands of others. Obedience, as a determinant of behavior, is of particular relevance to our time. It has been reliably established that from 1933—45 millions of innocent persons were systematically slaughtered on command. Gas chambers were built, death camps were guarded; daily quotas of corpses were produced with the same efficiency as the manufacture of appliances. These inhumane policies may have originated in the mind of a single person, but they could only be carried out on a massive scale if a very large number of persons obeyed orders…
Read complete paper:
Reference links:
Milgram Experiment
by Saul Mcleod, 2007
One of the most famous studies of obedience in psychology was carried out by Stanley Milgram (1963). Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University, conducted an experiment focusing on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience.
He examined justifications for acts of genocide offered by those accused at the World War II, Nuremberg War Criminal trials. Their defense often was based on "obedience" - that they were just following orders of their superiors…
Milgram’s Experiment on Obedience to Authority
Why is it so many people obey when they feel coerced? Social psychologist Stanley Milgram researched the effect of authority on obedience. He concluded people obey either out of fear or out of a desire to appear cooperative--even when acting against their own better judgment and desires. Milgram’s classic yet controversial experiment illustrates people's reluctance to confront those who abuse power. It is my opinion that Milgram's book should be required reading (see References below) for anyone in supervisory or management positions…
Obeying and Resisting Malevolent Orders
The following excerpt is from the American Psychological Association - Obeying and Resisting Malevolent Orders - it is an informative piece explaining the results of Dr. Milgram’s obedience experiments on obeying destructive orders. What is important about this article is that it offers practical applications for us to keep in mind as to how we can resist being seduced by questionable authority and not give in obeying destructive orders.
With all due respect, this information helps us to assess any authority including for us Catholics and our friends - Benedict XVI and the hierarchy. The last place we would expect to be distrustful of is the leaders of our Church. However, as recently as March 12, 2000, Pope John Paul II fought through the bureaucracy inside the Vatican “Defying warnings from some theologians that the unprecedented apology would undermine the church's authority, the 79-year-old pontiff asked God to forgive the persecution of the Jews.” ”…the Pope electrified ranks of cardinals and bishops by pleading for a future that would not repeat the mistakes. "Never again," he said.
Centuries of hate and rivalry could not recur in the third millennium. "We forgive and we ask forgiveness. We are asking pardon for the divisions among Christians, for the use of violence that some have committed in the service of truth, and for attitudes of mistrust and hostility assumed towards followers of other religions."
Pope says sorry for sins of church
A PAPAL APOLOGY
Pope John Paul II Makes Unprecedented Apology For Sins of Catholic Church
John Paul II made us all well aware that the papacy and our hierarchy are not all that infallible. Presently, we are faced with our Church authority that isn’t behaving responsibly. This is evident with their most recent PR attempt holding a conference on the child sexual abuse at the Vatican, which they invited only one child sexual abuse victim and the conference was held in secret (article links are listed below). Benedict XVI’s antigay teachings are all unsubstantiated. And yet Benedict XVI and the hierarchy continually make global public attacks against homosexuals and gay marriage. Benedict XVI and the hierarchy do not have the authoritative backing of world scripture scholars, as well as that of the medical and mental health associations globally. Benedict XVI and the hierarchy’s use of the term Natural Law against homosexuality is ambiguous, vague and ill defined, and as stated above this mirrors Hitler’s form of propaganda.
GAY MARRIAGE – Understanding – NATURAL LAW
PART 1 gives an overview of different perspectives and critiques of the concept of Natural Law. It is noted that Natural Law is ambiguous and is often misunderstood and incorrectly applied to situations. Natural Law is considered by some to be unchangeable and any changes would cause destruction of the humanity. Others flatly refute such statements declaring that Natural Law is “rhetorical nonsense,” and “nonsense upon stilts.” Others argue that the understanding that all Law is rooted in Natural law is a false impression that instead it based on the arbitrary will of a sovereign. The validity of Natural Law is challenged, because the idea that “natural law founded on reason and rational inquiry has been virtually lost.” To “…stress that the very existence of a natural law discoverable by reason is a potentially powerful threat to the status quo and a standing reproach to the reign of blindly traditional custom or the arbitrary will of the State apparatus.”
Hitler’s Propaganda
Appeal to the masses: “[Propaganda] must be addressed always and exclusively to the masses”, rather than the “scientifically trained intelligentsia.”
Target the emotions: “[Propaganda] must be aimed at the emotions and only to a very limited degree at the so-called intellect.”
Keep your message simple: “It is a mistake to make propaganda many-sided…The receptivity of the great masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous.” Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
The function of propaganda is…not to weigh and ponder the rights of different people…Its task is not to make an objective study of the truth, in so far as it favors the enemy, and then set it before the masses with academic fairness; its task is to serve our own right, always and unflinchingly.
Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1924
Dr. Milgram’s obedience experiments and the his result may give us guideline to fairly assess Benedict XVI and the hierarchy’s authority and not be seduced into helping to create social environments that are harmful and life threatening millions of innocent adults and most especially children. (Reference links to harmful effects caused to LGBT adults and children listed below)
Obeying and Resisting Malevolent Orders
Stanley Milgram's famous experiment highlights the powerful human tendency to obey authority.
American Psychological Association … Excerpts:
Findings
Would you obey orders to hurt an innocent individual-even when the authority issuing them has no coercive means to enforce his or her commands? On the basis of one of the 20th century's most important and controversial pieces of research, chances are that you would…
Significance
We did not need Milgram's research to inform us that people have a propensity to obey authority; what it did enlighten us about is the surprising strength of that tendency-that many people are willing to obey destructive orders that conflict with their moral principles and commit acts which they would not carry out on their own initiative. Once people have accepted the right of an authority to direct our actions, Milgram argued, we relinquish responsibility to him or her and allow that person to define for us what is right or wrong.
