The Historic Argument Against Organized Religion

I was raised a Catholic but it surely looks to an outsider like me that it is not a divine institution at all. The failings of the church down through history and now with recent sex scandals are strong indicators of this. And if this is so why should I believe ANYTHING that it teaches as divine truth? Why should I even accept the canon it chose? If any other institution did the horrendous wrongs as the Catholic church has done then Catholics would join me in condemning it. William Lobdell's book, Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America-and Found Unexpected Peace is a page turner. You see, it's not just the harm that some priests did to children. It's the massive cover-up that is so horrendous. The Catholic church even knowingly sent molesters to parishes in Alaska where nearly every boy was molested. That is, the church facilitated these molesters.

Again, I see no divine mind behind the Catholic church. It's a human institution created by males. Yes, it has done a great amount of good, but so do other organizations. You'd expect this, since human beings created them. But the misdeeds need to be explained, not explained away. I've made this argument elsewhere in answering a Catholic.

Also, I think the last thing I would do if I were a minority is to embrace the very faith that brutalized my ancestors, which also indicts Protestants along with Christianity as a whole.

Chuck O'Connor said of this argument of mine:
You've summarized the tipping point for my atheism which I am provisionally calling the Historic Argument against organized religion.
I like that.

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9 comments:

Owen said...

That's where the Calvinists get points, I guess. They are at least realists about the moral advantage of being a Christian. (That would be none.)

Chuck said...

Greg,

Except the Calvinists would have to answer for Salem, Massachusetts where the community elders burned teenage girls as a consequence of the legal system they set up in imitation of Geneva.

Double A said...

The failure of people equals the nonexistence of a Divine Creator? Immature logic, my friend.

leland61 said...

The Catholic Church's attempt to quell any and all criticism by calling itself a "divine institution" is an amazingly wonderful bit of propaganda. I know because certainly believed it all the time I was in seminary I was taught this and taught this to others later.

But being free of dogma and religious bologna is the best gift my reason ever gave me. Free at last. Free at last. Praise Darwin our liberator. I'm free at last.

Chuck said...

double A, I don't fault people for failing, I just question the claim these people have a special counselor in the person of the Holy Spirit. There failure seems ti indicate they are as spirit free as anybody else which leads me to conclude there no such thing as spirits.

feralboy12 said...

When the head of your institution is claimed to be infallible, you're probably going to be held to different standards than other institutions.
Is that immature logic?

Unknown said...

Haha! Yeah good thing you showed up to chastise everyone, Double A. I just can't think of anything that represents maturity more than adults who literally think their lives are controlled by an imaginary invisible sky fairy.

Lee said...

The Bible itself declares "By their fruits you will know them." Allegedly Jesus's words.

By that standard, the Catholic church fails miserably. It is fully discredited. Consider that the number of known abuse cases has to be just the tip of the iceberg . . . how many priests are continuing to molest little boys as we speak?

The best plan would be to just close the Catholic church down entirely for 10 years. Then after that, see if anyone's interested in starting it up again . . .

shane said...

Double A.

There's nothing immature about wondering why an institution that claims God as its head, carried on with the Inqusition, the crusades, and everything else mentioned here!

To say that God isn't to blame for human actions when He aloud these atrocities to happen is just how christians keep their doctrine of an omnibenevolent God.