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Islam represents 25% of the world’s population of which Sunni are approx. 90% and Shiite 10% |
Christianity represents 31% of the world's population, of which Catholics are approx. 18% and Protestants 37%, other Christian religions making up the balance. |
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ISLAM |
CATHOLICISM |
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Founded |
Muhammad
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Founded by Jesus of Nazareth (Jesus Christ*) in c. 30 AD, Israel - according to Catholics, or by Saint Peter thereafter as disputed by others.
*Messiah or "Anointed one" |
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God(s) |
Belief in a single God |
One God who is a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit The doctrine of the Trinity developed gradually over several centuries and through many controversies including threatened schisms. It was not until the 4th century that the distinctness of the three and their unity were brought together in a single orthodox doctrine of one essence and three persons (1+1+1=1). God, Jesus the incarnation of God, and the Holy Spirit as the bond between them. This generally placated the factions, although the controversies re-emerged during the enlightenment period and continue until today. |
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Prophet(s) |
Various including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and finally Muhammad who received the final revelation from God through the archangel Gabriel.
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Jesus of Nazareth |
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Leader(s) |
After Muhammad's death, a schism occurred based on who should succeed him. Basically a political dispute, although over time theological differences also appeared. The various problems relating to succession over the years lead to assassinations and civil war. Today the two factions (Sunni and Shia) are led by people who follow a hierarchy based on achievements in religious study such as jurists, mufti etc., down to the lower levels of mullahs, imams etc. There are no overall leaders, although different Islamic countries have their own levels of seniority.
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Popes, Bishops, Priests and Clergy. |
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Afterlife |
Following bodily resurrection, paradise in Heaven or eternal fire in Hell
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Eternal heaven or hell (or temporary purgatory before heaven). |
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Practices |
The five pillars of wisdom: 1. To recite the creed during prayer "I testify that there is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God." 2. Daily prayers. 3. Almsgiving. 4. Fasting during Ramadan. 5. Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime.
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Prayer, Bible study, Baptism, Eucharist (Communion), church attendance especially Sundays, numerous holidays. The church has an hierarchical system which puts the essence and authority of the Church in an exclusive priesthood, and makes ordained priests the necessary mediators between God (via Virgin Mary) and the people. The liturgy (until recently) was always done in Latin, thereby excluding all other than the priesthood and scholars (who understood Latin) from knowing what it really meant. Until 1526 the Bible was also only available in Latin in England and in that year translated to the English vernacular by William Tyndale, an act which cost him his life for heresy, but started the process of removing the Bible from the exclusivity of the church and making it available to the common people. A strict belief in church tradition and the infallibility of popes. |
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Texts |
The Quran |
The Bible (Old and New Testaments) |
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Human situation/ Life's purpose |
That the purpose of life is to worship God.
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All have sinned* and are thereby separated from God. Salvation is through faith in Christ and, for some, sacraments and good works.
*St. Augustine (354-430AD) imported an idea foreign to the Bible: the notion that the taint of sin is transmitted from generation to generation by the act of procreation following the fall of Adam. He took this idea from the 2nd-century theologian Tertullian, who actually coined the phrase original sin. |
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Punishment for heresy |
Historically: Death.
Currently: Death in almost all Islamic countries that adhere to Islamic Sharia law rather than secular laws.
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Historically: Torture and Death
Currently: Excommunication |
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Attitude to Women |
Historically: Extremely unequal, androcentric (male oriented), even misogynistic (fear or hatred of women).
Currently: Extremely unequal, androcentric (male oriented), even misogynistic (fear or hatred of women).
“The fourth chapter of the Quran is called "Women". The 34th verse is a key verse in feminist criticism of Islam. The verse reads: "Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great”.
“Thanks to the subjective/biased interpretations of the Quran (almost exclusively by men), the preponderance of the misogynic mullahs and the regressive Shariah law in most "Muslim" countries, Islam is synonymously known as a promoter of misogyny in its worst form. Although there is no way of defending the so-called "great" traditions of Islam as being libertarian and believing in equality with regard to women, we may draw a line between the Quranic texts and the corpus of declared misogynic writing and spoken words by the mullahs having very little or no relevance to the Quran”.
“Misogynistic interpretation has been persistently attached to the 34th verse because commentary on the Quran has been the exclusive domain of Muslim men".
