B. U. G. S.

Sugar, you are no lemon.

In response to “What End?” Sheri writes:

“As far as high priests and magicians with backward collars being out of business, I think that those who actually believed something would not mind being out of business. The rest, I sure wouldn’t mind seeing out of business, and I don’t think God would mind either. Shari”

One point of interest about this comment is that Sheri is a devout Catholic. Being raised a Bible Belter I know that when Protestants think of Catholics they see the Pope and the Cardinals, “The Princes of the Church” in their minds.

The idea that a CATHOLIC would say that it might be better if the clergy didn’t even get PAID, much less be Princes of the Church, violates everything we ahev leaned about Catholics.

Out on Polo Road near Pontiac, SC there is a tiny Catholic Church. Across from it is a giant Baptist church, several stories high. So when the Catholics in that little church describe their location, they make a statement that causes Ole Bob to roll on the floor with laughter.

They say, “We are the little Catholic Church across the street from the Baptist Cathedral.”

Let me deal quickly with stone-faces who think I am insulting somebody. That Baptist Church was built by the congregation and I respect that mightily. Europeans can only keep their already-built churches open with a Church Tax, and it is a point of pride with me that Europeans simply cannot believe that we built all those churches ourselves.

I wonder if anybody but an American could understand this terrific bit of humor?

I remember a homily in an Eastern Rite church where the priest talked about Jimmy Swaggart’s denunciation of the robes Eastern priests wear and the costly crosses they carry.

After quoting Swaggart, the priest said, “He’s right, you know. We don’t need all this. But we love God and we want to good when we are worshipping him.”

He did not mention that Swaggart himself never wore a suit that cost less than a thousand dollars when he preached.

Down through the ages millions of Catholics have mentioned that Paul the Tentmaker and Peter the Fishermen were men with callouses on their hands. Peter, from whom all the popes claim descent, was a married man.

The Catholic Bible says that “A bishop SHALL have one wife.”

Benjamin Franklin did not believe that any public official should get paid. He felt that public service was a privilege, and no one should be in public office who does not know how to make a living otherwise.

Sheri says that those who preach the Gospel should do so without pay.

Paying preachers has resulted in a clergy that is full of socipaths josteling one another for better pay.

Sheri is a very old-fashioned, out-of-date Catholic. She thinks a person should give up everything to follow Christ.

Her attitude doesn’t fit what we think of as Catholic. But it sure sounds good to an Old Bible Belter as a definition of a Christian.