The Catholic Church, Authoritarianism and Property Rights

In my many conversations, recent and historical with the many Catholics I know one thing that has struck me is that most of them (the more devout ones) seem to be under the impression that the whole world is obsessed with sex. Well, okay maybe it is but they seem to leave out the fact that they themselves are also obsessed with sex, just in a different way.

So what do I mean? Well every time you see representative of the Catholic Church on some god awful talk show (hilarious, right?) they are always trying to tell everyone what to do with their own bodies. Don't masturbate, don't have sex before marriage, don't use birth control, don't have abortions and their all time favourite don't have sex with someone of the same gender as you. I believe everyone has heard such ranting's from the church but why do they feel the need to impose their own morality on the rest of us?

Well the Catholic Church is an extremely authoritarian organization. So when some seemingly celibate bishop or priest begins telling women what to do with their own bodies then the faithful will listen. Here is our first problem, you have to be extremely authoritarian if you as a celibate man think that somehow you have the authority to tell thousands of women what to do with their property and by that I mean their bodies. But you see this idea only seems bizarre to people who have either broke away for the Catholic Church or people who have never been involved in it in the first place. Because the foundation of the Catholic Church is authoritarianism and control.

Now before I go on I'm only picking on the Catholics here because it's what I know, I was brought up Catholic so I can only go by my own experience. That said we can now return to our topic, the authoritarianism within Catholic thinking goes right up. God is total authority, then the pope, then the cardinals, then the bishops, then the priests. Like each one is each others boss and they're all your bosses. So we can easily see that the whole institution rests on authoritarian thinking.

This is why Libertarian minded people like me float away from the church. A Catholic would say that god owns my body outright so I have to do what he wants me to do with it and just in case I don't he has sent loads of people who will tell me to my face what to do with my body because somehow god being the top man in the organization he's above speaking to me personally. But the problem is that I feel differently. I feel that if we accept there is such a thing as property rights (if you think there isn't and I steal your phone you may then suddenly think differently) then logically (and with the absence of some metaphysical being talking to me directly) then you must own your own body therefore no-one regardless of what costume they wear and how many people call them 'your grace' or whatever can tell you what to do and what not to do with it.

If Catholics want to play out their little hierarchy system within their own group then fine, I believe in complete freedom of religion, but to all the Catholics I say think twice when telling the rest of the world how to treat their own property. Even if you are right and sinners like me are going straight to hell without passing go or collecting a communion wafer. Well then did god not give me the free will to choose that? It seems to me like it's done of your business. You may enjoy telling others what to do but less people than you think enjoy hearing it.

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