priest

The Trouble with Catholicism
by CJ Davidson

As I was bombarded on every network by images of flock gathering for miles to viddy a glimpse of their shepherd’s putrefying flesh, I suddenly flashed back to ninth grade to days before Karol Wojtla, AKA, Pope John Paul II (PJP2) was sworn in. I was attending a catholic high school and we set up a mock Cardinal Conclave in my Religion class (the males only). I won cardinal most likely to sneak a kilo of hash into the Vatican as well as next Pope most likely to win. The cardinal I posed as wasn’t the cardinal who won, but I enjoyed what fun you could have within a theocratic parochial school. At least this one had girls. (Tense, uptight and quite frustrated, but they were girls) Yippee!
This was the second Pope within the month to be elected. Rumor had it the conservative Church had him rubbed out after learning the radical changes he was about to implement. Anyone remember HIS Pope name?* Or even his real name?
I then thought of the multi-million dollar sex-abuse scandals and the legal combat the church was engaged into trying to make it all go away. I though of all the gold resting under the Vatican plundered by the church throughout the centuries from South and Central America. I thought of the Nazi gold paid to the church by fleeing Nazis after World War II to aid them in their escape from justice. PJP2 insisted upon being buried with this gold under the Vatican, like all the other dead popes. Why was he to be any different? I turned to the History channel only to see one of those mini-infomercials asking me to help feed ultra-poverty stricken children from South and Central America. I scratched my bald head and decided to excrete this…

"Quite an experience to live in fear.
That’s what it is like to be a slave."
Roy Batty – BladeRunner, 1982

I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been one. I’ve witnessed many slaves. I’ve even freed a few. Honestly, it is easier to free people from the physical chains of involuntary bondage than it is to free them from traditional (almost primitive) teachings that bind them to a very abstract and mid-evil philosophy. And why bother? They seem quite happy there.

Objective:

Without demeaning one’s spiritual beliefs in a higher power (like myself), I merely wish to illustrate through FACTS, the origins, the facades and fallacies of Organized Religion, specifically, Catholicism.

I believe I can do this by playing it clean and by the book:

slavery:
Noun
Inflected forms: pl.slav·er·ies 1. The state of one bound in servitude as the property of a slaveholder or household. 2. a. The practice of owning slaves. b. A mode of production in which slaves constitute the principal work force. 3. The condition of being subject or addicted to a specified influence. 4. A condition of hard work and subjection: wage slavery.

"It was at the Age of Enlightenment I learned religion was all bullshit…12"
George Carlin

Karl Marx wrote, "Religion is the Opiate of the masses." Why on earth would he say something so blasphemous as that? Quite simple. It is true. For some reason we equate the unknown with fear. Why? We were taught it. IF we do not submit our minds, spirits (and most recently), our cash, we won’t get that little seal of approval from our "holier than thou" fellow humans. Thus, do what they say or you don’t get to the promised land, heaven, total higher consciousness, whatever. They have you.
Our parents taught us religious dogma. And their parents taught them and so forth up and down the line. For the sake or survival we MUST follow their directions. Ah, but later we unlearn most as crap (i.e. Santa Claws, Easter Bunny, WWF is real, Elvis lives, etc.) and proceed to struggle with common and sometimes harsh realities of our daily lives like excruciating pain, disease, death and Dr. Phil.

: religion
Noun 1. a. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe. b. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship. 2. The life or condition of a person in a religious order. 3. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader. 4. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.

EVERY religion, including Pagan, has a beginning. This makes all belief systems, no matter how "beautiful and uplifting" rather FINITE and easy to dismiss knowing how and who brought them to be. We also know that MORTALS, who are quite dead now, thought it up and marketed their propaganda to other MORTALS who were stupid enough to believe them. By merely creating parables, abstract phrases and mind-blowing slogans, a simple businessperson could expect much favor from the masses as well as state and local authorities. Thus, Organized Religion (or the middleman to the heavens) was born.

Speaking of Birth...
Why no birth Control? Simple. Numbers. The more slaves…the more power. Nations and Organizations flourish because of their vastness and reach. The bigger the flock, the bigger the bleating. Simple. More sheep mean more slaves. More slaves mean more control. Mental slaves are most sought after. How would it look if only 19.5 people showed up for the Pope's "Patting-Down" ceremony?

