Entry 1045, on 2009-07-03 at 20:56:36 (Rating 5, Religion)
There are a lot of Christian beliefs which I find unpleasant and, well yes, I'll say it: evil. One of the worst is the Catholic tradition that unbaptised children can't go to heaven because they haven't been "saved" from original sin. Of course original sin itself is one of the most disgusting beliefs of all and one clearly invented by the church founders (such as Paul) to scare people into joining the corrupt new church.
True, the Catholics did say that children entered a "limbo" which they describe as an "eternal state of perfect natural happiness ... but without being in communion with God". That sounds much better than heaven to me because you don't have to put up with their horrible bully of a god, but to a Catholic I'm sure it was seen as terrible because they seem to emphasise some sort of interaction with god as the primary attraction of heaven.
The idea of limbo was obviously made up on the spot just to avoid an awkward situation that the previous fairy stories didn't cover. Sort of like the other laughable nonsense like the trinity and the virgin birth I guess. But the point is that limbo did scare people into having their babies baptised and therefore brought under the control of the Church.
The limbo myth seemed to have a lot going for it. It wasn't totally evil because the children got to live in a happy place but it was just scary enough (being separated from god) that believers were very motivated to go ahead with baptisms.
So I'm a bit surprised that the Pope has recently decided to do away with this convenient idea because not only does it remove the useful scare tactic but it contradicts centuries of belief in the past. If previous Popes believed this dogma was factual and the Pope is infallible how is it that its now changed? I guess god must have changed his mind!
Its not the first time though because St. Augustine taught that unbaptised infants go to hell. Now that really is evil. I guess that's the sort of person the Church likes to include in its list of saints! I must be fair here though and point out that he thought they suffered only "mild condemnation". Oh, that's OK then!
Why would an innocent child be afflicted by original sin? And even if they were was that a personal fault sufficient to have them cast into hell which is generally portrayed as the sort of place that only someone with a genuinely evil disposition would invent? (but there have always been plenty of them in the church)
It wouldn't be so bad if Christians didn't constantly inflict us with their inane drivel about a "loving god" and how great his love for us is. After all, he sent his only son to die on the cross to save us! And that's another thing - who would be so stupid to believe such a pile of garbage as that story! I've heard more realistic stuff from the Grimm Brothers!
A professor of theology has pointed out that if there is no limbo and they aren't going to revert to the unbaptised children going to hell story then the only possibility is that everyone is born in the state of grace. That seems a lot better to me. Sort of like being innocent until being proven guilty. If they're just going to make stuff up based on no logic or consistency at all the Church could at least make up fairer, more pleasant stories than sending babies to Hell, I guess.
The reason the change has happened is because of the growing number of abortions and infants born to non-believers who die without being baptised. OK, so God has changed his mind because of this? It seems unlikely but the only alternative is that the previous Popes were wrong and we know that's impossible because of the infallibility thing, right?
So yet again, a superficial examination of the beliefs of Christianity brings the whole artificial and corrupt edifice crashing down in a pile of inconsistent, arbitrary stories which no one should take the slightest notice of. The fact that a large proportion of the world still does is a source of endless amusement to me!
Comment 1 by Believer on 2009-08-01 at 17:54:05:
Can I ask what you want from the church? The Pope has announced a new interpretation of their beliefs which you admit is much preferable to the old one yet you still aren't happy. Although I am a Christian I don't believe in all the Catholic doctrine but people like you are never happy!
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