I Am A Disgusted Catholic

[Stare Decisis]

thank you in advance for putting up with me-I don't normally post this much but I need to vent. Facebook is a nightmare to express oneself. Reading about two Cardinals blaming the LGBTQ community for the church's deviancy virus has made my blood boil, my pressure raise, my face turn red, and my head hang in shame.

Homosexuality is not a mental illness. It is a state of being. A trait. I have blue eyes and married a woman. Some men have brown eyes then marry a man. That's it. Deal with it, respect it, and whatever you do, DO NOT CONFLATE IT WITH DEPRAVED SEXUAL DEVIANCY.

Do not try to tell us that child abuse is due to a homosexual agenda. What is wrong with you? Years of abuse, scores of scarred, emotionally destroyed children, now adults, and you are still trying to cast people with different sexual preferences as villains in a horror movie your own brethren wrote the script for? You convene your summits. You just have a big summit festival, and ask yourself all of the questions you want. Ask yourself how child abuse infected your church stem to stern. Ask yourself how well you handled it. Ask yourself how much you covered it up. Ask yourself who God will really be mad at-the loving gay couple adopting a child in need of a family, or the deviants who perversely destroyed lives.

My God doesn't rationalize evil, Father Dearest. Does yours?

[demigoddess]

1. I know gay couples that God would be proud of. I know straight people that God

will punish to the ends of the earth.

[joet67]

8. So true!

[rusty quoin]

2. My favorite episode of South Park is the one where the Vatican argues how much child molesting

is acceptable. It speaks so much to the hypocrisy of the church. It was spot on.

[joet67]

7. South Park is 😂

[SharonAnn]

3. And there is rarely mention of the girls the abused or children they fathered.

There are thousands of these cases covered up in the U.S. alone.

[appalachiablue]

4. Thanks for raising this shameful overlooked issue.

[rufus dog]

25. Great point

In OC there is a major HS that was called out for Priests abusing boys. Same school had a teacher prey upon a freshman girl. He paid for her abortion, left her in ruins. Other than the local weekly, no other media coverage.

[orleans]

5. those priests are nothing more than

a bunch of sick fuck douchebags

and so are the many who are complicit
who allowed it to continue
who hid it, who did nothing to stop it
or prevent it from happening again

they think of themselves as religious or godly? they are pieces of shit.

but, Stare Decisis, you said it so much better than i.
i just puke out my disgust toward those assholes.

[joet67]

6. You're my twin .

I have been more than fed up with what my church gets away with , for eons.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

9. you are my K&R; AND LOTS OF CHRISTIANS ARE DEMOCRATS!

[Fresh_Start]

10. They continue to ignore that if they took productive action

the very first time an act of abuse was discovered, they would not be in the current situation

They covered up evil.
They sent the evil to another location where others were harmed.

If they had referred for criminal action, there might be faith left in them as an institution.

They don't understand they were complicit and allowed harm to continue for decades.

[skydive forever]

11. I did 9 years of Catholic school

And I was an alter boy for many of those years. I was midnight mass alter boy3 years running. And not once did a priest molest me. I wasn’t even good enough for a priest. 😞 😂. But seriously, other than a really good education, I’m now a recovering catholic. No way I’d ever go back.

[JuJuYoshida]

12. I'm Buddhist but..

I could never support an organization that not only allowed thousands of children to be raped, but covered it up. Happens even in Buddhism, ALL religions. I don't go to temple anymore but religion in general turns me off so much now.

[keithbvadu2]

13. The 'homosexual agenda'? ... Stop practicing it, clergy.

The 'homosexual agenda'? ... Stop practicing it, clergy.

[Pggrickie]

14. Of course they do

This is the reason I left the Catholic Church and Christianity years ago. Just don’t have
time for bull. Personally, I’m gay and think the whole thing is a farce. It’s all about
money power and that’s all it has ever been about as far as I’m concerned.

[Blue_true]

16. The first priests were married.

Until a high level smuck had a "vision" that said they should not be.

What the Catholic Church and other churches need to own up to is that the allure of being a "spiritual" guide attracts a lot of deviants, just like the power to boss people around attracts a lot of authoritarians to police forces. The issue is not and never was about homosexuality, that is an act of nature, just like being heterosexual is, the issue is that deviants are attracted to being in a position of power over people, that is the case with Catholic priests and ministers, Imams, monks, ect from every religion.

[hunter]

21. The "vision" was that wealthy clergy wouldn't have any "legitimate" heirs.

When they died their wealth would belong to the Church.

[Blue_true]

23. Makes sense. During those days high clergy were a mere step below kings. nt

[Maggiemayhem]

37. Yes

[lunatica]

15. Some people have a crisis of faith but

others, like you, have a crisis of religion.

Just live your faith and forget religion. They aren’t the same thing.

Welcome to DU where you’ll find kindred souls!

[Blue_true]

17. Very wise words. nt

[LittleGirl]

18. I was you 10 years ago.

I am ex-catholic so much that I left religion completely.

