Back to talking about the Catholic Church, Communion and politics.
During the recent election, abortion rights advocates (Democrats) beat the hell out of right-to-life, anti-abortion Republicans. In the State of Michigan, a majority of Catholics voted against the Church. So, does the Church excommunicate them, deny them Communion or what.
The first thing to understand is that the Catholic Church is not a democracy; it is a Vatican dictatorship – they make the rules and that is that. The only option Catholics have if they disagree with the Church is to leave and join another, more progressive, religion as many Catholics already have or remain silent and vote their conscience.
There is another option that is actually taken by quite a few Catholics and that is to remain in the Church but actively campaign for change. There are a number of Catholic groups that advocate for the right of priests to marry as well as allowing women to become priests. There is even a Catholic group that calls itself Catholics for Choice (pro-choice).
Recently, the American Anglican / Episcopalian Church suffered a number of defections on the issue of allowing gay priests; they already allow women to be priests. The defections were by those that do not support the Church’s gay position. I guess American Catholics could also form a separate Catholic Church but I have never heard of that happening or even being discussed; the tie with the Vatican appears to be crucial for all Catholics since the Vatican teaches that the Vatican (Popes) have ties all the way to Jesus (Peter being the first Pope) which is untrue but most Catholics believe it.
So what am I trying to say, that a majority of Catholics are basic hypocrites? They want to remain part of the Catholic Church but not follow the Church’s teachings? I must logically assume that these Catholics do not believe that the Vatican speaks for God and therefore any and all of the Church’s pronouncements can be challenged as the views of mere mortals that are also old and celibate men with no worldly experience with normal life on this planet.
This does not mean that all Catholics feel the same way and many are just sheep or lemmings if you prefer, but in my experience with Catholics, especially the old ones, I do not detect a belief in the need for absolute obedience to Vatican teachings. The Church has not helped itself in this matter by reversing some of their long held beliefs and practices after centuries. Remember the no meat on Friday rule; all children that die before being baptized go to either hell or purgatory, purgatory no longer exists (did it ever?) and how about cremation is not allowed because you will need your body intact for Judgment Day (bodies rot don’t they?).
I guess what all this comes down to is that the Catholic Church in America has a huge presence but that the members belong only out of habit because they were born into it. They attend Mass out of habit, standing and kneeling and accepting Communion, all out of mindless habit and because they were taught that if you didn’t attend the mind numbing Mass every week, you would go to hell – so there.
During the recent election, abortion rights advocates (Democrats) beat the hell out of right-to-life, anti-abortion Republicans. In the State of Michigan, a majority of Catholics voted against the Church. So, does the Church excommunicate them, deny them Communion or what.
The first thing to understand is that the Catholic Church is not a democracy; it is a Vatican dictatorship – they make the rules and that is that. The only option Catholics have if they disagree with the Church is to leave and join another, more progressive, religion as many Catholics already have or remain silent and vote their conscience.
There is another option that is actually taken by quite a few Catholics and that is to remain in the Church but actively campaign for change. There are a number of Catholic groups that advocate for the right of priests to marry as well as allowing women to become priests. There is even a Catholic group that calls itself Catholics for Choice (pro-choice).
Recently, the American Anglican / Episcopalian Church suffered a number of defections on the issue of allowing gay priests; they already allow women to be priests. The defections were by those that do not support the Church’s gay position. I guess American Catholics could also form a separate Catholic Church but I have never heard of that happening or even being discussed; the tie with the Vatican appears to be crucial for all Catholics since the Vatican teaches that the Vatican (Popes) have ties all the way to Jesus (Peter being the first Pope) which is untrue but most Catholics believe it.
So what am I trying to say, that a majority of Catholics are basic hypocrites? They want to remain part of the Catholic Church but not follow the Church’s teachings? I must logically assume that these Catholics do not believe that the Vatican speaks for God and therefore any and all of the Church’s pronouncements can be challenged as the views of mere mortals that are also old and celibate men with no worldly experience with normal life on this planet.
This does not mean that all Catholics feel the same way and many are just sheep or lemmings if you prefer, but in my experience with Catholics, especially the old ones, I do not detect a belief in the need for absolute obedience to Vatican teachings. The Church has not helped itself in this matter by reversing some of their long held beliefs and practices after centuries. Remember the no meat on Friday rule; all children that die before being baptized go to either hell or purgatory, purgatory no longer exists (did it ever?) and how about cremation is not allowed because you will need your body intact for Judgment Day (bodies rot don’t they?).
I guess what all this comes down to is that the Catholic Church in America has a huge presence but that the members belong only out of habit because they were born into it. They attend Mass out of habit, standing and kneeling and accepting Communion, all out of mindless habit and because they were taught that if you didn’t attend the mind numbing Mass every week, you would go to hell – so there.
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