Girl Scouts under scrutiny of Catholic Bishops

[Peas n carrots]

What a bunch of BS! They just made up some mumbo-jumbo to justify the fact that they are taking away people's right to leave an org which many of them did not join voluntarily, but as infants.

This reminds me: I live in a city which has a large Catholic population, but most are twice a year Catholics at best. Recently I saw a spate of billboards going up around town for a Catholic radio station, and the design of the billboard is so absurd I actually LOLed on the bus. It just has a picture of the Virgin Mary next to the name of the radio station, and above it just says "Catholic?" I can't really explain why I think it's so absurd, but I guess it has to do with this assumption that everyone who identifies as a Catholic is going to be 100% on board with the stances of what appears to be Vatican-party-line type institution.

I've seen campaigns here in Chicago to get people back to church. I think the Cardinals and Arch Bishops have to know in the large cities their flocks are literally dying out every year.

Dissapointed to know I can never excommunicate myself. So question...if the church excommunicates someone (for example, supporters of Call to Action) are they truly stricken from the rolls? Is it something that the church can do but the former lay cannot?

[alba]

I do have to wonder how the Catholic church has any authority to lead an inquiry into what the Girl Scouts do. Whether or not Catholic parents send their daughters is their own choice, and what the organisation does is not the business of a religious organisation.

[gustava]

I do have to wonder how the Catholic church has any authority to lead an inquiry into what the Girl Scouts do. Whether or not Catholic parents send their daughters is their own choice, and what the organisation does is not the business of a religious organisation.

Apparently, a number of GS troops are in Catholic facilities.

[alba]

Apparently, a number of GS troops are in Catholic facilities.

I can see how that would mean they have a right to know what the GS are doing. Still, if they don't like it they can tell those particular troops to convene elsewhere, not try to change what they do.

[FaustianSlip]

Yeah, screw the Catholic church. Thing is, this isn't the first time I remember them trying to interfere with Scouting activities; when I was a kid, we used to have "Girl Scout Sunday" once a year, where scouts would attend church (or synagogue, but there weren't any in my town) in uniform, as a troop. It rotated amongst the different denominations, so one year you'd go to the Catholic church, the next year you'd go to the Methodist and so on. This went on for a number of years with no issues, and so far as I'm aware, it was a positive experience for all involved... until the local Catholic diocese interfered. They made a big stink about how Catholic Girl Scouts should remember that if they went to a different denomination's church, that was incompatible with Catholic teachings and did not fulfill their obligation to attend Sunday Mass, et cetera. But of course, if other Girl Scouts wanted to all attend the Catholic church on Girl Scout Sunday, where of course they couldn't take communion, being heathens and all, well that would be just peachy keen. And then they wouldn't be leaving out the Catholic girls who, of course, had to fulfill their Mass obligations. It was all very high-handed and coercive, and I remember being really turned off by it, and I was maybe ten years old. The more I see from the Church, the more I find myself thinking that stuff like that, and like this latest bitching about the evil, leftist Girl Scouts, are the Church's true colors. Sure, they talk a good game about social justice and such, but lower that mask just a tiny bit, and it's the same old patriarchal bullshit as you'd find in any IFB pulpit. It's just dressed up a little nicer with incense and vestments and such.

Incidentally, for anyone looking for cultural Catholicism without the attendant bullshit, you could try the Episcopal church. I can say from personal experience that the services are virtually identical, it's an egalitarian church, generally liberal leaning and gay friendly. I think you can even find Latin services if you check out the bigger cathedrals, if you're into that kind of thing. I was shocked when I was a kid and went to a Catholic Mass with a friend; I had assumed that since I couldn't take communion there, the service would be really different from what I was used to, but I knew almost every word, because they were the same as the Book of Common Prayer. There are definite differences between the two churches, obviously, but they call Episcopalianism "Catholic Lite" for a reason.

[QAF_Rocks]

Dissapointed to know I can never excommunicate myself. So question...if the church excommunicates someone (for example, supporters of Call to Action) are they truly stricken from the rolls? Is it something that the church can do but the former lay cannot?

I don't think so. I'm fairly sure you can never get yourself stricken from the rolls. If you take a public stand that offends the Vatican enough, you might be excommunicated to send a message. But that pretty much only happens to people who are involved in some story that makes the news, like the nun and the doctor that helped a nine-year-old rape victim get an abortion.

The church still considers excommunicated people to be Catholic. They're officially damned Catholics, but Catholics nonetheless. Maybe they think they can instill fear that way, either by making those people think they're going to hell, or else by stopping other people from taking public stands that might lead to excommunication and thus (in their opinion) hell.

[Elle]

This means alot to me... Thank you. I believe in what the church teaches except for it's laws, and I might want to do this. The problem is, I still believe in God and I took FJ's advice and told both parents a hypocritical what if I left the Church - my dad would want me to join another religion, but I don't. My ma's more accepting than my dad about this. Is it possible to still be a cultural Roman Catholic than a participating 1? And is it also possible to be excommunicated, but not let 1 of your parents know? Again, thank you for listening. Sorry for derailing the thread and bring up an old 1...

Nowhere in the bible does it say you have to submit to another human being, like a pope, in order to still be a good person. The idea of one human having such power on earth is a corrupt creation of "the church." Not being in the roster doesn't mean you can't practice your religion in private and between you and god. I think a lot of people go to church for the show of being a good lil' Christian/Catholic and less for the actual beliefs.

Unless the Catholic church sends out a newsletter, I don't see how your parents would know unless they either know the bishop of you tell them.

[Anxious Girl]

Elle, Catholics are Christians. They were the first publicly organized Christians. Other sects seperated themselves from Catholicism during the medieval periods and the Renaissance.

[Elle]

Elle, Catholics are Christians. They were the first publicly organized Christians. Other sects seperated themselves from Catholicism during the medieval periods and the Renaissance.

All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. The topic is focused on the Catholic church, but that particular statement included non-Catholic Christians, so I specified them as well.

[Sola]

For a country that has separation of church and state, I am always astounded by how much influence religion has in the USA. We don't have that separation here in the UK, but we seem to do secular far better than the US.

[Peas n carrots]

For a country that has separation of church and state, I am always astounded by how much influence religion has in the USA. We don't have that separation here in the UK, but we seem to do secular far better than the US.

That is because Europe sent all their religious nuts over here :P

I think it has to do with the constitution. People get emotional about the first 5 amendments.