Why don't Catholics stand up against the Church?

Because Catholics beleive in forgiving and loving thy neighbor as yourself

Very good question. To put it in simple terms, I'd say it has a lot to do with comfort zones, and not wanting to leave them.

inb4 FutureMD.

Fear of going to hell.

i responded by never going back.

*subscribes and waits for the newest iteration of sillyputty*

did they at least give u some form of settlement? cash?

props on leaving and being able to survive such abuse.

not sure if serious

The Church is such a large organization. Whoever is the head of the religion in America would have to do something about the problem and be pressured by the people.

This is going to turn into a christianity hate thread in a few minutes. There's like an internet holy war brewing between catholics and atheists.

I believe in God, but the "Church" is a JOKE.

This is how I started on my road to atheism. Not saying you will do the same, just sharing my experience.

All religions (including Atheism) are a joke and the Roman Catholic pagan church is the mother harlot of them all.

Someone did his name was Martin Luther and it started the Protestant Reformation ... Im gonna rock with the OG tho, These Baptist/Protestant churches are not for me. From my experience they're the type not to have their houses clean.

as a Catholic myself and now living in a VERY Catholic influenced country (I'm from California), my observation is that many followers of the church not only believe and have faith in the doctrine itself, but also with the very human people who run the church and are involved in the church. And to be honest, I can totally see how that happens the way some of these men of the cloth portray themselves and carry themselves and preach to the masses. I still have my beliefs but I learned a long time ago not to blindly put my faith in fallible humans.

You might as well ask "why are these people religious?"

 

The catholic church is pretty much a cult with a living leader.

 

 

 

Atheism isn't a religion. Its a response to a claim of belief, namely that there isn't one. It asserts nothing. Its as much of a religion as not-collecting pokemon cards is a hobby.

a lot of people that partake in organized religion are suckers for what those in power tell them
it is a form of mind-control or brainwashing in my opinion

i am a confirmed catholic & i find the conditioned responses i get when i bring up the very issue of molestation
very transparent

my parents tried to raise me to know right from wrong and i feel that trumps any allegiance i'm supposed to exhibit
i wish people of ALL religions felt this their duty - but a lot blindly do not

christians (not catholics specifically) are the largest religious group in the world - so many examples can be brought up

Church and religion keeps you in a mental bind that hard to break. Imagine if you believed (or maybe you do) that if you turned your back on an organization for whatever reason, you could be sentenced to punishment for an eternity.

I'm Catholic, but the those horrific acts do not define my religion nor how I practice it.

As someone who works with youth, I'm appalled. But, quite frankly, my plate is full and fighting the Catholic Church is not on my to-do list. I've been a part of my church and congregation since I was a kid, have attended Catholic school from kindergarten through college, and I know that there is no funny business going on in MY church. And that's what my religion is to me. I'm just doing what I can in my own home, neighborhood, community, congregation, and city, and I encourage everyone to do so as well.

Incorrect. Atheism, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is:

 

Same here. I'm Catholic and whenever these cases come up the priests in my parish ALWAYS acknowledge the accusations. They don't deny the claims but they do say that these priests don't represent all the priests of Catholicism and that they are partaking in sinful and criminal acts. Then they conclude to say that they are pleased to say that they don't conduct themselves in that manner. And I, along with 15+ people, work pretty closely with the priests to lead the youth group that we have so I know for a fact that no shenanigans are occurring.

Basically, like it's already been said in here, people will listen and follow whoever the head of the Parish is. So, rebelling against Catholicism isn't very likely to happen in the near future. In a strange way Catholicism and North Korea are similar.

homie said he would bring the crusades back
lol wut?

FYI Catholics stood up against the Church in the 16th century, its called the reformation, which only led to catholicism 2.0.

*Waits for 100 paragraph long comeback from sillyputty*

as with any religion, they will argue that these people don't define the religion as a whole. there are plenty of heinous acts committed in the name of just about any religion but that's not to say that those acts define the religion.

catholicism is especially weird to me because most catholics don't seem to know much about their religion enough to challenge it. it has always come across to me as a pick and choose religion. many catholic practices and beliefs are not found within the bible and some even contradict what the bible teaches.