Practical Application
Milgram's discovery about the unexpectedly powerful human tendency to obey authorities can be applied to real life in several different ways.
First, it provides a reference point for certain phenomena that, on the face of it, strain our understanding-thereby, making them more plausible…
Second, in his obedience studies, Milgram obtained a rare kind of result-one that people can apply to themselves to change their behavior, or at least to gain greater insight into themselves. Countless people who have learned about the obedience research have been better able to stand up against arbitrary or unjust authority.
Third, the obedience experiments have been widely used in various domains to create broader organizational changes in large segments of society… business ethics… Supreme Court briefs…
A fourth, and final, application of Milgram's research is that it suggests specific preventive actions people can take to resist unwanted pressures from authorities:
· Question the authority's legitimacy…
· When instructed to carry out an act you find abhorrent, even by a legitimate authority, stop and ask yourself:…
· Don't even start to comply with commands you feel even slightly uneasy about. Acquiescence to the commands of an authority that are only mildly objectionable is often, as in Milgram's experiments, the beginning of a step-by-step, escalating process of entrapment…
· If you are part of a group that has been commanded to carry out immoral actions, find an ally in the group who shares your perceptions and is willing to join you in opposing the objectionable commands. It is tremendously difficult to be a lone dissenter…
Read complete article & access related links:
Globally Promoting Discrimination & Opposing Homosexuals
CIVIL RIGHTS/HUMAN RIGHTS
The following reference links document and expose Benedict XVI as being a one-man orchestration of the global attacks against on homosexuals. Since this is the “age of information” Benedict XVI with all his power and access to billions of dollars cannot hide as much as he wants, even in the Vatican. This will remain true as long as we (the citizens of the world) are able to keep the Internet open and free. There is enough valid documentation related to Benedict XVI cover-ups of the child sexual abuse globally for the past 30 some years that it would put any ordinary citizen behind bars, with all due respect. Most people do not like to hear this kind of accusation made against a pope of the Catholic Church. However, a person cannot avoid this, as this is the “age of information.” This ongoing hostility against homosexuals began coming out slowly from the Vatican beginning in 2003. It escalated to full force once Benedict XVI took the office of being pope April 2005. While Pope John Paul II was not incapacitated such hostilely was not even present coming out from the Vatican - though behind the scenes we find that Cardinal Ratzinger/Benedict XVI was quite hostile to homosexuals.
Cardinal Law of Boston forced to resign - December 2002
Exposing - Ratzinger/B16 Ordered Cover-ups
A question that would be most revealing if investigated is if this escalation of Ratzinger/Benedict XVI hostility against homosexuals began as the child sexual abuse victims were coming forward demanding justice. This began in 2002 with Cardinal Law of Boston with his cover-ups of child sexual abuse and he was forced to resign at the end of that year in December. It was the very strong reaction of the Catholics in Boston that caused him to resign. If Ratzinger//Benedict XVI is guilty as the documentation seems to clearly indicate that he ordered the cover-ups of the child sexual abuse cases then the year of 2002 working with Cardinal Law in Boston could have been quite terrorizing for Ratzinger/Benedict XVI. Imagine if you were the one who for some 30 years ordered the secrecy and cover-ups - this time would have been overwhelming for anyone. In addition, if this was true then it would have been equally intensely important for other Catholic hierarchy members who were watching to see how Cardinal Law would be handled by Ratzinger/Benedict XVI. Cardinal Law was moved out of the USA sent to Rome and given a prestigious assignment.
The Boston “Witch Hunt”
This was the time that began a “witch hunt” of trusted priests to cover-up and appease the Catholics to quiet them down but Boston Catholics didn’t fall this tactic by the Vatican and documentation will reveal that Benedict XVI ordered it. Boston Catholics aren’t that easily tricked even by Benedict XVI. They were calling for accountability at the top, Cardinal Law. Boy, we sure could use that Boston Catholic spirit today.
Cardinal Law and the laity – December 13, 2002
When Pope John Paul II accepted Cardinal Bernard F. Law's resignation as Boston archbishop in December 2002, it was the culmination of a year of mounting outrage and anguish in the Boston Archdiocese -- and a sign of the power wielded by a newly energized laity.
From the early days of the abuse scandal, a drumbeat for Law's resignation grew steadily louder. In Wellesley, a small group of parishioners meeting in a church basement grew into Voice of the Faithful, a nationwide lay reform movement 25,000 members strong.
In some parishes, the removal of trusted priests prompted allegations of a church "witch hunt," but the prevailing reaction from lay Catholics was a call for reform at the highest levels of the church.
Read more:
Cardinal Law Steps Down – December 13, 2002
Boston Cardinal Bernard Law submitted his resignation to the Pope following months of public outrage over the widening Church sex abuse crisis.
