Posted on 01/23/2007 11:10:30 AM PST by presidio9
I wonder how dependant they are on government funding? I think that the Church and other religious organizations should begin to wean themselves from such funding so that they can maintain their religious integrity while providing services.
I feel sorry of you that you have such a misperception of religion. Clergy members of any religion are not gods. The are human beings with the same mortal flaws as society in general. That being said, it might make you feel better to know that the incidence of pedophilia among Catholic priests is far lower than in the male population overall. Again, you're just much more likely to hear about it when it's a priest, specifically because it is so unusual. Likewise, a male public school teacher is far more likely to abuse his students than a female one, but the female abuser makes a much better story.
Josef Alois Ratzinger was born to Joseph Ratzinger in Germany in 1927. His father, Joseph Ratzinger Sr., Ratzinger, a policeman and a strong Catholic, was an outspoken critic of Nazism. A cousin of young Ratzinger's was gassed because he had Downs Syndrome. Membership to the Hitler Youth became a legal requirement for all 14 year-old German boys in 1939. Therefore, Ratzinger enrolled in 1941, but refused to attend meetings. He was never a member of the Nazi Party. He was drafted into the army when he turned 16, but he faked an illness and never saw action before the war ended. All of this is well documented. Unlike in Germany during the 1930's, and 1940's, it is your right to make whatever goofball allegations your small brain can invent. The Church is an easy target for biggots. I take that as a sign of our strength.
Good idea, but here's the problem: The Catholic Church runs most of the private orphanages in this country. Can we expect non-Catholic to make donations to keep them running? Based on the attiture of some of the posters on this thread, I'd say not so much.
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