tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post6674671719855332302..comments2024-03-29T08:01:26.952-05:00Comments on Bayou Renaissance Man: When spiritual authority becomes a travestyPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-53557406439920740452011-11-10T17:42:21.411-06:002011-11-10T17:42:21.411-06:00Dad29,
You've completely lost me when you say...Dad29,<br /><br />You've completely lost me when you say "Umnnnhhh....the CHURCH did not 'do' these things; Bishops and priests did.<br /><br />The Church, (de fide) is indefectible and spotless."<br /><br />What is The Church but the community of believers in Christ? And if the head of the community has people who are rotten in heart and soul, and fleshed out by people who willing turn a blind eye to that rot and willful sin, then what is that church but corrupt? <br /><br />There can be a shining ideal, abstract and beautiful - but frankly, if you look at the reality, whether it's Communist Russia or the Catholic Church, and see lives, hearts, minds, and souls destroyed - your shining ideal it isn't, and clinging to abstract doctrine and proclaiming it untainted isn't going to undo the harm, or prevent further harm - nor is it going to do much to convince the rest of us out here in the world who judge you by the fruits of your actions. <br /><br />If the church is supposed to be the body of Christ... do you really see the Church as it has acted for the past thirty years as something that Christ would welcome with open arms and a declaration of "well done, my good and faithful servants"?On a Wing and a Whimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00754595334684845895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-36380897587341615032011-11-09T16:55:44.124-06:002011-11-09T16:55:44.124-06:00@Anonymous on 11/9/2011 at 12.30 p.m.:
I'm af...@Anonymous on 11/9/2011 at 12.30 p.m.:<br /><br />I'm afraid you don't get it. Instead of actually reading my article and responding to the points it made, you've assumed I'm attacking Catholicism as untrue. I'm not. You can read any of my articles on the clergy sex abuse crisis, and not one of them contains any such insinuation. You've set up a 'straw man' and responded to it, when in fact it bears no relation to what I said in the first place.<br /><br />Neither does it help to link to a site highlighting instances of sexual abuse by Protestant and other clergy. Sure, sex abuse is a universal phenomenon. No-one's denying that. However, for the pot to call the kettle black is not an appropriate or helpful response. We have to deal with the sin in our own ranks before we point out the sin in the ranks of other churches. (See Matthew 7:3-5).<br /><br />Helpful, thoughtful, appropriate comments are always welcome. Knee-jerk responses that aren't related to the point at issue don't help anyone.Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-88096452067003376282011-11-09T12:30:18.148-06:002011-11-09T12:30:18.148-06:00The scandals will never ever stop, so grow up and...The scandals will never ever stop, so grow up and get over it........ Your a priest after all!<br /><br />................G.K. Chesterton once said that the best argument against Christianity is Christians. That is certainly true of Catholicism. Pope John Paul II, putting it politely, says, “The Catholic Church does not forget that many among her members cause God’s plan to be discernible only with difficulty.” (Ut Unum Sint, 11). But is that really an argument against the truth of the faith? I don’t see how. To argue that Catholicism is untrue because it doesn’t transform the lives of those who don’t practice it, is like arguing that aspirin doesn’t work because it doesn’t relieve the headaches of those who don’t take it....<br /><br />If all you want to find is the negative of Roman Catholism, then that is all you will find. <br />The following two links speak for themselves. <br /><br />“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”<br />http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/acts9.htm<br /><br />Clergy Sexual Abuse<br />http://www.fisheaters.com/clergysexabuse.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-22551971707020447782011-11-09T08:38:32.607-06:002011-11-09T08:38:32.607-06:00The blogger the Anchoress wonders if we are going ...The blogger the Anchoress wonders if we are going to see a smaller but truly spiritual Christianity develop over the next few years. I hope she is right. I have a few disagreements with various church teachings (Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox) but Christianity and Judaism are still vital in all senses of the word.<br /><br />My prayers are with you Peter, and I hope G-d will continue to grant you strength and discernment, and a large dollop of peace to go with it!<br /><br />LittleRed1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-86285488258173727472011-11-08T22:41:05.569-06:002011-11-08T22:41:05.569-06:00Hope
