"But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me,
it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck,
and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
Matthew 18:6
it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck,
and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
Matthew 18:6
I saw Spotlight (2015) three weeks ago. Great journalists movie. And a delicate subject, especially for a Christian, raised Catholic, like me.
It made me remember I had seen the documentary Deliver us from Evil (2006) some years ago. I thought it was a great documentary, very painful, but necessary. Only criticism I had about it, was the allegations made against the Pope, which were completely ungrounded and not reasoned in the documentary.
It's a difficult subject to discuss, especially with Anti-clericalists (I am thinking of writing some thoughts about this Twitter conversation I had with one singer).
Nobody denies that this horrible crimes took place. Nobody denies that they were covered. But there are some facts that people who use these crimes against the Catholic Church forget:
- Some individuals do not represent the whole Catholic Church.
- The Catholic Church doesn't represent the whole Christendom.
The ironic thing is that the same people who forget these facts, are the first to claim them when it refers to crimes commited on behalf of other religions (as I already discussed here -in spanish-). But there are two essential differences:
- These crimes were not commited on behalf of religion.
- These crimes are not granted by the sacred writings; not only this, they are clearly against them.
Christians belief in Christ's teachings. The New Testament is were Jesus teachings are given. And, as far as I remember, there are ONLY TWO passages of The New Testament, were death penaly is considered, and one of them is the one that opens this entry, Matthew 18:6:
"But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me,
it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck,
and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
I think I am not the only one that thinks that these crimes are the worst someone can commit, even worse than murder. And these are the only crimes that make me believe in death penalty. In the case of priests, this wrath is even stronger, and so is my desire for punishement. I can not think of forgiveness for child abusers and surely I do not want to forgive child abusers in te catholic church.
It made me remember I had seen the documentary Deliver us from Evil (2006) some years ago. I thought it was a great documentary, very painful, but necessary. Only criticism I had about it, was the allegations made against the Pope, which were completely ungrounded and not reasoned in the documentary.
It's a difficult subject to discuss, especially with Anti-clericalists (I am thinking of writing some thoughts about this Twitter conversation I had with one singer).
Nobody denies that this horrible crimes took place. Nobody denies that they were covered. But there are some facts that people who use these crimes against the Catholic Church forget:
- Some individuals do not represent the whole Catholic Church.
- The Catholic Church doesn't represent the whole Christendom.
The ironic thing is that the same people who forget these facts, are the first to claim them when it refers to crimes commited on behalf of other religions (as I already discussed here -in spanish-). But there are two essential differences:
- These crimes were not commited on behalf of religion.
- These crimes are not granted by the sacred writings; not only this, they are clearly against them.
Christians belief in Christ's teachings. The New Testament is were Jesus teachings are given. And, as far as I remember, there are ONLY TWO passages of The New Testament, were death penaly is considered, and one of them is the one that opens this entry, Matthew 18:6:
"But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me,
it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck,
and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
I think I am not the only one that thinks that these crimes are the worst someone can commit, even worse than murder. And these are the only crimes that make me believe in death penalty. In the case of priests, this wrath is even stronger, and so is my desire for punishement. I can not think of forgiveness for child abusers and surely I do not want to forgive child abusers in te catholic church.
