If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Read the community guidelines before posting ✨
Options
Essential support for under 25s
Essential support for under 25s
Take a look around and enjoy reading the discussions. If you'd like to join in, it's really easy to register and then you'll be able to post. If you'd like to learn what this place is all about, head here.
Comments
The Catholic Church is far worse at it – they’ve covered it up, ignored it, and transferred ‘problem priests’ to different parishes time after time after time.
Cardinal Ratzinger (as he was known in 2001) even made it known to the church that anybody who let outsiders know the findings of the church’s internal inquiry into paedophile priests would be punished with excommunication.
So have social services, in many many many cases.
Barnardo's, for instance, were very backward about coming forward about the systematic abuse in their childrens homes.
The Catholic Church has made some terrible errors with regards to this problem, but it isn't the only one, and it isn't the worst at it.
But sadly it suits the agenda of too many people to try and make all priests sound like paedophiles and child abusers. They're not, a tiny minority are, and that's the same as in any profession that involves a lot of pastoral work with children.
Cardinal Ratzinger is a very dubious man, to be honest. A very poor choice of Pope.
What point is that? That you don't believe in scripture?
I couldn't give a rat's ass about what you believe, I just don't see why your beliefs should be forced on me and my children.
So you think that the Catholic Church teaching that condoms are ineffective against AIDS has no connection at all to Catholics not using condoms to prevent AIDS?
I wish you were right and nobody listened to the Pope or Catholic priests or took any notice at all of their teachings, but sadly, I don't think it's true.
How could God's infallible representative on Earth be a very dubious man?
Condoms are ineffective against AIDS, though. Used properly they fail two times in a hundred, and many people don't know how to use them properly. The only way to have safe sex is in a stable mongamous relationship.
The Catholic Church teaches that adultery is wrong, but adultery is rife in the world. Why ignore the important one, the biggy in the Ten Commandments, if you allow doctrine to shape your moral life?
People will do what they want, ignore rules when they don't suit them, and then pretend the rules matter when they do suit them.
Because I think the Devil influenced the Cardinals when they elected him;)
The easiest way to walk a horse is the direction it's facing. 10 commandments do get followed by most people. Most peeople aren't murderers for ex. If you tell people to do what they already do and then tell them they are a good person for doing it, they will feel chuffed - chuck in a "but you should be doing this as well" at the right time and you can create guilt.
Or you have weapons, prisons, the ability to financially ruin them etc. Then people will do what you say, even if it's not in their own interests. The church can't threaten anyone anymore by and large and a good thing it is too. Shame about the fanatics you work with, isn't it?
How much happier would peple be if they could freely ignore that set of fanatic believers?
Well, it is in their interests to do what the man with the gun says, isn't it? :rolleyes:
People won't do as you say unless it suits them to do so. Law or not, people only follow the law when its in their interests to follow it.
"Thou shalt not commit adultery" isn't the biggie in the Ten Commandments - it comes in the bottom half of every list of them I've seen.
Believers sin because they have moments of weakness - and if they're Catholic believers, they can go to confession and it will be all be fine after few rosaries of penance. The AIDS virus isn't so forgiving.
Hm?
Condoms have a failure rate of about 2%, do they not?
Pointing this fact out isn't "spin".
But the opposite is a set of beliefs being "forced" on children too. Just because you happen to agree with it doesn't mean its not just one set of beliefs.
I know klintock would love it, but the alternative is never to teach children anything.
The fact its there makes it a biggy, that's my point.
Of course they sin because they have moments of weakness, there's nothing wrong with sinning if you repent it afterwards and never do it again. It's human nature to be weak sometimes.
Point is, people will only follow the rules when it suits them. I honestly believe that if the Church started handing out Durex free with every consecrated host people would still not use them, and would just find another spurious reason instead.
The fact is that people don't use condoms over here, and it isn't because of what the Pope says.
Short term, or long term?
Annn does that mean it's ok for anyone to pick up a gun and make you do things?
Threats only work if people think they'll be followed through. You are part of the follow through that gets all those folk paying their taxes, slaving away and generally obeying. You know this mate.