Read more:
B16’s Epicenter - Boston 2002
This time in Boston 2002 likely was the epicenter of Benedict XVI outright hostility against homosexuals to ensure his cover for his ordering the child sexual abuse cover-ups. What causes this kind of speculation is because Benedict XVI, as stated above, does not have even one substantiated fact to support his being against homosexuals. And yet Benedict XVI continues to publically make the same false claims against homosexuals, which goes against all authoritative research. He does not seem to be concerned about the truth. At this point Benedict XVI begins to mirror Hitler’s propaganda tactics “All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently, the greater the mass it is intended to reach, the lower its purely intellectual level will have to be....” Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1924
What has been so puzzling is Benedict XVI is considered by many to be quite intellectually gifted. If this is so how come he publically comes off being so ignorant regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. Many researchers of propaganda make a stern warning to remember and not to be fooled into minimizing the intellectual level of those who spread propaganda. The warning is that they are professionals, very sophisticated and quite intelligent don’t be deceived to think otherwise. If this is true it is dishonest and evil. One would expect to find this it in any other profession, but not from the leaders of the Church. Maybe this is what E. J. Dionne meant when he was writing about the child sexual abuse in March 2010.
How the Catholic Church could end its sex scandal – March 26, 2010
The Vatican has dealt with the sexual abuse scandals as other institutions would. It should be relying on its Christian values.
…It has worried about its image. It has worried about itself as an institution and about protecting its leaders from public scandal. In so doing, it has made millions of Catholics righteously furious and aggravated every one of its problems.
So instead of going away, the scandal keeps coming back - lately, in a form that seems to challenge Pope Benedict XVI himself. It was sickening to read Thursday's New York Times story reporting that Vatican officials "did not defrock a priest who molested as many as 200 deaf boys, even though several American bishops repeatedly warned them that failure to act on the matter could embarrass the church."
In Germany, the pope's home country, more than 300 victims have come forward in recent weeks, and Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose party has Catholic roots, called the scandal "a major challenge for our society."
…The church needs to show it understands the flaws of its own internal culture by examining its own conscience, its own practices, its own reflexes when faced with challenge. As the church rightly teaches, acknowledging the true nature of our sin is the one and only path to redemption and forgiveness…
Dehumanizing Homosexuals
Depriving Civil Rights – Human Rights
…We dehumanize our fellow human beings when we convince ourselves (or allow ourselves to be convinced) that they are less than human and come to believe that, although these people appear to be human beings like us, this is merely a façade. Beneath the surface they are really subhuman creatures, fit to be hunted down and destroyed. The immense destructive power of dehumanization lies in the fact that it excludes its victims from the universe of moral obligation, so killing them is of no greater consequence swatting a mosquito, or poisoning a rat. If dehumanization is a key factor in war and genocide, we ought to be working very hard to prevent it.
Read more:
Psychology of Violence - David Livingstone Smith 2010
The way that Benedict XVI and the hierarchy are able to maintain this false notion about homosexuals is by publically dehumanizing homosexuals. It is their relentless condemnation of homosexuals using anti-gay propaganda trying to convince the public that homosexuals are less than human, are subhuman and therefore, homosexuals can be “excluded from the system of moral rights and obligations that bind humankind together ('Less Than Human' - by David Livingstone Smith 2011).”
What is it that enables one group of human beings to treat another group as though they were subhuman creatures?
…A rough answer isn't hard to come by. Thinking sets the agenda for action, and thinking of humans as less than human paves the way for atrocity. The Nazis were explicit about the status of their victims. They were Untermenschen — subhumans — and as such were excluded from the system of moral rights and obligations that bind humankind together. It's wrong to kill a person, but permissible to exterminate a rat. To the Nazis, all the Jews, Gypsies and others were rats: dangerous, disease-carrying rats…
Dehumanizing the enemy allowed German soldiers and officers to agree with the Nazis' new vision of warfare, and to fight without granting the Soviets any mercy or quarter."
…The Holocaust is the most thoroughly documented example of the ravages of dehumanization. Its hideousness strains the limits of imagination. And yet, focusing on it can be strangely comforting. It's all too easy to imagine that the Third Reich was a bizarre aberration, a kind of mass insanity instigated by a small group of deranged ideologues who conspired to seize political power and bend a nation to their will. Alternatively, it's tempting to imagine that the Germans were (or are) a uniquely cruel and bloodthirsty people. But these diagnoses are dangerously wrong. What's most disturbing about the Nazi phenomenon is not that the Nazis were madmen or monsters. It's that they were ordinary human beings…
NPR book review:
'Less Than Human': The Psychology Of Cruelty
Benedict XVI Fights Against Homosexuals Civil Rights
In this way, homosexuals can continually be deprived of their civil rights and therefore remain unable to defend themselves against the false accusations made by Benedict XVI and the hierarchy.
Reference link:
June 1992 – First time U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops - Addresses the child sexual abuse cover-ups - "Five Principles to Follow in Dealing with Accusations of Child Abuse"
VATICAN: GAY DISCRIMINATION Document Released - July 24, 1992 “…that said homosexuals could legitimately be discriminated against in employment, housing and the adoption of children.”
Vatican attacked for opposing gay decriminalization - December 2, 2008
Vatican OPPOSES UN Declaration on DECRIMINALISATION of HOMOSEXUALITY – December 12, 2008
In a First, Gay Rights Are Pressed at the U.N. – December 18, 2008 - “How can we tolerate the fact that people are stoned, hanged, decapitated and tortured only because of their sexual orientation?”
Pope likens "saving" gays to saving the rainforest – December 22, 2008 “…Benedict said on Monday that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behavior was just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.”
Pope attacks blurring of gender – December 23, 2008 “…the need to save mankind from a destructive blurring of gender roles is as important as saving the rainforests.”
AUSCHWITZ -- CHRISTMAS 2008 - A flashback far more severe than in --- BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN - December 26, 2008 – Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
…I think in truth on a much deeper level I was frightened, really frightened, to hear Pope Benedict XVI’s Christmas remarks against homosexuals and transgendered human beings and even more frightened by the silence from the larger global community of human beings. What is so frightening is, even if there is agreement that one person does not matter or is not important, in truth then no one matters…
Tony Blair says Pope's views on homosexuals is wrong – April 9, 2009
The former prime minister said Pope Benedict XVI's "entrenched attitude" towards homosexuality is less tolerant than the views of ordinary Catholics.