I've decided that I'm an atheist.

It wasn't just the priests, it was THE COVERUP that sent me packing.

Nope. That's unacceptable and crossed my line.

done. don't regret it or miss it or the guilt trips.

brushes hands clean. Done.

edit: typo

[nightwing1240]

19. I am a disgusted Catholic as well...

...and couldn't have put my thoughts down any better than you have Stare Decisis. Well done!

[lindysalsagal]

20. I'm a disgusted atheist.

Welcome to reality.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

22. As someone who gave up Catholicism (and religion) decades ago, this is nothing new.

I stopped believing in god (or at least finally admitted that to myself) in the mid-80s. My wife and I brought our kids to church sometimes for what we thought was needed community. When my son got done with religious ed one Sunday and asked if gays were going to hell, we never went back.

Sorry you are dealing with this. It's a great big world with lots of options. If you like the familiarity of the mass, there are lots of Episcopalian churches that embrace the LGBTQ community and their service is basically the same. If you just want community, we found a very welcoming and on-point UU fellowship that was wonderful.

[mahina]

24. Agreed.

I walked out of church decades ago.

I am fond of this pope and I’m grateful for all the good the Catholic Church does. It’s a lot. But I’m never returning.

Asked myself why and it’s this: my church lifts my heart. When I leave that place I feel the love that I recognize as God in us.

When I went to Catholic Churches I never felt love or happiness, only sadness, boredom and guilt.

Now I give freely to the church for their community work, and do the work with joy.

At Catholic Church I felt we were just there to feed the church.

I sure hope others will continue feeding and housing people that the church has done for decades.

The institutional violence inherent in the coverups for generations of sexual abuse of kids and adults made thus decision permanent.

[True Blue American]

31. Never a Catholic, but leaving a Southern Baptist I attended for 4 years gave me the same feeling.

My new Church preaches love,inclusion and taking care of your neighbor.

Much like this place I feel peace!

[Soxfan58]

26. Using a outdated theory

To defend a outdated institution

[Squinch]

27. Many many years ago, I was a disgusted Catholic. 12 years of Catholic school, the whole bit.

I ditched it about 40 years ago, and never for one second regretted it.

Once I threw off all that indoctrination and no longer subjected myself to all those double binds that come with belonging to a religion full of violent, hypocritical predators it was, as they say, as if the scales fell from my eyes.

Best thing I ever did.

[patphil]

28. Homosexuality is in our DNA

It's evident that at least 5% of the population is homosexual or bi-sexual. This is not a disease, it is part of life...part of the DNA of humanity.
And, since DNA is the basis of human life, it's a perfectly normal and natural condition.
In fact, I would say that it is God-given.
In it's pure form, it's love based. And, after all, love is love. There is no requirement on who we should love, and real, true love is always good.
Homosexuality doesn't contribute to the continuation of the species, but there are plenty of hetro-sexuals out there to handle that.


Pat Phillips

[notinkansas]

29. This conference is disgusting theater

I was raised as a Catholic. I know the rules lay people are told to abide by. They are pretty stringent. Evidently not so for priests and bishops and even popes.

The Church could have and most definitely should have done something to address this problem a very long time ago. Since they did not, this conference is only further condemnation of their inaction. I am not inclined to be forgiving of that.

[onetexan]

34. agree, the whole thing seems to be a farce

the clergy polices the laity, but whose policing them of their immorality?

[True Blue American]

30. Now the Southern Baptist

Has joined the group, and these Pastors can marry. No excuse there.

[Red Raider 85]

32. consider the evidence for your beliefs.

why do you accept anything the catholic church teaches? I was a catholic and ran across some youtube videos by Hitchens, and my religious indoctrination fell away like a house of Biblical cards. I urge you to do the same. i’m much happier without the church in my life.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

33. A number of homophobic clerics want scapegoats

And gays are a convenient target. That way, they think they can say, "We aren't doing anything wrong. It's the Lavender Mafia; get rid of them, and everything will be just fine." And yes, "Lavender Mafia" is a term these arseholes use.

They want to hang on to the clerical culture that says "priests are better than everyone else (and bishops are better than priests)". It's a form of pride, and "justifies" the cushy lifestyle that bishops typically live. This clericism is at the heart of the mess -- priests should have what they want. And, of course, bishops care more for their clerics than the lay kids the clerics molest; hence the cover-up of the crimes.

It is now coming out -- well, it's been known for decades, but only now is it being publicized -- that a lot of priests see nuns as targets for their sexual predation. And the priests doing that are most certainly not homosexual.

[TheBlackAdder]

35. When completely disgusted, a religious conversion will ensue. Until then, it's acceptable disgust.

[47of74]

36. Yeah I walked seven years ago.

I don’t regret it at all.

Even if a woman were allowed to be ordained tomorrow and a woman elected pope after Francis I still wouldn’t go back.

I just wish I had done it much sooner.

[panader0]

38. 'The Earnest Liberal's Lament' by Hemingway:

https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/earnest-liberals-lament