128 Replies to “If “Vatican” Was The Name Of A Mosque”

  1. Only one place of refuge left…join the United Church of Canada and get played with when you’re an adult…

  2. I am not surprised at the “crusade” approach that the (mostly) progressive atheist/agnostic MSM has gone after this non-story. After all, sex sells newspapers.

  4. The difference is actually a compliment to the Catholic Church–people expect better. This problem in the Catholic Church was a problem identified by Voltaire. The continuing circle-the-wagons attitude is eroding respect for the Catholic Church outside their staunch defenders. That said, who could take Dawkins seriously until he reads, really reads, Nietzsche?

  7. If you don’t respect Islam, they cut your throat or blow you up occasionally and hint at it perpetually. So do you expect cowards to respond to them properly?
    The Catholic Church has the respect it deserves at the moment.

  8. I’m with murray. I expect a lot better out of the Catholic Church. If they can’t keep their own house clean, what possible use are they? The good they do in the world is poisoned by this behavior they to date have refused to address. Time’s up, boys.
    OTOH, that little blurb from Jihad Watch is -exactly- what I expect out of Third World Muslim officials. There’s a reason Indonesia is a destination for “sex tourists”, and they are it.
    I’d prefer to see Europe and North America not join Indonesia in crapitude, so the Roman Catholic Church needs to finally sweep out the disgusting pedophiles from their management structure. It isn’t like they haven’t needed to do this for HUNDREDS OF YEARS, right?
    That said, the MSM feeding frenzy is BS. They don’t care. The Pope is this week’s Tiger Woods/Michael Jackson/OJ Simpson, that’s all. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they will accidentally do something worthwhile for a change.

  9. I think perhaps religions have outlived their usefulness (other than for con men and perverts) since we now have valid scientific explanations for all the various phenomena that we previously couldn’t explain and therefore assigned to a high power … you know stuff like thunder storms, lightening, failed or bumper crops, not to mention what happens when we die.
    You will note that as we leaned about what stuff is around us … moon, the sun, the oceans, etc the gods assigned to these phenomena disappeared.
    The only gods we still hang onto are the gods of death … because we have not yet and may never figure out for sure what happens when we die.
    That remains a big fear and mystery for most and therefore we will keep that god around in case he is real and happens to have something to do with what may be an afterlife. Certainly the Muslims believe their afterlife is sex filled and fun fun fun … ah … for the men at least. More and more I think Christians envision eternal golf and other great sports events.
    It will get so boring after awhile that even a week-end in hell might look like a nice break from the monotony. Nothing lasts forever, except the status quo of Canada’s mediocre health care system.
    More coffee now …

  10. The Pope should just have a presser and call ” Nikah Mut’ah…. suckers”!
    One night temporary marriages were issued exactly like the muslims do, so they can bang 9 year olds all the live long day.
    It’s all cool.
    They just forgot tell everyone.

  11. murray – could you explain your ‘really reading Nietzsche’ comment? Thanks.
    Frankly – I think the two situations are not that similar: Catholic priesthood and Islamic societal rules.
    Within the priesthood, you have a situation where a particular group of men are moved into a status that bars them from women; and these men are sworn to celibacy. Then, the question has to be asked – how many are gay by nature? When put into positions of authority over young boys – that can be almost impossible for an individual, isolate and barred from psychological help – to deal with. My question is: how much does the professional infrastructure of the priesthood enable this result? It is endemic among this set and one has to ask – why?
    Within the Islamic societal structure, you have a mindset that is tribal and pre-industrial, where the agenda of the male is to have as many wives as possible – and children – to function as the work force to maintain the Capital Wealth of the Family, i.e., the tribe. Marrying young girls prevents other families from obtaining this Means To Create Future Capital. Women are not viewed as partners in life nor as equal in the family but as the means to empower the man’s tribe.
    The ideology of a marriage is economic rather than emotional. Emotions are reserved for The Tribe. Given this ideology, and moving it out of the economic need to have a large ‘tribal’ power, in many cases, marriage becomes a factor of male sexual dominance rather than its old economic role – and young helpless girls enhance that psychological feeling of domination.
    What has to happen here is the dissolution of the tribal mentality.
    By the way, where are the Western Feminists on this issue? Have any of them spoken out in support of Muslim women and girls?