LOL when people choose to think they know about an entire group.

kinda like when a group of nazis thought they knew about jews

or a group of europeans made claims about africans.

LOL

I think the problem still comes down to this: Without sexual abuse, is that the only problem you have with the catholic church? If so, then nothing will really change. A simple look at a history book shows the church to be on the wrong side of just about all social and scientifically progressive movements. There is no shortage of reason to take fault with the catholic church. If you're able to see sexual abuse as merely an over-rerported statistic and find fault with nothing else then you're pretty much not in too much of a position to complain. In that case, you're still essentially legitimizing everything else in the church. 

 

 

Semantically and in context the definition is wrong. Not every dictionary includes that latter definition because this definition confuses belief with knowledge. Its an epistemological misunderstanding.

 

Agnosticism and Atheism are two different things and answer two different questions.

 

Agnosticism deals with what you know. To be gnostic about something is to know something. If you're agnostic about something then you don't know something. You can't know something to the negative i.e. you can not prove a negative. I can't claim to know whats NOT out there.

 

Atheism deals with what you believe. Theism is belief in something, in this case namely gods. Do you believe in the claims stated supporting a belief in a particular deity, as stated? If not and you lack belief in a particular god(s), then you're an atheist. Many people are atheists with respect to the gods they obviously don't believe in.

 

Atheism isn't a belief "system" and can't be compared to any religion because it asserts nothing about anything. It takes no stance on any issues, doesn't ask you to do anything, doesn't tell you what to believe, etc. Its merely a response to the question: "Do you believe in a god(s)?" 

 

 

Something that always confused me was how easy it was for moderates to assume a position in which they defer to their religious stances as an authority to make moral decisions yet claim to be morally superior to their voluntary association to a religion when they disagree with something. At that point it seems that most people are merely feigning authority in their beliefs as its really their own intrinsic and specific concept of morality thats informing them in the first place. I was talking to a friend about this and ideologically it makes it a little easier to respect fundies because of this. At least they're honest and try to be as consistent as possible. 

 

And something thats always confused me was the "i'm not in _______ church/religion but I believe in (insert deity)." It never sat well with me. Its like saying I don't believe in this church of Superman but i'll continue to read the comic books and believe everything in them. But it also doesn't sit well with me because for you to believe in a deity in the first place you were exposed to the context in which that deity could exist through a particular religion. Its not likely you'll start thinking of god as a 4 handed entity after leaving that religion...even the capabilities and shared history of that deity shares some foundation in a church/religion that molded that concept.

 

 

Being religious is voluntary... You choose to adopt that religion's assertions and statement about the universe, social order, actions, foundational belief concepts, rituals, etc. A voluntary association to an entity makes you responsible for the actions of that entity, if even in a small way.

I feel you on the voluntary notion.

However, I feel as if people can still separate themselves as an individual being within a group.

Some followers of religion fail to do that and become sheep, turning a blind eye to tragedies.

My point is more so the people in here who claim to understand the basis of an entire religion and begin to question when they themselves don't know much about the religion.

Kinda like when all sillyputty did was add google images and wiki articles to the argument and claimed it as "evidence".

I find extremist on both ends to be tiring.

For example, I can never make a vast generalization about Islam. What I am told and seen on the news is that a small amount of radical muslims perform terrorist acts. Therefore should I be led to believe that Islam as a whole breeds terrorism. If I were a muslim should a turn away from my faith as a result of the actions of a few.

To answer both situations. I would be angry.

For those who keep their faith, but do not want to show their anger, hit em where it hurts. dont donate money or tithe.

Ur post confirms it is a belief system... You must believe there is no God(s) in order to be an Atheist. That is a clear stance that one MUST believe. It most certainly asserts something and tells you what to believe.

That's essentially how I feel. If you must give my beliefs a label, then call me a Catholic.

But. "What's done in the dark will be brought to the light"

First of all, we're getting off topic here...

 

And...No. You're still mistaken.

 

 

Condensed for those that don't want to read the explanation (Click to show)

 

 

I'm an agnostic-atheist. I do not know if there is a god, but I do not believe any of the claims yet asserted by those who believe in them.

 

Maybe i'm waiting on the right convincing argument... 

Edited by FutureMD - 7/25/12 at 9:38am