<\/p>\n
IMPORTANT UPDATE below<\/b><\/p>\n
At a Good Friday service in the <\/p>\n I MONOTHEISM and ORGANIZATION<\/b><\/p>\n But there is an interesting Smaller decentralized monotheistic The problem is inherent in belief As soon as such an organization Such corruption can survive when it NOT JUST A RELIGIOUS PROBLEM<\/b><\/p>\n This morning I listened to a The UPDATE<\/b><\/font><\/p>\n Tristero at Hullabaloo has a very perceptive analysis<\/a> of why<\/i> the obscene remark on anti-Semitism appeared at theVatican – to change the subject from evil deeds <\/i>by many to evil words<\/i> by one. To give another example, when a “hotline” for victims of sexual abuse by priests was set up in Germany it had to be shut down because of the enormous number of calls<\/a> seeking help.<\/font><\/p>\n The most important point here is not priestly misbehavior, dreadful as it is. It is the long record of cover up by higher-ups, and of putting the interests of criminals ahead of the interests of those the organization was charged to serve. It takes a sociopath come up with a plan to derail news coverage of the abuse and cover-up, which involves the institution, with focusing on a priest’s disgusting words, which involves a man. <\/font><\/p>\n One commentator observed that small organizations can be as bad. Other than small cults dominated by a twisted personality and explicitly criminal gangs I think this is not so. Large organizations engage many decent people and ultimately corrupt them on a large scale, getting them to do things they otherwise would not. Think of Germany and the Holocaust, the killing fields of Cambodia, or murder and torture of prisoners by Americans and the defense of it by many more. (The scale of the latter crimes is smaller, the moral degeneration it exhibits is not.) These are not explicable by reference to a cult.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" IMPORTANT UPDATE below At a Good Friday service in the Vatican and attended by Pope Benedict, preacher Father Raniero Cantalamessa compared the current scandals over sexual abuse by Church officials with “the most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism.” To say this is obscene is perhaps an understatement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,9,108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-social-and-political-theory","category-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nVatican and attended by Pope Benedict, preacher Father
\nRaniero Cantalamessa compared the current scandals over sexual abuse by Church
\nofficials with “the most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism.<\/a>” To say this is obscene is perhaps an understatement.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nhave refrained from commenting on the current sex abuse scandal<\/span> rocking
\nthe Catholic Church’s leadership, partly because it’s so obvious that the
\nguilty were systematically protected and the victims systematically injured and
\npartly because it is not a Pagan issue – though that wing of the Church that is
\nmost anti-Pagan seems also disproportionately guilty of these crimes.<\/p>\n
\ntheological point here. <\/span>The
\npenchant for powerful centralized organizations that become corrupt at the top
\nis something Christian monotheisms are particularly prone to because most have
\na radically hierarchical model of reality.<\/p>\n
\ngroups do not have the numbers to seek political power and domination, but often have
\na similarly hierarchical view of a ultimate king share this weakness. <\/span>As soon as they see an opportunity to
\nexercise power their lust for domination is as strong as was the Catholic
\nhierarchy when it was at the peek of its power. The conservative and right-wing
\nbranch of the Southern Baptists are proving this big time. <\/p>\n
\nin a single divine “king” that can be understood as a “personality.” It suggests that all good authority is ultimately top-down from a Big Boss. A human organization then takes it upon itself to serve as The Boss’s representatives to the rest of us. (As monotheists move towards a more mystical understanding of the One this problem seems to diminish – but (if I understand it correctly), they have to abandon the “King” imagery.)<\/p>\n
\narises it tends to redefine its task in terms of what is good for the
\nleadership. <\/span>Leaders come to view
\nthemselves as identical with all that is best about the organization. <\/span>That is what we are witnessing today.
\nIt is fascinating.<\/p>\n
\nhas political power behind it, but when political freedom enters in, these
\norganizations have a hard time. <\/span>For example, the Church was dominant in Ireland until a free
\npolitical environment enabled its leaders’ crimes to be exposed along with that
\nof their political allies. <\/span> It’s subsequent fall was rapid.<\/a> <\/span>Now
\nevidence is rapidly accumulating that this problem is endemic in the Church all
\nover. <\/span>My guess is the Church will
\nnot reform itself effectively because the leadership is concerned primarily
\nwith itself, not its supposed spiritual mission. <\/span>That is why criticism of the Pope and many around him can be
\ncompared with the worst aspects of anti-Semitism by these people. <\/span>It is a totally distorted view of the
\nworld.<\/p>\n
\nabsolutely fascinating NPR Podcast<\/a> about the failure of General Motors to
\nreform itself. It had a chance, for <\/span>it had
\naccomplished a miracle in its successful
\nFremont, California plant that, using Toyota’s methods, moved from being GM’s
\nworst performing plant slated for closure to one of its best. <\/span>The result of its failure was
\nbankruptcy. The reasons were complex, but leadership’s failure to appreciate
\ntheir situation was a major factor.
\n<\/span>The podcast is free through the weekend, and available <\/span>here [mp3]<\/span><\/a><\/span> or through
\niTunes.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nChurch’s problems are not unique to Catholicism, nor to Christianity, they are
\na disease of all big organizations. <\/span><\/p>\n