Nancy Pelosi: ‘Hate Crimes Have No Place in America’ USA Speaker of the House – April 30, 2009 - the House passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, H.R. 1913
'Endemic' rape and abuse of Irish children in Catholic care, inquiry finds – May 20, 2009
Revealed, six decades of 'ritual' child abuse: Catholic schools and orphanages damned in report – May 21, 2009
Church leaders and government watchdogs covered up 'endemic' and 'ritualised' abuse of thousands of children in Roman Catholic schools and orphanages in the Irish Republic…
Obama Signs Hate Crimes Bill – October 28, 2009
The law expands the definition of violent federal hate crimes to those committed because of a victim’s SEXUAL ORIENTATION…“Because no one in America should ever be afraid to walk down the street holding the hands of the person they love.” …“You understood that we must stand against crimes that are meant not only to break bones, but to break spirits — not only to inflict harm, but to instill fear,” Mr. Obama said. “You understand that the rights afforded every citizen under our Constitution mean nothing if we do not protect those rights — both from unjust laws and violent acts.”
Irish Church accused of abuse cover-up – November 26, 2009
The report…It found that the Church placed its own reputation above the protection of children in its care. It also said that state authorities facilitated the cover-up by allowing the Church to operate outside the law.
Irish church and police covered up child sex abuse, says report – November 26, 2009
Irish Catholic Church covered up child abuse, report says – November 26, 2009
The Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation's 720-page report said that it has "no doubt that clerical child sexual abuse was covered up" from January 1975 to May 2004, the time covered by the report.
The Department of Justice and Equality: Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin – 2009
UN Human Rights Council: IHEU calls the Vatican to account over child abuse – September 22, 2009
We urge the Holy See to recognise its responsibilities to children and the CRC, to bring its reporting up to date, and to instruct its dioceses and religious orders to report all cases of alleged child abuse to the civil authorities. We suggest that as an institution that claims to have “the highest moral authority”, it can do no less.
And we urge the international community to hold the Holy See to account.
Vatican defense: ‘Only 5%’ of clergy sex abusers and most of those gay – October 1, 2009
“The many thousands of victims of abuse deserve the international community to hold the Vatican to account, something it has been unwilling to do, so far. Both states and children’s organisations must unite to pressurise the Vatican to open its files, change its procedures worldwide, and report suspected abusers to civil authorities.”
New Catholic Sex Abuse Findings: Gay Priests Are Not the Problem – November 18, 2009
The data, which was presented to the U.S. hierarchy on the second day of their annual meeting here, also appears to contradict the widely held view that homosexuals in the priesthood were largely responsible for the abuse.
"What we are suggesting is that the idea of sexual identity be separated from the problem of sexual abuse," said Margaret Smith, a researcher from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, which is conducting an independent study of sexual abuse in the priesthood from 1950 up to 2002. "At this point, we do not find a connection between homosexual identity and an increased likelihood of sexual abuse."
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/18/new-catholic-sex-abuse-findings-gay-priests-not-the-problem/
RC hierarchy child sexual abuse “cover-ups” ordered by Benedict XVI to avoid public outrage & criminal charges falsely accused gay priests, WATERGATE? – December 17, 2009
A major problem with the hierarchical structure of the Roman Catholic Church is that there are no “checks and balances.” When the necessary “checks and balances” are not in place to protect any organization, it leaves “not making waves” the rule that governs the hierarchy and opens the way to many devastating mistakes harmful to everyone and allows corruption to grow.
Pope Blasts U.K. Anti-Discrimination Laws - February 2, 2010 – In Speech, Benedict Raises Fears that Vatican Could Be Prosecuted for Stances Against Gays
Your equality laws are unjust, pope tells UK before visit – February 2, 2010
Pope Benedict attacks government over Equality Bill, UK – February 2, 2010 "…As a Catholic, I am appalled by the attitude of the Pope. Religious leaders should be trying to eradicate inequality, not perpetuate it"
Pope Benedict XVI /Ratzinger Engineered Cover-up of Child Sex Abuse – Hans Kung - April 4, 2010
...the revelation of the clerical abuse of thousands of children and adolescents, first in the United States, then in Ireland and now in Germany and other countries. And to make matters worse, the handling of these cases has given rise to an unprecedented leadership crisis and a collapse of trust in church leadership.
There is no denying the fact that the worldwide system of covering up cases of sexual crimes committed by clerics was engineered by the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under [Benedict XVI] Cardinal Ratzinger (1981-2005). During the reign of Pope John Paul II, that congregation had already taken charge of all such cases under oath of strictest silence. Ratzinger himself, on May 18th, 2001, sent a solemn document to all the bishops dealing with severe crimes ( “epistula de delictis gravioribus” ), in which cases of abuse were sealed under the “secretum pontificium” , the violation of which could entail grave ecclesiastical penalties...
Church in worst credibility crisis since Reformation – Irish Times
Fr. Hans Kung - Bio
Benedict XVI & Vatican Response to Global Child Sexual Abuse Cover-ups
Pope Benedict condemns 'petty gossip' over child sexual abuse scandal – April 28, 2010
Pope Benedict today risked inflaming opinion as he appeared to round on critics of the Catholic church over the widening sexual abuse scandal, saying he would not "be intimidated by ... petty gossip".
Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican's Number 2: Priest Pedophilia Linked To Homosexuality – April 12, 2010 “This is a perverse strategy by the Vatican to shirk its own ethical and legal responsibility by making a spurious and disgusting connection…"
Benedict XVI Fights Against Homosexuals Civil Rights
At the core of evil is the process of dehumanization by which certain other people or collectives of them, are depicted as less than human, as non comparable in humanity or personal dignity to those who do the labeling. Prejudice employs negative stereotypes in images or verbally abusive terms to demean and degrade the objects of its narrow view of superiority over these allegedly inferior persons. Discrimination involves the actions taken against those others based on the beliefs and emotions generated by prejudiced perspectives…
Nazi Comic Books
Hitler’s “final solution” of genocide of all European Jews began by shaping the beliefs of school children through the reading of assigned texts in which Jews are portrayed in a series of increasingly negative scenarios. At the end of these lessons in civics or geography, we see the “reasonable” discriminatory actions that Germans should take toward Jews.
This educational propaganda was intentionally designed to create a dehumanized conception of Jews among students by means of providing them with required texts that were colorful and visually told provocative narratives. Students from primary school through High School read these books…
Read complete overview & more:
The Lucifer Effect - by Philip Zimbardo
Again in May 2011, Benedict XVI and hierarchy disregarded the evidence of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice - 5-Year Study by American Bishops – Roman Catholic Church Sex Abuse Cases, which found that the child sexual “abuse decreased as more gay priests began serving the church” proving that homosexuals were not the cause and instead indicating that the inaction of the Hierarchy involving the cover-ups was a significant cause. However, regardless of the above facts Benedict XVI and the hierarchy have continued to the present - using propaganda tactics to publically demean gay people by name calling, “by capitalizing on the ambiguity of language, and by bending the rules of logic.”
Reference links:
Minnesota’s Archbishop Neinstedt - Unnamed donor paid for Catholic 400, 000 DVDs against same-sex marriage – September 22, 2010
Bishops on Gay Marriage - Archbishop Nienstedt sent 400,000 DVDs to every Catholic household in Minnesota – - October 29, 2010 - “Father Michael Tegeder, who ministers to a suburban Twin Cities parish. In a public letter he took issue with the archbishop’s contention that GAY MARRIAGE IS A THREAT TO TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE. He says the real threat to marriage is poverty.”
Catholics split over Minnesota Archbishop Nienstedt’s 400,000 DVDs CAMPAIGN AGAINST SAME-SEX MARRIAGE – November 8, 2010
Archbishop Dolan: GAY MARRIAGE ‘ORWELLIAN SOCIAL ENGINEERING’ - May 13, 2011
Dolan “…says to expand the one-man, one-woman definition of marriage would be…‘perilous to all of us’…[Dolan] called the allegation that anti-gay marriage advocates are prejudiced or bigoted ‘nonsense’”
Archbishop Nienstedt: Gay marriage ban is not anti-gay – June 9, 2011
…“Regrettably, the media and some secular commentators have chosen to mischaracterize this measure as ANTI-GAY, MEAN-SPIRITED AND PREJUDICIAL,” wrote Nienstedt…“This is not the case or the intent behind the initiative.”
…Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, who says if same-sex marriage is legalized, it could lead to POLYGAMY AND INCEST…
“Pastorally, children flourish best in the context of having both a mother and a father. EVERY SCIENTIFIC STUDY CONFIRMS THIS REALITY,” [Nienstedt] wrote.
But a review of 81 studies of many family types released late last year showed the opposite…
Dolan wrote…“If the definition of marriage is continually being altered, could it not in the future be morphed again to include MULTIPLE SPOUSES or even FAMILY MEMBERS?”
Archbishop Nienstedt plans anti-gay marriage committees in every Minnesota Catholic church – October 17, 2011 - Nienstedt wrote. “…a marriage is a union of a husband and a wife…To define it otherwise is a DETRIMENT TO THE COMMON GOOD OF SOCIETY.” http://minnesotaindependent.com/89988/archdiocese-plans-anti-gay-marriage-committees-in-every-minnesota-catholic-church
NY Timothy Dolan Issues Letter To Obama About Gay Marriage - September 22, 2011 - The nation's top Catholic bishop issued a stern challenge to the Obama administration's decision not to support a federal ban on gay marriage, and warned the president that his policies could "precipitate a NATIONAL CONFLICT between church and state of ENORMOUS PROPORTIONS." … The two-page letter…charges the administration with "hostility" to traditional marriage and a "new, more aggressive position" on behalf of gay marriage. In especially strong language, it also argues that the administration treats millions of Americans WHO OPPOSE GAY MARRIAGE "AS IF THEY WERE BIGOTS."
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops - adviser - saying DEVIL MAKES PEOPLE GAY – November 4, 2011
Minnesota’s Archbishop Nienstedt Issues PRO-AMENDMENT 'PRAYER FOR MARRIAGE'
for Catholics to RECITE AT MASS – December 15, 2011
Cardinal warns: Gay PRIDE Parade could be like KKK rally – December 22, 2011
Chicago's Cardinal George - under fire for comparing GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT to Ku Klux Klan – December 22, 2011
Vatican Launches Catholic Home For FRUSTRATED U.S. Episcopalians – January 3, 2012
American Episcopalians upset with their denomination's ACCEPTANCE OF GAY AND FEMALE CLERGY can now convert to the Roman Catholic Church while keeping many cherished traditions in a special new U.S. diocese that was established on Sunday (Jan. 1) by Pope Benedict XVI
DOLAN ELEVATED as Pope Names New Cardinals- January 6, 2012
Cardinal George apologizes for linking Gay PRIDE Parade to KKK – January 6, 2012
Chicago's Cardinal Francis George apologized Friday for remarks aired on Christmas Day comparing the gay pride parade to the Ku Klux Klan.