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Historically : Extremely unequal
Currently: Unequal
Based mainly on the teachings of Augustine and Aquinas that women are unequal to men because God ordained them to be so, and also because of the loss of paradise through the disobedience of Eve to Adam, the Catholic Church has considered women to be inferior to men, believed that women should be subservient to husbands and remain primarily in the home. Opposed to the marriage of the clergy and clerical celibacy since the first Lateran Council of 1123, and to women’s ordination, the Catholic Church was also a strong opponent of women’s emancipation, however when women won the right to vote was quick to organize women’s catholic organizations so that they could use their vote in accordance with the church’s political objectives.
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Main objectives in theory |
1. Originally to spread Islamic beliefs by uniting peoples and tribes in to one religious and political society. (Muhammad as a religious warlord drew Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula to Islam by his forceful personality, the promise of salvation for those who died fighting for Islam, and the lure of fortune for those who succeeded in conquest. The caravan raids of the early years of Islam soon become full-scale wars, and empires and nations bowed to the power of this new religious, military, political, economic, and social phenomenon.)
2. Latterly, following the decline of Islam after the colonial era, to revive Islam throughout the world by re-establishing the straight path of Islam in personal and public life, which will ensure the restoration of Islamic identity, values, and power worldwide.
Thus, the renewal and revitalization of Muslim governments and societies require the restoration or reimplementation of Islamic Sharia law, which provides the blueprint for an Islamically guided and socially just state, society and world.
(Sharia, a term that refers to the body of laws and rules that regulate Muslim life. These laws are an expression of God’s will, according to Muslim belief, although derivation and application of the laws depend on interpretation by leaders versed in Islamic law. Over time, the laws that Muslims must follow have been elaborated upon by the schools of law. Today the schools of law, and their work is largely limited to applying laws and judgments generally not legislated by the secular governments, chiefly family law and ritual. The most important debate among modern Muslims concerns whether the Sharia should be applied in all aspects of life and whether and how to renovate it so that it addresses the most pressing issues facing the Muslim world today.)
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To spread the teachings of Jesus and church tradition and encourage believers to live lives in accordance with those teachings. |
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Main objectives in practice |
1. As in 1 above.
2. Muslim societies suffered from a feeling of failure and loss of self-esteem after they achieved independence from colonial rule by the mid-20th century because of failed post-colonial political systems and economies and the negative effects of modernization. Characterizing many of the newly independent Muslim nations were autocratic leaders, repressive governments, overcrowded cities with insufficient social support systems, high unemployment rates, government corruption, and a growing gap between rich and poor, including abject poverty and a total lack of education for the poor. Many Muslims blamed Western models of political and economic development for these failures. Once enthusiastically pursued as symbols of modernity, these models increasingly came under criticism. Modernization, a process of Westernization and secularization of society, was seen as responsible for an excessive dependence on the West; for a weakening of traditional family, religious, and social values; and for a loss of identity that contributed to the breakdown of Muslim society. Therefor many Muslims wish to re-establish Islamic societies and values throughout the world. The majority of Islamic activists seek to achieve this gradually by working within their respective societies systems and laws. Known as Islamic Fundamentalists their ranks include members of non-governmental Muslim organizations that provide much-needed services to the poor through Islamic schools, medical clinics, social welfare agencies, and other institutions.
3. There is however at the fringe of Islamic Fundamentalism a significant minority of people who believe that they have a mandate from God to carry out God’s will. This extremist minority further believes that because the rulers in the Muslim world are authoritarian and anti-Islamic, violent change is necessary. They seek to topple governments, seize power, and impose their vision or interpretation of Islam upon society.
Radical Islamic movements often operate on the assumption that Islam and the West are locked in an ongoing battle that reaches back to the early days of Islam, a battle that has been heavily influenced by the legacy of the Crusades and European colonialism, and that today is the product of a Judeo-Christian conspiracy. This conspiracy, they believe, is the result of superpower neo-colonialism and the power of Zionism (support for a Jewish nation, now the state of Israel). These radical movements blame the West (Britain, France, and especially the United States) for its support of un-Islamic or unjust regimes and biased support for Israel in the face of the displacement of the Palestinian people. Thus, violence against such governments and their representatives as well as Western multinationals is regarded as legitimate self-defence.
