Even though Mark Ruffalo is not the most popular dude around here, I still like to post new photos of him whenever we get them in, in the hope that one day he’ll be as internet-crush-worthy as, say, Tom Hiddleston. Perhaps the issue is that Ruffalo is happily married with a pack of kids and he never really puts himself out there as “please crush on me, ladies!” Plus, he moved pretty quickly out of the rom-com “boyfriend” type of roles. Ruffalo’s latest movie is Spotlight, the film about the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer-prize-winning investigation into pedophile priests in Boston. Ruffalo plays a journalist alongside an ensemble that includes Michael Keaton, Billy Crudup, Liev Schreiber, Rachel McAdams and more.
These photos are from the LA premiere of Spotlight, and I’m just including the Keaton and Ruffalo pics. There’s a lot of Oscar buzz around Spotlight, but from what I’m seeing, the buzz is for the film as a whole rather than one particular actor. It’s possible Keaton or Ruffalo or maybe even Crudup could end up with some major nominations, of course, but I think the money will probably go into a Best Picture campaign. Which is just fine by Ruffalo – he sat down for a USA Today interview and he basically says he’s not that jazzed about having to do an Oscar campaign for the next three months. Some highlights:
He’s hoping to enjoy Spotlight’s Oscar buzz. “[This year it] will be a lot more enjoyable.” He had to fly between London, NYC and LA endlessly last year, so he hopes to be in NYC more this Oscar season: “I’ll be here more, so it’s much easier to get to (L.A.) than from the other side of the world. But you never know. The movie could just come out and poop out. I hope it doesn’t.”
Being raised as Catholic in Wisconsin: “The nun who was teaching me early on to read was very cruel because of my dyslexia… these teachings of Christ revolved around love and social justice, and then what I was seeing in that community, the way they did business, the way nuns treated children — all of that seemed to be at odds with each other. I lost my faith in that institution when I was very young.”
He & his wife raise their kids with a religion that’s “a bit more free-flowing, giving them a lot of choices.”
He was outraged reading Spotlight: “There’s a power structure that allows these things to happen. I have three small children, and when Mike says (in the film), ‘It could’ve happened to me, it could’ve happened to you, it could’ve happened to any of us’ — I really understood that sentiment.”
Spotlight changed the way he sees journalism: “All of them really see it as the last crux against tyranny in a democracy, that it’s essential. There’s definitely a higher calling and that’s what’s driving them: Something bigger than myself, that I’m fighting for people who don’t have a voice.”
On the idea of a Hulk film: “It feels even further away. I’ve been around long enough to be OK with it. There’s only so much that’s in my power and I’m not going to agonize over what isn’t. I definitely try to limit that to my kids and the things that really matter to me.”
I like what he says about being able to enjoy himself a little bit more during this year’s Oscar campaign. Ruffalo was nominated for Foxcatcher at the 2015 Oscars and he was still filming and doing reshoots on The Avengers: Age of Ultron. He probably didn’t know if he was coming or going for like three months.
As for the Catholic stuff… he’s been talking a lot about how he left the Church when he was very young, and I believe him.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Ohhhhh, I’d take Ruffalo over Hiddles in a heartbeat… and I think British accents are hot & body hair/facial hair is a turn-off! His humility just outshines the superficial. He has consistently stood up for people with less privilege, he likes animals, he chooses his roles pretty well, and he’s low-key.
I know you gauge interest by comments (and maybe clicks?), but I think Ruffalo is one of those celebrities who inspires warm, fuzzy feelings and not necessarily strong opinions. I’m so glad you still cover him! More please!
I agree. I totally love Mark Ruffalo. He’s handsome, intelligent, and humble. My #1 celebrity crush.
More Ruffalo. I’ll even click your ads if it makes a difference.
Yep, I’m on board. He’s adorable and hot in his own unique way. The fact that he is intelligent and speaks up about what he believes in is also a big factor. More please!!
Agree with all of this TS!
Hear! Hear!
Sexy Koala Bear FTW!
Fluffalo does nothing for my lady bits, but I think he’s awesome. I’m so happy that Spotlight is getting so much buzz. This film and ROOM are the one ones that have had stellar reviews across the board — I have yet to see anyone criticize it for anything. Inspiring story, strong script, solid acting — they’re the whole package. Can’t wait to see it when it comes here.
FYI… there’s a great interview on Charlie Rose from last week if you’re interested.
http://www.charlierose.com/watch/60642707
I read Room a few years ago and I love Brie Larson, so I’m sure it will be phenomenal!
And thanks for the link. Have only heard a few things about Spotlight so far, but Keaton and Ruffalo are enough for me.
Brittney, I’ll be seeing ROOM tonight… can’t wait. Bringing tissues and hoping all the clips and trailers having given away all the juicy bits.
Loved Brie’s performance in Short Term 12.
I saw Room last night. Excellent performances, especially that of the very young Jacob Tremblay, elevate it from what could have been Lifetime movie of the week fare.
I’m in for more about Ruffalo. And he makes me think about John Leguizamo (same era starting out in nyc), love him too.
Ditto! He’s one of my favorites.
Yes!!! Popular or not, he’ll always be my celebrity crush.
Joining this discussion late, but I agree Ruffalo over Hiddles. Loki is my fantasy dreamboy, but Ruffalo seems like someone I’d be friends with IRL.
Ever since I saw him on the Graham Norton show, I have such a crush on him. He has this low-key, lazy manner combined with empathy and charm.
From what I’ve heard, they’re pushing for Best Picture and the actors all want to compete in the “supporting” categories as it is an ensemble piece, which means Ruffalo, Keaton, and/or Schreiber could all be competing against one another.
I’m here to honk for Keaton! Honk, honk!
I’d be happy with either Keaton or Ruffalo getting the award. Sounds like Ruffalo has had the most buzz for his performance, but they may give it to Keaton after last year’s loss.
FYI… there was a large number of AMPAS voters at the LA premier and it was very well received. I think they’re going into awards season looking strong. It’ll be going wide in the next month and perhaps will break the curse of the poor box office performance of the October Oscar-buzzed releases.
They get about equal screen time. Both give good performances. Ruffalo gets to make an impassioned speech while Keaton’s character gets more of a personal story arc. Tucci gives, as always, a good performance as well. The focus is on the investigation. It always takes me a bit out of film to see local places portrayed as something else so I’ll probably have to see it again to get past that jolt, but there really isn’t a lot of that as a good deal of the film is set and filmed at the actual Globe building.
