Regardless of my status and situation, the larger question is who makes the rules? In the Catholic Church (I barely still consider myself a Catholic) we have an interesting situation. They are an organization that was instituted by the son of God, so is guided and protected by the Holy Spirit. Thus, their work and actions are supposedly the work of God, the Almighty and to disagree with them is to fight God. It appears that one of the contributing causes of the many abuse scandals is the need to protect the Church at the expense of everyone and everything else. Thus, if there is abuse, while I think the focus that Christ, himself would have would be on the victims, on the sinful and pitiable perpetrator, and on eliminating the abuse, rape, sodomizing and psychological bruising of everyone affected by such heinous acts.
Consider this: Did Jesus Christ start a movement or an institution?
It seems that the Church barely even acknowledges this unfathomable (at least to me) evil and will only "apologize" when court ordered. Apology and genuine concern and feeling are two different things.
One day, on the way to work, I saw a sad sight: A male Mallard duck was standing over his female partner who apparently had been hit by a car. I am an emotional person and was struck with the love of the male and tragedy of the loss of his partner and friend. I don't know if it was instinct, concern or actual love, but I was blesssed to see it and still get tears in my eyes when I think about it. Why doesn't the Church instituted by the son of God feel anything close to the same emotions when they perpetrate or at least know of the rape of a child - by one of their own? I felt sadness for two ducks. Should we feel more for humans in pain?
A question for any remaining Catholics and for society in general is why does the Church think they have the authority to make moral pronouncements for mankind? Do they have more of a right to decide if an abortion is right or wrong, or does the pregnant woman and the father? If some people are gay, can a bunch of old men who cover the misdeeds of pedophiles take away the rights of someone to love whom they are attracted to and choose to love?
Lastly, what would Jesus, himself say if he came back to the earth in bodily form and met with the Church?
