catholicism , islam and evangelical christianity are examples of how religions competing for exactly the same turf...allegience, forced or otherwise, of pretty much everyone... inevitably wind up at each others throats, much as popular myth/entertainment demonizes those creatures most like ourselves ( werewolves, giant apes, etc)

the bitterest of ironies is that historically all the above diss jews even more ( while freely plagiarizing from that far older parent faith), when that faith has no expansionist agenda whatsoever, beyond a legitimate historical claim to a sliver of real estate in the middle east.

First of all...it was a Viewpoint in light of the recent call to excessively misogynistic Anglicans to return to Catholicism. It wasn't an overarching debate on the soundness or worth of major world religions. The absence of discussion on Islam is irrelevant.

Second...the Catholic church lead by its (infallible?) Pope change interpretation of the big book to mesh with the times. If the book's interpretation changes over time...it's understandably difficult to "keep the faith" in the institution doing the interpreting.

Anyone who IS Catholic should not be terrified of criticism, but should listen with openness and see if that criticism applies. They also have the right (some would say obligation) to turn a critical eye to it themselves.

Anyone who IS NOT has every right to state their opinion and criticize until the cows come home. Catholicism is, by today's social standards, bigoted against women and against homosexuals. If a certain institution wants to have those views, they are free to do so. They should not be free to block legislation that grants equal protection under the law, and they should not be receiving tax breaks from the government of a secular nation. Especially since some of that "tax free" money goes to such deplorable programs as telling Africans that condoms cause HIV infection.

That a faculty member at the University wrote this is beyond depressing.