During the Iraq war I photographed a Catholic Chaplain convention.
I do photography professionally and I was hired to do candid shots, and photos of speakers etc at the Chaplain convention. Anyway, this convention was over several days so I got to know a few of them pretty good. I sat at different tables when food was served and got to hear their politics right in the middle of the Iraq war. They didn't just talk the Iraq war either, all kinds of issues and what was stunning is I felt like I was photographing the Democratic Convention. These were the most liberal, war hating, peace loving, kind, understanding, awesome people I had perhaps ever met. Loved everyone of them! They went off about Bush and the Republicans just like DUers do. It was AWESOME!
Anyway reading this segment in the Wonkette article about the new Pope, what is said here completely rang true to me:
Snip> So, for many of our commenters, we are going to have to explain this again: Not all Catholics are fucking assholes.
Oh, that did not explain it enough? Ok. There is a wing of the Church that is filled with lefties who actually serve the poor instead of determining that gay-bashing was Jesus’s No. 1 bestness most funtimes favorite thing to do while he is seated at the right hand of the father. We call this the “Catholic Worker” wing of the Church, or the “Dorothy Day” wing of the Church, or “pretty much most nuns,” which is why Ratzinger was always yelling at them.
Read more at http://wonkette.com/509023/new-pope-already-pissing-off-the-santorum-wing-of-the-catholic-church#JYBwoAv5ufzV4m67.99
Right on the money! I will never forget them playing the song "Bridge over troubled Water"
as they showed a slide show of Chaplains from all over the world often in war zones etc. helping the sick and the poor and wounded. These are truly beautiful people and I just wanted to point that out from personal experience. I get the impression this Pope is very much like those Chaplains at least when it comes to regular folks and the poor. I am not the least bit impressed with his stance on Gay Marriage but thats another thread.
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I went to a Unitarian Church for a while and I don't know what it was but there were some really selfish young folks. I ended up leaving. It was probably just a fluke and not a widespread thing however I have enjoyed the more liberal Christian churches like Unity a bit more when I do go which is not that often.
Feeding the poor while fighting contraception is like throwing a man a float after kicking him out of a liferaft.
The empowerment of women is the route by which traditional and authoritarian cultures become more liberal. While I dislike the Catholic Church's opposition to gay marriage, it is its opposition to contraception that has helped maintain traditional power structures in so much of the world, and kept hundreds of millions of people impoverished.
