Sunday, August 9, 2015

Bishops

@ DMA, SZ, JP & TMP: Many a time the priest's dress acts as a shield against law enforcement and the colored dress of a bishop draws in a lot of money from innocent believers to pay for their extravagant life- style. You said "SELF-MADE Bishop"! Tell me who is not one! There are others who call him a fraud; show me anyone in the church hierarchy who is not a con- man! Nevertheless, most established church heads are more unethical and prone to corruption as well as unlawful acts- only that the law enforcement authorities are scared to go after them fearing repercussions from the government and unscrupulous politicians. They influence politicians by matching each bishop with a political party, canvass votes unfairly by using cops and rigging elections, create issues among people so as to intervene for conciliation and to reap both material profits and sexual favors thereof, manipulate, impersonate, distill and abuse alcohol, steal, rob, plunder, forge documents, evade taxes, flout foreign currency regulations, encroach upon public and private properties, construct buildings where they have no right (pattayam) over the property, lie, conspire, cheat, litigate, bribe, abet and execute hideous crimes, child- traffic, pimp, prostitute, kill and "will not do what" to achieve their mean and criminal ends (viz., to get elected as a bishop/ to amass money and power/ to make unlawful gains/ to harass and punish their critics and so on). They cultivate a group of second- fiddlers to insulate themselves and keep hench-men around them for quotation works and mass propaganda. For all these, there are any number of instances in front of us. Law enforcement officials dare to flex their muscles only by picking on "the single bishops" is the tragic side of the story. 

And the 'Doctor' he uses as prefix is the same as or equivalent to the degrees of most other bishops and priests in Kerala. It has rightly been commented that a Ph D in soft sciences is several bachelor's degrees bundled together. Many developed countries do not assign much importance to Ph Ds other than in hard sciences (Physics, Chemistry and Biology)- the reason why there are eminent professors in humanities in Harvard and Cambridge with only bachelor's degrees: in soft sciences/ humanities like Philosophy, Theology (a science at all?), History, Political Science and Languages including English, a doctorate is awarded if one completes certain requirements. A bishop of his church has several doctorates, according to Dr. Philipose Mar Chrysostom Valiya Metropolitan (I watched this speech in the Net). Again the quality of a degree is assessed or scrutinized only when considered as a requirement for a specific job or when it becomes an issue. There too, job- seekers and even college professors are said to circumvent rules as murmur persists about places and people that would write doctoral theses for a (huge) fees. Believe me, Muthukad, the Magician has every right to call himself Prof. Muthukad (again, pun intended).

The following, though an anecdote, conveys a serious message in this context: 
After watching sales falling off for three straight months at Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel Sanders (American business- man, best known for founding the fast- food chicken- restaurant chain, KFC) calls upon the Head of a Church (hereinafter referred to as the HOC) to request a favor. The HOC asks, "What can I do?" The Colonel says, "I need you to change the Lord's prayer from, 'Give us this day our daily bread' to 'Give us this day our daily chicken'. If you do it, I'll donate 10 Million Dollars to the church". The HOC replies, "I am sorry. That is the Lord's Prayer and I can not change its words." So the Colonel hangs up. After another month of dismal sales, the Colonel panics and calls again. "Listen your Excellency, I really need your help. I'll give you $50 million dollars if you change the words of the daily prayer from 'Give us this day our daily bread' to 'Give us this day our daily chicken'". And the HOC responds, "It is very tempting, Colonel Sanders. The church could do a lot of good with that much money. It would help us support many charities. But, again, I must decline. It is the Lord's Prayer, and I can't change the words". So the Colonel gives up. Again after two months of terrible sales the Colonel gets desperate. "This is my final offer, your Excellency. If you change the words of the daily prayer from, 'Give us this day our daily bread' to 'Give us this day our daily chicken' I will donate $100 million to the Church." "Let me get back to you", said the HOC and he did. On the very next day, the HOC calls together all his bishops and clamours, "I have some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is that KFC is going to donate $100 million to Us." The bishops rejoice at the news. Then one asks about the bad news. The HOC replies, "The bad news is that we lost the Wonder Bread account". Thanks.
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What is going to happen is a reputational disaster if this is widely reported. The compromise of the MT Church on gay marriage is incoherent, dishonest in itself, and reliant on dishonesty in others. I’m sure gay men will be thrilled by the exciting new job opportunity to become bishops, though perplexed as to how it will be policed by other churches.  For many years in the history of the Church of England and the American Episcopal Church with whom the MT church has full communion with, celibacy was considered optional. Based on the customs of old times, it is assumed by many that most of the Apostles, such as Peter, were married and had families.
The Catholic church is no exception. See,
Popes accused of being sexually active during pontificate:
1. Pope Sergius III (904–911) was accused by his opponents of being the illegitimate father of Pope John XI by Marozia. These accusations are found in Liutprand of Cremona's Antapodosis, as well as the Liber Pontificalis.
2. Pope John X (914–928) had romantic affairs with both Theodora and her daughter Marozia, according to Liutprand of Cremona in his Antapodosis.
3. Pope John XII (955–963) was accused by his adversaries of adultery and incest. The monk Benedict of Soracte noted in his volume XXXVII that he "liked to have a collection of women". Some sources report that he was rumoured to have died 8 days after being stricken by paralysis while in the act of adultery, others say that he was killed by the jealous husband while in the act of committing adultery.
4. Pope Benedict IX (1032– became pope in 1044, again in 1045 and finally 1047–1048) was accused by Bishop Benno of Piacenza of "many vile adulteries." In his Liber Gomorrhianus, Damian accused Benedict IX of routine sodomy and bestiality and sponsoring orgies. In May 1045, Benedict IX resigned his office to pursue marriage.
5. Pope Paul II (1464–1471) is popularly thought to have died due to indigestion arising from eating melon in excess, though a rumour was spread by his detractors that he died while engaging in sodomy.
6. Pope Sixtus IV (1471–1484). According to the published chronicle of the Italian historian Stefano Infessura, was a "lover of boys and sodomites" - awarding benefices and bishoprics in return for sexual favours, and nominating a number of young men as cardinals, some of whom were celebrated for their good looks.
7. Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503) had a long affair with Vannozza dei Cattanei while still a priest, but before he became pope; and by her had his illegitimate children Cesare Borgia, Giovanni Borgia, Gioffre Borgia, and Lucrezia. A later mistress, Giulia Farnese gave birth to a daughter (Laura) while Alexander was in his 60s and reigning as pope. Alexander fathered at least seven, and possibly as many as ten illegitimate children, and did much to promote his family's interests - using his offspring to build alliances with a number of important dynasties.He appointed Giovanni Borgia as Captain General of the Church, and made Cesare a Cardinal of the Church - also creating independent duchies for each of them out of papal lands.
8.Pope Leo X (1513–1521) was accused, after his death, of homosexuality (Francesco Guicciardini and Paolo Giovio). I
9.Pope Julius III (1550–1555) was alleged to have had a long affair with Innocenzo Ciocchi del Monte. The Venetian ambassador at that time reported that Innocenzo shared the pope's bed.
I think the CONFUSION or the REAL PROBLEM with the majority is that they have been duped and not made aware of these things. The BIG question is why then the church leaders don't tell us that? And the EQUALLY BIG answer:
to maintain and prolong a bishop's made-up, larger- than- life image and his exclusive nature with coloured dress and associated paraphernalia to command respect and loot money: a self- deception as our bishops who have studied Theology have read all the above stuff and consider marriages/ gay marriages/ sex outside marriage as already sanctioned. Thanks.

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