https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...l-unions-saying-Homosexuals-children-God.html Pope Francis has endorsed same-sex civil unions, saying in a documentary that homosexual people are 'children of God' and that they 'have the right to be in a family'. About time too! Now if he fixed the contraception issue we could all move forward.
This follows recent polling in the US as well, the only religious group that does not have majority support for legal same sex marriage is white evangelicals. Protestant, Catholics, Muslims and Jews all support it by growing majorities each year. As people realize their sibling, friend or neighbor are LGB and simply seeking equal rights to have the legal protections of same sex marriage or civil unions the level of support will only continue to grow.
Yet catholicism is still a sinking religion. I'm born in a former catholic country, and catholic under 40's are extremely rare, excepted if you consider the african diaspora. Christian evangelist and muslims are much more dynamics. Catholic church are now empty, performing only the burial of their last memebrs. In an absolute manner, it's a positive thing that the pope recognize gay people. However, in the end it won't prevent the catholic church to disappear.
Most of the time, you change the face, but neither the actual politics. Democracy tend often to give people more the deception of self controle than real self controle. What replaced catholicism ? Fascism, communism and then consumerism. Is organized religion or some kind of government inherently evil ? I doubt so. To me it seems more an excuse to no see the root of the problem : our believes, wish and desires that may be evil, basically human nature. I don't appreciate that much catholicism or christianity, I don't appreciate that much religions that ask you to "show the other cheek" when you get your throat cut open. I see some interesting aspects in the history of catholicism however. First during middle age, there would be a progressive disappearance of slavery in Europe under the influence of the church, slaver that would brutally appear back in the controle of the so called "new world". I find some interesting parts, such as the Valladolid debate, because in some other cultures, there wasn't even debates if slavery was or not tolerable, it was seen as tolerable. Furthermore, thinkers such as Voltaire criticized a lot catholic, yet If I'm not wrong, he had to admit he wouldn't had achieved so much without the influence of his jesuit teacher. The idea itself of human right is a child of christanity. It won't convince me to become christian, but it still aspects that I consider interesting.
I see the evil that the RCC has carried out: refusing contraception, and thus taking away a woman's right over her own body, condemning millions to poverty. refusing gay rights, abusing people for loving and being loved. institutionalised child sex abuse. If there is a hell, the people who ran the church will surely end up there for what they've done.
Considering child abuse, there is no debate to condamn but my question is : there is also a lot of sex abuse in schools. As far as I lnow in France there is much more abuse in schools than church. Does it make school evil ? Considering abortion and homosexuality. The problem is that you're judging with 21th century knowledge an issue that is back up to 4th century. Furthermore homophobia was widely spread a long time before christianity. Even in roman civilization that tolerated homosexuality, being a passive homosexual was seen as a dishonor. Today we understand on a better manner homosexuality, before the scientific progress of the 20th century, it wasn't possible to understand that homosexuality was something natural. You're basically disapproving people for a knowledge they couldn't have. Considering abortion, it's a similar issue. Abortion as we consider it today was only possible because of the progress of medicine. Before it was extremely risky for the mother (medicine was risky for anyone before the 20th century), we didn't understood the origin of consciousness as today and it was legitimate to see abortion as infanticide. Christianity participated to the fact of considering infanticide as evil, it was more common under paganism. One of my main point about christianity is : it enabled societies to survive and existing for more than 1000 years. And we the modern western world ? We're imploding, we're failing and we're living a collapse a lot of people are blind to. I tend to be utilitarian. I see religions as a very powerfull tool that enabled societies to structure themselves and survive. And to that game of surviving, our self convinced rationnalist society is failing.
We were discussing the RCC, not schools. Abuse in one does not justify abuse in another. I'm disapproving of the stance of the RCC now, not in the past. I talked about contraception, not abortion. I don't care what happened 1000 years ago, the RCC should be reformed now. I don't know why you think society is so bad. We live longer, better lives, with more opportunities, more equality, more justice etc. The most regressive countries are those burdened by the scourge of religion.
Well, the bible says very different. But I'm glad he is trying to move the Catholic church past homophobia.
Right now yes, I doubt the near future would be so bright considering a number of things happening right now (ressources, debt, ethnic conflict).
In related news...... the church has a long way to go https://www.patheos.com/blogs/progr...god-says-gays-have-no-right-to-form-families/
