Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Combatting Idiocy: The Papal Edition
So the Pope has a new book out: Memory and Identity. How much of it is actually his words? I don't know. It is possible he wrote all of it, but it's equally possible that he drafted it and his lackeys wrote it for him. Or even possible that they wrote it without his senile old brain knowing about any of it. But it's not important who the specific source is. The point is that it comes from the Vatican; and thus many Catholics take it as the word of god.
I haven't read the book, but there are two contentions in it that I want to rail against. Firstly, the Pope calls gay marriage "evil" and says that it's deteriorating marriage, somehow unsanctifying it, and that it is important to fight this evil because it threatens society. Now, you all know how I feel about gay marriage, so I won't rehash my opinions here. But aren't there bigger evils out there than gay marriage? Like, perhaps, war, murder, poverty, and racism/gender inequality? Obviously, according to the Bible, homosexuality is evil in and of itself. But the Catholic Church can no longer say out and out that homosexuality is wrong, because it's too mainstream, so they're making their stand at a totally arbitrary point; the point where gay people actually get rights and equality. I might even understand it if they were going to say "homosexuality is evil, so we hate gays." Well, not understand it, but you know what I mean.
The second big point in the book is abortion. This blog has been up for months, and we haven't had a serious discussion about abortion. In fact, I even had a reader request to post about abortion, but I didn't follow through because of it. Now, most people are making a big stink about the Pope comparing legalized abortion to the Holocaust, but that's not what I'm going to find fault with right now. Honestly, if they believe abortion is murder, then I logically it would follow that it's simply a mass murder. No, it's not one borne out of hatred and racism, but to them, it's murder nonetheless. What bothers me is that the Pope, and the Catholic church in general, is simply overstepping their bounds in this matter, and have been for years now. Where in the Bible does it mention that conception is where a human soul is created? Instead, the Pope makes up his mind for the entire Catholic populace, and forces them to believe it or be heretics. Yes, heretics, because by calling it a scourge of great evil, you are either with him or against him on this one. And that's true even if you're Catholic and pro-choice.
He mentions in his book that the 20th century saw great evil with Nazism (oh wait, didn't the Pope sit idly by back then too?), communism, and fascism, and that we will continue to be faced with great evil, even in "liberal societies." Yeah, and before the 20th century, the Vatican led a lot of great evil, like the Crusades, and wars led in the name of Catholicism. I had sort of assumed that the Vatican was getting more and more liberal (and they are, in a larger sense), but this just shows you what happens when you put a bunch of old-ass white men in charge of philosophy and theology.
As for the Pope, he needs ... not to be alive anymore. This isn't a malicious wish, not like with Marmar and Skip Bayless. Would a new Pope be any more liberal? Almost certainly not, but maybe after that one died or the one after that, there would be. At least a new Pope would be able to defend (ok, not defend, the Pope doesn't need to defend anything) his views in public. And when you have the spiritual leader of one of the largest religions in the world, unable to walk and talk, yet publishing controversial and heated books, it's safe to say he needs to go.
In case it isn't obvious enough, a lot of my problems with the Pope are rooted in much deeper problems with religion and Christianity in general. Marmar has asked me to write an anti-religious post, (and this one certainly qualifies), but I'm shooting for a bigger target next time.
I haven't read the book, but there are two contentions in it that I want to rail against. Firstly, the Pope calls gay marriage "evil" and says that it's deteriorating marriage, somehow unsanctifying it, and that it is important to fight this evil because it threatens society. Now, you all know how I feel about gay marriage, so I won't rehash my opinions here. But aren't there bigger evils out there than gay marriage? Like, perhaps, war, murder, poverty, and racism/gender inequality? Obviously, according to the Bible, homosexuality is evil in and of itself. But the Catholic Church can no longer say out and out that homosexuality is wrong, because it's too mainstream, so they're making their stand at a totally arbitrary point; the point where gay people actually get rights and equality. I might even understand it if they were going to say "homosexuality is evil, so we hate gays." Well, not understand it, but you know what I mean.
The second big point in the book is abortion. This blog has been up for months, and we haven't had a serious discussion about abortion. In fact, I even had a reader request to post about abortion, but I didn't follow through because of it. Now, most people are making a big stink about the Pope comparing legalized abortion to the Holocaust, but that's not what I'm going to find fault with right now. Honestly, if they believe abortion is murder, then I logically it would follow that it's simply a mass murder. No, it's not one borne out of hatred and racism, but to them, it's murder nonetheless. What bothers me is that the Pope, and the Catholic church in general, is simply overstepping their bounds in this matter, and have been for years now. Where in the Bible does it mention that conception is where a human soul is created? Instead, the Pope makes up his mind for the entire Catholic populace, and forces them to believe it or be heretics. Yes, heretics, because by calling it a scourge of great evil, you are either with him or against him on this one. And that's true even if you're Catholic and pro-choice.
