That disconnect between Catholics and their Church
At Daylight Atheism, Ebonmuse discusses the disconnect between the Catholic Church and lay Catholics:
To judge by some recent news articles, the Catholic church, which at least used to stand for good education, has become infected with the same anti-intellectual disease that pervades so many sects of evangelical Protestantism.
What are the problems with the Catholic Church? It’s the same problems with fundamentalist sects:
…young Catholics feel increasingly disconnected from a church that continues to bash gays, exclude women from the priesthood, and preach against contraception. As society becomes increasingly liberal and tolerant, the Catholic church continues to cling obstinately to its irrational rules, and is accordingly being left in the dust.
This post by Ebonmuse reminded me of the many well-educated and thoughtful Catholics I know. Many of them are good friends. I often wonder how they can stand it when they discuss how the Church that has been their Church for their entire lives increasingly turns to the fringe right. I wonder how many Catholics are having fantasies (or plans) to break away and start fresh . . .
Truly, how is it that in a world rife with massive moral challenges, the Church maintains such a constant focus on abortion, gays and birth control? I know that the congregations have much more than that on their minds, but there does seem to be such a disconnect between the congregation and the highest level of the clergy.
Feel free to join the conversation over at Daylight Atheism.
Erich writes:—”Truly, how is it that in a world rife with massive moral challenges, the Church maintains such a constant focus on abortion, gays and birth control?”
By making the assumption that as we conduct ourselves in private, over personal issues, so we would conduct ourselves in public, over community issues. The flaw is in tagging these behaviors as those pivot points around which personal morality manifests or fails.