  12. Let’s see the secular humanists will have sex with anybody, anytime, anywhere.
    The polygamists will let you have any number of wives and children and the state does more or less nothing.
    In Islam they will let you marry up to four wives down to the age of six, unless you are one of these sultan types who can manage a whole harem.
    The Catholic Church will only let you marry one wife for life.
    So now the media are going to tar and feather Papa-“Ratzi” because in their view he aided and abetted the criminal abuse of children, because he didn’t send the abusers packing fast enough. Of course this completely obviates the fact that Papa-“Ratzi” was leading the charge in cleaning up the abuse.
    Well surprise, suprise…the church is full of sinners and occasionally you find a saint!
    “When evildoers assail me, uttering slanders against me, my adversaries and foes, they shall stumble and fall.” Psalm 27:2
    Its not even noon and ya need a drink for the gutter…
    Cheers
    Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
    1st Saint Nicolaas Army
    Army Group “True North”

  13. Maybe the Vatican should issue fatwas . . . the press coverage would certainly be different and no doubt better.
    No Fifeing the story when a fatwa hangs over your head.

  14. Abe,
    The reason we got rid of or forgot about the other gods is because we learned of ONE God…that was proven by Jesus Christ dying and rising again for eternal life. The historical proof of His rising (witnesses that touched and sat with Him after his rising, as seen in the Bible), proves that when we die, we are asked by God what we loved most- if it was Him, we get him, if it’s anything else, we get that-hell.
    Where are the “valid scientific explanations for all the various phenomena” you speak of? I know of theories only. Even if you think science proves there is no God, the question remains, well, who created the science behind the phenomena? That’s God.
    I am not being pompus, I am sharing the TRUTH with you.
    I do not fear death, nor do I dream of golf, being a Christian. I dream of being with God, and strive to live my life that way. I am not perfect, but I try to live the image of Jesus. I do not force this on others, but hope others see this through me.
    Hell is the absence of God and His love. Hopefully one day you recognize this and see the light of Christ. God bless!
    As for the Muslims not being shown in true light, I agree that it is because people only want to destroy great things. The Catholic Church is the greatest institution there has ever been. This is proven by 2,000 + years of going through trials and hardships, but also amazing great times. Christians have been attacked for years and years, this is not new. We march on, believing this is our temporary place.

  15. Abe, you seem to have a stuttering problem.
    Anyway, glad you made it clear you were only speaking for yourself using your own convoluted logic.

  16. ET,
    In terms of social and psychological nuance, Dawkins is ham-fisted (putting it mildly) and annoying. It is one thing to reject supernatural explanations of physical phenomena. Nietszche and Dawkins accord as atheists. But Nietzsche was an extremely perceptive epistemologist and psychologist and social theorist (once you learn to read him–he wrote esoterically). Nietzsche is Plato’s Republic with an appreciation of chaos theory and non-linear dynamics, with its implications for epistemology, language, psychology and social structures. Nietzscheostensible sought to create a non-supernatural religion (set of beliefs and rituals) to enhance creativity, but the project went much deeper. But the main point is that he understood the need for plausibly justifiable faith in order to act (“brief habits” — Joyous Sceince, cf. O.W. Holmes Jr.–The Soldier’s Faith) and that the habits needed to be ritualized into a “religion.” Nietzsche even had a “god”, Dionysus, as a conceptual marker to organize and guide. But that was a “brief habot” or “noble lie” and not theism in the generally understtod sense. Dawkins, on the other hand, applies the most naive epistemology and writes with the most annoying tone. I can rarely finish a chapter of Dawkins without feeling a cold-blooded disappointment and contempt. He is not even nuanced enough to get me riled up–just disappointed.

  17. Wow, Murray is sure smart.
    I read a book once. I think it was called Archie and Friends.

  18. murray – OK, thanks. I happen to agree that Nietzsche is far more complex and subtle than the garbage created as his legacy by his sister.
    I don’t compare Nietzsche to Plato’s Republic, however, – for I have no respect for the latter and consider it a totalitarian system, while Nietzsche focused on the individual as a self-controlled agent.
    I also agree with you about Dawkins whose mechanical simplistic outlines are, in my view, superificial and empty.

  19. Sorry Smitherenzes, I lapsed into jargon. Nietzsche understood that knowledge is necessarily uncertain (an implication of chaos theory); but not arbitrary, it can always be improved but never achieve certainty. Action (living) requires a dialectic between faith (or become Hamlet) and critical circumspection (or become Othello). Dawkins thinks we can get by without faith. He is a MacBeth in the literary world–tragic to watch.

