The latest disgraceful episode of sex crimes against children by Catholic priests and their covering up and inaction by the church hierarchy including Cardinal Pell, has again failed to awaken police, courts or legislators to the need to bring churches in Australia under the rule of law.

How many more atrocities against children will be allowed because politicians are too afraid to take on the mainstream religions which happily involve themselves in sexual politics being debated in our parliaments yet call for separation of powers to enable them to keep their criminal behaviour hidden from the public view?

It is not only the Taliban who continue to carry on practices and prejudices that belong to the Dark Ages of human history. The Christian Churches continue to discriminate against women and homosexuals in ways that are considered to be unlawful and a breach of human rights by our national laws and conventions.

What other organisations are allowed to prevent women from attaining the highest levels of office, or in the case of the Catholic Church, any level of office.  The same discrimination applies to homosexuals who are even denied the right of full participation as lay members of the church.

Thank goodness they don’t practice female circumcision.

The question needs to be asked, what constitutes a church? Is it a hierarchy of priests or is it the body of worshippers? After all did not Christ say, “Do not set your-self up and call yourself father”

I cannot think of any other organisation that can insist that its workers, paid or unpaid, must be male and must not be married. If priests are not workers, what is their status and to whom must they answer?

This leads to more questions such as, does the state have the constitutional power to force the church to conform to the laws of the state? And who is responsible for ensuring compliance?

The practice or doctrine of forced chastity on young men wanting to be priests is cruel, stupid and abhorrent, and to my mind sets in place a dangerous set of circumstances for both the psychological health of young priests and the safety of children in their care. 

For the many lives lost and for the many brutalised children, the Australian Government must summon the courage to end the appalling criminal homophobic and inhumane practices of the Christian Churches in this country.

Their criminal behaviour, cover-ups and contempt for state law rivals the outlaw bikie gangs that seek to be a law unto them-selves.