Confronted by scandal, mass desertion from church attendance, court cases, media criticism, and a distinct lack of candidates for the priesthood in Ireland, what does the Vatican do?
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/new-vatican-campaign-to-clamp-down-on-liberal-opinion-2210401.html
Oh, it only starts blaming liberal attitudes (we've heard this before - I'm surprised we atheists, not to mention gays and lesbians and, no doubt, Protestants and, of course, women don't get an immediate mention) and determines to insist on adherence to doctrine and obedience and secrecy and, it thinks, all will be well.
A major thrust of the Vatican investigation will be to counteract materialistic and secularist attitudes, which Pope Benedict believes have led many Irish Catholics to ignore church disciplines and become lax in following devotional practices such as going on pilgrimages and doing penance.
PZ's comment over at Pharyngula was
there's little the church could do to help secularism advance more than to totter on its creaky old legs into the fray, yelling at those damned kids to stop being so progressive.
I think this may have been a great day for secularism - or possibly for various Protestant churches - in Ireland.
Though, come to think of it, they have a problem with falling membership, too.
Well, you know, okay... If they could possibly stick to the central message of Jesus which was love, healing and FORGIVENESS - not to mention the bits about not judging and helping your enemies and oh yeah, that annoying and time-consuming stuff about feeding the hungry and visiting the sick and sheltering the homeless and clothing the naked.
If they actually DID all that, they wouldn't have time to be blathering on about secularism and how scandalous everything is and blah blah blah-diddy blah. And people might notice them setting an example and think better of them.
But what do I know? I'm just a Quaker, and we're as bad as atheists to the RCC and certainly more heretical.
As I understand it (and I'm perfectly willing to be corrected) the admirable Society of Friends don't do dogma and doctrine, right?
But I'm sure the RCC considers us little better than the awful atheists...actually, some members and attenders of the Society of Friends ARE atheists...we figure God doesn't much care...
If I could bring myself to believe in gods or God or spirits and whatever, it'd be the Quakers or the Unitarians - but I can't. I can, however, respect both mightily, because they have earned that respect.
Oh, yeah. That's going to work.
Surely the pub and the racetrack would take care of those chores?