Morning WC.
As usual your post made me think and thus made me offer my conditional apology.
To answer your questions...
Having been over seas and done extensive traveling on the governments dime. As well as my work for a contract mining company, which allowed me to see South America, in its most rural. And being a curious person, with a love of historic places. I have visited Mosques and Temples in Jeruselem, Lebanon, England, Ireland, Somolia, Nicaragua, Mexico, Guatemala etc.
I have seen Buddist monks, Orthdox Jews, Imams, Cardinals and Clerics preach their faiths. Often in languages I could not understand. But I could see the passion.
I took what I witnessed and placed it with the traditional Native teachings of my Grand Father, and based a whole way of life on them. Peace is paramount. That does not mean one can not take up arms for a just cause, but more a daily peace, free of the prejudices of others, respecting all the live and their right to go freely to prayer without condemnation of others.
I see in sanctus the opposite, I see the Catholic churches views that their views are the only views, when clearly they are not. No one group can claim superiority without trampling someone else in the process, no matter how tolerant they claim to be. I am guilty of this myself. But I claim no superior high ground. I am(sanctus might get that).
The Catholic church is guilty of sins as is the Fundamentalist Islam sects. They have perpetuated suffering in Africa with their deniel of the use of condoms, drive Catholisism down the throats of the Native peoples, started the Spanish inquisition and the supported the crusades, just to go slighty into their history in reverse.
My persoanl history is misserable, I was born left handed, I am now right handed. I was changed. I was beaten if I crossed myself with my left. I was made to be an example of because, in their words, I was "the heathen child of dogs". The cruelty I endured, was not merely just mine. I witnessed it being inflicted on anyone that did not fit neatly into the white iconic world of the church. Jesus was born in a time of near racial purity, in an area of the world that would undoubtedly be inhabited by olive skinned or darker, peoples, yet in the Church, Jesus is almost always white, or just a tender tan. This is a racial hypocracy that only furthers the divission in the races, regardless of how many ethnic people sit in the pews.
When I was in South America, I was floored that the Churches had near white Jesus's hanging on the walls, and the local peoples sat dark skinned idolizing a bastardization of the image of Gods son.
Manipulating a faith to further your version thereof, only to ensure it's survival, is fraud. The truth is hiden, the mistakes dismissed or swept under a rug, only to hide the faliblity of God, the lie. Saying homsexuals are not born that way is just another way of saying, "God does not make mistakes", this is how they deal with something that does not mesh with their beliefs. Hate. It may come as a peaceful sermon, but in the end, it is till hate. An abomination inthe eyes of God. Abomination, wow there's a tolerant word.
Immaculate, now is that just peachy. Virgin, even better. If it furthers the fraud. But if a woman that does not have sex today is artificialy inseminated, she is not an immaculate virgin. If she is gay, it's even worse.
When the church recognises that all men and woman are equal, and equal in the eyes of God, then the church will garner my respect. But as long as the church desides who is and is not going to heaven, it is a fraud and not worthy of my support.
Jesus died on the cross for ALL mankind, not the mankind the church picks and choses from.
