Because being called out on harboring child molesters is JUST LIKE being persecuted

[laceblade]

I don't usually love Maureen Dowd, but I've gotta say that every time in the last two weeks that I've wanted to write a blog post about how much I despise Benedict XVI and the priests who represent the face of Catholicism to the world, she goes ahead and does it for me. It's just...UGH. IT IS HOLY WEEK, SIR. HAVE A LITTLE HUMILITY. Instead of saying shit like "We will overcome the people who are being mean to me right now!" How about saying, "I crawl on my knees and ask forgiveness for the horrible things I've done. AND NOW PEOPLE WILL GO TO JAIL FOR WHAT THEY DID."
I also liked A Nope for Pope.

I am so disgusted right now.

And the next time that someone asks me, "Why are you still Catholic?" or "How do you feel about that?" they will get kicked in the neck.

I FEEL REALLY GOOD ABOUT CHILDREN GETTING MOLESTED, THANKS FOR ASKING.

When congressmen molest boys, nobody says, "Shit, I'm going to stop being American!"
Nobody says, "Wow, doesn't that make you want to stop feeling patriotic?"
Nobody says, "Wow, so Mark Foley molested a boy. How do you feel about that?"
Because those questions are absurd and the answers are self-evident.

But when the situation is about a different aspect of someone's identity - their faith - THAT SHIT IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT, and it's okay to be abhorrently inappropriate.



.....OR IS IT?!

Comments

[wrdnrd]

I have not very often gotten the "How can you be a Christian considering [X horrible thing they've done]??", but i like to respond with, "Those horrible things were done by humans -- how do YOU feel?"

[lilaia.livejournal.com]

I think the difference is the Catholic Church holds itself up as an arbiter of morality and moreover expects people who aren't Catholics to live by those morals.

It is also true that the actions of a few do not mean the Church as a whole is worthless and that all Catholics should abandon their faith. Rather, if the Church would just admit the wrongdoing and deal with the issues, people would be inclined to be forgiving (of the Church of course not the abusers).

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

And America/the U.S. Congress does not also pretend to be an arbiter of (Christian) morality, expecting people who aren't of the same faith to live by those morals??

I am totally with you on the members of the Church hierarchy needing to own up to their shit - I hope that my post did not convey otherwise.

[lilaia.livejournal.com]

The US Congress has a wider range of views and people and doesn't have only select people standing up every Sunday to preach. America does pretend to be an arbiter of morality but without the same carrot and stick. Other countries can choose not to abide by our rules but they will only lose out on aid money, not be told they will burn in Hell.

And no, I didn't mean that you didn't believe the Church has to own up. I meant it's not right for people to ask you why you are still a Catholic, as if the actions of those few were the actions of the whole.

[raanve]

When congressmen molest boys, nobody says, "Shit, I'm going to stop being American!"

Yeah, this was exactly the point I made the other day when someone was questioning why lay Catholics wouldn't just abandon the faith because of (what is often viewed as) rampant corruption in the Church hierarchy. Thing is, as you say, we don't stop believing in democracy because high-level representatives of democracy are corrupt. I hardly think that the weight of most of these wrongs rests on the laity.

Of course I can understand where they're coming from, I guess, even though those questions are absurd and insulting. I just haven't really heard those sorts of questions (aimed at the Roman Catholic Church, anyway) that come from Catholics. And even as someone who has left the Church, and does not intend to go back, I still am of the opinion that the lay Catholics are the victims here. But that doesn't mean that the whole faith ought to be tossed -- and I certainly know how difficult it is to leave the faith, even when one wants to.

Anyway. I think it's totally disrespectful to blame this stuff on parishoners and lay Catholics. And I am right there with you in my opinion of Pope Benedict.

[homo-nescius.livejournal.com]

I never thought of that politician analogy before, but it really is perfect! (Not that I've ever gone around demanding people justify their faiths to me).

Reading those articles was "liek whoa." It's tough to see so many Wisconsin examples.

Anyway, as far as the issue of the church goes, I get it, I really do. People have told me over and over that the hatred from stubbornness and vagueness is better than the hatred that comes with admitting failure - and in some ways I believe it. There's something in people's perspective that makes acknowledgment profoundly important. It's even more of a distinction when you consider that the Catholic church is an institution, not a person.

For argument's sake, I get the church's position. If it takes responsibility for the past, it loses a lot more face and future benefit of the doubt, even though people are already upset and many people already know that the evils occurred. Furthermore, with a history of war, genocide, and child molestation, it can't get much worse, so I really don't think they're digging themselves into any deeper of a hole by putting off an apology.

And yet, in spite of the things people say to me about putting up a flawless cover, as an individual I still admit weaknesses, even if I know it's not in my best interests. It doesn't even occur to me not to. It's a battle of pragmatism versus idealism in an institution that is part business, part role model, and part lantern in the darkness.