The Fourth Commandment

Part IV - Mum Was A Monster Pop Was A Weasel
"We Are Not Abused, We Are Abusive"

Queen Victoria reigned longer than any British monarch before or since, and considering her vigilance in keeping him politically and socially impotent while she lived, her longevity was perhaps her final and greatest disservice to her eldest son and heir, the future King Edward VII.

The rigid, repressed Victoria was never a particularly cozy mum, candidly acknowledging early on that she derived “no especial pleasure or compensation” from her large brood of children. Even when they were tiny babies, Victoria regarded them as distasteful little creatures. “I have no tendre for them,” she once remarked, “til they have become a little human; an ugly baby is a very nasty object . . . and the prettiest is frightful when undressed . . . as long as they have their big body and little limbs and that terrible frog-like action.”

Victoria displayed a particular enmity toward Prince Edward almost from the beginning. “The hereditary and unfailing antipathy of our Sovereigns to their Heirs Apparent seems thus early to be taking root,” Lord Grenville noted, while Lord Clarendon later said that the queen’s dislike of the Prince of Wales was “a positive monomania with her. She got quite excited while speaking of him, and it quite irritated her to see him in the room.”

The young prince was gregarious and fun-loving—everything his mother forced herself not to be, and with her driving fear that he would grow up to be like her debauched Hanoverian uncles, the queen prescribed a torturously rigid upbringing that stifled the boy’s natural inclinations for enjoyment. His rebellion from the constraints imposed did little to endear him to his mama, who bombarded him with criticism and rarely missed an opportunity to register her disappointment in him. “I am in utter despair!” the queen wrote her daughter Vicky in 1858. “The systematic idleness, laziness—disregard of everything is enough to break one’s heart, and fills me with indignation!”

On another occasion, Victoria spoke of “the sorrow and bitter disappointment and the awful anxiety for the future this causes us.” Even her son’s appearance seemed to annoy her. “Handsome I cannot think him,” she sniffed, “with that painfully small and narrow head, those immense features and total want of a chin.” It was an ironic critique coming from a woman who could very well have been describing herself and who at least admitted of Edward: “He is my caricature.”

The chasm between mother and son widened considerably upon the death of Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, to whom she was fanatically devoted and for whose death she loudly blamed Edward. It was enough to make any son feel special. The prince had been caught in a youthful indiscretion with an actress, and the morally sensitive Albert was devastated by the scandal surrounding his son. Coincidentally, he died a short time later. Victoria could not be convinced that it was typhoid, not grief, that carried her beloved away. In her gloom, the queen declared that she could never look at Edward again “without a shudder.” With his typical good nature and kindness, however, the prince overlooked his mother’s cruel accusations and remained solicitous and devoted to her.

During Victoria’s morbid, self-imposed seclusion that would last for decades, the crepe-draped queen remained determined to keep the Prince of Wales away from anything even remotely resembling responsibility. She was convinced, unjustly, of Edward’s inherent unworthiness. “What would happen if I were to die next winter!” she wrote her daughter. “One shudders to think of it: it is too awful a contemplation. . . . The greatest improvement I fear will never make him fit for his position.” On another occasion she confided, “I often pray he may never survive me, for I know not what would happen.” All important state papers were kept from the prince, providing zero training for his future role. Removing a key from his pocket, Edward’s little brother, Leopold, once said: “It is the Queen’s Cabinet key, which opens all the secret despatch boxes. . . . The Prince of Wales is not allowed to have one.”

Warm-hearted as he was, Edward couldn’t help but resent how insignificant his mother made him feel. “I am not of the slightest use to the Queen,” he once complained. “Everything I say or suggest is pooh-poohed and my brothers and sisters are more listened to than I am.” The more the queen kept him away from responsibility, the more Edward turned to other idle distractions like gambling and womanizing. This only confirmed in Victoria’s mind how unworthy he really was.

Never trusting his judgment, the queen even tried to control Edward’s private life long after he was married. Lord Stanley noted in 1863 that all London was gossiping about the “extraordinary way” in which the queen insisted on directing “the Prince and Princess of Wales in every detail of their lives. They may not dine out, except with previous approval. . . . In addition, a daily and minute report of what passes at Marlborough House [their London residence] has to be sent to Windsor.”

Throughout it all, the prince handled the mistrust and disapproval with dignity and good humor, always remaining a respectful and dutiful son. After he inherited the throne in 1901 at age fifty-nine, King Edward VII would reign with distinction for nine years, proving his mother’s attitude toward him totally unfounded. He lent his name to a genteel era, and was nicknamed Edward the Peacemaker for his adroit efforts to keep Europe from war. He was a good king, his mother be damned.

