22nd April 2005, 1:37 PM
No man, I don't think you get it. From a religious standpoint the Church isn't anti-women, in fact they're so pro-women that they give them the greatest duty of bringing new Catholics into the world. The Church has always opposed secular ambition both in the case of men AND women - for someone who seeks to attain Heaven, wealth is superfluous, and should therefore remain in the hands of the Church who will use it for the glory of God (this is why our churches always have way better interior decoration than Protestant churches). The idea that succeeding in life is a good thing, ala the American Dream, is a very Protestant idea that has only recently spread to the Catholic world, in the last 50 years or so, and has always accompanied the secularization of society at large. It's possible that the Church has changed its viewpoint to a certain degree to try and reconcile the secularized ex-Catholics, which I think is a stupid idea - and apparently so does the new Pope - because you're either Catholic or you're not. The modern ideals of life are so far removed from Jesus's original teachings that it's simply idiotic to try and reconcile them like so many people want to - either you're willing to live your life in poverty and prayer, as Jesus did, until you finally die and go to Heaven, or you just fuck off from the Church, period (as I did btw).
Now I realize you couldn't just pick up and leave 50 years ago in the middle of Duplessis's reign, but the fact is that with the arrival of the new secular way of life you *can* pick and choose, so there's no reason for reform within the Church.
As for the Bible not commanding celibacy, that is irrelevant. Once again the idea that the Bible's is God's word is a Protestant tenet and has nothing to do with Catholicism. In Catholicism, the Bible is simply a collection of divinely inspired literature which is left to be interpreted by the Church. If the Church interprets the Bible in a way that makes them think priests ought to remain celibate, then priests will remain celibate.
Also blaming the destruction of the Amazon Forest on the Catholic Church is pretty weak. How about we start with the lumber industry and take it from there?
Now I realize you couldn't just pick up and leave 50 years ago in the middle of Duplessis's reign, but the fact is that with the arrival of the new secular way of life you *can* pick and choose, so there's no reason for reform within the Church.
As for the Bible not commanding celibacy, that is irrelevant. Once again the idea that the Bible's is God's word is a Protestant tenet and has nothing to do with Catholicism. In Catholicism, the Bible is simply a collection of divinely inspired literature which is left to be interpreted by the Church. If the Church interprets the Bible in a way that makes them think priests ought to remain celibate, then priests will remain celibate.
Also blaming the destruction of the Amazon Forest on the Catholic Church is pretty weak. How about we start with the lumber industry and take it from there?