|
|
| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 89 responses total. |
oval
|
|
response 25 of 89:
| 
Jun 2 21:50 UTC 2002 |
and senile.
|
other
|
|
response 26 of 89:
|
Jun 3 00:39 UTC 2002 |
The article doesn't seem to distinguish between the crucifix and the
cross. One is a much more broad-based symbol with no church having any
exclusivity in its claim thereupon...
|
jep
|
|
response 27 of 89:
|
Jun 3 01:15 UTC 2002 |
re #22: That's bigotry.
The Catholic Church does not demand that wives service their husbands,
on demand or otherwise.
Very few American Catholics pay any attention to the prohibition on
birth control. In places where people don't use birth control, it's
mostly because they can't afford it or don't know what it is.
I don't imagine there's much of a relationship between Catholicism and
birth rate. The countries with the most extreme overpopulation are
China and India, neither of which has much of a Catholic population.
India is 2.3% Christian according to the CIA World Factbook for 2001;
China is 1% Christian. Your comment would be substantiated if the
countries with the highest percentage of Catholicism -- Italy, Spain,
France, Mexico, Portugal, etc. -- had the worst overpopulation, but
these countries don't *have* serious population problems.
|
jmsaul
|
|
response 28 of 89:
|
Jun 3 02:39 UTC 2002 |
The Catholic Church consistently and vehemently opposes not only abortion,
but also any form of birth control except abstinence and the rhythm method,
in every country where it has influence. Mexico is one of those countries,
and you're uninformed if you think it doesn't have a population problem among
its poor. I've seen it personally, in the form of corrugated tin shacks all
over Mexico City, and that was in the good neighborhoods.
Mother Teresa was a loud and constant opponent of birth control among the
teeming masses of Calcutta's poor, and her words had a lot of influence
there despite the Hindu majority of the population.
The other countries you're talking about are relatively rich nations, and
rich countries have lower birthrates. That said, the Catholic Church kept
it illegal to buy birth control in Eire until (I think) the 80s, and then
made it legal only for married couples. Only in the mid to late 90s did
it become available to other people. The situation in Italy has also been
restrictive, but I think they got over it sooner. I don't know about
Spain or France.
Sure, there are other factors, including traditional cultures that value
pumping out babies, lack of funds, and the US Republican Party's refusal
to support family planning efforts in poor countries -- but the Catholic
Church gets a huge share of the blame in Latin America. It really does,
John.
|
janc
|
|
response 29 of 89:
|
Jun 3 02:59 UTC 2002 |
I think the Vatican news agency wanted an excuse to print pictures of Jennifer
Aniston, Cher, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Naomi Campbell, and Jennifer Lopez.
Probably their best selling edict of the year. You'll noticed that they
didn't complain about any males wearing the crucifix in vain.
I like the idea of banning all non-secular use of the cross. They'll have
to start by taking down all the telephone poles. By the time they're done
eliminating all pairs of intersecting lines, they'll have dismantled most of
human civilization.
|
mcnally
|
|
response 30 of 89:
|
Jun 3 04:05 UTC 2002 |
#0 represents such an absurd stance that I almost suspect md of
making it up..
|
bdh3
|
|
response 31 of 89:
|
Jun 3 08:29 UTC 2002 |
There is something to be said about the irony of wearing a
cross that is worth a lot of money. I personally used to wear
a simple solid 24-caret gold cross and chain but stopped doing
so about the time it became a 'fashion statement'. I would
personally feel a lot more comfortable with the vatican issuing
such statements should the wrong swastika become a fashionable.
|
mary
|
|
response 32 of 89:
|
Jun 3 10:43 UTC 2002 |
Re: 30 You must be a Catholic. ;-)
|
md
|
|
response 33 of 89:
|
Jun 3 14:32 UTC 2002 |
No, I didn't make it up. Every so often I'll have a "No wonder al
Qaida hates us" moment, and this article was one. News show segments
featuring "self-esteem" gurus always do it, as does the sight of one of
those new Cadillac SUVs that converts into a pickup truck so when you
drive through redneck country they'll think you're just folks. That
sort of thing.
|
oval
|
|
response 34 of 89:
|
Jun 3 15:08 UTC 2002 |
lol
|
jep
|
|
response 35 of 89:
|
Jun 3 15:59 UTC 2002 |
re #28: Most heavily Catholic countries *are* rich nations.
Catholic Social Services and other associated charities do a lot for
disadvantaged people, not all of whom are Catholic. I think the Church
makes up for any unplanned pregnancies it "causes" with it's policies.