In the beginning…THERE WAS FORCE – The Conversion

After feeding enough of those bizarro Christians to the lions, Pagan Rome began it’s historic conversion from Pagan Idolatry to Christian Idolatry at about 312 AD. (Notice the idea didn’t steam roll the populace). Constantine began enforcing Christianity on the Romans and persecuting everyone else after his "enlightenment". As in Rome…What was good for GM (oops, I mean) Constantine was good for us all. After feeding enough Pagans to the lions, most historians would agree Christianity was getting off to the right start.
With comparative impact to that of the newly formed Israeli state, the Christians now had the greatest power known at this time to enforce it’s will upon all who oppose it…The HOLY Roman Empire. It may as well been called the Holy Roman Umpire because everyone else was now--OUT!

Then came…MORE FORCE - The Crusades

And what could the Holy Roman Empire need after conquering all of Europe? The Holy Roman Crusades, of course, you big silly! What else? This was breezed over in my Religion class and after reading more about it out of class this was understandable.
At about 1095, Pagans were becoming scarce in Holy Roman Europe so it was up to Pope Urban II to launch 200 years of Crusades to win back the "Holy Land" (which they never possessed in the first place). Europeans all attacked Muslim invaders and into Palestine with the battle cry "Dues les volt-God wills it!" The word Crusader, by the way, is derived from the Latin, "cruciare – to Mark with a cross. And, boy did they! Beheading Muslims and burning Jews at the stake, this was the first major struggle where everyone killed and tortured in the name of God.

Then came…MUCH MORE FORCE - The Inquisition

Inquirere, Latin, to look to. The Inquisition was a ecclesiastical institution for combating or suppressing heresy. This means the church had the authority to torture and kill whoever they wanted to make sure the ideas of the church are not diminished or "subverted". With the advent of serious science at around 1200, the church faith waged an uphill battle against knowledge. Faith won, of course since the Church held so much power, prestige and land within the states of feudal lords and medieval kings. If one were to suggest the earth rotated around the sun and not vice-versa as the Church teaches, this would mean certain death/amputation to you and possibly your entire family…but only after much torture and public denouncement. Blessed be the holy!

Then came…MUCH, MUCH MORE FORCE – The Conquistadores

Spanish for Conquerors, they arrived in the 16th Century as Spain plundered the newly found Americas in one of the most ruthless military conquests of all time under the guise of spreading Christianity. From Cortés in Mexico to Pizzaro in Peru, Spain had conquered and destroyed much of the "savage " civilizations whose spirituality relied heavily on human sacrifice. Strangely enough, the Bible is rampant with human sacrifice. But it was a really nice excuse to wipe out the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas for their vast deposits of gold, carry it back to the Catholic church and Spain to wage hundred-year wars against it's European neighbors. How Christian-like, indeed!

Then came…Betrayal – The Nazis

War criminals like Klaus Barbie, Adolf Eichmann, Heinrich Mueller, Franz Stangl and a whole list of other war criminals escaped war torn Europe via the Catholic Church. Most of these men escaped through the work of one man, a Roman Catholic Bishop named Alois Hudal, Rector of the Pontificio Santa Maria dell’ Anima. "During the war Hudal served as Commissioner or the Episcopate for German speaking Catholics in Italy, as well as Father Confessor to Rome’s German community. Hudal had contacts with the German Red Cross, the American Office of Strategic Services, British Intelligence, as well as two well known Nazi escape organizations, ODESSA and DIE SPINNE. Both of these organizations were well financed, connected, and secretly assisted ex Nazi officers to find new homes in the Middle East, South America and even the United States. Simon Wiesenthal has argued on numerous occasions, that Nazis, who were seeking an escape, knew they had to go to the Vatican and find Bishop Hudal. Wiesenthal believed that Stangl had the same help that his two good friends, Gustav Wagner, former Deputy Commandant of Sobibor, and Alois Brunner, a former commander of a mobile killing squad in Russia, received when they escaped Allied justice. According to several credible witnesses, Bishop Hudal was a very close friend with Walter Rauff, an ambitious SS officer who oversaw the development program for the mobile gas vans.