Ruffalo’s character goes on what would have been the most circuitous, rip-off cab ride of all time – going around the block at one point, then driving through several completely out of the way neighborhoods even after he gave specific directions that would have taken him down none of the streets actually shown – but the city looks looks lovely.
Unless it was north of the city, I wouldn’t have known the cabbie had taken the scenic route. My intimate knowledge of the streets of Boston ends at Boylston. South of there, I’m using the T and google maps.
I’m proud to say after two years I was able to get around Cambridge / Somerville map-free, which are far and away the most confusing cities I’ve ever had to navigate around.
Oh, this was far more than a scenic route. He got into the cab at Post Office Square on Congress Street and asked to go to the Globe offices, telling the cabbie to avoid 93 and take Dorchester Ave to avoid traffic because he was in a hurry. All that involved was continuing 3 blocks down Congress, a right onto Purchase, a left two blocks later in Dewey Square onto Summer, then a right immediately after South Station onto Dot Ave. Instead, we next seeing them turning off Tremont onto School, which will mean a left onto Washington and then the decision of whether to go right or left onto State, where they must have just been in order to get to Tremont, and this new turn would either take them back to Post Office Square or around to Tremont again and then the cab goes through various other far-flung neighborhoods. Really hilarious.
I remember getting in trouble with the nuns during my first holy communion training because I just didn’t believe Judas betrayed Jesus. I was arguing my point about Jesus would have known and approved. They just brow beat me, never trying to explain our teach then told my mom so i got in trouble at home too. I hated organised religion from the second grade on
I hate dogma. And I hate that everything that they don’t know, you have to take on “faith.” I’m a thinking person, so religion was and is not meant for me.
When it’s not in the DNA or the structure or the scripture or the highly ritualized requirements or the practices or the history or indeed the basic culture of an organized religion or church to encourage debate, questioning, and a continual but open refinement of ideas and definition and meaning, that is what you get: dogma on a platter.
That’s actually a very good point, about Jesus and Judas.
I lost my faith (Catholic) long ago too. When you’re a kid, they forget to tell you that you’re not supposed to take the Bible literally. So I thought it’s word-to-word correct, but then when you’re not 6 anymore, the texts – taken literally – stop making sense. I didn’t go and argue my points with the minister, tho. But I’ve never gone back to it, all the belief is completely gone.
Oh, and yeah, Ruffalo over any other guy mentioned regularly here on CB for me too!
That nun doesn’t know what she’s talking about.
When I was about 6 and going to Sunday school, the nun complained to my mother that I kept asking who God’s parents were. In my mind, everyone had parents. I knew about Jesus’ parents, Mary’s… Everybody’s. But I didn’t know about God’s parents. Hahaha she was so angry and she seriously complained about me. How can you get angry at a child? My mom wasn’t. She tried to explain it to me but I got it years later…
Judas betrayed Jesus but Jesus DID know that Judas would betray him. And it had to happen. According to Scripture, everything that happened to Jesus was set into motion the moment he was conceived. And he always knew what was in store for him. The nuns that trained you were wrong. They wouldn’t have lasted a second with the nuns that raised me!!
Some of the nastiest women I have ever known in my life were nuns, and some of the loveliest too. My Catholic education was par excellence, but I learnt very early in that Community how nasty and cut throat the world could be. Maybe it had something to do with all that repression, and some of these ladies were brilliant, and should never have been stifled by their dogma. Of course in those days it was actually seen as a career/vocation to “take holy orders”. Thank the Lord the world has moved on somewhat.
The Catholic Church lost me in third grade when my grandmother died and the priest doing her service had me come in his office and told me, in fact, that my grandmother was not an angel and refused to let me read a poem at her funeral. I gave the church the finger right then and there.
That just broke my heart.
In the third grade, and my first year in Catholic school, Sister Gertrudus was talking about mortal sin and venial sin. She told us that if we missed mass on Sunday, we would go straight to hell if we died. She also said that anyone who wasn’t a Catholic would go to hell. I remember thinking, “That’s not true! What about the people in India? God wouldn’t let them go to hell for being a different religion.” I never quite believed the dogma after that.
But that’s not even in the Church teachings! I am friends with a priest who said “the greatest detriment to the Church is the ego of man.” There are priests and nuns who take it upon themselves to teach things not in the Catechism and to teach things that are wrong.
Again, his experience couldn’t be further from my own, I went to religion classes for 12 years and we were taught kindness, love and tolerance, and everyone acted like it. They were even ver welcoming to other faiths, I went to Masses where the guest of honor was an Orthodox Priest, or a Muslim Imam.
I understand that it was his experience, but the way he says it it comes across as if he’s talking about all Catholics, which certainly isn’t true.
Maybe it’s different in the US for some reason? I know many Catholic adults with horror stories about nuns, not to mention priests. And I just went to a Catholic wedding where the priest announced that no one but Catholics could take Holy Communion, because Catholics believed it was a sacred rite. I wanted to stand up and say “yeah, we Protestants just do it for the free food and wine, asshat.” So they are ignorant as well as rude. Way to create a hostile feeling at a wedding.
But I believe your experience was a good one, and I’m glad.
I think it’s partially due to the fact that we were communist for so long, so the Church didn’t have any actual influence on the governemnt, like in Ireland for an example ( there was a discussion about abortion here recently, it has been legal in my country since the 50s). They do ocassionally say something about this or that political issue, which they can because they are a public institiution, but nothing major.
I never heard any horror stories about nuns, not even from old people who went to school when corporal punishment was still allowed in schools.
As for the wedding, I don’t think you can take the Holy communion unless you’re Catholic, is it different with Protestants? I really don’t know this, I’ve never actually met a Protestant in person.
I did go to a Greek Catholic Mass and we could take the communion there.
I do agree though, the priest said it very rudely.
I believe you can only take Catholic communion if you believe in transubstantiation – that the bread and wine have literally transformed into the body and blood of Christ. Protestants tend to look at it as more symbolic, which allows it to be shared more openly.
They sound lovely where you live. I’m glad your experience was a good one, and I think your assessment is very apt. Possibly they were less corrupt because they were not in a situation of power? That’s actually my concern with our Christian Right being so politically active. I think politics corrupts everyone.
In my church, you may take communion if you’re baptized, but they don’t ever announce that so and so can’t take communion. They leave it up to you. I was not offended that I couldn’t take communion, if that’s the rule, fine. I was just offended that he said other religions do not consider it a holy sacrament. That’s so uninformed and dismissive of everyone else’s beliefs.
