Whoa. Can you imagine the mischief we could make with a system like this in the States?

If there’s one thing people are opinionated about besides politics, it’s religion. But most priests don’t keep comment card boxes outside their offices, and now some enterprising Germans have come up with a solution. It’s called the “Hirtenbarometer”—try saying that three times fast—a.k.a. the “Shepherd’s Barometer.”

It is an intriguing idea— www.hirtenbarometer.de allows users to rate priests for their performance in church, with youth, with the elderly, etc. There’s even a category for whether or not your priest is “up-to-date.” The results are constantly updated with the new average. With the Rhineland still reeling from the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal, it’s no surprise that the public wants to know: can I trust my priest?

Truly, I think that such a system would be disastrous here with un-Christian epithets flying from every direction. Such a thing could put CMR out of business. Can’t have that.

Can you imagine some of the crazy things people would say? It would be bad enough for the dissenting priests, but I am sure the real invective would be saved for the orthodox ones.

The Church is not a democracy. Your opinion on doctrine and Church matters will avail you little at the pearly gates and online survey results even less.