When it SHOULD be better. If you told me the NFL or the Steamfitters Union or the Postal Service was filled with child rapists, I'd be repulsed but I'd say it mirrors society. But priests are supposed to PROTECT it's flock, not fuck the most vulnerable. And their dogs. _
You realize that earlier in this thread you argued exactly the opposite? I told you that the Church is nothing more than a power structure designed to control the masses and make profit, just like any other power structure. I recall you arguing the opposite , that the Church is special, representative of God, infallible with sole goal of spreading his words. I told you to thread lightly on this... And now here we are: you are officially admitting that the CHURCH IS JUST LIKE ANY OTHER STRUCTURE OF POWER. Congrats, you just admitted Church is not an instrument of God, just a bunch of guys (sometimes good, sometimes bad) who ride on the idea.
I do not think UnTruth realized you were mocking him. Do you not realize he was mocking you? Wow. You'll believe anything that you believe was handed to you with good intentions. Kind of like from your church elders. _
4U2, Here is a very simple breakdown, you have 2 options. 1. Church is the extension of God. Then it was God's will to fuck little children, burn villages, etc. 2. Church is just another power structure.
Waterboy already addressed this quite convincingly, but let me add my 2 cents. Do you not see how ridiculous this statement is? Why on earth should the burden of proof be on one side and not the other? You can't just-- wait I think this comic says it best-- meanwhile You most certainly did not. The word "proof"-- as Inigo Montoya once said, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." Your argument boils down to "something cannot come from nothing. Therefore, God exists." Again, just because current scientific knowledge and experience has not yet been able to demonstrate the processes, or even come to a consensus on the theory of the origin of the universe, does not prove the existence of your God. How can you make that massive leap? Like I said before-- if you religion gives you comfort and contentment, then fine. Go with it. Enjoy it. But don't pretend that it can act as a stand-in for an understanding of the nature of the physical world. Lightning does not come from a powerful being hurling them down from a cloud kingdom. The bubonic plague was not a punishment for the sins of a wayward people by a vengeful deity. The sun does not fly around the fucking earth in a chariot!
LOL wow, that's not at all what I said, and not even close to the truth! The Catholic Church was instituted by Jesus Christ, who was both God and man, fully human and fully divine at the same time. That's why he both suffered and died as any man would, but also performed many miracles witnessed by hundreds of people. The teachings of Christ were from God, since Christ was God in human form, and so the teachings of the Catholic Church, as recorded by the Apostles and faithfully passed down through the ages, are unchanging and perfect. The teachings of the Catholic Church, as recorded in the Catechism, are unchanging and have been transmitted faithfully, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, down through the ages. God has guided His Church to safeguard and pass on the Truth of our existence, and human nature. These things don't change. But the Church is also made up of imperfect, fallable human beings; people who have been given free will. God will never enslave us, or take away our free will. He has provided us with all we need, but it's up to us to follow the teachings of our Catholic Church faithfully. When that doesn't happen, you get corrupt priests, bishops, and even popes from time to time. The church needs to be dilligent and careful to make sure that only those who are truly called to religious life enter religious life. This usually happens, but there was a period from the 1960's to the 1980's when the negative effects of the sexual "revolution", coupled with a complacent Church that was loved and respected throughout the first half of the 20th century, came together and resulted in some mentally ill individuals becoming Priests. Or perhaps some under the influence of the antichrist who wanted to try to harm the church from within. As I mentioned before, some church-haters like Stalin have raised this as a possible strategy to try to take down the church. The Church is, and always will be, a Holy and charitable institution, not "a power structure designed to control the masses and make a profit" as you said. The Church is a nonprofit religious organization, and its charitable efforts throughout history are well-documented. It feeds more poor people, heals more sick people, cares for more elderly, and on and on, than any other institution ever has. Those are facts, and the Catholic-bashers always just ignore those facts because they don't help the false propaganda they are trying to spread. The Catholic Church was also the first to courageously oppose Hitler and help save Jews from being slaughtered, and to this day the Catholic Church and Judaism are close allies. I could go on and on.....I am finding out in this thread that dispelling myths is hard, some people have been brainwashed and it's hard to change that, even with facts. But the Catholic Church has remained the largest, and strongest, religious group on the face of the earth, despite repeated attempts by governments and other groups to destroy it. That's no accident; we have the facts, and the truth, on our side. The more people discover the truths of history, the more people become Catholic.
You talk about the "burden of proof" being on one side and not the other, that's how atheists try to sidestep the question. But religious scientists have presented good theories, and there has been a lot of evidence, for God's existence. Have you read any of them? Even scientists who are not religious, but who consider themselves agnostic, have shown how all of the evidence points to a supernatural origin for the universe. Basically, scientists cannot PROVE that God exists, but they CAN PROVE than a supernatural Creator MUST EXIST, because the alternative is nonsensical and impossible from a scientific standpoint. But I suppose you will just continue to say that "science has no explanation so far, but that doesn't mean that they never will". But the truth is that they never will, and I can prove that with science. In fact I did just that, earlier in this thread, but you just ignored it. Like people say, it takes a lot more faith to be an atheist today.
I let it slide, but since you are obsessed with this ...... the articles you posted hardly constitute proof of any Priest doing anything wrong. Who wrote those articles? Where were they from? Were they written by Catholic bashers? The NY Times was caught on multiple occasions publishing bogus articles falsely accusing the Church. You just blindly believe your propaganda, and close your mind to actual facts. Until you open your mind and lose the hate that is blinding you, you will never see the truth. I will pray for you, seriously. BTW, here are the articles you dug up, so you don't have to re-post that nonsense: "Claire Taylor" from a website called "The Advertiser" http://www.theadvertiser.com/story/...uicide-another-admitted-molestation/13374293/ Martin Finucane from The Boston Globe, a staff writer for a far-left propaganda rag (known to make stuff up) https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...summer-camp/mDqGvO92nCFyxLi4wPtY2N/story.html And another gem, from a website called "The Inquiositr" http://www.inquisitr.com/1471929/ca...und-guilty-of-raping-children-and-bestiality/ ...and this looks like a blog, for crying out loud, from some dude from something called "Ranker" lol http://www.ranker.com/list/christian-priests-convicted-for-sexual-abuse/robert-wabash?page=47 GREAT SOURCES lol! A handful of obscure articles you dug up, and not a single credible source among them! smh .... pure propaganda. Seriously, just stop already.