Yep... the problem with religion (as opposed to faith) is that its dogmatic nature means that it takes many centuries to update with the times. The issue of female rights, for example, is something that they are slow to pick up on. I am actually surprised that the EU has not hit the Pope with an equal rights suit based on thier non equal opportunities employment policy

As for things being 'in the bible', I agree... there are a lot of things that are in there (and many which can be read in different ways to mean different things) but also many things claimed to be in there are not. Some Christians just need to actually read the damn thing rather than just assuming stuff that is in there. However, Adriana, the Catholics have an advantage on this than many other denominations. Most of the Catholic rules that are not in the bible are in fact papal bulls. Since the concept of the pope being the representative of god on earth is set by biblical precedent, if he makes a bull then it is god's law. Even if it contradicts a previous one. So, this is how they get away with saying things that are god's will that aren't in the bible

I do know that a lot of catholics left the church in disgust following the rulings of Vatican II which maintained the rule against contraception. I beleive the rule was originally in place because before the existence of the pill and reliable barrier methods the only 'contraception' available to women were in fact no more than early stage abortificeants - the herbal equivilent of the morning after pill. If you are being literal about the 'thou shalt not kill' rule then use of an abortificeant is murder therefore all contraception is murder. They just did not update this to take into account the fact that with modern contraception you don't get pregnant in the first place therefore there is no 'loss of life'.