Why Catholics Are Leaving the Church – Seven Top Reasons

The sex abuse crisis

The church’s stance on homosexuality

Dissatisfaction with the priest

Uninspiring homilies on Sundays

Perception that church hierarchy is too closely tied to conservative politics

Church’s stance toward divorced and remarried Catholics

The status of women

Read more:

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/30/7-reasons-catholics-leave-church-in-trenton-1-is-sex-abuse-crisis/?hpt=hp_c2

.

Bishop Chaput and his War on Obama Book, the Way, the Darkness and the Ignorance of a future Fascist America

Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia

As you well know I am no fan of Charles Chaput, the present temporary Archbishop of Philadelphia, before his papal reappointment to the Vatican.  In the interim, he is “trying” to clean up the Cesspool at “222” North 17^th Street in Philly, Regional Corporate Headquarters of the global Vatican (for profit) Inc.

I have called him Chief Outtatown in the past referencing hearsay from back there, because of his temporary assignment to Philly to paint a rosy picture and literally cheer on and applaud company perverts like Monsignor Lynn and the kiddie rape ring trial currently going on in the city of brotherly love. His sitting in the chair at Sts. Peter and Paul cathedral reminds me of the phrase from the bible – the Abomination that – is going to cause desolation in Philly IMHO.

That being said, from his past actions in Australia, Denver, Madrid and knife in the back to a dead JFK, I can only imagine that his new e-book essay attack, War on Obama, is "legitimate" considering the source, the pope's official hatchet/hit man. 

Here is an excellent review of Chaput’s current  “religious liberty” book/essay, conservative propaganda in the name of his Christ, not mine.  

Archbishop Chaput Will Have None of Your Lukewarm Catholicism

http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2012/03/30/archbishop-chaput-lukewarm-catholicism/

A good read.

That’s some tough talk, and in the course of Chaput’s compact essay, he smartly and eloquently states his case for what he sees as a growing sense of religious intolerance in this country, stoked by an ill-informed and biased media and a populace that’s turned its collective back on faith. He writes of “the inhuman parody we call ‘modern American culture’” and “sexual minorities [who] now routinely use the state’s power and friendly mass media to break down traditional definitions of marriage and family.” Chaput wistfully remembers the good old days, “when the word gay had more connection to joy than sexual identity.”

. 

New York State Textbooks Censored in favor of Religious Superstitions and continued Dumbing Down of America

http://open.salon.com/blog/annie_keeghan/2012/03/26/news_flash_new_york_educators_reject_dinosaurs

Any company submitting proposals to the state must exclude references to such topics as dinosaurs, birthdays, Halloween, slavery, swimming pools (and other allusions to wealth, such as mp3 players, video games, etc.), certain forms of dance (ballet is okay), among others. And there’s junk food of course, which unfortunately wasn’t fully defined. This means that there is great editorial debate going on in conference rooms around the country as publishers try to discern exactlywhat constitutes junk food (I know; I’ve sat in on such meetings. Pretzels? Frozen yogurt? No one is ever quite sure. Cookies? Pies? Those always yield a consensus)…

The reason for the list coming out of New York, according to one education official, is that these and other listed references have the potential to “evoke unpleasant emotions in students.” Unpleasant emotions in students? When was the last time a written reference to a dinosaur or a cupcake or an ipod left your child emotionally harmed? I suspect it’s more likely that the unpleasant emotions aren’t so muchevoked in as projected upon students by much older voices---parents and others with personal agendas, as well as those with legal credentials who are always on the hunt for anything that has the eensiest potential to offend the smallest minority in the most insignificant way. The thing is, even if these things aren’t mentioned in a state test, students are still exposed to many of these topics on a daily basis beyond the classroom. So why are they affected so dramatically only when exposed to such topics on tests but not in everyday life?

Most of the items on New York's list aren’t new to publishers. When it comes to junk food, we haven’t been able to use the words cake, cookie, cupcake, and ice cream for as long as I can remember. The only reason pizza is allowed—veggie with a wheat crust, please…

Certainly some topics make sense to avoid—terrorism, divorce, disease. No one wants to upset the poor kids any more than they already are on testing day. But even a Jehovah’s Witness has to live in a world where most of the population celebrates birthdays, and an evangelical has to live in a world of museums that generally include things like, say, dinosaur fossils. Halloween? Is there a child alive who doesn’t either know about the existence of this holiday or participate in the celebration of it? Are there scores of students standing up en masse declaring, “I’m offended by this reference to paganism.” Or course not. Most don’t even know what paganism is. But those with agendas do. The more we try to sanitize education to appease a one-size-fits-all mentality, the more we’re going to create a one-size-fits-none curriculum which does nothing to advance what should be the goal—academics, not politics….