Islamic radicals also believe that Islam is not simply an ideological alternative for Muslim societies but a theological and political imperative. Because it is God’s command, implementation must be immediate, not gradual, and the obligation to implement is incumbent on all true Muslims. Therefore, those who hesitate, remain apolitical, or resist—individuals and governments—are no longer to be regarded as Muslims. They are atheists or unbelievers, enemies of God, against whom all true Muslims must wage holy war in the form of the fourth aspect of jihad.
(Jihad - the struggle to please God. Jihad is the duty of all mainstream Muslims, who belong to the branch known as Sunni Islam. There are four ways they may fulfil a jihad: 1. by the heart, 2. by the tongue, 3. by the hand, 4. by the sword. The first refers to the inner, spiritual battle of the heart against vice, passion, and ignorance. The second way means speaking the truth and spreading the word of Islam with one's tongue. The third way involves choosing to do what is right and to combat injustice and what is wrong with action, or one's hand. The fourth way refers to defending Islam and waging war against its enemies with the sword. Islamic legal scholars, during the early centuries of Islam, divided the world into two 1. Abode of Islam and 2. Abode of war—that is, of non-Islamic rule. Islamic law further stated that it was the duty of the first to strive to bring as much of the second as possible under its control, preferably by conversion but by force if necessary. Although jihad has come to be equated with “holy war” in the West, most Muslims would argue that military action is only a small part of jihad and that this form of jihad should be undertaken only in self-defence or against injustice. They see the internal struggle to attain self-mastery and lead a virtuous life as far more important. In some countries, however, Muslim activists would like to see Islamic governments installed, and for them jihad encompasses a more revolutionary goal of replacing their country’s political leadership. Still other Muslim militants extend the concept of jihad to acts of terrorism against Western countries whose influence they view as harmful to Islam. The Quran (Koran), states that those who die in this type of jihad, while fighting for the faith, automatically become martyrs and are awarded a special place in heaven. Most modern branches of Islam, however, stress the inner, spiritual jihad. In contrast to mainstream Sunni Muslims, Muslim groups such as the Imami and Bohora-Ismaili Shias are forbidden from participating in a hostile jihad. These sects believe the only person legitimately capable of conducting such a jihad is their imam, or spiritual leader.)
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As above, but with a heavy focus on entrenching the church as an institution with political and financial power. The creation and imposition of rules that are wholly created for the purpose of socio-economic control of believers to further that entrenchment. The threat and use of excommunication to exert power over kings and non-church rulers. (In 16th century Europe the Catholic Church owned 40% of all land, buildings, cattle and agriculture). |
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Major benefits to the human condition |
The bringing together of warring tribes and stopping the resultant slaughter and thereby creating a more peaceful society, although initially by also waging war and committing slaughter.
Many early advances in science. Establishment of the first public hospitals. Establishment of some of the first universities.
The giving of charitable donations (Zakat) to aid the poor and those in need (currently estimated to be 15 times global humanitarian aid donations).
Many beautiful buildings, architecture and works of art depicting abstract designs. (the human, animal or natural world is generally forbidden in Islamic art, although interpretation varies by country)
In general most Islamic cities, towns and villages live in relative peace, although "outside" influence is heavily curtailed.
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The socioeconomic and moral teachings of Jesus are generally good (irrespective of which church teaches them) and the effects of these teachings on society in general, and individuals in particular, has been generally beneficial. Many works of art, cathedrals, churches and buildings were commissioned by the church and have benefited human aspirations by their beauty. The care of the elderly, sick and infirm has also been a worthwhile achievement. There have been many exemplary achievements by individual Catholics in many areas of life. The Catholic church for many centuries was the de facto "political" leadership in many countries, bringing theocratic states in to being. This was seen as a counterbalance to the rapacity of Kings, although as Voltaire noted, often more rapacious itself. In the 16th century in England the church owned 40% of all land and buildings. |
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Major detriments to the human condition in deaths. |
Many deaths resulting from centuries of wars of conquest, plus both defensive and aggressive wars of the crusades.
Aggressive wars of Islamic colonialism throughout India and under Aurangzeb’s fanatical Islamic reign brought India close to total economic decline.
Wars of expansion of the Turkish Ottoman empire.
Aggressive wars of separation between Islamic Pakistan/India, causing over 250,000 deaths in 1947, followed by civil war between Islamic Pakistan and Islamic West Bengal (Bangladesh).
