what the fuck... "criticised"? their "handling"? the way that sentence was put, it makes it seem like sex abuse scandal is like a business, and the Pope is offering criticism to improve the handling of little boy sex. should be: The Pope is enraged and furious over US bishops roles in sex abuse scandals
Christians don't get enraged or infuriated at other Christians. They save their anger for those poor souls that subscribe to alternative religious doctrine.
I'll say it again, the Catholic church should be prosecuted under federal racketeering statutes. Like any other business who has had employees rape customers, they shouldn't be just angry, they should be turning over evidence and doing everything in their power to assist in the prosecution of these former employees.
^i agree.... this is a fucking disgrace... why give em special treatment... those assholes are a bunch of animals... prosecute their asses instead of talking n hey if u ever wonder where ur money went if u donated to one of their churches now u know...
the pope should stop the stupid no marriage rule or whatever it is, children are not a substitute for a wife.
^ do you think that stopping priests from having wives makes them into pedophiles? Or, alternatively, that having wives would cause the ones with pedophilic tendencies to give them up? Being a priest gives an individual a certain amount of power over another group of individuals, ie. his flock. It puts that person in a position of trust with everyone in his community. A lot of people get off on that sort of arrangement, especially when they know they can easily take advantage of people's vulnerabilities; and children are the most vulnerable of all. I concur with Ralph, at this point in history the Catholic Church is essentially just a multi-billion dollar, international corporation, and should be treated accordingly.
^ being power hungry or a control freak is one thing but are you implying that being in a position of power makes one a paedophile? I for one wont pretend to know its cause for certain, but i do believe depriving priests from normal relationships with a wife may be one of the causes some them to look elsewhere. im not saying a wife is the cure, but i belive it may have prevented many cases, the bible makes clear that only some people have the ability to abstain but as for the rest of us, we are to get a wife or we will fall into sexual sin in some way or another. maybe a lot of people who are pedophiles join the priesthood... i belive in a day of judgment so i will wait until then.
Im not catholic so im not sticking up for them BUT you have to realise that nowadays people are NOT forced to convert, all those that were forced are dead and people are free to do what they want now, i think today's society proves that. the RCC is still growing though isnt it... So why is the RCC so popular today?
^ is it seriously still growing? i thought someone told me less ppl go to church these days..... the guy told me ppl rather like to "play god" themselves these days =/
^ In some parts of the world its rising, it also depends on your definition of a RCC, if its means person who goes church then its declining in the west. i dont know tooo much as im not catholic, so i only know the basics >.<
Think of how Catholicism was spread in the past. Europeans forced natives to convert and over time the practice of Catholicism became second nature. Think of what the scenario would look like if Europeans didn't sail across the salty lake and forced people to convert? Odds are, the bulk of Catholics would still be in Europe.
i highlighted the word 'past', lets talk about 'now'. Now people are what they want to be, your gona get Catholics in china and Buddhists in England, religions spread, and none has an advantage over the other in terms of being spread unless your in an Islamic state. just because your parents are catholic or anything else does not mean your gona be catholic, thats just silly, when a person is of age they decide for themselves. if the 'second nature' theory was true then europe, the home of the RCC would be completly full of catholics. anyway thats my opinon on this uninteresting matter.
Based on what you said, it is very clear that you read up that point in my thread and either did not read any further or did not put 2 and 2 together. My point is, their aggressive approach at converting people is why they have so much influence in today's society. Even though you may be right about having a different religion than ones parent. Those who do break from their family's religion are either 1) in the minority or 2) was from a family where the religion was not practiced regularly. On the whole, a typical family who practices a religion will often stick with that religion even when the parents pass and the children become adults. It's like the old saying "old habits are hard to break".
The Roman Catholic Church has evolved just as its individual followers have evolved. You won't find a rational Catholic who has anything positive to say about forced conversions like the Inquisition...the same thing is true about these scandals. It's unfair to discredit an entire belief system based on the actions of a few. Just because priests are the most publicized and public, they're still a tiny minority of religious followers, and obviously their actions are condoned by none. As for aggressive conversion, that's not isolated to Christianity or Catholicism, though it probably does explain its widespread influence today.