Part I: Read Excerpts From "The Lust Emperors"
Part II: Read Excerpts From "Six Royals Sinning"
Part III: Read Excerpts From "Unholy Matrimony"
Part IV: Read Excerpts From "Mom Was a Monster, Pop Was a Weasel"
Part V: Read Excerpts From "Royal Family Feud"
Part VI: Read Excerpts From "Strange Reigns"
Part VII: Read Excerpts From "When in Rome"
Part VIII: Read Excerpts From "Papal Vice"
Part IX: Read Excerpts From "Death Be Not Dignified"

"In the Torah, these words are never referred to as the Ten Commandments. In the Torah, they are called Aseret ha-D'vareem (Ex. 34:28, Deut. 4:13 and Deut. 10:4). In rabbinical texts, they are referred to as Aseret ha-Dibrot. The words d'vareem and dibrot come from the Hebrew root Dalet-Bet-Resh, meaning word, speak or thing; thus, the phrase is accurately translated as the Ten Sayings, the Ten Statements, the Ten Declarations, the Ten Words or even the Ten Things, but not as the Ten Commandments, which would be Aseret ha-Mitzvot.

The Aseret ha-Dibrot are not understood as individual mitzvot; rather, they are categories or classifications of mitzvot. Each of the 613 mitzvot can be subsumed under one of these ten categories, some in more obvious ways than others. For example, the mitzvah not to work on shabbat rather obviously falls within the category of remembering the sabbath day and keeping it holy. The mitzvah to fast on Yom Kippur fits into that category somewhat less obviously: all holidays are in some sense a sabbath, and the category encompasses any mitzvah related to sacred time. The mitzvah not to stand aside while a person's life is in danger fits somewhat obviously into the category against murder. It is not particularly obvious, however, that the mitzvah not to embarrass a person fits within the category against murder: it causes the blood to drain from your face thereby shedding blood.

List of the Aseret ha-Dibrot

According to Judaism, the Aseret ha-Dibrot identify the following ten categories of mitzvot. Other religions divide this passage differently. Please remember that these are categories of the 613 mitzvot, which according to Jewish tradition are binding only upon Jews. The only mitzvot binding upon gentiles are the seven Noahic commandments.

1. Belief in G-d
This category is derived from the declaration in Ex. 20:2 beginning, "I am the L-rd, your G-d..."

2. Prohibition of Improper Worship
This category is derived from Ex. 20:3-6, beginning, "You shall not have other gods..." It encompasses within it the prohibition against the worship of other gods as well as the prohibition of improper forms of worship of the one true G-d, such as worshiping G-d through an idol.

3. Prohibition of Oaths
This category is derived from Ex. 20:7, beginning, "You shall not take the name of the L-rd your G-d in vain..." This includes prohibitions against perjury, breaking or delaying the performance of vows or promises, and speaking G-d's name or swearing unnecessarily.

4. Observance of Sacred Times
This category is derived from Ex. 20:8-11, beginning, "Remember the sabbath day..." It encompasses all mitzvot related to shabbat, holidays, or other sacred time.

5. Respect for Parents and Teachers
This category is derived from Ex. 20:12, beginning, "Honor your father and mother..."

6. Prohibition of Physically Harming a Person
This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not murder."

7. Prohibition of Sexual Immorality
This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not commit adultery."

8. Prohibition of Theft
This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not steal." It includes within it both outright robbery as well as various forms of theft by deception and unethical business practices. It also includes kidnapping, which is essentially "stealing" a person.

9. Prohibition of Harming a Person through Speech
This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." It includes all forms of lashon ha-ra (sins relating to speech).

10. Prohibition of Coveting
This category is derived from Ex. 20:14, beginning, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house..." "

http://www.jewfaq.org/10.htm

Religious Wars

"An important item in the indictment which a candid sociologist would bring against the Roman branch of Christianity is its terrible record of instigating wars in its own interest. Setting aside the promptness of the clergy of every country to support the national authorities without any regard to justice (the Buddhist priests in Japan, the Italian priests in the rape of Abyssinia, the attack on France, etc.), the Papacy has in the course of eleven centuries initiated wars in its own interest, and to the grave injury of the peoples involved, which have helped to retard the progress of civilization and cost tens of millions of lives. The wars it set afoot for the recovery or protection of its temporal possessions from the eighth century, when such wars had millions of victims, to the nineteenth have drained Italy, France, and Germany of blood century after century. The Crusades , summoned by the Popes in whatever spirit they were conducted, led to appalling losses and ended in futility. Scores of times they flung nation against nation because some monarch refused to submit to them and was declared deposed; and they blessed aggressive wars — of the Normans in England, the English in Ireland, etc. — because kings offered to do them feudal service. The Thirty Years War, which according to all historians put back for a century the civilization of half Europe, lost an unknown number — certainly millions of lives and led to epidemics of vice, was incited by the Papacy and the Jesuits as — their agents. The most amazing feature is that in our own day the Pope can pose as a serene advocate of peace while he incites to war in the interest of his Church as explicitly as Gregory VII or Innocent III did. From the date of his accession (and for some years earlier as Secretary of State) the present Pope repeatedly demanded "the extinction of Bolshevism in Spain, Mexico, and Russia"; that is to say, revolt (aided by Italy and Germany in a savage war) in Spain, the annexation of Mexico by the United States, and war upon Russia by Germany. The entire Catholic Press of the world supported his demand, and it was frequently reproduced (sympathetically) in the Times and other organs. He remained also in close alliance with Japan during its series of vile aggressions, and he attempted to paralyse America's assistance to Britain, when Germany treacherously attacked Russia, by inciting the great body of American Catholics to cause trouble and facilitate that destruction of Russia for which he hoped. Throughout 1946 the Church has made frantic efforts to drive America into war with Russia."