Pope: GAY MARRIAGE THREATENS HUMANITY’S FUTURE – January 9. 2012
Pope Benedict XVI denounced gay marriage in his annual “State of the World” …some consider being his strongest tirade against gay marriage…“PRIDE of place goes to the family, based on the marriage of a man and woman”
Ireland - Killing the Secrecy Exposing - Benedict XVI & Roman Curia - Response to Child Sexual Abuse Cover-ups
John Jay College of Criminal Justice - 5-Year Study by American Bishops – Roman Catholic Church Sex Abuse Cases - May 18, 2011
John Jay Report on Clergy Abuse in the Catholic Church – “... no causative relationship between…homosexuality and the sexual victimization of children in the Church.” 51811
Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation
Vatican Conference On Child Abuse – February 7, 2012
Apologising Not Enough
Acknowledgement & Accountability for Past
Deliberate Cover Ups & Destroying Lives
Victim Marie Collins earlier told the conference at the Vatican's Gregorian University: "Apologising for the actions of the abusive priests is not enough. There must be acknowledgement and accountability for the harm and destruction that has been done to the life of victims and their families by the often deliberate cover up and mishandling of cases by their superiors." …Collins was the only abuse victim to have been invited and victims' groups have dismissed the conference as "a public relations exercise".
Read more:
McKiernan, BishopAccountability.org, dismissed the [Vatican Child Sexual Abuse] symposium as publicity that would “change the subject and look like progress.”
He said, “The Vatican is afraid, and it has reason to be,” in light of recent charges against the church, including a complaint filed against the Vatican with the International Criminal Court. - February 6, 2012
Read more:
Benedict XVI/Ratzinger & Vatican - “They did as much as they had at each point in time given the public outcry, and no more.” April 27, 2010
VIENNA — As Pope Benedict XVI has come under scrutiny for his handling of sexual abuse cases, both his supporters and his critics have paid fresh attention to the way he responded to a sexual abuse scandal in Austria in the 1990s, one of the most damaging to confront the church in Europe…
…Cardinal Groër left office six months after accusations against him of molesting boys first appeared in the Austrian news media in 1995…
…Benedict’s ambiguous role has made the Groër case a kind of Rorschach test of the future pope’s treatment of sexual abuse during his long stewardship of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s powerful doctrinal body…
…But while he [Benedict XVI] often, as a cardinal, used his clout to enforce doctrine and sideline clergy members whose views diverged from his own, he seemed less willing at that time to aggressively pursue sexual abusers…
…Msgr. Helmut Schüller, a former vicar general of the Vienna Archdiocese, says the church cannot win back the trust of Catholics unless the pope is more forthcoming about his past role in managing abuse scandals.
“He cannot expect others to be transparent, like the Irish bishops he appeals to in his letter, and not be transparent himself,” said Monsignor Schüller, who until 2005 was the archdiocese’s ombudsman for sexual abuse cases.
… But no result of the investigation was ever made public, and Cardinal Groër never faced a church court or even a public rebuke from Rome, let alone a secular trial…
Vatican Child Sexual Abuse Conference – “To be sure, "reform" by Vatican standards is far removed from the root-and-branch overhaul extolled by some critics…
The Vatican has an unparalleled knack for rewriting history, pretending that the complex result of a bruising internal fight has always been its fixed position. Before long, it may be hard to remember that there was ever a time when Vatican personnel weren't saying and doing these kinds of things -- but there was, and not so long ago…” February 10, 2012
Read more:
Only One Victim Invited To
Vatican Child Sexual Abuse Symposium – February 10, 2012
…Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who runs the Vatican's congregation for bishops, called the crisis "a source of great shame and enormous scandal."
"The first step on this road is to listen to them carefully and to believe their painful stories," he said.
A Victim Speaks
But there was only one victim to listen to at a symposium that gathered many bishops and religious superiors. Marie Collins, 65, recalled how she was raped as a 13-year-old by a hospital chaplain in her native Ireland.
In her prepared remarks, Collins described how "those fingers that would abuse my body the night before were the next morning holding and offering me the sacred host."
And she insisted on accountability for the harm and destruction done to victims through cover-ups and mishandling of cases…
Critics Say It's Not Enough
Several victims' advocates criticized the symposium as "cheap window dressing." They have long demanded that the Vatican make public decades of secret files on clergy sex offenders and their enablers…
Read more:
Reference links:
Vatican letter “Jan. 31, 1997” told Ireland's Catholic bishops NOT to report child abuse – January 18, 2011
Pope Benedict XVI /Ratzinger Engineered Cover-up of Child Sex Abuse – Hans Kung - April 4, 2010
...the revelation of the clerical abuse of thousands of children and adolescents, first in the United States, then in Ireland and now in Germany and other countries. And to make matters worse, the handling of these cases has given rise to an unprecedented leadership crisis and a collapse of trust in church leadership.
There is no denying the fact that the worldwide system of covering up cases of sexual crimes committed by clerics was engineered by the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under [Benedict XVI] Cardinal Ratzinger (1981-2005). During the reign of Pope John Paul II, that congregation had already taken charge of all such cases under oath of strictest silence. Ratzinger himself, on May 18th, 2001, sent a solemn document to all the bishops dealing with severe crimes ( “epistula de delictis gravioribus” ), in which cases of abuse were sealed under the “secretum pontificium” , the violation of which could entail grave ecclesiastical penalties...
