I Hate Catholicism

I hate the Catholic church. There was a time when I was indifferent to it, but now I actively hate Catholicism.

Its policies on reproductive rights and unwillingness to own up to the level of pedophilia in its ranks fucking disgusts me. The obstacles it puts up to advancing family planning in the poorest parts of the world is shameful. The lip service that the Vatican pays to opposing reproductive rights is that "all life is sacred" or some similarly worded bullshit. The truth is that they want more Catholics, regardless if they're born into bone-crushing poverty.

 

I can't for the life to me why would anyone, let alone women, partake in an institution that's more about making a mafia in sheer numbers than really exercising the betterment of society? I can only affirm that a lot of the "progressive policies" prior to Pope John Paul II have been retracted and are regressing back into more conservative policies.

Granted, I can say that there have been some Catholic rogues that have went against the Catholic church's teachings for the better...and yeah...there were priests who performed abortions in a Catholic hospital or two.

 

While I whole heartedly agree..I'm staying the hell away from this.

No matter the intent you know theres going to be a lot of offended people real quick.

 

I wouldn't stay away from it if I were you. The thread was started for a specific discussion. People whom it may offend should stay out. Respect goes both ways.

 

You would be hard pressed to find a major religion that doesn't do similar.

 

as a former Catholic, I have my issues with the Church as well.

 

I've never heard of Buddhist monks being accused of any of the above

 

No... But Buddhism as a fair and balanced religion falls short of being that.

 

I'm already offended!!!

 

I don't think it's his intention to offend anyone. He talks about his own feelings, "he hates", he doesn't say " I hate all the catholics".. He has the problem with the church, out of whatever reason..

The other thing is that one should differ between Vatikan, single priests and religion.
When I was a child, my parents always tried to convince me that the priests and all people of the church are "holy people" that never are wrong..

For me, they are normal people with mistakes like the rest of us.

 

Being raised a Catholic, I have my issues with the Church doctrine in modern times, but if people want to hate the Church, that's their choice.

What I do have a problem with is everyone bringing up the pedophile stuff as if it only happens in the Catholic Church. It does not. It shouldn't happen at all, but other religions have had reverends, priests, whatever you want to call them, being accused and convicted of pedophilia.

The difference is, those churches aren't as big as the Catholic Church, so they are reported, but not forced down the throats of everyone by being repeatedly brought up. The fact is it happens in other religions as well.

 

This. So this.
I have a friend who was raised strict catholic and was molested horribly at the hands of the priest when it all came out her family didn't charge for the abuse because the priest was a man of god and as such should be respected as such.

She paid a heavy price for this belief and still sufferes for it to this day.

 

The problem I see as an outsider, but with family/friends who are Catholic, is that it seems they are taught to swallow whole what the church teaches. They are not taught to study the Bible (which is the church's authoritative standard) for themselves and to "test the spirits" so to speak. The Bible was given by God to each and every person, not just the priest or the pastor or the reverend. As Christians, we are to test what is spoken from the pulpit against the truths in the Bible to ascertain that one agrees with the other.

I remember a conversation with two friends years ago, one of whom was Catholic, and we were discussing different spiritual topics. When my friend or I would ask our Catholic friend her opinion on a topic, she always said she had to ask her priest. She had no opinion other than what her priest taught. I was taken aback by that, honestly. She said she never read her Bible but depended on her priest to teach her the proper beliefs. And having talked to other Catholic friends, I found that they often did things just because. They had no understanding for why they followed certain rituals or practices, and I think the church promotes that. There is such a thing as having blind faith, but I don't think that's what is meant!

 

As a former Catholic, I have many problems with the Church, but a couple of main ones:

First, the way they have become so political. Way back when John Kennedy ran and won the Presidency, he stated that he would govern in the way his conscience dictated, not necessarily according to church doctrine, and the Catholic leaders, at that time, didn't say a word about it. Now, fast forward to 2004, when John Kerry ran, he was threatened with being denied communion if he governed a certain way and he signed certain legislation into law. I think that's called extortion, and it has happened to more than him.A president or a governor or any leader needs to govern according to what is right for the most amount of people, not just the Catholic church.

The second thing is the pedophile situation. Yes, pedophiles are everywhere and in other churches besides the Catholic Church, but what people seem to forget is that some of the leadership actively conspired to move priests that were known to be abusers to other churches, where they abused again...some of these guys, going back to the 60's and 70's had been in a few churches and had access to children. That is precisely why they are in trouble today, paying out millions in damages.

And don't get me started about the contraceptive issue or their treatment of gays and lesbians.

 

I'm tempted to hate a religion too. Maybe I should hate Islam for instance, in their treatment of women. I guess one could find something to hate in the practices and doctrines of all the religions of the world. I say do not hate, but reform like the great reformation. It may take decades, it may take centuries to bring about change. Hate is a poison that one does not need. How one must be in misery by hating.

 

lol technically catholicism isnt even real christianity. most of the fundamental beliefs in catholicism were borrowed from pagan belief systems. you learn alot of that studying constantine.

 

Much of Christianity borrowed from previous pagan systems as a whole. There's nothing really unique about any of the stories or characters. What's your point?

 

As someone who was raised Catholic I have to give my opinion on this subject. The Catholic church meant a lot to me growing up, until I started attending AWANA's at a Baptist Church whilst living in Georgia. It was the first time I actually held a Bible, flipped through the pages and studied it directly. After that I always questioned why Catholic churches didn't have Bibles in the pews. Instead you get Lectionaries and the Book of the the Gospels. The older I got the more I questioned this and the only conclusion I could come up with was to with hold information/knowledge. I put my foot down when it came time for confirmation and left the Catholic church and ended up joining a Baptist church. The other thing that bothered me was confession, a priest is still just a man and who is he to judge my transgressions "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. John 8:7" and none of us are without sin. My sins are between me and God and no one else and only he can absolve me of them. Confession is a way of controlling and persecuting the masses.

 

I couldn't agree more. I'm culturally Catholic, but that's about as relevant as it gets. I couldn't care less what the Pope says.

 

I think technically you mean stole..not borrowed.