Somehow I can’t imagine the Cardinals now in seclusion selecting a new Pope to be a group of men tuned in to reality. They are, instead, men who spent their careers climbing inside the Church and living lives much different than ordinary people.
I’ve been thinking how helpful it would be to have some Nuns on the team, reflecting today’s real world. That is, they reflect a world where women play an equal role, where all the variations in humans exist and where public opinion and demographics are real.
My impression is the Cardinals see harsh church policy applicable to the real world. They see the Catholic Church as the most important institution in the world and only responsible to God.
If the Nuns were there, they could point out public opinion in most countries of the world is moving to accept marriage of gays. They would put spread sheets of the tables and show Cardinals nearly all Catholics practice birth control in spite of clergy prohibition.
I’m not sure the Cardinals know the field of demographics. Nuns, who talk directly to all kinds of people, would explain young Hispanic people are leaving the Catholic Church, that much of South America is no longer Catholic.
With their better management instincts, Nuns would explain to the Cardinals any administrator who moved a pedophile priest from one parish to another instead of turning him into the police, must be fired, not promoted.
FaceBook, Red River Freethinkers
U have no clue what a good God fearing catholic clergy does because you think you know all…there are many just because a few have strayed. We have a lot worse free thinking businessmen running wild in Fargo
Sharon 1:42 Thanks for the first time comment. All comments are appreciated.
What I wrote I referred to mostly as my impressions. I just added a link I found after I wrote this blog. That writer’s reflections are much like mine.
Just a few have strayed??? About 1 out of 4 catholic priests have sexually abused a minor……….and the church heirarchy covered it up. We the public, have only seen the tip of the iceberg. Sorry but I don’t buy the “We have a lot worse free thinking businessmen running wild in Fargo” excuse because priests (and all clergy) should be held to a higher standard….just because of who they claim they repesent.
Do you know that 97% of statistics provided in comment sections on the Internet without citations are pure bill crap?
Citation on that one in four please.
Stanta
The stat I quoted is NOT from the internet, it is from an advanced course in Counseling/sex abuse! I do not quote from internet sites, I know better.
Jinx: “course in Counseling/sex abuse”
That provides legitimacy. {/sarcasm} Some of those classes involve assignments to go to an adult bookstore/theatre/peep show. Right or wrong, you have to check your Christianity at the door in counseling classes and the profession. However, that doesn’t stop the instructors from preaching against Christianity in the classroom. By the way, they preach their politics as well. They hate Bush. One guy at NDSU was particularly bad. A wade.
The one in four is not a good number, but one the liberal clingers grasp onto.
Yes, even a peer reviewed article from a noted professional report would be nice. I got the information from an instructor doesn’t hold a lot of water either. There are reputable sites out there. I can’t link on my phone but there are also government studies that show many more are abused teachers in public schools then by priests.
By the way, good luck with the counseling courses, I have had quite a few myself and they aren’t easy. One psychologist asked me to tutor a group of ten students and two others tried to hijack me from the elementary Ed course I was on.
Nice idea Jon. But, that good ol’ boy network is a long ways off from gathering that much humility.
buzz 3:44 Thanks, buzz. Quite an interesting and curious process the Catholics go through.
Must be getting closer though, they all seem to wear dresses now
entech 4:34 “Must be getting closer though, they all seem to wear dresses now.”
And, lovely bonnets.
“If the Nuns were there, they could point out public opinion in most countries of the world is moving to accept marriage of gays. ”
Get real Jon. The Catholic church is not going to approve gay “marriage”. I have my problems with Roman Catholicism but appreciate some of the clear stands they have taken, such as pro-life. On the subject of life, both John Paul and Benedict have politely spoken out against U.S aggression in the middle east and elsewhere but am disappointed that they are not more outspoken in their condemnation of America’s foreign policy. The influence the Popes hold over millions should be used for world peace.
Jon: “I’ve been thinking how helpful it would be to have some Nuns on the team, reflecting today’s real world.”
A much better idea with your enamorment of nuns is to place them in a majority position on the board of directors of the Red River Valley Freethunkers. They could also be placed in a majority position on the board of the American Atheists. They could help clean things up a bit and “[reflect] today’s real world” rather than having an excess of “really, really smart white men overall.”
Henry 1:46 “A much better idea with your enamorment of nuns is to place them in a majority position on the board of directors of the Red River Freethinkers.”