J. McCabe, Rationalists Encyclopaedia

"Texe Marr's book Catholic Empire of the Queers – An Exposé of Pedophile1 Homosexual Priests and Lesbian Nuns (available from Amazon at US$ 7.00) is an eye-opener. The author, widely known for his in-depth research into the filth underlying the external glitter of the Vatican and its global 'peace' jaunts, exposes and documents how the Roman Catholic Church has become the lair of legions of depraved homosexuals and paedophiles who now "comprise the majority of priests and nuns" (emphasis mine). The reader will discover how priests who prey on altar boys and children in Church-run orphanages have "turned the altars and pews of churches into Sodomite beds"; how Lesbian nuns have "come out of the closet" (!) and arrogantly proclaimed their perverted lifestyle; how the Vatican has been forced to pay out millions of dollars in court settlements to victims of sexual molestation by priests.

Adding details to Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Garry Wills' assertion that priests live in a "shadowy underworld of secrecy, evasion and misrepresentation", Marr reports that this is nothing less than the prophesied emergence of a "sacrilegious New Religious Order – a Catholic Empire of the Queers"."

www.ianpaisley.org/

Bid to stop priests seeing children alone

"Asutralia's Roman Catholic bishops are seeking to ban their priests from having any private contact with children, in an attempt to check damaging sex abuse scandals....

The Church in Australia has been shaken by allegations of widespread paedophilia, particularly in its teaching orders. After a number of convictions of priests and teaching brothers in Catholic schools, Australian bishops made an apology to victims of sexual abuse a year ago."

www.telegraph.co.uk/, 26 September 1997

The Judas Chair

"To assist people in repenting, the Inquisitors used any torture method they could think of, with the theoretical restriction that they couldn't break the skin. The Inquisitors came up with numerous gadgets to work within this restriction. They included:

The Judas Chair: This was a large pyramid-shaped "seat." Accused heretics were placed on top of it, with the point inserted into their anuses or genitalia, then very, very slowly lowered onto the point with ropes. The effect was to gradually stretch out the opening of choice in an extremely painful manner.

The Head Vice: Pretty straightforward concept. They put your head into a specially fitted vice, and tighten it until your teeth are crushed, your bones crack and eventually your eyes pop out of their sockets.

The Pear: A large bulbous gadget is inserted in the orifice of choice, whether mouth, anus or vagina. A lever on the device then causes it to slowly expand whilst inserted. Eventually points emerge from the tips. (Apparently, internal bleeding doesn't count as "breaking the skin.")

The Wheel: Heretics are strapped to a big ol' wheel, and their bones are clubbed into shards. Not very creative, but quite effective.

Methods of execution weren't much better. Since death was the eventual outcome, the skin-breaking point was rendered largely moot. While burning at the stake was the most widely used method, being cost-effective and providing a fun spectacle for the whole family, there were other approaches used in special cases:

Sawing: Heretics were hung upside-down and sawed apart down the middle, starting at the crotch.

Disembowelment: Not the nice kind of disembowelment, where a samurai slits you wide open like a fish and you die in moments. No, that's not good enough for the Inquisition. A small hole is cut in the gut, then the intestines are drawn out slowly and carefully, keeping the victim alive for as much of the process as possible.

The Stake: Depending on how unrepentant a heretic might be, the process of burning at the stake could vary wildly. For instance, a fairly repentant heretic might be strangled, then burned. An entirely unrepentant heretic could be burned over the course of hours, using green wood or simply by placing them on top of hot coals and leaving them there until well done.

The last burning organized by the Inquisition was in 1834, when the Spanish Inquisition was officially abolished. But though Torquemada's legacy has been laid to rest, the Inquisition lives on.

Based in Vatican City, the Holy Office of the Inquisition is still one of the most powerful branches of the Church hierarchy. In 1965, the P.R.-sensitive Pope Paul VI rebranded the Inquisition as the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, but it was still basically the Inquisition."

The Inquisition
www.rotten.com/library/history/inquisition/

Argentine priest in murder trial
By Daniel Schweimler
BBC News, Buenos Aires
Friday, 6 July 2007


Von Wernich came to court in a
bulletproof vest A trial has begun in Argentina of one of the most notorious figures of the military government in power between 1976 and 1983.

Roman Catholic priest and former police chaplain Christian Von Wernich is accused of involvement in seven murders and 41 cases of kidnapping and torture.

He escaped prosecution under amnesty laws which were later declared unconstitutional.

Security is tight. More than 100 witnesses have special protection.

He served as chaplain to the Buenos Aires provincial police force, and he is accused of using his office to win the trust of prisoners before passing information to the police torturers and killers who were holding them.

He is also reported to have attended a number of torture sessions himself and reassured the police that they were doing God's work.

He escaped prosecution after the democratic governments that followed the military passed amnesty laws.

Father Von Wernich worked under a false name in Chile, but investigators tracked him down and he was arrested four years ago.

BBC, Friday, 6 July 2007