Catholics Don't Care What Their Church Says About Anything
According to the article:
No one could have imagined that an institution that took three and a half centuries to admit Galileo was right about the Earth not being the center of the universe might not have its finger on the pulse of its people. But a new New York Times /CBS News poll shows that's exactly what American Catholics think .
The poll has all sorts of interesting findings, all of which make it pretty clear that Catholicseven devout, practicing Catholicsdon't share the views of their Church and don't follow its edicts.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/06/1192098/-Shocking-Catholics-don-t-care-what-their-Church-says-about-anything #
I think the days of pay, pray, and obey are long gone for the best of American Catholics.
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Not Catholic myself but am a Christian. It seems that many American denominations (especially Evangelical ones) are experiencing this same thing. People who chose to attend church are becoming more aware of their spiritual desires/needs and are asking more from their churches (rightly so imho) than ever before; if churches do not progress to meet their members where they are at, they will fade away.
I was raised Catholic.
After attending Mass six days a week, and sometimes seven, throughout Catholic grade school and high school I had had enough. It seemed like rote saturation was an accepted method of encouraging belief. Today the group of geriatrics running the church in Rome have it in a real muddle where it doesn't know it's afoot or horseback.
But , I have to admit I liked some of the pageantry, especially Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. I was even an altar boy for three years. Yet the doctrine and dogma never took hold. It was just too counter intuitive for me to buy into even at a young age.
Today it is increasingly clear that the church is woefully out of touch with the realities of the modern world, much as it has always demonstrated for the sake of stale doctrine.
From its insistence on celibacy, to denying women admission to the clergy, its ongoing sex scandal, its historical treatment of the Jews and the blind eye it officially took toward the holocaust as well as its historical meddling in secular affairs, the church remains a monkey on the back of history.
Today it again insinuates itself into a nation's internal affairs by seeking to influence secular legislation in the US denying the right of access to birth control and abortion while also trying to influence legislation denying gay marriage which is a purely secular matter of equal rights for American citizens. It's clergy use the pulpit to officially influence social policy issues which contradict church policy as stated by that foreign entity aka the Vatican.
American born clergy have every right as citizens to speak their mind, but I, for one, draw the line when they speak in an official capacity as representatives of the Vatican and as part of a church service on church property. They can go rent a private venue like anybody else for their political gatherings as private citizens.
If it's the church's position that it can officially meddle in our internal affairs then maybe the US congress or, better yet, all American voters should have a say in who is elected Pope.
I personally know Catholics who have had abortions, use birth control, don't attend church regularly, etc. I think they would be more at home in a Unitarian church, but they are attracted by the catholic brand, and they just aren't interested in seeing their church in any context other than a social network. The Catholic Church is quick to boast about their membership, even when that membership includes women who have had abortions and who clearly engage in premarital sex, extramarital sex, and birth control.
Most of them are too busy robbing the poor to pay the victims of their pedophilia acts against children. Then they want to have a house off the backs of the taxpayers dime, or a castle like mansion in the Vatican where some kreepy pope has a personal chef and collects a 200 a mil year income.
The days of church and religion helping the poor are long gone. Today, its all about making as much money as they can to pad their pockets and lifestyle.
Church and Religion did a "switch and bait" on their sheeple. First they start out small, helped the poor, brainwash their sheeple, and then collect money using their collection plates to buy their homes, jewelry, cars, clothes, food, and chefs, and screw helping out those that are homeless and hungry.
We probably wouldn't have such a homeless problem in America as we do today if all these so called "Non Profit Organizations" actually helped the people they are suppose to be helping, but instead, they are now just helping themselves to your money.
jussayin-
May very well be right Susan. People too lazy to go to church, and minsters too lazy to minister make for a very bad bride.
trollin, trollin, trollin, Looks as if we got some trolls on thenewstalkers. Right Susan?
Hal, it MUST seem strange that people at odds with their own Church continue to attend, etc. I think it has to do with indoctrination. The levels vary depending on the amount and type of indoctrination. I was a 24/7 Catholic from birth. So, a part of me will always be Catholic. I remember some sweet times as a child, along with some veryharsh ones. I think that many individual parishes tried very hard to shepherd their flock. I DO NOT agree however with the Vatican, and many of the doctrines just don't make sense, and haven't since I was about 13 yrs old. We were not encouraged much towards the Bible and certainly I was not taught tolerance for anythingor anyone that was not Catholic in nature. When I began to investigate the Bible, I couldn't reason any of it out, and it was all very conflicted within me.
I don't believe we need the "middleman" to find God, or to practice faith. And, I'm not particularly fond of dicatatorships. To me, the Vatican has stacked the deck in their favour, and saves the finest for themselves. Jesus did not particularly mix with this type when he walked the earth.
And, based on results, most Catholics of today DO practice birth control. When I was growing up, the standard in a Catholic family was to have anywhere from 6 to 18 children. I don't think Catholics have suddenly gone sterile. And the fact that the Pope denies condom use in Africa, even though it would save lives where the AIDS epidemic is out of control, is just cruel. And kills people. On and on. I am a Catholic in my heart, but how can I look to the Vatican for any sort of "leadership"? I don't.
A church has a right to decide what to teach. Any who disagree are free to leave