14 April, 2010

Popery Potpourri: Should Pope Benedict Go to Jail?

Richard Dawkins is calling for the arrest of The Roman Catholic Church's highest officer for crimes against humanity. It seems as though Benedict was involved in covering up sexual abuses against minor children. Now, there is no evidence that he committed any sexual abuse at this point, let's get that clear; but there may be evidence that he knew about certain cases and made sure that the church was protected at the expense of the victims.

What should happen in this case? I guarantee you that if I was involved in covering up a sexual abuse scandal in my church, the police here in Los Angeles would not care about the degrees I hold or the seminary I attended or the languages I know or where I was ordained to the ministry or what sort of liturgical gowns I wear in the pulpit. I would be placed under arrest. Period.

So what should happen in the case of Benedict? Well, I believe that the Prophet Isaiah has a few words to shed light on the issue:

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! Woe to those who who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right! Isaiah 5: 20-21; 23

So where do I stand? I think I agree with Dawkins. If Benedict was involved in a cover-up; arrest him and charge him. As far as what Benedict himself should do? He should repent of his sin, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ alone and be saved.

I am not agreeing with Dawkins because I am Presbyterian and have some theological bone to pick with Benedict. I am agreeing with Dawkins because God loves those who protect the innocent. He loves those that do good, love mercy, and walk humbly before him. Oppressing the innocent to protect men in high powerful places is not only shameful-- it's evil.

Original Article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7578024/Richard-Dawkins-planning-to-have-Pope-Benedict-arrested-over-crimes-against-humanity.html

2 comments:

Andrew Minatelli said...

Nate:

Shockingly, I'm in total agreement with Dawkins on this issue, to say nothing of Ratzinger's potential involvement in the "rat-lines" following WW2, etc.

The only question remains: how, exactly, does one press charges against a church official that has his own nation-state (no matter how small, geographically)?

Do we ask the UN to press sanctions against him? What happens when radical Catholics (surely these still exist) rise up to protect their 'Papa?'

This is just one mess on top of another—come, Lord Jesus.

srutherford77 said...

Nate, Benedict is not the only one who needs to be charged in this matter. There are a whole hosts of Bishops and Priests involved in this mess, too. They all need to be arrested and charged. We should also be clear contra Dawkins that the root cause of this scandal is NOT Christianity per se, but false doctrines perpetuated by the Roman Church. The Romish Church ought to do away with priestly celibacy...among other things, and you know what those other things are.