Thank you, dear K. I like to feel welcome.

always a pleasure to see you in here dear martimus :)

And even the best are never perfect. Just look at the statistics of mistakes.
EDIT: Correct spelling error.

Not an innate desire, but the fallacies of religious thinking allow the emotional attachment. The rituals of competing sects are continued by ethnic tradition, but the fundamental theism with its general supernaturalism and primacy of consciousness is passed on through tradition as a destructive, primitive substitute for the necessity of philosophy, promoting psychological motives from false values.

It's one thing to seek for something out of self interest, but quite another to simply continue doing what your parents and grandparents have done for no other reason than tradition.

The desire to believe in a deity must be very strong. People who are otherwise quite rational fall into contrite obedience even when it makes no sense.

Ah, yes. This one is so rich with hypocrisy it is staggering. First, there is the assumption that somehow priests or even the Pope can pardon sin when their own religion declares that province is Christ's alone. The role of the bishops/priests is to hear confessions and help people change, but redemption is wholly without their power.

Second is the observation by Abaco and mminnick. If the Catholic Church really wants to start in with this, it needs to revoke its celibacy policies so that priests have an appropriate outlet for that pent-up energy. That they use others outside of their own boundaries of marriage is not only disgusting and depraved, but brings to mind a certain warning about millstones and the depths of the ocean.

The third is that Pope's claim that he has been granted this authority from God in the first place. If you're a Catholic you might believe it, but no other Christian religion accepts the authority of the Pope.

Agreed. It is a shock to me that the Catholic Church still exists with everything it has done over the centuries. I guess that just goes to show how one's heritage and raising is so influential.

I realize that I'm not exactly on topic, but I am continually amazed at the crap religious people will put up with by the religion's leaders. I have given up trying to reason with the religious or pointing out the ludicrous and downright silliness of the stories and rituals. Unless that is, my silence is taken as agreement.

Me dino now imagines a made man in the Mafia who gains power by ordering the hit of the head of another crime family.
The don hurries to get to a confessional so a retaliatory strike, an accident or a heart attack won't send him with his mortal sin straight to hell.
He confesses, is absolved of his mortal sin and is told to say 20 "Our Fathers" and 50 "Hail Marys" and to send flowers to his victim's funeral.
Relieved despite having slightly sore knees, the don returns home to be advised of another opportunity that required a hit.
The process repeats.
Meanwhile, Catholic crack whores in the don's prostitution racket visit Planned Parenthood and a church confessional on a regular basis.

he should only be referred to as...head of the largest pedophile and richest organization in the world...

Yes it is predominantly boys, but there are girls, teenage girls and young women being molested as well. You don't here too much about them, but they are there.. Some of the pedophiles just want young people and don't care which sex. Most have a preference, but some don't. All should be removed from the church and banished to a site at about 0 lat. 180 Lon.

Target hit.

How about if he instructs his staff to stop diddling little boys? How 'bout that?... That'd be a nice start. I'll listen when I see a thread of legitimacy.

World's wealthiest commie operative...

The best in any field practice the basics every day, so anyone who is or wants to be the best would want the additional target practice.

Who needs target practice in the middle of a war?