Currently increasing numbers of deaths from Islamic fundamentalist terrorism and civil wars in many countries aimed at the formation of Islamist only states.
In the 21st century, heresy is still punishable by death in many Islamic states
In the 21st century, adultery is still punishable by death in many Islamic states
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The Crusades were a series of religiously sanctioned military campaigns, called by the popes and waged by kings and nobles who volunteered to take up the cross with the main goal of restoring Christian control of the Holy Land. The crusaders came from all over western Europe, and fought a series of disconnected campaigns between 1095 and 1291. Similar campaigns in the Iberian Peninsula and Eastern Europe continued into the 15th century. Fought mainly by Roman Catholics against Muslims and Greek Orthodox Christians in Byzantium, with smaller campaigns waged against pagan Slavs, pagan Balts, Mongols, and Christian heretics. Many Jews in all areas were also slaughtered. Orthodox Christians also took part in fighting against Islamic forces in some Crusades. Crusaders took vows and were granted a plenary indulgence by the pope. It is estimated that 1.5 million deaths resulted from the Crusades.
Witchcraft the belief in witches* and that they were in league with the devil mainly ran from 1484 to 1750. During this time, and especially during the inquisition** an estimated several hundred thousand people (80% women) were accused, convicted and either burned or hanged as witches.
*Witchcraft was believed by many cultures and religions throughout history. **The inquisition was intended to uphold catholic orthodoxy and its supreme control and punish heresy.
Forced converts many Jews, Muslims and those of other faiths were forced to convert and give up their original religious beliefs. Those who did not, or did, but practiced their original religion in secret, were also subject to the inquisition**
Religious wars c.1568 Between 5,000 and 6,000 Spanish Netherlands Protestants were drowned by Spanish Catholic Troops. 1572 In France about 20,000 Huguenots were killed on command of pope Pius V. In the 17th century Catholics sack the city of Magdeburg/Germany where roughly 30,000 Protestants were slain. In the 17th century 30 years' war (Catholic vs. Protestant) at least 40% of the population decimated, mostly in Germany. In the 120 years of wars conducted to try to eradicate Protestantism in Europe an estimated 11 million died.
Jews excluding the crusades, it is estimated that half a million Jews were slaughtered in catholic inspired religious persecutions / wars between the 4th and 20th century. Many thousands of Jews were sold in to slavery. c.1492, 150,000 Jews were expelled from Spain to go to the New World - many died on their way.
Native peoples of the New World with the Spanish conquest of the Americas (for the glory of God and the propagation of Christianity) and to extract gold and other valuables for the enrichment of Spain and to finance Catholic Holy War against Protestant Europe, 80% of the native population died as the result of contracting disease (mainly smallpox) carried by the colonists to which they had no resistance. The remaining 20% were subject to rape, murder, unusual and exceedingly cruel torture and slavery. Within 25 years of conquest there were so few natives left that slaves had to be imported from the Caribbean and Africa. When the 16th century ended, some 200,000 Catholic Spaniards had moved to the Americas and by that time probably more than 60 million natives were dead
Catholic Extermination Camps in the years 1942-1943 in Croatia existed numerous extermination camps, run by Catholic Ustasha under their dictator Ante Paveliç, a practicing Catholic and regular visitor to the then pope. There were even concentration camps exclusively for children! In these camps - the most notorious was Jasenovac, headed by a Franciscan friar, orthodox-Christian Serbians (and a substantial number of Jews) were murdered. Like the Nazis the Catholic Ustasha burned their victims in kilns, alive (the Nazis had their victims gassed first). But most of the victims were simply stabbed, slain or shot to death, the number of them being estimated between 300,000 and 600,000, in a rather tiny country. Many of the killers were Franciscan friars. The atrocities were appalling enough to induce bystanders of the Nazi "Sicherheitsdienst der SS", watching, to complain about them to Hitler (who did not listen). The pope knew about these events and did nothing to prevent them.
