And on the other hand, they are wrong on issues. Birth control. Homosexuality. Women as priests. Abortion. They're wrong.
The courage of my convictions is that I'm willing to fight to make them better.
And this, right here, is the crux of the equation.
Because it's not A La Carte. You can't put charitable works and the sanctity of the sacristy on your plate and leave off homophobia and birth control. You get the whole package with your membership. If you think their views and policies are wrong, then as you say you have to actively fight them.
Because these are the positions of your church, and when you declare your membership in that church to an outsider, that outsider is going to ascribe those positions to you. And when Benedict makes this kind of horrible statement, it reflects on you.
Put bluntly, the Catholic Church, in the person of the Pope -- the Leader who was given the Keys to Heaven as Christ gave them to Peter in founding said Church, by Catholic doctrine -- has stated that Birth Control is a sin and homosexuality is an abomination. If you find those positions reprehensible, you have to do so actively and loudly, or else you're going to be counted on that side of the equation.
Because I promise you -- I promise you -- that when lawmakers are considering appropriate legislation on these issues, representatives of your Church are saying "the one hundred and seventy-three million American Catholics agree with us on this." And those lawmakers believe them.
Do I seem angry? It's because I am. And like I said in the title, I'm not inclined to be 'fair' right now. Not when the avowed leader of one point one billion Catholics is making horrible statements like this one. If Catholics don't pitch a fit about it, then it does a huge amount of damage to people who've already suffered plenty.
Honestly, whether or not you forswear the Catholic church, why you wouldn't want to denounce that statement, completely and unequivocally, as bigoted, hateful, and innately unChristian is beyond me. Christ knows (no pun intended) I wouldn't want anyone thinking otherwise.
no subject
And this, right here, is the crux of the equation.
Because it's not A La Carte. You can't put charitable works and the sanctity of the sacristy on your plate and leave off homophobia and birth control. You get the whole package with your membership. If you think their views and policies are wrong, then as you say you have to actively fight them.
Because these are the positions of your church, and when you declare your membership in that church to an outsider, that outsider is going to ascribe those positions to you. And when Benedict makes this kind of horrible statement, it reflects on you.
Put bluntly, the Catholic Church, in the person of the Pope -- the Leader who was given the Keys to Heaven as Christ gave them to Peter in founding said Church, by Catholic doctrine -- has stated that Birth Control is a sin and homosexuality is an abomination. If you find those positions reprehensible, you have to do so actively and loudly, or else you're going to be counted on that side of the equation.
Because I promise you -- I promise you -- that when lawmakers are considering appropriate legislation on these issues, representatives of your Church are saying "the one hundred and seventy-three million American Catholics agree with us on this." And those lawmakers believe them.
Do I seem angry? It's because I am. And like I said in the title, I'm not inclined to be 'fair' right now. Not when the avowed leader of one point one billion Catholics is making horrible statements like this one. If Catholics don't pitch a fit about it, then it does a huge amount of damage to people who've already suffered plenty.
Honestly, whether or not you forswear the Catholic church, why you wouldn't want to denounce that statement, completely and unequivocally, as bigoted, hateful, and innately unChristian is beyond me. Christ knows (no pun intended) I wouldn't want anyone thinking otherwise.