So is everyone in your country Catholic, or just all Christians are Catholic? That’s probably a dumb question.
@Commenting
That’s what he should have said, and perhaps what he meant. As my mother says “if I thought it was real blood, I wouldn’t drink it.” So yeah.
My country is around 87 % Catholic, 8 % Atheist/Agnostic, 4% Serbian Othodox and the rest are other religions.
I do think a country’s religious beliefs as a whole can be determined by the political situations troughtout history. I’m currently taking a class calle dSociology of Religion, and one of out proffesors took Check Republic as an example of a very atheist/agnostic country, and he said that that was because trough history, most priests in Bohemia were German and at odds with the population. ( If anyone is from Check Republic, please correct me if I’m wrong).
Here, the Catholic Church has largely been an oaisi for Croats during out troubled history, especially during the threat of the Ottoman Empire. Also, one of the stronges orders here are the Franciscans who live an ascetic lifestyle, so that also plays a role in the perception of the Church.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not perfect, and the Church has many shortcomings, but it isnt as bad as some other people here experienced.
GNAT, interesting story about the communion. From my experience in the French Catholic Church, you must abstain from the Eucharist if you haven’t properly entered the church and/or if you have been divorced. (Those are just two examples.)
I knew a lady who was widowed at age 25 and eventually found love with another man. She chose not to marry this other man for personal reasons yet she was still forbidden from taking communion because she was considered to be “living in sin”. It’s incredible.
LOL. I know, their exclusionism can be very annoying. I knew this awesome nun who told a joke about Catholics thinking they were the only ones going to heaven, but she was a rare lovely bird, that one.
The Catholic church is a human institution, as as such, subject to the flaws of humanity. At its heart, it is beautiful, but has gotten too much in it’s own way with money and power I think.
I was raised Protestant (still am) and CommentingBunny is correct. We believe the bread and wine/juice are symbolic, not the actual body and blood of Christ. What I’ve seen in various denominations is that anyone who believes in the Gospel (that Jesus was God incarnate who died to save sinners) and has been baptized is invited to participate. It’s usually not done at weddings though, just during church services.
It’s a dangerous thing when The Church has political power — Protestant, Catholic, Muslim etc — that power will always result in abuse.
> I think it’s partially due to the fact that we were communist for so long, so the Church didn’t have any actual influence on the governemnt,
That is exactly it. Organized religion Is totalitarian, when they have no competition it shows.
This is why communists aimed to root out the religion – it was a competition to them, they were competing for the control of the minds.
Spirituality and beliefs are fine, but any organized religion can breed abuse since there are no checks and balances in their power structure. You are relying on the fear of God to keep them on straight and narrow, but as we can see with fanatics, they believe that murdering and punishing is done in the name of God. organized religion is very dangerous.
My parents were divorced and my mom was not allowed to take communion, but if she had ton to a different church, she could have done it 😉
She was too honest. She’d do an act of contrition, which is like a pledge. It is private, between God and you. You are supposed to be without sin to take it, so you may go confess somewhat “often”. It varies. I have not confess in a long time, and I’ve dared taken communion. But only felt sinful about it recently, when I did it at a mass I was not paying attention at all, oops.
I think confessing should be done at least twice a year, but there are people who love to talk to the priest to get sort of advice, so it is not like an obligation, but a chat.
YEs, there are hypocrites who take communion and go out and criticize everyone and things like that.
Before I’d think of leaving my religions of something else, I’d look into my heart and also I’d learn more about it and get to know more people, more open people from the same religion. It is a big religion, so there are many ways of thinking. There rare very closed minded people and there are other who are open and accepting.
One of my aunts use dot criticize my mom because of her marrying a divorced man, but nowadays 4 out of her 5 children are divorced! So words come and bite you in the *ss.
I’m sad so many of you had bad experiences. I had a bad experience with righteous people in the form of one of my older half brothers in the USA, who was a very hypocritical and righteous Christian. HE forbade me to listen to music and other things into time I was with them. He was such a try hard and a bad person, he even made me dislike his religion, but I am older now and I know it was him, because there were very nice, wonderful and supportive people there ,as in other religions.
I was raised as a Roman Catholic, and when I got old enough to pay attention at Mass and listen to what was being said, I found the whole thing about prohibiting certain Catholics from taking Communion to be very odd. Not sure if it is still the case, but as I recall, during Mass what happens *right before* Communion is given out is that everyone there says, in unison “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed”. So basically, as part of the order of Mass, everyone in attendance asks for forgiveness of their sins and proclaims that they believe God can make them “OK” to be able to accept communion.
So I decided that if God could make it OK for me to accept communion, who was the priest, or some nun, or some great aunt, to tell me that I couldn’t.
I agree with those who say that the Catholic Church, like all churches, is made of of flawed human beings, and therefore you get people in the church who do so pretty horrible things. I had my own run in with clueless nuns and priests: one nun who taught my third grade CCD class that God only gives people the trials they can handle, so we should hope that really horrible things happen to us and our families because that would mean that God thinks we are strong and worthy (Arggh!) and the priest who got mad at me because I couldn’t always come to Sunday mass at my own parish and would go instead to Saturday or Sunday night services at a different parish (because of family work schedules…and since I was too young to drive I had to go where and when my mom went) There were some good teachers and ministers in the church, but some of them seemed more focused on their own power and fiefdoms (not to mention several who it turns out were more focused on how they could get young boys somewhere private than on running the parish or ministering to the parishioners or serving God) It’s a shame, but as they say “power corrupts” and some of these people had more power than was good for them and the people around them.
There is a bit of confusion, which is totally understandable. I am a strong Christian, not baptized Catholic, and now practicing Protestant. Growing up in Midwest, my parents sent me to Catholic schools, even though my family was not Catholic, for quality of education and “higher” level of classmates, verses public schools. My family shared many similar religious views with Catholics, such as Communion, or Eucharist, but I was forbidden from participating in virtually ALL parts of Catholic services, including Communion, since I was not baptized Catholic. Even though I went to the school and worshipped during service, I was treated very rudely. Non-Catholics are not permitted to take Communion during mass . . part of Catholic protocol . . . whereas at all Protestant-type Churches I attended people were allowed all to partake in service and Communion, regardless of prior Church membership. Pastors simply usually request that it not be taken lightly, by a person in a relationship with the Lord.