He mentions in his book that the 20th century saw great evil with Nazism (oh wait, didn't the Pope sit idly by back then too?), communism, and fascism, and that we will continue to be faced with great evil, even in "liberal societies." Yeah, and before the 20th century, the Vatican led a lot of great evil, like the Crusades, and wars led in the name of Catholicism. I had sort of assumed that the Vatican was getting more and more liberal (and they are, in a larger sense), but this just shows you what happens when you put a bunch of old-ass white men in charge of philosophy and theology.
As for the Pope, he needs ... not to be alive anymore. This isn't a malicious wish, not like with Marmar and Skip Bayless. Would a new Pope be any more liberal? Almost certainly not, but maybe after that one died or the one after that, there would be. At least a new Pope would be able to defend (ok, not defend, the Pope doesn't need to defend anything) his views in public. And when you have the spiritual leader of one of the largest religions in the world, unable to walk and talk, yet publishing controversial and heated books, it's safe to say he needs to go.
In case it isn't obvious enough, a lot of my problems with the Pope are rooted in much deeper problems with religion and Christianity in general. Marmar has asked me to write an anti-religious post, (and this one certainly qualifies), but I'm shooting for a bigger target next time.
# posted by Stuart @ 7:11 PM 
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I think the problem with gay marriage is that it signals an acceptance of a sin. You mention "war, murder, poverty, and racism/gender inequality" as larger evils but these are all things that are considered evil by popular opinion. I don't think making the stance at gay marriage is arbitrary.
Your second point about abortion seems to assume that the pope simply made up the idea that life begins at conception. I am not sure if you realize this but the Catholic Church also does not support contraception. And this is not arbitrary as it does stem from actual passages in The Bible. And I would think that opposition to contraception would logically lead to opposition of abortion as well.
Your second point about abortion seems to assume that the pope simply made up the idea that life begins at conception. I am not sure if you realize this but the Catholic Church also does not support contraception. And this is not arbitrary as it does stem from actual passages in The Bible. And I would think that opposition to contraception would logically lead to opposition of abortion as well.
# posted by 
: 8:00 PM
: 8:00 PM 
For the first millenium of Christiandom, the church proudly advocated liberal causes to alleviate poverty and suffering both physically and spiritually. The church was young and acted as a grassroots organization for the masses at the bottom of the feudal hierarchy. The last thousand years has seen the Catholic church attain power by legitimizing emerging monarchies and eventually nation states. They served to aid the wealthy and power hungry by offering indulgences to buy one's way into heaven and sanctioning violence in the name of Christ and retaking the Holy Land. Returning to its roots, the third millenium of Christianity has seen an upsurge of local action for social justice and a disassociation with the Catholic hierarchy. For instance, a majority of Catholics in America believe that women should be ordained as priests. This would help alleviate the shortage of priests and engage the larger debate about sexuality within the various diocesses. In Latin America local priests and nuns are giving thier lives in order to promote the plight of the poor. The same is going on in Africa and Oceania (the two fastest growing Catholic populations).
Pope John II was the first non-Italain pope since the Great Schism during the late 14th century. He speaks many languages, traveled the most of any pope, and officially recognized the Theory of Evolution in the late nineties. While there are plenty of areas with which I disagree with the current incarnation of his holiness, he policies slowly move the church towards it's more liberal heritage. Like a large vessel that's slow to turn and gain speed, Catholic dogma is a leviathan. I look forward to a "third-world" pope who injects his experiences poverty, healing, and the struggle for social justice into the heart of Vatican policy.
Broyles
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Pope John II was the first non-Italain pope since the Great Schism during the late 14th century. He speaks many languages, traveled the most of any pope, and officially recognized the Theory of Evolution in the late nineties. While there are plenty of areas with which I disagree with the current incarnation of his holiness, he policies slowly move the church towards it's more liberal heritage. Like a large vessel that's slow to turn and gain speed, Catholic dogma is a leviathan. I look forward to a "third-world" pope who injects his experiences poverty, healing, and the struggle for social justice into the heart of Vatican policy.
Broyles
# posted by : 5:22 PM
: 5:22 PM << Home
