As my regular readers know, I have a hard earned degree in Catholic theology from Our Lady of Sorrows Grammar School, so it was only to be expected that many readers would have asked for my thoughts regarding the Pope's recent announcement that the church has, perhaps, been a bit obsessive about abortion and gays. It will likely, therefore, come as a shock to those readers to learn that no one has solicited my views, but I attribute this to shyness. Not wanting to deprive the world of my unique perspective, informed as it is with years of grueling Catholic education, I will respond to the uplifted voices which, if they are not raised in the world of reality, ring out loud and clear in my head.
Some might say that it is strange that the Pope can make news by verbalizing something that is and was common knowledge to those whose synapses are properly wired. But I beg to remind my readers that properly wired synapses are in short supply these days. The laws of evolution have been subverted, for certainly while some are winnowed out, many more survive despite Darwin's supposedly iron laws.
But back to the Pope. Of course, I agree with his remarks. (How can you not help but agree with an infallible being?) In its almost single minded obsessiveness with gays and abortion, the Church has almost completely lost sight of the other groups and activities that it has righteously condemned through the centuries. When was the last time the Church burned a usurer, or even condemned one, and God knows (or at least I believe God knows) that if usurers ever needed condemnation they certainly need it now. But usurers are small potatoes.
Take women, for instance. In its single minded obsession with abortion, the Church has almost lost sight of its broader mission to keep women securely under the thumb of men. During this obsessional period the Church has silently acquiesced to a level of sexual equality that would, I'm sure, have been abhorrent to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, had he ever chosen to express himself on the subject. I am qualified to speak on this subject because, as a person with a degree in theology, I can unerringly tell what Jesus would have said on any subject, no matter how much my pronouncements might seem at variance with what little we know of what he actually said.) It's off the subject a bit, but few people know that Jesus was adamantly opposed to any restrictions on gun ownership. But..back to women. In ways large and small the church has neglected many opportunities to keep women in subjection. Oh sure, it spared a few moments to condemn American nuns for their own obsession: social justice, but there was no follow through. Nary a witch was burnt.
Heretics, too, have gotten a virtual free pass. It's more than ever true that no one expects the Spanish Inquisition, but the sad fact is that no one gets one! Unless, of course, they are gay or had an abortion, but that lets so many fish wriggle through the net.
And don't let me get started on the Jews. The Church has a proud history of virulent anti-Semitism, but lately, unless the Jew in question is gay, the Church seems perfectly content to keep its anti-Semitism hidden in the closet, along with so many of its priests.
And need I remind my readers that nowadays, there are brand new groups that deserve condemnation and persecution that hardly even existed before modern times, which the Church has all but ignored in its single minded obsession with gays and abortion. Now that science has made the case for atheism, the number of out and proud non-believers has skyrocketed. Why, back in the day no Pope worth his salt would have let an atheist go unburnt; nowadays, even in Rome you can't even spit without hitting one.
So I am absolutely with the Pope. The Church has made a grievous mistake by focusing on gays and abortion. Millions of people are going un-demeaned, un-persecuted, and un-loathed because of it. They deserve to know that they too are unworthy of respect and human dignity.
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