Who do they think they are fooling? (Main Forum)

by Brian Coyne , LINDEN, NSW, Sunday, July 08, 2012, 18:26 (321 days ago) @ judith

Judith and all,

I've also been reading a bit more of Robert Blair Kaiser's book "The Politics of Sex and Religion" — something else that's available as a "free download" and worth every last cent of it too [LINK]. Kaiser charts in graphic detail the "goings on" in Paul VI's Committee to examine the Contraception issue in the lead up to Humanae Vitae. If you want to find the start of the "modern problem" that is as good a place as any to start. A majority of those who assembled on that committee recommended to Paul VI to change the teaching — Kaiser goes through minutely the arguments back and forth in the committee for them to arrive at that position. Meanwhile, within the group was this small minority of trogolodytes who believed that any change would undermine the authority of the magisterium, the pope and the entire institution. Like the minorities we see today they would not listen to any other arguments. When they lost the vote within the panel of "experts" they then went to work politically within the Curia, and with Paul VI, and petrified the poor bastard to the point where he didn't know whether he was arthur or marthur. WHAT A FABULOUS VICTORY TO SECURE THE TEACHING AUTHORITY AND RESPECT IN WHICH CATHOLICISM AND ITS LEADERS WERE/ARE HELD?

People cloned from the same mould "control the agenda" today. What Yallop's book, and so much other evidence points to is that their constant fear is having to admit that the Church, and its hierarchical leaders are ever wrong about anything. And I mean "anything". This isn't just not being infallible about core doctrine. This is being infallible about everything under the sun.

Who do they think they fool? Certainly not the mainstream in society. It's constantly, constantly all aimed at this tiny, unrepresentative minority that Benedict himself has labelled "the little people" and "the simple people". The reality is that they could not give a tinker's curse about these "little people" and "simple people" any more than they care about the children raped by these wayward priests. They only care about "the little people" and "the simple people" just so long as they rock up in St Peter's Square and at venues like World Youth Day enthusiastically waving their flags and bunting and thinking what a swell guy the pope is. They seem incapable of perceiving the 90% of the baptized population who should be at these events but who no longer bother to front up. They don't care about lifting these precious "little people and simple people" into heaven, or whatever the end objective of participating is, they want them only as some kind of "cheer squad". None of these bishops and cardinals will be standing behind the "simple people" at any Last Judgment to accept responsibility for the misguided advice they gave these "little people" about what to believe and how to live their lives. Do any of these bishops and curial nitwits ever pause for a single second and ask themselves if this "game" that they are playing actually fools this All-powerful and All-seeing God they told us to believe in who is supposed to keep some kind of account of their stewardship? I sincerely doubt it on the evidence I see. The first commandment for these people is no longer "I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange God's before me" but it has been replaced by a new commandment: "The pope and the church can never be wrong about anything; and, more so, we must never admit that our 'glorious leaders', or their predecessors have ever been wrong about anything". They even today make mince meat of the most fundamental teachings and insights of Catholicism. And to what end? This constant, constant appeasement of a tiny section of humanity who want certitude above truth — and even before their breakfast each morning.

Everywhere you look up the hierarchical ladder it is the same game played over and over again: blame someone else — secular society, the devil, lawyers, the media, the victims, bishops blaming priests, archbishops blaming those below them, the pope blaming bishops. The "buck stops nowhere" in this institution any longer just so long as you can preserve the myth that the ordained are "ontologically changed" and incapable of sin or error! And the greater part of the myth is that the higher they are promoted up the hierarchical tree the more ontologically changed they become and even more incapable of sin, error or any lack of wisdom.

Human society desperately, desperately needs a priesthood and ecclesial leadership the world at large can again respect and look up to as some source of wisdom and spiritual insight. We need a leadership that actually understands Jesus and is not distracted by all the trappings of the Holy Roman Imperial Empire and its quests for power and pomp and evading responsibility.

Brian Coyne
[Editor & Publisher]