The default position is that one is supposed to respect religion even in disagreement-buthow can we be expected to do that in the presence of such as this?
Would that the Catholic Church would like to leave behind more important vestiges of a feudal past than this one.
IMO, the Bishop is out of line–people worship in the way they were taught as kids. 1/3 of the congregants still kneel? Why Would Jesus Care?
Screw religion, this article makes it really hard to take journalism seriously.
checks forum
What does The Da Vinci code have to do with this? Was the author trying to get a supurfluous Google hit? What the hell?
Exactly. Kneeling? Who cares? Let them do cartwheels of adoration if they feel like it.
Since when do Catholic priests have a problem with members of their congregation getting on their knees? 
Ooh, burn.
This part at the beginning gets me:
You know what, to say that these people are in a state of mortal sin because they’re praying in the manner that they prefer…well, that’s one of the reasons I’m no longer a practicing Catholic. Not the major reason, but one of them - to me Mass was/is about prayer, and during many Masses, by that time I was fairly deep in prayer - so my body knew what was expected. When I visited other parishes where they stood, it jolted me out of my prayer state (now I’d call it almost a meditation state).
Let people pray as they will, within the bounds of respectfulness to the Mass and to others around them.
No, you are supposed to treat religion with respect. Whether you actually respect it or not is irrelevant. I’m Jewish. But, I still treat copies of the NT, the Book Of Mormon or Al Quran the same way I would treat a torah.
As a member of a religion in which we wear funny hats on our heads, and cut the turtlenecks off of our other heads, I realize that this is some pretty strange stuff. But when a gentile attends a Jewish ceremony, the proper behavior is to show respect and shout “Mazel tov!” when appropriate.
I’m an atheist, and I think that’s rather sad. Ordinary people of faith are being used in a proxy war where ironically the authority of bishops is being undermined by those who wish to reassert a less questioning time. That’s cold.
Couldn’t agree more. However journalists don’t claim to be God’s chosen spokesman or consign people to eternal fire for disagreeing, and they don’t speak inerrantly.
No, you are supposed to treat people with respect. Stupid ideas, dumb arguments and piles of paper are just that, ideas, arguments and paper. I treat books with respect because of the ideas in them and I like them in good shape. But in the end, religious texts are just piles of wood pulp and ink.
I suppose those special church benches, with a padded rail in front where you can kneel, are rather expensive to make. Besides, with ordinary chairs, a room can be put to other uses besides worship.
I’m going to be nitpicky here. There are ordinary chairs (more or less) that have kneelers built in. I’ve seen them used in more than one church that didn’t have pews. (Oh, and the kneeler is built into the back of the chair, not the front. 
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I really, really, really want to see this done in church.
What a silly arguement. If people want to kneel, let 'em kneel. If they want to stand, let 'em stand. I always assumed it was the fact that a congregation gathered for worship that mattered most.
Then again, I’m Episcopal. Some people stand, some people kneel. It’s all good. As long as somebody remembered to make the coffee for coffee hour afterwards, we’re happy.
My Grandma Mercotan considered that the attitude of the hell-bound.
Of course, she considered me hell-bound too, especially since the best man in my wedding was jewish. So there you go.
If she’d lived to hear I was Unitarian, which has had “sky-clad” services in some parts of the country, it would have been interesting to see her reaction. :eek:
As for the OP, well when you have an official church hierarchy, with chain of command, you’re gonna get stuff like this. What is the purpose of the hierarchy, if not to tell the subordinates how things are supposed to be done?
That bishop is as rigid a hardcase as any “old-timer”. It sounds as if since he thinks one way, that is automatically the* only* way.
I’m not Catholic, I’m Episcopalian. In the pews of my congregations’ church there is one of those “Welcome!” books, for newcomers. It explains why we do some of the things we do, and explains terms.
But the first page, which is as far as some people get, it dedicated to simple statements of welcome. The book says “We are glad you are here, and want you to come back” and “Everyone was a newcomer at one time” It says “No matter what other people may be doing, don’t do anything which makes you feel uncomfortable” and that goes on to mention standing up, or kneeling, or whatever. The final and most important statement is in regards to Holy Communion. "You may be wondering, ‘am I allowed to take Communion here?’ The answer is not YES, but WE HOPE YOU WILL!
Some of us kneel at times, some don’t. It’s left up to us. We are told that no one way of public worship is the only way, that the way we do it is a matter of custom, and most definitely not a requirement to “be saved”
It’s too bad that the rigidity of one person may be misrepresenting their faith.
Agreed, and that’s why I didn’t stay in that rigid, hierarchical Army. Some of things that hierarchy insisted upon were also hard to take seriously.
Episcopal? In America, that almost makes you an atheist. 
Why ? I don’t respect religion; why should I lie and pretend otherwise ?
Because a large number of people will become beligerent and possibly violent upon perceived disrespect to their religion.
If you feel you can handle that, then no reason.