In her last post, the Old Baguette questioned her affiliation with the Catholic Church. Could she in good conscience remain a member of the Catholic Church? She can. Just as she's never been a member of a Mafia Family or of the KKK, she's not now and never has been a member of the third entity that also gets a bad press. That entity is being called the Catholic Church, but the stories in the media are not about the Catholic Church. They're about the Catholic Club. The Club is an exclusive men's club, not an inclusive church. The members of the men's club are all CEOs or mayors or governors, and they wear odd hats and lace trimmed dresses. Many believe they are entitled to run things and people just because they are club members. The people who let themselves be run -- and there are a frightening number of them -- think what they're told to think and do what they're told to do by the CEOs, the mayors, and the governors. They're like servants or caddies for the members, i.e., they kiss rings. The members and the ring kissers believe they are the Catholic Church. That's a delusion. They aren't. They are the Catholic Club and its staff. Individual club members and individual ring kissers are providing reporters with the many juicy stories, embarrassing stories, scandalous stories. Unfortunately, the media continues to call the Catholic Club the Catholic Church. Readers who believe that everything read, seen, or heard in the media must be true tend to think of the Catholic Club as the Catholic Church.
Obviously, the Old Baguette could never be a member of this Catholic Club because she's a woman. She's never been a ring kisser, and she's too old to become one. Before she embarks on a course of action, she wants all questions answered, particularly the question "Why?" She doesn't have to agonize over membership in the Catholic Club or being a staff person. An affiliation that never has existed and never will exist cannot be severed. Unlike an atom, nothing can't be split.
Can she in good conscience remain a member of the Catholic Church? Yes. For an explanation of her reasons, see Sextant's comment on her last post. Or read the New Testament. Take your pick.
I would defer to the New Testament, although my comment does have a certain brevity, thank you for the kind complement.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely brilliant post Old Baguette, a few hundred years ago, this would have got you burnt at the stake, although I am sure there are plenty of the members of the "Club" who consider you a witch and would gladly strike a match now. Damned secular governments and their silly rules! Now the trick is to keep them agitated but don't get yourself excommunicated. I don't want you going to hell! Ha! Like they have the power to tell God what to do. I think you can agitate them better as a card carrying member of the CHURCH than an excommunicated condemned Soul (again Ha!). You want them thinking "God, that old bag(uette) is a pain in the ecclesiastical ass!"
I will be looking forward to seeing the fireworks!
BTW, I loved the lines,
ReplyDelete"An affiliation that never has existed and never will exist cannot be severed. Unlike an atom, nothing can't be split."
Excellent post!