There isn't a single person in the country who would voluntarily pay for most government "services". You are there to make sure that they do anyway. With your help, and the people you work with's help, those wonderful men and women in the government get to provide hospitals (and no one would want those if taxation stopped, right? :rolleyes: ) and kill thousands of innocents.
No, laws only work if people have something to lose by getting caught.
People only follow the laws that suit them. That's the simple fact of the matter.
They would if the alternative was the US model, where the poor get to see their kids die because they can't afford the insurance premiums for the medicine.
You can teach people things honestly, from a position of "I don't know". You can teach maths, and tell your kids it's just a useful lie. You can teach kids belief and tell them it's just a belief, optional for all.
Or you can send them to state school, where they get told lies as facts, brutalised in the way that all prisons brutalise and otherwise become institutionalised.
Catholcism works for the cult leaders because they know that people can no more stop shagging around than they can stop breathing. They don't care. They only want the guilt, for that's where they get to absolve and therefore control the flock.
That's exactly what I said. If you weren't there to swing the club and make it look good while you do it there would be no need for you whatsoever. All you do is look after vested interests.
So you didn't get a TV licence, or did it "suit you" to get one because of your fear?
Ahhh. If you went door to door for the local hospital you'd get a very full tin. If you went door to door for bombs to decimate Iraqi's you might well come up short. Of course, the US model isn't the only other option,and to say it is makes me giggle.
Even if the failure rate was 2%, are you seriously suggesting that something that is 98% is not effective or worthy?
Please...
Notice that I haven't asked for children to be taught that all religions are lies (despite being what I believe). I've said that children should be taught about all religions and the impact they have had in humankind from a historical context. It's up to them to choose to embrace one when they reach adulthood.
It is wrong, however, to program them to believe any of it as fact.
I'm sure its higher than that, but hey ho.
Nope, I'm saying its ineffective.
Better than not using it, but not ideal. I'd rather people did use condoms, but I really don't think people don't use them because of what the Pope says.
That's the point.
Bollocks - religious believers are as closed-minded as anybody else, they believe that everybody who doesn't worship their particular brand of religion is going to burn in hell or be reincarnated as a dung beetle or something.
I don't think that somebody who believes that every religion apart from Islam or Judaism or whatever is wrong is vastly more open-minded that somebody who just believes that every religion is wrong.
Do I?
Interesting to get told what I think.
Are there any religions out there that teach that the rules on the afterlife only apply to believers in that religion, and not to everybody?
Always fun.
:yes:
It's quite good to see how ridiculous a lot of the Old Testament really is.
I tend to pick and choose what I believe.
That's one of the funniest sites I've ever seen.
If only everything in life was 98% effective Kermit, things would be so much better...
As for the Church's position, of course many people do not use them because of it, either directly or indirectly. You might be right that some people might simply ignore the Pope's advice, but the fact remains that the Church's vitriolic, irrational hatred and intolerance of condoms makes them very difficult to obtain- if not outright impossible- to the people of many countries. Hell, even in our civilised and modern continent we had until recently member States where condoms were but impossible to obtain :rolleyes:
The Catholic Church still has disproportionate power and influence in many societies... and it doesn't have a problem using that power and influence to stop everyone, not just those who adhere to its beliefs, from doing things it doesn't approve of.
That is nothing short of evil.
:eek:
I think you've got some neck to make that kind of comment, regardless of the feelings you have about the clergy. It's the minority, as it's the small minority of foster parents, social workers etc who abuse their charges. I have no goodwill toward the clergy, myself, but I think that was an unnecessary comment.
As for Ratzinger, he's nowhere near as evil-eyed and wizened in the flesh, just FYI.
I'm as disilluisoned about catholic schooling as the next person who had a catholic education, but I'm very surprised to hear you actually had a consistent "sex education" and that it was of the "fire and brimstone" variety. The majority of catholic schools broach it in the very same way as most other schools - ignore it and hope it'll go away.
The 'sex education' wasn't really anything organised or consistent - more like a half-hour's monologue one afternoon from the PE teacher.
Hmm, we had something like that at one point...with one of the music teachers, who is a nun. Just for that added mortal embarassment factor.