Richie, to be honest, I'm a little surprised at you. Have you missed or deliberately ignored every occasion where I have been VERY deliberate in stating what I find *good* in the Church (specifically the people I had personal interactions with)?

Yeah, I have a major beef with people like Ratzinger and Law. Have you wondered maybe WHY I'm so mad at them? Because they are a *cancer* in an institution that shouldn't be dragged down by their kind. Any other issues I have with the Church are rather minor in comparison - some are amusing if you look at them in the right light (like how not too many Catholics know what the Immaculate Conception really was - hint: it wasn't the angel visiting Mary).

I point out the double standards. Go ahead and read Exodus 21 and tell me how "enlightened" that is. Especially verses 20-21 where you can beat your slave so long as they don't die within a couple of days!

Yeah, you can find all kinds of violence in the Koran, but don't pretend the Bible doesn't contain the same kinds of passages that can be used to justify abhorrent behavior.

I wonder how many people who want to display the Ten Commandments in public buildings and use tax money for the displays even KNOW where they are in the Bible. Hint: It's the chapter right before the instructions on how to handle your slaves, Exodus 20.

How about the Bible-endorsed racism? If you have *Hebrew* slaves, you have to set them free in the Year of Jubilee - gentile slaves are to be passed on like an inheritance.

Again, it's the *double standard* that I object to. I support that crazy Constitutional idea of "Equal Protection Under the Law".