Hmm, is it hot in this thread or is that just me? :eek

The Catholic Church is not evil. Nor is it perfect. It's an organization comprised of mortal human beings who are trying to communicate a divine program.

We'd like to see priests, nuns, etc. seeting a better example for us, acting in a way that's divine.

When we find out they are just as mortal and flawed as the rest of us, it's not too difficult to see why faith fails and what sound be an inherently good institution turns sour and dank.

I went to a Catholic school for 8 years. I can say in all that time I was never molested by any priest or nun. I don't consider myself "lucky to have escaped." I feel terrible that other children have suffered at the hands of men and women who were placed in positions of authority and respect and made the ultimate violations of the trust placed in them.

The Church as an entity has committed crimes, made mistakes during its existence. So have soverign nations. Invasions, slavery, genocide, persecution, rape, degredation...these are fun games everyone's been playing for the last 2,000 years or so.

I believe in God, but I also have to remember those who want to carry a message of faith and belief in God are just human beings like me.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

That's not a catch to stop people from being brought to justice for committing crimes. It's meant to put us ALL in our place. We're mortal beings. We are imperfect. We don't alway do what is considered right or just or good. We fall to darkness and sometimes chase after it. We are answerable to God, but also to one another.

God is there, but not to solve all our problems. Our problems are with one another. We need to talk with, argue with, scream at one another sometimes to hash things out.

Destruction can't be an answer. We've seen how that's worked out before.