Merk wrote:the Catholic religion holds some of the deepest, darkest secrets in religious history.
Oh? I'm actualy genuinely interested in hearing these secrets. After all, it would be foolish to follow a belief structure that has such shrouded and dark secrets.
Lots of ritualistic, supernatural stuff. A lot of items and rituals used by the catholic church are actually almost the same as those used in Pagan rituals. Most christian holidays, rituals, and practices had already been in place in a number of pagan religions. What the church did, was try to change history, tried to make it look like they invented these things, and call it all the word of god. Then, after the church had firmly taken power in most of europe, they tried to frighten their believers into hating pagans, saying they were worshiping the devil. Where do you think that all started? Pagans never worshiped the devil, that's something entirely different all together, something that started much later in history.
The pentagram, for example, the five pointed star, was called the sign of the devil by the church. It's no such thing. however, now almost everyone believes it, and when they see someone wearing one, they immediately think 'Devil woshiper!" I wore a pentagram for quite a while, trust me, I know from experience.
If you're curious, Satanism, the actual 'worship of the devil,' isn't really worship of anything. True satanists believe only in themselves and seek to better themselves and please themselves at whatever cost, at everyone elses expense.
'Black Magic,' isn't the tool of the devil. Any magic, even the simplest of spells (they DO exist, mind you.) can become black magic. It's all about intent. If you cast a spell with the intent to harm someone, the spell becomes black, and the negative energy will build up and turn on you one day. It has nothing to do with the devil, however many genuinly dark spells use the dead, evil spirits and the like to channel or call energy. Not something I tamper with, by the way, but it is interesting.
Remember, the church can change the 'word of god' at any time they please, and often have done so when it suits them. Why do you think there are so many dirivatives of the christian religion? Hell, the church of England was created because the king wanted to divorce his wife, and it's forbidden under Catholic faith, if I remember correctly.
Though it was before your time, Catholic mass was only held in latin. How can you believe in something, if you don't know what the hell the priest is telling you?
The Crusades. A massacre, in the name of God. I'm sure he's pleased about that one... Now, the actual reason for the crusades? Yeah, they wanted the holy land. And they wanted to be filthy rich, too.
I'm not trying to say 'lets bash the catholics!' To be honest, I find the catholic church somewhat interesting, and it may be my next project. I want to learn more about their supernatural dabblings, the occult, exorcism, all those things. Fun stuff...
