Particularly for altar-boys!

As a former catholic, I say, fuck these people.

Link to tweet

nothing sexier than a bare shoulder.

There is a standard bit of theology in the RCC that says the temper is as sinful as the tempted. Much of the story of the embodiment of evil (the devil, Lucifer, fallen angels, etc.) is as a tempter, not as an actual "doer of evil". The theology can get tortured though because one quickly goes from the concept of the intentional temper (basically a con man so to speak) to this kind of thought that one can be a "temper" by merely existing. In law there is the concept of entrapment which is roughly the same thing, tempting someone to do something they might otherwise not do. We draw a distinction between that and people who see an opportunity to do something wrong and act upon it. If I carelessly or forgetfully leave my keys in my car, that's not entrapment.

But on more than one occasion, the church has acted to say that leaving your keys was a sinful act. This is what they are doing here. Bare shoulders, in the past it might have been bare ankles, or tight clothes is seen as a sin because of how OTHER people will behave.

I love it when these "dress code" arguments start. There is nothing harder to define than a dress code. And it is virtually impossible to justify "style" based codes. Safety gear is one thing. But after that, it gets really difficult to justify anything on any other basis than "I don't like it".

Wouldn't that be the biblical answer?

This is a threat. This is also the first time I've heard rape described as awkward.

that's how some religions are.