For Your Reading Pleasure
Aaron Kinney Permalink
6 comments
John Bice from MSU has a few choice things to say about God:
The God of the Old Testament was extraordinarily spiteful, insecure and pathetically needy of worship...
At one point, demonstrating all the kindness and compassion of a drunken and abusive father, God drowned nearly every living thing on the planet - even children and puppies. Then, magnanimously, after enjoying a "sweet" and fragrant burnt offering of a "clean beast," God promised he'd never again "smite … every living thing," (Genesis 8:21).
The doctrine of original sin is another interesting item. We're told since Adam and Eve gave into temptation, which God generously provided, all of humanity is still tainted with ancestral disobedience. God, rather than blaming himself for a pair of untrustworthy beings not up to his lofty standards, holds all humanity responsible for their "sinful" noncompliance.
Actually, God deserves his props for that one. It's a disturbingly impressive example of imaginative morality. If someone wronged me in some way, it wouldn't occur to me to hold their grandkids accountable, as though guilt were somehow inheritable - that's thinking outside the box.
There's lots more good stuff in there. Go read the whole thing.
I wanted to bring this one up specifically because of where it's coming from. It is coming from Statenews.com, which is the independent paper of Michigan State University.
No biggie in and of itself, but compare this editorial's take on God to another Godly editorial from, say, as recently as two or three decades ago. You wouldn't have found such a critical analysis of God back then I bet you.
And as if to underscore the point I'm making here, Wired.com has an article about Catholics that are "debaptising" through the magic of the Internet:
MILAN -- Disgruntled Italian Catholics are increasingly turning to the internet to leave the Church by getting "debaptized" -- but typically, the Pope isn't making the process web friendly.
Cyberspace is one of the few places lapsed Catholics can get a copy of the formal letter called "actus defectionis" that is required by Church officials to leave the faith.
One such letter, downloaded 30,000 times, is the main attraction at the Italian Union of Rationalists and Agnostics, or UAAR, website.
The 2,000-member group, which won a David-and-Goliath legal battle over debaptism in 2002, has no brick-and-mortar office. It relies on e-mail and the occasional phone call to keep things moving.
"We see a traffic spike every time the Pope says something unpopular," said UAAR site manager Raffaele Carcano, who is also a banker, adding that the site recently hit new heights during a recent fray over civil unions.
The anti-God movement is in the midst of a double play. Atheism shall win the world series of superstitions.
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6 Comments:
Seriously? You need a permission letter to leave the Catholic Church? I thought all that was required was just intent (not attending services, not putting money in the collection plate, maybe throwing in a little premarital sex for good measure).
Does this just apply to those who have been confirmed, or does it hit everyone who was baptized Catholic? How come nobody told me I might still be a Catholic???
How come nobody told me I might still be a Catholic???
They dont want you to know. They practice sneak-catholicism ;)
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Minor correction to last comment:
"Cyberspace is one of the few places lapsed Catholics can get a copy of the formal letter called "actus defectionis" that is required by Church officials to leave the faith."
Dear made-up God in Bullshit Heaven! Have they learned nothing? They are going to legitimize the pseudo-alpha dominance of the f-ing church by agreeing to seek a writ therefrom to be allowed to leave? I hope that some have the guts to make up their own ceremony, like mooning a priest from the back of the church, or performing an "actus defecationus".
Insideous bastards, aren't they?
You don't need a permission to be a disbeliever even if you were baptised, but the record of your baptism on the parish register will legally qualify you as a catholic until you get the 'debaptism', which adds a note on the register stating that you don't want to be part of the Catholic church anymore. This is a procedure made up by UAAR and the Italian authority for personal data protection but something similar exists in other European countries.
Beakerslion,
Yes, the audacity of these bastards makes steam come out my ears!
Flavio,
In some countries, like Germany, donating to the church you are a registered member of is compulsory. So in places outside America, the church's recognition of your apostasy is very important, financially, legally, etc... Its more than just a piece of paper.
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