Now that we have bashed the Catholic Church far in excess of any rules of propriety, let's start in on some of the others.

Lutherans are all bad because they are more Catholic than Catholics.

Episcopalians are all bad because they have a gay bishop.

Jews are all bad because they own all of the money in the world through the Trilateral Commission.

Bible thumpers are all bad because they are such simpletons that they think that they can be strict constructionists of a book written/rewritten by an old English king.  You do remember King James, don't you?

Moslems are all bad because they say that their religion is the religion of peace.

Buddhists are all bad just because I said so.

Hindus are all bad because they worship cows & I like hamburgers.

Protestants in general are all bad just because they protest.

Let's hope that the great & all-powerful mods don't lock this thread just because of this little detail:

1.) Respect your fellow gun owners by not posting derogatory comments of a racial, religious or sexual nature.

It sure didn't matter in this thread did it?

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=219089&w=activePop

Oh, I didn't let lack of knowledge or facts get in my way in developing this thread.  Does that sound familiar?

^^^ Sombody's got their panties in a bunch! [:O]

Oh, why that's just plain mean.

[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/Attachments/DownloadAttach.asp?iImageUnq=19363[/img]

The other branches have not aided and systematically covered up for pedophiles. Nor have they comitted hypocracy by condeming homosexuality as a sin and while knowingly employing thousands of homosexual priests.

Most of the other branches you name don't have the ability to move or cover up for predatory members because their organization is so decentralized. They cant get enough cooperation between their members to carry out such a plan.

The one exception is the Mormons, but you have to be living in a hole to have avoided the outcry against the child marrages and polygamy in their community that they, like the Catholics with the gays, refuse to police up.

The Catholic church has been caught red handed, and you should be considering the moral implications of continuing to identify with such a corrupt body instead of bitching at people for calling a spade a spade.

How about Christian Science?  My dad calls it the Grape Nuts religion. [ROFL]

Princess Vespa: I am Princess Vespa, daughter of Roland, King of the Druids.
Lone Starr: Oh great. That's all we needed. A Druish princess.
Barf: Funny, she doesn't look Druish.

What's the difference between a Baptist and a Methodist? The Methodist will tell you hello in the liquor store...

I was raised Luthern until the Catechism started. Then I saw hypocracy at work. They really try to make the typical bible thumpers seem enlightened. From what little histroy I can remember through the fog of years passing, Luther was among the first to branch from the Catholic church. Thus, his religion is the most similar. They have a similar communion, the audience reading of certain passages (I forget what it's called).

[:)]

I'm Seventh Day Adventist. I feel left out.

I got one - Seventh Day Adventist are bad because they FOLLOW THE 10 COMMANDMENTS and keep the Sabbath. [}:D]

[flame] Flame on me bitches!!

I'm feeling left out also(Greek Orthodox). Although, if you want to consider the Catholic church as a part of the Christian Orthodox religion (as it really is), then I'll guess I'll be OK. Irini Pasi.

Please continue the  [>Q]

CW

I beg to differ with you sir.  The Catholic Church was not being bashed in that thread.  The Vatican was.  The difference being that the Vatican is not just the seat of power for a world religion, but it is a separate political entity (it is, in fact, a sovereign nation.)  As such, the policy statements issued by its political leaders are fair game for both scrutiny and (if warranted) ridicule.

more catholic than the Catholics  -- If I was to guess I'ld read that as more hidebound and liturgically and dogmatically inflexible.

But I'm an Episcopalian and we sure can't be throwing stones.  I may be the last conservative left.  I sometimes think I just stick around to see what they do next.

Many of the older churches (Roman Catholic, Anglo-Catholic, Other Catholic, Orthodox Churches, etc) tend to follow historical related liturgies and rituals in their worship services.  they are often co-communicants and recognize Apostolic Succession.  and sometimes they don't with everybody else.  Some people that "fellowship" have conniptions over that and feel that Churches with any kind of common or regular rituality are cults in disguise and rank slightly behind the Masons in being Devil Worshippers.

[ROFL]

Quoted:



As I said, not a lot of knowledge or facts got in my way when I posted the original rant.  I had heard one time that the Lutherans have a more "Latin" or pre-Vatican 2 type of service than the Catholics do now, but I don't have any first hand knowledge of that so don't take the original post as fact, any more than you would take those Catholic bashing opinions as fact.

