1) I believe in God.
2) Tradition.

Believe it or not, the Catholic church is not a source of evil. Far from it.

And the Pope never made me do anything. He talks. I listen. I decide. Don't see how that's a problem.

When all U.S. politicians bend over backwards to show their respect for the Pontiff when he's visiting America, when corporate media runs Pope John's death for a week on prime time…..saying the "opinion of the church is just an opinion" rings hollow.

Sidenote: Why DO you go to mass sometimes?

btw, I'm technically excommunicated from the Catholic church.

And I still go to mass sometimes. They don't kick me out. They don't check my bonafides at the door. They don't care.

But the sexual revolution made it easier for liberal men to get laid, so I guess it was all worth it. That's why we have such "feminism" today as strip clubs, rampant pornography, widespread abortions, fake boobs, Playboy magazine, poverty stricken single mothers, and skyrocketing divorce rates. To empower the, um, women. That's the ticket.

The church has excommunicative power. The church has the power of guilt. The church has deep and well cultivated political connections.

I didn't use the words "enforcement powers"….you did.

I see no reason to bring David Letterman into this discussion.

Nope. The church doesn't have any enforcement powers. None.

Expanding on the pleasure issue.

Anti-abortionists, not all but many, are also anti-feminist. Women who find pleasure in sex have often been depicted as whores or sluts. In this thinking, as you state, if a woman becomes pregnant while devilishly pursuing pleasure, not only is she being punished by god…..but deserves to be punished.

Like Mr. King, I was raised Catholic. I left the Church about the time of Roe v. Wade. Although it's been a long time ago, my recollection is that prior to the legalization of abortion, life was considered to have begun at the "quickening" or when the fetus began to kick. Instead of artificial contraception, the Church counseled married couples to have sex during times in the woman's menstrual cycle when fertilized eggs could not implant within the uterus (just like women's contraceptives). Also, the tragedy of miscarriage and infant death before Baptism was that this individual would never meet God, being relegated to Limbo, a place that was absent the torments of Hell, but still removed from Heaven. I hope that someone can update me as to the present day teachings.

What bothers me about the issue of abortion is that there is a sizable contingent within the antiabortion movement who seem to believe that unwanted pregnancies are primarily the fault of those involved by either not taking appropriate contraceptive measures or by the sin of seeking sexual pleasure. As such, the pregnancy is then seen as God's punishment, and as such, cannot be avoided if salvation is to be achieved.

pdt….no. And that was not a tapdance. I don't do tapdancing.

The sexual revolution in the 60's was long overdue. Suppression of women and a ridiculously silly approach to human sexuality were factors leading to that revolution.

Babies have been born out of wedlock ever since there has been marriage. Shotgun marriages used to be commonplace. Compulsory wedlock…with babies.

Being mindful of the needs of young families should be one of a Christian nation's most important concerns.

Abortion is about a women's right to control her own life. It is absolutely not "killing babies."

Finally, this….

"L: Well, do you want us to kill them more often, or give us money for condoms, or give us money to take care of them? It's totally your choice.
C: Go f yourself.

…doesn't deserve a response…..or a tapdance.
________

Hope everyone enjoys the holiday weekend.