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I should have more clear on that issue. I meant regarding confessions. I apologize.
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When Jesus said, "Any sins you forgive are forgiven, whatever you hold bound are held bound" (I don't have my Bible on me so I will clean that up later), He didn't say it to the crowds. He said it to the Apostles. Thats where our ideas about confession come from.
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Explain to me then why so many Catholics pray to her?
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Why do Klan members claim the Constitution gives them the right to hang black people? They are misenterpeting it.
A lot of that is cultural, also. When Christianity was brought to the New World, a lot of the native people thought the saints were meant to be worshiped. Thats where the practice of "worshipping the saints" came from. The Church doesn't condone it at all.
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You miss the point. The baptism should not be done in the first place until they fully understand its implications FOR THEMSELVES. Not for some godparent to decide for them.
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It is a Sacrament of Inititiation. The other part of it is to start the child on their way towards a Catholic life.
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Yes, and the Middle Ages were also referred to, in part, as the Dark Ages. It seems that many of Catholicism's rituals seem to come out of that period.
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And the majority have very logical beginings and reasons.
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What is also amusing are the myriad of Catholic churchs, cathedrals, etc across Europe that claim to have artifacts in the form of bone material (fingers, thighs, etc.) from the apostles. They venerate them like some pagan shaman as if they can grant the power of God through them. Given the number of bones claimed, there must have been over 10,000 apostles and not 12. Right.
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Thats not against the Church. Your gripe is against the certain individual churches that did this 500 years ago. The Vatican sometimes goes into this, but it is so widespread and so trivial that there is no real reason other than to placate people who will dig up any excuse to bash the RCC.
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Nowhere in the Gospels does Jesus talk about a need for priests.
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Other than responding to the term "rabbi". The word "priest" is not recorded, but His actions clearly show that He saw the need for a group of religious scholars and community leaders.
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Presuming we went to mediums to ask Washington, Lincoln, etc. thier opinions on current political policy, this would be a fair comparison.
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People actually do that.
But, the RCC does not tell people to worship saints. Only to look up to them. They are humans that did follow Christ's teachings and show us it can be done.
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I mean, hell, if one can be baptised without thier consent, why don't we see an active wing of the Church running around baptising people commando-style so that the work of the Chruch (saving souls) can be even more successful!
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Because in our society, parents speak for the child. Is it really that difficult to get through your skull?