Catholic priest arrested for shoplifting. According to the article, apparently Father Steven Poole, 42, is a compulsive hoarder who turned to stealing over the years in order to feed his compulsion to accumulate more and more useless junk, and some of the junk was... troubling. Handcuffs? Really?!
I've known both a number of Catholic ministers and a number of Baptist ministers over the years. Even the best of them, the most sincere and kind and pious, the ones who really believed and really wanted to help people, were a bit... *off*. I think it takes a special kind of person to devote their life to serving an imaginary sky demon rather than a lazy Great Penguin who just wishes herring and peace upon all, and by "special" I don't mean quite all sane. My crazy-dar (the penguin equivalent of a gaydar) starts beeping rapidly when I approach these folks. And it's not just because they're heretics worshipping a Great Sky Demon rather than Tuxology's lazy fat and friendly Great Penguin either. These folks are *off*.
I am no longer surprised when I read stories like this, because the ministry regardless of faith is a profession that seems to attract troubled people, whether it is gay people who become anti-gay crusaders to "prove" they're not gay (poor George Alan Rekers) or this junk collector guy. At least Mr. Poole is merely a hoarder who harmed nobody other than Wal-Mart, big deal. But it makes you wonder, when other pastors would not stay at this guy's rectory overnight because of all the junk everywhere, how it is that the Catholic hierarchy never assigned this poor guy to get psychiatric counseling for his problem. They had to have known that he was a few bats shy of a full belfry. But then, I guess they have bigger problems, such as covering up for criminal activity like boy-rape by their priests...
-Badtux the Tuxologist Penguin
I wonder if you aren't drawing too broad a conclusion. Catholic priests are weird because of celibacy (though I may have cause and effect reversed), And Baptist ministers are weird because - well, they're Baptists (ditto.)
ReplyDeleteCouldn't a nice, married Lutheran or Episcopal Minister be a bit more on the sane side?
Cheers!
JzB the creed-free trombonist
It could be, JB. Since I don't know any nice married Lutheran or Episcopal ministers (and am unlikely to ever do so, now that I have partaken of the Sacrament of the Herring and am a confirmed Tuxologist), I have no way of knowing whether they have the same core of crazy that I've seen in the fundy and Catholic ministers that I've encountered. All I can attest to is what I've seen, which is that the fundy and Catholic ministers aren't right in the head, even the ones who are well-meaning true believers have something off to them...
ReplyDelete- Badtux the Crazydar Penguin
I think somethings missing in a person that devotes themselves to Casper the friendly ghost. Low self esteem, fear, self loathing, I don't know. I don't care what or who you worship as long as no one gets hurt.
ReplyDeleteAND don't try and convert me.
Years ago we used to have Mormons always coming to our door,with the whole family in tow. After a while I got sick of that stuff and went to the door with a beer in hand in my underwear. Boxers.. Jaws dropped.
Never did come back... I guess I'm hopeless..Ha..
Tim, that's one of the advantages of owning a friendly black cat. Just start stroking him as they speak, then when they pause to take a breath, look at him quite seriously and say, "What is that you say, my dark lord? I should do... what? ..." Their eyes tend to become large as softballs and they quietly go elsewhere :).
ReplyDelete- Badtux the Dark-lord-ruled Penguin
(hey, we all know who runs the household!)