Church in worst credibility crisis since Reformation – Irish Times
Fr. Hans Kung - Bio
Benedict XVI & Vatican Response to Global Child Sexual Abuse Cover-ups
To be continued:
Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
Injustice anywhere is a
threat to
Justice everywhere
Martin Luther King
The Nobel Peace Prize 1964
Martin Luther King Jr.
What you cannot do is accept injustice.
From Hitler – or anyone.
You must make the injustice visible
– be prepared to die like a
soldier to do so.
Mahatma Gandhi
Kids Are Being Hurt!!!
“Someday, maybe, there will exist a well-informed, well considered and yet fervent public conviction that the most deadly of all possible sins is the mutilation of a child’s spirit.”
…whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6
Important note: No disrespect meant to Pope Benedict XVI or the hierarchy, the one and only concern is the safety and well-being of children.
Kids Are Being Hurt!!!
3 PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTS ABOUT GROWING UP GAY
A partial list:
1. Sexual orientation is set either just before birth or very soon afterwards
References:
Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality - American Psychological Association
The Science of Sexual Orientation - Researchers Focus on Twins (Video)
Attempts to Change Sexual Orientation
Sexual Conversion Therapies - by Jack Drescher, M.D.
Sexual Conversion Therapy - Ethical, Clinical and Research Perspectives (2002) -
edited by Ariel Shidlo, PhD, Michael Schroeder, PsyD, and Jack Drescher, MD
Sexual Orientation & ‘Reparative Therapy’
by Jack Drescher, MD – video
Bibliography for Facts about Sexual Orientation
Major - Medical and Mental Heath Associations
Policies & Position Statements - Regarding Sexual Orientation
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association, AGLP
APSAA, American Psychoanalytic Association
American Psychological Association
American Counseling Association
American Medical Association
American Academy of Pediatrics
Gay & Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA)
Gender Identity Research and Education Society - UK
National Association of School Psychologists
National Association of Social Workers
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States
2. Early psychological development – in a social environment that is anti-gay – causes significant harm to the child’s ability to be in relationships, with others, a job, etc.
References:
Sexual orientation is less about sex and more about love, being one with another human being. Attachment Theory - - LOVE & RELIGION
Attachment Theory
Mary Ainsworth: Attachment and the Growth of Love – video
ATTACHMENT THEORY - our first relationship with our carers acts as a LIFELONG TEMPLATE, moulding and shaping our capacity to enter into, and maintain, successful subsequent relationships with family, friends and partners...
Psychoanalytic Therapy and the Gay Man
Jack Drescher, M.D. in his book Psychoanalytic Therapy & The Gay Mandescribes the complexities related to growing up gay; from his research of developmental narratives of gay adults retrospectively recalling their feelings being gay began in early childhood. These gay feelings had remained constant, and were resistant to being altered. Dr. Drescher explains the contrast of how social norms impact the psychology of the early childhood developmental years of a heterosexual boy and a homosexual boy.
Being Homosexual: Gay Men and Their Development – by Richard A. Isay M.D.
Argues that homosexuality is biologically innate, suggests a natural developmental path for homosexuals, and discusses the problems faced in long-term gay relationships
The overstimulation of everyday life: I. New aspects of male homosexuality
Sidney H. Phillips
Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis, USA
J Am Psychoanal Assoc 49:1235-67. 2001
Western heterosexual culture surrounds the homosexually inclined boy in a climate of erotic overstimulation that powerfully affects his development and adult sexual adaptation. This assertion is illustrated through a case presentation of a homosexual man who shared a bed with his brother from childhood into adolescence. Analysis of the patient's transference enactment—repeatedly falling asleep on the couch—gradually revealed the psychic impact of this everyday overstimulation: the creation of a tantalized inner world of longing. The regular occurrence and developmental understanding of adolescent homosexual boys' unrequited love affairs with adolescent heterosexual boys are described and explored. Finally, the overstimulation of everyday life is proposed as a new model for understanding certain behavioral aspects of male homosexuality, such as the avoidance of rough-and-tumble play in childhood and homosexual cruising.
Homosexuality: coming out of the confusion
Sidney H Phillips
Int J Psychoanal 84:1431-50. 2003
In this paper, Dr. Phillips describes the complications of how the historical context of social norms can significantly influence the classification of the components of homosexuality by clinicians causing them to be blind to their own biases. Mindful of our susceptibility to this kind of phenomenon, Dr. Phillips calls to task these biases that pathologize homosexuality simply because it is not consistent with heterosexuality and therefore to be classified as a mental disorder. He offers an alternative description of homosexuality from his clinical research that is consistent with other researchers of early childhood psychological development of children who grow up to be gay.
The Psychology of the Closeted Individual and Coming Out – Jack Drescher, MD
Many LGB individuals report developmental histories with difficulty acknowledging their homosexuality, either to themselves or to others. This is because, starting in childhood, LGB individuals are often subjected to antihomosexual attitudes, not only from strangers, but also from their own families and communities (Drescher, Stein and Byne, 2005). The childhood need to hide may persist into adulthood, leading many LGB individuals to conceal important aspects of themselves…Read more
Gay Conversion | Religious Conversion - Transforms the Damned into the Saved | COVERING - Kenji Yoshino – 2002 - The Yale Law Journal
Resource Links -- Conversion Therapy
Policy Statements of Professional Organizations
Rockway Institute - Alliant International University
3. Gay teen suicide – Family Acceptance Project - shows relationship between a lack of family acceptance of a gay child and the rate of substance abuse, suicide and others problems
References:
Groundbreaking Study Finds Family Acceptance of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Adolescents Protects Against Depression, Substance Abuse and Suicidal Behavior in Early Adulthood – by Caitlin Ryan, PhD, December 6, 2010 - FAMILY ACCEPTANCE PROJECT.
