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News & ArtsFriday, March 22, 2013
Religion Pope Francis Is Upset About the "Spiritual Poverty" of Wealthy Nations
Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Mar 22, 2013 at 12:17 PM
Isn't the new Pope great? He calls to cancel his newspaper delivery all by himself instead of getting an altar boy to do it! But more importantly, he named himself after a saint who cared deeply about the poor, which means that he's going to make the Catholic Church less about chastising others and more about taking care of the impoverished. Why, just look at his first address to diplomats from around the world, as reported in Catholic World Report, where he says he does care about the poor...
... But there is another form of poverty! It is the spiritual poverty of our time which afflicts the so-called richer countries particularly seriously. It is what my much-loved predecessor, Benedict XVI, called the ‘dictatorship of relativism,’ which makes everyone his own criterion and endangers the coexistence of peoples.
And that brings me to a second reason for my name. Francis of Assisi tells us we should work to build peace. But there is no true peace without truth! There cannot be true peace is everyone is his own criterion, if everyone can always claim exclusively his own rights without at the same time caring for the good of others, of everyone, on the basis of the nature that unites every human being on this earth.
The love affair with Pope Francis may continue for a while, but rest assured: This is a man who is going to continue promoting the idea that gay people and women are not quite human in God's eyes. He is not going to fundamentally transform the church or even change course in any significant way. The only question I have is whether the illusion of change is going to be enough to convince the media to forgive the church for its institutionalized pedophilia and ongoing hypocritical war against homosexuality and birth control.
27
@26 You seem severely confused. For starters, "communism" and "profit" are generally not compatible. You should look them up and try to understand what each of them means.
I'd like to make three other observations:
1) "Tradition" sometimes gets trotted out as an argument when there are no rational reasons for doing something.
2) Criticizing a particular organized religious leader, denomination or institution for perceived offenses is a reasonable thing to do if those institutions have committed offenses. Throwing one's hands up in exasperation after reading of the offenses of a number of religious institutions and railing at the entire class of institutions may be technically illogical, but it's not irrational.
3) Wanting to expand the number of unrelated consenting adults who are allowed to form potentially-successful legally-recognized family units does not in any way "attack" any existing families, nor the future rights of those who are already allowed to form families.
I'd like to make three other observations:
1) "Tradition" sometimes gets trotted out as an argument when there are no rational reasons for doing something.
2) Criticizing a particular organized religious leader, denomination or institution for perceived offenses is a reasonable thing to do if those institutions have committed offenses. Throwing one's hands up in exasperation after reading of the offenses of a number of religious institutions and railing at the entire class of institutions may be technically illogical, but it's not irrational.
3) Wanting to expand the number of unrelated consenting adults who are allowed to form potentially-successful legally-recognized family units does not in any way "attack" any existing families, nor the future rights of those who are already allowed to form families.
26
Attack organized religion. Attack the family unit. Attack the traditions of society.
This is the blueprint for advancing communism. Replace the existing traditions with the State.
Why? Because a State-dependent human makes for a profitable human. Today, 162 privately owned central banks lend every government private wealth (at interest), just so they can operate.
This is the blueprint for advancing communism. Replace the existing traditions with the State.
Why? Because a State-dependent human makes for a profitable human. Today, 162 privately owned central banks lend every government private wealth (at interest), just so they can operate.
25
I think The Pope was right generally in that speech. There is a spiritual poverty in the west. We DO need to live by truth and not relativity. And truth IS essential to peace. The problem of course is that the church in general, and Catholicism in particular, is as great a source of the relativistic thinking that leads to spiritual poverty, as any of the usual suspects.
So a good, if potentially hypocritical speech.
So a good, if potentially hypocritical speech.
24
@23 Thanks for posting that link. There is some appalling stuff in that article.
I'm particularly irritated by the revelation that over 60% of the funding for Catholic charities is actually public money, provided by direct government agency program funding. Yes, I know they probably can do a more "efficient" job of distributing funds, but I'd rather see fair-minded/impartial/accountable civil servants controlling that process, rather than church-employed functionaries.
I'm particularly irritated by the revelation that over 60% of the funding for Catholic charities is actually public money, provided by direct government agency program funding. Yes, I know they probably can do a more "efficient" job of distributing funds, but I'd rather see fair-minded/impartial/accountable civil servants controlling that process, rather than church-employed functionaries.
23
@18, The Church may not be in as good shape financially as all the gold trappings might suggest. Check this Economist analysis, and keep in mind that the red book's most dynamite scandals are said to be monetary:
http://www.economist.com/node/21560536
http://www.economist.com/node/21560536
22
Yep, that "dictatorship of relativism" quote pretty much clinches it.
