This is the first part of a speech Stephen Fry delivered at a 2009 Intelligence^2 debate. The topic was whether the Catholic Church is a force for good in the world.
Mr. Fry makes some very good points, on why he thinks that the Catholic Church is not a force for good today, nor has been for hundreds of years.
In his speech he names almost everything that makes me uneasy with the greater institution of the church.
I was brought up catholic, and the faith that I can identify myself the most with is Catholicism. What I don’t want to identify myself with is the ignorance, arrogance and bigotry of the church’s leaders. The lack of proper punishment for men of the church, who in the act of raping children, treat one of the most basic principles of catholic belief — brotherly love — with contempt, is unacceptable for me.
I believe in God and I believe in the community of the church, because I know it can do good — I’ve seen it in our parish — but I do not believe in the institution of the church.
The second part of Stephen Fry’s speech can be accessed through this link, the entire 1.5 hour debate can be found here.
