Posts

Catholics Have Paid $5 Billion in Sexual Abuse Cases

Image
First, the Catholic denomination should be praised for disclosing the settlements that have been paid. Second, there are other places sexual abuse happens, especially Protestant churches. Focusing on the Catholic denomination, however, helps us understand the evil side of Christianity. The sphere of our society that claims the high road of moral superiority has no grounds to make its claim. One of the questions those in the Catholic faith and those outside of it wonder is whether the end of the abuse claims is in sight or if many other claims are still out there. Recently the Diocese of Long Islan paid $323 million to victims. All parishes in the diocese had to find some of this money even if some dioceses had no claims against them. The Bishop of Lond Island said most of the bad priests did their abuse before he was even born. He would like to think he was not responsible. Yet, he admitted, all in the faith need to take ownership. It borders on the unthinkable that people of limited m...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Cause of Population Decline Cannot be Denied

Image
  What will the world be like when its population stops growing and begins to decline. I suppose its accurate to say none of us cares so much about what the world will be like as we care about what it will be like for us or for those family members who will be alive when that time comes.  When societies were agrarian, children made a positive contribution to a families' standard of living. They worked in the fields as soon as they were able. More children meant more money. Now children are an expense much larger than any income they might bring into the family. More children reduce the standard of living of a family. There are other social science theories, religious and cultural values, etc., all play some role in the number of children but surely economics I'm convinced economics remains the largest factor.    If I'm correct it is economics that drives the birth rate to be lower than the rate of death, it seems inevitable there will be a large drop in world populat...
Post a Comment
Read more

Italian Gay Men Now Welcomed as Priests

Image
The dramatic turnaround for gay men in the Catholic Church has arrived without much fanfare. The Pope has approved out gay men as candidates to the priesthood in Italy. They, like their heterosexual colleagues, are to remain celibate.  We have to remember Italy is the location of the Vatican itself. The Pope has complained in the past about what he calls "The Gay Lobby." He never explained what he meant. It may very well have been gay men in the Vatican or employees who live nearby but work in the Vatican, i.e. locals.  If you were in the Pope's shoes, how would you handle the argument that straight men profess celibacy and are priests but gay men who profess celibacy are not allowed? This is identical to saying white men can be priests but black men cannot. Even if you think gay sex is sin there is no reason to discriminate against those men who do not sin. The Catholic faith has impaled itself on its own sword. In 2005 a Vatican document said men who have deep seated ho...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Prosperity Gospel is Not a Christian Outlier

Image
Preacher Joel Osteen reportedly is worth about $100 million. He is the lead preacher of a church but does not take a salary because he makes so much money from his books and big events on the road. At each performance, I have heard, he holds up a Bible but does not refer to it otherwise. One of his powerful shouts to the audience is "Jesus wants you to succeed." Both parts of both the Christian and secular communities scoff at Osteen with his riches and Christian-lite message. Yet, the marriage of Christianity and prosperity is as valid as that of Christianity and poverty. Yes, Jesus was supposed to have said the likelihood of a rich person getting into heaven is the same as that of a camel passing through the eye of a needle. But, if "tradition" has a legitimate place in the faith then personal wealth has a seat alongside poverty. The group considered quite pious, the Puritans, approved of making money. Joel Osteen was approved by the Puritans.  There was some chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Catholics and Soviets Cannot Self Correct

Image
When an institution of any kind makes a big mistake and says, "The people in charge at the time did not understand what they were doing. We now understand their mistakes. Our institution continues providing the high quality, truthfulness and integrity that has always been its mission." be skeptical.  The best example of this that appears almost every day is the Catholic Church. I remember decades ago watching a Catholic TV show where the host said, "That our church was wrong back in history does not mean at all that it is wrong today. Quite the contrary." What he meant was that leaders of the church were wrong but the church itself was not wrong.  Pope Fracis used precisely the same shell game recently. He apologized for mistreatment of children in Catholic Indian schools. He said the people who ran the schools should not have abused those children. He made the same remarks about past treatment of Jews and racial segregation. Priests who sexually abused children had...
Post a Comment
Read more

Right Wing Theory: California Fires Were Caused by Gays

Image
  A TV reporter was doing on the street interviews with people getting views about the California fires. A man she randomly chose to interview told her, "It was caused by the gays." Apparently, this was live so the interviewer quickly said she disagreed with that. Gays have been blamed for everything so why not the fire in CA.  I'm interested in the insurance aspect of these fires. It appears to my amateur observation that the value of the damage will be much greater than the damage in Florida by hurricanes.  I read that some insurance companies, including State Farm, cancelled a large number of customers recently because it felt there was a serious fire risk and the claims would outrun its ability to paid them. Other companies also cancelled their customers. A woman was interviewed who said her company cancelled her a day or two before the fires started. Apparently, there is some kind of state government supported insurance but not everyone has this. As these climate rel...
Post a Comment
Read more

California Fires: Clergy Hurry to Taker God Off the Hook

Image
The Freedom From Religion Foundation started a secure site several years ago for clergy who secretly no longer believe the tenets of Judeo Christianity. Some of them have left the field and many still feel trapped and need to make house payments and support their families. Apparently, the site has a large number of subscribers. One of the ex clergy said, "One of the unpleasant requirements of being in the clergy business is to take God off the hook, to make sure that when disasters happen the disasters are not blamed on God. The Sunday following a disaster a take-God-off-the-hook sermon is required."  You can be certain take-God-off-the-hook sermons are being written at this moment for sermons coming up this Sunday. The fire story is so large these sermons will be required across the country. A prominent Rabbi just published his version today.  He wrote that God is not in Southern California where to fires remain. He has no explanation for the fires but suggested that God wil...
Post a Comment
Read more