priest speaks truth to his parishioners in church about the ugliness

[butters]

https://this.kiji.is/724190913202438144

...and some walked out. a lot more stayed and thanked him, though, for his thoughtful words:

“I too want to engage in finger pointing,” said Father Bill, as he’s known in the parish, “and point to myself, and accept personal responsibility in part for what happened in the Capitol this past Wednesday.”

Corcoran went on to name the many times he failed to speak out about Donald Trump’s ugly behavior. Like when the president talked about grabbing women. When he mocked a disabled reporter. When he dissed John McCain.

He talked about the German Catholic Church’s failure to condemn Adolf Hitler, about the failure of the American Catholic Church when faced with the sexual abuse committed by priests.

“As President Trump has lied about so many things,” he told the congregation, “I have never spoken out, and fear we are teaching the young that truth and facts do not matter.”

 

[adrina]

The long march back to human decency begins.

Hopefully it's not just the appearance of it.

 

[butters]

what troubles me is that every priest, every rabbi, every religious leader in america should have been speaking out about the lies and the importance of truth, no matter who it was telling those lies to the public. instead, so many simply attempted to keep their congregations happy in their bubbles of ignorance.

 

[stickygirl]

Moral of the story is that just because they're a priest doesn't make them a martyr. It takes a lot of courage to speak out, especially when your community, the press and the government are all engaged in the same lie and deception. A priest is just a person - no more, no less.

 

[adrina]

The reality is that it didn't hit home until it became a threat to our government and country. I'm glad it hit their radar finally, even if that is what it took.

 

[Lazaran]

.
"a lot more stayed"

The vast majority of people are decent human beings.

The fringe is just that; a mostly purposeless collection of loose threads at the borders of the cloth of democracy.

They can be safely trimmed off without compromising the integrity of the fabric of society.

 

[butters]

Moral of the story is that just because they're a priest doesn't make them a martyr. It takes a lot of courage to speak out, especially when your community, the press and the government are all engaged in the same lie and deception. A priest is just a person - no more, no less.

agreed that they are a person, with the failings of being a person... but part of their training (at least in the catholic church that i remember) was to speak out against injustices, speak truth to their parishioners, just as jesus would have. if only more would actually follow what they preach, the world would be a better place.

The reality is that it didn't hit home until it became a threat to our government and country. I'm glad it hit their radar finally, even if that is what it took.

the priest was right to see the faults within himself and admit them... some soul-searching helps people

 

[Comshaw]

Moral of the story is that just because they're a priest doesn't make them a martyr. It takes a lot of courage to speak out, especially when your community, the press and the government are all engaged in the same lie and deception. A priest is just a person - no more, no less.

Exactly. Some good, some bad, some indifferent to things going on outside their tiny little sphere of life. There were some of my local pastors and preachers who did speak out against the things the donald had and was doing.

There were just as many that ignored the dark things he did because he gave lip service to things they wanted extolled or done.

But the majority, the majority took the safe path: ignore it and eventually it might go away.

How many times in history has that happened? To many. Way too many. Sometimes, sometimes human foibles tend to get in the way and pervert what we wish to believe we are.

Comshaw

 

[butters]

.
"a lot more stayed"

The vast majority of people are decent human beings.

The fringe is just that; a mostly purposeless collection of loose threads at the borders of the cloth of democracy.

They can be safely trimmed off without compromising the integrity of the fabric of society.

the thing is, you are right but, had he spoken out with integrity and honesty all through this presidency (and before/after) as part and parcel of being true to the teachings he follows, fewer might have listened to the lies.

if he doesn't do his job to try and protect all of his flock and simply pushes the vulnerable/misguided/ugly to the fringes (like we do here with the ignore feature, really, but then i never claim to be looking after a flock or to being the very best of people), they become ostracised from regular society. Some might think "great!", but when the users/manipulators find a way to rally all these ostracised groups (for their own ends) then those people feel embraced and part of something they are then invested in... it becomes like a family to them, a cause, a way of life.

religious leaders true to their teachings surely understand their jobs are hard; it shouldn't excuse them from not doing it.

 

[butters]

Exactly. Some good, some bad, some indifferent to things going on outside their tiny little sphere of life. There were some of my local pastors and preachers who did speak out against the things the donald had and was doing.

There were just as many that ignored the dark things he did because he gave lip service to things they wanted extolled or done.

But the majority, the majority took the safe path: ignore it and eventually it might go away.

How many times in history has that happened? To many. Way too many. Sometimes, sometimes human foibles tend to get in the way and pervert what we wish to believe we are.

Comshaw

indeed

what i found really interesting about this particular priest is his self-awareness (coming late, true) in that he recognises that by not speaking out, by not addressing the harder topics in order to pander to his parishioners, he was guilty of contributing to the poor messages being taught the young in his congregation.

 

[Lazaran]

indeed

what i found really interesting about this particular priest is his self-awareness (coming late, true) in that he recognises that by not speaking out, by not addressing the harder topics in order to pander to his parishioners, he was guilty of contributing to the poor messages being taught the young in his congregation.

Sounds like he had a "come to Jesus moment".

Finally........

 

[butters]

Sounds like he had a "come to Jesus moment".

Finally........

yeah, i sound a bit ott on this but then having been indoctrinated into catholicism as a child and, even now though i abandoned the hypocrisy of the church as i grew to a teenager and maybe because of that!, i expect priests (especially) to do their damned jobs right. i expect the same of elected officials, police, and others with power over the lives of people... which is why people often disappoint me

 

[coati]

The long march back to human decency begins.

Hopefully it's not just the appearance of it.

It is indeed going to be a long march. The Deplorables took a big portion of the nation to a greedy and fearful fantasy world that was divorced from rationality.

Many members of this mass psychosis are going to continue to promote their miserable world view. It will be more important than ever to provide a much better model for enjoying life, based on values that actually bring peace and connectedness to society, rather than tearing society apart with divisive Tweets every hour.

Can you imagine how miserable Deplorables must be, now thinking that it is their personal duty carry on Trump's legacy of insults and conflict? Do these folks ever even think about what impact that lifestyle has on their health and happiness?

 

[Lazaran]

yeah, i sound a bit ott on this but then having been indoctrinated into catholicism as a child and, even now though i abandoned the hypocrisy of the church as i grew to a teenager and maybe because of that!, i expect priests (especially) to do their damned jobs right. i expect the same of elected officials, police, and others with power over the lives of people... which is why people often disappoint me

The problem that occurs when priests "do their damned jobs right" is that even when they do things "by the book"(unintentional pun alert), they are spreading bigoted, misogynistic, anti-science, superstitious tripe.

The best thing that could happen to religion IMHO, would be for it to morph into a core conscience and morality movement . Keep the tenets of peace and humanity, and move away from the magical, patriarchal, cultish doctrine.

It will never happen however, because the supernatural aspects of religion appeal to the frightened masses(another unintentional pun alert).

Quite unfortunate........

 

[butters]

The problem that occurs when priests "do their damned jobs right" is that even when they do things "by the book"(unintentional pun alert), they are spreading bigoted, misogynistic, anti-science, superstitious tripe.

The best thing that could happen to religion IMHO, would be for it to morph into a core conscience and morality movement . Keep the tenets of peace and humanity, and move away from the magical, patriarchal, cultish doctrine.

It will never happen however, because the supernatural aspects of religion appeal to the frightened masses(another unintentional pun alert).

Quite unfortunate........

uhuh