Heresy week – Genocide: Then and now

Switching gears from the mundane trappings of denying dogma, let's delve into why I want to distance myself from the Church. Some of this is precisely why I want the Church to know I'm gone. My hope is that others follow and send a message to the papacy that this is not to be tolerated. Or maybe a bunch of priests will be all "holy" together while the world moves on. Europe already has.This installment is directed at the Church's involvement with the death of millions of innocent victims over time. I'm consciously ignoring wrongs from the long past such as the crusades. Today I am focusing on the past century.Let's look at the present: AIDS in Africa. Pope John Paul II said in no uncertain terms -- against the wishes of the bishops who were advising him -- that the use condoms is a sin. This set the tone for the mass spread of AIDS in sub-saharan Africa. Catholicism has grown from 1.9 million adherents in 1900 to 139 million in 2000. Most people there do not have adequate access to education -- of course the Church is more that willing to step in and promulgate its own agenda.The Church teaching that use of condoms is a sin, and then going against scientific fact stating that they don't provide protection is sentencing millions of people to death due to their own ignorance, and their trust in your promise of protection. that you ensured they had. To say that a husband, who is HIV positive,must not use a condom with his wife is nothing more than a death sentence for the wife. What type of cold institution can promote such things? Even if you don't believe that it's OK show some simple human compassion and trust you have a forgiving god.Not doing anything when you can is wrong.Like during the holocaust.Despite throngs of heroic Catholics, both ordained and lay, who bravely defended the Jews during World War II, the Vatican, headed by Pope Pius XII, did nothing to prevent the extermination of millions of Jews. My only question is: "why?"When the founder of your own religion helped the lowest of his society, the beggars and prostitutes, why could you not help your fellow man? Just because the Jews killed Jesus? Remember that it was only in 2000 that an official mea culpa was uttered.Not doing anything when you can is wrong.This is one many reasons I cannot consider myself Catholic.