Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utcsstat.UUCP Path: utzoo!utcsrgv!utcsstat!laura From: laura@utcsstat.UUCP Newsgroups: net.religion Subject: Re: Views on Religions - (nf) Message-ID: <661@utcsstat.UUCP> Date: Thu, 9-Jun-83 20:37:37 EDT Article-I.D.: utcsstat.661 Posted: Thu Jun 9 20:37:37 1983 Date-Received: Thu, 9-Jun-83 21:19:55 EDT References: whuxlb.1133 <5319@unc.UUCP>, <473@uw-june> Organization: U. of Toronto, Canada Lines: 44 The Roman Catholic Church, despite its centralised desent from the Pope does not really have a "Standards Committee". By the time you get to Vatican Councils and the Curia, yes, you have found a central authority, but the whole things is terribly decentralised in practice. 2 years ago I was in a R.C. church with my parents at the town closest to their cottage. The Sunday was "a day for Christian Unity Sunday". We were treated to a roaring sermon (oops. homily) on why all the Jews were going to rot in Hell for not being Christians and incidentally crucifying Jesus. According to my mother, this went on for about 45 minutes. I dont know about this, for as soon as I heard enough to be sure that this guy was serious, I left. My father and I wrote letters to the Archbishop of the dioscese complaining. We were told that the priest was not in conflict with doctrine, and so could not be chastised. More importantly, only about 5 people left the Church in question during the aforementioned lecture. The priest gave more "fire and brimstone" shoutouts and at the end of his first year at the Church announced how "all the community was pleased that he was getting back to REAL Catholicism". No matter how unprejudiced you are, it behooves you to see whether the same can be said for your Church as a whole. Officially, Roman Catholics ought not to hate non-Catholics or non-Christians. Officially, Berkeley 4.2 should have been out for months. While ideal Catholics would be a pleasure to be with, on the grass roots level there are a lot of people who are very difficult. They are part of the same group that complains that Vatican Council 2 was a bad idea in part because it reformed the official Church attitude towards non-Catholics. Concluding that they are wrong does not make them go away. Reeducating them might, but often they do not want to be reeducated. It is necessary to remember them when you consider why the Roman Catholic Church is not an attractive proposition to outsiders. Anybody got any suggestions on how to reform it or any Church? This discussion about whether the Bible can be taken literally can go on for ever... Laura Creighton utzoo!utcsstat!laura -