  20. The fem-nazis are not responding because they are to busy trying to demonize white men.after all,Arabs and black men having sex with 9-10 year olds is just their “culture”.And aren’t all cultures “equal”?? Ooopppsss,gotta go.My neighbours 8 year old is out playing.Gotta marry her/sarc off
    Ounce of lead behind the left ear will solve this problem,pronto/no sarc

  21. I thought the Pope came out with a new order stating that any/all priests/bishops/cardinals who have committed these types of crimes will always be turned over to the police. In essence, he said that God would forgive them but the criminal still has to pay for his crime. This sort of follows the old “give unto Ceasar that which is Caesar’s and give unto God that which is God’s.” So why is this still an issue–any priest who has committed these crimes will pay for them.

  22. ET, I share your dislike of Plato’s Republic. Nietzsche sought to fix it by emphasizing the importance of great individuals to the community and the scope of automony required for individuals to become great (an implication of the epistemological uncertainty implied by chaos theory). But, read esoterically, Nietzsche equally emphasized community. Great communities and great individuals require each other.

  23. “I do not fear death, nor do I dream of golf, being a Christian. I dream of being with God”
    Being with god … Just you an god just hanging out on the corner or maybe at a heavenly Starbucks sipping holy lattes. Along with a few billion other death earthlings. Sounds crowded and nasty. What a childlike perspective you have.
    And this goes on FOREVER AND EVER???? And the point of that is ???
    This is what you call heaven? Do know how long a billion years is? I remember sitting in church of an hour on Sunday and it felt like a month. Now think forever! This is just silly, but if it makes you feel secure in your god fearing world, have at it. I will do what Jimi suggested and “live my life the way I want to”. He is all forgiving is he not. So if I’m wrong it’ll be a lot like the Canadian justice system. I will be a victim and then forgiven. I’ll have rescued sheep status. That is probably higher status that a life of religious suck-holing. But I digress.
    I hope someday YOU come to your senses and realize that we are on our own and there is no magic, no big guy in the sky who loves and cares for you, that’s what the federal government is for :0)

  24. Those of us from the charismatic Protestant persuasion, and RC charismatics, know that when God is cleansing He begins with the Church. Don’t expect Him to usher in a world-wide revival without some cleansing going on in every denomination.
    Also, as we enter the countdown to His return, the Bride of Christ (which is the Church in its truest sense and not just the RC expression) will be presented to Him as pure.
    It is time for judgment to begin with the family of God. (I Pet. 4:17)
    Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. (Rev. 19:7)
    Your Maker is your husband— the Lord Almighty is his name. (Isa. 54:5)
    “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
    If the church needs cleansing, and it isn’t done from within, you can be sure that God will do it. So don’t waste time fretting about the world; pray the church does a better job of cleansing itself.

  25. One of the problems with effectively dealing with this problem inside the Catholic church is that too many in the heirarchy mistakenly believe that being gay leads to the abuse.
    This is naiive and wrong. Men who are actually predators look at the Church as a fertile hunting ground for their prey. They enter the priesthood and with the access they have to young people in their daily work find themselves in heaven on earth.
    They better enjoy their “heaven” while they can because if there is a “hell” (and I believe there is) they will spend alot longer in there than their time spent here.
    The Church has to come to terms with the fact that they need to try to weed out predators before they enter the seminary.

  27. Abe:
    The government will never love and care for you…they are functionally incapable of love and care.
    Governments are fundamentally inhuman creatures of legislation. Legislation can never express love or care by definition.
    That is why it has been necessary to create human rights documents to protect humans from the vicissitudes of government.
    Governments typically tend towards stupidity and or corruption, as any examination of human history will attest.
    Cheers
    Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
    1st Saint Nicolaas Army
    Army Group “True North”

  28. “If “Vatican” Was The Name Of A Mosque…Nobody would care.”-Kate
    Also, if ‘Vatican’ were the name of a mosque, nobody would know, because the bulk of the West’s MSM, out of fear and out of leftist anti-Judeo-Christian hypocrisy, would studiously avoid reporting on the pedophile scandals.
    It would be yet another equivalent to the “Obama’s background” non-coverage black hole. Those non-reportage stories make an ever growing list with America and the West’s MSM Presstitutes.

  29. The RC church needs to defrock the priests and call the police when there is evidence of molesting children. It’s a punishable crime and the church has been trying to hide it for too long. That’s why it has become a big scandal.

