h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I disagree with the researcher on this...

I don't think that the Bishop views the human body as shameful. I think he probably viewed that photo on the calendar as lust.

Maybe so. In that case the Bishop sees sexuality, something all of us who've got past puberty are provided with by our bodies, as shameful. Which amounts to much the same thing; organised religion making people feel guilty for no good reason. As usual.

You are biased But, lust is different. I am sure he does not view sexuality as wrong or shameful. He /knows/ he comes from sex. Sex outside marriage is condemned not to make people feel guilty, but more as a protection against STDs and the mother being left with a baby and not father.

That's one amazing generalisation about the reasons for "lust" being objected to, and I'm afraid I just don't believe your explanation. You must have heard the expression "Catholic guilt" - it's so commonly used (often by Catholics) that it's become a cliche. Personally, I think that policy is all about the Church wanting to maintain its power. Make people feel ashamed of their natural desires, make them feel dirty and lower their self esteem, and then tell them they can be "cleansed" by your product - in this case, religion. A brilliant marketing strategy - but not that good for the consumers/worshippers, who are kept addicted.
Sex outside marriage always has gone on and always will go on. What really can help to stop STDs and unwanted pregnancies is the availability of condoms - which the Catholic church condemns. But then, the Church clearly cares more about its dogma than it does about helping people, as the "nude priest" story demonstrates.
(By the way, I do appreciate that many other religions have similar or even worse attitudes to sexuality. I don't mean to single out Catholicism, it's just that the story that prompted this thread concerns Catholics).
I object to being called "biased", but I have never made any secret of my attitude to religion. Visit my homepage and you'll see several relevant links. There is a difference between being biased and having opinions.
Say it loud, I'm a founder member of h2g2's Freedom From Faith Foundation and I'm proud. The Foundation's homepage - http://www.h2g2.com/A254314 - is one of my favourite places on h2g2, and I heartily recommend it to anyone who hasn't yet paid it a visit.

I meant the biased as a semi-joke, which is why I placed the happy face. If it bothered you, sorry.

Religion isn't just a tool of power, you know. The Church is not scheming and plotting for ways to make people follow them, etc... There are people who do that in the Church, though, but they exist everywhere. One of the reasons religion came to be is for certain rules to be set. For example, the 'No Killing' rule makes sure we can live and be productive and the species can continue and not be a corpse.

I know sex outside marriage has always existed and will always exist. Killing and wars have also existed and will always exist. In my opinion, and I am sure you know by know, sex outside marriage is bad. Since I know that'll exist forever, I think condoms should be used. I do understand why the Church considers it wrong, the sperm is being physically prevented from doing what it has to do and the sperm dies. But all will die, really... maybe 1 is able to survive and create a new person..

But anyway, the Church does care about helping people. It does not believe that the ends justify the means, though. So they will not begin selling condoms to raise money for the hungry as they consider condoms to be wrong.

I am afraid I also don't believe that the Church condemns lust for 'guilt.', though.

Oh, and I understand about it centering on Catholicism and thank you for the message...

OK, fair enough. I do accept that there are good people in the Church - I had a lot of sympathy with the priest in the story, who I thought didn't deserve to be condemned by the bishop for a charitable act.
I took a look at your page, and I really like the idea of the Church of Weekendism. Now there's a creed I could subscribe to!

I must also agree that the Bishop was rather harsh. The priest had very good intentions and it was not robbing a bank to donate the money...

Yes, the Church of Weekendism is great. You don't have to do any work. Though I am thinking of converting to the Procrastinators as they do work... just at another time...