It is nothing new that ONLY Catholics participate in Holy Communion in A CATHOLIC CHURCH, no one cares what others do in their own institutions. Either GNAT wasn’t listening or just needed some indignation to post on Celebitchy today.
The nuns who taught me and the brothers who ran our high school were wonderful. Supportive and joyful. I feel sad he had a bad experience.
I went to Catholic school for 12 years, too. The nuns in high school were more “evolved” – for lack of a better word, but the elementary school ones were horrid. I remember having to lift up my skirt to get spanked in front of the class. My mother flew down there so fast! They were all about shaming and guilt. I don’t have good memories.
How weird.
I live in a mostly catholic country, and did not go to a catholic school, but tosunday school etc. Everyone is catholic (mostly, at least, everyone I knew back in my childhood).
I guess that gave me the idea that there are good and bad people from whatever religion you are. There are ignorant and people who know how to treat and speak to children.
Being a nun does not necessarily makes you good with children, hey, they are teachers who aren’t good with children.
One of the best people I know is my Aunt (in law), she is a nun and very intelligent, has a masters, she is a person very involved in helping native communities, women and teaches people how to be self sufficient, she makes medicine from herbs, and is all around a person worth knowing.
She is also very kind and understanding of people who do not share her same beliefs. She leads by example and is not trying to convert anyone she knows. Love her.
Chuckled at the Communion wedding story because I was at a “modern” Catholic wedding once where they invited everyone up to take Communion and really got enthusiastic about it, urging us all to do it even when many stayed seated. It was like they couldn’t imagine that not everyone would or could want the special treat. Such as the many Jewish guests. LOL. Didn’t like feeling like we were somehow slighting the newlyweds or dissing their sacrament but…
@Who ARE these people: Wow, that is completely against the Catechism. One can only take communion in a Catholic Church if one is Catholic or of the Eastern Orthodox tradition. And in the Catholic Church, it is not symbolic like it is in Protestant tradition, Catholics believe in transubstantiation (the host and the wine are literally the body and blood of Christ.) That’s their belief system. No point in getting insulted by it, it simply is.
As I have mentioned (probably ad nauseum), I was raised in a Children’s Home by nuns. I had a wonderful upbringing, very open, honest, forgiving, and educative. That being said, everyone’s experience is different. There were (and are) horrible abuses within the Catholic Church, as there were (and are) horrible abuses in pretty much all religions, school systems, medical arenas, etc. People have free will and that free will can be abusive.
@paranormalgirl
I thought I was pretty clear that I was not offended by the belief itself. It was the priest’s dismissive characterization of MY beliefs that offended me. I believe, as all Protestants do, that Communion is a Holy sacrament. Just because we believe that the wine and bread are symbols of Christ’s body and blood, and do not magically turn into blood and flesh, which frankly, I doubt many Catholics truly believe, does not mean the rite is not sacred to us. For him to say that was rude and ignorant. For you to tell me that there is “no point” to my objection to it is pretty dismissive as well.
How interesting, paranormalgirl. We didn’t really grasp the finer points, but my feeling was that this was some kind of new “inclusive” Catholic thing, trying to be hip or like the intermission wine at a performance of Godspell — like saying, “Hey, we’re Catholic, but it’s okay if you’re not! This is just a way to celebrate!” And the only “not” that could be envisioned was … other types of Christians.
We who weren’t raised in this find it, well, a brow-raiser about taking in the body and the blood — I mean, I’m even careful about tartare and sushi. : )
Wasn’t insulted by it, by the way. Just thought they were a little misguided about opening the buffet to everyone and then wondering why some might not want to partake. We were there to witness, not temporarily take out a different kind of membership.
GNAT: That priest was wrong and did not explain it properly. For all Christian religions that take part in the host, it is sacred. I wasn’t being dismissive of you at all and I’m sorry if it sounded that way. I meant that people shouldn’t be insulted by not being allowed to take part in a Catholic Church as it is not meant to be insulting, just a difference of belief systems. But in your case, it sounds like the priest was dismissive of your belief and that’s wrong. Again, I do apologize if I sounded like I was dismissing YOU. I wasn’t. Shit, I’m not even a practicing Catholic anymore
@paranormalgirl
No, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m so touchy today. I apologize for making a big deal out of nothing, especially since you are always nice to me. Sometimes I suck. 😁
I suck a lot! No worries GNAT.
Ha, someone apparantly forgot to tell the priest I had at catholic school, because despite 8-year-old me actually telling him ‘but father, I’m protestant’, he still gave me the Host. He said God didn’t care. Good thing he did, I later converted to Catholicism. I might not have if he hadn’t make me feel as welcome as he did.
And your experience does not negate his. People who have been negatively affected or harmed by religions have been silenced for far too long already.
I also grew up in a post Soviet country where religion is now a big thing after being kinda forbidden for so long. While I have met priests who were really trying to help people and who’s main fault was “the Bible says so, hence you should behave this way”, I always had a problem with the faith based system which so far has only brought destruction to the world.
Also, I’m going to be skeptic on “They do ocassionally say something about this or that political issue, which they can because they are a public institiution, but nothing major.”.
I’m an atheist and I strongly believe that if we want true equality, the government should be secular and not bow down to any religion. However, I see I completely different situation in my country despite the church-state separation: the church tries to campaign against every single law they don’t like disguising themselves under the “morality” (LGBT+ rights, women’s rights and bodily autonomy etc). The interesting thing is that the religious population segment honestly doesn’t see this as meddling and trying to force their worldviews on the rest of us because for them it’s the ultimate truth. My family members who are Catholic are always trying to argue that the church is not affecting the laws, merely trying to protect their members from prosecution (cause you’re definitely prosecuted when you don’t get to tell other people what to do with their lives and bodies), preserve morality (working mothers are scaring children for life and going against nature) and so on.
I’ve seen this kind of thing happen on an on in multiple countries (the religious folk seem to be blind when THEIR faith syndicate is trying to affect the law), hence I always err on the side of caution when I hear something like this.
Again, I did not say he, or anyone else, should stay silent. I just don’t like the way he said it, like his experience is the experience of all catholics.
And my country is completely secular. The Church has the right to speak out, because we also have freedom of speech. The government doesn’t have to, and doesn’t listen. The only time the Church actually acomplished something was when they managed to get the government to ban working on sundays, but that got revoked soon.
If a country is secular, they shouldn’t mention anything political. EVER.
Please explain? Who shouldn’t mention anything political? Or did you mean religious? Because secular means without religion.
