The backbreaker

[Nihilist Virus]

Is a painting greater than the painting he creates? Of course not...that which is created is less than its creator.

God is above the law. He is the maker of law.

Now, why do you claim that the Cross was completely unnecessary?

Because God could've painted whatever he wanted, how are you so thick?

If we are under the law, but God isn't, God can simply say "abracadabra" and we are no longer under the law, or we are forgiven, or whatever.

If he cannot do this, it is only because he is bound by the law.

You are in error concerning the average age of the victims; most were teenagers, and the crime was not, therefore, pedophilia. Additionally, why were most of the victims male? The Catholic Church permits girls to serve at the altar, so why were there not more female victims???

Because these crimes were committed by homosexual priests against young men...not against pre-pubescent children.

Let's just assume everything you're saying is correct.  You're still left with a massive amount of rapes covered up by high ranking members of the catholic church.

Dunno. But for a real smoking gun, you have to prove that the pope(s) not only knew that priests were molesting young men but that they also condoned THAT activity. Otherwise, at best you can only say that the popes were not courageous enough in how they addressed the problem.

Unfortunately for your side, rabid atheists are making such wild accusations concerning the Church, the priesthood, celibacy, etc. that more thoughtful voices are being drowned out. This is clearly the case in this forum.

The pope was traced to at least one coverup, although he was not pope at the time.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...02026.html

Pardon me for being inclined to believe there are more.

You're an idiot.

Estimates on the number of priests involved in these scandals are in the range of 1-2% of all priest worldwide.

LIE.  The church's own estimates are double that.

Yet, hardly a day goes by when we don't hear of some teacher being accused of having sex with her minor student(s). And those are the heterosexual reports. Have you forgotten the Penn State scandal so quickly? Homosexuals are molesting young people at an alarming rate in a broad spectrum of institutions - Boy Scouts, swim teams, Little League baseball, and, of course, the public school system. Wherever there are kids, the predators will gather.

Haven't forgotten Penn State or any of that.  Not sure how it's relevant.  In some sense my problem with the church has nothing to do with the abuses, but the COVER UP.

If you want to compare them to other things in the world and show that they're no different, why, then, do you expect me to believe that they are different about knowing the truth about life, the universe, and everything?

I know you really want to pin this exclusively on the Catholic Church, but the facts simply won't allow that.

And the facts are that a priest covered up at least one rape scandal and then God chose him to be the pope.