So, I’m reading the news this morning, enjoying my bagel with strawberry cream cheese and hot chocolate when I catch this article about abortion in Brazil. Apparently a 9-year-old girl was raped by her stepfather, became pregnant by him, and was carrying twins. The doctors who performed the abortion said that if she didn’t have the abortion, she would die. Here’s the part that made me spit up my hot chocolate:
Weighing just 79 pounds and barely four feet tall, the 9-year-old girl, from Alagoinha, a town in the northeast, underwent an abortion when she was 15 weeks pregnant at one of the 55 centers authorized to perform the procedure in Brazil. Abortion is legal here only in cases of rape or when the mother’s life is at risk. The doctors’ actions set off a swirl of controversy. A Brazilian archbishop summarily excommunicated everyone involved — the doctors for performing the abortion and the girl’s mother for allowing it — except for the stepfather, who stands accused of raping the girl over a number of years.
Combine this with the Pope’s recent assertion that condoms are contributing to the AIDS epidemic in Africa and not helping it and you have to wonder, “What is wrong with these leaders and their religion if it leads them to do things like this?” “What the f*ck is wrong with Catholics?!?” For a religion that claims to value life above all else, how do they reconcile their imbecilic views on abortion and contraception with the reality of genetics, biology, and sexual abuse?
I think the question that I’m really toying with in my mind is, “How can any person who considers him/herself ethical remain a member of this misogynistic, archaic, unethical institution?”
(NOTE: I know a lot of Catholics who are really good, ethical people. I also know they don’t share these views. I don’t know why they remain Catholic, but I do want to make sure people know that I’m not saying all Catholics are terrible people, just the retarded leaders who do dumb things like those outlined above.)
(SECOND NOTE: I changed my question in light of Hellmut’s well-taken point – I don’t mean a blanket condemnation of Catholics, but a general criticism of misguided Catholic leaders and a religious system that allows such misguided behavior.)
Well, a better question might be: “What the fuck is wrong with that bishop?”
Most Catholics are probably just as much astounded as you and me.
Well, I’d say it was just the bishop, but if you read the article, several other bishops and leaders in Brazil agreed with his decision, as did many lay members. And, of course, the Pope is okay with millions of Africans dying unnecessarily so long as they don’t use birth control. So, I think the issue is a bit bigger than the one bishop… 🙁
Sure, there are more than one Catholic who are supporting and defending the Bishop’s actions. I am concerned about this statement:
“What the f*ck is wrong with Catholics?!?”,
which is condemning all Catholics.
In fact, many Catholics have condemned the abuse at the hands of their church’s authorities. In fact, Catholics are substantially more likely to confront their leaders than Mormons are.
You could have criticized the abuse just as vigorously without the collective condemnation of all Catholics.
Point well taken.