Franca, you’re from Croatia, right? The country that gives millions of Euros to the Catholic church directly from its budget (in addition to the tax free status) despite the protests and oppositions from the secular society?
Basic google search about religion in Croatia presents you with results about the strong prevalence of Catholicism in the daily lives of Croatians, how strongly the church is intertwined with politics and how Catholicism is the defining trait of Croatians.
Yet again, I rarely believe religious people when they try to claim that their religious institution is not meddling in politics. They freaking are. Just because you as a religious people do not see that, it doesn’t mean that it’s not happening.
For example, it’s relatively easy to not see sexism if you’re a man (it gives you an advantage), to close your eyes against racism in Western world if you’re white (it simply doesn’t happen to you all that often) and so on. It’s easy to not see something that you do not want to see.
I’m not saying that Croatia is waging cleansing wars against non believers or anything like that, I’m just pointing out that there’s a lot of contrary evidence to the things you say.
Yeah, we do give money to the Church because of the Vatican Contracts.
The church is vocal, yes, but they don’t actually influence the government, especially the current, left wing government. And of course catholicism has an impact with 90 percent of the people being religious.
“…but they don’t actually influence the government…” followed by “And of course catholicism has an impact…”
Really? I mean that’s exactly what I’m trying to point out to you. While the church may not have the power to make everyone go to masses and follow their rituals and inflict negative consequences for refusing to do so, the church having a societal and political impact is kinda killing the whole “we are secular” argument.
Also, a country were 90% of people strongly identify with being religious is not secular by any definition. Secular means putting people above superstitious and supernatural beliefs and is usually (but not always) complemented by atheism and belief in equality and so forth. A lot of people would even debate calling countries like Germany secular (because they give special exemptions to churches) despite them having relatively secular laws. So sorry but your country is Catholic, not secular.
I’m with Ana.
It’s hard for me to understand how you can claim that the Catholic Church has no impact on the Croatian government if they receive financial support from the Vatican. That seems like a conflict of interest in terms of a true separation of Church and State.
Also, if you have a situation where tax breaks and other benefits are granted to someone because they are registered to a specific religion, well that sounds like the Croatian government favors religious folks over non-believers.
“…I strongly believe that if we want true equality, the government should be secular and not bow down to any religion.”
Amen.
I completely agree. This dynamic is going on in many post-Soviet countries.
The church is getting their lands back, they are getting rich, they garner more influence. They are campaigning against LGBT community, trying to reverse the tolerance that came about after the fall of Communism.
The political leaders are all going to church to pray now. They want to be seen as “moral” and religious. They feel that religion bestows some kind of additional air of morality and legitimacy on them and separates them from the Communist past.
It is actually fascinating in itself because you can clearly see how organized religion changes society. We haven’t been able to see this before because in most countries religion has been embedded as a part of society from the beginning.
I was born in Yugoslavia, half Serbian, half Croatian, and this is true. We were lucky not to be overwhelmed with the church. I was taught to be good and kind, but that is it. For me Christianity today is a simple reminder to have hope and think positive. But I did hear awful stories mostly from Catholic church in other countries.
Both Mark and Keaton are great actors, artists, wishing them all the best.
I really like Mark, but thanks for including the pictures with Keaton. Him I love!!!
Keep the pics coming, Kaiser. He’s a dish!
I left Catholic Church as well; signed out of their books. Precisely because of the same reasons he mentioned: they are more into Old testament and fear spreading rather than teachings of love, equality, understanding etc. Church is an institution that has very little to do with religion. I’m a karmaist 😉 and wouldn’t want to belong to any religion but I do respect the idea behind Jesuses teachings; it’s just that it’s left in the background of politics in Church.
No they’re not. They’re not more into the Old Testament. At least not as a whole.
While the Catholic Church is one church and not separate denominations, there are 1.25 billion of Catholics out there. There are bound to be differences and you can’t paint them all with the same brush.
Well I have a different experience and am talking from it. Nuns who teach Catholicism in schools in my country show children videos of abortion, teach them that their souls would “burn in hell forever” or at least “wonder aimlessly through eternity” unless they behave in a certain way and mostly spread fear. Also, priests don’t talk about religious matters during the mass but focus on right wing politics and promote it. And as I remember the God that has to be feared, God who is ruthless and merciless, a huge egomaniac, is an Old testament God.
I’m not attacking people who are Catholics and practice the religion; I’m saying that Church is a serious, money making institution and very political one. Has always been.
But that’s what I said – you’re talking from your experience. As I said above, mine was completely, completely different. You can’t paint all nuns and priests with the same brush.
The problem Franca is that DS’s experience is all to common. It’s not just about individual priests and nuns– the problem is institutional. The church’s ongoing cover up of abuse, all in the name of maintaining power, certainly supports this. I am glad you have a different experience, but please don’t expect people to stop talking about this. This is real.
Where did I say I want people to stop talking about it? Nowhere. I would just like if people didn’t say “The Church is awful. Period.” like it’s true for everyone because it isn’t.
Maybe it’s all to common in your part of the world, but it isn’t in mine.
I’m Irish – I was raised as a catholic; there was no other option. Every school was a Catholic school. You got your sacraments and said prayers at the start and end of every day.
I stopped believing when I was old enough to read newspapers and see what was unfolding in the Catholic church. When you read about the fact that the last Magdalene Laundry closed in 1996 – not even 20 years ago it is disgusting. These “laundries” were basically slave labour for unmarried mothers – regardless of how they came to be pregnant. The babies were then taken off them and given up for adoption without the consent of the mother. These “laundries” were ran by nuns and priests who profited from these women who were slaves. Who had been handed over by their family members so that they wouldn’t bring shame upon them in the local community. This was the tip of the iceberg. Look up the industrial schools. All these horrible “institutions” were run by the church and profited on.
The real turning point for me was at my grandfathers funeral when the Priest turned the mass into a way for him to criticise the fact that some of my uncles and aunts had joined another religion. While they stood over the coffin of their father they had to listen to how much they had apparently brought shame on their family. My mother confronted him on it and he shoved her aside to get out of his way. A grown man pushed aside a grieving daughter because she dared confront him.
A nun in my secondary school judged me as being beneath her and not worth her time simply because I came from the wrong side of town and wasn’t as rich or posh as the others in the school. How a grown up can treat a child like that is beyond me – this is not even 15 years ago.
