One of our esteemed members decided to post an article concerning a religion where he stated:
I should comment that I am pretty much against the Catholic Church
Some of the reasons he stated are historical, if somewhat prejudicial, and are ones that the Church in the modern era has had to deal with in their quest to return to its roots - that of being a faith based, and not a political based organization. And some are an attempt to bestow upon an fallible organization a measure of perfection that does not exist in this world. And still others are a gross mis-interpretation of a teaching that many do not understand, yet continue to decry and denounce in their ignorance.
Let us look at these three different aspects of these accusations.
The first is easy enough to identify. They deal with Historical facts. The inquisition, the heresy of Galileo, and the Crusades. All of these are historical facts, that are undeniable. And to deny them would be akin to denying the holocaust. But they are historical. The implication in the linked article is that since these were done in the name of the Church, then all descendants must bear the shame of those forefathers. That those descendants must renounce their faith, because the Church (not the faith) is imperfect and has done evil. They are guilty, because their ancestors are guilty. And not even necessarily their ancestors, but the acquaintances of some of their ancestors.
It matters not that the descendants have apologized for those deeds. It matters not that the descendants have repudiated the deeds. It matters only that those deeds were committed by the fathers, and thus the sins must be visited upon the children.
Now we come to the point where this faith based organization must know not only all that has been, but all that will be. In 1933, the Church signed a concordat with a sovereign nation stating they would get out of Politics. Something they had been in since Constantine back during the Roman Empire. Something they were never meant to be. And something they should never have been. And yet, into the 20th century, they were still involved with the remnants of the Holy Roman Empire. So they got out. By signing an agreement with the government of Germany. At the time, a democratically elected government whose primary concerns were not with ruling the world (that would come later), but in getting the country out of the worst depression they had ever seen.
While this was a mistake, at the time, no one knew the evil that was to occur under the new leadership of Germany. But we are to believe, again, that this is a heinous crime. And the crime was in not being omniscient. They should have known that the evil was to come, and never signed the agreement, and that they did sign it before the evil was perpetrated upon the world, is irrelevant. For they must be omniscient. Because people say they are.
And because they signed this agreement, then all the works of the Catholics throughout Europe, those who sacrificed their lives for the persecuted, was just a dog and pony show. Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. hey! They must have been pretending.
Finally we come to modern day deeds. Yes, what WE do today WE are responsible for. At least in most circles. But what did the Church do in the current day? There are 2 charges.
One: The participation in the genocide in Rwanda by priests and nuns,
Two: Hundreds of years (no kidding or exaggeration) of tacitly permitting the sexual abuse of parishioners, specifically including children, by priests
That is right. The church and all 1.1 billion members participated in the genocide in Rwanda. And not another soul in the world did so. Nope, none of the other 5 billion people participated, just the 1 billion Catholics. And how did they participate? How many people were killed by Catholics? Well, that gets kind of murky, since even the author does not indicate that a single Catholic raised up arms against the Hutus and Tutsis. NO, the only allegation is that they did nothing. But the other 5 billion people sure did a lot, right? They sure stopped the massacre from happening! I remember well, the brigades of Americans (non-catholic of course), Israelis, English, French, and Germans marching in there to stop this slaughter. I remember it very well. Maybe you do as well?
But not the Catholics. Not a single Catholic sacrificed their lives for that massacre.
And the pedophilia? Yep! A crime that did not exist prior to it being discovered in the church, and what is even better, would not exist were it not for the church. And its 1 billion members! That is right! You heard it here first! The Church, and its 1 billion members are all pedophiles, or so we are to believe. Because only Catholics are pedophiles, and they must all be because we have found some priests that are.
Forget those men behind the curtain: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,286153,00.html
Forget the hundreds of instances where headlines have blared that "This teacher and that teacher" is convicted of it (they must all be Catholics too). Forget all the felons rotting in jail (they are all Catholics too). Just concentrate on the 13,000 charges (not all proven yet - except the fact they are Catholics) in the last 50 odd years against those evil Catholics. Do away with those Catholics, and problem solved! You do not need to worry about any one else!
No way is it possible that perhaps those inclined to pedophilia are attracted to occupations that put them in contact with children. No, all those teachers are Catholics, all those Felons are Catholics, and all those Protestant ministers, Jewish Rabbis and Muslim Imams are really Catholics in disguise. Problem solved. The final solution is to kill all the Catholics.
Then we have this statement: When Ratzinger was a Cardinal, he helped conceal the severity of the problem. And this is the man that has the audacity to say that you are "wounded" in your beliefs if you do not acknowledge him?
Yes, the author now is an expert on theology, and knows more about interfaith dialog than any one else. So he can now state the intent and reason for the claim of "wounded" irregardless of its context: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288976,00.html
Let just pretend again that the Pope (who is all Catholics after all), is again saying that, now not only all Muslims are evil (Exact quote from Manuel Il Paleologus, a Byzantine Emperor, not a pope):
Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached
Since he quotes a historical text to a CLASS on theology, he must have originated the quote, and firmly believes in it. Just like the statement he re-released recently that the experts in the media took to be a slam on protestant churches, instead of what it was. A re-statement of a working paper for the reconciliation of all Christian faiths. "The wound" that is talked about is reflected in the Popes belief that his faith is the right one. But as we can guess from these wanna-bee Theological experts in the mainstream media and elsewhere, ONLY Catholics believe that. All other people of faith must then believe that their faith is not the right one, and they are just waiting on a street corner for a bus to come along with a better one.
I guess we have 5 billion people that just cant wait to find a better creed and faith.
And finally we get to the last item. One corrected so many times, it truly boggles the mind that people would continue to perpetrate it. I guess some just love to revel in their ignorance instead of trying to discern the truth, or even seeking it. Even worse, when presented with the truth, they chose to ignore it, because ignorance is so much more fun. But for the record:
Pope ... ....always correct and infallible...
Is incorrect. The pope is only infallible when he goes Ex-cathedra, which means speaking for the faithful, and that has occurred only twice in the last 500 years. All the other times, he is speaking as the leader of the faithful - much like Bush speaks for all Americans (ha ha). He is the head teacher, as the role of priest has its roots in the Jewish faith, and that of the Rabbi - which means teacher, his words carry more weight than the other teachers and the students. But last I checked, no teacher is right all the time, and no man is either. And the Pope, outside of his role as head teacher, is just that. A man.
So please, slam those 1 billion plus Catholics for all these sins. We can even make a special place for them, since they are all evil and do only evil. But at least get your facts right when you are marching them to the gallows.