  30. A lady of my acquaintance said to me, “How can
    God allow this rape of children?” To which I replied, “it is God who tells us that it is wrong.”
    Indeed, I was reading a little in the “Didache”,
    the earliest known manual of instruction for
    Christians – worth reading, it is clear and
    straightforward – and it distinguishes the “Way
    of Life” from the “Way of Death”. Featuring in the
    “Way of Death” is the corruption of boys,
    apparently perfectly acceptable to the pagans of the day.
    Indeed, the RC church must treat priestly child
    molesters as a mortal threat to its own ministry,
    and be prompt in handing them over “to the
    secular arm” for disposal.

  31. Religions have outlived their usefulness. They are broken and corrupt.
    The less government and organized religion there is in my life the better. At least I can ignore religion and it is my free choice to do so just as in a free country it is the choice of others to pursue religion. Unfortunately, I cannot ignore the government.

  32. Abe:
    Put not your trust in princes, in sons of men, in whom there is no salvation.
    Honest, Abe, I really believe that verse from a hymn that is sung in our church every week.
    Whether or not you accept the gifts of wisdom, freely offered to you, is up to you. You have your free will and have every right to live your life without having to expend even a minimal amount of effort in trying to gain a basic understanding of human nature.
    Maturity eventually comes to all human beings, once they rebel against their rebellion.

  33. Oh Abe, you are mislead. You clearly have a misunderstanding of the purpose of your life. You must be so alone, thinking that we are “on our own”. But, we are entitled to our opinions, on everything, but we’ll see in the end and at our death what is right.
    God is love. The mystery of heaven is just that- a mystery. Yes, billions of saints are there (a saint is anyone that makes it to heaven), but there are no earthly constraints of time and space there. May sound childlike to you, but billions of people have this “crazy” view, and it is written in history. So, you can choose to believe or not. It’s called free-will. This is much too deep to get into here. You may want to actually learn about this stuff on your own, so your opinion is not so biased. I believe if people actually looked at the reasons the Catholic Church does what it does, in terms of traditions and rituals, you will discover deep scriptural and historical truths. This takes time, and if you don’t take it, you really miss out. God calls each of us, if we ignore the Truth, there are consequences. If we answer the call, the results are amazing and life-giving. A sacrifice? You bet!
    Yes Abe, forever and ever, eternity. Yes, longer than a billion years, mind boggling. Our time here is so short, the purpose is to strive to be Christ like, so our eternity is heavenly, not hell. That time is much longer than here, therefore the sacrifice we make here, seems minute. It is far beyond our scope as humans to understand.
    If you understood what goes on at a mass ( I assume by “sitting in church” you meant a mass at a Catholic church), you would not think a month has gone by in an hour. The Easter Vigil is 3 hours long, to me, it felt like an hour, maybe. This comes from understanding- and I think mine is only beginning.
    I will defend the Church with my life. It is the truth, started by Jesus Christ. There are sinners, in and out of the Church. People make mistakes, it is inherent in our nature. The Church is not perfect, but the truth you get from it, is. Christians recognize this and try to live according to it.
    God is forgiving, if you give your life to Him. If you’re on your deathbed, and you simply say out loud, “I believe”, to us, it may seem right, but if in your heart, you are simply looking for earthly approval, you’re looking in the wrong place. As evidenced by the thief on the cross next to Jesus, by professing your faith in Jesus as Son of God, defending Him to others, you will be seen in “Paradise”. Only God knows what you really think and believe. But, if you believe in redemption, why the poor attitude towards religion? I challenge you to look into these things, clearly you somewhat believe in God…
    I don’t believe there is magic, God is everywhere, not just in the sky, and yes He loves you more than you can even imagine…His love for you should boggle your mind like eternity does.
    ET- see comments about sin. Just because you may be gay, does not mean you have to succumb to the ‘gay lifestyle’ (homosexuality itself is not the sin, it the act you engage in that is). But there are some that obviously succumb to sin of molestation, in the Church and out of it. The point is to live through Christ to overcome sin.
    Do you realize how rigorous the process of becoming a priest is? THe Church watches over its people the best it can. This problem is not endemic, if you look at the stats. Priests are not barred from psychological help. They are not isolated. If they need help, they need to swallow their pride and fess up. But again, we are sinners by nature, and bad things happen.
    I say these things not from a pride filled place.

