Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, former head of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong, openly gave his blessing to the school teacher who verbally abused police officers on duty with sexually explicit foul words. He also asserted that Chief Executive (CE) Leung Chun-ying should not interfere in the matter, saying "instead of telling the police to shut up he (Leung) is making the situation worse by pouring gas over the fire."

The "man of God" went so far as to urge believers to follow foul-mouthed school teacher Lam Wai-sze's example and verbally abuse the CE without fear: "He (Leung) is out of line and deserves your verbal abuse. Go ahead and call him names. I support you!" Swear to God those are his words, translated from Cantonese of course.

In Cantonese the "f-word" is considered an expression of perversion. One of the Ten Commandments mentioned in the Bible is "Thou shalt not commit adultery (You shall not commit adultery)", which refers to any sexual intercourse outside legal marriage, including the thought and verbal and/or visual depiction of such. Given his distinguished position in the Catholic Church Cardinal Zen must know the Bible inside out, including the definition of "adultery". If he truly meant what he said above, it is safe to say Cardinal Zen has turned into the devil's advocate by supporting and encouraging sexually-explicit invective.

Lam's repeated use of the "f-word" against policemen and policewomen on duty was not a "slip of the tongue". As a core member of a group by the name of "F**k Your Mother's Whore Hole Department" in Cantonese alliteration, she simply enjoys calling others names and telling them she wants to rape them. The free-spirited organization has its own uniform and Lam has no problem wearing it in public to show the whole world what a proud f**ker she is. Would you like her to be your children's teacher?

The Bible (in the Book of Genesis) tells a story about how God is so upset by the sinful behavior of Sodom residents he burns their city to the ground. In Christianity this story serves as a warning to believers that they must not do anything the Lord forbids or they will burn in hell. According to the Holy Bible even thinking about or discussing adultery and other sins is in violation of the Lord's teachings. That explains why the Pope always finds it necessary to criticize in public addresses the decadent ways of many people around the world these days. One may wonder if the current Pope in the Vatican agrees with Cardinal Zen over the strong support and encouragement the latter gives Lam and basically all Catholics in Hong Kong to follow her example.

Come to think of it, Zen may very well be the first cardinal in the history of the church to openly defy the Lord in such an intimate yet dramatic fashion. And people should not be surprised, considering the fact that he has long been fighting for the Catholic Diocese's right to run schools on its own, free of the mundane worries and irreverent interference of the layman government. And Lam is a teacher at a well-known missionary school in Hong Kong. Her obsession with foul language and zeal to mold the younger generation in her own bigoted image is apparently not the concern of His Eminence the Reverend Cardinal Zen. The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong is his to use for whatever he wants to achieve. If he says it is okay for believers to verbally abuse the CE, police officers or anyone they hate, it must be just fine with the Lord as well.

Zen also believes the Education Bureau has no business in what Lam does as a teacher and it "crossed the line" by investigating her outrageous behavior toward police officers on duty. He encouraged Catholics to call Leung Chun-ying names because the CE told the Education Bureau to look into the incident. He obviously does not care how many parents are deeply worried about their children's future if teachers like Lam are allowed to fill their minds with dirty ideas, and the CE's request was in response to growing public demand for preventive action for their children's sake.

The author is a current affairs commentator.

(HK Edition 08/17/2013 page6)