Degrees of Catholicism

Any regular readers of my random outpourings might notice a common theme is my purported crusade against religion. That’s not strictly true, I’m simply fascinated by the whole religious argument as it pertains to doctrines supposedly handed down through generations for the last 2000 years or so.

The debate roaring at the moment is of course the ‘true’ Anglican church splitting away from the, presumably ‘false’ branch of the Anglican church.

From an outsider’s perspective I don’t actually see what the fuss is about. True (Roman) Catholics — at least those in power — don’t recognise the authority of female Bishops and argue that only men should hold that position (political correctness, it seems, has no place in the church). The Forward In Faith group of the Anglican church agree; and both groups hide behind woolly statements in The Good Book which, as Tori Amos poetically reminds, “is missing some pages”.

Absurd really. Christianity — all religion, in theory — is supposed to be about unity and common sense prevailing, bowing to a single deity and striving for good in one’s life. Diluting the numbers and creating factions only serves to weaken the cause and creates an even greater “them and us” mentality.

Regardless, Forward In Faith are on a mission to create their own separate following — the Ordinariate. More likely they will end up rescinding their right to the Anglican church and join Rome, as their views are similar. Vicars / Fathers up and down the country are thus willing to give up their church-provided homes, and split their congregation in the hope of finding a new building of worship.

Provided there’s enough space, Rome of course will welcome them with open arms as it strengthens their worldwide standing in the religious leaderboard. But in an interesting twist, anyone converting to Catholicism isn’t held, by Rome, in the same regard as ‘true’ Catholics who have been that way from birth / by blood ties.

So even among Catholics there are two tiers: the believers and the wannabes. Meaning all the people that jump ship are still lesser mortals than their masters, which can’t help morale.

All this muddle, in-fighting and backstabbing merely serves to water down the essence of religion and turn it into a petty feud; it’s doing nobody any good in the long term. The message seems to be:

Women: can’t have them telling anyone what to think.

I have no problem with women doing that. Why has the Ordinariate?