Then came…The Sex Abuse Scandals – The Pedo Priests

Without getting graphic or vile, we all know what happened here. It is estimated the Catholic church has spent hundreds of millions in defense and settlements of haneous crimes too deplorable to mention. The question is…how can parents STILL allow their children to be alone with these child predators?
This being the most recent and most ghastly of all Church crimes, further discussion of this epidemic is really not necessary.

When Christianity met Capitalism
(Or when Sally did Harry in the men’s room for a quick twenty)

The moment Organized Religion, or Christianity specifically, merged with modern day Capitalism and its mass media, was the day the human race was systematically programmed and pilfered. Pick ANY religious network and you will see that little 800 number in the corner. Is that number there to answer your spiritual questions of faith, healing or universal bliss? Hell no! It’s there for you to kick out with the green backs, you moron! Remember Jesus DOES accept Visa as well as MasterCard and American Express.
If for one moment, we strip away the multi-million-dollar media empires that help no one, the eight-hundred dollar suits, the limos, the tax exemptions and the non-disclosure statuses from these "Religious Organizations" we’re left with Enron...bearing a crucifix instead of a crooked "E" .Though, when turned sideways, they both look kinda similar.
George Carlin said it best, "God ALWAYS seems to need money."

SO WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?

I provide you with all the FACTS to make your own conclusions. TRUTH is what you determine using brain tissue, not fear and emotion as the Church would have us use.
To me, I suppose the Catholic Church merely swapped CEO’s this month. It should be interesting how different the next Pope can be.

Quarterly statements will tell.

Sinderely,
CJ Davidson
A Dissatisfied Customer

UPDATE: Need I say more?:

The Decline of the Catholic Church –
Sex Abuse Scandal Metastasizes

By: David Dayen Sunday March 28, 2010 4:18 pm
The fallout from the global sex abuse scandal in the Catholic has created damage to the Vatican unheard-of in my lifetime. Even when the original cases of pedophile priests in America arose several years back, the moral authority of the Pope and the hierarchy at the Vatican was not challenged, only some of the archbishops and cardinals presiding over the cover-up. But then-Cardinal Ratzinger’s involvement in similar cases in Europe, from Germany to Italy, add a new dimension to this scandal. First of all, the abuse can be seen as systemic, as well as the response from the church leadership – to hide the problem, transfer the abusers and deny accountability. Ratzinger had primary responsibility for the cases for over two decades while serving at the Vatican, and his role in the scandals can therefore not be questioned.

Now Pope Benedict XVI, Ratzinger struck back in his Palm Sunday sermon, vowing not to be intimidated by “petty gossip.” But just the fact that the Pope has to go on the offensive in a fight for his own survival shows you how broken his pontificate has become. The cumulative effect of the scandals, across countries and continets, have sapped the pontiff’s ability to lead and blown a hole in any effort by the Church to raise morality in any context.

But Victor Simpson notes that this really isn’t localized to Benedict XVI, but has been how the Church has handled this case of evil within its ranks for a long time.

The Vatican is facing one of its gravest crises of modern times as sex abuse scandals move ever closer to Pope Benedict XVI — threatening not only his own legacy but also that of his revered predecessor [...]

But as attention focuses on Benedict, a perhaps thornier question looms over how much John Paul II, beloved worldwide for his inspirational charisma and courageous stand against communism, knew about sex abuse cases and whether he was too tolerant of pedophile priests.

John Paul presided over the church when the sex abuse scandal exploded in the United States in 2002 and the Vatican was swamped with complaints and lawsuits under his leadership. Yet during most of his 26-year papacy, individual dioceses and not the Vatican took sole responsibility for investigating misbehavior.

Professor Nick Cafardi, a canon and civil lawyer and former chairman of the U.S. bishops lay review board that monitored abuse, said Benedict was “very courageous” to reverse Vatican support for the Legionaires of Christ, a sex scandal-tainted organization staunchly defended by John Paul.

What you really see here is a corporate, hierarchal response to crisis – characterized by cover-ups and payoffs and scandal management PR. Sinead O’Connor’s remarkable editorial, detailing her experience in one of Ireland’s infamous “Magdalene laundries,” is a testament to that.

The Catholic church is really experiencing a similar decline that other respected institutions have felt in recent years. And like those other declines, it’s entirely of their own making

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