Why the Pope should resign

"But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."
-Matthew 18:6


A few years ago my brother came out of the spiritual closet and admitted that he was an atheist. He wrote a well-reasoned, thoughtful, sober and intelligent analysis of the factual inconsistencies that make-up the tenants of Christianity. His spiritual "coming out" kicked off the predictable intra-family firestorm and it made me focus on my own beliefs for the first time in years. In the past few years I have attended various Christian churches, meditated at an all day Buddhist retreat, attended a conversion ceremony at a Catholic church (where Garrett and I broke the rules and got in line for communion where awkwardness ensued) attended a lecture by the Dali Lama and have read countless books on Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Mormonism and atheism. The church can provide people with a sense of purpose and it provides connections in a community. The one thing that every decent human agrees on is the importance of protecting children. The church should be a shining example of good and righteous behavior. Sadly, the Catholic church has lied, denied, stonewalled and protected pedophiles from the authorities. The Pope had knowledge of these horrific crimes and he participated in the cover-up. For this, he should resign, effective immediately.

I will not go into the sordid details of the horrific crimes that were committed by numerous Catholic priests. The victims of these crimes were innocent children that were molested (sometimes for years) by these "men of God." The Catholic church, and the hierarchy, ignored the teachings of Christ and the laws of the land. If the Bible is true, these priests who covered-up for their fellow priests should place millstones around their necks and jump in the ocean.

It seems as if the Catholic bishops do not really believe in Hell. The Catholic church believes in their institution and their office with enough force that they routinely put children in harms way as the transfer pedophiles from one parish to another. All to keep their image in good standing so people will continue to attend and donate money.

When the Pope was the archbishop of Munich, he approved the transfer of a molesting priest to another church and he had knowledge of a Wisconsin case where the church failed to defrock a child-molesting priest who abused over 200 deaf boys.

Christians preach about sin and morality but they seem not to believe in the rule of law. These sick men were protected by the church and sent off to distant lands to committed more crimes. The Pope had knowledge of these crimes and he never contacted the authorities. When I was teaching we signed a slip every year that stated that we knew we could be prosecuted IF WE DID NOT REPORT CHILD ABUSE! In my role as a teacher, I took this very seriously and at one point a student confided in me about physical abuse and I reported this to the authorities. Why do we hold public school teachers more accountable than the leader of the Catholic church?