And recently I was considering having a traditional church wedding until the priests in Ireland declared that if gay marriage was legalised in Ireland they would no longer perform the legal aspects of any ceremonies. 40 years ago it might have worked but not now.
Sure it might be true that the Church isn’t bad in every corner of the world – but the majority of it has been corrupted. If the Church had tried to redeem itself at any stage by admitting there was issues; announcing a proper investigation instead of moving priests around from parish to parish knowing full well the devastation they were leaving behind them it would mean something. But they continue to deny the victims any kind of closure.
I don’t want you to think I’m bashing you by any means. .. I just needed to get that out. There are so many good priests out there who’s names are being ruined by what is coming out – and the Catholic church will continue to see the numbers fall until they take a stand and do something about what has been going on.
@Sitka; I’m sorry about your experience. I wish I could say reading your story shocked me. Maybe this is inappropriate to ask, so feel free not to answer: for the funeral, or the wedding, would you be obliged to pay the priest for his services in Ireland? In my country, it’s obligatory.
DS, you pay for all the sacrements now…apparently is didn’t use to be the case but now for weddings anyways you pay for the use of the church and give a “donation” to the priest.
@Sitka; well good for them. It sickens me. In my country they have a price list for everything even though they get too much money from the state itself. They take money for what should be their sacred obligation and are not even able to do it properly. Yuck.
DS, I think that may be one of my main problems with them. They have made so much money from despicable acts; but expect their ‘flock’ to pay to receive sacrements that you HAVE to have to be a member of the church. And the settlements they have made have barely made a dent in what they own.
sitka and ds; my grandfather was denied the last rites by a priest when he was agonizing on his death bed, because the money he was asking for couldn’t be procured until the day after. A priest had to be brought from outside of the city to perfom it, I live in the capital of my country! I became agnostic after that, I was eleven.
in my experience it really depends on the individuals involved and the culture they create. The Catholic parish in my hometown is very much in a minority position and operates in a culture of social justice. That influences the priests and my fellow parishioners. So I ended up in a church full of diversity with an emphasis on the gospels, loving thy neighbour and actually doing what Jesus would do. I probably would not have converted if people had behaved the way I have read a large part of the Irish clergy has behaved or the way I have experienced some of the Italian clergy. There is indeed a huge variety of experiences, but I think it would be most healthy for Catholics to really accept that lots of extremely horrible things have happened without caveats and basically start calling out every bishop that covers these things up, have a discussion in your parish as to how to prevent abuse from happening, making sure there’s a constant dialogue. For instance we have a protocol for the way the clergy interacts with our altar boys and girls similar to the way a teacher should interact with students.
@Sitka, I saw Philomena, the true story of an unwed mother forced to work in the convent laundry and losing her child because he was forcilby taken from her and adopted out and her search for him as an old woman. Judi Dench was fantastic in it. It was based on the book, “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee.” I admit that I cried during that movie. It broke my heart for her and the other unwed mothers there.
In my country, donations are up to you, what can you give and if you want to. It is not a club, neither they tell you “this is the fare”.
I just asked for a mass for the anniversary of my deceased parents and I just gave something and paid a singer to be at the mass, that was it.
When I got married I did not pay a penny, not for the announcements they do 1 or 2 weeks before, nor when we got married, we forgot to even thank the priest hehe.
How weird, things are different in every country.
I understand it is different in every place, so, as Franca said, one talks about her/his own experience.
I left because the whole thing always seemed as absurd to me as worshipping aliens that came out of Xenu volcanoes. I regret wasting those years “fighting for my faith” and “seeking God” through a few other denominations. Its ridiculous…. “heres a bunch of self contradictory scriptures supposedly inspired by the Holy Spirit – whatever that is- and if you aint buying it then you arent seeking hard enough and anyway God reveals himself to whom he chooses”. The day I walked away, a heavy burden was lifted off my shoulders, one I didnt even know I had been carrying. Also, like Ruffalo, I have consistently found that the worst, most unkind, most ruthless people I have encountered happen to be persons of some faith or other. I think most people just use it to absolve themselves of their responsibility to their fellow man. Religion is pretty much the most effective conscience muting button since the beginning of time.
Naya, ditto for me. I was so screwed up by Catholicism – with all its contradictions and nonsensical ramblings that they call the Scriptures – that I searched high and low afterwards for some semblance of spirituality. At 45, I’ve decided that the scriptures don’t make sense because that’s the way the powers that be want them. When you read the historical accounts of how the scriptures were created and culled, one simply can no longer believe that they are the word of god. At that point, I was done.
A friend was said, “Catholicism is for children.” Not saying I agree, but I think he was getting at the dogma, the rigidity of belief and fear of questioning. But Catholicism isn’t the only religion with this kind of structure.
Haha love the Xenu parallel. But, I do have to say this: when I was a kid, my dad used to read me a lot of mythological stories (we would go through Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythology) and then he read stories from the Old testament. When you listen to them like that, many had really nice messages, and could teach children about certain values in life, so I love that I was introduced to them. But, overall, maybe because of my father’s approach; him treating all of them as fictional stories, I never thought they were more. Religions can be wonderful teaching tool. depending on their restrictions.
Most of the people who know who left the Catholic Church after being raised in it had to go through a difficult, guilt-ridden emotional journey and make some kind of wrenching break. That told me what I needed to know about its authoritarian structure and wall-to-wall social management. It shouldn’t have to be so hard to think about and do what you want in life.
We talk a lot about Scientology here, describing it (I think rightly) as a cult, and we can look at many extreme social groups/religions (including some branches of Orthodox Judaism) that have aggressive outreach/missions.
Easy to check in, hard to check out.
“I have consistently found that the worst, most unkind, most ruthless people I have encountered happen to be persons of some faith or other… Religion is pretty much the most effective conscience muting button since the beginning of time.”
Naya, it makes me sad to know that’s your experience with people of faith. In my own experience, it’s been the exact opposite. The Christians I known throughout my life have been kind, caring, generous and possess a very sensitive conscience as they’ve earnestly tried to follow Jesus and be like him. I do hope you encounter some of the good ones. They are out there.
“The day I walked away, a heavy burden was lifted off my shoulders, one I didnt even know I had been carrying.”
This. Freedom from religion – and from the influence of churches and religions full of hypocrisy – should be the fundamental human right of any individual. It’s a beautiful irony to me that it’s possible to find every bit of the expansiveness and joy and meaning and morality peddled by churches when you liberate yourself from them.
