Why Venezuela needs more than Kulturkampf against the Catholic Church

[Die Neue Zeit]

Venezuela: Church Warns of Chavez Dictatorship Grab (http://www.hudson-ny.org/1762/venezuela-church-chavez-dictatorship)



By Anna Mahjar-Barducci

Hugo Chavez's eighteen months of special ruling powers and the new package of laws that dramatically expand his rule in the country created a strong debate inside Venezuela against the government. The Catholic Church has also expressed its fears, affirming that the new Enabling Law moves the country towards a dictatorship, similar to Cuba's with Fidel Castro.

Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, Archbishop of Caracas, warned Chavez on TV to behave in a responsible way towards Venezuela, in case Chavez wants "to impose a totalitarian dictatorship that would certainly mean something terrible for Venezuela,"

This is not the first time that Cardinal Urosa courageously expressed his opinions: last summer, the Archbishop declared that Chavez and his government are disregarding the Constitution and "want to impose a Socialist-Marxist system in the country to control all sectors. This system is totalitarian and is leading to dictatorship; not to proletarian dictatorship but to dictatorship led by the elite who are ruling the country."

From the press:

* Cardinal Urosa: "We are moving towards a dictatorship"
* Archbishop Luckert: Chavez's emergency power "is an abuse and a violation of the Constitution"
* Archbishop Luckert: "We are going down the same path as the Castro autocracy that has afflicted that poor country for 59 years"
* Venezuelan archbishop Porras denies WikiLeaks report, claiming that he requested the U.S. government to make known its criticism of Chavez
* Porras denies allegation on offering the U.S. access to the infrastructure of the Church
* Archbishop Porras: Emergency powers would endanger the cause of freedom



So much for non-involvement in political affairs. :rolleyes:

[Dimentio]

Attack the church and it would grow stronger.

Better to co-opt it's institutions. Treat those cardinals who are coordinating good and those who aren't bad.

[Burn A Flag]

I agree, if he they attack the church, even though it is in my opinion justified, they would deal with a huge PR issue. (oh noez da ebul commies wont let us have religion, wont da nice USA invade so we can hab religion again)

[Die Neue Zeit]

In my "An Anti-Religious Critique? (http://www.revleft.com/vb/anti-religious-critiquei-t139123/index.html)" I called for turning all buildings of religious prayer or worship should be transformed into intercultural community centers shared by the various religious denominations, on top of:

1) The usual complete separation of the church from political affairs (not just “the state”) and the school system beyond subjects of mere academic interest;
2) Full freedom of religious and anti-religious speech or writings;
3) Ending tax exemptions and other state subsidies for any politically active body of organized religion; and
4) The expropriation of all properties of organized religion not directly related to acts of prayer or worship.

[Translation: Participation in political affairs, ownership land holdings or art treasures, investment partnerships, aggressive sales of books and DVDs specific to denominational brands, and control of media infrastructure in a way that promotes inequality in access to and distribution of free speech should be prohibited for these denominations.]



Apart from that, I suggested elsewhere the possibility of having supplementary religious court systems for civil matters (http://www.revleft.com/vb/religious-court-system-t146381/index.html), so long as both parties in some civil dispute agree with the decisions of those religious courts.