Originally posted by ARMDLBRL


The simple fact is, while we're calling a spade a spade, is that the other churches lack ANY organization which would reasonably lead to the conclusion that they are not actually churches so much as they are very loose configurations of very broadly like minded independents.

As far as your argument that the Catholic Church coverded up pedophilia, certainly there have been instances where that has happened & it is a very serious & terrible thing that should not have happened.  By your argument then, any church or other institution, with any serious problems is de facto "corrupt."  Uh huh.

It's a little known fact that the Catholic Church has made extensive efforts to treat any priests with [u]any[/u] serious problems.  FYI, those efforts were being made long before it became fashionable to bash the Catholic Church.  Unfortunately, the priests are human, & subject to the same frailties as the rest of us & as a result some have sexual problems as well as substance abuse, etc.  Soooooooo, please name all of the churches with ministers, rabbis, mullahs, etc. who do not have problems.  [Mr. Rogers voice] I knew you couldn't.[/Mr. Rogers voice]

Originally posted by Nimrod1193



And you sir, are both in error and splitting hairs.  The statement by the Cardinal nowhere said that it was a policy statement for the Catholic Church, the Vatican, or any sovereign nation.  The comments are off-the-cuff personal editorials by the Cardinal.  The Cardinal's comments were in the context of the Church's announcement of the upcoming World Day of Peace, a concept that you may also support.  As far as splitting hairs, the Catholic Church & the Vatican are commonly considered one & the same.  Also, that little distinction was not made in the original thread quoted above.  Further to your argument, I am probably more appalled by the Cardinal's comments than you are.

PaDanby said



Hey, you say that like it's a BAD thing!

There is an interesting progression in the thought & reasoning process that leads to dramatically irrational responses that have been seen on this board of late.  It seems like we see articles in the ultraliberal left wing newspapers sensationalizing the problems of the Catholic Church, and, first of all we just plain believe them.  Do we just blindly accept everything that the ultraliberal left wing media says about guns?  Secondly, we take those sensationalized stories & we irrationally extrapolate them.  Example: A small percentage of priests have/had a serious problem with pedophilia, therefore very priest is a pedophile.  Doesn't it occur to you that the problems are dealt with?  There were, & are,  treatment options, removal from the priesthood, excommunication, criminal charges, prison, etc. to deal with these problems.  These things have been done & are being done as we speak.

Another item that has been irrationally addressed on this board has been the Cardinal's statement.  One Cardinal makes one statement & all of a sudden, the Vatican & every Catholic, individually is a liberal or out-of-touch-with-reality or whatever.  Do you use these same thought processes when it comes to your church?  What about your town, neighborhood or family?  Hey Joe Budeau from Bayou Country said such & such therefore all of the people within a hundred miles are bozos.  Get a grip!

Oh, & so that nobody feels left out:

All of you Seventh Day Adventists are bad, too, but I haven't figured out why yet.

Greek Orthodox are bad because they are too orthodox.

No kidding. Very stern warning indeed.

Indeed.

Anyone got any millstones???

What about the Scientologist?  Aren't they bad?  For good sakes!  Read Hubbard's books!
How about the Wiccans?  Witches and all, aren't they bad?
Come one!  What about the Church of Satan?  They're downright evil!
Voodoo!  What about them?  Zombie making bastards!
Santa Ria, or what ever.  Aren't they a bunch of pagans hiding right in the Church of Rome?  That has to be bad!
Oh yeah!  Athiest!  Baddest of the bad!  Look at what they and the ACLU did/doing.
Agnostics!  Can't agree on anything!  Some serious badness there.
Who else?
Masons, not really a religion...own the world...or want to...probably bad.
Communist.  Not a religion either, but behaves like one.  All the worlds problems can be traced to them.  Definately bad.
Nazis.  No need to say anything here.
Vegetarians.  The most evil and profane of them all!  A religion diguised as a dietary habit! Lookout world!  (pssst!  Hitler was a vegetarian!)

Any more?

The list can go on.

Bilster

Oooops!  I forgot one!

