Not to spam but where the hell have you been? Damn i miss you slurrs
On topic: Dottie; Judaism and Islam as religions have never changed. Neither has Hinduism. The changes are the practices and traditions. But the beliefs and ideology behind all three religions has not changed. Same with Buddhism i think but i know too little about it to be certain.
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? - Khalil Gibran
"We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields, and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender!" - Winston Churchill
I understand that religions are hard to change, specially those with holy books like the bible, for example, and leaders (voice of the holyness).
I'm far more independant regarding religion so what I say may offend someone. Excuse me.
Ratzinger is a mistake. The church needs to change to accomodate the wishes of the flock - but the high command was already all set up to keep the politics on the vatican just the same way they were with John Paul - neglective, and elitist.
"The church must turn to Africa" they say. Africa needs an effective policy versus disease (read aids), with good social support, not social revolutionism, as they often do here in Brasil.
[QUOTE=Luis Antonio]Ratzinger is a mistake. The church needs to change to accomodate the wishes of the flock [/QUOTE]Now, you're mistaking the Church with some commercial institute. However, I do agree that some of their views are terribly outdated and need to be revised weighing the cons and pros of life preservation. (read aids)
The RCC is becoming obsolete bit by bit. It has become like an umbrella on a sunny spring day. We can make it lighter or transparent, but it'll still be useless.
[size=-1]An optimist is a badly informed pessimist.[/size]
[QUOTE=ik911]Now, you're mistaking the Church with some commercial institute. However, I do agree that some of their views are terribly outdated and need to be revised weighing the cons and pros of life preservation. (read aids)
[/QUOTE]
The institution church is a commercial entity. No matter what you say, all kinds of churches, from evangelists to new age, they garther money from donation/work/candle sellings and use it for many purposes, including garthering more people and growing the religion. So yes, the church is a commercial institute. The religion, however, is another thing, and you must be refering to the religious belief of the catholic, as I see.
[QUOTE=Luis Antonio]The institution church is a commercial entity. No matter what you say, all kinds of churches, from evangelists to new age, they garther money from donation/work/candle sellings and use it for many purposes, including garthering more people and growing the religion. So yes, the church is a commercial institute. The religion, however, is another thing, and you must be refering to the religious belief of the catholic, as I see.[/QUOTE]
Since the church embodies the belief and the belief forms the church or the other way around, the church pretty much IS it's belief. To sustain it's self (financialy) it must rely on commercial means (candlesales etc.) but religion should never be a product. That's just weird. Wasn't religion a goal once, or a resort and hope and strenght in times of need?
Maybe that is why people lose faith. The RCC was founded in times when people regarded themselves as products of God.
Yet, with a bit of imagination, a lot of characteristics of the commercial world can be found in the Church. You got salesmen (priests), a director/president (the pope), a complete hierarchy (Cardinals, Bishops...), a founder (J.C.), factories or distribution points (churches) and a headquarters (the Vatican), merchandize (candles, bibles).......
[size=-1]An optimist is a badly informed pessimist.[/size]
I think that a good indicator of the current Pope's conservativism is that he is the former head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, an office of the church formerly known as the Holy Office of the Inquisition. I think this type of conservativism is out of sync with more Cathloics today, and I agree with Luis in thinking this choice for Pope may be a mistake.
Re: CM- religion doesn't have to be conservative necessarily, but usually the heads of religious institutions are conservative old men
