Speaking of Easter

I went to church on Sunday.
The little one sang solo for a bit, during the cracker munching.

I usually stand a bit to the back of the priest, by the doorway, so I can watch the crowd. The crowd used to be 90/10, with the 90% being annoyed at me, an obvious non believer, and throw the occasional furtive disproving glance at me as they lift their eyes from their prayers.

Times, they are a-changin'!

This time, the vast majority of people looked at me in envy, as I walked in and out to smoke, and hung out on the edge and observed. They didn't want to be there. They were there for mom/grandmom/father/wife, and they were there under protest.

End of the line for this religion, at least in the US, give it another 10 years as the pedophile lawyer fund drains the school bank accounts, and then there will be no reason at all for the next generation to fall in line.

My favorite part is when the priest lists all the things the congregation believes in, and they acknowledge it. When it gets to the part the church is the sole mediator between them and god (and the levels of pedophile priests/cardinals in between), people are NOT saying yes. They shake their heads sadly.

There is a lot I miss about my old Church.

But I was taught (mostly by said Church) that you simply don't participate in organizations that are doing certain things, even if the organization is doing other things you like, even if you like the organization, even if you agree with its general ideas. The organization they were talking about was the IRA, but defending conspiracies to enable child rapists is on the same moral page as terrorism.

If I were to throw my cash in the basket, it would be contributing to a fund that is used to defend the bishops who kept pedophiles from being prosecuted or even kept away from more children. I could show the actual pedophiles some mercy - they acted out of sickness, weakness in the face of temptation. But the bishops, they acted from a place of strength, coldly placing reputation and collegial loyalty before duty to the weak and innocent. And they still don't even understand their sin. I got a form letter from my bishop asking for donations a few weeks ago. The bishop talked about the damage those bad, bad priests had done. But it wasn't the bad priests. Every organization that puts adults and children together is confronted by the fact that some of those adults are bad. The question is, what does the organization do about it? And screw the kids more isn't the right answer.

Welcome to IWETHEY!