Gun Owners!
The only Constitutionally protected religion!
We have the Lidless Eye wreathed in flame on our side.
Evil!  Way Evil!  We could unleash our fury and rule the world if we wanted to.

I want to!

Anyone else?

Bilster

Why does this sound like a Bad Political cartoon? Kinda like Doonesbury or Bloom County?

Or is that a bunch in their panties?[lol]

Are atheists good?[:d]

So where does that leave us Agnostics?

I'm not Atheistic or Nihilistic but Agnostic is as close as I can get to a classification of my belief system.

I hate what most organized religion has become - money grubbing hypocrites.  I hate any religion that requires you to kill all people of other religions.  Maybe they might get what's coming to them in the afterlife, or maybe they'll just die.

whatever...

Hardcase

If you don't like the reputation your church has acquired for ITSELF by its own actions (or lack thereof) you got two choices, seperate  yourself or work to change it.

Do NOT blame outsiders for their natural, honest responses toward your groups documented behavior.

And the same goes for MUSLIMS out there too.

Originally posted by Hun



Sorry, ETH, I don't see who you mean by "rogue priest."  If you are talking generically about pedophile priests, I know of two instances right off the top of my head where the priests were incarcerated.  One was James Porter of Minnesota and I don't remember the name of the other one but he was incarcerated in MA & killed in jail IIRC.

Likewise the "analogy" of a bank president groping a teller is a weak one at best.  Example: Ahnold.  Also, I can't believe that it would take much research to find cases where this behavior has been tolerated in other organizations.  Example: Tailhook.  Was this the first time, or the last time for that matter, that a service member has abused another service member?  Did those guys just wake up that morning & Tailhook happened, never to happen again?  Probably not, in both cases.

Hun, following your analogy about the bank president being fired, would you be happy knowing that priests were fired for pedophilia?  I doubt it.  How many bank presidents do you think have gone to prison for fondling a clerk?  I don't have to do any research to know the answer to that one.  Not many.

The whole analogy of a bank president's fondling vs. pedophilia denigrates your whole argument & the whole concept of the seriousness of the crime of pedophilia.

Frankly there have been cases where the authorities have investigated pedophilia charges & have not been able to bring a case.  (Sorry I don't have any citations in hand, but you could research the Minneapolis Star Tribune archives & see some examples in MN.)  In the event that there truly was pedophilia, that is a terrible & unfortunate thing.

Originally posted by ETH



Did you miss my post about jail time?  I repeat:  Priests have been put in prison for these terrible & abhorrent crimes against children, as well they should be.

FYI:  You obviously summed up your beliefs in the "Fundamental" notation.  You are much smarter than the simple fundamentalist thinking & certainly have the ability to understand far more theology than this lazy, i.e., fundamentalist, thought process.

Originally posted by ArmdLbrl



You are right that I don't like the reputation that the church has gotten in these sad cases, but that didn't happen in a vacuum.  It takes guys like you to continue bashing, to really insure that the Catholic Church is considered bad for a long time to come.  And, no, your responses are not "natural" or "honest."  They are simply bashing, while we are calling a spade a spade.  Your input has not added anything constructive or substantive to the discussion.  It's simply been a case of adding fuel to the fire & trolling.  Frankly, on an intellectual level it's been a serious disappointment because I always thought that "liberals were supposed to be the deep thinkers & conservatives were supposed to be the troglodytes.  You, sir, have proven me wrong on both counts.

Oh, and all you other guys, agnostics, bagnostics, noshes, etc. you are all bad too!

You'd have to be living in a hole to think that Mormons are hiding child marriages and polygamy!  You'd be excommunicated from the Mormon Church so fast you head would spin if you were a polygamist.  Mormons haven't practiced polygamy in over 100 years.

There's lots of folks who call themselves "fundamentalist mormons" who might practice polygamy, but I challenge you to show me their LDS Church records.  They're either the descendants of apostates, or they themselves have been excommunicated.  

I challenge you to show me any example of a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who is also a polygamist today.  Or show me any Mormons who marry little girls.

What about us JEDI?

IBTL

Let's not forget these guys:
[img]http://www.mindspring.com/~waponi/jpg/ben01.jpg[/img]

[rodneykingvoice]Can't we all just get along? Can't we?[/rodneykingvoice]

IBTL! [banana]