Vietnam In 1954 Vietnamese freedom fighters; the Viet Minh; - had finally defeated the French colonial government in North Vietnam. Although the victorious assured religious freedom to all (most non-Buddhist Vietnamese were Catholics), due to huge anticommunist propaganda campaigns many Catholics fled to the South. With the help of Catholic lobbies in Washington and Cardinal Spellman, the Vatican's spokesman in U.S. politics, who later on would call the U.S. forces in Vietnam "Soldiers of Christ", a scheme was concocted to prevent democratic elections which could have brought the communist Viet Minh to power in the South as well, and the fanatic Catholic Ngo Dinh Diem was made president of South Vietnam. Diem saw to it that U.S. aid, food, technical and general assistance was given to Catholics alone, Buddhist individuals and villages were ignored or had to pay for the food aids which were given to Catholics for free.
The only religious denomination to be supported was Roman Catholicism.
Supposedly to fight communism, thousands of Buddhist protesters and monks were imprisoned in "detention camps." Out of protest dozens of Buddhist teachers - male and female - and monks poured gasoline over themselves and burned themselves alive. Meanwhile some of the prison camps, which in the meantime were filled with Protestant and even Catholic protesters as well, had turned into no-nonsense death camps. It is estimated that during this period of terror (1955-1960) at least 24,000 were wounded; mostly in street riots; 80,000 people were executed, 275,000 had been detained or tortured, and about 500,000 were sent to concentration or detention camps.
Rwanda In a newscast on 10/10/96 by S2 Aktuell, Germany - a station not at all critical to Christianity - the following was stated:
"Anglican as well as Catholic priests and nuns are suspect of having actively participated in murders. Especially the conduct of a certain Catholic priest has been occupying the public mind in Rwanda's capital Kigali for months. He was minister of the church of the Holy Family and allegedly murdered Tutsis in the most brutal manner. He is reported to have accompanied marauding Hutu militia with a gun in his cowl. In fact there has been a bloody slaughter of Tutsis seeking shelter in his parish. Even two years after the massacres many Catholics refuse to set foot on the threshold of their church, because to them the participation of a certain part of the clergy in the slaughter is well established. There is almost no church in Rwanda that has not seen refugees - women, children, old - being brutally butchered facing the crucifix. According to eyewitnesses clergymen gave away hiding Tutsis and turned them over to the machetes of the Hutu militia. In connection with these events again and again two Benedictine nuns are mentioned, both of whom have fled into a Belgian monastery in the meantime to avoid prosecution. According to survivors one of them called the Hutu killers and led them to several thousand people who had sought shelter in her monastery. By force, the doomed were driven out of the churchyard and were murdered in the presence of the nun right in front of the gate. The other one is also reported to have directly cooperated with the murderers of the Hutu militia. In her case again witnesses report that she watched the slaughtering of people in cold blood and without showing response. She is even accused of having procured some petrol used by the killers to set on fire and burn their victims alive..."
More recently the BBC aired:
Priests get death sentence for Rwandan genocide BBC NEWS April 19, 1998
A court in Rwanda has sentenced two Roman Catholic priests to death for their role in the genocide of 1994, in which up to a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. Pope John Paul said the priests must be made to account for their actions. Different sections of the Rwandan church have been widely accused of playing an active role in the genocide of 1994…
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Other Major detriments to the human condition. |
Muhammad indulged in Polygamy, having many wives, and also kept slaves.
Women's rights in Islamic states today vary greatly, however generally women are treated inferiorly, despite the Quran stating that men and women are equal, although may have different responsibilities.
Although greatly varied by Islamic country, and that countries level of conservatism / fundamentalism, even today in some Islamic countries:
· Women are not allowed to vote · Women undergo arranged marriages · Women are not allowed to inherit (land, property, goods or chattels) · Women are not allowed to work except in the home* · Women are not allowed to attend school or be educated* · Men can have up to four wives · Men can marry non-Islamic women but not the reverse · Men and women are not allowed to mix socially* · Women must dress modestly in public - varying from simple hair covering to total bodily cover including a yashmak* · Women are not allowed to drive cars or ride bicycles* · Women are not allowed to participate in sport* · Women must be accompanied by a male relative when in public* · Women undergo genital mutation as girls · Women are not allowed to dance or listen to music · Many more………….
*In some countries special religious police enforce these rules/laws in public
Education of boys (and girls in countries that allow it) is strictly controlled and follows a narrow Islamic agenda of total Islamic indoctrination.
Freedom of thought, expression and freedom of speech are not allowed and generally considered heresy. (only statements concomitant with Islam are allowed)
Certain Sharia inspired punishments are generally barbaric - the cutting off of hands for theft, public beheadings, stoning to death for adultery, payment of blood money or undergoing physical mutilation etc. Although these are extreme examples, many radicals wish to revive these types of punishment.
