Thoughts and Prayers: The Religion Thread

Fuck around, find out:

Vatican launches investigation of firebrand Texas Bishop Strickland, diocese confirms

Pope removes outspoken conservative Texas Bishop Joseph E. Strickland after investigation | CNN

So now, here comes the butthurt:

Bishop Strickland responds to his removal as thousands sign petition

 

Call him to the Vatican for a "new assignment" and keep him there for a while. See how he likes that.

 

Steve Bannon is gonna whack the pope one of these days.

 

He's been trying for 5-6 years.

 

I'm so sick of US bishops who lead the church here - who complain about "cafeteria catholics" but feel free to pick and choose which parts of Catholic theology to dismiss and which ones to emphasize with their own leadership. What has made my return to the faith feasible is understanding that my faith and the capital C Church are separate things. The Catholic Church - bishops and the like - try and give the impression that the Church is on the same shelf as God, but its really just a middleman and should know and respect its place.

 

-more-

 

Fine. Then start paying taxes.

 

Reports Say Pope Francis Is Evicting U.S. Cardinal From His Vatican Home

 

Justice Department gets behind southern Oregon church told by city to stop feeding homeless residents

DOJ backs church suing southern Oregon city of Brookings | kgw.com


"In 2020, the church expanded its services to feed people up to six days a week as other nonprofits were unable to keep up with the skyrocketing need during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. But neighbors got upset with the regular presence of homeless people around the church, citing concerns to public health and safety — so they lobbied the city, asking officials to force the church to stop.

By October of 2021, the Brookings City Council had unanimously passed a new zoning ordinance limiting churches to meals two days a week. Reverend Bernie Lindley, the pastor at St. Timothy's, said he refuses to comply with the ordinance. Feeding people in need is imperative to the way he practices his religion, Lindley said.

"When we feed people, this isn't like a hobby for us. This is a deeply held religious belief," said Lindley. "This we believe fervently, that we need to feed people, that what we do for the people who are on the margins is what we do for Christ himself. And so this isn't something we take lightly. This is something that is a cornerstone to who we are as as Christians, this is how we understand our relationship to Christ, so there is no doubt that this is how we practice our religion."

Lindley said that housing prices started skyrocketing in Brookings before the pandemic, and so did the number of homeless people. According to reporting from the Curry Pilot in Brookings, a 2021 survey showed about 200 homeless people in the city — in a town of about 6,700 people. The survey showed that about 60% of homeless people were longtime residents of Brookings.

"Our society needs to recognize that these are just people that are struggling, trying to get by as best they can," Lindley said. "And instead of assuming the worst about them or scapegoating and blaming them for whatever, you know, assuming that if there's violence or if there's thievery that it must be the homeless person ... The more services, the more care we can offer to them, the less likely they are going to need to be desperate and perhaps be driven to do desperate things."

 

I spent seven weeks working in Brookings in 2002. I didn't notice homeless folks then, but there might not have been as many. I worked rehabbing a condo-like place right on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Beautiful.

 

“Schism grows” is an interesting way to put it when most places have less than two weeks left before the window closes to bail on the UMC with the church property at a sharp discount.