That quote refers to Benedict the Quitter's philosophy that Catholics, by fretting over how backward the Church appears to others, are a risk to the Church itself.
That quote refers to Benedict the Quitter's philosophy that Catholics, by fretting over how backward the Church appears to others, are a risk to the Church itself.
21
Boys and girls...there are no more Pope John XXIII coming back to the papacy anytime soon. John Paul made damn sure of that.
20
OK...here we go.
"Spiritual poverty" is the marquee and it draws people into the theater thinking the play is going to be about feeding the poor and taking care of one another. Then the play starts and it's about gays acting upon their sexuality being evil and women being subservient and contraception being unnatural, etc.
Catholics, how many times will you fall for this crap?
"Spiritual poverty" is the marquee and it draws people into the theater thinking the play is going to be about feeding the poor and taking care of one another. Then the play starts and it's about gays acting upon their sexuality being evil and women being subservient and contraception being unnatural, etc.
Catholics, how many times will you fall for this crap?
19
Instead of daring to claim our "own rights" based on our "own criteri[a]" such as individuality, conditions, and predicament, we should just let the church and that-motherfucking-power-hungry-self-aggrandized-bigot-in-the-stupid-fucking-hat determine our rights based on "the nature" as they deign to define it for us all (based on what god whispers into their ears, no doubt)!!
18
Talk is cheap. Symbolic gestures are symbolic. However, if the Church wants to do any good, they need to actually do stuff.
Can you imagine what could be accomplished if the Church took just 10% of their liquid wealth and distributed it to Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, medical schools, scholarship funds for girls in third-world countries, and other NGOs on the ground doing relief work?
It's fine to talk about being a poor church concentrating on the plight of the poor, but fucking do something to make that happen. kthxbai.
Can you imagine what could be accomplished if the Church took just 10% of their liquid wealth and distributed it to Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, medical schools, scholarship funds for girls in third-world countries, and other NGOs on the ground doing relief work?
It's fine to talk about being a poor church concentrating on the plight of the poor, but fucking do something to make that happen. kthxbai.
17
Man what must be in that red book that they needed such a distraction to make us forget the last guy already?
16
The legacy of Pope Francis will be who he appoints.
JPII and Benedict purged the church of liberals. There was no way any pope would get appointed who didn't give the party line on doctrine.
But-- old men die. If Francis is a closet liberal, he will appoint social liberals. They will have the power to choose a pope one day.
JPII and Benedict purged the church of liberals. There was no way any pope would get appointed who didn't give the party line on doctrine.
But-- old men die. If Francis is a closet liberal, he will appoint social liberals. They will have the power to choose a pope one day.
15
@5: on the 10th anniversary of the iraq debacle, it is far better a grinning golfer than a giggling murderer.
btw, what's wrong with grinning, golfing, or grinning while golfing? every president golfs. st. eisenhower belonged to Augusta National where the Masters is played.
get back to the pope.
btw, what's wrong with grinning, golfing, or grinning while golfing? every president golfs. st. eisenhower belonged to Augusta National where the Masters is played.
get back to the pope.
12
I don't need a complete reversal of church teaching and acceptance of gays and sex and everything else. All I want is for the church to focus on following Christ's teaching about helping the poor as their primary job with less time money and energy invested in those other things that Christ never talked about. If he did that I would consider him the greatest pope in history. I still wouldn't go back to being Catholic but if he did that I would regain a lot of respect for the organization.
Well, that and stop raping kids.
Well, that and stop raping kids.
8
The man who backs down from dictators, covers for pedophiles, and literally sits on a gold chair is telling us we're spiritually poor.
7
This speech is so general, you can interpret it to mean almost anything. It's basically junk food for the brain. It would be great if *any* leader would speak in specifics.
5, I dare you to make less sense.
5, I dare you to make less sense.
5
Liberal take note. This is how stupid y'all look when you and the mainstream media genuflect to the inning golfer.
[lisping] Oh, what is Michelle wearing today...OOOOOooo. She is so elegant, and those feminine hands of his man... M-M-M." [/lisping]
[lisping] Oh, what is Michelle wearing today...OOOOOooo. She is so elegant, and those feminine hands of his man... M-M-M." [/lisping]
4
He confuses spirituality with religion. He represents religion. Spirituality has never been impoverished anywhere.
2
while he's in there, his piety will have a calming effect on the media and the planet in general. soon we will forget and go back to sleep.
the church knows how this works, they've been doing it since the roman empire. nothing essential changes.
the church knows how this works, they've been doing it since the roman empire. nothing essential changes.
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