William Lindsey Dec 25, 2022

The US Catholic bishops talk a lot about the decline in religious commitment and the need for stronger religious values in the public square.

Yet prominent Catholics like Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis engage in political games of incredible cruelty with the lives of migrants — in Abbott's case, right on Christmas Eve.

While the US Catholic bishops remain totally silent….

It's almost as if their words about declining religiosity and moral vaules are just empty, isn't it?

#Catholicf #GregAbbott

Show threadBarry Schwartz 🫖Dec 25, 2022

@wdlindsy Have we heard anything about excommunicating Greg Abbott?

I think not.

Show threadWilliam Lindsey 

@chemoelectric You're right: I think not! Nor will we hear a peep from them, as some of them target Biden and Pelosi.

As a body, the US Catholic bishops have failed in their pastoral and moral charge — abysmally so.

Dec 25, 2022 at 11:04pmWeb
Show threadBarry Schwartz 🫖Dec 25, 2022
@wdlindsy Anyone can just go to an Episcopalian church instead. I’m not sure everyone’s aware of that. :)
Show threadBarry Schwartz 🫖Dec 25, 2022
@wdlindsy (I’m an atheist Jew. I just stay home. :) )
Show threadWilliam Lindsey Dec 25, 2022
@chemoelectric I stay home, too, and have long maintained that people who have religious commitment have much to learn from those who are opposed to religion and the notion of God. I'm a marginalized Catholic who's been shoved to the margins of my church, so I don't participate — because I've been made unwelcome.
Show threadBarry Schwartz 🫖Dec 25, 2022
@wdlindsy I am not opposed to religion. That’s the ‘New Atheists’ and the late Madalyn Murray O’Hair, not me. :)
Show threadMark DavisDec 26, 2022
@wdlindsy @chemoelectric If I'm completely honest I haven't been marginalised by the church. I chose it. Then again, being beaten by the headmaster (a brother) when I tried to report abuse at my school, and listening to decades of cover up does that to a person.
Show threadWilliam Lindsey Dec 26, 2022

@markstuartdavis @chemoelectric

I hate to hear about that experience of abuse. I've heard other stories like that, and have concluded that kind of brutality was often the norm in Catholic schools. Yes, listening to decades of cover up are calculated to push people from the table. It's a morally justifiable response.

Show threadMark DavisDec 26, 2022

@wdlindsy @chemoelectric

We had a Royal Commission here in Australia – an investigation into institutional responses to child sexual abuse. I will never forgive him for this lie.

I told him.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-12/former-marist-college-headmaster-denies-covering-up-allegations/5519874

Royal commission into child sexual abuse: Former Marist College principal denies covering up allegations

Former Canberra Marist College headmaster Brother Terence Heinrich has denied he was involved in covering up allegations of child sexual abuse during the 1980s.

ABC News
Show threadWilliam Lindsey Dec 26, 2022

@markstuartdavis @chemoelectric

I read the Royal Comission report — a really good one. Thank you for speaking the truth. I am so sorry for what they put you through. The glib lying is disgusting.

Show threadWilliam Lindsey Dec 25, 2022
@chemoelectric You're right. Friends who are Episcopalian have invited my spouse and me to their church, and we appreciate the hospitality very much—but stubbornly insist on not letting those who want to define us out of our own church win, though they've succeeded in pushing us to the margins.
Show threadPsychiatric Help 5¢Dec 26, 2022
@chemoelectric @wdlindsy
The problem is nobody is talking about Christ, worship, religion nor Beliefs. They're talking politics weaponizing a false doctrine for Earthly power. Picking out verses while ignoring chapters and books. Switching Churches won't stop Fascistic Theocracy influencing government. IMHO
Show threadWilliam Lindsey Dec 26, 2022

@Sanityreturn2us @chemoelectric

Yes, that sounds right to me.

Show threadLiz Throop | populationalDec 26, 2022
@chemoelectric @wdlindsy Or just stay home. Among religious groups, the decline in membership is steeper among Catholics (down 18 points, from 76% to 58%) than Protestants (down nine points, from 73% to 64%).Mar 29, 2021
Show threadWilliam Lindsey Dec 26, 2022

@Populational @chemoelectric

Yes, statistics show the exodus of Catholics in the US from the Catholic church is larger than the exodus from other churches — though there's a general exodus happening throughout churches in the US, and it has apparently accelerated after more than half of white Christians in the US, across the board, voted twice for Donald Trump.