Am I over-stating the situation? I don’t think so. Consider the following:

A German cartoon mocking the Catholic Church has sparked holy outrage among believers here who say it incites hatred against the Pope and the Catholic faith.

The caricature, published in the Good Friday edition of satire magazine Titanic, shows a priest apparently having oral sex with a crucifix of Jesus on the cross.
The crucifix cartoon is a barbed commentary on recent revelations that 250 people in Germany were sexual abused at Church-run schools in the past decades. The scandal has shaken the German Church. A recent poll said Germans’ trust in the Catholic Church had fallen to 17% from 29% in late January and approval ratings for Pope Benedict have dropped from 38% to 24%.

The German Press Council reported that some 100 formal complaints have been filed since the magazine came out, a level of protest not seen since 2006, when German newspaper Die Welt reprinted the infamous Danish Mohammed cartoons.

Two criminal complaints have also been filed against the cartoonist and the editors of Titanic, claiming the picture slanders their religion. The state prosecutors office in Frankfurt, where Titanic is based, said it would decide next week whether to begin an investigation against the magazine.

“We were shocked — shocked! — By the reaction to the cartoon,” Titanic editor-in-chief Leo Fischer told THR, his tongue firmly in cheek. “It shows a priest cleaning the crucifix. … I find it strange that Catholics immediately think of sex when they see it.”

I wasn’t surprised when Muslim nations attempted to outlaw blasphemy by establishing an international law exempting religious belief from criticism. After all, Islam isn’t a religion noted for its tolerance of opposing views. I confess I wasn’t expecting the next nation to enact anti-blasphemy laws to be Ireland. I fully expect Vatican City to soon pass its own anti-blasphemy law. Perhaps the Catholic Church will follow the Scientology method of eliminating criticism.

I submit there are two primary motivations behind the efforts of religious sects to have their beliefs protected by law against criticism. The first is the unprecedented exposure of the less than savory aspects and activities of these groups on the internet. Never before have critics had a vehicle like the internet with which to publish and document religion’s dark side. Even those trapped in militant theocracies can speak out in anonymity to the rest of the world. Since the defenders of the faith cannot deny the allegations they attempt to criminalize the exposures.

The second primary factor is the increasing irrelevance of religion among the world’s citizens. As more natural explanations are found for those phenomena once attributed to the gods, the less all-powerful the gods become. As we enter the 21st century, 1st century explanations are unsatisfactory and easily dismissed. In our modern world there is little reason to believe in the gods. They serve no useful purpose and offer scant comfort. As the masses cease to allow the god’s representatives here on Earth total freedom to behave as they wish, the priests and imams begin to panic. Their hold on the people who once blindly followed them and excused them for their excessive and immoral lifestyles is lessening. They are no longer able to keep their sheep in line with threats of godly displeasure and eternal damnation. So they do what, in the end, all dictators and despots do. They attempt to use the force of law to enforce their beliefs. Not satisfied to demonize their detractors, they try to criminalize them. Non-believers might not be impressed with being consigned to a non-existent hell, but they can’t deny the living hell of being imprisoned.

Religious belief does not always simply fade away without a whimper. Too many times in history we’ve seen that just before a fanatical regime disappears it fights the hardest to survive. It has no regard for the damage it inflicts on humanity in its efforts to remain powerful and relevant.

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• Taking Up the Dr. Seuss School of Catholicism (time.com)
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• Catholic church hotline in meltdown over paedophile priests (telegraph.co.uk)
• Everybody’s a blasphemer – Herb Silverman (newsweek.washingtonpost.com)
• German bishop denounces church’s failures (cbc.ca)
• Senior Vatican Priest Compares Scrutiny Over Abuse Scandal To Jewish Persecution (oliverwillis.com)
• A sense of the sacred | Nick Spencer (guardian.co.uk)
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THE Vatican has extended its list of mortal sins to include 21st-century problems and issues such as genetic experimentation, pollution, drug abuse and excessive wealth.

Published in the Vatican’s official newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, the revised list was revealed at the end of a week-long refresher course for priests on the sacrament of confession. Traditionally, mortal sins are those which are a breach of the Ten Commandments – murder, adultery, theft and lying, to name a few.

But now to this list has been added genetic experimentation, tampering with the order of nature, pollution, social injustice, causing poverty, accumulating excessive wealth, and drug abuse. (Source)

Finally, some good news for the religious right. There’s still a place where they can go to find those who share their philosophies and world view. The only downside is they’ll all have to become Roman Catholic.

That should pose no problem. As long as you get to be religious and right, the rest is just dressing.

Next week, Falwell declares excessive text-messaging a result of Satanic possession.

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