31 October 1517

488 years later, a church in Wittenburg gets a theses posted to its door once again. I wonder if 95 Theses: Christianity for a New Millennium by Matthew Fox will initiate similar results. Especially since the Catholic Church does not appear to have learned from it's past mistakes.

For those not familiar with his work, Matthew Fox is a former Dominican priest. His beliefs did not blend well with the official stance of the church. He teaches that God is both mother and father, female and male. He often emphasizes the feminine aspect, because the Church has swung so alarmingly towards the masculine, and he feels this needs to be balanced out. He teaches that sexuality is sacred, that science and religion are compatible, and that homosexuals should be accepted within the church. He uses scripture to show that God accepts all of these stances.

Needless to say, the Catholic Church wasn't very happy with his outspoken heresy and had him expelled. As were around 100 other theologians and pastoral ministers who challenged the anti-women, anti-sex, anti-homosexuality doctrine of John Paul II. As an interesting side note, the man who expelled them was none other than Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now currently referred to as Benedict XVI) in his role of Head of the Congregation of Doctrine and the Faith, formally known as the Holy Inquisition, and was founded in the 16th century to fight the outcome of the previous theses.

Anyhow, the new Pope has stated that he will listen to the whole church. Fox has thus traveled to Wittenburg to once again issue a challenge to the Church.

(My personal favorite: 16. Christians must distinguish between Jesus and Paul.)

While the Church certainly no longer condones the selling of indulgences, it is still acting in a manner that is contrary to the teachings of Jesus. It is using the name of God to justify actions which are ignorant, foolish, hateful, harmful, and even deadly. The Church may not be committing the same sins as their predecessors, but it still has a lot to answer for.

The Church's opposition to sex education and condoms (along with other methods of birth control) has resulted in many African nations having little to no access to either, which has since greatly contributed to the spread of the AIDS epidemic raging in the continent. They could save so many lives if they would help educate and protect the population, but they have chosen not to.

It ignored the widespread problem of priests molesting children. Instead of addressing the problem, the scandals hushed up and the priests were quietly moved from church to church. The Church knowingly allowed children to be molested and harmed by this course of action.

It condones the teaching of lies and ignores scientific evidence when it conflicts with its preconceived notions of the universe. Hell, it took them 359 years to admit that Galileo was right all along. They may no longer be pushing the flat-earth and geocentric theories when describing our surroundings, but they are still claiming that creationism be taught alongside evolution. You can no more teach biology without the theory of evolution than you can teach physics without the theory of relativity. But this is exactly what the Church is doing.

It continues to condemn homosexuals despite the large amount of historical, psychological, and biological evidence that shows us that it is perfectly normal for a small percentage of the population. It continues to deride and oppress women.

I left the Christian faith and my own Catholic upbringing for many reasons. Please understand, I don't hate Christianity. I greatly admire Jesus and what he did. I truly believe that he was a manifestation of the Divine. Alas, I am forced to agree with Gandhi when he said, "I like your Jesus. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Jesus."

People like Matthew Fox give me hope. Let's see if Benedict XVI will live up to his promise to be attentive to all Christians. Let us hope that he listens to this new theses. Let him remember that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Yes, I know that the month and day that Luther posted his 95 Theses is debatable. I just needed a title for this entry and I couldn't think of anything better.