Replies

Imagine a small town with a single intersection (a "cross" if you will). The intersection is controlled by four-way stop signs. The town cop is corrupt. If you are an influential citizen or a friend of the cop, you can run the stop sign with impunity. If you are an out-of-towner or somebody on the cop's sh!t-list, you will get a ticket even if you come to a complete stop and obey the law perfectly. The corrupt city father's are perfectly ok with this as they get to blow through the intersection at will and the city coffers are filled by those not fortunate enough to be on the cop's good side.

Obviously there is a problem and the system isn't working like it's supposed to largely due to the (mal-)administration of the person in charge of it and the people who put him there. Nonetheless, this does not mean there is something wrong or flawed with the broader concept of having stop signs at intersections and the rules that govern them. Stop signs at intersections and traffic laws are inherently good things, and when entrusted to people who understand and support the reasoning behind them, and enforce them as intended they work flawlessly. In the case of an accident, disputes may arise, but it's not about whether the traffic laws are flawed, but rather about which party didn't obey them.

On the other hand, when entrusted to the incompetent and/or evil, even the best and finest and most flawless of concepts can be distorted and disfigured into something unrecognizable. We need to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Bad Cop Francis may be a very poor administrator of that which has been placed in his trust, but that should not undermine a Catholic's faith in the Church he is improperly administering or possibly even intentionally attempting to undermine.

I have been Catholic all my life and will remain so until until every priest from every pulpit starts spewing politically Leftist thought.