And central to it all is that hideous depiction of a blood sacrifice of an innocent person that is somehow supposed to have given everyone who believes it absolution for something they didn't do either, turning the whole thing into a shrine to morbidly paranoid theophobia.
All along the sides of the main body of the church are shrines to various saints together with the traditional candles of various sizes and prices, and the money box for superstitious people to put their money in, apparently in the belief that if you give the church some money and light a candle, the saint will smile favourably on you and ask God to grant your wishes. Apparently, the smoke from the candle carries your thoughts up to Heaven where they don't seem to have invented emails, faxes or Facebook pages yet, and although they can apparently read your thoughts, they need them confirmed by candle smoke.
Such a thing could only be tolerated by a superstitious people who are constantly reminded that any criticism of the Catholic Church or any daring to question its dogmas, teaching and practices, no matter how grotesquely immoral, of it's clerics, will certainly be met with the most grotesque of eternal tortures with no hope of relief. The Vatican has a direct line to God and what the Pope says goes, just as much in heaven as on Earth. Like any other mobster protection racketeer, even a hint of dissent and disloyalty absolutely cannot and will not be tolerated.
As Stephen Fry said when debating the proposition that the Catholic Church is a force for good in the world:
Do you know who would be the last person ever to be accepted as a prince of the [Catholic] Church? The Galilean carpenter. That Jew. They would kick him out before he tried to cross the threshold. He would be so ill-at-ease in the Church... What would he think, what would he think of St. Peter’s? What would he think of the wealth, and the power, and the self-justification, and the wheedling apologies? ...
The Pope could decide that all this power, all this wealth, this hierarchy of princes and bishops and archbishops and priests and monks and nuns could be sent out in the world with money and art treasures, to put them back in the countries that they once raped and violated, ... they could give that money away, and they could concentrate on the apparent essence of their belief, and then, I would stand here and say the Catholic Church may well be a force for good in the world, but until that day, it is not.
Thank you.
No wonder the Catholic Church is haemorrhaging members and even in devoutly Catholic countries like Italy, Ireland and Spain, where similar obscenities can be seen in every town and village, people are coming over to rationalist Humanism partly in disgust at the flagrant immorality of the Christian Church and those who use it for their own self-aggrandisement and as an excuse for claiming an undeserved power and authority the better to abuse it for their own ends.
Ten Reasons To Lose Faith: And Why You Are Better Off Without It
This book explains why faith is a fallacy and serves no useful purpose other than providing an excuse for pretending to know things that are unknown. It also explains how losing faith liberates former sufferers from fear, delusion and the control of others, freeing them to see the world in a different light, to recognise the injustices that religions cause and to accept people for who they are, not which group they happened to be born in. A society based on atheist, Humanist principles would be a less divided, more inclusive, more peaceful society and one more appreciative of the one opportunity that life gives us to enjoy and wonder at the world we live in.
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This powerful organisation did not get to be so by worrying about the shame of sinfulness as inflicted upon its followers. What annoys me most is the support our UK establishment is offering the papacy.
ReplyDeleteWell if you are to go after the Catholic Church, then be fair and equal in scorn, and go after other religions across the world, what about Islam??? What about Christians> Most all religions have this idea of helping people in need - and just because many Catholics decide in one manner or another to support these churches doesn't make the worst of the worst. Poverty has many avenues, and one religion alone is not its cause or the answer to the problems that exist. Leaving out the Catholic church for moment, you then to widen the net to all citizens, ask them to support poverty, helping those in need. And what have you done? Let's start being honest, the Catholic church does much charity across the world, but to suggest they are to blame because the church has silver, etc., seems a bit of scorn biasness. Could they do more, sure they could. But so could other faiths, and many religions do a lot, along with ordinary people and NGO's. But throwing money and food at situation doesn't mean you change behaviors, it may help get people in treatment programs or housing - but to some extent personal choices have to change, (not withstanding many who are ill and old or disabled) and those choices have to come from all parts of society. Throwing disdain at the church doesn't mean they are responsible for what is happening, and they alone can't change these issues.
ReplyDeleteSo far as I know, no Muslims were involved in the construction of the Church of St Anthony in Sorrento, Italy, or it's adornment with treasures. Do you have information to the contrary, please?
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