Pax

The first three sentences are great!

LOL. Show me in the Bible where we are to be "catechised" by the church. Hmmm. I've heard of being chastised by the Lord, but catechised is a new one to me. That's right I forgot you pick up the bible and interpret it how ever you wish and then start another Church. Show me where in the Bible is says that we should have 30,000 different Churchs, ordain women pastors, what role if any homosexual clergy should have in church, Sola Scriptora etc. No where does it say these things but this is happening thoughout all 30,000 denominations of Protestanism througout the world. Where as there is one Catholic Church, which is an objective truth that cannot be denied by anyone except the ignorant.

No where in the Catchism does it say we become Gods. I feel sorry for that you were never properly catechised in the Catholic Church as I believe you stated earlier that you were born and raised in the Catholic Church. Unfortunantly this happens.

I was raised Baptist and really didn't have a true understanding of Chruch history or theology until the age of 30 at which time I converted to Catholicism. Your link above is nothing more than Jack chick anti-Catholic propaganda. One fact that most all of you are either haven't addressed or haven't thought about is how the foundational doctrines of the Catholic Church haven't changed in 2,000 years which only bolstered the argument that the Catholic Church is the fullness of the truth and the one Church established by Jesus Christ. Yes, there have been a few bad Popes, but even these bad Popes didn't try and change the Church. The Magesterium is the longest running Instutuion in the world. Don't you think the Magesterium would broken up by now if it wasn't the foundational teaching tool of the Church? So the next time your Church is taking a vote to change its stance on homosexuality, women pastors, abortion, embryonic stem cell research, contraception, once saved always saved, rapture, etc. just remember that there is ONE Church out there that hasn't changed in 2,000 years and never will. I have the peace of mind knowing that I don't have to worry about my Parish getting a new priest and wondering what he is going to change.

Where I am located the farmers are planting wheat left and right because the Australians had a horrible crop. The price of wheat is also very high, so the U.S. farmers are benefiting from the Australian drought.

It is very difficult to convience a non-Christian that homosexuality is wrong using the Bible. They don't care what the Bible has to say and frankly don't believe it. It would be like me reading you a book on witchcraft and telling you what I believe ( I am a Christian but using this for an example). One has to use other means besides the Bible to convience a person that Homosexuality is wrong. Then later down the line they may be open to the Bible.

Sex isn't only for procreation and this isn't what I am claiming. Marriage is a multi-leveled unity with the cornerstone being procreation. When a married couple, man and women have sexual relations they become one organism open to producing life. Homesexual marriage cannot do this, thus cannot be in a valid marriage. Our recent culture tends to view relationships as arising only from our own consent or arbitrary decision, and having only what structure we arbitrarily deem to bestow on them. Thats why we have the debate of same sex marriage, or for that matter it could be polygamy. Ironic things is that throughout the histroy of the world we as a people havn't had to define what marriage is. It was automatically known to involve one man and one women. Within the last 15 years and really the last 5 years we have had this ground swell of people who now are trying to redefine marriage. If we could go back in time and tell St. Peter, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther that we would be trying to convience people that marriage could also include two men, they would be thouroughly disgusted.

Therefore, sterile and elderly couples cannot be married either, because there is no chance of them producing children. I'd also like to as Observer of Dreams a question, because he favors banning sodomy: How would you enforce that law? AAA, Go back and read my earlier post, I clearly stated that a couple who can not conceive due to a advanced age or medical reason are still in a valid marriage because they are open to procreation which expresses and actualizes their marriage.

Why can't two men or two women ever get truely marriage? Marriage is inherently connected to procreation, and two men having sexual liaisons with each other will never produce children. Even if a couple who cannot have children due to age or a medical circustance (not contraception) are still in a valid marriage because they are open to procreation and this expresses and actulizes their marriage. The traditional doctrine that sexual intercourse consummates marriage means that marriage is a bodily, as well as an emotional and spiritual, unity.

