Comments on: Sunday’s Mass in Ruth’s House Contemptible

By: MoonDog

MoonDog — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 17:57:38 +0000

I was raised as a Catholic but have since left the church. I attended a Catholic grade/high schools and I was well indoctrinated. I left the Catholic faith for many reasons, one of which is their hypocrisy.

I won’t get into the issue of using the stadium because I really don’t care if they did or didn’t. But I can assure you I was thoroughly pissed off after being told what I was made to believe truthful, only to learn I’d been lied to for decades.

And don’t think Catholic charities are all that either. I know Catholics who have attended the schools and churches, paid tuitions and donated to the church, and in their time of need, had to go through so much red tape it wasn’t even worth trying to get the diocese to help them.

By: Charles Bass

Charles Bass — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:35:01 +0000

Well, stadiums are publicly subsidized but privately held. I think the public should take advantage of these stadiums whenever they can because, as much as I love baseball, it’s ridiculous that non-baseball loving taxpayers have to finance a top-notch, perk-infested stadium.

In any event, religious groups (not just the pope) rent these publicly funded but privately held stadiums/arenas all the time. So long as they’re being charged at fair market value for rental of the space, I don’t see a problem. And the government, of course, should get more return on its investment.

Bill, for the record, I agree that we can hold companies accountable. But I don’t think the baseball stadium is the best place to do it. Your call to arms might prove more effective elsewhere, for precisely the reason you’re agitated — people want to enjoy the game, pure and simple. It’s an escape from problems like Katrina, not a reminder. It’d be better if more people had your response, but I’m pretty sure the last thing they want to do is to be reminded of their ignorance at the ballpark.

By: John

John — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:22:58 +0000

yeah did taxpayer money actually fund the event (legitimate question)? if the catholic church were to rent out yankee stadium or nationals stadium (which i don’t know if they did or not), that wouldn’t be breaching church and state, would it?

By: Bill B.

Bill B. — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:33:38 +0000

It’s a publicly funded venue, so they can and should be used for public events.

If taxpayer money is used to pay for a religious event, it breaches the separation of church and state.

Politicizing the nature of the advertisements starts you down a slippery slope.

Holding companies responsible for those they associate with is a common practice. I know lots of people boycotted companies who advertise during Bill O'Reilly's show on FOX News.

it’s absurd to think we’re going to free ourselves from it.

One can hope.

Unless you want publicly funded baseball.

As a proponent of socialism, that sounds good to me. :)

By: Charles Bass

Charles Bass — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:18:25 +0000

It’s a publicly funded venue, so they can and should be used for public events. I’m not Catholic and I certainly agree about the Church’s complicity. But, like it or not, 50,000 people wanted to come see him. When you get to those numbers, it’s hard to find a venue that can hold that kind of a crowd.

As advertisements go, I’m pretty sure advertising has been a distinct part of baseball stadiums for just about as long as it’s been played *professionally*. Politicizing the nature of the advertisements starts you down a slippery slope. It’s one thing not to like it; it’s absurd to think we’re going to free ourselves from it.

Unless you want publicly funded baseball. Hey, that’s not a bad idea…