After very thorough searches
Of some Arizona churches
Cops arrested 20 people whose religion didn’t pass
But their reasoning was shoddy
Christ demanded, “Eat my body”,
Is partaking of a wafer less ridiculous than ass?
Is a brothel with a madam
Where they’re dressed like Eve and Adam
Necessarily deserving of the prosecutor’s wrath?
If the act is prostitution
But it comes with absolution
Could the Phoenix Goddess Temple tread a holy, righteous path?
“It’s a blight on the community”,
They don’t deserve immunity
The First Amendment doesn’t mean you get to break the law
But I wonder if the papists
With their pedophiles and rapists
Will consider Arizona an exemplar or a flaw?
See, religion’s found excuses
For all measure of abuses
They’re the arbiter of morals more in theory than in fact
And they’re headed for the poorhouse
If they let some Phoenix whorehouse
Say they’re really a religion… cos they’re messing up the act!
Story, after the jump:
The Goddess Temple, it turns out, has a different view of religion than do the Arizona police.
In addition to sex-ed and sex toy classes, the church offered “sessions” to heal sexual blockages for up to $650 a pop, ABC News reported.
And that, cops say, has nothing to do with praising Jesus, or any other higher power.
“We certainly respect First Amendment rights. However, religious freedom does not allow for criminal acts,” Phoenix police spokesman Steve Martos told CNN.
I, for one, am happy to hear that Arizona lawmen will not allow religion to serve as an excuse (not terribly happy they equate “religion” with “praising Jesus”). Last time I wrote about Arizona, one of Oprah’s friends was killing people in a sweat lodge; that should certainly not be protected as a religious ceremony.
Religion enjoys freedoms it does not deserve; there is no reason it should not bear the very reasonable responsibility of obeying the law.
Really? How ’bout using peyote? Oh, that too exotic and atypical? How ’bout providing alcohol to minors? Or hiring discrimination based on religious belief?
Churches get a pass to do plenty of otherwise illegal things under the cover of religious freedom (and I don’t argue they shouldn’t: religious freedom is important even to atheists); why should this be different?
BTW, awesome versification, as always!
You don’t? So you have no objection to my temple of human sacrifice then?
I mean seriously, what you’re saying is that illegal actions are okay as long as you say they’re for religious reasons. IOW, religion is privileged over non-religious reasons for doing the same thing. Which is complete BS, not least for the fact that you can create the Church of the Holy Smoke with marijuana as your sacrament. And no, I didn’t even make that name up; someone here was on trial and claiming religious freedom. It didn’t work.
Well, in one Goddess tradition I know of, the priestess, representing the Goddess says “All acts of love and pleasure are my rituals.” Sex, whether symbolic or actual, is definitely considered an “act of love and pleasure.” by most people I know. Most Christian churches take up collections during their services; some even call them “love offerings”.
Do we arrest Christians who take communion for cannibalism? I don’t see why this AZ temple should be treated differently.
Beautiful piece, Cuttlefish! I LOL’d.