For those of you who don't know me or my writing will not know my dislike of organised religion in all of its myriad disguises.
Now I know that the Pope has died recently, and I feel some sadness at his passing as he was aleader in the true sense of the word - inspirational and well loved and not afraid to speak his mind on certain issues. Now that he has passed on we are into the business of watching one of the most secretive bodies in the world preparing to pick a new Pope. Already this process is dogged with controversy...
...and as I am sure you are aware there are still very sensitive issues surrounding the whole role of the Catholic church in a number of places in the world. Remember Cardinal Laws? Lots of American abuse victims do. He has been chosen to lead one of the memorial Masses and a lot of people in the US are rightly upset by this decision.
But why are they surprised by this? This is the Catholic Church! It has a long and proud history of being insensitive to others, ignoring their pleas, their wishes and just rolling on as if the world is still stuck in the 15th century. You are dealing with an organisation that knew what the Reich was doing in the concentration camps during WW2 and turned a blind eye (but bravo to the individual priests and nuns who did help), that had a nun implicated in the Rwandan massacres, that every single day with its hard line on condoms condems thousands of Africans to death. An organisation that, as Spanish explorers butchered the Incas and Aztecs in Central and South America in the name of God, welcomed the chance to convert these heathens.
Organised religion is hypocracy incarnate. It is, and always has been, "Do as I say and not as I do". Televangelists in the US with their financial scandals and hookers telling you that greed and lust is a sin (god , you're going straight to hell!) but yet tens of thousands still believe in them. Belief is a pwerful thing and it will be exploited by people who are able to do so.
There is nothing wrong with believing. There is nothing wrong with accepting that there may well be a God and some things are beyond our understanding. As intelligent people I hope we can differentiate between belief in something better against the dogma of a religion that has their own best interests at heart.
Posted by AlexC at April 10, 2005 09:15 AMHeh. Just moved in & already flame-baiting :-)
Anyway, even as an atheist, I'd have to say your brush is a little broad with this line:
"Organised religion is hypocracy incarnate."
Smaller congregations can be well organized, but still sincere. But I do believe that when an organization becomes large enough that it becomes economical to make fund-raising its own department from a division of labour standpoint, then with that detachment comes a window of opportunity for exploitation.
The Catholic Church passed this point centuries ago.
Posted by: Harvey at April 10, 2005 07:24 PMThe whole concept of "organised religion" is redundant - period. Sally used to do all this kind of religious studies stuff (product of a Cathloic school I think) and it says even in the Bible "you don't need a church, you can worship me anywhere at any time". So what does organised religion do exactly? Control? You betcha!
Small congregations are not included in this because I think that they provide a service to the community, but the organisations they are attached to are wrong in their moral and social controls. We (socially) have evolved past that point now - it is not the Victorian era or the Dark Ages now and the structures that organisations like the Catholic church are obsolete to say the least and need to adapt to the realities of what the world is like now, not what they would like it to be like.
To prove the point, Brasil is the largest catholic country in the world with 124 million (estimated) practicing catholics yet they are incredibly bitter at how their church has treated them and saw the passing of the Pope as a new beginning for them and their church, but I wonder how disappointed they will be...
Posted by: Alex at April 10, 2005 07:41 PM*Ahem* I studied that academically after leaving Catholic School. It was more of a deconstruction of the myths I'd been taught.
The idea still holds, though. Jesus was openly against the hypocrisy and bigotry inherent in the Jewish system. He opposed the fact that Religious Leaders were making obscene amounts of money from the Faith of Poor.
I honestly can't see that He'd approve of The Vatican, at all. As for Televangelists...
[Wonders why lightning bolt hasn't struck Billy Graham]
:-)
Posted by: Sally at April 10, 2005 08:08 PMCan't resist added another 2 cents. I feel more 'with God' when I meditate under a tree or play in the sandbox with my Hubby and Children.
Side note: Would you fix that 'remember personal info' for mu.nu? Not one mu.nu site I go to keeps my personal info. Figured while you were doing everything else on this new site... what was one more item.
Posted by: vw bug at April 10, 2005 10:06 PMI agree 100%. There's already whispers about making JP2 a saint. His silence as that pedophile enabling arsewipe Law protected human vermin at the expense of faithful children should disqualify him instantly.
Cardinal Law should be in a jail cell.
Bug - if EVERY mu.nu site is a problem, then maybe it's you :-)
Anyway, two things. First, check your cookies to make sure you have one from mu.nu. Second, try getting to the comments via the permalink link instead of directly through the comments link. That seems to help on some sites.
Posted by: Harvey at April 12, 2005 12:28 PMNot jumping in the fray, just saying I'm glad I can comment. Ya hoo!
Posted by: Bou at April 15, 2005 03:45 AMDidn't read the extended entry. Don't wanna go down the road of why I oppose the Catholic Church. Just droppin' by to say "WELCOME TO MUNUVIA"!!! :D
Posted by: Tuning Spork at April 17, 2005 12:45 AMNug, I'm in IE6.0 and all MuNu site remember me. What's yer nrowser?
Posted by: Tuning Spork at April 17, 2005 12:48 AMNug = Bug, btw.
Posted by: Tuning Spork at April 17, 2005 12:48 AMSomething I've noticed with the comments:
If you've commented on one haloscan blog all haloscans remember you. For MT you have to plug it in on each individual blog, regardless of your browser.
Alex,
Although I don't seem to hold the same fervor as you about this subject I do not attend "church". We go through the bible on our own at home and interpret the words as God speaks to us. (currently, I have Exodus through Ruth on my mp3 player.) I was turned off of "organised" religion at a young age and have a erie problem with large groups. (I learned about something called "groupthink".)
I sort of had a problem with JP2 myself but recognize him for being a great man with or without his papality. While I disagreed with many of his ideals he still was the most holy man I have ever seen.
As for your terminally white blog: I do templates fast and efficient. I can provide a portfolio upon request. If you want to do anything with your blog let me know. I work cheap. (currently $24.99 for a skin. No one is that cheap.)
Posted by: Jeremy at April 17, 2005 06:26 AM