NEW (???) RESEARCH FROM THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

An article written by a 95 year old Jesuit priest, says that men and women both sin, but in different ways. The priest certainly is not a devotee of modern science, evolution, or knowledge about good mental health. He writes that woman's sin is 'pride' and man's is his lust (never once allowing himself to think that both genders may have evolved that way in a more civilized manner than that of Biblical times).

The Catholic survey writes that man's urge for food is only surpassed by his urge for sex. I have never understood how anyone believing in the Bible which urges man to procreate and not waste his seed could have supported celibacy, which might seem counter to those notions. But since I know little about the process the Catholic church used to arrive at celibacy as a virtue surprises me less than Sarah Palin believing that abstinence is good birth control....which it might have been, if practiced, were it not for it being counter to procreational instincts.

The article goes on to say: "Catholics are supposed to confess their sins to a priest at least once a year. The priest absolves them in God's name." If God is omnipotent and omniscient, why does he have to have a middleman? It has always seemed to me that Confession serves the purpose of titillating the priest to experience sexual transgressions vicariously though, apparently, since the church also became a haven for pedophiles, it has always peaked my curiosity as to whom those priests responded, within themselves, to heterosexual transgressions. I'll probably never know.

"Traditionally, the seven deadly sins were considered: pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth. The revised list included seven modern sins it said were becoming prevalent during an era of "unstoppable globalisation". These included: genetic modification, experiments on the person, environmental pollution, taking or selling illegal drugs, social injustice, causing poverty and financial greed."

They either didn't have those activities in Biblical times or they didn't consider them sins. Apparently the priests didn't understand that genetic modification happens in evolution without the hand (or shall I say science) of man being involved.

The article ends by quoting Pope Benedict: "Pope Benedict, who reportedly confesses his sins (it doesn't say to whom) once a week, last year issued his own voice of disquiet on the subject. "We are losing the notion of sin," he said. "If people do not confess regularly, they risk slowing their spiritual rhythm." "

The Merriam-Webster definition of pride, dating back to the 12th C, is: 1: the quality or state of being proud: as a: inordinate self-esteem : conceit b: a reasonable or justifiable self-respect c: delight or elation arising from some act, possession, or relationship

While psychologists look for ways to raise self-esteem, the church would have us lose it...become one of the flock. Is it any wonder that people instead of joining the flock, are flocking away from the church in droves. Yesterday I wrote my blog on traditions being lost. I believe organized religion is evolving to becoming just another lost tradition for many in the world.