Amy L

Recent Activity

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  Amy signed the petition | 8 months ago

  Tell IKEA to Respect its Workers!
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  Amy commented on the article | about 3 years ago

  Vatican Demands Retraction of Holocaust Denial (...and I want to know what you think.)

  I can identify with Maureen Fielder. I am a Catholic, and I am furious over this current display of idiocy by the Catholic leadership. Benedict, it seems, is more focused on maintaining Church unity than he is in maintaining strong interfaith relations. 
  However, I must say that I am not surprised. Catholic leadership makes decisions and they expect their "flock" to follow without a murmur. They believe that they know what is best for their parishioners. Such sentiments do not match up with current ideals held by humans in developed countries, but the Church does not recognize this. The ultra-fundamentalists are much more in line with the doctrine of the Church than are the progressive Catholics. I think that, under Benedict, the Vatican will side with the fundamentalists. Under Pope John Paul II, the progressives had more of a voice. John Paul II was known for attempting to bridge the divides between Catholicism and other religions. In my opinion, John Paul II's focus was on the human community. He even apologized for historical wrongs done by the Church and Catholics. Such apologies are not frequently found in the history of Catholic leadership. (Note: don't hold your breath for an apology from Benedict over how all of this has gone down. I doubt he sees that he's done wrong. He might think he should have made a more diplomatic choice, but he won't backpedal.) Benedict's priority, however, seems to be in maintaining the Church. 
  The Pope will, I believe, face a backlash from the international community. He has already had an unsuccessful conversation with Angela Merkle about this. Within the Church - well, things don't much change. It will not be addressed during Mass. Catholics who are not knowledgeable about world news will have this story pass them by and not care. Those of us who do notice may shrug our shoulders in a "there they go again" kind of defeatism. Personally, I will add this incident to a long list of things I see wrong and cannot reconcile myself to. However, I cannot see myself leaving the Church. It's difficult for those who are not Catholic to understand, but for many of us, once you are raised a Catholic, that is what you are. It's like my heritage: I can't change that my mother is Portuguese and English and that my father is French. I also cannot change that we are Catholics. There are parts of the religion I love - but I don't love how the Vatican and the Pope do these things time and again without changing. That I could live without. 

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  Amy commented on the article | about 3 years ago

  The Corruption of Religion: A Guest Post on Holocaust Denial, Genocide, and the Church

  The main idea of religion, as I understand it, is to promote peace and understanding between peoples. I think you're right to wish that religion did not become corrupted to the point that fanatics use it as an excuse to hurt others. I wish that it weren't so, but history seems to say otherwise.
  As for the Society of St. Pius X, I'd known nothing about it before all of this. Catholics my age - and those whom ignore news in general - will not have any idea the society ever existed. The Vatican does what it does. Benedict decided to un-excommunicate them, and so it did. I can say that this will not be addressed at Church. I may not have been for awhile, but I asked my mother if it had been, and the response was: "of course not." They harp on about abortion while ignoring their own troubles. 
  I can also say that many in the Church work towards alleviating the suffering of the poor, but it's the Church leadership that makes these decisions, and the leadership is out of touch. John Paul II was something of a Catholic rock star in relations with the rest of the religious world. Benedict spoke to Angela Merkle Sunday and apparently they reached an impasse on this topic. I am pretty sure that if John Paul II were still Pope, the phone call would have ended better. Of course, I doubt that this would have happened as well.