July 15, 2011   37 notes

Squashed: Interpretation

thecallus:

squashedcomments:

I’m not quite clear why any good thing motivated by religious belief is somehow part of the secular system but all the stuff you don’t like is part if useless land.

What about the DV centers is motivated by religious belief? Some of them are, some of them aren’t - faith-based charity is a strong force but the actual legal system that actually attempts to save you is utterly secular. You know, the one that created divorces, separations, restraining orders, etc. And one subtle difference between the two is that faith-based operations view domestic strife as a temporary, solvable problem on the way back to the righteous path of staying married under any circumstances and never raising your hand to defend yourself because that’s the catechism.

You can walk away from your abusive spouse - secularly. The church wants you to walk back, because that’s the sacrament. Go directly to hell, otherwise; do not pass go.

The church doesn’t want you to get divorced, ever. Even if you’re being beaten to death by a psychopath. They will put you back in that house with your killer to die based on a promise and a smile from the offender. God weds us and let no man tear it asunder - you can look that dogshit up next to the burning bushes.

Mostly, I hate this topic. I mean, I knew someone who was so distraught over being beaten by his wife that he killed himself. My uncle slit his wrists (so I was told, I actually was told later it was his own throat) when I was 7. True story! He had been told by a Catholic priest that he had a duty to his wife, who was chosen for him by god in the course of the sacrament of marriage. And when I had to wear my little suit and my little cross necklace to his funeral I just didn’t come out of the experience believing the Bible was full of good counsel on the matter.

I’m not inclined to defend the Catholics teachings on the matter. And it’s true. When Catholics say “the church” they sometimes mean “my church.” I try not to humor them on that front.

If, by “the Bible,” we mean “the Bible as interpreted by conservative Catholics,” you have a point. But that’s a little bit like accepting the Constitution as interpreted by Ron Paul. It’s not necessarily an accurate representation of the document.

(via thecallus-deactivated20130520)

  1. baileyeverywhere reblogged this from squashed and added:
    crowd gathered around Jesus...back, but he did leave.
  2. iamashinypenny reblogged this from squashed and added:
    First, I’ll acknowledge that there’s a sliver of a legitimate point at the root of Callous’s post. The theme of...
  3. weatherlight reblogged this from squashed
  4. dglsplsblg said: there are testimonies of those who have employed this tact and it worked. clearly it’s not something i would ever recommend to a friend but i also can’t say that doing so would never work either.
  5. squashed posted this