Dr. Caitlin Ryan: Reducing Risk and Promoting Well-Being for LGBT Youth: The Critical Role of Family Support – 2009 – podcast
Dr. Caitlin Ryan: Commitment, Intentionality, and Hard Work: What It Takes To Do Culturally Competent, Ground-Breaking Research 2010 – podcast
Family Acceptance Project™ website:
Dr. Caitlin Ryan – Mental Health Matters: How does the “Family Acceptance Project” work? – 2011
Family Acceptance Project™ - Helping diverse families understand how to support their LGBT children – videos
Family Acceptance of LGBT Youth Protects Against Suicide, Depression & Substance Abuse and Predicts Better Health & Self-Esteem
School Victimization of Gender-Nonconforming LGBT Youth Linked with Depression and Quality Of Life In Adulthood
Best Practice Guidelines for Serving LGBT Youth in Out-of-Home Care
Family Acceptance Project™ Resource Links:
San Francisco State University Related Programs
LGBT Family-Related Organizations
LGBT Youth Organizations
School-Related Resources
Gender-Related Resources
LGBT Legal Advocacy Organizations
Online Resources for LGBT Youth
Hotlines
Adolescent Health
National LGBT Organizations
LGBT Health-Related Organizations
Lesbian and Gay Youth: Care and Counseling - By Caitlin Ryan and Donna Futterman
UA professor Stephen T. Russell to Explore LGBT Suicide Risk – 2008
Homophobic families harm gay teenagers, study claims - 2008
Internalized Homophobia and Relationship Quality among Lesbians, Gay Men, and Bisexuals - David M. Frost and Ilan H. Meyer - 2009
Journal of Counseling Psychology 2009, Vol. 56, No. 1, 97–109
New Report Shows Inequalities for Children with LGBT Parents
Talking About Suicide & LGBT Populations - Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)
Preventing Suicide among LGBT Youth by Effie Malley - Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)
Homophobia Is Killing Our Youth – 2009
Gay Bullying Deaths and Religion: Are Believers the Problem or the Solution? 2010
For Many Gay Youth, Bullying Exacts a Deadly Toll – 2010
Gay bullying and Catholic responsibilities – 2010
Homophobia in the Church: What Catholics Are Doing About It, and What Still Needs to Be Done – 2010
“Most religious denominations continue to condemn homosexuality as sinful and
provide a rationale for marginalizing LGB people.” - Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)
Social Environment - Although the social environment itself has not been defined as a risk factor for suicide, widespread discrimination against LGBT people, heterosexist attitudes, and gender bias can lead to risk factors such as isolation, family rejection, and lack of access to care providers. Risk factors may interact in unhealthy ways—for example, internalized homophobia or victimization may lead to stress, which is associated with depression and substance abuse, which can contribute to suicide risk. This risk may be compounded by a lack of protective factors that normally provide resilience, such as strong family connections, peer support, and access to effective health and mental health providers…
Herek and colleagues (2007) describe a framework to understand the social environment for sexual minorities. The framework integrates the sociological idea of stigma with the psychological idea of prejudice. Through stigma, society discredits and invalidates homosexuality relative to heterosexuality. Institutions embodying stigma results in heterosexism, and heterosexual individuals internalizing stigma results in prejudice. The United States legal system has faced challenges by sexual minorities and sympathetic heterosexuals that have led to significant changes. However, the legal system continues to reinforce stigma through discriminatory laws and the absence of laws protecting sexual minorities from discrimination in employment, housing, and services. A minority of states had antidiscrimination laws as of 2005, and most of these only referred to employment and not to housing or services. Most religious denominations continue to condemn homosexuality as sinful and provide a rationale for marginalizing LGB people…
See no Race, See no Gay: What Proponents of a Gay-Blind Approach to Bullying in the Schools can Learn from Race Relations - by Kira Hudson Banks, Ph.D. and Nestor L. Lopez-Duran PhD,
2010 - Psychology Today
Bullying, gay teen suicides, and a need for a solution – 2010 - Nestor L. Lopez-Duran, PhD. - clinical child psychologist and researcher, University of Michigan
Bullies and Victims: Boys will be boys or a symptom of distress? 2009 -Child Psychology Research
http://www.child-psych.org/2009/10/bullies-and-victims-a-risk-for-psychopathology.html#comment-47375
The cruelties of STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE on CHILDREN are often subtle, unspoken, unrecognized, and even normalized, regarded by many people as natural or “just the way things are.” Daniel J. Christie - Peace, Conflict, and Violence:
Peace Psychology for the 21st Century.
Pope’s child porn 'normal' claim sparks outrage among victims -122110
Related links:
John Jay Report: On Not Blaming Homosexual Priests – 51711
"No public figure talks more about child safety but does little to actually make children safer than Pope Benedict" 112611
The New John Jay Report on Clergy Abuse in the Catholic Church – “The researchers conclude that there is no causative relationship between either celibacy or homosexuality and the sexual victimization of children in the Church.” 51811
Facts about Homosexuality and Child Molestation - Gregory M. Herek, Ph.D.
Roman Catholic Hierarchy child sexual abuse “cover-ups” ordered by Benedict XVI to avoid public outrage & criminal charges falsely accused gay priests, WATERGATE? – January 2, 2010
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