BC,
You're doing it again. Once you get on the
"Catholics are bad" soapbox, you're like the guy at the party
with one too many Jose Cuervos (i.e., >0).
Your tone is indignant and defensive (insert retort here).
You and I have traded posts about this in the
past.
It's simply inconceivable to you that anyone
could be a Catholic. The problem is you have the insight of a
convert. You've essentially converted to
non-Catholicism. Having dealth with missionaries in
the past, I'll tell you the converts are the
worst.
You make the broadbrush attacks that Catholics
are stupid and hypocritical for their religion. Your
ammunition in most cases is the propaganda of
the fundamentalist Protestants. "Catholics try to buy
Heaven." "If you're rich you can get anything."
Blah blah blah.
Oddly you fail to back this up with anything other
than anecdote: "The Kennedys," "Frank Sinatra," et
cetera. Have you ever actually looked into the
process of anullment? Have you checked the statistics
regarding income versus grant of anullment? If
you had, I know you would have posted them.
I am not making charges so much as I'm responding
to the Kennedy's and Sinatra's
statements that God (the Church) has reversed
his/their recognition of a 20-year marriage.
How is looking up statistics going to change
what the Kennedy's/Sinatra's have said?
Your lack of knowledge of Judaism is apparent
in your response to Rick Stump (can't hold you responsible for
geography) because the rite of obtaining
a Get is similar to anullment. Does that make them hypocrites too?
I'll tell you where the Jews are extremely
illogical:
They can't dial a phone on Saturday, but they
can hire a guy to dial a phone on Saturday?
Whatever inherent evil Saturday dialing holds,
how the hell is hiring some unsaved SOB
to do your "dirty work" for you a sign of
devotion to God?
Disclaimer: Since I don't know much about Jews,
I'm half blind, here.
So when you write to complain, don't say "Jew
hater."
Instead, explain to me why it's bad to dial
a phone, but good and logical to hire
a "get" (if that's what their purpose is)
to dial the bad, bad phone.
Either way - it's total insanity.
[For the record, one source (www.cin.org) indicated
an anullment rate of 10% of Catholic marriages.
Statistically, they can't ALL be wealthy contributors]
You're moving out of the frying pan into the
fire.
You're saying they wink away the rules to
more than just the rich?
That's a saving grace?
I would think following the rules would be
important.
Why do I seem to be the only one who
gets that point?
You overlook the acknowledged fact the majority
of US Catholics are Democrats and lean liberal in most
elections. You ignore the polls that show a majority
of American Catholics are opposed to removing a
woman's right to choose or discrimination based
on one's sexual orientation. There's a complicated
dichotomy of separating religious from political
edicts.
Finally [if you're still reading], you don't recognize
that most American Catholics see Catholicism as a
culture as well as a religion. It's in the same
vein as being Jewish or Hindu. Religion is for the most part
the result of parenting. So attacking someone
for being Catholic is not far from attacking someone's ethnicity.
So go ahead and disagree with tenets of Catholicism.
It is, for the moment, a free country. What damages
your credibility (for whatever it's worth) are
your vicious attacks on Catholics themselves.
Have I ever asked for more than a simple explanation?
I'd plead guilty to ridiculing those
who feel sooooooo strongly about their religion
but don't have the slightest clue how to defend it.
It's no different than politics. I'm not asking
everyone to be a debating whiz,
only the loud-mouted idiots who insist their
views are the only ones with merit.
Nine out 10 time I agree with you and think you
make a great voice against the growing darkness. I'd hate to
see you chopped of at the knees if you were to
become more widely published by the comments you've made
about Catholics.
I've never said anything I couldn't back up.
I could be wrong about something, but instead
of straightening me out, I get hate mail (not you).
Here we are at bartcop.com one
of the ONLY places I know where the site host takes uncensored
questions and hurls them back at the inquisitor,
and I can't get any answers. That's frustrating.
I'd pay money to meet my counterpart -
1. a ditto-monkey who praises Rush
2. A Catholic who'll answer questions with
something besides,
"Well, if you don't know the
answer to that one,
I'm certainly
not going to explain it to you."
Keep the fires burning.
AJC
AJC,
If you set anything straight there, I'm going to need a better compass.