Old Stuff

Incense = child abuse

Just three days ago I wrote:

I don't think government should claim any authority over marriage, which is not only a sacrament but an integral part of the natural law, which precedes and supercedes any claims of government. The government has no more right to define the nature of marriage than it has to define the nature of, say, the Eucharist.

Give the government that power, and soon enough it will attempt to define the nature of the Eucharist; it will define our prayers and worship as child abuse, our Scriptures as hate speech, our acts of charity as crimes against humanity, and so on.

This morning I heard this story on the BBC's little radio show:

Concern over threat to health of incense
21/08/2003 - 19:34:31

The Catholic Church said today it would take seriously a Government minister's concern over the threat posed to health by the use of incense.

The health risk was raised by Dr Jim McDaid, Minister of State in the transport department.

He highlighted the threat, particularly to altar boys and girls, in a comment on one of Ireland's burning issues of the moment - a Government plan to ban smoking in the workplace from the start of next year.

Dr McDaid, who operated a medical practice before entering politics, and supports the smoking ban, insisted: "I am not anti-Church, anti-smoke or indeed against the use of incense."

"But there is a serious aspect to this. We all know that carbon is a carcinogenic agent, and wherever you have smoke, you are actually looking at carbon molecules.

"And wherever you have carbon molecules and happen to be inhaling them, then there is that chance that you will be doing damage.

"On a daily basis, we see people that are doing things that are detrimental to their health, and we all know they are doing that.

"There are other areas that, which with the untrained eye, people pay no attention to. But to the trained eye - such as that of a medical person - you sometimes see things which you know in your heart and soul, because of your medical background, can be detrimental to health.

"This is one little instance which I picked up on. It is something I have mentioned in the past to a number of clergy."

[read the rest of the report here]