Pope Benedict, the former
German Cardinal Ratzinger, is breaking new ground for the
Catholic Church. Being the first Pope to step aside for his
successor instead of waiting for death on the job in more
than 700 years has earned him my respect once again. The
previous time was when he “officially” recognized evolution
as factual. On the seriously bad side of issues is his
previous work in the Vatican on the cases of pedophilia
which protected clerical predators for far too long and did
not deal with the proper punishment.
Since being celibate not
only invites predatory behavior, but is also NOT an issue of
faith, but is rooted in the fact that the Catholic Church
did not want priest’s inheritance to be passed down to their
children and so decided that the money and all belongings
have to stay in the church. The Bible was searched for
passages that would support this and with this excuse the
celibate lifestyle was instituted. Since celibacy is not
really a faith based issue, there seems to be room for
improvement. The clergy of previous centuries, including
popes, lived a quite sexually infused lifestyle, so that the
claimed issue of "not being distracted from GOD" does not
really apply. The Catholic Church should be rich enough by
now to be able to ordain Priests who are allowed to get
married (instead of just living with their housekeepers) and
instead of hiding their children in monasteries in Italy,
those kids could be elevated from “bastards who were born
out of wedlock” to church approved children who can grow up
in a loving family. The irony of it all is that these
children are currently being denied priesthood by the same
church that put them in this position in the first place.
Another topic that is
currently on the radar is the immigration policy of the US.
The right wing is torpedoing as good as they can any effort
to help keep families together, to help people out of the
shadows, and to openly contribute to our country. This is
not a message that Jesus would approve of, so if you really
feel that strongly about it, do not advertise yourself as
being a Christian. You are definitely not a follower, you
are not even a fan of Jesus. It is sad and despicable
that right wing politicians use "the Church" as a tool to
get elected, since they do not subscribe to any of Jesus'
messages. Jesus message was the message of love, not of
hate. So please stop pretending otherwise. Love your
neighbor as you love yourself. Jesus was by our standards a
socialist and pacifist. Here are my favorite commandments
and bible quotes that deal with these issues. And please be
aware that every human being is your neighbor:
1.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.
2. Love
your neighbor as yourself.
3. Honor
your father and your mother.
4. You
shall not kill.
5. You
shall not commit adultery.
6. You
shall not steal.
7. You
shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
8. You
shall not covet anything that is thy neighbor's.
9.
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Jesus said:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' (Matthew 22:36-40)
You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:43)
[Romans 13:8-11] Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
No comments:
Post a Comment