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Once more with feeling: the misogyny of organized religion.

I posted a couple of days ago about the homophobia of many visible Catholic priests. The absolute lack of connection that the Catholic church has with the real world and the lives of the people within it has motivated many of us to renounce our once-faith.

That is bad enough, right? But for those in the church who cling to the belief that there is something good in the institution, even when some of its leaders are flawed and misguided, we have this:

The Vatican published a report on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious criticizing them for spending too much effort on poverty and social injustice and not enough on their male leadership’s anti-abortion and anti-gay agenda.

Seriously? Is it possible for any institution whose focus are the teachings of Christ to spend too much effort on poverty? Well, paint me purple and call me Herbert.

From the article:

Public disagreement with the bishops — “who are the church’s authentic teachers of faith and morals” — is unacceptable.

The bishops…who are men.

Because women are, you know, inferior and unworthy.

Which is why Pope Benedict, may karma catch up with him soonest, has declared it an impossibility that women would ever be ordained. That would be akin to admitting women are as human beings as men, for goodness sake!

So now some other bishops will take over and rewrite the Conference statues and shit, to make sure the nuns adhere to the letter of the church–Jesus’ actual teachings be damned.

Way to go, assholes, way to go.

 

59 Comments »


  • Anon 76
    April 25
    8:12 pm

    Whoops, well that didn’t work.

    And no worries, Karen. I have an older version of internet explorer and lots of things all over the web don’t work for me. I adapt and find a way to get around it.

    Or, based on the current discussion, I “evolve” to adapt to my environs. GASP

    ReplyReply

  • Hey Anon, just post what you want to and address it to Mr Holier Than Thou.

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  • Bruce
    April 25
    8:31 pm

    Zygote – “is the earliest developmental stage of the embryo and contain DNA derived from both the parents, and this provides all the genetic information necessary to form a new individual.”

    Even Wikipedia understand this. The zygote, as a new human being different from mom and dad, contains DNA derived from both parents, which provides all it needs to grow into an adult.

    So, killing a zygote is killing a human being.

    Information is power.

    Oh, and abortion does kill more girls than just about anything else. To be pro “choice” is to be for the murder of girls:

    “The U.N. has reported that 113-200 million girls and women who should be here aren’t. They are “the missing.” Many of these missing girls were aborted or killed after birth. The U.N. specifically attributes these figures to infanticide or girls not getting as much food and medical attention as their brothers or fathers. To put it in perspective, Ram Mashru reports, “India and China are said to eliminate more female infants than the number of girls born in the US each year.””

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  • Anon 76
    April 25
    9:06 pm

    Okay, I’m going to try this the backdoor way since I’m techy challenged. Hope it works.

    Author: Bruce
    Comment:
    “Well, do you have any answers? Do you believe that men and women are *not* really different? The Church disagrees. She knows that men and women are different, and their differences are to be celebrated, not destroyed.”

    Okay, a big problem for me already. “The Church”, “She.” Organized religion has stepped away from the basics. IMHO. “The Church” is not an entity. It is a thing built of wood, brick or mortar. It is not to be worshiped.

    “It is funny to see the charge of misogyny leveled at the Church by women who promote the female version of pornography. Both “romance novels” and porn objectify and destroy the dignity of men and women. The Church opposes this, because she believes in the dignity of men and women, and rejects our objectification.”

    Note you said the “female version of pornography.” Think on the “male version” of pornography, and worse, valid accusations leveled at an archaic group of male doms in power there.

    “The Church knows she is the BRIDE of Christ. And that she serves Him, and no one else. Christ gave His life for HER and no one else. The Church, and John Paul II in particular, exhorts husbands to love their wives like Christ loves the Church – to DIE FOR THEIR WIVES.”

    Again, the church has become a living thing. I seem to remember from my bible classes that this is a big Jesus no no. As is idolatry. All that bling in the vatican? Or the Pope himself. Nope, that doesn’t apply here. Sheesh.

    “I’ve never seen an institution so completely in love with women, and in particular mothers, than the Church.”

    So in love they will not even consider a woman being strong and with leadership values. Oh, that’s right. Women are mothers, men are fathers. By your own words in an earlier post about men being strong, it seems you somewhat say that all the evil traits of your gender have now been assumed by women. Yet you ask us to follow to your blind ambitions within the faith rather than take a primary leadership role.

    “Look at your own lives. Those who indulge in porn and “romance novels” have consistently poor relationships. The divorce rates are sky high for women and men who participate in these things.”

    I think my husband of 31 years would take issue with that statement. I’d have said I’d take issue with it, but a woman’s voice in such matters apparently doesn’t count.

    “In contrast, men who believe what the Church teaches, and live by it, treat women so well, they never divorce. Our divorce rate is 4%. Yours is above 50%. We treat our wives with respect, love, and a level of devotion that requires us to die for them if need be.”

    Yeah, that’s why some of the most devote, pew sitting, mass going catholic men I know somehow recieve “dispensation” or whatever from “The Church” whenever they want to slog off the woman married to. It doesn’t count in the books, hence the 4% divorce rate.

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  • FD
    April 25
    9:08 pm

    @Bruce: Nope, zygotes, being incapable of independent existence are essentially parasites until they are born – at which point legally, they become people.
    And again, as other commenters have pointed out, and you seem incapable of understanding, the problem isn’t abortion – it’s misogyny, as delivered and mandated by your oh so beloved and loving church which dictates the position of women as being lesser, which causes girls in India to be aborted at higher rates than boys.

    ReplyReply

  • I can’t remember the exact quote, but it goes something like, “I have no problem with God, it’s his fan club that irks me”

    There you go, Bruce, back to the club house with you.

    ReplyReply

  • […] out this utter knob jockey called Bruce, who had this (and loads more besides) to say: “It is funny to see the charge of […]



  • Bruce
    April 27
    12:43 pm

    I love the bigoted and ignorant accusation of “misogyny” leveled at the Church – which has more women in it than men!

    But by all means, keep up the “tolerance” that is such a huge virtue among post-Christians, yet is seldom practiced.

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  • K
    May 1
    2:40 pm

    @Bruce:

    As someone above noted, I respected, if not agreed with, your argument until your high horse reared its head.

    How about the fact that the Vatican council specifically seems to be taking issue with the fact that the sisters are doing good works? Setting aside abortion, what about birth control? What about continuing to say that condoms are wrong when women are dying in Africa because their husbands are sleeping with prostitutes and bringing that home to their wives and unborn children. It’s morally wrong.

    As a practicing Catholic, I have been feeling pushed and shoved out the door by some of the insanity revealed in the past few years. Do you really and truly not have a problem with the cover ups? Do you really and truly not feel troubled by the fact that the Church has come down so heavily on these sisters but seemed far less incensed about the abuse and the crimes that were committed? Because if you don’t, well, there really isn’t anything to discuss.

    ReplyReply

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