I am anti-Catholic, I was not always anti-Catholic, I am married to an Irish Italian Catholic and we have raised 3 kids together who were all baptized, went to CCD and through confirmation with the local catholic church.
What pushed me over the edge from acceptance to ambivalence to anti?
Well the spate of stories about the sexual abuse of children by members of the priesthood did not help. The connivance of the Bishops in covering up that abuse really did not help and the Pope's continual denial of ecclesiastical responsibility in blaming a wider society did not help either.
Just last week once again the Christmas address almost accepted responsibility but in the end blamed wider society. The church continues to protect the guilty and block investigation.
Then this
http://www.reuters.com/...
The Bishop of Arizona has decided that the life of the mother is not a good enough exception to allow an abortion. Note the impact on the hospital will be minimal (no more communions at the chapel and the fake bread get taken away) and will actually impact his parishioners more than it will impact the hospital. It must be devastating for the Poor nun he excommunicated though; my experience with Nuns in the clinical setting has been that these are genuine, caring individuals of strong faith. The Bishop is wrong to excommunicate her, over actions to save the life of a woman.
If we look at the actual problem, it is not that the hospital and the nun approved the abortion it’s that they went against the dictate of the Bishop. I always remind myself that "Original Sin" is not eating the apple it is disobedience. This Bishop takes that to heart and demands obedience, let the woman die as long as church doctrine is upheld. It is not as bad as stoning to death but not much different. Read the list of things that the Bishop objects to, it includes any form of contraception. The Catholic Church still commands women to "surrender to their husband" and regards marriage as an act that should include procreation. They expect the woman to engage in sexual relations with her husband, they do not allow the use of contraception of any kind (including sterilization); they do not even want counseling. The Catholic Church expects this woman to get pregnant, almost requires if of her. It then expects the woman to carry to term even if she would likely die as a result.
I am constantly amazed that the church can get away with this. If we can prosecute parents for failing to get adequate treatment for their children and reliance on prayer can we not do something about those who try to force pregnancy even when it would result in death?
The Bishop should concentrate on cleaning out the pedophiles in his own house before he demands of others what he will not do to protect his flock.
I stopped donating to the church about 5 years ago. I have stopped attending any church function, these guys make me sick.