I knew you could pay for masses to have the church help pray you into heaven; I didn't realize they were still peddling plenary indulgences, too.In recent months, dioceses around the world have been offering Catholics a spiritual benefit that fell out of favor decades ago — the indulgence, a sort of amnesty from punishment in the afterlife — and reminding them of the church’s clout in mitigating the wages of sin.
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Dark Ages return
I thought these vanished several centuries ago. Guess I was wrong:
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Didn't even know they'd been taken off the shelves for a while. Shows how long since I paid attention.
ReplyDeleteOh... and the verification word I see below is "muncest." Sounds creepy- like maybe Fred Gwynne doing it with Al Lewis or something.
Not having been raised Catholic, I didn't know indulgences had survived the Reformation. Maybe if they'd made into a George Carlin routine, like the exceptions for no meat on Friday, I wouldn't have been so surprised.
ReplyDeleteThat just makes me think of the quote from Pop Leo XIII( i think it was him)...
ReplyDelete"He has served us well, this myth of Christ."..
Mmm, yeah, I think it's totally creepy - but then so are most Catholic doctrines.
ReplyDeleteDamn, those Catholics will accept money for anything to "save our soul." There's no surprise there.
ReplyDeleteOf all religions, were I to join one (I don't go to church or believe in God) It would be the Catholic one because it's such an entertaining, flexible joke.
ReplyDeleteIn my lifetime,P(r)aying your way to heaven has been abolished, (then brought back per this post), as has that holding tank called purgatory. (Wonder what happened to the souls already in there?). The definition of "Sin" has been redefined more times than I can remember. (What about the folks in hell for sins that aren't sins anymore?j). Whatever the current version, you can still do it in copious amounts all week, go to confession one time,the slate is wiped clean, and you're free to start on the next week's sin.
And the voodoo! It's better than Barnum & Bailey. When I attend Catholic weddings, I literally have to cover my mouth to keep from laughing out loud every time!!!
Well, from my perspective just about all organized religions are pretty creepy, and they all seem to be pretty adept at figuring out ways to convince "sinners" to part with money. Catholics sell you candles to light in front of statues of saints, Protestant churches do fund-raising drives and pass collection plates, Buddhists peddle prayer flags. It's all marketing superstition.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Limbo?? Do they still do the Limbo Rock for the kids that haven't been baptised??
ReplyDeleteThe word is 'imbeds'.