It’s also a personal, enormous relief of conscience and spiritual karma not to be voluntarily associated with, support, be a member of, make excuses for or feel ashamed of any church or religion founded upon an undeniable history of committing, encouraging and approving atrocities against other human beings.
@Santia: “When you read the historical accounts of how the scriptures were created and culled, one simply can no longer believe that they are the word of god.”
This is one reason why there is such huge resistance to admit genuine intellectual challenges as part of the church’s teachings and practices: the power mortal men have always had throughout the ages in deciding for themselves what best suits them to write, edit, ignore, translate and present as gospel.
One need only look at the world’s wars/problems to see that a vast majority of them stem from religion. It seems to always be about some group thinking their ideology/God is more “right” than someone else’s. I was going to say that the world would be a better place if we got rid of religion, but knowing human beings, we’d only find something else to fight about.
> “The day I walked away, a heavy burden was lifted off my shoulders, one I didnt even know I had been carrying.”
Funny (not really, scary more like it) this is how it felt when communism fell and we finally were allowed to speak what we really thought.
I guess, one of the unintended blessings of growing up under a communist regime was freedom from religion. We had a different kind of religion – communism.
Oh I think he’s lovely. I long LONG ago ditched the CC and have been more than happy about my decision, so I understand where he’s coming from. Love MK too, and am looking forward to seeing the film.
It is too early here for me to write anything remotely intellectual so I will just say this: he is adorable!
Aw. my Mark.
I want to watch The Normal Heart again just to watch him. Although, all the actors were amazing in it. Great HBO movie. I loved that he felt he shouldn’t take the part because he thought it should go to a gay actor, until Ryan Murphy convinced him otherwise.
“He asked Ryan Murphy “Aren’t we at the place in our culture, in our development, where a gay man should be playing this part?” And Ryan Murphy told him “That’s the antithesis of what this movie is about. It doesn’t matter what your sexual preference is. It matters what actor I think should play this part.”
Has anyone here seen his latest movie, out on DVD now, Infinitely Polar Bear, about a bipolar father after a breakdown trying to rebuild a relationship with his children taking care of them while the wife works? It’s supposed to be quirky, funny, heartwarming and frightening and sad but compassionate, kind of up and down like his illness.
I want to check it out. I was just wondering if anyone else saw it and liked it. The reviews were really strong on it, but I don’t know anyone who has seen it.
I don’t get why religion and faith need to be institutionalized.
My experience has been the same as Ruffalo’s
but with the Orthodox Church. For every wonderful priest or monk I have met 10 that were borderline sociopaths. I am sure those that have a vocation will follow it with or without an institution behind them.
I am sick of giving money to the untaxed Church when I could donate to hospitals.
I think it was all about power and controlling the ignorant people through fear as much as it was about faith. I’m episcopalian, and I do go to church, though my church is very inclusive and modern. But I think all institutionalized religions have a lot to answer for and should be “looked past” when thinking about your faith to some degree. They are, after all, run by human beings with all of our failings and desire for power, money, recognition and all the rest. I go to church because I enjoy it. I don’t believe it’s necessary.
So reasonable! Thank you!
The Episcopal archdiocese here in Boston has had several scandals of its own involving money.
I said in another post that he was not physically attractive to me, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t cover him! It’s nice to read about an actor with well-balanced priorities. I’m not physically attracted to Jennifer Lawrence either, but I will certainly click on every article about her.
I ditched the CC early on because I abhor hypocisy– and this was before the sex abuse scandals came to light. I’m also strongly influenced by the Irish side of my family– the levels of abuse in Ireland were particularly horrifying. The magdalene laundries come to mind.
The church is *very* authoritarian, and for a particular generation, the idea of questioning a priest was unthinkable. I think the younger generation is done with this– in ireland they are leaving the church in droves and rejecting theocracy. So many defected, the church stopped processing defections. Ireland was one place where they had enormous powet, and it is crumbling.
You have to submit a “defection” to church in Ireland? Wow.
Looooove me some Ruffalo!!! And I’m so on board with his sentiments on the Catholic church! His quiet confidence is sooo sexy!
I don’t really have much to add here – organised religion brings out the best and the worst in people, sadly, and everyone has their own good and bad experiences. So instead, all I will say is:
HONK for more Mark!!!
Honk, honk! 🚙🚙🚙
Honks!
Well I have a forever crush on him, so I hope you’ll always cover him more!
Love him! He’s adorable, intelligent, and just seems like a good person
I would never paint the whole religion with a broad brush, but almost everyone I know has a horror story about the Catholic Church. A group of my friends all tell the story of a pervy priest who constantly tried to feel them up. This man was notorious for trying to stick his hand in their back pockets to squeeze their butts in a prolonged, “seductive” way for lack of a better way to put it, among other really creepy things. My parents, aunts and uncles also have stories of priests who got weird with kids they knew, and nuns who beat the crap out of them. My parents describe the nuns that ran the catholic schools they attended as the most bitter women you could ever imagine.
I attended catechism when I was a kid because I went to public school instead of Catholic school. The year I stopped going was the year we had a teacher who wanted to constantly tell us, a room of 10-year-olds, how holy it is to have sex with your spouse, and how much he loved having sex with his wife. It was all this man talked about! He wasn’t a priest, but he was obviously a f-cking creep to share that with a room full of children….and believe me, it was literally ALL he talked about so my mom pulled me out of the classes. A few years before that, we got to tour the convent (where nuns live) and rectory (where priests live), and the difference was staggering. I kid you not, the nuns lived the most barren, depressing existence I’ve ever seen–barely any furniture, only a few even had TVs or radios. The priests, on the other hand, had what looked to be an awesome bachelor pad. That really stuck with me and I still think about it sometimes. I honestly believe that nuns are mean to children because they’re so miserable. Not everyone realizes that becoming a nun or priest is optional and I believe many feel trapped and regret their choice. I also believe that being forced to remain celibate is unnatural for human beings.
I’ll always have love for the Catholic religion because for me it symbolizes tradition since so many members of my family were/are devout, but I’ve learned that organized religion in general isn’t for me.
Daria: your last paragraph really rings true for me. I was raised Catholic, but by the time I was 8 or 9 my teachers were already complaining to my parents that I “asked too many questions.” Our priest threatened to refuse to allow me to be confirmed because my mother did not attend mass regularly enough (the subtext of course being that she did not give enough money). She traveled regularly for business at the time and attended mass in whatever city she happened to be in that Sunday. I wanted to leave then, but I was still a young teenager and it was my mother’s and extended family’s wish for me to be confirmed, so I went through with it. A few years later, when a good friend who’d been very devout, became pregnant by a man who beat her and was sent to jail for drugs. This same priest refused to baptise her baby, because she was unmarried. That was the nail on the coffin for me – haven’t been back since.
