i watched oprah today because they were discussing the "scandal" in the catholic church. "the church has gone in the wrong direction."

so, uh, when was the catholic church going in the "right" direction? when people had to pay to confess? when the church wouldn't acknowledge that the holocaust existed? when it condemned homosexuals? when it taught kids in their catechism classes that french kissing and murder are the same type of mortal sin?

followers of the catholic church are some of the most brainwashed humans on the face of the earth. the fairth of catholic familes is SO strong that they spoon feed their beliefs to their families without an understanding of why the beliefs are that way or how they came to be that way. in my lifetime, i have yet to have an intelligent, factual, reality-based conversation with a catholic about their faith. money, power and blind following seem to be words that come to mind.

i've always supported faith in general. i realize that all of the world's religions have huge problems, but the majority of the followers use their faith to get them through times of crisis or to answer questions that would otherwise be daunting and frightening. faith can be such a beautiful thing! but blind faith...open your eyes, people. the catholic church is corrupt as hell. and that is not a new phenomenon. cardinals and bishops take a vow to keep scandal hidden. terms that i heard on oprah such as "pathological secrecy" and "blinded by an arrogance of power" speak so strongly to me. the church has already paid out as much as 1 billion dollars to settle claims for people molested by priests. that is fucking sickening. one billion dollars. just the fact that that kind of money is available to blow on such noble endeavors as that...

when my father(who was catholic) died, my mom turned to the church for support. aside from advising her that her grief was a sign of her impending insanity, they pretty much told her that my father had gone to hell and his demon or whatever was haunting our home. she made the mistake of saying "i feel like he's still here with us" and the priest showed up at our home to...i don't know...exorsize the place or something. that was the end of my catholic education.

i've stopped seeing the beauty in any branch of catholicism. it's run by power hungry, sick, twisted men who abuse people's insecurities, innocence and loyalty AND manage to come up with reasons for it.

now, as for WHY these sex scandals are happening...i've definitely got a morbid fascination with it. studies need to be done. i'd love to take a sociology of religion class right now, because i can already pinpoint specific social trends that have led to this bullshit.

one last thing...catholocs coming forward are being viewed by the church as "disloyal" because the church has enough to deal with coming from non-catholics attacking their practices. UGH! how can *anyone* stick with this faith? change denominations! something! go!! flee! get the hell out of those churches!!!

yeah, right. i know.