(Although an Islamic country like Qatar is supposed to have one of the finest rehabilitation prison systems in the world, resulting from the segregation of secular law - that deals with crime, and sharia law - that deals with family affairs)
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Child abuse Sexual abuse of minors in the priesthood has received significant media attention in Canada, Ireland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Belgium, France, and Germany, while cases have been reported throughout the world including Australia, New Zealand, Latin America and Asia.
In addition to cases of actual abuse, much of the scandal has focused around members of the Catholic hierarchy who did not report abuse allegations to the civil authorities and who, in many cases, reassigned the offenders to other locations where the alleged predators continued to have contact with minors and had opportunities to continue to sexually abuse children. Cover up of child abuse was widespread and the cover up reached the highest echelons of the Vatican, with some allegations of cover up including Pope Benedict XVI prior to his elevation to that position. Cannon Law1 is often used as an excuse for inaction.
1 Cannon Law states that church officials (priests, nuns, etc.,) who admit to a crime and honestly repent will be absolved of that crime and no further action or punishment, of any sort, will be taken against them.
In July 2011 the catholic church was still reeling from the scandals with an unprecedented and blistering attack by the Irish Prime Minister on the Vatican's role in the cover up of abuse in Ireland resulting in the recall of the papal nuncio.
A Belgian government report in late 2011 concluded that an estimated 40% of Belgian children who attended Catholic schools had been abused and the report put blame squarely on the church authorities for ignoring the children's plight and on the government for not acting to protect the nation's children from harm.
Many consider child abuse in the Catholic church (as well as other religions / churches) to have been endemic for centuries.
"May I also just mention the current upheaval in the priesthood in Ireland? At a recent meeting, no less than 800 priests formed into a society to demand reform and change: have demanded the marriage of the clergy, the ordination of women to the priesthood and the election of bishops. Clearly the horrible scandals and the historical dismal repressiveness in the history of Catholicism are now creating demand for drastic reform and modernisation. Traditional community or communion was so often based on submission to authority. People don’t want that." Don Cupitt.
Science Most medieval scholars linked science - in particular astronomy, astrology and geometry - to the divine.
The Catholic church has had in its ranks many leading scientists. Their purpose being to discover, through science, proofs of their Christian beliefs. However, when scientific discovery indicated differences to their beliefs the discoveries were suppressed - for the benefit of the church.
When independent scientific research indicated differences, the scientists concerned were denounced, threatened, imprisoned, tortured or even killed as heretics.
The reason being that if science proved the Catholic church position to be wrong on something as fundamental as say the Earth being the centre of the universe and the sun, moon, planets and stars revolving around the Earth, it would cause people to begin to doubt other "fundamental truths" in church doctrine and teachings, thereby undermining church authority and power. Galileo's fate for "maintaining Copernicanism (that the earth and planets revolve around the sun) to be "probable"" was in 1633 a ban on his publications and life imprisonment - later commuted to life under house arrest. It was not until 1992 that the Catholic church admitted their error in relation to Galileo.
The Catholic church was responsible for centuries of delay in scientific advancement.
As recently as Pope John Paul II, who on giving audience to Stephen Hawking asked him to stop his scientific research, because the research was getting too near to discovering the reason for existence.
Christian Fundamentalists (both Catholic and Protestant) have long battled in the courts, particularly in the USA to either stop the teaching of Darwinism in schools, or to ensure the equal teaching of Creationism under various other names such as intelligent design. The courts successively struck down such cases stating that State and Church must be separated and schools free to teach Darwinism and under no obligation to teach Creationism.
The official Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore, entered the debate in 2006, calling intelligent design “unscientific” and adding that it should not be taught as an alternative to evolution.
Education The indoctrination of children in to Catholic faith, its dogma, traditions and superstitions has always been of primary importance "Give me the child, and I will give you the man." Catholic educational policy (similar to other religions) has been to further this indoctrination through teaching its religious principals, a general education that supports the indoctrination and avoids any form of education that may create free thinking. The power of indoctrination of children is hard to break away from, even when becoming adult and better educated.
