This needs to end, it’s disgusting, thousands of innocent lives are being shattered every year. Vatican City has it’s own laws (and banks), and apparently don’t think child mollestation is cause for punishment. By continuing to not dish out any discipline, it almost seems like they feel entitled to do what they please, at the cost to the people that trust in them. Just like most rape/sexual abuse cases, the person is someone usually close to the victim, and someone who has earned their trust. I guess this issue sort of hits close to home for me, for something that happened to my best friend a few years ago. It hurt me to see her cry and not be able to console her, I can only imagine the pain that a parent must feel to learn that it happened to their child.
This ongoing issue, plus the money laundering? All from people who claim they are “god’s representatives on earth” says who!
They need to be punished criminally like ANY other child molester - and I’ve heard about what happens to these type of people in jail…........... id say that seems very appropriate…........ for people who ask others to believe in something so blindly, I wonder how their faith would hold up if they were subjected to the punishments like the rest of society?
I appologize if any of this seems harsh, but the news continues to report these types of things - and it makes me so angry.
It doesn’t seem harsh, but one of the most important aspects of fighting them will be the education and empowerment of those under Catholic Control, and the alleviation of poverty. Until then, they have a captive audience to draw their victims from.
They certainly should be prosecuted, dissassembled, and dispersed. With their huge fortune compensating all the communities they have hurt.
The evidence against the Catholic Church continues to mount, yet otherwise intelligent people continue supporting the institution.
Yes, yes and yes!
Why do they ignore logic to only their faith? People who otherwise make educated decisions and opinions in all other areas of their life based on observation, and factual information…....... why does faith not get held to the same standards? Why can it not be doubted or questioned - even when there is SO much evidence at hand that weighs against what they have come to believe?
When they discovered fossils…........did’nt someone from the church say something like god or the devil placed them there to test your faith? Really….........really?!?!
I don’t understand the mindset of ignoring evidence in favor of faith, which is why I am no longer a Christian. I have discussed the lack of evidence in favor of a deity with many people, and the one common thread I have seen is that most people cannot make it through life without the help of comforting myths. (Thanks to Bertrand Russell for the phrase.)
did’nt someone from the church say something like god or the devil placed them there to test your faith?
I heard this when I attended a Pentecostal seminary in Dallas back in the 1970s. This was my breaking point. One of my friends challenged me to read The Descent of Man From the Apes, and in that book I found the answers I had been seeking. I began asking questions in school. The answer to why would God allow Satan to place fossils in the ground to fool us was Satan has dominion over the Earth. OK. So where did the light between the galaxies come from? Did God place it there to make the Universe appear billions of years old?
The elders of the church placed their hands upon my head and prayed for God to cast the demons out of my soul before they ushered me out the door and told me to not return. I signed up for an introductory astronomy course at the local community college a short time after that incident.
the one common thread I have seen is that most people cannot make it through life without the help of comforting myths
I’ve had people ask me how I find meaning in life without God, or what purpose I serve without religion.
I feel like the more I learn, and the more truth I discover in the world - the more meaningful it becomes. I feel like every time my knowledge of the world grows - so does my curiosity, and it deepens my respect, satisfaction, and understanding of whats around me. The world is so incredible when you stop to think about it, how our hearts continue to beat day after day, how complex some bio-systems are - those teeny tiny microscopic organisms in the ocean that produce oxygen for the rest of the ocean life, looking up in the sky and realizing that we are such a small presence in an infinite universe (as far as we know right now)
Yes, I can understand how it might be comforting to let yourself believe that after this life is over - there’s another place you will go (which place of course, to be determined by how you have lived your life, sins, salvation, etc) Im a big fan of Greek Mythology, and other Historical Myths or Tales, they are entertaining, and often carry a lesson or warning. The sirens, who used to lure sailors to their deaths with their song…........ it’s just a story to warn of temptation.
What are they afraid to lose? You cant lose something you dont have, or have anything taken away from you that doesnt exist.
I know Catholics who are pissed that if and when they put money in the collection plate on Sunday, that money is not going to help the poor in Haiti or where ever, it is going to pay lawsuits from the priest scandals. I don’t think they blame Catholicism. They blame their leadership.
When an organization has the power to manage itself (internal legal & financial systems), you are almost sure to find fraud and corruption.
They live in a fantasy land, and don’t adhere to the laws and policies like the rest of the world. Their time will come, I think their free ride will come to an end soon.
We don’t let corporations audit themselves - so why do churches get to? I think if they were’nt caught in so many scandalous lies, maybe there would be some trust…...........ok probably not, but oh man! I think the day that it all falls apart, and the government finally steps in and audits the accounts from the past hundreds of years -its going to cause MASSIVE riots. Millions of people who have given their time, dedication, and money (which they sometimes cant afford) to the church….......only to find out what they were really funding.
I try not to be so mean about this, but seriously - as an outsider looking in to these priests lying to people, and abusing their power…....... sorry, but they have it coming.
When an organization has the power to manage itself (internal legal & financial systems), you are almost sure to find fraud and corruption.
They live in a fantasy land, and don’t adhere to the laws and policies like the rest of the world. Their time will come, I think their free ride will come to an end soon.
We don’t let corporations audit themselves - so why do churches get to? I think if they were’nt caught in so many scandalous lies, maybe there would be some trust…...........ok probably not, but oh man! I think the day that it all falls apart, and the government finally steps in and audits the accounts from the past hundreds of years -its going to cause MASSIVE riots. Millions of people who have given their time, dedication, and money (which they sometimes cant afford) to the church….......only to find out what they were really funding.
I try not to be so mean about this, but seriously - as an outsider looking in to these priests lying to people, and abusing their power…....... sorry, but they have it coming.
Also I had a friend at work (U.S. Internal Revenue Service) that helped run a number of RC church picnics and bingo games. He was constantly complaining about lack of adequate auditing procedures in running these fund raisers.
It is the default position of large political organizations with international power to cover up.
And that’s what the Roman Catholic Church is, a political body of international scope.
- Gary
I know Catholics who are pissed that if and when they put money in the collection plate on Sunday, that money is not going to help the poor in Haiti or where ever, it is going to pay lawsuits from the priest scandals. I don’t think they blame Catholicism. They blame their leadership.
What they don’t understand is that Catholicism IS the problem. They should be blaming their belief system. Not just the leadership. They are human beings, and human beings are prone to such nonsense whenever they have so much power. Official Catholic doctrine GRANTS these leaders such unwavering authority to do as they please. Religion is the problem here, because it doesn’t allow deep critical thinking to penetrate the system. If it did, religion would start to lose its followers by the droves.
the one common thread I have seen is that most people cannot make it through life without the help of comforting myths
Yes, Bertrand Russell hit the nail on that quote. Its my opinion that this is the chief reason that its so hard to get through to religious persons. They DO have something to lose (in their mind).
the one common thread I have seen is that most people cannot make it through life without the help of comforting myths
Yes, Bertrand Russell hit the nail on that quote. Its my opinion that this is the chief reason that its so hard to get through to religious persons. They DO have something to lose (in their mind).
They simply cannot face the reality that the universe does not give a damn about us. They cannot accept the reality that our lives have no more meaning that what we give them. They cannot accept the reality that when we die we are gone. These concepts cause terror in their hearts, and great sadness.
