tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559967538513457270.post412827501957376379..comments2023-05-25T08:54:01.742-07:00Comments on BroadSnark: Pope a DopeMelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14570361651510490524noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559967538513457270.post-37782175451910789482009-01-03T10:05:00.000-08:002009-01-03T10:05:00.000-08:00Hi Henry. Thanks for commenting.I agree with you ...Hi Henry. Thanks for commenting.<BR/><BR/>I agree with you about the church's consistency when it comes to the death penalty. I never understood those "right to life" people who were pro death penalty and pro war.<BR/><BR/>However, I think the church's stance on other issues, like birth control, have resulted in many deaths. And don't get me started on the deaths resulting from the church's proselytizing. (I'm most familiar with Latin America, but there are other examples.)<BR/><BR/>I also would rather see a gaudy cathedral than a war. Let's say you're right. It is the church's position that they have all that money to help the poor. So by their own value system it should not have been a war v. cathedral choice. Shouldn't they be required to live up to their stated value system and not put up with as the lesser of two evils?Melhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14570361651510490524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559967538513457270.post-18034806373437796082008-12-31T10:11:00.000-08:002008-12-31T10:11:00.000-08:00While I'm not a Catholic, I do respect the Church'...While I'm not a Catholic, I do respect the Church's consistency on issues such as life. A lot of mainstream Christians believe that any unnatural termination of a pregnancy is murder, yet will go balls to the wall to execute criminals -- the Catholic Church doesn't see it that way.<BR/><BR/>But you make a great point about the accumulation of riches.<BR/><BR/>I used to shudder when I went into a fancy cathedral -- the main one at Toledo, Spain, for example -- literally hundreds of millions of dollars in todays terms went into the building of that monument to the Church. I would become totally depressed by the thought of all those resources going into such a thing when people were starving, education only being for the nobility/clerics, crap for roads, etc. Then, a couple years back, I realized that all of that money WOULD have been used for wars if the Church hadn't used it for building these beautiful monuments.<BR/><BR/>Just a random couple of thoughts.<BR/><BR/>Peace.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559967538513457270.post-69478960613805618232008-12-27T10:29:00.000-08:002008-12-27T10:29:00.000-08:00http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htmLink...http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm<BR/><BR/>Link to the info from Ontario Religious ToleranceMelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14570361651510490524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559967538513457270.post-81251555632375805012008-12-27T10:28:00.000-08:002008-12-27T10:28:00.000-08:00Given Timothy's comment above and the sources he c...Given Timothy's comment above and the sources he cites that are in direct opposition to mine, I did a little further research on the growth of Catholicism.<BR/><BR/>Ontario consultants on religious tolerance have a good post up explaining rates of growth and differing opinions on the subject.<BR/><BR/>According to them, while Catholicism is growing by 1.3%, it is not growing near as fast as other Christian religions. <BR/><BR/>Also, according to many sources (including the Vatican source I cite in my article) Islam is growing faster than all the Christian religions.<BR/><BR/>In short, while there may be absolute growth in numbers of Catholics (at least for a while), they will shrink as a percentage of the population (particularly since so many Catholics ignore the church's dictates about birth control).<BR/><BR/>As to Timothy's other comment about sinners - All people are capable of terrible things and wonderful things. Some situations, organizations, and groups bring out the best in people. Some bring out the worst. Given it's history, the Catholic church has too often brought out the worst.Melhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14570361651510490524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1559967538513457270.post-73455540966205225912008-12-25T13:26:00.000-08:002008-12-25T13:26:00.000-08:00Greetings! Saw your post in Google Blogsearch and ...Greetings! Saw your post in Google Blogsearch and came to read.<BR/><BR/>>"I thought about recounting the history of Catholicism in the world. I thought about the crusades, the inquisition, forcible conversions, decimation of indigenous culture,..."<BR/><BR/>You would only make the Bible and the Church's point: Jesus founded a church for sinners, filled it with sinners, and put sinners in charge. How else should sinners act?<BR/><BR/>>"Catholicism is on the decline all over"<BR/><BR/>Hardly. The Catholic Church is increasing at a rate of 17-18 million per year worldwide. Even though you cited sources, the declines are regional and not indicative of the larger church. The temporary loss of priests in some dioceses has resulted in more liberal American priests being replaced with more traditional African priests. Other dioceses have so many priests they have no place for them. A number of traditional convents are reporting <A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/24/AR2007112401505.html" REL="nofollow">overflowing with novices</A>. Nuns in habits are like rock stars currently.<BR/><BR/>Additionally:<BR/><A HREF="http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/scotland/Catholic-church-moves-into-Pole.4118420.jp" REL="nofollow">Catholics now outnumber Protestants in SCotland</A><BR/><A HREF="http://www.catholicvocation.org.au/news-and-events/rise-in-number-of-global-catholic-clergy.html" REL="nofollow">Risee in Number of Global Catholic Clergy</A><BR/><A HREF="" REL="nofollow"></A><BR/><A HREF="http://christian-apologetics-society.blogspot.com/2008/10/evangelism-explosion-among-catholics.html" REL="nofollow">Evangelism Explosion Among Catholics</A><BR/><A HREF="http://christian-apologetics-society.blogspot.com/2008/10/orthodox-church-in-america-increasing.html" REL="nofollow">Orthodox Church in America Increasing</A><BR/><BR/>At Christmas Eve mass last evening I saw first hand that the Church is going strong. There were two priests and three seminarians. The church was packed with adults and children, the next generation of Catholics. There's no shortage of priests or future Catholics in our area and our U.S. diocese is considered mission territory as out state is only 5% Catholic.<BR/><BR/>Merry Christmas and God bless... <BR/><BR/>+TimothyTimothyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06992217665437521336noreply@blogger.com