  35. Herman – More and more practicing Catholics along with honarable clergy are demanding that the Church purge itself of these pedophiles. We want them to be exposed (I know – bad term) and criminally charged.
    It is not lost on most parents that the victims of these criminals are our children. We are demanding accountability and action on identifying suspicious characters before they enter the seminary

  36. This “scandal” is largely contrived and reflects the routine gay-apologist stance of the mass media in that with Pope Benedict, they realize they confront a man who might at any time speak the politically incorrect and in Canada illegal-to-say perspectives on sexuality which have been argued against in this thread already.
    In this realization, the MSM have proactively put a spotlight on past situations that were otherwise dealt with through the past two decades, hoping to put Benedict totally on the defensive so that if he did blurt out those things that none may now hear (that used to be part of folk wisdom even well beyond the Christian community) that nobody would take in what he had uttered.
    Now I do happen to think that there is some justification for the position that child sexual predators form subsets of both homosexual and heterosexual groups in society. However, I also happen to believe that we have been sold a bill of goods by gay apologists as to the actual proportions and dynamics of these situations, and that if the full truth were to be examined, that the gay male in particular is more than advertised likely to suffer from the propensity to seek out underaged companions. A careful study of recent parliamentary attitudes to proposed age of consent legislation will illustrate this point liberally.
    These are not perspectives that the gay lobby feel comfortable with airing in full public discussion, in part because it plays into the also-banned-for-violating-political-correctness corollary issue of gay adoption. In a more open and frank country located to our south, a man who could conceivably be the next president has said of that issue, “children are not puppies.” In our country, and in the larger nation of the mass media, we are not to think such thoughts, let alone say such things.
    All hail the real masters of this world, Pope Benedict, your country is a few square metres hidden behind walls in Rome, and so therefore, keep your thoughts hidden there. As they do in any other mosque.

  37. Were missing the spiritual reasons for past actions of the Church as well.
    Firstly, the Church isn’t a penal institution (no pun intended). They’re not cops, judges or jailers. There was a time in history (The Holy Inquisition) when the Church played that role, but hopefully we have all learned the terrible results of “Christianity playing Police”.
    Secondly, the Church is in fact an institution where sinners — even the worst of the worst — can find forgiveness and salvation. No sinner is excluded from God’s salvation should he/she genuinely repent. Spiritual and moral integrity has always been the primary role of the Church. Of course it does not relieve the Church of its civic duty to lead repentant criminals to cooperate with the secular justice system as well.
    But they’re not cops, and God help us if the Church ever becomes like cops again.

  38. When a priest takes vows of celibacy, that is he makes a promise to be celibate, how can he commit sexually-abusive acts if he keeps his vows?
    Having said that, it seems the downfall in this case was a lack of zero-tolerance once the indiscretions had been discovered.
    Much like Graham James.
    OK, let’s take a quick survey. Based on the acts of Graham James, which exposed innocent boys to a sexual predator, is it time for human beings to turn their backs to the benefits of hockey?
    Abe?

  39. The difference between CC and ROP is that the first does not actually approve of paedophilia, but practices it. The press went after coverup. Amen.

  40. Abe… I couldn’t agree with you more. And think of all the other self righteous sons of bitches one would have to put up with. And all that constant suck-holing just to get a better seat closer to the glowing blob…

  41. Altaguy and Abe:
    Relax.
    God chooses us. You don’t have to do the choosing.
    You’re free. So stay loose, o.k.?
    You anxiety is showing.
    Sort of like the people who find Sarah Palin frightening.
    They can ignore her, and you can ignore Him.
    Can’t get any easier, can it?

  42. *The government will never love and care for you…they are functionally incapable of love and care.
    …like the Ontario government cared when I injured my back and had to wait 5 months for an MRI to show that I had a broken pelvis.

  43. Religionists are much like leftists in that they have a set of beliefs that are not based in logic and reason. Those are the only real tools that guide us through our lives. All the rest is just faith. Faith is when you believe something that you know is quite possibly not true. That is, you cannot prove it.
    There is not a shred of evidence that there is a god, a heaven or a hell. Those are myths that have been successful in controlling the masses over our history.
    Not everyone uses their logic and reason, so they must be given a set of rules to live by or they will burn in hell.
    Not a nice thing to do to children. It sets up a life of fear until they either wise up or accept the idea that they will be rewarded if they do what they are told. Those who comply live a life of denial of their human nature. That is so Marxist.
    I was raised Catholic and if for no other reason, I left the church because the outlandish costumes worn by the leaders were just too embarrassing. Plus, I don’t speak Latin.
    If the church thought it could get away with playing policeman again, they would do it in a minute. It is their nature to control the peasants.
    I was taught by nuns and priests and I can tell you that most of the priests were freaks who couldn’t survive in the secular world anymore than socialists cold make it in the private sector. Most were effeminate. What does that tell you?
    We all live our lives the way we want to. I choose to live my in the real world. I pay about 8 bucks for a dose of fantasy at the local cineplex.
    I can’t even begin to tell you how disgusting I find Islam.
    I don’t mean to turn this string into a chat room, but I have strong feelings about deception, manipulation, control and fear. If nestling at the feet of a god like a dog with his master … for all eternity is your idea of heaven … you are welcome to it. I think the golf scenario is more plausible.
    For all you musicians out there who think heaven will be one big jam with the greats at gods bar and lounge … I hear he has a girlfriend … and … well … she sings.
    I have nothing more to say on this topic.

