Paging the Middle Ages

Hey, let's go back in time to Auto da Fe, inquisition, excommunication, indulgences, and all the other great stuff that the Catholic Church has in its history and arsenal. First, a disclaimer: I do not belong to any organized religion and I do not attend a church. This neither means that I am athiest nor agnostic. It just means I don't join churches, and I don't attend them either. How, when, where, why, and whether I praise and pray to God is my own business, and I don't feel compelled to share it with a bunch of like-minded strangers or with some sort of mystical heirarchy. Obviously, I respect the choice and right of people to praise God (or not) however, whenever, and wherever they want, provided it does not infringe on anyone else's right to do just about anything. I used to call myself a Catholic, although technically I never made it into the club. Let's just say I didn't get the right merit badges. My choice not to become an active and proper member of that Church has only been validated, in my opinion, by that sect's vicious positions on homosexuality, clerical celibacy, contraception, and abortion, which tends to fly in the face of its apparent decades-long tolerance of pedophiliac priests. To underscore my disgust with that church and its laws and heirarchy: some lawyer out in California has sued in ecclesiastical court to excommunicate John Kerry from the Catholic church. (You read that correctly). Why? Because of his private opposition to abortion and his public support of a woman's right to choose. This guy has also targeted Ted Kennedy, Tom Harkin, Susan Collins, and Mario Cuomo. (What about McGreevey?) Honestly, if this happens, it would be right to call Kerry a martyr. It really is time for the Catholic Church to make the great leap out of its mystical, Rennaissance Faire-type show. Just my two cents. UPDATE: Thou shalt not lie. "The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has had no contact with Mr. (Marc) Balestrieri," said Dominican Father Augustine DiNoia, undersecretary of the congregation."His claim that the private letter he received from (Dominican) Father Basil Cole is a Vatican response is completely without merit," Father DiNoia told Catholic News Service Oct. 19, declining to discuss the matter further.