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Okay, I listed to it for 20 minutes (I was going to stop after 5 ;-)). That guy was a good speaker. His church has had some great philosophical thinkers and don

Okay, I listed to it for 20 minutes (I was going to stop after 5 ;-)). That guy was a good speaker. His church has had some great philosophical thinkers and done a lot for charity and helping people. How do you reconcile that with the terrible things that have been part of it. That church has itself had some serious problems, including being part of destroying the culture of people in the new world, oppressing women, went through periods of multiple competing leaders who demonized each other, suppressed and basically enabled continuing abuse of children by religious leaders in the current era. I find it very difficult to reconcile these two competing facts, which seems to be pretty common in other christian denominations also (such as the endlessly depressing stories in Dan Savage's old columns on church leaders abusing their congregations).

sdegutis 7y ago
> How do you reconcile that with the terrible things that have been part of it. That church has itself had some serious problems The Church is not just her members, which admittedly do fail so very often and in serious ways. If the Church were just the members, I would not be Catholic today. But the Church is far more: she is "the pillar and the bulwark of the truth" according to the Bible. She is the mother of all Saints. She is the keeper of the true interpretation of God's Word, because she also authored the Gospels. When I say "the Catholic Church", I usually mean the collective writings of the saints, and the lives of the saints -- who had the Spirit of Christ and showed what it means to really reach the full potential of being a Christian[1] -- and the 7 Sacraments which are the source of the power of Jesus within us. [1] Check out the writings of St. Francis de Sales, the sermons of Ven. Fulton Sheen, the life of St. Francis of Assisi or of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the writings of St. Theresa of Calcutta, and the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux
sergiosgc 7y ago
I can try to answer that, even though I'm not actively catholic. You must evaluate an entity (person, organization, company) by what it is, not what it was. What it was can be a hint about what it is, but you must be available to reevaluate. You must be available to _forgive_, which happens to be a central tenet of Christianity.
- mattigames 7y ago
  The covering up of modern pedophile practices inside the catholic church is part of what it is not what it was. Also they have enormous amounts of money, in other words practice none of the material detachment they claim to follow.
sdegutis 7y ago
Also, Venerable Fulton Sheen explains how our religion gives him his power: https://youtu.be/YT-vzobvYMg?t=2250 https://youtu.be/YT-vzobvYMg?t=2250 (timestamped to the right spot).

sdegutis 7y ago

> How do you reconcile that with the terrible things that have been part of it. That church has itself had some serious problems The Church is not just her members, which admittedly do fail so very often and in serious ways. If the Church were just the members, I would not be Catholic today. But the Church is far more: she is "the pillar and the bulwark of the truth" according to the Bible. She is the mother of all Saints. She is the keeper of the true interpretation of God's Word, because she also authored the Gospels. When I say "the Catholic Church", I usually mean the collective writings of the saints, and the lives of the saints -- who had the Spirit of Christ and showed what it means to really reach the full potential of being a Christian[1] -- and the 7 Sacraments which are the source of the power of Jesus within us. [1] Check out the writings of St. Francis de Sales, the sermons of Ven. Fulton Sheen, the life of St. Francis of Assisi or of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the writings of St. Theresa of Calcutta, and the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux

sergiosgc 7y ago

I can try to answer that, even though I'm not actively catholic. You must evaluate an entity (person, organization, company) by what it is, not what it was. What it was can be a hint about what it is, but you must be available to reevaluate. You must be available to _forgive_, which happens to be a central tenet of Christianity.

mattigames 7y ago
The covering up of modern pedophile practices inside the catholic church is part of what it is not what it was. Also they have enormous amounts of money, in other words practice none of the material detachment they claim to follow.

sdegutis 7y ago

Also, Venerable Fulton Sheen explains how our religion gives him his power: https://youtu.be/YT-vzobvYMg?t=2250 https://youtu.be/YT-vzobvYMg?t=2250 (timestamped to the right spot).