As expected, the arrival of LGBTQ Pride Month has some religious conservatives a little bent out of shape. That includes the Bishop of Providence, Rhode Island, Thomas Tobin, who warned in a tweet earlier this month that Pride Month celebrations are “harmful,” especially when it comes to children.
“A reminder that Catholics should not support or attend LGBTQ “Pride Month” events held in June,” Tobin tweeted on June 1. “They promote a culture and encourage activities that are contrary to Catholic faith and morals. They are especially harmful for children.”
https://twitter.com/ThomasJTobin1/status/1134784500372770817
The irony of a Catholic Church official lecturing others about harming to children wasn’t lost on many of the commenters materializing beneath Tobin’s tweet.
Worried about competition?
— DarkMatter2525 (@DarkMatter2525) June 2, 2019
Should we send the kids to a Catholic Priest, such as yourself, so they can be raped and abused? No wonder religion is on the decline in America. Americans are finally figuring out that religion is an evil cult
— 🇺🇸🌊JoeInWV 🌊🇺🇸 (@wvjoe911) June 2, 2019
Glass houses, Roman Catholic Church.
Glass. Houses.
— JRehling (@JRehling) June 3, 2019
Yeah, I read something else about the Catholic Church and the safety of children a few other times before but I forget the context
— PICKLEDAD (@Lyricoldrap) June 2, 2019
Here’s an idea. How about a century or two of private prayer, reflection and repentance, before your discredited organisation utters another word about how other people should conduct their lives?
— joycemcmillan (@joycemcm) June 2, 2019
Also chiming in was the The Church of Satan, snarkily saying that although they support all forms of gender identity and lifestyles, they’re a little wary of Catholics at the same time.
“A reminder that Satanists should decide for themselves if they support or attend LGBTQ “Pride Month” events held in June,” the church tweeted from its official Twitter account. “As a carnal religion, Satanism embraces all forms of consensual adult sexual activity and gender identity. But keep kids away from Catholics, just to be safe.”
A reminder that Satanists should decide for themselves if they support or attend LGBTQ “Pride Month” events held in June. As a carnal religion, Satanism embraces all forms of consensual adult sexual activity and gender identity. But keep kids away from Catholics, just to be safe. https://t.co/3OvQuRSL03
— The Church Of Satan (@ChurchofSatan) June 1, 2019
The Church of Satan is not to be confused with their activist counterparts, The Satanic Temple. While The Satanic Temple defines itself as a “non-theistic” religion and political activist group, The Church of Satan harkens back to the days of its founder Anton Szandor LaVey, who was the church’s high priest until his death in 1997, and defines itself as a religious organization “dedicated to Satanism as codified in The Satanic Bible.”
Between 1992 and 1996, Tobin held the position of Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburg, which was one of six Pennsylvania dioceses included in a earth-shaking grand jury report chronicling decades of sexual abuse by over 300 priests that was covered up by Catholic Church officials in the state, a scandal that Tobin claimed he was not responsible for.
“My responsibilities as Vicar General and General Secretary of the diocese did not include clergy assignments or clergy misconduct, but rather other administrative duties such as budgets, property, diocesan staff, working with consultative groups, etc. Even as an auxiliary bishop, I was not primarily responsible for clergy issues,″ Tobin told The Providence Journal in an email.
Featured image via Twitter
