Doc wrote: » 2: Preached that tolerance and respect for one and other was the most important teaching of the church and that though some aspects of modern life went against the traditional teaching of the church, (such as homosexuality and contraception) it was no ones else’s place to judge these choices or people but the person in question and God.
krudler wrote: » The damage has been done and long may it continue.
Sauve wrote: » Huh?
krudler wrote: » No, because the concept is still batsh1t insane no matter who's calling the shots. The damage has been done and long may it continue.
Fromthetrees wrote: » Lets just eat some cheese, sit back and listen to 60s music, is that cool?
Doc wrote: » 3: Started selling off buildings and the huge collections of art owned by the church and funneling most of the funds directly into charity work for the poor in society and the rest to purchasing more meager functional properties.
krudler wrote: » the damage the church has done to itself, falling attendences, people disenchanted with the organisation etc, the longer that goes on the better
fcussen wrote: » What would this charity work involve? Preaching to the poor that they should accept their lot and not to try to improve their situation because they will be rewarded in the kingdom of heaven? Denying painkillers to dying people a la Mother Teresa because their suffering and poverty will bring them closer to Jesus? Telling uneducated Africans that AIDS is evil but condoms are worse?
Sauve wrote: » Agreed. I can't see a major turnaround having a fast enough impact. That said, as humans, we (society) need something to gravitate towards/worship. Whats the alternative to organised religion? Or is it just the Catholic church that you've a problem with?
krudler wrote: » do we though? more and more people are beginning to realise that maybe, just maybe, basing morals and ethics based on a book written by bronze age people is...kinda nuts. religion has been the cause of so much, hatred, mysogny, suffering, war, fearmongering, and downright evil acts its hard to think we need that in our lives anymore.
Doc wrote: » Ah yes Im sure no Catholic charity work has ever helped anyone how silly of me to think that it might.
Sauve wrote: » Maybe I phrased it wrongly. Personally I don't need a religion or something to worship, but I think a lot of people would seek out guidance/rules/someone to tell them what to do. I could be wrong, but to me modern society reeks of rule-following, sheepish behaviour.
fcussen wrote: » There are plenty of organisations such as Oxfam that help the needy but manage to refrain from preaching the evils of johnnies
krudler wrote: » this is a question Bill Maher asked someone so it suits this topic "do you really think if it wasnt in the bible we wouldnt have figured out it was wrong to murder each other and take each others stuff by now?"
Sauve wrote: » No I hear ya, I was referring to society in general needing rules to follow, which was kind of off-topic. I do believe that organised religion is on the way out, and quickly too, with the Catholic one being the first to go. People are afraid though, I think that's half the reason why it's still there. There's a deep-rooted belief from childhood of the 'God sitting on a cloud' who'll send you to hell if you touch yourself and don't say your prayers. Something that was drilled into us by our parents and teachers can be difficult to fully remove.
fcussen wrote: » The Catholic Church might be on the wane in Ireland but it's certainly not if you look at the entire world
Sauve wrote: » Ah I dunno, the decline may be slower in other countries, but I think it's still happening. Though this is just my perception, I don't have any facts to back this up.
Membership statistics Further information: Catholicism by country Total church membership (both lay and clerical) in 2007 was 1.147 billion people,[40] increasing from the 1950 figure of 437 million[41] and the 1970 figure of 654 million.[42] On 31 December 2008, membership was 1.166 billion, an increase of 11.54% over the same date in 2000, only slightly greater than the rate of increase of the world population (10.77%). The increase was 33.02% in Africa, but only 1.17% in Europe. It was 15.91% in Asia, 11.39% in Oceania, and 10.93% in the Americas. As a result, Catholics were 17.77% of the total population in Africa, 63.10% in the Americas, 3.05% in Asia, 39.97% in Europe, 26.21% in Oceania, and 17.40% of the world population. Of the world's Catholics, the proportion living in Africa grew from 12.44% in 2000 to 14.84% in 2008, while those living in Europe fell from 26.81% to 24.31%.[43] Membership in the Catholic Church is attained through baptism or reception into the Church (for individuals previously baptised in non-Catholic Christian churches).[44] For some years until 2009, if someone formally left the Church, that fact was noted in the register of the person's baptism. At the end of 2007, Vatican records listed 408,024 Catholic priests in the world, 762 more than at the beginning of the year. The main growth areas have been Asia and Africa, with 21.1 per cent and 27.6 per cent growth respectively. In North and South America, numbers have remained approximately the same, while there was a 6.8 per cent decline in Europe and a 5.5 per cent decrease in Oceania from 2000 to 2007.[40]
krudler wrote: » thats the thing, so many people , catholics especially, just follow whatever religion they're raised with,why? because....well thats the why. I lost my faith, or what little I had anyway when I was in my early teens, even in primary school I kinda twigged that...maybe this is all bullsh1t, the more I thought about it the more I knew it just doesnt add up, a belief system based on assumptions that people in the bronze age knew what would happen after this life (they didnt , nobody does, end of) and not only that but with such descriptive terms for stuff that not one single person in the history of mankind has any, ANY knowledge or actual experience of is just crazy to me. its all morality tales and fables that have gotten jumbled up into false truths and used to keep people in check for centuries along with being a great tax free money earning enterprise. jesus taught the way of a simple life without the need for money or treasure, the vatican is a palace with immeasurable wealth, yeah that adds up alright.
krudler wrote: » its all morality tales and fables that have gotten jumbled up into false truths and used to keep people in check for centuries along with being a great tax free money earning enterprise. jesus taught the way of a simple life without the need for money or treasure, the vatican is a palace with immeasurable wealth, yeah that adds up alright.
