The other day I was thinking that the Catholic church really parallels a publicly traded company (stock symbol: GLT?) with a board of (men only) directors (Vatican) and an executive CEO (Pope). And the shareholders are those congregants who have bought into the dogma, hoping for a stock split into an elitist idea of heaven.
If you've ever owned stock in a company or had an account with a broker, you've probably received in the mail privacy policies and forms to nominate new board members. Unfortunately, democracy does not exist in a papacy...but commercialism does, and the cost of the commercials are passed onto the shareholders despite what they think.
Recently TV commercials have been aired calling to the public as the church attempts to increase market share. The website of the "media firm" responsible for the marketing: CatholicsComeHome.org
I'm not entirely sure where God fits into this marketing. They seem to really focus on giving those who have left the church the thumbs up to "come back to the family". Ya know, the dysfunctional one that screwed them up in the first place.
I'm not sure how well this will work out for the church's business plan, but I'm sure their accountants are watching the books and their stock closely.
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I'm not even going to mention the comments that Pat Robertson, a faux Christian, said about Haiti and their alleged "pact with Satan", resulting in the recent earthquake which he insinuates they deserved. He is a ridiculous antiChrist asshole.
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The other item I wanted to mention today was in this article. Apparently, Pope John Paul II had been whipping himself (a la Opus Dei?) as well as sleeping on the floor and depriving himself of food to the extreme during Lent to try and attain "Christian perfection". Hmm. I am pretty sure NO ONE (meaning no human) can attain Christian perfection (or any perfection) unless Christ grants it. It is not something attained so much as it is something given as a gift, just as one does not have the ability to save their own soul through belief. Jesus did that for us by dying on the cross. If people are able to save themselves through belief, then God's only son, Jesus, dying on the cross was not 100% successful as it did not save *the world* from its sins as stated in the Bible. Also, you are supposed to love your neighbor as yourself. Was Pope John Paul II whipping his neighbors, too? Also, Lent is not in the Bible, Jesus and Lent are totally different. It was a man-made season the Church came up with to help spur the economy of yore. Look it up.
Also in this article it is stated:
"The Vatican must now confirm that a miracle attributed to John Paul's intercession occurred in order for him to be beatified - a step which many Vatican watchers have suggested may come as early as October."
Wait. So they can SCHEDULE "miracles" to occur in order to canonize someone? Am I reading this wrong? And how, exactly, do they define a miracle? The convenience that Pope Benedict is moving Pope John Paul up on the beatification ladder is a bold move for the head of the board of directors. Maybe Pope Benedict is bullish on the market; maybe the miracle will occur if their valuation soars from their marketing efforts and they see their stock rise.
Sigh. Where is God's place here? God's message to love one another is lost in 2 minute Catholic Churchianity TV ads. It is simply spreading the message of business. Cha-ching!
If you've ever owned stock in a company or had an account with a broker, you've probably received in the mail privacy policies and forms to nominate new board members. Unfortunately, democracy does not exist in a papacy...but commercialism does, and the cost of the commercials are passed onto the shareholders despite what they think.
Recently TV commercials have been aired calling to the public as the church attempts to increase market share. The website of the "media firm" responsible for the marketing: CatholicsComeHome.org
I'm not entirely sure where God fits into this marketing. They seem to really focus on giving those who have left the church the thumbs up to "come back to the family". Ya know, the dysfunctional one that screwed them up in the first place.
I'm not sure how well this will work out for the church's business plan, but I'm sure their accountants are watching the books and their stock closely.
---
I'm not even going to mention the comments that Pat Robertson, a faux Christian, said about Haiti and their alleged "pact with Satan", resulting in the recent earthquake which he insinuates they deserved. He is a ridiculous antiChrist asshole.
---
The other item I wanted to mention today was in this article. Apparently, Pope John Paul II had been whipping himself (a la Opus Dei?) as well as sleeping on the floor and depriving himself of food to the extreme during Lent to try and attain "Christian perfection". Hmm. I am pretty sure NO ONE (meaning no human) can attain Christian perfection (or any perfection) unless Christ grants it. It is not something attained so much as it is something given as a gift, just as one does not have the ability to save their own soul through belief. Jesus did that for us by dying on the cross. If people are able to save themselves through belief, then God's only son, Jesus, dying on the cross was not 100% successful as it did not save *the world* from its sins as stated in the Bible. Also, you are supposed to love your neighbor as yourself. Was Pope John Paul II whipping his neighbors, too? Also, Lent is not in the Bible, Jesus and Lent are totally different. It was a man-made season the Church came up with to help spur the economy of yore. Look it up.
Also in this article it is stated:
"The Vatican must now confirm that a miracle attributed to John Paul's intercession occurred in order for him to be beatified - a step which many Vatican watchers have suggested may come as early as October."
Wait. So they can SCHEDULE "miracles" to occur in order to canonize someone? Am I reading this wrong? And how, exactly, do they define a miracle? The convenience that Pope Benedict is moving Pope John Paul up on the beatification ladder is a bold move for the head of the board of directors. Maybe Pope Benedict is bullish on the market; maybe the miracle will occur if their valuation soars from their marketing efforts and they see their stock rise.
Sigh. Where is God's place here? God's message to love one another is lost in 2 minute Catholic Churchianity TV ads. It is simply spreading the message of business. Cha-ching!
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