Hattie One of the worlds poorest countries, agreed a deal with the Catholic church in the 1950's whereby Catholicism would be declared the countries only state recognized religion in return for the church providing the countries educational facilities. The result being a few excellent schools for those who intended entering the clergy, whilst the majority of the population are currently some of the poorest, illiterate, devout Catholics in the world.
Only through well-established secular democracies, overcoming church resistance in the later part of the 20th century, has this indoctrination been reduced (though by no means eliminated) in children's education.
Politics The Catholic church has done many infamous deals with fascist dictatorships:-
Italy & Mussolini. Italy being a fairly liberal country at the time, Mussolini desperately needed international recognition for his fascist regime which he was not getting from the international community. He turned to the Catholic church to find that recognition, which he rightly believed would then influence some in the international community. Their price for recognition being reestablishing the Catholic church as the only recognized state religion, introducing a government policy of curtailing employment for women and by propaganda encouraging women to stay at home and produce more children, and giving the church additional rights over state educational policy.
Spain & Franco. Similarly Spain, which had been undergoing political liberalization, needed international recognition for the fascist regime of Generalissimo Franco which had come to power following a brutal civil war. Again the deal was similar to that of Italy above.
In addition, the church was given the authority of hospitals and in particular maternity hospitals. In collusion with the state, the Catholic church entered a conspiracy of unbelievably inhuman practice of deceiving parents considered to be not "politically or religiously suitable", such as liberally minded people, unmarried mothers, artists, atheists, humanists, social reformers, political activists etc., that their children had died shortly after childbirth. When parents asked to see the dead child they were told that this was not possible for various reasons. When insisted upon by stronger willed parents, a baby that had really died was produced from the mortuary and briefly shown to the parent/s. False death certificates were then provided by the doctors and nuns, even empty coffins were sometimes interred. The real babies however were then moved from the hospital and offered to "worthy parents" i.e., those of acceptable political & religious views, for adoption. This was done through private Catholic run clinics who stated that the babies were not wanted by unmarried mothers, or gave other reasons for the babies being available for adoption. The adoptive parents, both in Spain and abroad, were also the innocent victims of this crime. This appalling situation lasted from the 1950's until the 1980's when it came to light through investigative journalism. In 2011 there was a massive Spanish government investigation in to this despicable crime and it is regularly covered on TV and in the Spanish newspapers. Through DNA testing people are trying to discover their real parents / children. To date, the Spanish government estimate is that up to 300,000 children were declared illegally dead, and then illegally adopted throughout Spain and abroad over approximately 40 years.
Finance. The Vatican Bank (Istituto per le Opere di Religione) has for many decades been associated with claims of illegal banking activities including money laundering and especially its involvement with the banking scandal centred around Banco Ambrosiano of Milan in 1982 involving $1.4 billion of questionable loans, resulting in the banks president either committing suicide or possibly having been murdered. The Vatican bank is still operating outside of International Banking Law and is under censure of Italian Banking Law in 2014. In October 2013. The Vatican temporarily removes a German bishop following a scandal whereby the bishop has spent €31 million for construction of his new residence. He is also accused that he lied under oath.
In December 2015. An Italian cardinal has repaid (he says donated) €150 thousand to a children’s hospital charity, which used its charitable hospital donations to finance the refurbishment of the cardinals luxury apartment overlooking St. Peters Square.
The Catholic Church continues to be rocked by financial scandals, the luxurious lifestyles of the churches hierarchy, and total lack of financial controls, transparency and accountability.
Womens Reproductive Health. The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is a sin, because it is the termination (killing) of human life. Based upon this comes the contentious issue of when does life start, and is "artificial" contraception the termination of life. The church's current teaching is that all forms of "artificial" contraception are sinful because they override God's will in determining when a life will be created and are in fact acts of abortion. The only form of contraception allowed is the "Rhythm Method" which is the most ineffectual method of all, and will either produce children, serious marital disharmony or both. During the Second Vatican Council of 1968 the majority of the Papal Commission on Birth Control were in favour of allowing artificial birth control, however a powerful few conservatives brought pressure on Pope Paul VI to ignore the results of the commission, which he did by issuing his Papal Encyclical on Contraception reaffirming its ban. There was immediate and worldwide dissent among catholic clergy and laity alike. The dissent continues today and most first world clergy ignore the encyclical, as do better educated catholic societies in general. Contraception is widely used amongst Catholics (98% in USA and Europe have used contraceptives and 76% believe that you can remain a good catholic whilst ignoring the encyclical). Since the church has obviously lost the battle on contraception (although still battling, and losing, against it in third world countries) the focus has now switched to the ban on abortion.
