Monday, July 19, 2010

The Church Strikes Again:(Warning: Mild sex-related terms below)

This time in an effort to defuse (my opinion) the worldwide condemnation of the Catholic Church for the thoughtless and dangerous way they have so far handled the sex abuse crimes of priests, the Church issued a strongly worded change to Canon Law that makes this abuse, when proven, eligible for instant excommunication. Left out was any mention of a “first strike and you are out” rule adopted by the US Church. That being said, the re-interpretation was welcomed as a step in the right direction.
Then the bomb dropped: In the same revision, the Church raised the ordination of women to the same level of crime as pedophilia in priests, with instant excommunication for both the woman ordained, and the priest that carries out the ordination. Now, if you are a Catholic, you know that excommunication effectively cuts you off from the church. No sacraments, no funerals or anything like that, and no going to heaven. It seems that although Jesus died for your sins and loves you, the Church trumps him in this issue. It seems that although the God of Catholics is a loving God, the Church is less so when it comes to women. It seems ridiculous, but isn’t.
This juxtaposition is one more example of a Church that has lost touch with its spiritual roots and the very people it is supposed to serve. WWJD? I know, and He damn sure wouldn’t condemn women to hell for eternity for wanting to be part of a church. The reason the Church gives? Jesus had no female apostles, therefore none can stand in apostolic succession. What crap. Who says a penis is needed to know and serve God as a priest? The Pope, that’s who (ex Nazi by the way.) Certainly not quite a few of the churches in America that are Christian. Maybe it is time for women to abandon the Catholic Church all together and become Methodists.
Oh, and statistically it is likely that at least one of the male apostles was gay. So why the stricture on openly gay men being priests? There are priests that are Native Americans or Swedes or Chinese and yet none of the Apostles were from these cultures. No, but the men all have dicks, and therefore have all they need to be priests.
It’s enough to make you an atheist. Or an agnostic. Or at least a Methodist. (Church of Christ is a good one too for ordination of all kinds of people.)
Image: http://doctore0.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/pope-penis.jpg

No comments: