May I take back my confirmation? I cannot believe that I spent years and years of my life in catechism classes so that I would become indoctrinated into a religion that does this and this and this.
When I opened up my news compiler I was given not one, but two instances of the Catholic Church behaving...well in a way that I am sure is befitting of their kind and compassionate mission.
First up, the Vatican felt the great need to emphasize that the Catholic Church does not stand in the way of science. This was decided in time for the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species." And just a few short years ago, they also had pardoned Galileo! However, the atheist notion that evolution proves there is no God is just plain "absurd". I would open the topic up for debate but the church has been quite free wielding with those excommunications.
Despite their neutrality, which gives priests the right to hear murder confessions and not reveal the sources to police, several American bishops did not see their threats of excommunication and withdrawal from receiving sacraments if members of the congregation voted for any politician who did not share the Catholic view of abortion rights as violating neutrality. It didn't matter what else the politician stood for; if he/she was for choice then your vote meant that you were on the outs with god. Your soul was damned. Oh, the right wing candidate was a known racist? Well, he didn't support abortion so vote for him. And remember, we are neutral in politics.
This leads me to the second news story, about a 9 year old rape victim who was pregnant with twins, whose "uterus doesn't have the ability to hold one, let alone two children," who was granted an abortion from a heavily conservative Brazilian court. Being kind and compassionate to her terrible and life risking situation, the archdiocese's representative kindly offered these words of comfort: "we consider this murder." As a follow up, the Brazilian archbishop is seeking to excommunicate her mother and the doctors who assisted in this heinous crime of possibly saving her life. She will not be excommunicated because she is too young. Umm...did you consider her youth and 80 lb frame when ordering her to carry to term?
And to complete the trifecta...when confronted with over 25 millions cases of AIDS, Catholic Bishops of Southern Africa decided against distribution of condoms, because "widespread and indiscriminate promotion" of condoms undermines abstinence and marital fidelity. "Condoms may even be one of the main reasons for the spread of HIV-AIDS." However, they are able to boast that their hospices and hospitals, orphanages and parish outreach provides more direct care for people with AIDS and their families and communities, particularly in Africa and Latin America, than any other institution. So they condemn you for attempting to use safer sex techniques but once you are dying, they will show you kindness and compassion.
The Holy Roman Catholic Church: a bunch of men playing god.
When I opened up my news compiler I was given not one, but two instances of the Catholic Church behaving...well in a way that I am sure is befitting of their kind and compassionate mission.
First up, the Vatican felt the great need to emphasize that the Catholic Church does not stand in the way of science. This was decided in time for the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species." And just a few short years ago, they also had pardoned Galileo! However, the atheist notion that evolution proves there is no God is just plain "absurd". I would open the topic up for debate but the church has been quite free wielding with those excommunications.
Despite their neutrality, which gives priests the right to hear murder confessions and not reveal the sources to police, several American bishops did not see their threats of excommunication and withdrawal from receiving sacraments if members of the congregation voted for any politician who did not share the Catholic view of abortion rights as violating neutrality. It didn't matter what else the politician stood for; if he/she was for choice then your vote meant that you were on the outs with god. Your soul was damned. Oh, the right wing candidate was a known racist? Well, he didn't support abortion so vote for him. And remember, we are neutral in politics.
This leads me to the second news story, about a 9 year old rape victim who was pregnant with twins, whose "uterus doesn't have the ability to hold one, let alone two children," who was granted an abortion from a heavily conservative Brazilian court. Being kind and compassionate to her terrible and life risking situation, the archdiocese's representative kindly offered these words of comfort: "we consider this murder." As a follow up, the Brazilian archbishop is seeking to excommunicate her mother and the doctors who assisted in this heinous crime of possibly saving her life. She will not be excommunicated because she is too young. Umm...did you consider her youth and 80 lb frame when ordering her to carry to term?
And to complete the trifecta...when confronted with over 25 millions cases of AIDS, Catholic Bishops of Southern Africa decided against distribution of condoms, because "widespread and indiscriminate promotion" of condoms undermines abstinence and marital fidelity. "Condoms may even be one of the main reasons for the spread of HIV-AIDS." However, they are able to boast that their hospices and hospitals, orphanages and parish outreach provides more direct care for people with AIDS and their families and communities, particularly in Africa and Latin America, than any other institution. So they condemn you for attempting to use safer sex techniques but once you are dying, they will show you kindness and compassion.
The Holy Roman Catholic Church: a bunch of men playing god.
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