Whoa there. Lets back it up and take a deep breath. You jumped from "the contemplative life is a waste of time to "burning heretics alive for their own good, awarding bishops coats of arms, or covering up child abuse by priests to protect the church from scandal." The Martha/Mary narrative shows us that the Christian life is BOTH contemplative and practical. The are equally important to the life of the Church. I'm not saying we should all be theologians (I'm trained as a philosopher, not a theologian) but, I must object to the notion that all Christians should abandon contemplation "go do something useful."