Divorce. The Catholic church has long stated that divorce is not allowed nor that its members can remarry after separation. Notwithstanding this strict interdiction of divorce, many Roman Catholics procure divorces in the secular courts. The Roman Catholic church views such divorces as merely a form of legal separation, and remarriage within the church is not permitted. In countries where Protestantism is dominant, the doctrine that marriage is indissoluble has been rejected. Philosophical theories and political theories generally maintain that marriage is pre-eminently a civil contract and that therefore it is subject to dissolution. Divorce on various grounds is recognized among Buddhists and Muslims as well. In Communist nations, which usually rejected formal religious doctrine, divorce was normally easy to obtain.
The only country that does not allow divorce through the secular courts is the predominantly catholic Philippines. This results in many Filipinos living lives out of accord with their faith and secular law. It also results in an archaic inheritance law, which often further imposes family conflict. Inheritance law cannot realistically be changed without first changing divorce law.
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· In many instances, most religions have been able to adapt to modernity by accommodating the diversity of contemporary culture, in part by the adaptation of religion to secular values and the repositioning of conservative religion that was previously in direct opposition to secular values (such as the Vatican II council in the Catholic Church). This is not so in Islamic fundamentalism which sees itself as unchanging. (The retired head of MI5 when discussing the radicalisation of young people to violent fundamentalism – terrorism – said about the Islamic religion "as a whole is not well geared to reviving and modernising itself so that it meets the values and the norms of a 21st Century society").
· Islamic fundamentalist inspired terrorism, which wants to take Islam back to the middle ages, which kills schoolchildren for wanting to be educated, kills women for attending parties and dancing, kills people born in Islamic countries but who believe in a different religion or no religion at all, kills men even for shaving off their beards etc., is abhorred by a horrified world at large and by mainstream Moslems.
· It is surprising that in the west the leaders and hierarchy of Moslem organisations only seem to condemn Islamic terrorism when absolutely pressured to do so. Could this be because of the subconscious and unstated belief, even in supposed moderates, in the 4th way of jihad (by the sword) to bring about world Islamisation?
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Modern Catholic Leadership. The Reign of Pope John Paul II (1978-2005)
Issues of sexuality and gender played a disproportionate part in the controversies of John Paul’s pontificate. His condemnation of contraception brought him into collision with those who promoted it as a solution for the overpopulation problem of the third world and with Catholics in developed countries who sought greater personal choice. John Paul’s teaching that abortion (including contraception as being abortion) was not only morally wrong but should also be legally prohibited raised serious concerns about church-state relations. The refusal of John Paul II to permit the ordination of women and married men intensified a serious shortage of priests in the Catholic Church. A series of widely reported scandals arose from accusations of sexual misconduct on the part of members of the clergy. The scandals rocked the church around the world. A percentage of Catholic priests were accused of sexually abusing adolescents who were under their pastoral care. A much larger percentage of bishops were then found to have responded with more concern for the prevention of scandal than for the protection of children. Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent to settle the ensuing lawsuits and brought many dioceses to the brink of bankruptcy. John Paul II responded with condemnations of clerical misconduct and calls for a return to higher moral standards, the scandals had a grave impact on his vision of the church. The ability of Catholic priests and bishops to exercise moral leadership in society at large was severely compromised. The shortage of priests in the church was not likely to be improved by the disrepute that some priests had brought upon the clergy. Some commentators wondered whether the church’s insistence on clerical celibacy contributed to the magnitude of the sexual abuse scandal, however John Paul II continued to reject the ordination of women or married men. Finally, his exclusion of lay people from most leadership roles and a tendency to wrap management decisions in secrecy were increasingly seen as having contributed to the problem.
In 2000, a year in which the church reflected on its 2,000-year history, John Paul asked forgiveness for sins committed by Roman Catholics. Mentioning no specific errors, several cardinals acknowledged past injustice and intolerance toward non-Catholics including the Crusades, the Inquisition and inaction during the Holocaust His leadership of conservatives within the church seemed to reflect an impatience with moderate and progressive Catholics.
Catholicism will continue to be tainted by its image as an agency that has enjoyed too much wealth and power for too long cynically abusing both.
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