Quote Originally Posted by SadisticNature View Post
I've never really understood how so many nice people can belong to such a ridiculous organization.

The Catholic Church is an organization that continues to exist in almost every country in the world despite it's role in the sexual abuse of minors and its openly declared support for other human rights violations. I don't really understand how any organization that contributes to the sexual abuse of minors can take issue with the morality of legal sexual practices between consenting adults. I think it is a failure of humanity that people actually take their positions seriously.

Furthermore, the office of the pope has not been held by a person without ties to Fascism and Nazism in Germany in the post-war period. In some instances those ties can be taken as errors of youth an Jon Paul II was a fairly liberal pope who was responsible for modernizing the church in a lot of ways and likely not someone one would identify as a Fascist, this is still a disturbing trend. It becomes increasingly clear the church is associated with power and influence. Lacking the successful conversions of the missionary period, they have aggressively rallied against Birth Control of any form in the hopes of rising birthrates among the Catholic populace, hoping to increase influence by controlling a larger portion of the vote in democratic nations. It's disguised in language about "god's will" but I have yet to hear a good answer to why an all-powerful, all-knowing being is defeated by a thin layer of plastic.
This is something i have always thought but dared say in public, but i dont think you can single out Rome and its religion. The Christian church over all has had its fair share of trouble, child abuse, sex scandles. I believe however that it is just the odd blip, but because it is the church, then the press make a meal out of it, it always looks a lot more prevelent than it actually is. I do agree however with SadisticNature that one sixth of the worlds poulation follow a lot of laws made by men that have probably never been with a woman in their life. So therefore you have to ask yourself, what do these preists know about birth, life and and any other subject in married life. Popes notoriously have skeletons in their cupboards and this one was no diferent, i believe he was Brown Shirt scum. Why is it always the bad guys that turn to deep religion, it will make no diference, if you are a monster in life then you are a monster in death. I was Christened Church of England, but at a few weeks old you have no choice, i am not a practicing Christian but i belive in all the Gods new and old, and i dont need an old fart in Rome to tell me how to go about it.

Regards ian