Hope is the thing with feathers
That pe...Hope <br /><br />Hope is the thing with feathers<br />That perches in the soul,<br />And sings the tune--without the words,<br />And never stops at all,<br /><br />And sweetest in the gale is heard;<br />And sore must be the storm<br />That could abash the little bird<br />That kept so many warm.<br /><br />I've heard it in the chillest land,<br />And on the strangest sea;<br />Yet, never, in extremity,<br />It asked a crumb of me.<br /><br />by Emily Dickinson<br /><br />I am so sorry for your pain.trailbeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06830065132795330618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-63513916563639146262011-11-08T12:52:29.754-06:002011-11-08T12:52:29.754-06:00This does leave all Christians of conscience heart...This does leave all Christians of conscience heartsick and weary. But God is faithful, and continues to refresh us while we remain turned to Him.Rev. Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04588179227576383679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-451078661084250682011-11-08T12:33:37.435-06:002011-11-08T12:33:37.435-06:00Umnnnhhh....the CHURCH did not 'do' these ...Umnnnhhh....the CHURCH did not 'do' these things; Bishops and priests did.<br /><br />The Church, (de fide) is indefectible and spotless.<br /><br />Your anguish is shared (albeit to a lesser degree), Peter, by laity who work in the Church, too.<br /><br />Personally, I went the other way: stayed in, and fighting (sometimes nicely) for what is right.Dad29https://www.blogger.com/profile/08554276286736923821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-7395967211712887652011-11-08T11:28:44.084-06:002011-11-08T11:28:44.084-06:00I am constantly having to put on my Apologetics ha...I am constantly having to put on my Apologetics hat when nastily confronted by the sola scriptura, sola fide Christians and when my auguments cannot be refuted, they then always remind me of the past and present scandals. There is no defense for what the church, though it's bishops, did or failed to do. I believe the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church Christ founded. We are definitely going through the fire of purification. I pray that I can continue as one of the Anawim.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-5529970343573828512011-11-08T08:13:24.464-06:002011-11-08T08:13:24.464-06:00Corruption of many kinds is not new to the church....Corruption of many kinds is not new to the church. I think I can offer a small explanation of why this has occurred for hundreds of years.<br /><br />The church has allowed itself to obtain power that violates the simple rule of "rendering unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and rendering unto God that which is God's" <br /><br />By accumulating secular power the church has ventured into areas that allow corruption. Once this door is open, moral corruption is inevitable. <br /><br />also, the assertion that the church has sole possession of the keys to the gates of heaven for many years allowed a degree of control over the lives of men in secular areas as well as spiritual areas.<br /><br />The merging of the church with secular power always corrupts the spiritual powers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-26353359995454367072011-11-08T08:13:07.408-06:002011-11-08T08:13:07.408-06:00I'd never heard of anawim. Interesting word. ...I'd never heard of anawim. Interesting word. Your words and that of Steve Kimes reminded me of an old hymn: Stand Up Stand Up for Jesus. Verse 3:<br /><br />Stand up, stand up for Jesus,<br />Stand in His strength alone;<br />The arm of flesh will fail you,<br />Ye dare not trust your own:<br />Put out the gospel armor,<br />Each piece put on with pray'r;<br />Where duty calls, or danger,<br />Be never wanting there.<br /><br />The arm of flesh WILL fail you, only the Lord Christ is able "to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."<br /><br />Once again, it's all about Jesus.<br /><br />Take heart my friend. The Lord is working here.<br /><br />STxRynnSTxRynnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-78276904432541705222011-11-08T04:27:04.811-06:002011-11-08T04:27:04.811-06:00Does it sound callous when I say I believe that se...Does it sound callous when I say I believe that serving the church is not the same as serving god, so "why the battle of conscience?" It seems to me that leaving the church has freed you to serve God. Leaving the church would be a tragedy only if the church was all it claimed to be. What angers me is that you, and every other true servant, have been deceived and betrayed.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06896718673192738974noreply@blogger.com