07 May 2010

Those Crazy Catholics

Am I the only who suspects that the Roman Catholic Church would - in a heart beat - seize control of governments again if they thought they could get away with it?

I heard on BBC radio today that the Philippine government is finally allowing a gay party to run after a court overturned the decision to keep them out because they might offend religious groups. The Catholic Church protests the decision to allow this political option.

Catholics throughout the US are protesting Arizona's new anti-illegal immigrant law that might result in fewer Latinos (and fewer Catholics).

Catholics in the US for years have objected to the legal freedom of choice for pregnant women because this choice contradicts their religious beliefs.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church is in trouble for ignoring laws regarding child molesters.

So, the officials of the Catholic Church want to impose their religious beliefs onto others in the form of laws but does not want the laws of the land to apply to them? Weren't they forced to give up this arrangement shortly after the Dark Ages? And could they be more obvious about how eager they are to again have such an arrangement?

But I guess no political leader is going to have the courage to rebuke a group that claims to represent more than a billion people. I liked it better when they were a definite minority in this country and were eager to prove that they had no political ambitions but merely wanted the freedom to worship in peace. And maybe that's the secret to success: lots and lots of denominations so no one denomination feels safe to impose their beliefs on anyone else but enough religious people that everyone is eager to maintain religious freedom.

It is becoming more and more credible that the current pope last served as head of the office that once ruled over the Inquisition. One can only speculate that he spent too much time in the archives.

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