Hello Billie, Hows the hunting in Lousiana? Has Darin been shooting any ducks? It is cold up here so tell Darin all the ducks will be heading his way. I will briefly answer you questions. The person above is trying to say that the Vatican knew that certain priests were molesting children and doing nothing about this???? Does that sound very realistic. As we all know there are giong to be a certain element within each denomination that have issues with of sexual purity. (Evangelicals can relate this to their fallen leader Ted Haggard) This is very unfortunante, but is a reality. There were some dioceses around the country that more priest than others that were accussed with sexual contact with children. My diocese had not one case. Some of these cases where unfounded where people were seeking money and thought they could jump on the bandwagon and sue to make money. Other cases were proven and the preist were often times either put in jail or the occurance happened 30 years ago and the priest was deceased. In a few cases the Bishop of the diocese had moved a problem priest from parish to parish not addressing the problem. Might also add that the statistics showed that the majority of cases involved teenage boys, showing a major link to homosexuality. Lesson learned from here was not to ordain priest that are either homosexuals or have that tendency. This of course was wrong and the priest and the bishop should of been punished. But to say that the Vatican knew a priest was molesting children and doing nothing about this is absured. You must also remember that the Vatican oversees all the dioceses in the world, not just the United States. It would be impossible to know exactly what is happening in each parish around the world. But the media loves to bash the Church so it sounded really good to say the Vatican covered up pedopdhile priests. No the Vatican never came out and publically denounced Hitler, but you have to understand the situation. At one time during WWII the Pope was under arrest by the Nazis who occupied Italy. It would be very hard for the Pope to hold a press conference and denounce the Nazis who have him under house arrest. Not to mention how many Priest, nuns and other Catholics would be killed if he did so. It is well documented how many thousands of Jews and others the Vatican help escape concentration camps during WWII.

I don't trust the Vatican at all so this is no surprise to me. One need only recall the late Pope John Paul's cover up of his pedophile priesthood and his blatant anti American/pro Islamic stance; not to mention the complicity of the Holy See with the nazis in WWII. I guess I just basically have a problem with a mere man being clothed in gold, installed in a palace, and called God's representative on earth. His one true representative was a poor carpenter who cared nothing for these things. This is nothing more than anti-Catholic propaganda, but hey we are all entitled to an opinion! No, Pax, my comments are not anti-Catholic for the simple reason that I am not anti-Catholic. I'm sorry if I offended anyone; that was not my intention. The statements I made are based on fact and easily verified. There are hundreds of millions of good Catholics all over the planet. The problem lies the Vatican. I hope that Pope Benedict breaks away from the appeasement of Islam, which is not a religion but a cult, unlike his predecessor. Pope John Paul was an admirable man in many ways but he was just that, a man, subject to error and folly. Like all the rest of us. I'm sorry, but saying Pope John Paul covered up pedophile priests is nothing more than anti-Catholic propaganda. You then go on to say that he was an honorable man....hmmmm would an honorable man cover up pedophile priest? Then you go on to say that the Vatican was o.k. with the Nazis in WWII etc. All of this is anti-Catholic propaganda that can easily be refruted. I would love to cover each point you listed above, but won't. However, anytime someone on here misrepresents the Catholic Church, I am going to call them on it. Nothing personal, just standing up for the Church.

I don't trust the Vatican at all so this is no surprise to me. One need only recall the late Pope John Paul's cover up of his pedophile priesthood and his blatant anti American/pro Islamic stance; not to mention the complicity of the Holy See with the nazis in WWII. I guess I just basically have a problem with a mere man being clothed in gold, installed in a palace, and called God's representative on earth. His one true representative was a poor carpenter who cared nothing for these things. This is nothing more than anti-Catholic propaganda, but hey we are all entitled to an opinion!

Keilan, You are way beyond your years in thinking. Most 18 year olds are playing video games, partying, or watching MTV. Its nice to see a young adult who is putting some serious thought into theology. Your question is a very good one and I am sure many others have either struggled with this idea.....I myself did for a while. Looking at this philosophically one would first ask, what is the truth???? Do I believe what the Methodist preacher tells me, or do I believe what the Baptist preacher tells, me or do I believe what the Catholic Priest tells me??? I can gurantee you that each person will have a different answer for each question you ask him. The next question one would ask is, did God leave us here on Earth without the fullness of the truth? Would an all loving, all knowing, all powerful God leave us here in a cloudy mist to figure out for ouselves the fullness of the truth? The most logical answer would be No. Do the divisions within Christianity bring us closer to the fullness of the truth or do they muddy the water more and move us farther from the fullness of the truth? One doens't have to look very long into this before they realize that this is only confusing more people. With each splinter within denominations the truth becomes more spintered. Keilan keep up the good work.

It all comes down to culpability. If a person is mentally disabled they obviously can't comprehend as much as a person who is not disabled. This will play a part in their judgement. Remember, God is a merciful God.