  44. I like Sarah Palin. I like George Bush. I think Abe had his tongue in his cheek when he said “thats what the federal government is for”.

  45. “Religionists are much like leftists…”
    Posted by: Abe Froman at April 16, 2010 2:21 PM
    Now you’re just getting nasty.

  46. “”Religionists are much like leftists…”
    Posted by: Abe Froman at April 16, 2010 2:21 PM
    Now you’re just getting nasty.
    Posted by: Smitherenzes at April 16, 2010 2:33 PM ”
    No….he is just telling the truth.And as to Kate’s original post….it’s bad for RC priests to abuse kids,but OK for Muslims to rape 9 year old girls???? Give your head a shake.

  47. Justthinkin,
    Of course it is abhorant for Muslims to rape 9 year olds. The real issue is to what extent the Catholic Church is better than that. We know it is better. The debate is, how much better?

  48. Abe,
    Your arguements sound like freshmen blather. You are a classic “fallen Catholic” where you pick at odd things, such as dress and language (in Canada, nowadays, it’s in English, in most churches).
    No need to get defensive and rude towards “religionists”. Actually, you doing so makes you more of a liberal than anyone. You act open to others’ opinions, but you bash them after you say so.
    Faith is an amazing thing. As evidenced by many in our RCIA program this year, it is something to be developed and nourished. We understand our beliefs, and faith is part of that.
    So, you let your children learn the ways of the world? Society guides them through life? Teaching faith and having the Church to guide us through this world is God’s gift. The world wavers so much, the Church and faith is a steady rock on which to build your life.
    Your poor experience, many may have, but most (hopefully) ignore the “freaks” and see the true light of Christ. I truly hope you do one day realize what beauty rests in faith and God.

  49. Abe, with your scientific aptitude, please prove that God does not exist.
    Didn’t think you would.
    Of course the press savages the Church because it really is a benign institution which- at the moment- is plagued with accusations that a few have done monstrous things for which they should pay. I believe the Church has made itself clear on that matter several times. The child-marrying Islamofascists- not so.

  50. It seems to me that the question is whether the universe has a transcendental nature.
    And of course by transcendental, the implication would be transcendent of sensory apparatus and the central nervous system, transcendent of the rational, cognitive processes of mentation, transcendent of the time-space continuum.
    If the universe contains a nature of this sort, it is necessarily Universal.
    Scientific data, no matter how sublime, is ultimately in the realm of the particular and therefore not a revelation of the transcendent.
    Now I, of course, believe that there is a transcendental nature to the universe. In fact, a divine nature that also is immanent within the time-space continuum.
    I see the different views fostered by theology and philosophy as patterns in perception of a divine nature seen from different levels of intelligence and different cultural world views.
    Naturally some of these world views are primitive, but not necessarily dismissible simply because these metaphysical views were couched in the language of a certain culture at a certain time.
    I see a great deal of the scientific arguments as singling out the hardware of the universe — planets, tachyons, etc., etc. As wonderful and amazing as this is, it only deals with the quantitative side of existence.
    Frankly, I have been surprised that anyone ever imagined that a description of scientific laws was adequate to explain the universe and everything in it.
    Scientific laws do not explain inspiration, terror, serenity, beauty, courage, compassion, or, in fact, anything that is part of the qualitative factors in the universe. And these qualitative factors are active as motivating contingencies with everyone in the world every day.
    So it seems to me that our problem is not an enthusiastic appreciation of science and the quantitative side of life, but is rather a failure to recognize the qualitative side of existence and what those qualities say about an ultimate transcendental nature.
    Trying to eliminate the Sacred from our existence does nothing of value for anyone. In my view the world has been papered over with the quantitative side of existence, and religion is one of those things that attempts to draw us into an appreciation of the sublime. I think religion supports the qualitative side of things until it simply becomes another imposition upon the sublime like most of our socio-economic factors do.

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