Wednesday 24 March 2010

Evil eastern religions are working for the devil says former exorcist bishop


Page 10 of "The Daily Examiner" on Monday 22nd March 2010:
"ALL those evil eastern religions are working for the devil and are trying to trap our souls with wicked devices such as yoga, tai chi and reiki massage.
And let's not start on Harry Potter and Twilight - both are rickety paths to the fires of hell.
At least these are the claims of Bishop Julian Porteous, the second in charge of the Australian Catholic hierarchy who was quoted in yesterday's Sun-Herald.
Bishop Porteous warned people who practiced yoga, reiki and tai chi could find themselves "in the grip of demonic forces" by embracing the underlying religious beliefs of these de-stressing techniques.
Aside from the complete cultural ignorance of such claims, Bishop Porteous, in his blind recruitment grab aimed at the gullible, would be laughable if he wasn't in such a powerful position within the church.
An organisation plagued with claims it has harboured and protected paedophiles en masse for decades can hardly be calling other religions evil. Wasn't there something about people in glass houses in that Bible book?
Such ill-informed posturing does nothing to swell the church's diminishing numbers and only serves to push the community further in a secular direction."
With a groundswell of interest in atheism of late, religious leaders need to contribute sensibly to the issues of the day if they are to be taken seriously and their faith heard.
All those blood-thirsty Buddhists probably meditate everyday I reckon."
This 61 year-old bishop is also known for his dislike of priestly jokes; "There has been a tendency for people to feel a joke at the end of the Mass is something to leave people with a smile, but I personally don't think it is appropriate" and was Sydney's locum exorcist for five years.
Bishop Porteous holds the titular See of Urusi in Northern Africa and thinks that climate change science claims are "sometimes exorbitant" and sees the 2009 Victorian bushfires as some form of national purification by fire.
The last a rather uncomfortable if subdued echo of the more extremist views of Danny Naylor.
Sorta makes me wonder if Bishop Porteous shares Catch the Fire Ministries' take on the Equal Opportunity Bill 2010.

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