A Place of Our Own: Quiz #6

Welcome to this week’s installment of “Holier Than Thou,” in which the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has a new reason to pray, the Pope takes a page out of a David E. Kelley script, and an evangelical group plans to overthrow the federal government because, after all, it’s what God wants them to do!

So, how well have you been paying attention this week? Sharpen your pencils and let’s find out! (ANSWERS BELOW)


1) Look out America, there’s a new threat on the horizon looking to overthrowing the federal government in the name of fundamentalist religious beliefs. No, not Al Qaeda, try Christian Exodus. Christian Exodus is a group of nearly 1,000 evangelicals devoted to creating a country where the law and government are based entirely on Biblical teachings — separation of church and state literally be damned. The group’s initial plans call for moving all of its current (and hopefully a horde of future) members to a single state in the union, which it then intends to take over at the ballot box — the first step in getting the whole country to follow God’s law. Which state have they singled out for takeover?

A) Rhode Island
B) Florida
C) Alaska
D) South Carolina
E) North Dakota


2) And if Christian Exodus manages to take over its own state, but fails to convince the United States Supreme Court to overturn its longstanding rulings that force the separation of church and state, what does the group plan to do next?

A) Everybody will return to their original homes
B) Have their state “secede from the union” and create their own country
C) The entire population will move to the small Caribbean nation of Nevis, and take over that island’s government
D) Pray for God to smite the infidels in Washington DC the way he did Sodom and Gomorrah


3) A bit closer to home, the Association of Christian Schools International, recently sued the University of California over what university policy?

A) Dispensing birth control pills at university-run student health centers
B) Requiring all incoming freshman to show vaccinations against tuberculosis, whooping cough and the German measles
C) Showing the film “The Last Temptation of Christ” on the campus at UC Santa Cruz
D) Discriminating against students applying for admission from Christian high schools that teach creationism instead of evolution


4) Florida officials recently suspended the licenses of two Faith Ministries-affiliated day care centers while they investigate allegations of sexual molestation by the centers’ director (and son of the affiliated church’s pastor) Joshua Palin. Among the allegations against Palin are that he directed the children, ages five years old to 14 years, to fondle him and to perform oral sex on each other while playing WHICH children’s game?

a) Truth or Dare
b) Spin the Bottle
c) I’ve Got a Secret
d) Hide and Seek
e) Doctor


5) They’re getting nervous in Los Angeles, where a judge ordered the release of depositions taken in the Catholic Church’s ongoing sexual abuse scandal. The judge ruled against Cardinal Roger Mahoney’s request to keep the testimony against his pedophile priests sealed, marking the first time such documents will be made public in Los Angeles. So, just how many civil suits are pending against the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles accusing the church of negligence in the sexual abuse scandal?

A) Less than 100
B) Between 100 and 200
C) Between 200 and 500
D) More than 500


6) Of course, the U.S. Catholic Church’s sexual abuse problems don’t stop in Los Angeles. They also stretch half way across the globe, thanks in no small part to U.S. Army. Capt. Gregory Arflack, a well-known Catholic military chaplain with the 1st Infantry Division who was recently featured in the Military Archdiocese documentary “Fight of Faith.” He is also, apparently, a pervert, who has been suspended by both the Army and his Catholic dioceses while the Army investigates several heinous charges against him related to activities performed while with the Army in Doha, Qatar, and Bamberg, Germany. Which of the following has he NOT been accused of?

A) Forcible Sodomy
B) Indecent Acts
C) Fraternization with Enlisted Service Members
D) Disobeying Orders
E) Indecent Assault
F) Assaulting an Officer
G) Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer


7) Which TWO of the following is Capt. Arflack still allowed to do while on suspension:

A) Hear confession and absolve parishioners from sin
B) Perform Mass for his parishioners
C) Perform Mass for himself only
D) Preside over weddings
E) Perform the last rites in emergency situations


8) According to estimates from the Associated Press, what is the current amount that Catholic dioceses in the United States have paid to settle sexual abuse claims against its priests?

a) $500 million
b) $1 billion
c) $2 billion
d) $3 billion
e) $5 billion


9) According to estimates by the Catholic lay group Voice of the Faithful, how high could that amount grow to before the church has settled all pending and yet-to-come sexual abuse claims?

a) $500 million
b) $1 billion
c) $2 billion
d) $3 billion
e) $5 billion


10) What was Catholic Archbishop William Levada, soon to be the highest-ranking American at the Vatican, served with prior to proceeding over his final Sunday Mass?

a) A subpoena to testify about sex abuse in the Church
b) A warrant to search his personal residence in the investigation of sexual abuse in the Church
c) Divorce papers files by a woman who claims to have been his secret wife for the past 27 years
d) A cherry pie baked by one of his supporters


11) Which legal argument has Pope Benedict XVI recently used to deny liability for his role in allegedly covering up sexual abuse at a Houston church in the 1990s?

a) He has never been to Texas
b) As Pope, he has diplomatic immunity
c) The statute of limitations has expired
d) God has found him innocent


12) And most recently, what did Pop Benedict XVI implore Catholics worldwide to do “for the good of society”?

A) Be more tolerant
B) Be more charitable
C) Have more babies
D) Stop suing the church for sexual abuse


ANSWERS
1) D
2) B
3) D
4) A
5) D
6) F
7) C and E
8) A
9) D
10) A
11) B
12) C