Open Letter To The Women Of The Catholic Church
Open letter to the women of the Catholic Church,
Maybe, you can overlook 2,000 years of oppression and misogyny. Maybe, you can ignore the Inquisition. Maybe you forgot that for almost 1,000 years the death of an unbaptized infant would result in perpetual suffering in Limbo, until the church voted it out. Maybe, you can overlook the oppression of science and general education. Maybe you do not care that the church has fought against your right to vote and your ability to care for your own body with birth control.
I ask you now to think. Think about the latest declaration from the Catholic Church – ordination of women is a grave crime under church law. Not only is this declaration made in conjunction with but is compared to the rape of an innocent child by a priest. You must now realize that you will never hold the same status as men; you will never be seen as an equal. It is time for you to stand up for yourself. It is time to take your money from the people that are holding you down. It is time for you to show your strength. It is time to use your feet and walk away from the Catholic Church. It is time to take your family, your spouse, your children and leave. If not for you, then do it for your daughters and sons. It is time for you to stand up and break the cycle. Do not let this opportunity pass. Do not let your sons grow up and oppress women and do not let your daughters be oppressed.
Sincerely,
Phil Ferguson
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First of all, wanted to say that I’m a new reader here-found my way via Blaghag. I really enjoy your site though just barely scraping the surface.
I figure I should tell you a bit about myself-female, Registered Nurse, believer in science. bleeding heart liberal as my family calls me, absolutely pro-choice. Not Catholic, Lutheran by baptism but I do not attend church. I do believe in a Higher Being and an after-life. Not exactly sure how to define my beliefs- in a nutshell, I guess Gnostic leaning-Christian beliefs, however open to the idea of reincarnation, not a believer in Satan or Hell. And though, I’ve not read too far here yet (I plan too), or much at Blaghag and others on your Blogroll-(again newbie!), I do believe in some supernatural events and some psychics-though very curious about the scientific aspect as well. I guess I’m just fairly open to lots of ideas.
All that being said, I came across this rather lengthy article on a very conservative blog. The blogger is “evangelical/quiverfull”, not Catholic, and very different than I am in beliefs. The article is Catholic based, and I have to say that I found myself really intrigued as I was reading it. Some of it, well a lot of hit “made sense” if you will-I can’t believe I’m saying this. I guess it reminds me of the perfect “ivory tower” setting. So I thought I’d share it with you, and if you wouldn’t mind sharing your thoughts on it, I’d love to hear another point of view.
Though I’m probably not quite on par with your views, I’m definitely not a par with the views of conservative Catholics either. I’m at a bit of a loss and again, surprised at my own response. Thanks!
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/sexuality/se0002.html
Well said.
I left the Catholic Church years ago but I understand why some people can’t. At the very least stop giving them money in the weekly collection. That will get their attention fast.
You seem to also have forgotten how the Catholic church fought Communism, how it fought for the human rights all across Eastern Europe, how countless priests, nuns and devout Catholics were killed first by the orders of Lenin, then Stalin and finally the process of hounding the Catholic church was institutionalized and exported to the West.
Read up on your history – if the might of the Soviet Communist machinery didn’t break us and didn’t destroy our traditions – the West won’t either. You speak of thousands of years – yet you forget we have a 2000 year tradition we are protecting.
I am a woman as well, and I try to emulate the Virgin Mary Mother of God and all the female Saints from Saint Catherine of Alexandria, through Saint Catherine of Sienna then Saint Teresa of Avila to Saint Edith Stein – read their opinions on what it means to be a Catholic, doesn’t their opinion matter? The Catholic Church isn’t just composed of angry feminists – that’s a silly Western phenomenon – the Catholic Church is also composed of hundreds of millions all over the world who do not share the obsessions of the West with eliminating the differences between men and women. Men and women have different though complimentary roles to play. A woman is not man for a reason, she has a different job to do. You speak as though you know nothing of the strengths of women and their unique skills and the powerful differences that separate men and women. Some jobs are meant only for women, and some only for men, because some jobs require a woman’s touch, and some a man’s. The priesthood is not a place for women, not because we are incapable of executing the job properly, but because we are called to do other things. It is astounding how the critics of the Roman Catholic Church have a selective approach aimed only at attacking our traditions. Read up on the struggles of the Roman Catholic Church in the 20th Century. Here is a few key phrases for you to set you on the right path:
“Conspiracy of Silence.” – look it up, google it – see what you get.
“The Golgotha of the East” – look it up – and if you don’t weep, you have no heart.
“Father Jerzy Popieluszko” – you speak of Catholic crimes… read up on Communist ones.
While you are at it and all your talk of misogyny – read up on the crimes of the Protestants agaist Roman Catholic nuns – talk about misogyny.
CYR
you forget we have a 2000 year tradition we are protecting.
SAV
You say that as if it were a good thing. How silly. Phil’s point is precisely that your tradition of considering women incapably inferior is reprehensible.
CYR
I try to emulate the Virgin Mary Mother of God
SAV
Ah, so you ignore the Biblical mandate to go forth and multiply. You just can’t win, can you?
CYR
read their opinions on what it means to be a Catholic, doesn’t [sic] their opinion matter?
SAV
Not particularly. That’s like asking a flat-earther if it’s reasonable to be a flat-earther.
CYR
A woman is not man for a reason, she has a different job to do.
SAV
This is the type of bullshit that the church peddles. A woman is not a man because she has no Y chromosome. In the modern, civilized world, we don’t view that as some sort of deficiency.
CYR
because [women] are called to do other things.
SAV
And by the same dumbass logic, I’ve been “called” to peg you an idiot.
CYR
It is astounding how the critics of the Roman Catholic Church have a selective approach aimed only at attacking our traditions.
SAV
Are you kidding? I ridicule any idiocy, regardless of religion, creed, etc. Perhaps you think we pick on the RC Church a lot, but that’s because the RC Church is just that ridiculous!
CYR
Read up on the struggles of the Roman Catholic Church in the 20th Century.
SAV
More drivel. Even if it were true that Catholics have an extensive, tear-jerking history of being on the receiving end of persecution (an utterly absurd, ass-backward notion), it would excuse none of their atrocities. Anyone who thinks otherwise has severe problems with reasoning.
Hey Phil, Looks like Ann Rice took your advice!
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Novelist Anne Rice says she’s leaving Christianity
NEW YORK – Anne Rice has had a religious conversion: She’s no longer a Christian.
“In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control,” the author wrote Wednesday on her Facebook page. “In the name of … Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.”
Rice, 68, is best known for “Interview With a Vampire” and other gothic novels. Raised as a Catholic, she had rejected the church early in her life but renewed her faith in recent years and in 2008 released the memoir “Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession.”
In a telephone interview Thursday, Rice said she had been having doubts for the past two to three years. She was troubled by the child abuse scandals in the church, and the church’s defensive reaction, and by the ex-communication of Sister Margaret McBride, a nun and hospital administrator who had approved an abortion for a woman whose life was in danger.
“I believed for a long time that the differences, the quarrels among Christians didn’t matter a lot for the individual, that you live your life and stay out of it. But then I began to realize that it wasn’t an easy thing to do,” said Rice, speaking from her home near Palm Springs, Calif. “I came to the conclusion that if I didn’t make this declaration, I was going to lose my mind.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100730/ap_on_en_ot/us_books_anne_rice