It is hardly just distributing problems and then walking away from
them, as #22 implied.
|
jmsaul
|
|
response 36 of 89:
|
Jun 3 16:48 UTC 2002 |
"Most heavily Catholic countries *are* rich nations."
Are you nuts? Every nation in Central and South America is "heavily
Catholic," and none of them could possibly be considered rich nations. Brazil
and Chile come the closest, I think, but even they aren't rich by any
reasonable standard. The Phillipines is heavily Catholic, too. Together,
that's way more poor countries than rich ones. Between this and the
suggestion that Mexico doesn't have a population problem, I have to guess that
your knowledge of the Americas stops at the Mexican border.
|
brighn
|
|
response 37 of 89:
|
Jun 3 18:01 UTC 2002 |
Obviously they don't pray hard enough.
|
void
|
|
response 38 of 89:
|
Jun 3 18:36 UTC 2002 |
The RC Church's stance on birth control is nothing short of criminal.
|
void
|
|
response 39 of 89:
|
Jun 3 18:41 UTC 2002 |
Oh...and if John Paul II did criticize any men for wearing crucifixes
and crosses as jewelry, all the bishops would have to dump their nice,
big, gold, jewel-encrusted pectoral crosses.
|
russ
|
|
response 40 of 89:
|
Jun 3 20:43 UTC 2002 |
Re #21: Or so the hype says. On the other hand, I've read accounts
by people familiar with Mother Theresa's organization which claimed
that they were building religious retreats and socking away money in
mutual funds while simultaneously pleading poverty and asking for
money to help build their hospital network (which did not dispense
many medicines or any painkillers).
If even half of what I've read is correct, Mother Theresa was one
sick, cynical, abusive person.... and the Church beatified her.
|
brighn
|
|
response 41 of 89:
|
Jun 3 20:47 UTC 2002 |
Speaking of cynical people...
|
edina
|
|
response 42 of 89:
|
Jun 3 20:49 UTC 2002 |
RE 40 Thank you, Mr. Hitchens.
|
jmsaul
|
|
response 43 of 89:
|
Jun 3 21:03 UTC 2002 |
Well... she did oppose the use of birth control in a teeming, overstuffed
slum. And she did talk about how the poor are "ennobled by their suffering."
That last one is admittedly out of context, but having heard Detroit's former
Archbishop (I forget the name) explain his opposition to assisted suicide
in terms along the lines of "maybe God wanted the person to suffer so we
could all learn something about the value of human life," I'm not sure
it's as far out of context as one might hope.
John's probably right that they do more good than harm, but a lot of the
harm could have been prevented if they'd stop opposing birth control.
|
oval
|
|
response 44 of 89:
|
Jun 3 21:10 UTC 2002 |
and raping children.
|
michaela
|
|
response 45 of 89:
|
Jun 3 22:40 UTC 2002 |
Sorta off-topic: The guy who worked at the Shell near my apartment (otter
and I thought he looked just like Drew Carey) was *SOOOO* Catholic that he'd
use a needle to poke holes in the condoms during his late-night shift. No
joke. He told me and Dave when we were in there one night and then showed
us how he did it. I was so disgusted that I walked out and never went in
there during his shift again. The creepazoid eventually quit or got fired.
|
md
|
|
response 46 of 89:
|
Jun 4 00:44 UTC 2002 |
If he got the idea from watching Beavis and Butthead it would be
hilarious. Context is everything.
|
jmsaul
|
|
response 47 of 89:
|
Jun 4 02:50 UTC 2002 |
Re #45: You should have turned him in to the cops. I bet there's a law
somewhere that could be used to put the f*cker in jail.
|
jep
|
|
response 48 of 89:
|
Jun 4 03:32 UTC 2002 |
re #45: That's really sick. I wonder if anyone died from using condoms
he tampered with. Real funny.
I'm certain there's a law against tampering with consumer products;
remember the Tylenol scare?
|
jep
|
|
response 49 of 89:
|
Jun 4 03:40 UTC 2002 |
re #44: Some priests have been accused of molesting children. I hope
someone finds a way to hunt all of those slimeballs down and pack them
away in jail. The abuse of trust they've shown is utterly horrifying.
However, I consider the current scare as insufficient reason to
distrust priests in general. If I had to pick some man at random,
knowing nothing about them other than their general profession, as the
sole person to watch my 5 year old son for one evening a week for a
year, I'd pick a priest with a lot more confidence than I would a
police officer, teacher, politician, business executive, or almost any
other profession I could think of. Just my opinion. It's not a likely
situation to come up, thank goodness.
|