Re: Catholics in Space!

Subject: Re: Catholics in Space!

> > The Catholic Church of the Middle Ages has easily as much blood on
its
> hands
> > as any religious institution of the last millenium.  The Turks (when
they
> > converted to Islam rather fanatically and were motivated to forge
the
> > Ottoman Empire in blood) and the Aztecs (with a rather brutal and
> > sacrificial spiritual belief set in general) give them a run for
their
> > money, but the Catholic Church has been far from a peaceful
organization.

We're straying into realms of OT-ness, but here's my 2 oblate's worth.

My background: as a young kid, I went to one of the few Baptist churches
in the UK. I say with some smugness that I always got 1st prize at
Sunday
School. Later on, at age 7, the nearest church was High and I do mean
High Anglican. I was a choirboy, in Ruff, surplice etc. My wife, mother
and sister are all Catholics, and my son was recently christened in a
Catholic church.
Oh yes, and my wife scored a High Distinction in Theology at University.
I think it was the essay involving Mary Baker Eddy and Joseph Smith that
directly challenged the basic beliefs of the course supervisor that did
it.
He was an honest man.

Anyway, here's my opinion: The Anglican (in the US Episcopalian) church
is but pre-Vatican 2 Catholicism without the Pope or Priestly celebacy,
at least in the High form. Post-Vatican 2 catholicism is way more
relaxed,
laid-back and even a bit touchy-feely new-age-ish.
The bad press that Middle-Age Catholicism has got is just that - bad
press.
All the printing presses were in Northern Europe, and the massive
outpouring
of anti-Catholic propaganda has come down through history as the only
record of the time that most people know. And it's mostly Propaganda of
the
most mendacious kind.

Here's a question for you:
In its 400 year history, How many people in toto did the Spanish
Inquisition
burn (or cause to be burnt)?

a) Millions
b) Hundreds of thousands
c) Tens of thousands
d) Thousands
e) Hundreds
f) Tens

Correct answer is e). Surprised the heck out of me, too.

On the gripping hand... The Papacy has been hijacked many times,
sometimes
for centuries, by some really unsavoury power-merchants. Theocracies are
a particularly nasty form of Tyranny. Worse, the reason why the Church
got
such bad PR, since the presses all belonged to their opponents, was very
much because those in power didn't want literacy for the masses. (bad
pun).
Fortunately for all concerned, the Catholic Church having been divested
of
its temoporal power can now concentrate on what it should be doing, and
the
Papacy isn't sought by the same unsavoury means as, say, the US
Presidency
(zing!)
Bringing things back on topic, much as I hate to say it, if the Catholic
Church ever did gain the same amount of temporal power as, say, the USA
has today, I doubt if as an institution it would use it so wisely and so
well.
In the OGRE-verse, the Papacy has regained a bit of power, and the
Gold-and-Purple
Cybertanks of the Vatican Guard are rightly feared. So a SF setting with
Catholics in Space is legit.

Comparison with the Ottomans is quite appropriate. They suffered from
much the same problem, Islamic Civilisation never having recovered its
spirit of tolerance and enlightenment after the Mongols destroyed
Persia,
worse luck.
Then there's the Crusades against the Hussites, Moldavians etc. Dark,
bloody and awful deeds. Oh yes, the 30 years war, the sack of Magdeburg,
and God only knows how many disgusting atrocities done in the name of
Holy
Mother Church. Some people never do get the word - take a look at the
behaviour of some Serbs to some Bosnians.

Heck, it's as bad as some of the things done by the Puritans in the US
and
UK.

But the Aztecs were a different kettle of fish entirely. Along with
National Socialism, and Angka, that culture deserved cultural genocide.
Just ask any of their neighbours.

OK, I've managed to upset nearly everybody. So in summary:
Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all Men.
(what about Space? And waht about Aliens? Them too, even more so,
except on the wargames table)