The majority of our Board of Directors are women. We don’t have any nuns as members. We do have a number of fallen Catholics, perhaps the majority of our members. Maybe they would count in your calculations.
In the spirit of your original post, I stand by my recommendation of Nuns on your board of directors. Simply being a woman or a fallen Catholic would not meet the spirit of your original post.
You must have done some reorganizing on your board since GF Bob made his 2011 criticism of predominately “white men” in the Fargo RRFT.
Henry 4:33 “You must have done some reorganizing on your board since GF Bob made his 2011 predominately ‘white men’in the Fargo RRF.”
The Board of directors was majority female in 2011 as well. Since then, one woman dropped off the Board, another woman replaced her. For whatever reason, the majority of attendees and members in RRF are men. I’ve read the majority of Protestant and Catholic church attendees are women. I don’t understand that either. What is really baffling, however, is that even though the majority of church goers are women, some branches exclude women from some positions in the church.
The Catholic and Southern Baptist stuck-in-the-past groups who exclude women from importand roles in churches are probably hurting their futures.
Jon: “I’ve read the majority of Protestant and Catholic church attendees are women.”
Perhaps that is true. I haven’t noticed in my church. If so, that isn’t a good omen for the future of the church. Statistically, if the man of the household does not regularly attend church with his children, his children will have something to the effect of 5% chance of attending church regularly when they become adults. Christians, please take note.
I’ll nominate my Aunt, she is a catholic nun who counsels gay men who are dying from AIDS. IF their families reject these men, my Aunt becomes their family. She judges no one.
Good for your aunt. She does the Lord’s work.
My hometown neighbors did the same, although only just once. They had a son who was gay. When he got sick and his gay, funloving friends decided to abandon him, his parents took him back in. His burly, blue-collared dad would mop up the bloody, bathroom accidents from incontinence.
We can all serve the Lord. The opportunity is there to love despite the sin all around and within each of us. This love is manifested from at times, unexpected directions.
Unfortunately, too many families do abandon their gay children, sick or not. I also know of gay friends and/or partners AND the family working together to care for their dying friend/son; and of course, the gay community providing the only help and support to the dying man.
Thankfully, the man you spoke of, was cared for by his family. It was the right thing to do for your own blood, regardless of any spiritual beliefs.
Good for your Anut. She is one that should be at the Cardinal’s gathering for sure.
Thanks Jon, she really is a wonderful person. Its too bad that some of her siblings shun her because of her work with dying gay men!
Jon,
Obama’s preoccupation with being “God” appears to be accelerating with his multitude of supporters. Many of his worshipers have indicated that they’ve experienced tingling in their legs while in his presence. Some indicated that they’ve experienced a sense of euphoria unparalled to anything they’ve ever experienced. Some faint in his presence while others cry tears of happieness when he bestows a quick glance upon them. Many dems have even replaced the lords name with Obama when reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Does this new religion concern the athiest community? If as you believe God doesn’t exist, then what would you say to the dims who actually believe Obama is God? I know what I would say, “God couldn’t stop sequestration”.
………Dan, as long as these people don’t become orgasmic, I don’t care what they believe!
Dan 3:53 “Obama’s preoccupation with being ‘God’.”
I had not heard he has a preoccupation with being God. I’ve never heard anyone saying they thought Obama was God. Over on ChristianPost.com there are blogs which say he is the antiChrist. That’s sort of a spirit characteristic, but it’s believed by his enemies, not supporters.
I’ve never even heard him say, or others say they believe, he hears from God. This is much different than Pat Robertson or the Pope. They both claim hearing from or receiving authority from God.
So, I guess, if Obama thinks he is God, he is not too far afield from some other prominent Americans.
Check the NewsWeek cover for the swearing in ceremony for Obama this year. The headline called it The Second Coming.
Stan 7:35 “..Newsweek cover…The Second Coming.”
I saw had a copy of that. There was no hint anyone thought he had divine qualities. You are stretching for something that is not there.
How about all the photos taken with halos. Was it just last week some celebrity called him our savior and nobody blinked? He said he as our father and our boss so just shut up and do what Obama tells us.
Stan 5:13 “…photos taken with halos.”
All that falls until the term P A R O D Y.
We are not talking Mad Magazine or the Onion Jon. Since the press fell in love with Obama it is on the covers of “hard” news magazines.
It’s a Test, only a Test, just like Life itself. Results pending.