Why isn’t he popular?
I love him, both him and Keaton are so handsome as they have aged. I’m not catholic but went to an all girls catholic school from 14 – 18 years of age. The staff was a mixed bag, some of the most compassionate and kind people to some really creepy teachers. We had two male teachers who used to be way too friendly with us. I felt uncomfortable around them and always avoided them. After a little while both were transferred out. A close friend of mine was pregnant and she wanted an abortion and the mental torture she suffered by the adults was beyond me. She was made to give birth and give away her child. The admonishment and shame she suffered was completely destructive she never recovered. There is way too much hypocrisy and I believe all religions are businesses, I have faith it’s personal to me and don’t affiliate with any organized religion. All religions share similar messages but when they become controlling or repressive they have lost their truth. I’m a firm believer in Live and Let Live.
> A close friend of mine was pregnant and she wanted an abortion and the mental torture she suffered by the adults was beyond me. She was made to give birth and give away her child.
This is horrible.
“A close friend of mine was pregnant and she wanted an abortion and the mental torture she suffered by the adults was beyond me. She was made to give birth and give away her child”
While I agree that this is wrong, the school and the teachers did not make her give birth or give away her child, unless this school was also a home for orphans. Her parents, not the school, would have been the decision-makers and they could have transferred her to another school.
> While I agree that this is wrong, the school and the teachers did not make her give birth or give away her child,
I don’t even know how you can seriously say that. The pressure from society can make people do any number of things they otherwise won’t do. I also imagine she needed parental consent and parents were also influenced by the church.
True but when your home, church and school are teaching one and the same thing it’s all connected. The church was attached to the school. The girls were all from the surrounding community. The parents were heavily influenced by the catholic doctrines. It’s not easy if your parents aren’t supportive and the school is not your relief they agree with the church and your parents. Your entire life revolves around these teachings and people and you have no way out. Everyone is telling you you are a sinner and the worst, you’ve let everyone down.
Again, it was the decision of the parents. They chose.
> Again, it was the decision of the parents. They chose.
I still don’t understand your point Lilac. Everyone should have a right to have an abortion. And the only person who should be choosing should be the one whom the body belongs to. And that person should not be shamed for it.
There are horror stories coming from the Latin American countries were parents or state choose for 9-10 y.o. rape victims to give birth instead of having an abortion.
I think pretty much everyone agrees it is barbaric. Except for the Catholic church, that is.
@EN, I have not said that an individual should not have control over her own body and whether or not she chooses to carry a pregnancy to term. However, in the situation put forth, the school is being blamed for a child being forced to carry a pregnancy to term when legally that could never be the case. The parents could have removed that child from that school at any time. The parents chose not to do so.
Also, EN, the Catholic church is not the only organization in the world opposed to abortion in the case of rape. Many non-Catholic members of the Republican party have proposed legislation that would block it. And there’s an article here today about the Duggars, they oppose abortion in all cases too and they’re on record as despising Catholicism.
Organized religion was and is about power and control.
They are just like any other political party, only political parties have to follow our human laws but religion is outside of our laws. Yet, they always seek to subvert them to their advantage.
I wish everyone realised this.
I also wish people would study the history of their churches to realise just how *much* it’s simply power and control of the public irrespective of religious affiliation.
Christians tend to rail against the more obvious sects of other religious like ISIS without realising that they practise a mild form of the same.
ITA completely.
“They are just like any other political party…”
I would add that they are just like any other monopoly, too. So many of them claim to offer the only or the best or the one true way to live your life and get to heaven – not unlike an airline that sets their own prices because they’ve got the only regularly scheduled flights from Boise to Cleveland… and because they offer to carry your baggage (for a fee, of course)… and because they offer minimal food and beverage service, too.
Also: uncomfortable seats.
> Also: uncomfortable seats.
I shouldn’t laugh, but it is funny. Yes, just like the airlines.
Even the seats should remind us all from the beginning that we are all sinners in the church view and should repent, we don’t deserve comfy seats.
@EN: Oh, it’s ok. Every time someone can laugh at it, an angel gets their wings.
One of my favorite wingmen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvhYqeGp_Do
An interesting article in the Guardian on a related subject:
“Children from religious families are less kind and more punitive than those from non-religious households, according to a new study.
Academics from seven universities across the world studied Christian, Muslim and non-religious children to test the relationship between religion and morality.
They found that religious belief is a negative influence on children’s altruism. “
My parents both went to Catholic school, one in the US (mom) and one in France (dad). My dad HATED school, he slept walk due to the anxiety and just how mean and rigid they were in France. He also recalls shifty things happening with priests and young boys. He says he was never abused himself but looking back he recalls situations that today would have raised alarm bells.
My mom has amusing stories about the nuns that taught her and while they were strict, it seems she enjoyed school way more than my dad did. They still both go to mass every Sunday but I stopped in college and never got into the habit after. I’m not an atheist, it seems extreme for me to label myself as one but I’m not sure what I believe. The pope has restored my faith in the church somewhat but still on the fence about a lot of things.
Former Catholic here, but just wanted to say Mark Ruffalo is a doll, and all 3 generations of our family’s women adore him! More on him, any day!
Catholic here.
It can not be overstated: there are too many messed up priests and sisters who have no business being around impressionable children. Or adults–some of us are hurting and they misuse their position.
There needs to be a better screening for individuals who choose religious life.
Pope Francis recently remarked that polarization in belief is dangerous.
The Church can be beautiful but ugly and fractured simultaneously.
I realised the Catholic Church was self serving & about $ power and greed when I toured the Vatican and found about the priceless treasures hidden in the vaults ( that money could go a long way helping people). And that thing about doing whatever bad things you want and just “confessing” makes it all ok. Don’t get me started on the decades of child abuse & systemic cover up. What a croc. It has as much credibility as Co$.
The Vatican will open your eyes. Plus, the history of these religions tend to boil down to one thing: cash grabs. The Cardinals and Popes were money-, and power-, and property hungry. The masses were just rubes who could be controlled to continue to line their pockets.
I’m just wondering what his new religion is? It’s described as:
He & his wife raise their kids with a religion that’s “a bit more free-flowing, giving them a lot of choices.”
Scientology??