fivedragons wrote:Electing someone to the head of a statehood, who is proclaimed to be the voice of god.
Well, Bill could probably recite catholic doctrine better than I, but my understanding is that the authority of the Catholic church is based on a verse which states that peter is to continue the establishment of the church after Jesus's death.
What I just gleaned from ye olde internet:
Matthew 16:18 says "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
This seems a little thin to me, but I'm not a Christian so this part doesn't seem much thinner than the rest of it.
Deleting and changing the ten commandments under the authority of the replacement christ, I mean the pope.
How so?
Selling indulgences. God for money.
Certainly the catholic church has done many unsavory (to say the least) things in its career. However, that doesn't mean that the Roman Catholic religion is at fault. The essential problem is that the Roman Catholic church was immensely powerful at one time, and it's historically, it's nearly inevitable that power like that will breed corruption and misbehavior.
Excommunication. How can a man cut you off from the source of life?
Calvin's view:
"... the censure of the Church, which does not consign those who are excommunicated to perpetual ruin and damnation, but assures them, when they hear their life and manners condemned, that perpetual damnation will follow if they do not repent." Excommunication is basically a warning, under this view. The church doesn't have the power to cut you off from God, and you can always be redeemed or repent, the church just tells you that you've screwed up and are in serious trouble, mister.
Masquerading as a spiritual institution in order amass power and control over the people of the world. It's not a spiritual institution, although many of it's members might be spiritual people. It's a state.
The Vatican certainly is a state, but I think you'd be hard-pressed to prove that the Roman Catholic church itself is not a spiritual institution. Can you define what you mean by a spiritual institution?
Persecuting countless people who found a personal relationship with christ/god, who didn't follow the rules of the new god, I mean the pope.
Roman Catholicism is far from unique in persecuting those who fail to see that their truth is the one truth. Virtually every religious group that comes into power has done it. It's just that the Roman church was more powerful for longer and had more opportunity to persecute.
I suppose if the question is "what institution has done the most evil in history" then it's probably hard to argue that the catholic church is a top contender, since it's been around so long and had so much opportunity. But if the question is "what institution is the most inherently evil" I think you'll have a lot more trouble beating out people lie the Nazi's, etc.
Causing their followers to call on an assortment of entities for intercession, rather than god in man.
Are you referring to the trinity? Or the saints?
Causing man to view himself as a sinful being who needs to renounce his creation, by the god who made him in his image.
What catholic doctrine is it that says man must renounce his creation? Maybe man is a sinful being. There's theologic support for the idea, so why not? You may not believe it, but they don't believe what you believe, either. What makes you right? It's just a different interpretation of the bible.