NEW YORK, April 9, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – “I believe the continuing attacks by the media on the Roman Catholic Church and Pope Benedict XVI have become manifestations of anti-Catholicism,” said former New York City Mayor Ed Koch in the Jerusalem Post yesterday.

Koch, a Conservative Jew, says he disagrees with the Catholic Church (and Orthodox Judaism) on abortion, homosexuality, divorce, contraception and more, but nevertheless says that the Church has a right to hold to these beliefs and much of the attack on it today stems from opposition to those teachings.

“Many of those in the media who are pounding on the Church and the pope today clearly do it with delight, and some with malice,” writes Koch. “The reason, I believe, for the constant assaults is that there are many in the media, and some Catholics as well as many in the public, who object to and are incensed by positions the Church holds, including opposition to all abortions, opposition to gay sex and same-sex marriage, retention of celibacy rules for priests, exclusion of women from the clergy, opposition to birth control measures involving condoms and prescription drugs and opposition to civil divorce.”

Koch added: “I disagree with the Church on all of these positions. Nevertheless, it has a right to hold these views in accordance with its religious beliefs. …  Orthodox Jews, like the Roman Catholic Church, can demand absolute obedience to religious rules. Those declining to adhere are free to leave.”

The former U.S. Congressman (1968-77) and three-term Mayor of New York City (1978-89), suggests that, “The primary explanation for the abuse that happened … was the belief that the priests could be cured by psychotherapy, a theory now long discarded by the medical profession.”

Despite his ideological disagreements with the Church, Koch says, “I believe the Roman Catholic Church is a force for good in the world, not evil.”

He concludes, “Enough is enough. Yes, terrible acts were committed by members of the Catholic clergy. The Church has paid billions to victims in the US and will pay millions, perhaps billions, more to other such victims around the world.  It is trying desperately to atone for its past by its admissions and changes in procedures for dealing with pedophile priests. I will close with a paraphrase of the words of Jesus as set forth in John 8:7: He [or she] that is without sin among you, let him [or her] cast the next stone.”

See the full text of the Jerusalem Post column here.

To report that these books have been removed because the author is an atheist implies in not so subtle tones that the catholic parents who complained about the books, and the catholic school board that acquiesced to their request are a bunch of narrow minded reactionary bigots. Bigots who are attempting to censor a work of fiction simply because they disagree with the authors personal beliefs. Is it possible to slant a news report to be any more misleading than this one?

Let’s have a look at this series of children’s books and what they contain. The books in question are “Northern Lights”, which have been, re-titled “The Golden Compass”. “The Subtle Knife” and “The Amber Spyglass”. In an interview published in the Washington Post regarding his books Philip Pullman is quoted as saying “I’m trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief,” That sure sounds like something that should be freely available in a Catholic school library don’t you think?

In these books the two 12-year-old protagonists rebel against the evil church called “the Magisterium” and go on to discover that God is a liar and he’s mortal. By the end of the story they kill God. The books are filled with anti-Christian and especially anti-Catholic bigotry and are full of violence and nightmarish scenes involving cannibalism, mutilation, sadism, suicide, and murder. There are priests who engage in torture and ex-nuns who sleep around. The angels who rebel against God are good while the angels who are on God’s side are evil. Oh and lets not forget the homosexual angels

Now if an adult wants to read this stuff knowing full well what it’s about and what it’s promoting than he or she should have that right. However these books are being marketed to children between the ages of 9 to 12 years of age. Gee I wonder why Catholic parents sending there 9, 10, and 11 year old children off to Catholic school would be concerned that this anti-Catholic garbage is freely available in the school library?

For the CBC to claim that this is all about the author being an atheist is ridicules. This is about a series of books that are deliberately written to destroy the faith of children. It’s tantamount to child abuse. If pornographic magazines where freely available to 10 year olds in the school library and parents objected would the CBC report that the controversy was because the publisher of the magazines was a liberal democrat?

I have been aware for many years now that the news isn’t really news. It’s merely propaganda designed not to inform the people about what is happening so they can come to their own well informed opinions. Rather it is used to shape the opinions of people to conform to what is desired by the powers that be. Even so I have rarely been aware of an incident as blatant as this. It’s clear that if you want to know the truth about something turning to the CBC for information is the last thing you should do.