Catholics/Re: History Question

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Expert: - 4/22/2004


Question
Hello Michael,


I recently was viewing the Discovery Channel and I was shocked to learn that the pioneers for the Nazi airforce and (engineers and scientists) were building airplanes for different countries, as well as the United States.  Is this a sin?

Also, today Israel receieves billions of dollars in monies.  Does the Vatican also recieve monies form the US.  If so why?  And if not, why not.  I thought the state of Israel was formed just like the state of  Vatican City,Rome?  Please inform me.

Also, who is supplying Iraq with weapons? Why and how?  Why did the US sell weapons to these countries?  ...If so.

Thank you,


Paul

Answer
Hi Paul, I'm afraid that I'm not really up on the specifics of your question, but I would venture to guess that the picture we see on the news and on info-tainment programming is only a shadow of what's really happening. One must think critically.

As for the Catholic Church, we've already seen that it can be very good at bureaucratic cover ups in protecting very sick pedophiles. Is this kind of thing only the tip of the iceberg?

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Michael Clark, Ph.D.

Expertise

I'm a progressive Catholic--not a liberal, conservative nor a single-minded critic of Catholicism. I simply believe that adults in the 21C should use the mind God gave them and not just repeat ancient and medieval modes of thinking.

I can probably help with questions that intelligently and respectfully question those aspects of Catholicism that are not infallible. But if you're looking for someone to vigorously defend or perhaps refute Catholicism as a whole, that's not me. So please ask another expert.

Experience

I run an educational website earthpages.org and know what the web has to offer. I might suggest hyperlinks and/or book titles as I have a Ph.D. in Religious Studies and a considerable personal library.

Publications
Print Media:
My table from "Religions and Cults" at earthpages.org is reproduced with permission in L. Lindsey, S. Beach and B. Ravelli, Core Concepts in Sociology, 2nd ed., p. 157

World Wide Web:
My online article "Letter to God" coauthored with Buddhist monk, E. Raymond Rock, appears on several different spirituality-based websites, including http://tinyurl.com/db7a5o

I've interviewed, as a Christian, a self-proclaimed mystic: http://tinyurl.com/cawykr

My articles appeared at the former New View magazine nuvunow.ca and are published at earthpages.org.

Education/Credentials
Ph.D. in Religious Studies
M.A. in Comparative Religion
B.A. Hon. in Psychology/Sociology
For more info, please see my CV and letters of recommendation and my blog at michaelwclark.com.

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