Sex and Vaticans

I am Christian, but ascribe to no traditions or antiquated dogmas. I believe in the God instrumental in the creation of man, but believe nothing of the "God" created by man as an instrument of tyranny and oppression. I am a spiritual being following Jesus of Nazareth, but an outspoken mortal creature unimpressed by organized religion. I say this in light of a series of events that have been unfolding, culminating in the most public self-imposed exile from corporate Christianity since the Protestant Reformation. I am referring, of course, to gothic writer Anne Rice's decision to leave Christianity, specifically Catholicism, in early 2010 after twelve years as a devout member of the Church. Rice based her decision on the same reasons most people jump ship in the first place -

"Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always, but not to being “Christian”, or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else. As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen."

~ Anne Rice on Facebook (2010)

Rice isn't the only one to notice that the majority of the positions taken by the Catholic and even Protestant Churches have no scriptural basis, and are the result of man-made secular treatises propped up on supposed "divine inspiration" or "enlightened interpretation" of religious texts. The most recent example being the much-ballyhooed Rapture which wasn't even an accepted doctrine until after 1837 when a 15-year old Catholic girl named Margaret MacDonald had a prophetic end-time vision depicting said rapture and gained popularity amongst various churches that eventually accepted it as - pun intended - gospel truth. Never mind the fact that the girl was reputedly involved in occult practices, and observed levitating above the ground by one Robert Norton.

Sorry Mr. LaHaye, but you've been had.

If spreading false doctrine wasn't bad enough, the Catholic and Protestant Churches as organized religions have extensive bloody histories on multiple continents where God was cited as their inspiration for some of the lewdest crimes against humanity. One need only look at American history for the actions of the Puritans, missionaries, and other secular groups against their own community members and the Native Americans. The Catholic Church, during the Dark Ages, murdered what is believed to be more people than the Third Reich during its height through inquests, trials, inquisitions, and prosecution of those accused of everything from heresy and witchcraft to mere speculation and innovation. To add insult to injury on October 31st, 2000 (Halloween, excuse me All Saints Day), Pope John Paul named Thomas Moore, who put people on the rack in England for owning a Bible in their own language, as the patron saint of politicians.

Indeed, canonizing a man who brutally murdered and tortured people for owning a Bible in their own language, but then again what do you expect from an organization that is the epitome of corruption and decadence? If anything, the canonization fits since Moore is an example of what Catholicism has become.

Earlier this year, at an Intelligence Squared Debate, Anne Widdecombe, a member of the British Conservative Christian Fellowship and convert to Roman Catholicism, put forth the position that the Catholic Church is a force of good in the world. The event featured Archbishop John Onaiyekan who supported Widdecombe's position, and Christopher Hutchens and Stephen Fry who were understandably opposed. During the course of the debate it was revealed, by Fry, that not only has the Catholic Church been aware of the sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy on young children, but has been so for decades. However, rather than do the moral or righteous thing which is the excommunication and prosecution of members responsible for these reprehensible crimes, the current Pope, one John Ratzinger issued a letter stating that under the threat of excommunication all members of the priesthood were forbidden to speak with authorities or turn in known sex offenders operating within their ranks.

To further exemplify the level of corruption and blatant disobedience to local and religious law, when the late Fr. Marcial Maciel was found to be a serial pedophile taking advantage of his position within the Catholic organization, Legion for Christ which has massive influence in his native country of Mexico, the church stepped in, and in essence took over handling of the case from local authorities. The result? Maciel was sentenced to a life of penitence and prayer since, according to the information presented by Fry at the debate, and I am paraphrasing here -

"...it is too cruel to prosecute someone so dear a close and personal friend to the Pope..."

Ah, so prosecuting a man who raped and sodomized children of all ages and sexes, even going as far as fathering several children with his victims, is an act of cruelty? An interesting position to take when your entire organization is supposed to be a source of truth, justice, and protection for the weak and innocent. To top it off, in a memo sent out by the current Pope before his ascent to the papacy, he blamed the decades-worth of pederasty not on the immoral conduct of the clergy themselves, but on the presence of homosexuals who had “infiltrated” the church. In effect, Pope Benedict XVI placed the entire blame on gays and lesbians, claiming that only "immoral" and "disordered" individuals who prefer same-sex liaisons would molest children even though the evidence shows that the majority of sex offenders are in fact heterosexual.

Then again, the Catholic Church's entire position on human sexuality is immoral and disordered. For example, any sexual act that does not produce children is seen as a violation of God’s intentions for copulation. Masturbation, anal sex, birth control pills, condoms, and anything else of an intimate nature that does not produce offspring is strictly prohibited. Even though millions of Catholics violate this rule across the world, save those who are devout, the church maintains the position, and has done so at the cost of valuable aid and intervention for those living in countries where HIV/AIDS is pandemic.

In 1987, Uganda issued the ABC program which stands for Abstinence, Be Faithful, and Use Condoms. Rather than simply state that contraceptives are against their religious beliefs, and place the welfare of those suffering as priority the Catholic Church went so far as to deny aid to those dying of and left orphaned by HIV/AIDS unless condoms were removed as an option for preventing the spread and transmission of the disease. Yes, you read that correctly, and the pontiff (at the time of this writing I am unsure if it was John Paul or Benedict) even went so far as to claim that condoms were responsible for the pandemic status of the virus in Africa.

When you read, watch, or hear things like this it's no wonder that people are jumping ship on one of the most stringent and power-hungry religious organizations to come along since the invention of the cult. Sorry Widdecombe, but the Catholic Church is not a force of good in the world. If raping children, oppressing women, vilifying homosexuals, torturing innocents, murdering and pillaging foreign cultures, exploiting the poor, denying care to the sick and drying, and working to inveigle, obscure, and obfuscate the truth is an example of good...

Well then, I no longer know the literal or metaphysical definition of evil, but I know I can find it in Catholicism.

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Anne Rice Leaves Christianity (Reproduction of Original Statement)

http://www.godlessgirl.com/2010/07/anne-rice-leaves-christianity-not-jesus/

Thomas Moore Canonized by Pope John Paul

http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa102800a.htm

Mexican Priest Marcial Maciel Exposed

http://www.vaticancrimes.us/2010/05/mexican-priest-scorned-but-religius.html

ABC In Uganda

http://www.avert.org/aids-uganda.htm

Stephen Fry vs. The Catholic Church Part One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEhtOhwL8xk&feature=related

Stephen Fry vs. The Catholic Church Part Two