>The slogan that "the Catholic Church" did this and that is popular in certain circles. But it collapses at the slightest examination. First, the reported behavior predates the concept of multiple European christian sects, each of which is just as much a descendent of that original European church.

Say, if I ran a company and ran it badly - breaking laws and creating debt, and then the company splits into several smaller ones, the debt vanishes and nobody inherits the responsibility?

Oh, yes, it's that other church.

>Second, it dates to a time when the church wielded great secular power and exhibited the behavior of the powerful. Trying to assign that sort of behavior to religion is a demonstrable failure. I gave examples. Third, every institution has skeletons in its closet. I suppose we could hold a contest to see who can come up with the most embarrassing skeleton, but that tells us nothing. It's just another (liberal) behavior to place people on the defensive.

OK, let's stick to today. The catholics still have a lot to explain about the last twenty years or so - bishop Romero, protecting pedophile priests, promoting abstinence as the only way to suppress spread of Aids. Orthodox Christianity also has a bunch of fresh corpses in their closets, not even skeletons yet. Islam still doesn't find enough power to disown its hardliners - but then, does any other monotheistic religion nowadays? They feed on each other. And the dominionists here are making huge holes in the famous wall that separates church from state, while at the same time claiming they're being prosecuted - that's their standard behavior to put the people on the defensive.

I mean, I can't understand the people who need religion, as if the reasons to do good can't be found within oneself. But then I also don't mind that, either - doing good doesn't hurt. Organized religion, however, I have a lot of gripes. They're just another power-hungry institution.