Wow, posts inside this group are being hidden for stating facts about the new pope.

[Rob H.]

7. Witness the mind-altering power of religion

It's staggering that so many people not only support but defend an organization that has protected child rapists for decades, wants to make it impossible for same-sex couples to adopt children or get married, tells people in sub-Saharan Africa--where AIDS is raging out of control--that condom use is a sin, treats women as walking incubators, the list goes on and on.

If it came to light that a corporation, for example, were protecting child rapists, the public would want the executives sent to prison to spend the rest of their lives strung up by their testicles, but somehow the church hierarchy doing that is "different" and to even bring up pedophile priests is showing insufficient respect for people's beliefs* at best and bigotry** at worst. (And, yes, I realize that there have been instances of child molestation in other churches, too, not just the RCC.)

To borrow a line from Tim Minchin, just because ideas are tenacious doesn't mean that they're worthy.


*Just to be clear, I respect people's right to believe whatever they like but if those beliefs are dangerous, wrong, or laugh-out-loud stupid, the fact that they arise from religious faith doesn't give them a free pass.

**If wanting to see the church held responsible for its activities during a decades-long criminal conspiracy to protect child rapists makes me a bigot, I'll wear that label proudly.

Edited for clarity. (Three times. Oops.)