Catholics against clericalism

Something to pass along to any friends you know who are trying to reform the Catholic Church.

No offence, but you do realise this is predominantly an atheist forum?

Much as I have a soft spot for those who fight for lost causes…
I’m very much afraid Mrs “O” but I have long ago come to the conclusion that just as much of the catholic church’s priests nuns, bishops ,cardinals and assorted “hangers on” are totally beyond redemption …

so too the institution itself is completely beyond reform.

I applaud your quest to try to cleans and rebuild … but I believe it is doomed to fail …the rot has run far too deep for far too long … and the crumbling edifice was built on sand in the first place… It must inevitably sink into the poisonous swamp of its own creation…

Let it go …

I read the article, and it attempts to minimize the harm John Paul 2 had. He was not a bystander, he was the leader of this despicable practice.

He was also the one who was in charge when Mother Teresa was cannonized. No surprise, both were so old-school they self-flagellated.

John Paul 2 may have a pleasant face and appeared to be a nice person, but he headed up a corrupt organization that preyed on children, and did nothing. He was the supreme leader of an archaic doomsday cult that was appeased by blood sacrifice.

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Of course, I swing by here when I am looking to rant with people who are also furious at the Catholic Church. Also when I think I can give you more ammunition in your debates.

I am a recovering catholic of 50 years.

IMO the best way to improve the catholic Church would be to give all church buildings everywhere a nice new coat of white paint. That should be immediately followed by spraying said buildings with petrol and setting fire to them. :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

@boomer47

That gave me a good laugh. Something that hasn’t been easy lately. Would that also be with the old version of lead paint? Is that more flammable?

Possibly, but it might poison the firemen.

We Aussies revere our emergency responders.

This is a little known fact: Wearing a seat belt in a car is mandatory here, even animals and young children must be secured. Some people think this is to save lives. It isn’t. Seat belts must be warned so that our ambos (para medics) are saved the inconvenience of having to look for the bodies. :sunglasses:

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Although I understand that there are some very strong feelings behind this, and that you are exaggerating, but I will politely disagree here. A better way to improve the Catholic Church would, in my humble opinion, to repurpose the buildings to service the community in a secular manner. For example:

  • shelters for the homeless
  • activity and hobby centers for kids and youths
  • low-threshold medical centers with basic treatment for those who for some reason fall outside whatever medical care system is in place elsewhere in the local community
  • legal aid centers for low-income persons/families
  • libraries
  • museums
  • concert arenas for musicians without recording contracts

I’m sure there are lots of other good purposes these buildings could be used for. It would be a shame to see otherwise good buildings just go up in flames.

Edit: actually, I think my approach might even add insult to injury, so that’s another reason :slight_smile:

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And many of them in modern America and Australia could be bulldozed and social (low rent) housing built upon them…

I like the museum idea for some.

Ever go through wax museums and see the re-created torture devices or prisons of midieval times? shutter

I like to imagine a day when the same is done with entering a place of “worship”. People acknowledging their imaginations, BUT visiting where it was taught as true. shutter

A good start would be to force churches to open their books for audit. IMO reform would begin if people could see where all the money went.

I doubt if the world would ever be cleansed from religion, but at least we can try to get rid of some of the corruption.

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Support Future Church. They are working on financial transparency for bishops and the auditing of finances.

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I like this idea :slight_smile:

[quote=“Get_off_my_lawn, post:10, topic:732”]
Although I understand that there are some very strong feelings behind this, and that you are exaggerating, [/quote]

Oh I say, how astute of you to have noticed.