[PEN-L:4723] Re: Religious social justice

[BILL MITCHELL <ECWFM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

bill said:

>well a belief in gender equality, equality of income distribution,
>enviromental protection does not place me as a member of an
>anti-life, anti-union, anti-women's rights,
>right wing capitalist institution called the Roman Catholic Church.

well he wasn't very clear in this comment and it can be read in a way not
intended. robert had pulled out (2 pen-l mails ago) the old chesnut that b/c
stalin and others were disasters that this didn't mean we should abandon
socialism. this was in response to my reply to his claim that the church was an
agent for reform against the capitalist system. i listed a few problems with
this view.

he was saying that just as stalinism (he called it socialism)  had problems so
did the church. but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

well my reply (in the last mail) was socialism is not an institution. while the
catholic church is an behaves like i describe above. a belief in gender
equality, equality of Y dist., environmental protection etc, does not place me
in an institution. to be a Catholic does.

kind regards
bill