The Daily Mail vs humanity

Cardinal Walter Kasper’s comments that landing in Heathrow was like landing ‘in a third world country’ was clearly a complaint that Britain has far too many awful black people and foreigners. The comment seems rather strange, given that the defense wheeled out for the Catholic Church is always along the lines of: ‘Sure, they raped a lot of children and then covered it up for years and years and still haven’t done anything to curb the problem, but look at how they help poor people’. Now we have a aide of the Pope declaring that it’s awful that black people – from the third world – can now be found in large numbers in Britain. I’m not sure god – if he was real of course – would approve of this.

Not surprisingly these comments have gone down rather well with Mail readers and the Mail itself, both of whom have been pushing the narrative that you cannot be religious in Britain anymore and that we’re overrun with awful black people and heathens. Still, the Daily Mail and Catholic Church have much in common: both enjoy spreading misery, bullshit and misanthropy (with an emphasis on misogyny); as institutions they feel like kindred spirits.

One look at the Daily Mail frontpage today, along with a laughably hypocritical editorial defending the Catholic Church, just demonstrates how conservative and backward the Daily Mail is. I still suspect that Paul Dacre believes that the earth is flat, but a massive and hateful leftist conspiracy has convinced everyone that it’s actually round. We know that the Catholic Church systematically covered up the sexual abuse of children and that the current pope was a key figure in that cover up. He had the power to take action, he declined and only acted to ensure pedophiles were moved to fresh pastures and new victims. We also know that a senior aide is clearly racist, add this to rabid homophobia, a murderous policy on condoms and aids and you have numerous justifications for protest.

Indeed, you might even feel it is your duty as a compassion human being or even Christian to protest, to defend decency and humanity. But not as far as the Mail is concerned. If you dare protest against the systematic abuse of children you a merely being led by Stephen Fry on a ‘atheist hate campaign’. As for the racist comments made by the pope’s aide… they were only considered racist by heathens: ‘Cardinal Walter Kasper… was condemned as racist by secular protesters determined to disrupt the Papal trip’.

Actually, he was ‘condemned as racist’ because he clearly made racist remarks. He bemoaned a multi-cultural Britain because he didn’t like landing at the same airport as black people. Condemning him as racist is the reaction of a decent human being, it has nothing to do with the seperate disgust at the actions of both the pope and the Catholic church, or secularism.

The Mail’s pathetic attempt to claim that this is merely a ‘celebrity vendetta’ rather ignores the fact that intelligent people across the UK completely are frustrated that an organisation known to be harboring pedophiles has been given a red-carpet reception simply because they happen to believe in a giant sky fairy and that therefore the laws we have to abide by somehow don’t apply to them.

The language of the editorial reserves outrage and anger for the protesters, whilst the pope is blanketed in sickeningly understated language. Covering up the rape and abuse of children, is this unacceptable, sickening, outrageous? No, according to the Daily Mail it is merely:

‘Yes, the Pope has handled the pedophile scandal with lamentable insensitivity.’

‘Scandal’ equates the systematic cover up of the sexual abuse of children with Wayne Rooney allegedly sleeping with prostitutes. ‘Handled’ implies that the sexual abuse was not lamentable, rather the problem is that the pope has a ‘lamentable’ public relations team. ‘Insensitively’ is completely meaningless, no one wanted a ‘sensitive’ response to the rape of children, they simply wanted a response, not the complete refusal of adults in fancy costume to give up the perpetrators because the silly costumes they were wearing meant that they were actually above the law.

Stephen Fry has taken the time to laugh at just how mad the Daily Mail has become and points out a few of the most obviously stupid arguments employed by the Mail:

I can always be certain that I have done a good thing when out of all the descriptions they can choose, their leader writers select “quizmaster”. “What has this country come to,” they want to know, “when an egregious, self-satisfied quizmaster presumes to make moral pronouncements on a two thousand year old institution etc etc.”

As it happens I have spent many many more hours of my life as a writer and a journalist than as a “quizmaster”, yet, oddly enough, we don’t read the Mail coming up with: “What has this country come to when a journalist presumes to make moral pronouncements on a two thousand year old etc.?” Perhaps the Mail leader writer would be kind enough to explain to the world what qualifications are needed to allow one to express an opinion, or write a letter to a newspaper? What profession should one belong to and can we have a list of those which in fact disbar us from expressing one’s views?

And he continues:

The most laughable element of the Mail’s weird outburst today is the way that the paper wants its readers, whoever the poor darlings may be, to see agnosticism, atheism, humanism and secularism as ‘fashionable’ and ‘established’ and therefore to figure themselves as maverick outsiders storming the ramparts of the liberal establishment.Yeah, right.

Actually, that’s not true, the most laughable element is their outrage at the idea we signatories are not being very hospitable to a visitor from overseas. Let us think for a moment about the richness of that before we vomit with laughter. The Daily Mail if you please, wagging its finger about kindness to visitors from overseas and hospitality to foreigners in our midst.

Maybe funnier even than that is the happy circumstance that the daily giveaway on the front page today is a DVD by that proud atheist David Attenborough, who recently revealed the hate-mail and threats he has received over the years from those who do not believe in Darwinian science.

Some of the most intelligent, thoughtful and eloquent writers around have taken the time to write coherent, factual and polite requests for the Pope not to be given the privilege of a state visit and that the Catholic Church should face real questions about it’s lack of action over pedophilia and it’s damaging action over Aids and condoms. In response, the most mocked and laughable newspaper currently in publication responds with a series of twisted attacks in which the peaceful, rational and coherent speakers become the angry and unreasonable mob, being brainwashed and ‘led’ by Stephen Fry.

Whereas the Daily Mail, of course, would never dare tell it’s readers what to think and how to hate. No, the Daily Mail is the voice of the people, elected, sainted and approved. Anyone disagreeing with this voice is an enemy of the people (since the Daily Mail assumes its editorial line is at one with the people) and part of some liberal elite leftist conspiracy.

I’ll let Stephen wrap things up:

Because I have a theological turn of mind, the people I feel most sorry for, and always have, are those who work for the paper. I have never met a Mail journalist whose first words weren’t an apology. “We’re not all Paul Dacre types….” they mournfully beg us to believe. Well, leave before it’s too late! Just imagine that there really is a St Peter to greet you after death. Suppose he asks what you did with your life, your mind, your heart, your whole being and your immortal soul and that you have to reply you that wrote for the Daily Mail. Wow!

If I am “pompous”, “egregious and self-satisfied”, all failings of mine that especially upset the poor leader-writer, it is because I have the right to that Hated By The Daily Mail badge. More than a CBE or honorary degree it tells me, and forgive my lack of modesty, that I am decent, clean, kind, thoughtful and honourable.

I’ll just pause to say, how can I get one of these badges? Surely I’ve done enough to earn one? After all, Stephen Fry already has the luxurious comfort of not reading the horrible rag everyday.

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