There has been some headlines lately that caught my interest. I went to 12 years of Catholic Schools and never heard of or witnessed any abuse of children. I left this church not long after adulthood because it seemed like a more a mega corporation than something that could help nurture my soul. My intuitive sense of not wanting to be associated with this authoritarian organization now seems more right than ever.

The child sexual abuse that has come forward lately speaks of authority not being questioned and the neglect of children by those who didn't stop any further abuse from happening. The pope's role in any cover-up has put protecting The Church over innocent children. That says to me there is no spiritual center to this organization. Sure there are deeply spiritual nuns and priests who do good work but the organization called the Roman Catholic Church is a disaster when it comes to caring about the most vulnerable.

It is time for a major re-evaluation of this corporation by its members as to why they want to be members. The local communities of parishes may be meeting needs of its members but is there really need for a pope and a cardinals and a hierarchy of authority when it cannot even protect its followers from the illness of its abusive priests?

I questioning why anyone would give money to this organization if they are not capable of doing no harm? How come this abuse has gone on so long? There had to be a cover-up and how come those covering up have not been charged? Shouldn't the pope be charged if he protected the organization and not the children? What would happen if other nations brought charges and he could not travel outside the Vatican without the fear of being extradited? This would put into question the whole idea of this hierarchy of control that is not serving the people but it's own ego's need to remain in power.

This nonsense of The Church being more important than the people is the same problems we have with many corporations. How is it that we let this continue? CEO's get bonuses after running their companies into the ground and the pope gets to act like some kind of moral authority when he lacks compassion for children and cares more about his organization then what is right. Is this ok with you?

If I were an active member of The Church, I would look elsewhere to get my spiritual support because I would feel they do not care enough to protect children. Where along the way have the higher values gotten lost and the organization became more important?

The idea of infallibility of the pope has always been an odd and unbelievable teaching of the Catholic Church but this makes a mockery of such a teaching. It seems one must question much of its teachings and dogma if they have hidden the truth to cover themselves from taking responsibility for the abuse by priests and the neglect by those in places of authority who didn't stop this mess long ago.

Here are some things that come to mind:

Always be weary of big organizations that care more about power than people.
Never quit using our minds to question the dogma and beliefs of those who say they represent God but are actually far from spiritual.
Any organization that calls itself the one true religion is too blind to itself and dangerous to the rest of us.
As an outsider looking in, I now see priests/ministers are actually more social control agents rather than guides to the spiritual realm.
It seems most organized religions need to be questioned to their core because they do not serve any God that I can see except maybe the God of the Ego.
Avoid any Bible toting folks who are trying to save you because they are obviously lost in the confusion of a their own thoughts.
Finally: God has no religion.